Reactivity of (THF)4Ca(PPh2)2 in stoichiometric and catalytic reactions

Catalytic intermolecular hydrophosphanylation of alkynes and conjugated diynes with HPPh2 was achieved with the calcium based catalyst (thf)4Ca(PPh2)2 with very good yields and under mild conditions. Beside the enormous reactivity of (thf)4Ca(PPh2)2 regarding hydrophosphanylation reactions, the diphenylphosphanide ligand is also able to act as Lewis base. In fact, reactions of (thf)4Ca(PPh2)2 with iron carbonyl complexes afforded [(thf)4Ca{Fe2(CO)6(µ-CO)(µ-PPh2)}2]. Reaction with elemental chalcogenides led to the formation of the respective diphenylphosphinates (thf)3Ca(S2PPh2)2, (thf)3Sr(S2PPh2)2, (thf)2Ca(Se2PPh2)2 and (thf)3Sr(Se2PPh2)2. All of these compounds are colorless, crystalline solids, which are stable under atmospheric conditions

The modernization of Islamic art in the realm of architecture

The aim of this qualitative study is to explore the modernization of Islamic art in the realm of architecture through six case studies representing traditional and modern mosques from an architectural and decorative perspective. By examining published materials and research papers pertaining to the artifacts and analyzing their features, this study attempts to answer the following questions: how has Islamic art and architecture evolved with modern times and technologies? What new trends have aided in the evolution of this art? and have culture and religion influenced the evolution of Islamic art and continue to play a major role in its modernization?. This paper conducted comparative studies between artifacts according to their chronological timelines and geographical locations. The findings showed that social media and technologies aided in this evolution. In addition, trends of minimalism, symbolism, and the notion of isolation became apparent. Multi-cultural influences and religion continue to empower the evolution

ECOLINGUISTICALLY INFORMED CRITICAL DISCOURSE ANALYSIS OF POLITICAL SPEECH ON CLIMATE CHANGE POLICIES IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

This study uses a mixed-methods approach to explore how climate change is conceptualized in the politics of the United States from the perspective of Ecolinguistics and Critical Discourse Analysis. I analyzed all the statements and letters issued by the governors and mayors who opposed the American president, Donald Trump, when he announced that he would withdraw the U.S. from the Paris climate agreement that 195 countries around the world signed. The qualitative analysis employs Critical Metaphor Analysis to investigate politicians metaphorical choices made to influence public opinion and influence policies about climate change in the U.S. These types of metaphors reinforce the rhetoric that creates climate change as an ongoing process where politicians construct and hold sociopolitical views through discursive use of metaphor. This is followed by a corpus analysis to investigate the changes in the discourse about climate change in the media before and after Donald Trumps announcement of the U.S. withdrawal from the Paris agreement in 2017. The results indicate that climate change is mainly framed as a long-term and threatening problem that policy makers should seriously deal with. This study can guide us to identify which politicians/groups make climate change a top priority. That is, politicians/groups that predominately use metaphors from certain source domains such as Journey, War and Construction on climate change are more concerned about climate change than politicians/groups that use metaphors from domains such as Unfairness and Business. This is because metaphors drawn from the source domains of War, Journey, Cleanliness and Construction emphasize dealing with climate change since they imply calling for action to address this problem. Metaphors drawn from Business, on the other hand, restrain action on climate change since they create excuses for delaying action or even not dealing with this environmental problem. However, it is not only what domain a metaphor is drawn from can determine if a politician/group (using that metaphor) supports or denounces responding to climate change (dealing with the problem as a top priority or not) but also this depends on what the purpose behind using that metaphor is

The Effect of Application Islamic Monitoring Principle on the Performance of the Islamic Banks (Case Study: The Islamic Banks - Jordan)

This study examines the impact of the application of the principle of Islamic censorship in the Jordanian Islamic banks, and the aim of this study was to investigate the role of censorship and its impact on the work and performance of these banks. This study used descriptive statistics method as applied analytical method study of a random sample on a sample of employees of banks subject of the study and who numbered (120) employees. The questionnaire was designed to collect data was also used statistical tests that are commensurate with the nature of the subject matter to reveal the source of the relationship between the variables of the study in order to reach accurate results and clear. The study concluded that organizational communication and legal regulation and software and the timing of the regulatory process followed her statistically significant relationship to the success of the implementation of the control of Islamic banks. One of the main recommendations of this study the use of communication in the control process, and the development of regulations and laws in order to be used as criteria for judgment, and use the control as a means to discover and correct errors and to encourage the principle of self-censorship among the employees. Keywords: Islamic Banks, Islamic Monitoring Principle, the Central Bank of Jordan, computerized program

A Pragmatic Study of Requests by Males and Females in Online Religious Forums

The current study investigates the request strategies used by males and females in online religious forums. It aims to explore request types realized by linguistic formulas used by males and females when they make requests in computer-mediated communication. The study offers pragmatic and sociolinguistic explanations for these differences. It also discusses the functions of these requestive forms such as asking for more clarifications or to request the addressee to answer a question directly. This study found that there are seven strategies used by the participants to make their requests. Most of which are shared by males and females. The study applied Chi-square test to show whether or not the differences in the use of each type of requests between the two groups (males and females) are statistically significant

Jordanian Women’s Perceptions of Using Social Media: Advantages and Drawbacks

The main objective of this research is to consider the impact of social networking sites on Jordanian women, taking into account many factors such as social status, income, education, and others. A questionnaire was designed with seventy-three criteria varying between five basic economic, political, scientific, cultural, and social domains. The results ranged from the use of social networking sites for shopping, communicating with friends, and raising the level of culture and awareness. On the other hand, communication sites negatively affect women, as some women believe that they waste time and money, and there were no significant differences according to any of the variables (the nature of the area residence, family income level, and academic level). Proceeding from this discrepancy between advantages and drawbacks, the researchers recommend supporting and developing benefits, paying attention to risks, and avoiding them

The Causes of Writing Apprehension through Students’ Perspective

Although studies on the causes of writing apprehension on native learners of English have been done extensively, studies on English as foreign language (EFL) learners are scant. In fact, limited studies have examined writing apprehension experienced by EFL postgraduate learners, in particular written academic discourse. Therefore, the study focused on writing apprehension experienced by Jordanian EFL learners when writing their PhD thesis in Malaysia. The objective of the study was to explore the causes of writing apprehension among Jordanian PhD students at Universiti Utara Malaysia. In this qualitative case study, the researchers interviewed 21 Jordanian PhD students. Four main themes emerged pertaining to causes of writing apprehension which are Lack of knowledge in English structure, Negative attitude toward writing, Negative writing experience in the past, and Inadequate knowledge in academic writing. The study concluded that writing apprehension was a prevalent phenomenon among the students. The study contributes to the body of knowledge on writing apprehension related to the causes of writing apprehension. It highlights internal and external factors which contribute to writing apprehension

CONGRATULATION STRATEGIES OF JORDANIAN EFL POSTGRADUATE STUDENTS

This study investigates congratulation strategies used by Jordanian EFL postgraduate students. It also investigates the types of positive politeness strategies in the congratulation speech act. Data were collected using an adopted version of discourse completion test (DCT) by Dastjerdi and Nasri (2013). Data were encoded and analyzed based on the taxonomy of congratulation strategy proposed by Elwood (2004). Furthermore, data were analyzed based on a modified version of positive politeness strategies proposed by Brown and Levinson (1987). Findings revealed that the most frequently used strategies of congratulation were illocutionary force indicating devise (IFID), offer of good wishes, and expression of happiness. Regarding the positive politeness strategies, findings revealed that the most frequently used strategies by the participants were giving gift to listener, exaggeration, and ingroup identity marker. The study concludes with a discussion of important directions for future research such as including more participants with different social background. The results are expected to be useful information in cross-cultural comparison studies and other related areas

Differential regulation of MLC20 phosphorylation in tonic and phasic smooth muscles of the stomach

Gastrointestinal (GI) smooth muscle possesses distinct regional and functional properties that distinguish it from other types of visceral and vascular smooth muscle. On the basis of electrical properties and contractile phenotype, GI smooth muscles have been classified into phasic (non-sphinteric) and tonic (sphinteric) smooth muscles. The biochemical basis of phasic and tonic phenotypes of smooth muscle is not clear and is the major question of inquiry of the present study. Phosphorylation of Ser19 on the 20 kDa myosin light chain (MLC) is essential for acto-myosin interaction and contraction in both phasic and tonic muscles. The levels of MLC20 phosphorylation are regulated by Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent MLC kinase (MLCK) and MLC phosphatase (MLCP), and the activity of these enzymes are in turn regulated by various signaling molecules whose expression and activity are important in determining the strength and duration of their activity. The signaling proteins are AMP kinase (MLCK activity), Rho kinase, zipper-interacting protein kinase (ZIPK), CPI-17 and telokin (MLCP activity), phosphodiesterase 5 (PDE5) and multi-drug resistance protein 5 (MRP5). The overarching goal of the dissertation is to identify the differences in the signaling pathways that regulate MLCK and MLCP activities, and thus MLC20 phosphorylation and muscle function. Using biochemical, molecular and functional approaches, and antrum (distal stomach) and fundus (proximal stomach) of rabbit stomach as models of phasic and tonic smooth muscles, respectively, the present study characterized important differences in the signaling pathways that highly correlate with the contractile phenotype. These include: 1) tissue-specific expression of contractile proteins such as myosin heavy chain isoforms, actin, caldesmon, calponin, - and β-tropomyosin, smoothelin-A and -B; 2) higher expression of AMPK, selective feedback inhibition of MLCK activity via AMPK-mediated phosphorylation, and higher expression of telokin and activation of MLCP correlate with the rapid cyclical contractile function in phasic muscle; 3) higher expression and activation of Rho kinase/ZIPK/MYPT1 and PKC/CPI-17 pathways, preferential inhibition of MLCP activity, and sustained phosphorylation of MLC20 correlate with the sustained contraction in tonic muscle; and 4) rapid termination of cGMP signal and muscle relaxation by preferential degradation and efflux of cGMP via higher expression of PDE5 and MRP5, respectively, correlate with the brief relaxation and rapid restoration of contraction in tonic muscle. It is anticipated that these findings could be important in providing the underlying mechanisms involved in the pathophysiology of smooth muscle function and new insights for the development of therapeutic agents that should act on smooth muscle in the gut to treat motility disorders as well as in other regions such as airways and vascular smooth muscle where similar intracellular mechanisms may prevail

Deterministic fatigue life simulation of flexible sign structures

Doctor of PhilosophyDepartment of Civil EngineeringHayder A RasheedFatigue failure of highway sign structures has been recognized in many states due to sustained wind loading events. AASHTO specifies that the structural component should be designed for infinite life by maintaining the wind-induced stress below their constant amplitude fatigue threshold (CAFT). However, for the existing structures that are typically not designed for fatigue, it is essential to evaluate the condition of all the critical and fatigue-prone components for safety considerations. The visual inspection consumes a lot of time and effort and may not detect unnoticed fatigue cracks. A need for analytical inspection tools to examine all the critical members and connections in terms of remaining fatigue life has received growing attention to ensure public safety. The reliability of such analytical tools depends on the accuracy of wind loading models applied during the life span of the structure. A fill-interpolate-extend approach is devised to furnish wind loading data ensemble for the entire time span of analysis. This ensemble is utilized to establish a reliable synthetic wind model to generate fatigue cycle counts. A comprehensive analytical framework including structural modeling, stress extraction/processing, and fatigue damage simulation integrated to yield an affordable tool applicable to different sign structures topologies. The resulting software for non-cantilever overhead structure as well as cantilever and butterfly assemblies are successfully verified to predict real cases for fatigue damage reflecting the in-situ condition of the structures