INVESTIGATING THE TOLUENE REMOVAL OF A BOTANICAL AIR FILTER WITH A LOOSE-PACKED GROWTH MEDIA FOR POTENTIAL ENERGY SAVINGS

The research of this thesis developed experiments inside a sealed environmental chamber to examine the effectiveness of a botanical air filter with an assisting fan and a loose-packed growth media (i.e., Biowall) in removing toluene from air. Through injecting a known amount of toluene and continuously monitoring its decay inside the environmental chamber, five different toluene decay rates were quantified: the natural decay rate (empty chamber), the decay rates with the presence of the Biowall for two different fan speeds, and the decay rates with the presence of growth media without the plants for dry and wet conditions. The clean air delivery rates for the Biowall with both fan speeds and the growth media with both conditions were then found through the mass conservation of contaminates equation with respect to the natural decay rate and the chamber’s volume. Additionally, with the reference to ASHRAE 62.2 standard for acceptable ventilation rates for residential buildings, weather data, and typical home sizes, the thesis estimated preliminary potential energy savings in ventilation for different climate zones based on the clean air delivery rates of the Biowall

Temporal changes in the Red Sea circulation and associated water masses

Long-term variability of the Red Sea deep water (RSDW) properties was investigated using hydrographic data stretching back to the beginning of the 19th century. The analysis of the potential temperature and salinity indicate that there is a signal of cooling and freshening trends between 1950 to 2011 in the RSDW by an average of 35.5 x10-4 ± 5.6x10-4 oC yr-1 and 13.8x10-4 ± 2.8x10-4 psu yr-1 respectively. Both trends of cooling and freshening are statistically significant with a confidence level of more than 95%. These cooling and freshening trends are consistent with the net heat loss trend in the three source regions for the deep water formation of the Red Sea by an average of -1.12 ± 0.49 Wm-2, -1.75 ± 0.49 Wm-2 and -1.58 ± 0.47 Wm-2 for the northern part of the Red Sea and the Gulfs of Suez and Aqaba respectively. The results suggest that the potential temperature and salinity seem to have decreased between 1950 and 2011 by as much as 0.12 oC and 0.13 psu respectively. These changes observed in the potential temperature and salinity in the RSDW are consistent throughout the Red Sea basin (subdivided into 2o grids) for the last three decades (1977-2011).An inverse box model of the Red Sea is constructed using two hydrographic sections in the southern basin during August 2001 from research vessel (R/V) Maurice Ewing to provide quantification of the summer field fluxes (volume, heat and salt). The results show that the volume transport of the Red Sea outflow water (RSOW) to the Indian Ocean through the Strait of Bab el Mandeb is 0.11 ± 0.06 Sv (1 Sv = 106 m3 s-1). There is a heat loss by advection with a magnitude of 23.5 ± 5.7 W m-2 during a summer month (August) that fits well with the previous estimate by Patzert (1974b) with magnitude of 21.81 W m-2 and with magnitude of -22 Wm-2 based on data from i ii Sofianos et al. (2002). There is a salt loss by advection with a magnitude of 0.98 x109 kg s-1 this estimate is supported by the analysis of Tragou et al. (1999) which gives a magnitude of 0.8 x109 kg s-1

A Time Series Analysis and Forecasting of Opening Stock Price of McDonalds Crop.

McDonalds Corp. is globally famous and is abounded in recent years. It is one of the major chain restaurants that offers a fast food. Basic foods that are served at McDonalds are different types and sizes of burgers, fries, some breakfast, sweets, ice cream and kids meals. McDonalds products have increased loyalty from customers, which has led to the rise of an uneven stock price. So the data is not stationary and makes the role of the analysts ability to forecast the future condition of the organization important. The aim of this paper is to analyze and forecast the opening stock price of McDonalds Corp. over a period tim

Intensive Robot-Assisted Gait Training in Individuals with Chronic Spinal Cord Injury: Case Series from Saudi Arabia

Purpose: The aim of this study was to report whether intensive body weight-supported treadmill training with a robotic exoskeleton could improve over-ground functional mobility in individuals with chronic spinal cord injury and to investigate its feasibility and safety. Methods: This was a case series design. Two male individuals with chronic (\u3e 1 year since injury) spinal cord injury (SCI) were included in this study. All subjects underwent intensive gait training sessions 5 times per week using exoskeleton for 12 weeks with a total of 60 sessions. The duration of the session was 60 minutes, including the installment of the HAL, gait training, and the removal of the HAL. The training was performed on a treadmill with adjustable speed and a lifter, under the supervision of a physiotherapist. Two types of outcomes were collected: treadmill-associated data and functional outcomes. Results: We observed a continuous increase in treadmill walking distance, time, and speed for both cases from baseline assessment until the end of the study at 12 weeks The findings from this study provide evidence that the Hybrid Assistive Limb (HAL) can be used with chronic spinal cord injury and can improve walking abilities in terms of distance, speed, and time. Conclusion: HAL can be used for gait training in rehabilitation facilities for individuals with chronic spinal cord injury and did not cause any serious adverse effects to the participating subjects. Our results support the findings of previous studies that show that treatment with HAL may result in improvement in gait parameters. However, more studies with a larger sample size are needed to compare the effect of HAL with conventional physical therap

The Role of Workarounds in Benefits Realisation: Evidence from a Field Study in Saudi Arabia

Recent studies show that more than half of Saudi Arabian (SA) organisations fail to realise business benefits from their IS investments. This has been largely attributed to the contextual misalignment between information technologies and the needs of developing countries. In the IS literature on benefits realisation, the application of benefits dependency networks (BDN), have been established as being helpful in improving IS projects outcomes. This research investigates current IT development practice in SMEs in Saudi Arabia and reports on some of the challenges that these businesses need to overcome to achieve benefits from their IT investments. Evidence from the literature and a field study suggests that workarounds are widely used when implementing new IT, particularly to facilitate the continuation of embedded cultural practices. The paper argues that integrating the Theory of Workarounds into frameworks for benefits realisation would offer a useful conceptualisation of IT implementation practice to support businesses in developing countries such as Saudi Arabia to improve outcomes when investing in IT

Anatomy of the glenohumeral ligaments

For many years, there has been controversy regarding the presence of the glenohumeral ligaments; the aim of the present study was to evaluate the detailed anatomy of these ligaments. 140 shoulders were dissected and examined. The detailed anatomy of glenohumeral ligaments was recorded. Data were doubled-entered into the Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 21. Kruskal-Wallis and one way analysis for variance on ranks tests were used: statistical significance was set at p<0.05. The superior glenohumeral ligament was present in all specimens originating from the glenoid labrum anterosuperior aspect, inserting into the lesser tubercle (mean thickness 5.06 mm). The middle glenohumeral ligament was present in 98.57% of specimens arising from the glenoid labrum anterior aspect, inserting into the lesser tubercle (mean thickness 5.97 mm). The inferior glenohumeral ligament anterior band was present in all specimens arising from the glenoid labrum anteroinferior aspect, inserting into the humeral neck anteroinferior aspect (mean thickness 4.41 mm). The inferior glenohumeral ligament posterior band was observed in 79.28% of specimens arising from the posteroinferior aspect of the glenoid labrum, inserting into the humeral neck posteroinferior aspect: its mean thickness was 3.45 mm. this study concludes that the superior glenohumeral ligament was observed in all specimens. The middle glenohumeral ligament was seen in 98.57%. An anterior band of the inferior glenohumeral ligament was present in all specimens, while a posterior band was present in 79.28%. A tuberculohumeral ligament was seen in 54.83% of specimens. The present observations should encourage evaluation of the function of this ligament

Language Use, Attitudes, and Identities of Bilingual Arab Children in Manchester, UK: Description and Factors

This sociolinguistic study contributes to the debate around language use, attitudes and identity within ethnic minorities in the UK. It also contributes to discussions of heritage language maintenance and family language policies. More importantly, it furthers our understanding of language use in supplementary schools, a field that has not received enough attention from researchers. In this thesis, I investigate bilingual Arab children’s language use, attitudes and identities. First, I explore their language use patterns and linguistic practices in two environments: at home and at the supplementary Arabic school. I then examine their attitudes towards Arabic in its two varieties ‘Standard Arabic (SA) and Colloquial Arabic (QA)’, their attitudes towards Arabic supplementary schools, and their attitudes towards maintaining Arabic. Third, I explore the children’s identities in relation to the Arabic school, the English school, at home and in general term as identity is approach as something dynamic and changeable in this study. The factors that affect these language practices, attitudes and sense of identity, and the relationships between them are examined in detail. The aim of this study was to find patterns that lead to the maintenance of Arabic and/ or language shift. Arab children, parents and teachers in Arabic supplementary schools in Manchester, UK were invited to participate. Using a combination of questionnaires, interviews, observation and field notes, this project provides a picture of language repertoires, preferences and practices in the Arabic community in Manchester. The findings show that Arabic is indeed maintained and that there is a great effort to maintain it. The main motivation for Arabic maintenance is its value as the language of the Quran. However, the results also show that the children’s language use with older generations differs from children’s language use with younger generations, which suggests that there is a shift towards English-dominant bilingualism amongst the younger generation. The key finding is that the most influential factor on the children’s general language use is the language spoken to them. Furthermore, it sheds light on the importance of setting language policies that increase the use of Arabic both at home and in Arabic schools. In addition, the findings of this study show that attending supplementary schools, watching Arabic programmes, reading Arabic books, and socializing with Arabs could motivate children to speak and maintain Arabic. Regarding attitudes, children generally hold positive attitudes towards Arabic, maintaining Arabic and Arabic supplementary schools. These attitudes are positively related to the children’s language use, enjoyment in learning Arabic, and their sense of identity. In terms of identity, the children showed changeable sense of identity which appears far from fixed as they positioned themselves within different social groups in different social contexts. identifying the children themselves as ‘Arab Muslim’ was associated with a higher use of Arabic

Improving the Performance of a Series-Parallel System Based on Lindley Distribution

In this article, the performance of a series-parallel system is improved. The system components are assumed to follows independently and identically Lindley distributed with three parameters. The system reliability for the given system will be improved by using reduction method, hot, cold and imperfect duplication method. Some reliability measures are derived. Two types of reliability equivalence factors and gamma fractiles are calculated. A numerical example is introduced to explain the theoretical results