Freedom of Speech in International Law

Freedom of speech is best understood as freedom of expression since ideas and opinions can be expressed by conduct as well as by words. In fact, modern technology permits unique methods or ways of expression via the worldwide web with little means of regulating and limiting free speech and expression. Freedom of speech and expression are considered to be inalienable civil rights of all democratic systems. Be that as it may, even in the context of democratic freedoms, free speech and expression are subject to limitations calculated to minimize harm.[1] As such, democratic nations recognizing and indorsing the right to free speech have set common law and statutory restraints on all civil liberties including free speech and expression. This study will divide into chapters; the first chapter examines the concept of freedom of speech in the lights of general principle of international law. The second chapters will discuss the role of the media in freedom of speech in general and Enforcement of Free Speech on an International Leve

Kebolehpercayaan dan Kesahan Ramalan Instrumen Pengujian Bahasa Melayu Peperiksaan Percubaan STPM

Penyelidikan ini bertujuan untuk menentukan tahap penguasaan pengetahuan dan kemahiran bahasa pelajar-pelajar tingkatan enam atas, kebolehpercayaan dan kesahan ramalan instrumen pengujian Bahasa Melayu, kertas 1, yang digunakan dalam peperiksaan percubaan Sijil Tinggi Persekolahan Malaysia di lima buah sekolah menengah atas, di daerah Batu Pahat, Johor. Kaedah kajian deskriptif tinjauan digunakan dalam penyelidikan ini. Seramai 250 orang pelajar tingkatan enam atas yang mengambil mata pelajaran Bahasa Melayu dalam peperiksaan percubaan STPM telah dipilih untuk menjadi sampel penyelidikan ini. Data-data penyelidikan diperoleh dengan menganalisis 15,000 respons jawapan aneka pilihan pelajar-pelajar. Data-data dianalisis untuk memperoleh frekuensi, min, peratus, dan sisihan piawai markat-markat ujian bagi menentukan tahap penguasaan pengetahuan dan kemahiran bahasa pelajar-pelajar tingkatan enam atas. Indeks Kesukaran (IK) dan Indeks Oiskriminasi (10) item instrumen pengujisn ditentukan berdasarkan formula IK dan 10 (Gronlund, 1977). Kebolehpercayaan instrumen pengujian pula ditentukan dengan menggunakan kaedah 'split half - Spearman Brown dan analisis statistik Pekali Alpha Cronbach, manakala analisis statistik Pekali Korelasi Pearson digunakan untuk menentukan kesahan ramalan instrumen pengujian. Oapatan kajian menunjukkan bahawa penguasaan bahasa pelajarpelajar tingkatan enam atas di lima buah sekolah yang dikaji dalam aspek pengetahuan dan kemahiran bahasa yang diuji adalah pada tahap sederhana. Hasil analisis markat-markat untuk menentukan IK instrumen pengujian menunjukkan bahawa item-item ujian yang digunakan tidak mempunyai nilai IK item pengujian yang baik, begitu juga dengan nisbah pemeringkatan aras kesukaran item-item. Berhubung dengan 10 item pengujian, dapatan kajian menunjukkan bahawa instrumen pengujian yang digunakan dalam peperiksaan percubaan tersebut tidak mempunyai 10 item pengujian yang baik, sarna ada dari segi nilai 10 bagi setiap item ataupun nisbah keseimbangan taburan 10 item-item.Dari segi kebolehpercayaan instrumen pengujian pula, hasil kajian mendapati bahawa instrumen pengujian peperiksaan percubaan yang digunakan di sekolah-sekotah terse but mempunyai nilai indeks kebolehpercayaan yang lebih rendah daripada piawai indeks kebotehpercayaan pengujian, iaitu 0.85. Kajian ini membuktikan bahawa instrumen pengujian peperiksaan percubaan tersebut tidak mempunyai kebolehpercayaan sebagai instrumen penilaian rujukan norma. Hasil analisis statistik Pekali Korelasi Pearson membuktikan bahawa korelasi antara gred peperiksaan percubaan dengan gred STPM, mempunyai nilai korelasi yang rendah berbanding dengan piawai nilai kOTelasi kesahan ramalan instrumen pengujian rujukan norma yang baik. Dapatan kajian ini membuktikan bahawa instrumen pengujian peperiksaan percubaan tersebut tidak mempunyai kesahan ramalan yang baik

Managing earnings using classification shifting: Novel evidence from Jordan

open access journalIn response to McVay calls for more research to provide additional cross-sectional tests of classification shifting, the current paper examines whether Jordanian public companies engage in earnings management through classification shifting. Using a sample consisting of 112 public firms from Jordan during the 2010-2014 period, this study applies McVay (2006) Model to investigate the relationship between the non-recurring items (NREC) and the variation in unexpected core earnings (UCE). This analysis was supplemented with employing Fan et al., (2010) Model as a robustness check. Our empirical results reveal that managers in Jordan misclassify their recurring expenses to inflate their core earnings. More precisely, we find that non-recurring items (NREC) are significantly and positively associated with the variation in unexpected core earnings (UCE); thus, classification shifting is a common practice among Jordanian firms. Additionally, we find out stronger evidence on classification shifting when our sample was restricted to those firms with a more significant opportunity to misclassify recurring items (firms with positive NREC). This study contributes to the body of accounting literature by providing the first empirical evidence in the Middle East region overall on the use of classification shifting by Jordanian firms. We are also the first to apply McVay (2006) and Fan et al., (2010) models in the Middle East region. Our findings have important policy implications for standard setters, regulators, auditors and investors in their attempts to constrain earnings management practices and improve the financial reporting quality in Jordan

Analisis Perbedaan Penguasaan Spatial Thinking dan Pemaknaan Ruang Keseharian Mahasiswa Program Studi Pendidikan Geografi Universitas Muhammadiyah Surakarta

In the rapid change of the world there has been a growing concern regarding space conception in English speaking world, while in English British (UK, Australia) focused on thinking geographically (meaning-making) English American country (USA) underlined what they call spatial thinking. The aims of this research are to discover the variation of college student in their two aspects of spatial thinking ability sense statically and also provide conception of space based on spatial thinking and thinking geographically. This research adopted mix method both quantitative and qualitative approach. Quantitative data research then analized using u-test and one way anova statistic. The qualitative data were analized descriptively. The results elucidated and statically found there were no significantly different among college students, this occurred because the students come from similar educational background level. Furthermore, there were appear a completely different concept of space in terms of spatial thinking and thinking geographically. To sum up, it is better for us to not exxagerates space in form of point, line, and area instead of carefully consider the role of human being such as feeling in defined earth as human daily space. Keywords: Spatial Thinking, Thinking Geographically, Geographic Information System

Evaluation of Asphalt Pavement Distresses in Main Roadways in Al-Diwaniyah City

يتاثر التبليط الأسفلتي بالعديد من العوامل التي تؤثر على أدائه وقابليته للخدمة، كما أن عوامل مثل الأحمال المفرطة للمرور، ودرجات الحرارة، والماء، وأخطاء التصميم والتنفيذ، والافتقار إلى الصيانة، تجعل من الرصيف يتعرض لتدهور سريع مع مرور الوقت. ان تجاوز درجات الحرارة ال50 سيليزيه في العراق من دون السيطرة على الأحمال المرورية وليس هناك خطط في إدارة الصيانة يؤدي إلى ظهور عيوب شديده في معظم الطرق في العراق. ان تحسين نظام إدارة صيانة الطرق يؤدي الى تقليل الوقت والتكلفة، ويؤدي مسح حالة الرصيف دورا كبيرا في إدارة الرصيف على مستوى شبكة النقل التي توفر المعلومات عن أداء الرصيف. تم اختيار ثلاثة طرق رئيسية مختلفة في مدينة الديوانية وتم مسح كمية العيوب باستخدام طريقتين: تقييم الخدمة الحالية ومؤشر حالة الرصف لتحديد أداء الرصيف, وقد تم تحديد 10 عيوب في رصيف الأسفلت من اصل (19) من العيوب التي وردت في طريقة PCI. ان الشقوق هي الأكثر كثافة في الرصيف يليها التخدد والحفر أما بقية العيوب فهي أقل كثافه وكلها بسبب سوء تصميم الخلطه الاسفلتيه وسوء التنفيذ. وأظهرت النتائج أن آراء مستخدمي الطرق المدروسة تأثرت بشكل رئيسي بوعورة الطرق، وإن قيم PSR تسجل تصنيفا متوسط للطرق التي تمت دراستها ومن طريقة PCI تصنف بضعيف وهذا يعني أن العراقيين أكثر تحملا للصعوبات التي يواجهونها أثناء استخدام الطرق. يجب اجراء مسح دوري يتضمن استقصاء لشبكة النقل و يتألف من قاعدة للبيانات.Asphalt pavement influenced by many factors effect on its performance and serviceability, factors like excessive traffic loads, temperatures, water, design and execution mistakes, and lack of maintenance, these make the Pavement has fast deteriorated with time. The temperature in Iraq exceeded the 50o c, and without controlling on traffic loads and no plans in maintenance management lead to appear severity distresses in most of roads in Iraq. Road maintenance management system improvement leads to reduce time and cost and the pavement condition survey is taking a big role in the pavement management at network level provides the information for pavement performance. Three different main roads were selected in the city of Diwaniyah and the distresses amount was surveyed by using two methods: present serviceability rating and pavement condition index to determine the pavement performance. 10 defects were identified in the asphalt pavement out of (19) defects mentioned by the PCI method, the cracks are the densest distresses in the pavement followed by the rutting and potholes and the rest of the distresses are less dense, all of which are due to poor mix design and poorly implemented. The results showed that the users' opinions of the studied roads were affected mainly by the roads roughness, the PSR values ​​gave a fair rating of the studied roads while the PCI method gave a poor rating that is meaning Iraqis are more bearing to the hardships they face while using the roads. A periodic survey shall be conducted on the transportation network which shall be consisting of a database

Preparation And Characterization Of Graphene Filled Epoxy Thin Film Nanocomposite For Electronic Applications

Grafin telah menarik perhatian yang besar dalam aplikasi elektronik kerana sifat-sifat mekanikal, elektrik dan haba yang unik kesan dari struktur dua dimensinya. Komposit nano filem nipis epoksi diisi serbuk nano grafin (GNP) telah dihasilkan menggunakan teknik ultrasonik dan salutan mejam. Kesan bebanan GNP dan masa sonikasi, kloroform sebagai larutan penyebaran untuk GNP (ch-GNP), amina sebagai ejen gandingan untuk GNP (m-GNP) dan sistem hibrid menggunakan GNP dan karbon nano tiub berbilang dinding (GNP-MWCNT) terhadap sifat tegangan, elektrik dan terma bagi komposit epoksi telah disiasat dalam kajian ini. Secara umumnya, penambahan GNP telah menurunkan kekuatan tegangan dan modulus untuk kesemua komposit epoksi. Walau bagaimanapun, komposit epoksi/GNP yang dihasilkan menggunakan 20 minit masa sonikasi mempunyai kekuatan tegangan dan modulus yang sedikit tinggi, dengan pecahan isipadu penelusan elektrik ambang yang rendah (0.1%). Kajian morfologi melalui mikroskop imbasan elektron (SEM) menunjukkan bahawa peningkatan pada penyerakan GNP telah dicapai dengan pertambahan masa sonikasi. Walau bagaimanapun, ubahbentuk GNP telah diperhatikan selepas masa sonikasi yang panjang. Kedua-dua komposit epoksi/ch-GNP dan epoksi/m-GNP yang dihasilkan menggunakan 20 minit masa sonikasi mempunyai sifat tegangan yang sedikit tinggi berbanding komposit epoksi/GNP, terutama pada bebanan pengisi yang rendah. Walau bagaimanapun, komposit epoksi/m-GNP menunjukkan nilai penelusan ambang pada bebanan pengisi yang lebih tinggi (isipadu 0.6 %) berbanding isipadunya 0.05 dan 0.1 %, masing-masing untuk komposit epoksi/ch-GNP dan epoksi/GNP. Analisis morfologi melalui SEM menunjukkan tahap penyebaran dan pengelupasan ch-GNP dan m-GNP yang tinggi di dalam komposit epoksi. Walau bagaimanpun, kajian morfologi melalui mikroskop transmisi elektron (TEM) menunjukkan bahawa kedua-dua saiz ch-GNP dan m-GNP adalah jauh lebih kecil berbanding GNP asal yang diperoleh. Dari sifat termal, didapati bahawa komposit epoksi/ch-GNP dan epoksi/m-GNP menunjukkan suhu peralihan kaca yang lebih tinggi berbanding komposit epoksi/GNP. Komposit hibrid epoksi/GNP-MWCNT menunjukkan peningkatan dalam sifat tegangan dengan peningkatan MWCNT berbanding GNP. Komposit hibrid epoksi/GNP-MWCNT dengan nisbah 0.1:0.4 bagi GNP:MWCNT, dengan jumlah pecahan isipadu pengisi nano 0.5 vol% menunjukkan sifat-sifat yang optimum di kalangan semua komposit, malahan sifat tegangan yang lebih tinggi daripada epoksi tulen dengan kekonduksian elektrik setinggi 1.82 x 10-2 S/cm, yang sekali ganda lebih tinggi daripada komposit epoksi dengan isipadu GNP 0.5%. Akhir sekali, kajian ini melibatkan penggunaan dua jenis resin epoksi yang berbeza, dengan menggunakan sistem hibrid GNP-MWCNT ke atas sifat-sifat komposit hibrid epoksi. Berbanding dengan komposit hibrid epoksi-DER (0.1:0.4), komposit hibrid epoksi-Epolam (0.1:0.4) telah menunjukkan sifat tegangan dan termal yang lebih rendah manakala kekonduksian elektrik komposit hibrid kekal hampir dengan penebat tulen matrik epoksi Epolam. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Graphene has attracted great attention in electronic applications because of the unique mechanical, electrical and thermal properties arising from its two dimensional structure. Graphene nanopowder (GNP) filled epoxy thin film nanocomposites were fabricated using ultrasonication and the spin coating techniques. The effect of GNP loading and sonication time, chloroform as dispersion solution for GNP (ch-GNP), amine as coupling agent for GNP (m-GNP) and hybrid system using GNP and multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) (GNP-MWCNT) on the tensile, electrical and thermal properties of epoxy composites were investigated in this study. Generally, the addition of GNP decreased the tensile strength and modulus for all epoxy composites. However, the GNP/epoxy composites produced using 20 minutes of sonication time had a slightly higher tensile strength and modulus, with a lower electrical percolation threshold volume fraction (0.1 vol%). Morphological study via scanning electron microscopy (SEM) showed that improvement in GNP dispersion was achieved with increased sonication time. However, GNP deformation was observed after a long sonication time. Both ch-GNP/epoxy and m-GNP/epoxy composites produced using 20 minutes of sonication time had slightly higher tensile properties than GNP/epoxy composites, especially at low filler loading. However, the m-GNP/epoxy composites exhibit percolation threshold value at higher filler loading (0.6 vol%) compared to 0.05 and 0.1 vol% for ch-GNP/epoxy and GNP/epoxy composite, respectively. Morphological analysis via SEM showed a higher degree of dispersion and exfoliation of ch-GNP and m-GNP in the epoxy composites. However, morphological study via transmission electron microscopy (TEM) showed that both ch-GNP and m-GNP size was far smaller than the as received GNP. From the thermal properties, it was found that ch-GNP/epoxy and m-GNP/epoxy composites showed a higher glass transition temperature than GNP/epoxy composites. The GNP-MWCNT/epoxy hybrid composites showed improvement in the tensile properties with increasing concentration of MWCNT compared to GNP. GNP-MWCNT/epoxy hybrid composite with 0.1:0.4 ratio of GNP:MWCNT with total nanofiller volume fraction of 0.5 vol% showed the optimum properties among all composites even higher tensile properties than the unfilled epoxy with highest electrical conductivity of 1.82 × 10-2 S/cm, which is an order of magnitude higher than that of the epoxy composite with 0.5 vol% GNP. Finally, this study involves the use of two different types of epoxy resin using GNP-MWCNT hybrid system on the properties of epoxy hybrid composite. As compared to epoxy-DER (0.1:0.4) hybrid composites, epoxy-Epolam (0.1:0.4) hybrid composites showed lower tensile and thermal properties while the electrical conductivity of the hybrid composite remains very close to that of the pure insulating epoxy-Epolam matrix

The Impact of Organizational Development on Maximizing Business Intelligence in Jordanian Joint Stock Companies

The study aimed to measure the impact of organizational development on maximizing business intelligence in Jordanian industrial joint stock companies. The study was based on analytical descriptive methodology. The study community is from Orange Jordan as a case study.The sampling unit consisted of managers working in the senior and middle management of industrial companies in Jordan. A total of 264 questionnaires were collected and retrieved (258) of which were (97.7%), all of which were valid for analysis. The survey sample was composed of general managers, their deputies, assistants and department heads according to the study sample.The study concluded with a number of results, the most important of which was the existence of a statistically significant effect at the level of α (= 0.05) for the organizational development in its dimensions (development, empowerment, recruitment, innovation, organization) to maximize business intelligence (data collection, Data, reporting, information transfer) in Jordanian industrial joint stock companies. The study recommended a number of recommendations, the most important of which was the need to raise the awareness of the Jordanian industrial companies' management about the importance of organizational development as one of the fundamental concepts in modern management. It also recommended increasing the interest of administrative leaders in studying and understanding the characteristics of effective business intelligence dimensions and methods. DOI: 10.7176/EJBM/11-14-11 Publication date:May 31st 201