Inclusion de-moderation hypothesis: Egyptian secularists in democratization

Democratization could lead to de-moderation. This is the proposed argument of this thesis which studies the impact of political openings on secularist forces in Egypt between 1970 and 2013, a timeframe which crosses Sadat, Mubarak, and the post-revolution periods, witnessing several waves of repression and inclusion. The thesis presents two secular cases: the Tagammu Party, which was pushed towards statism by political liberalization in the 1980s, and the Revolutionary Socialists, who shifted in an anti-institutional direction after democratization in 2011-13. These opposing pathways seem to challenge the inclusion-moderation hypothesis. Introducing the moderation theory to secular actors opens a broad spectrum in which to comprehend the under-studied field of Arab secularism and rethinking, and at the same time, the scope of moderation hypotheses. The study demonstrates how these two parties responded to political openings, evaluated political opportunities, and assessed the feasibility of the elections and their capacity to compete with other opposition rivals, namely the Islamists

Computer-based selection tests: psychological and measurement implications of adaptive testing

The aim of this thesis is to develop realistic expectations about the psychological and psychometric implications of using computerized adaptive tests (CAT). A review is carried out of literature on computerized-based testing (CBT) and CAT. A field study as well as four laboratory experiments were conducted to achieve that goal The current research strongly suggested the equivalence between the paper-and-pencil (P&P) and CAT formats for the Abstract Reasoning (AR) and Mechanical Reasoning (MR) tests of the Differential Aptitude Tests (DAT), but failed to do so for the Numerical Ability (NA) test. Also, the CAT version of OAT can predict a performance variable as accurately as can the P&P format. Overall testees' attitudes toward several aspects of computerized testing were positive. The results confirmed the negative relationship between computer experience and computer anxiety. Moreover, knowledge of CAT behaviour negatively affected subjects' performance, but did not increase the level of their state anxiety. This suggested that a form of feedback acts during the adaptive test which has a negative effect on testees' performance and response time. This assumption was confirmed. Subjects spend a shorter time on the subsequent item after negative feedback (wrong) on the previous item than after positive feedback (right). It has been found that although the response time for answering an individual item was higher for CAT format than for P&P format, the CAT version of DAT resulted in a 20% reduction in completion time of the test. Also, the difficulty level of the initial items has a significant effect on testees' overall scores. The findings of this thesis suggest that CAT has numerous advantages and potential for improving the efficiency and accuracy of testing, and has potential areas of future contribution within personnel selection and assessment. This potential can be realized if proper consideration is made in designing, developing, and implementing these testing systems, and if professional standards are maintained by developers and users

Computer-based selection tests: psychological and measurement implications of adaptive testing

The aim of this thesis is to develop realistic expectations about the psychological and psychometric implications of using computerized adaptive tests (CAT). A review is carried out of literature on computerized-based testing (CBT) and CAT. A field study as well as four laboratory experiments were conducted to achieve that goal The current research strongly suggested the equivalence between the paper-and-pencil (P&P) and CAT formats for the Abstract Reasoning (AR) and Mechanical Reasoning (MR) tests of the Differential Aptitude Tests (DAT), but failed to do so for the Numerical Ability (NA) test. Also, the CAT version of OAT can predict a performance variable as accurately as can the P&P format. Overall testees' attitudes toward several aspects of computerized testing were positive. The results confirmed the negative relationship between computer experience and computer anxiety. Moreover, knowledge of CAT behaviour negatively affected subjects' performance, but did not increase the level of their state anxiety. This suggested that a form of feedback acts during the adaptive test which has a negative effect on testees' performance and response time. This assumption was confirmed. Subjects spend a shorter time on the subsequent item after negative feedback (wrong) on the previous item than after positive feedback (right). It has been found that although the response time for answering an individual item was higher for CAT format than for P&P format, the CAT version of DAT resulted in a 20% reduction in completion time of the test. Also, the difficulty level of the initial items has a significant effect on testees' overall scores. The findings of this thesis suggest that CAT has numerous advantages and potential for improving the efficiency and accuracy of testing, and has potential areas of future contribution within personnel selection and assessment. This potential can be realized if proper consideration is made in designing, developing, and implementing these testing systems, and if professional standards are maintained by developers and users

Removal of Phosphate from Wastewater by Steel Slag with High Calcium Oxide Column Filter System; Efficiencies and Mechanisms study

Background: The discharge of wastewater with heavy loads of phosphorus leads to the eutrophication in natural water systems. The current work investigated the removal of phosphorus from synthetic wastewater through the medium of a slag filtration system with a high content of CaO was selected as the filter media (HCa) and subjected to treatment in the electric arc furnace (EAF). The pH, point of zero charge (PZC) and XRF of the HCa filter medium was studied. The removal of phosphorus was investigated in a designed vertical column filters in aerated HCa (AEF) and unaerated HCa (UEF) systems. FTIR, XRD and SEM-EDX analyses was implemented for studying the microstructure of HCa. Results: The results of XRF revealed that CaO ranged from 20.2–49.5%. The PZC for the HCa filter was recorded at pH 17.75. The highest efficiencies recorded were 94.65 ± 3.46% and 96.13 ± 2.75% at pH 3 and 93.70 ± 2.59% and 97.15 ± 1.59% at pH 5 for AEF and UEF, respectively. These findings indicated that AEF performed greater removal than UEF systems might due to presence high Ca concentration in AEF, which plays an important role in the process of phosphorus removal. The main elements on the surface of HCa included oxygen, carbon, magnesium, calcium, aluminium and silicon. XRD analysis indicated that the precipitation of orthophosphate as calcium and Ca-phosphates was the removal mechanism, which was confirmed using the FT-IR analysis. Conclusion: These findings demonstrated the efficiency of HCa in removing phosphorus from wastewater

The Effect of Positive Psychology Interventions on Subjective and Psychological Well-being

هدفت الدراسة الحالية إلى الكشف عن أثر برنامج يعتمد على تدخلات علم النفس الإيجابي في الرفاهية الذاتية والنفسية لدى عينة من طلبة وطالبات المرحلة الثانوية في دولة الكويت. تم اتباع المنهج شبه التجريبي، وقد شملت عينة الدراسة 68 طالب وطالبة بواقع 26 للعينة التجريبية، و42 للعينة الضابطة، وهي عينة تطوعية تراوحت أعمارهم بين 17-15 سنة من الصف العاشر والحادي عشر من المرحلة الثانوية. طبق على أفراد العينة مقياس الرضا عن الحياة، ومقياس الازدهار، ومقياس الوجدان الإيجابي والسلبي، وذلك في الأسبوع الأول ثم الأسبوع الأخير من برنامج بريق الذي قدم أونلاين. وأظهرت النتائج وجود فروق ذات دلالة إحصائية بين القياس القبلي والبعدي لدى العينة التجريبية في كل من الازدهار والوجدان الإيجابي والوجدان السلبي، ولم يظهر فرق دال في الرضا عن الحياة. كما ظهرت فروق دالة في القياس البعدي بين متوسطات درجات أفراد العينة التجريبية وأفراد العينة الضابطة في كل من الازدهار والوجدان الإيجابي والوجدان السلبي، وليس في الرضا عن الحياة.The aim of this study was to explore the effectiveness of a program based on positive psychology interventions on the subjective and psychological well-being among a sample of high school students in Kuwait. The quasi-experimental study consisted of 68 male and female volunteering students aged between 15 - 17 from grade ten and eleven, divided into two groups, an experimental group 26 students, and a control group 42 student. Three scales were applied to the sample members: The life satisfaction, The positive and negative experience, and the flourishing scales.  The pre-tests completed on week one of the Bareeq program and the post tests on the last week. The program was presented online. The results showed a significant difference between the pre and post-tests of the experimental sample on the prosperity and the positive and negative affect, but no significant differences found with the life satisfaction. Also, there are significant differences between the mean scores of the experimental sample in the post-test and the control group in both prosperity and positive and negative affect, but not with life satisfaction

Urban coral reefs: Degradation and resilience of hard coral assemblages in coastal cities of East and Southeast Asia

© 2018 The Author(s) Given predicted increases in urbanization in tropical and subtropical regions, understanding the processes shaping urban coral reefs may be essential for anticipating future conservation challenges. We used a case study approach to identify unifying patterns of urban coral reefs and clarify the effects of urbanization on hard coral assemblages. Data were compiled from 11 cities throughout East and Southeast Asia, with particular focus on Singapore, Jakarta, Hong Kong, and Naha (Okinawa). Our review highlights several key characteristics of urban coral reefs, including “reef compression” (a decline in bathymetric range with increasing turbidity and decreasing water clarity over time and relative to shore), dominance by domed coral growth forms and low reef complexity, variable city-specific inshore-offshore gradients, early declines in coral cover with recent fluctuating periods of acute impacts and rapid recovery, and colonization of urban infrastructure by hard corals. We present hypotheses for urban reef community dynamics and discuss potential of ecological engineering for corals in urban areas

A novel encapsulation of 16 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in petroleum sludge with palm oil fuel ash binder; an optimization study and sensitivity analysis using machine learning application

Palm oil fuel ash (POFA) has limited use as a fertilizer, while contribute effectively to the environmental contamination and health risks. Petroleum sludge poses a serious effect on the ecological environment and human health. The present work aimed to present a novel encapsulation process with POFA binder for treating petroleum sludge. Among 16 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, four compounds were selected for the optimization of encapsulation process due to their high risk as carcinogenic substrates. Percentage PS (10–50%) and curing days (7–28 days) factors were used in the optimization process. The leaching test of PAHs was assessed using a GC-MS. The best operating parameters to minimize PAHs leaching from solidified cubes with OPC and10% POFA were recorded with 10% PS and after 28 days, at which PAH leaching was 4.255 and 0.388 ppm with R2 is 0.90%. Sensitivity analysis of the actual and predicted results for both the control and the test (OPC and 10% POFA) revealed that the actual results of the 10% POFA experiments have a high consistency with the predicted data (R2 0.9881) while R2 in the cement experiments was 0.8009. These differences were explained based on the responses of PAH leaching toward percentage of PS and days of cure. In the OPC encapsulation process, the main role was belonged to PS% (94.22%), while with 10% POFA, PS% contributed by 32.36 and cure day contributed by 66.91%

Mangrove Oyster (Crassostrea belcheri) as a Biomonitor Species for Bioavailability of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) from Sediment of the West Coast of Peninsular Malaysia

Rapid industrialization and urbanization in the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia has caused increasing pollution particularly of petroleum and petroleum by-products. Surface sediment and mangrove oyster (Crassostrea belcheri) were collected from five mangrove ecosystems in the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia and investigated for bioavailability of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Sampling locations were selected from both remote areas with few or no previous records of petroleum pollution such as Pulau Merambong and polluted areas that are under international attention such as Klang mangrove ecosystem. PAH fractions were obtained through soxhlet extraction and two-step column chromatography and the fractions were injected to gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) for analysis. The concentrations of PAHs ranged from 151 to 4973 ng g−1 dw in the sediments, while from 309 to 2225 ng g−1 dw in the oysters. When tested for diagnostic ratios, a predominance of pyrogenic source PAHs was detected in the sediments, whereas PAHs in the oysters had mixed petrogenic and pyrogenic sources. A significant correlation (p < 0.05) was found between high molecular weight (HMW) PAHs in the sediments and oysters and biota accumulation factors (BAFs) of PAHs were approaching or exceeding unity indicating the ability of mangrove oyster in bioaccumulation of PAHs. Overall, this study indicates that mangrove oyster (C. belcheri) can be used as a biomonitor species for PAHs in an aquatic environment. © 2017, © 2017 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC