MOOCs in Omani Higher Education Institutions: Use and Popularity

Due to the rapid influence of technology on the teaching-learning process, both instructors and students alike are expected to keep abreast of the perpetual developments in the field of education. The introduction of Massive Open Online Courses (Henceforth MOOCs), as one form of e-learning, has made skyrocketing changes in the manner and availability of education provided to mass numbers of learners all the world, including Arab countries. The use of MOOCs in Oman is relatively new, and thus it appears to be unbeknown to a large segment of undergraduate students. The study beforehand, therefore, is meant to explore Omani undergraduate students’ awareness of MOOCs both locally and globally via the use a self-administered questionnaire targeting three main academic institutions in Oman with a total number of 306 participants. In-depth scrutiny of the obtained data evidently shows that unfamiliarity of MOOCs among Omani undergraduate students is significantly high, a fact reflected in the high percentage of those oblivious of its existence (88.89%) as opposed to those (11.11 %) who are familiar with MOOCs. Lack of publicity of these platforms in the Omani academic institutions and the academic community in general, among several other reasons, stand behind such unawareness of these platforms

Educational Games in Elementary Education: Unlocking the Potentials

The advent of technology has made big strides in the development of humans’ life in different spheres. The integration of technology in education has introduced other teaching methods that could improve and emulate the traditional way of teaching. The use of educational games is a by-product of integrating technology into teaching to enhance teaching methods and students’ performance. This study, hence, aims to evaluate the effect of using educational games in teaching mathematics to second-graders in a Palestinian school using a quasi-experimental approach. Thirty male and female second-graders from Al Aqsa Integrated School, Kuala Lumpur, were the targeted sample. The sample was divided into an experimental group and a control group. A selected educational game was used to explain mathematics lessons, namely addition within 99 or 999, to the experimental group. The same content was taught to the students in the control group using the traditional method. Findings showed that teaching mathematics via educational games was significantly effective in improving students’ achievement in the experimental group compared to the achievement of their counterparts taught via the traditional method. These findings provide evidence that educational games could substantially improve primary second-grade students’ skills in mathematics compared to the traditional teaching method

American and Egyptian media coverage of the Camp David Peace Accords

This thesis is concerned with the way multi-national issues are dealt with by media. I illustrate this by the example of the media treatment of Mideast relations, concentrating on three newspapers: The Washington Post and The New York Times from the US, and Al Ahram from Egypt. The events central to the study lay within the Camp David Period of September 1977 to March 1979, with the signing of the Camp David Accords in September, 1978, and the Treaty in March, 1979 ("Camp David"). Because of the media coverage this is an ideal series of events to study methods of filtering information within newspapers. Since Camp David created as much interest in the Mideast as in the West, a comparison of different reports is fruitful. Within Chapter 5I utilise a content analytical method to discover what biases may have been present in the reporting of Camp David, widening this to deal with issues of journalism and the North/ South divide, and show that media is less an investigative tool and more an anchor for established views. A tentative conclusion is an identification of the lack of what are considered journalists' most valued qualities: objectivity and professionalism. I identify a misunderstanding in the lay-person's view of the media profession: as The Washington Post and The New York Times show, although articles may have attempted a balanced format, these media may not have been investigative internationally (though they were domestically). We have to be wary when extrapolating from only three newspapers to the wider world (though I studied other newspapers and media) but since these titles were chosen for their standing and influence, some wider conclusions may be drawn. The thesis indicates no single viewpoint of developed media; no "conspiracy" somehow politically to defraud or act directly for domestic interests. I seek a perspective on developed media in a simultaneous analysis of the Egyptian media and its milieu. What I contend is of interest is that forces acted on Al Ahram, The Washington Post and The New York Times which, though different in kind, were more similar in effect than heretofore argued. Western journalism I assess as operating within a narrower set of models than is frequently believed

Neuromodulation in Urology: Current Trends and Future Applications

Urological applications of neuromodulation and neurostimulation are among the most evolving fields for these technologies. First approved for management of refractory urge incontinence, different modalities of neuromodulation and stimulation have been tested, applied and verified for a vast spectrum of voiding and pelvic floor dysfunction disorders. The modalities of delivering this treatment have also evolved in the last three decades, with a focus on sacral neuromodulation. The experimental and established “off-label” applications of neuromodulation have also encompassed chronic pelvic pain disorders, including chronic prostatitis and bladder pain syndrome, among others. In this chapter, we discuss all the hypothesized theories suggested on how this technology provides therapeutic potential for a number of chronic and debilitating urological conditions, the modes of delivery be it anterior, sacral, and posterior tibial to name a few, and the evolving and future applications

Urological Applications of Botulinum Toxin A

Botulinum toxin A (BoNT-A) has seen in the last two decades an increased level of application in urological practice, first FDA approved in 2011 for neurogenic detrusor overactivity and then later in 2013 for refractory overactive bladder. Hundreds of studies have been published in literature assessing the chemical structure of botulinum toxins and how urothelial injections in the lower urinary tract and vesical instillations can be employed in the management of a spectrum of urological conditions particularly voiding dysfunction. The consensus is still out on toxin A preparations, mode and pattern of application whether instilled or injected intradetrusally, units used, as well as time to onset and duration of effect of injections and is still a dense research topic. This is reflected in the continuously changing and differing grades of recommendations between societies of urological practitioners such as the EAU and AUA, among others. This chapter discusses both the FDA-approved and experimental applications of botulinum toxin A in urology, indications, techniques, and points of debate

On the mathematical complexity and the time implementation of proposed variants of elliptic curves cryptosystems

The group of the elliptic curve points forms an abelian group, which is considered as a suitable choice for constructing a problem similar to the Discrete Logarithm Problem. This creates and opens a new door for treatments of the special group and new operations. In 2005, Al-Saffar (2005) proposed two new methods for elliptic curve cryptosystems using the keys from the algorithm of Diffie–Hellman Key Exchange. In addition, she introduced a variant of the ElGamal scheme. Also, three propositions were introduced to develop the Menezes-Vanstone Elliptic Curves Cryptosystem (MVECC). In this paper, we will discuss all of these propositions and will compare them with the original schemes (ElGamal and MVECC) according to the complexity and the time which they took to implement each scheme

Cytotoxic evaluation and concurrent analysis of two diterpenes in the chloroform extract of Plectranthus barbatus using a validated HPTLC-UV method

The objective of this study was to develop a validated high-performance thin layer chromatography (HPTLC) method for the concurrent analysis of two diterpenes Sugiol (compound 1) and 11,14-dihydroxy-8,11,13-abietatrien-7-one (compound 2) in Plectranthus barbatus chloroform extract (PBCE) and to investigate cytotoxicity of both compounds. The chromatographic estimations were carried out using toluene : ethyl acetate : formic acid (8.2:1.3:0.5 v/v/v) as mobile phase. The compact spots of biomarkers were scanned at λmax= 275 nm. Cytotoxic evaluation of both compounds was performed using follicular thyroid cancer cells (FRO cells). A well resolved, compact and intense peaks of compound 1 (Rf = 0.550 ± 0.001) and compound 2 (Rf = 0.700 ± 0.002) were recorded. The proposed method for both compounds was recorded as simple, linear, precise (% RSD = 1.02-1.25), accurate (98-100%), robust and sensitive for the analysis of both compounds. Cytotoxicity evaluation showed significant cell cytotoxicity at 100 μg/mL concentration against the FRO cancer cells after 72 h of incubation. Both compounds were recorded as cytotoxic, however compound 1 showed significant cytotoxic effects. The proposed HPTLC method was found to be suitable for routine analysis of these two biomarkers in chloroform extract of P. barbatus. Both compounds were found to be cytotoxic against FRO cancer cells. KEY WORDS: Diterpenes, Sugiol, Plectranthus barbatus, Cytotoxicity, HPTLC Bull. Chem. Soc. Ethiop. 2018, 32(3), 407-419.DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.4314/bcse.v32i3.