JERS-1 SAR and LANDSAT-5 TM image data fusion: An application approach for lithological mapping

Satellite image data fusion is an image processing set of procedures utilise either for image optimisation for visual photointerpretation, or for automated thematic classification with low error rate and high accuracy. Lithological mapping using remote sensing image data relies on the spectral and textural information of the rock units of the area to be mapped. These pieces of information can be derived from Landsat optical TM and JERS-1 SAR images respectively. Prior to extracting such information (spectral and textural) and fusing them together, geometric image co-registration between TM and the SAR, atmospheric correction of the TM, and SAR despeckling are required. In this thesis, an appropriate atmospheric model is developed and implemented utilising the dark pixel subtraction method for atmospheric correction. For SAR despeckling, an efficient new method is also developed to test whether the SAR filter used remove the textural information or not. For image optimisation for visual photointerpretation, a new method of spectral coding of the six bands of the optical TM data is developed. The new spectral coding method is used to produce efficient colour composite with high separability between the spectral classes similar to that if the whole six optical TM bands are used together. This spectral coded colour composite is used as a spectral component, which is then fused with the textural component represented by the despeckled JERS-1 SAR using the fusion tools, including the colour transform and the PCT. The Grey Level Cooccurrence Matrix (GLCM) technique is used to build the textural data set using the speckle filtered JERS-1 SAR data making seven textural GLCM measures. For automated thematic mapping and by the use of both the six TM spectral data and the seven textural GLCM measures, a new method of classification has been developed using the Maximum Likelihood Classifier (MLC). The method is named the sequential maximum likelihood classification and works efficiently by comparison the classified textural pixels, the classified spectral pixels, and the classified textural-spectral pixels, and gives the means of utilising the textural and spectral information for automated lithological mapping

EVALUATING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF EMIRATIZATION STRATEGIES IN THE QUASI-PRIVATE SECTOR: MULTIPLE CASE STUDIES FROM THE MANUFACTURING SECTOR IN THE UAE.

A central aspect of the United Arab Emirates’ strategic vision for a post-oil future is to make better use of its indigenous human capital, thus securing a return on the substantial investment the government has made in education, and reducing the reliance on a largely non-national labour force. While Emiratization (a policy to replace expatriate workers with citizens) has been successful in the public sector, the private sector is still largely staffed by expatriates with citizens representing less than 5 per cent of the total workforce in this sector. Therefore, Emiratization efforts have recently been focusing on enhancing employment opportunities for citizens in the private sector. One of the key initiatives in this regard is to make use of State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs), as commercially-run organizations capable of subsidizing the public sector. These enterprises are expected to achieve this transition through the strategic policy of Emiratization. Many researchers have identified a myriad of barriers that prevent effective Emiratization, but few have focused on the elements required for successful Emiratization. The purpose of this study is to explore elements of successful Emiratization to date in several subsidiaries of one of the UAE’s largest industrial investment holding companies, operating in the metals, oil and gas, construction and building materials, and food and beverages sectors. These multiple case studies allow us to discuss in-depth factors that can make Emiratization successful in the manufacturing sector in the UAE. In order to achieve this, semi-structured interviews were conducted with key stakeholders, including managers from human resources (HR) and Emiratization departments within these SOEs. A multiple case studies approach was used to obtain empirical data on the factors that contribute to successful Emiratization, and the challenges faced in implementing Emiratization plans at these organizations. The findings of this study indicate that Emiratisation is not just a matter of increasing the number of Emiratis in the workforce or hiring Emiratis to meet quotas, but a strategy designed to recruit and develop Emiratis for current and future positions. This study explored three factors that enhance Emiratisation strategy. Government regulations can support and enhance nationalization in the country and many companies have prepared long-term Emiratization plans, as they must send in quarterly reports to the HRA. Each company investigated here has set an Emiratization target to match their business needs, not just to fill quotas. Another key factor in successful Emiratization is upper-management support. In order for a nationalization program to be successful, it must offer total commitment and support to the candidates, otherwise, we will not see any motivation from the participants and the program will fail. This study also explored the role of strategic HR involvement. One of the key roles of a human resources department is the training and development of staff. The findings of this study can assist decision-makers and HR professionals in identifying factors in successful Emiratization and thus enhance the employment of nationals in the hi-tech manufacturing sector. Additionally, these findings can help to further expand the parameters of workforce nationalization and emphasize the aspects that make for successful nationalization in key organizations

A Stratal OT Account of Word Stress in the Mehri of Bit Thuwar

In this paper, we provide a synchronic account of word stress in the Modern South Arabian language, Mehri, as spoken by members of the Bit Thuwar tribe. The data is taken from the first author’s own fieldwork working in Central Dhofar with members of the Bit Thuwar sub-tribes–Bit Iqhōr in Rabkut and parts of the mountains that receive the monsoon rains, and Bit Āmawsh in Dhahbun–with reference, where appropriate, to Johnstone (1987). This paper is a significant expansion and a partial revision of the short discussion on word stress in Watson (2012: 34–35). We begin with a brief background to Mehri within Modern South Arabian. We then discuss word stress patterns in Mehri, following Hayes’ (1995) metrical stress theory; here we show that Mehri is a head-first or trochaic language, namely that in (Cv)CvCv(C) forms, stress is placed on the left-most syllable. We show that in contrast to Arabic trochaic dialects, the domain of stress is the stem and the stem with stem-level suffixes rather than the entire prosodic word. The implications for this is that Mehri exhibits an opacity with regard to stress as seen in Arabic dialects in which three consonant clusters receive vowel epenthesis after the left-most consonant, as in: šuft-ha > šufitha ‘she said it f.’. (These are termed vC-dialects in Kiparsky 2003, so called due to the position of the epenthetic vowel in relation to the medial consonant in a sequence of three). By opacity, we mean that word stress is not assigned as would be predicted by the stress algorithm. In contrast to Arabic vC-dialects, however, opacity is due not to the interaction of epenthesis and syncope (cf. Kiparsky 2003), but rather to the lack of visibility of word-level suffixes to stress. In line with van Oostendorp’s (2002) analysis of unstressable suffixes in Dutch, we argue that word-level suffixes are invisible to stress because they are not incorporated into the prosodic word, but rather adjoined to it. The adoption of Kiparsky’s Stratal Optimality Theory approach enables us to capture Mehri stress assignment succinctly: stress is assigned at the stem-level according to weight and position, and suffixation of word-level suffixes can no longer affect stress assignment due to the high ranking of STRESSIDENT (Collie 2007), which requires stress to remain on the stressed syllable of the stem, and the low ranking of *ADJOIN, which mitigates against the adjunction of affixes to the prosodic word. We also show that Mehri exhibits limited lexical stress, and suggest that attempts to account for stress in these cases in terms of a quantity model on the part of many researchers, including the main author of the current paper, has led to the incorrect transcription and interpretation of these elements

Modern South Arabian: Conducting Field work in Dhofar, Mahrah and Eastern Saudi Arabia

In this paper, we discuss conducting community-based fieldwork with speakers of the Modern South Arabian languages (MSAL) in southern Oman, eastern Yemen and eastern Saudi Arabia for a Leverhulme-funded project: The Documentation and Ethnolinguistic Analysis of Modern South Arabian. The paper begins with a brief introduction to the languages, their varying degrees of language endangerment, and the traditional lifestyle of their speakers. In section 2 we discuss the decline and erosion of the languages, and the rationale this provides not only for documenting the languages, but also for closely involving native speakers and community members in the data collection, transcription, translation, analysis, and dissemination. This vital community participation is considered in section 3, which also includes a description of the equipment we used, the software packages and the orthography devised for the project. We describe the collection of audio, audio-visual and photographic material, file identification and metadata, identifying speakers, obtaining ethical consent, training community participants, analysing and archiving the data, and the project website. Section 4 discusses language revitalisation and the joint dissemination of research

Employees' Information Security Awareness and Behavioural Intentions in Higher Education Institutions in Oman

Organisations throughout the world face threats to the security of their information. In most organisations these threats are thought to be a consequence of employees’ lack of knowledge of information security, security behaviours and/or understanding of the possible detriments to their organisation of not complying with their organisation’s information security policy (ISP). Therefore, empirical research is needed to explore the main threats to information security and the factors that influence how employees intend to behave in relation to information security policies. The main aims of this research were to investigate employees’ ISP compliance behaviour intentions and to explore the organisational and human factors that influence this. Consequently, this research conducted four studies to explore the views of both those responsible for information security (IT staff and system administrators) and non-security employees from a range of higher education institutions in the Sultanate of Oman. First, interviews were conducted with eight IT staff and system administrators from Omani universities and colleges to explore the common, current information security threats, organisational information security processes and their perceptions of employee information security behaviour in general, and their compliance with ISPs in particular. The findings of this study showed the weaknesses in information security in different organisations and IT staff suggested that employees may not be aware of information security and do not comply with their organisation’s ISP. The reported perceptions of IT and staff system administrators were used to design a survey of employee knowledge, awareness and behaviour intentions which was used in the second study. The second study used a questionnaire-based survey which was designed from the knowledge gained form the first study, a review of the relevant literature and actual ISPs in use at the organisations involved in the study. Data from 503 employees from multiple higher education institutions was analysed. The survey comprised three parts: (i) demographic questions, (ii) 14 information security scenario questions designed to elicit employee behaviour intentions and (iii) some of the factors influencing their behaviour (underpinned by current theories in psychology). The results show that employees’ behaviour intentions vary according to the information security scenario they experience and that the biggest influences on their behaviour are perceived to be trust and authority. The third study involved 17 IT staff and system administrators from six higher education institutions. Using the same questionnaire from the second study plus qualitative questions, the aim of this third study was to understand what behaviours were seen by IT staff and system administrators as most important and what non-ISP-compliant behaviours they would, nevertheless, also deem to be acceptable. The results highlight the relationship between the behaviours that IT staff rate as important, and whether or not staff intend to adopt that behaviour. The fourth study used four focus groups (n= 21) from one higher education institution to further explore why employees may not intend to comply with the organisation’s ISP and to explore the factors that influence these non-compliance intentions. The focus groups also explored the employees’ recommendations for improving organisational information security management. The finding of this study revealed some recommendations for developing information security organisation management and the motivators and barriers that influence employees’ security behaviours. Finally, the results of the four studies were analysed together and it was found that staff consider that communicating the information security policy, ongoing information security risk assessment, ongoing awareness and training, management support and commitment and good communication are important factors in information security compliance intentions. Secondly, it was found that the way organisations manage information security, and human factors in particular (mostly to do with trust and authority), is most important in maximising compliance intentions. Recommendations were provided to improve organisational information security management and to encourage employees to comply with ISPs

Exploring employee engagement within the context of the UAE waste management sector

This thesis examines employee engagement within the context of the UAE Waste Management Sector, specifically a waste disposal company situated in Abu Dhabi Emirate. An overarching research question is posed by the thesis, and it is as follows: 1. What are the key factors that impact upon engagement of employees in the public sector in the UAE, specifically waste management organizations? The literature review explores the themes of employee engagement, employment relationships, barriers to engagement, the importance of engagement, and issues surrounding engagement in the UAE. Through the review of literature, it is identified that while several extant studies have been done on the concept of engagement, as it is not new, studies of engagement have not considered exploring the influence of Emiratization and its impact on engagement. It is also identified that within the waste management sector, previous studies have only considered engagement in relation to sickness/absence from work, and this was done quantitatively using surveys (Gallup Research, 2017). This thesis closed these gaps in the literature by using qualitative approaches involving 30 interviews with employees from the UAE waste disposal segment, in investigating factors that influence engagement and the impacts of engagement on organizational outcomes. The thesis employed NVivo software in conducting thematic analysis of the findings included in the transcription, the grouping of participant responses, cataloging themes, identifying connections between themes, and coding the research findings. Analysis of the findings reveals important factors which impact engagement in the UAE’s waste disposal sector. These factors include access to relevant training, employee voice in terms of power distance dimension of culture, nature of rewards, positive factors alluded to the physical work environment, Emiratization Policy, and flexibility. The factors are also discussed in detail. This thesis identifies several key themes. It identifies that Emiratization policies influence engagement by Impacting knowledge sharing between Emirati and non-Emirati employees through influence on trust environment. The thesis identifies that this impacts engagement by reducing creativity and innovativeness. The findings from the thesis confirm prior studies which investigated the impact of cultural value orientations on the engagement of workers conducted by Zhong et al (2016), which followed a quantitative approach. In this thesis however using qualitative approaches it is identified that power-distance as a measure of national culture, influences the engagement of employees. Furthermore, the work environment, including physical and non-physical (relationship), is identified to be an important factor in engagement. Lastly, the thesis identifies that poor employee engagement impacts productivity outcomes of workers in UAE’s waste disposal sector and could impact the long-term sustainability of operations

Effects of Elevated Temperatures on the Compressive Strength Capacity of Concrete Cylinders Confined with FRP Sheets: An Experimental Investigation

Due to their high strength, corrosion resistance, and durability, fiber reinforced polymers (FRP) are very attractive for civil engineering applications. One of these applications is the strengthening of concrete columns with FRP sheets. The performance of this strengthening technique at elevated temperature is still questionable and needs more investigations. This research investigates the effects of exposure to high temperatures on the compressive strength of concrete cylinders wrapped with glass and carbon FRP sheets. Test specimens consisted of 30 unwrapped and 60 wrapped concrete cylinders. All specimens were exposed to temperatures of 100, 200, and 300°C for periods of 1, 2, and 3 hours. The compressive strengths of the unwrapped concrete cylinders were compared with their counterparts of the wrapped cylinders. For the unwrapped cylinders, test results showed that the elevated temperatures considered in this study had almost no effect on their compressive strength; however, the wrapped specimens were significantly affected, especially those wrapped with GFRP sheets. The compressive strength of the wrapped specimens decreased as the exposure period and the temperature level increased. After three hours of exposure to 300°C, a maximum compressive strength loss of about 25.3% and 37.9%, respectively, was recorded in the wrapped CFRP and GFRP specimens

An evaluation of the effectiveness of the learning resource centres in the colleges of education in Oman

This study reports on an investigation of the effectiveness of the Learning Resource Centres (LRCs) in the Colleges of Education in Oman. It considers the aims of the LRCs/libraries and explored the extent to which the LRCs achieve their aims and identified the defects which represent obstacles to improving the LRCs. The extent to which the LRCs support the Colleges of Education to achieve their aims is also explored. Accordingly, this thesis examines the effectiveness of the LRCs and leads to recommendations, which if implemented, will improve the LRCs for the users. In order to achieve the research purposes the study surveys the LRCs in the Colleges of Education in Oman. The survey includes observation of all six LRCs, responses to questionnaires from 140 academics and 436 students and interviews with 24 employees from the staff ofLRCs. In consideration of the fact that the Ministry of Higher Education in Oman (MOHE) tries to benefit from the Canadian experience in LRCs/libraries, interviews were conducted with nine employees working in LRCs/libraries at six Canadian Universities. The study indicates that, in general, the LRCs have satisfactory factors such as the provision of resources, accessibility, support from personnel to users, training of users to develop their skills and increase the utilisation of facilities. Consequently these enhance the possibility of achieving the aims of the LRCs as well as supporting the Colleges to attain their aims. The availability of the previous factors also indicates to the reasonable effectiveness of the LRCs. On the other hand, the findings of the study consider that the main obstacles to improving the LRCs are: centralisation of acquisition of human and material resources at the MOHE, space, policy, and the incomplete classification system and catalogue. Finally the study proposes recommendations which can overcome the identified obstacles and improve the effectiveness of the LRCs in the Colleges of Education in Oman