The Role of University administration in Applying the administrative methods for Institutional development in Jordanian Universities in light of distance Education

The study aimed to identify the role of university administration in the application of administrative foundations for institutional development in Jordanian universities in light of distance education from the point of view of academic leaders, and the descriptive survey approach was used, and the study sample consisted of (170) academic leaders, and the questionnaire was used as a study tool. The results of the study showed: The role of university administration in applying administrative methods for institutional development in Jordanian universities in light of distance education came to a large degree of appreciation, and the results also showed statistically significant differences due to the impact of the gender variable, and it came in favor of females, and there are no differences attributable to the impact of The variables of the university type, academic rank, and college, the study recommended the importance of clarity of the mechanisms used and the implementation of continuous and effective supervision to reach a real application of the administrative foundations in the development and development of the institution and bring about positive change to it, and the adherence to its controls and the pursuit of the objectives of the institution

Heavy Metal Contamination of Roadside Topsoil in North East Jordan

Environmental pollution of heavy metals from automobiles has attained much attention in the recent past, a study of heavy metals in roadside soils is critical in assessing the potential environmental impacts of automobile emission on soil. The present research was conducted to study heavy metals contamination in roadside soils of Mafraq-Zarqa highway in Jordan. The soil samples were collected and analyzed for the levels of Mn, Ni, Cu, Pb, Cd and Zn using flam atomic absorption spectrophotometer (AAS). The results showed that all heavy metals except Mn are lower than other studies. Results indicate the decreasing order of the average total metals content for the studied metals: Mn> Zn > Cu > Ni> Pb> Cd, higher levels of heavy metals east of the roadside were due to the westerly prevailing wind at the sampling site. The contamination decreased with distance from off the edge of the roadside and dropped to background level at about 60m west, also the contamination of the top soil was higher than the lower soil, finally the levels of heavy metals increased with increasing traffic densities and furthermore, they reached elevated levels in urban areas. Keywords: Roadside, Soil, Heavy Metal, Mafraq,Zarqa, Jordan

Use of viscoelastic tests to predict clinical thromboembolic events: A systematic review and meta-analysis

We aimed to assess whether whole-blood viscoelastic tests are useful to identify patients who are hypercoagulable and at increased risk of thromboembolism. Two investigators independently analyzed studies in the MEDLINE, EMBASE, and Cochrane controlled trial register databases to determine the ability of viscoelastic tests to identify a hypercoagulable state that is predictive of objectively proven thromboembolic events. Forty-one eligible studies, including 10,818 patients, were identified and subject to meta-analysis. The majority of the studies (n = 36, 88%) used the maximum clot strength to identify a hypercoagulable state which had a moderate ability to differentiate between patients who developed thromboembolic events and those who did not (area under the summary receiver operating characteristic [sROC] curve = 0.70, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.65-0.75). The pooled sensitivity, specificity, and diagnostic odds ratio to predict thromboembolism were 56% (95%CI: 44-67), 76% (95%CI: 67-83), and 3.6 (95%CI: 2.6-4.9), respectively. The predictive performance did not vary substantially between patient populations, and publication bias was not observed. Current evidence suggests that whole-blood viscoelastic tests have a moderate ability to identify a variety of patient populations with an increased risk of thromboembolic events and can be considered as a useful adjunct to clinical judgment to stratify a patient's risk of developing thromboembolism

An Evaluation of the image of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan in the British and Swedish markets and the implications for marketing the country as a tourism destination.

Tourism image is critical to the success of any destination, but few image studies to date have focused specifically on either Jordan or the UK and Sweden; furthermore, none has analysed the image of Jordan as a tourist destination in either the UK or Sweden or the influence of religious beliefs as a constituent of that image. The aim of this thesis, therefore, was to examine the image of Jordan as a tourist destination, as it exists in the British and Swedish markets, and to explore the influence of religious beliefs upon the formation of that image. The images of Jordan perceived by the British and Swedish publics were evaluated through quantitative primary research, including open-ended questions in two stages in the form of an organic/experiential questionnaire. In particular, it focussed on the effect of visitation on the image of Jordan held by British and Swedish tourists as well as the influence of religious beliefs as a constituent of that image. Nine hundred and ten questionnaires were filled and were valid for analysis ip both stages (496 Britons and 414 Swedes). The findings of the thesis showed a number of differences between British and Swedish organic and experiential images of Jordan as a tourism destination. From the marketing point of view, the results reveal a strong awareness of the Jordan destination brand. There was also a favourable attitude towards the brand 'Jordan' and most respondents showed good comprehension of the brand's attributes and values. It is encouraging that 65.5% could give a specific image of the country and less than 40% could name one of its unique attractions. Perceptions of Jordan were more positive in Britain than in Sweden. This would be due to the closer historical links between Jordan and Britain; however, a large majority of respondents in both countries rated Jordan highly in all the attributes in the survey. The results showed the influence of religious belief and practice on how Jordan is perceived by potential and actual British and Swedish tourists. Those who admitted higher levels of belief and practice were more likely to rate Jordan highly as a tourist destination across a range of attributes, including historical sites, religious sites, beaches, scenery, nightlife, tourist information, accommodation, quality of service, price levels, airport facilities, adventure and cleanliness. The results showed significant positive image modifications in terms of safety, people and atmosphere; whilst, they revealed other significant negative image modification towards beaches, cleanliness, tourist information, shopping and nightlife, which may have serious consequences in terms of repeat visits and word-of-mouth recommendations. Religion appears to be a more significant factor than the other cultural allegiances used as a control. The literature and primary research identified religious tourism as an important niche for future development. The findings of this thesis have contributed to the literature regarding Jordan's image and marketing a country as a tourism destination

The perception and practice of silence in Australian and Jordanian societies : a socio-pragmatic study

The willingness to understand the perception and practice of silence is currently receiving an increasing amount of attention in the literature on sociolinguistics and pragmatics. This study aims to investigate silence as perceived and practised by speakers of Australian English and Jordanian Arabic in casual conversation from a socio-pragmatic perspective. It also attempts to anticipate processes in which silence can be created and used in the mainstream of communication. In addition, it identifies problems in perceiving and practising silence in both cultures. The present study also looks at gender differences in both societies. Ethnographic and qualitative data were drawn from in-depth interviews, observations, and video and audio recordings. The data were collected from the North of Jordan and Western Australia. The participants of the study were 24 university students (undergraduates): twelve males and 12 females in both countries. The participants of the study were divided into two main groups: friends and people who were unacquainted. The dyadic conversations lasted for 30 minutes each. These conversations were video-taped. Ninety seconds from the beginning, 90 seconds from the middle, and 90 seconds from the end of each conversation were analysed. Praat software was used to detect the period of silence in conversations. The data analysis drew on Sacks et al’s (1974) turn-taking model, Halliday’s notion of context of situation, and Conversation Analysis. The findings of the study demonstrate that silence is significant and meaningful. It frames and structures the conversation between the interlocutors. Silence has sociolinguistic functions, and pragmatic functions which includes polite functions and discourse functions. In addition, silence is not opposite to speech. They complement each other. It has also been discovered that there are longer silences in conversations between friends rather than between people who are unacquainted. Silence is awkward in conversation between strangers, because the interlocutors are not familiar with each other. In addition, in the same–sex conversations, women practise more silences, as they feel more comfortable. There are many similarities between Jordanian and Australian speakers in perceiving and practising silence in social settings. This assumption supports the Universal Grammar of socio-pragmatic practice of silence in interpersonal communication. The results of the study contribute to an understanding of the perception and practice of silence in both societies. Practical suggestions for interpreting silence and future research are also identified

Predicting contrast-induced nephropathy after CT pulmonary angiography in the critically ill: a retrospective cohort study

Background It is uncertain whether we can predict contrast-induced nephropathy (CIN) after CT pulmonary angiography (CTPA). This study compared the ability of a validated CIN prediction score with the Pulmonary Embolism Severity Index (PESI) in predicting CIN after CTPA. Methods This cohort study involved critically ill adult patients who required a CTPA to exclude acute pulmonary embolism (PE). Patients with end-stage renal failure requiring dialysis were excluded. CIN was defined as an elevation in plasma creatinine concentrations > 44.2μmol/l (or 0.5 mg/dl) within 48 h after CTPA. Results Of the 137 patients included, 77 (51%) were hypotensive, 54 (39%) required inotropic support, and 68 (50%) were mechanically ventilated prior to the CTPA. Acute PE was confirmed in 21 patients (15%) with 14 (10%) being bilateral. CIN occurred in 56 patients (41%) with 35 (26%) required dialysis subsequent to CTPA. The CIN prediction score had a good ability to discriminate between patients with and without developing CIN (Area under the receiver-operating-characteristic (AUROC) curve 0.864, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.795–0.916) and requiring subsequent dialysis (AUROC 0.897, 95% CI 0.833–0.942) and was better than the PESI in predicting both outcomes (AUROC 0.731, 95% CI 0.649–0.804 and 0.775, 95% CI 0.696–0.842, respectively). A CIN risk score > 10 and 12 had an 82.1 and 85.7% sensitivity and 81.5 and 78.4% specificity to predict subsequent CIN and dialysis, respectively. The CIN prediction model tended to underestimate the observed risks of dialysis, but this was improved after recalibrating the slope and intercept of the original prediction equation. Conclusions The CIN prediction score had a good ability to discriminate between critically ill patients with and without developing CIN after CTPA. Used together for critically ill patients with suspected acute PE, the CIN prediction score and PESI may be useful to inform clinicians when the benefits of a CTPA scan will outweigh its potential harms

Sacrifice in the Safaitic inscriptions in the light of new evidence

The inscriptions published in this paper are from the collection of a co-project between the Free University Berlin and the Department of Antiquities under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Rainer Voigt and Prof. Dr. Fawwaz Al-Khraysheh and the field team Mohammad I. Ababneh and Rafe Harahsheh. During the epigraphic survey in 2007 in the region of Eastern Badiyah, we have recorded a collection of Safaitic inscriptions and drawings from the area of Tall ar-Rāhib

A Survey of Using Machine Learning in IoT Security and the Challenges Faced by Researchers

The Internet of Things (IoT) has become more popular in the last 15 years as it has significantly improved and gained control in multiple fields. We are nowadays surrounded by billions of IoT devices that directly integrate with our lives, some of them are at the center of our homes, and others control sensitive data such as military fields, healthcare, and datacenters, among others. This popularity makes factories and companies compete to produce and develop many types of those devices without caring about how secure they are. On the other hand, IoT is considered a good insecure environment for cyber thefts. Machine Learning (ML) and Deep Learning (DL) also gained more importance in the last 15 years; they achieved success in the networking security field too. IoT has some similar security requirements such as traditional networks, but with some differences according to its characteristics, some specific security features, and environmental limitations, some differences are made such as low energy resources, limited computational capability, and small memory. These limitations inspire some researchers to search for the perfect and lightweight security ways which strike a balance between performance and security. This survey provides a comprehensive discussion about using machine learning and deep learning in IoT devices within the last five years. It also lists the challenges faced by each model and algorithm. In addition, this survey shows some of the current solutions and other future directions and suggestions. It also focuses on the research that took the IoT environment limitations into consideration

The academic supervisor’s Role in the Advancement of the Schools' Curricula based on Secondary Schools Teachers' Perspective at the Directorate of– Almafraq – Jordan

This Study aims to identify the role of the educational supervisor in curriculum development from the point of view of the teachers from secondary schools in the Education Directorate of Mafraq- district in Jordan, and the impact of the Gender, experience in defining the role of the educational supervisor in curriculum development. A study sample consisted of (97) teachers. That study concluded the following results: that there is a role for the supervisor in the development of educational curricula, in the area of the results indicated that the objectives show that the educational supervisor is aware of the importance of the educational goals,  consequently, that objective got high score. The area of planning results has shown that the role of the supervisor in this area is vital from most teachers’ perspectives. The results of the study showed no statistically significant differences attributable to gender while results indicated the presence of significant differences due to the variable experience. The experience of more than five years. Based on the results, the study recommends the following: increasing the activation of teacher’s training programs on the new curriculum by supervisors, and emphasizing the role of supervisor as a leader in the development of educational curricula. Key Terms: Academic Supervisor – Curricula – Developmen