Criminal enforcement of intellectual property and its effect on human right (analytical comparative examination of TRIPs and human rights) :a UK and Jordan case-study

PhD ThesisThe aims of substantive intellectual property laws and a balance between interested parties can only be achieved through appropriate procedures. Most miscarriages of justice occur procedurally. However the literature on the role of criminal IP procedures is comprehensively slight. The thesis, by a former judge assistant at both the Court of First Instance and the Court of Appeal in Irbid, Jordan, tackles issues related to enforcement of intellectual property rights and their connection to human rights. It considers the rights of the immediate parties involved, third parties, and the general public interest. It examines the role of Euro-Med Association Agreements in general and that between the EU, its member states and Jordan relevant to intellectual property and human rights. Despite the narrow interpretation of WTO/TRIPs by some commentators, it is argued that TRIPs requires that criminal as well as civil procedures be fair and equitable. The elements of a fair trial are analysed in the context of IP proceedings, comparisons being made between procedural safeguards available in Jordan and the UK (especially England and Wales) jurisdictions which have historical ties. Obligations between states at the international and regional level are analysed, along with their implications at the national level in the UK and Jordan, linked to the EU through the Euro-Med Association Agreement with Jordan. The international human rights instruments provide a common framework in accordance with TRIPs provisions interpreted could bridge the gaps that may arise between the British and Jordanian Jurisdictions. The thesis uses doctrinal comparative and qualitative methods to examine these issues and also the relation between criminal and other methods of enforcement - civil and administrative. Use of criminal procedures may significantly reduce the costs of lengthy civil litigation, and be in the public interest and the interest of all parties. Finally, recommendations are made for Jordan mainl

Effects of using soluble Beta-glucan on immune responses against infectious bronchitis disease in broiler chicks

The study was conducted to investigate the effects of soluble β-glucan derived from yeast cell wall isolated from Saccharomyces cerevisiae in drinking water on immune response post routine vaccination and challenge with local isolates of infectious bronchitis virus. Four hundred Ross 308 broiler chicks (from 1 to 40 days old) were divided randomly into four equal groups (diet and drinking water offered ad libitum). G1 was given 225μg/ml of soluble β-glucan in drinking water from day 1 to the end of the experiment and vaccinated with H120 vaccine at one day old by intranasal and ocular drop methods, and Ma5 strain vaccine at 14 days old by spray method. G2 was received 225μg/ml of soluble β-glucan in drinking water from one day to the end of the experiment and considered as control positive. G3 was vaccinated as G1 but without given soluble β-glucan, and G4 considered as control negative (not vaccinated not treated). Results showed that G1 was given significant (P<0.05) increase of antibody titer and gave high production against challenge and increased in IL2 level compared to other groups. In conclusion, we found that the soluble β-glucan enhanced the cellular and humoral immunity against IBV

STUDENTS’ PERCEPTION OF THE USE OF ISLAMIC ENGLISH SONGS IN LEARNING LISTENING AT MADRASAH ALIYAH OF PESANTREN MODERN IMMIM PUTRA MAKASSAR

Abstract The objective of this study was to find out students’ perception of the use of Islamic English songs in learning listening at Madrasah Aliyah of Pesantren Modern IMMIM Putra Makassar. This research used the mixed methods approach. The population of this research was the students of the third-grade Madrasah Aliyah of Pesantren Modern IMMIM Putra Makassar. Through a purposive sampling technique, there were 21 students in the third grade were chosen to be the sample of this research. The instruments of this research were a questionnaire and an interview. The research findings showed that there are 8 students (38.1%) in the category of strongly positive perception, and 7 students (33.3%) in the category of positive perception. It is supported by the data obtained based on the three aspects of perception. From the cognitive aspect, 8 students (38.1%) were in the strongly positive category and 8 students (38.1%) were in the positive category. From the affective aspect, 8 students (38.1%) were in the strongly positive category and 8 students (38.1%) were in the positive category. From the conative aspect, 10 students (47.62%) were in the strongly positive category and 6 students (28.57%) were in the positive category. The researcher also found some additional information from the interview results. It was found that the students “agreed to”, “were comfortable about”, and “were motivated to” the use of Islamic English songs in learning listening at Madrasah Aliyah of Pesantren Modern IMMIM Putra Makassar

Training Artificial Neural Networks by PSO to Perform Digital Circuits Using Xilinx FPGA

One of the major constraints on hardware implementations of Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) is the amount of circuitry required to perform the multiplication process of each input by its corresponding weight and there subsequent addition. Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) is a suitable hardware IC for Neural Network (NN) implementation as it preserves the parallel architecture of the neurons in a layer and offers flexibility in reconfiguration and cost issues. In this paper the adaption of the ANN weights is proposed using Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) as a mechanism to improve the performance of ANN and also for the reduction in the ANN hardware. For this purpose we modified the MATLAB PSO toolbox to be suitable for the taken application. In the proposed design training is done off chip then the fully trained design is download into the chip, in this way less circuitry is required. This paper executes four bit Arithmetic Logic Unit (ALU) implemented using Xilinx schematic design entry tools as an example for the implementation of digital circuits using ANN trained by PSO algorithm

Grass Root Algorithm Optimize Neural Networks for Classification Problem

Artificial neural networks are computational models that trying to emulate the structure and functions of biological human networks. They have been extensively used in many applications include science, business, engineering, and data mining. Learning of an artificial neural network means how to adapt the weights of the network interconnections using suitable adaption algorithm. The training algorithms that is used to modify the weights of the network are considered the most important portion that influences the artificial networks performance. In the past few decade, many meta-heuristic algorithms have been used to optimize networks synaptic weights, in order to achieve better performance. This paper proposes a general network training method based on population-based algorithms, proposes a novel meta-heuristic algorithm that is inspired by the general grass plants root system to optimize the weights of the proposed artificial network to classify real data four classes XOR and Iris data comparing the obtained results of the proposed algorithm with other familiar evolutionary meta-heuristic algorithms.

Computed tomography scans image processing for nasal symptoms severity prediction

This paper aims to use a new technique of computed tomography (CT) scan image processing to correlate the image analysis with sinonasal symptoms. A retrospective cross-sectional study is conducted by analyzing the digital records of 50 patients who attended the ear, nose and throat (ENT) clinics at King Abdullah University Hospital, Jordan. The coronal plane CT scans are analyzed using our developed software. The purposes of this software are to calculate the surface area of the nasal passage at three different levels visible on coronal plane CT scans: i) the head of the inferior turbinate, ii) the head of the middle turbinate, and iii) the tail of the inferior turbinate. We employ image processing techniques to correlate the narrowing of nasal surface area with sinonasal symptoms. As a consequence, obstruction in the first level is correlated significantly with the symptoms of nasal obstruction while the narrowing in the second level is related to frontal headache. No other significant correlations are found with nasal symptoms at the third level. In our study, we find that image processing techniques can be very useful to predict the severity of common nasal symptoms and they can be used to suggest treatment and to follow up on the case progression

Removal oil from produced water by using adsorption method with adsorbent a Papyrus reeds

A papyrus reed, as a type of unusable farming waste, was used as akind of low-cost biosorbent for the elimination a crude oil from produced waterthat was produced in an Al-Ahdab field, Iraq, in a batch stirred operationmode. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and scanning electronmicroscope (SEM) were used to characterize the biosorbent before and afteradsorption. Batch tests were employed as a function of the contact time,adsorbent dose, and the pH of the solution. The experimental results show atincreases the amount adsorbent dosage, pH and contact times, the removalefficiencies were increases and optimum condition was obtained at pH valueequal to 9, 5000 ppm adsorbent dose and 45 minutes contact time for removalabout 94.5% of crude oil, for test sample initial crude oil concentration 257.06ppm. Therefore it can be disposed of without environmental damage. The betterfitting for equilibrium sorption process data was satisfactorily by theFreundlich isotherm model with (R2= 0.9665) and the adsorption kinetics bestdescribed by a pseudo-second-order kinetic model

Effects of feeding frequencies on the growth, plasma biochemistry, and liver glycogen of jade perch Scortum barcoo in a recirculating system

Jade Perch Scortum barcoo having an initial average weight of 7.28 ± 0.13 g (mean ± SE) were cultured in a recirculating system at different feeding frequencies that included one, two, three, or four meals a day at 5% body weight per day. Treatments were performed in triplicate using 65 fish in each replicate. After 72 d, the survival, growth, feeding efficiencies, body indices, plasma biochemistry, whole-body proximate composition, and muscle cholesterol were measured while histological sections of the liver were stained for glycogen with periodic acid Schiff. Results showed that growth was best when fish were fed three times a day, which was significantly higher than those fed one, two or four times a day. Feeding efficiencies were significantly better for fish fed two or three times a day. Plasma glucose, plasma cholesterol, periodic acid Schiff staining intensity of the liver, and hepatosomatic index were significantly higher for fish fed three times a day compared with once a day. Whole-body crude protein was significantly lower for fish fed once a day compared with treatments of two or four times a day. Muscle cholesterol tended to increase with increasing feeding frequencies, but the results were not significant. No significant treatment effect was detected on the plasma mineral content. Based on a feeding rate of 5% body weight/d, it is recommended that feedings are divided into three meals a day to increase available energy for optimal growth

Thin-walled composite tubes using fillers subjected to quasistatic axial compression

It has been demonstrated that composites are lightweight, fatigue resistant and easily melded, a seemingly attractive alternative to metals. However, there has been no widespread switch from metals to composites in the automotive sector. This is because there are a number of technical issues relating to the use of composite materials that still need to be resolved including accurate material characterization, manufacturing and joining process. The total of 36 specimens have been fabricated using the fibre-glass and resin (epoxy) with a two different geometries (circular and corrugated) each one will be filled with five types of filler (Rice Husk, Wood Chips, Aluminium Chips, Coconut Fibre, Palm Oil Fibre) all these type will be compared with empty Tubes for circular and corrugated in order to comprehend the crashworthiness parameters (initial failure load, average load, maximum crushing load, load ratio, energy absorption, specific energy absorption, volumetric energy absorption, crushing force efficiency and crush strain relation) which are considered very sufficient parameters in the design of automotive industry parts. All the tests have been done using the "INSTRON Universal machine" which is computerized in order to simply give a high precision to the collection of the results, along with the use of quasi-static load to test and observe the behaviour of the fabricated specimens

Development of optimal feeding management of early nursery culture of jade perch (Scortum barcoo McCulloch & Waite, 1917) in a recirculating system

Over and underfeeding have negative effects on growth and survival rates. So, optimum feeding management strategy is critical to achieving optimal fish growth, with reducing wastage. Two experiments were carried out in this study to investigate the optimal feeding frequency and rates of juvenile Jade Perch Scortum barcoo reared in a recirculating system (RAS). Each experiment was designed in a completely randomized design in triplicate and a fish were fed the same floating diets (contained 43% crude protein and 6% crude fat). For the first experiment, Jade Perch mean weight ± SE of 7.28 ± 0.13 g were fed different frequencies that included once, twice, three, or four meals a day at 5% body weight per day for 72 days. Each replicate contained 65 fish. After 72 d, the survival, growth, feeding efficiencies, body indices, plasma biochemistry, whole-body proximate composition, and muscle cholesterol were measured while histological sections of the liver were stained for glycogen with Periodic-acid Schiff (PAS). Results showed that growth was best when fish were fed three times a day, which was significantly higher than those fed one, two or four times a day. Feeding efficiencies were significantly better for fish fed two or three times a day. Plasma glucose, plasma cholesterol, PAS staining intensity of the liver, and hepatosomatic index were significantly higher for fish fed three times a day compared with once a day. Whole-body crude protein was significantly lower for fish fed once a day compared with treatments of two or four times a day. Muscle cholesterol tended to increase with increasing feeding frequencies, but the results were not significant. No significant treatment effect was detected on the plasma mineral content. Based on a feeding rate of 5% body weight/d, it is recommended that feedings are divided into three meals a day to increase available energy for optimal growth. The second experiment was conducted to investigate the optimal feeding rates of 2%, 4%, 6%, or 8% body weight per day for juvenile Jade Perch (average initial weight 7.45 ± 0.09 g). Each replicate contained 50 fish and the experimental duration was 100 days. The results indicated that weight gain and feed conversion ratio increased significantly (P< 0.05) as the rates of feeding were increased. Feeding rates had no effect on whole-body moisture, ash and protein, but crude lipid was significantly (P<0.05) higher in fish fed 8% per day. Although higher growth is achieved at 8% body weight per day, feeding efficiencies were reduced, which needs to be considered by the farmer depending on market demands and prices