Temporal Interpretation for Land Use/Land Cover Changes Using Multispectral Images: Irbid as a Case Study

Understanding changes patterns for the land use/land cover (LULC)are important aspects of manage planning in order to give interpretations for the relationship between natural recourses and human activities. Therefore, the temporal interpretation for LULC changes through the use of multi-spectral images performs an essential procedure to assess the driving forces of the changes as well as changes detection in LULC. The multi-techniques are widely used to study the impact of the urbanization on LULC. On the other hand ,Landsat satellite images for the two years 1990 and 2015 have been used for in this study. Computerized systems have also been incorporated to prepare data and get results of such studies. The classification of LULC was validated through the use of an accurate assessment method. This study concluded built up areas that are increased by approximately 391 Km2 (18.00 %).Most of vegetation have changed to arable land due to urbanization, where the vegetation area decreased to 15.16 % of the total area, and the overall accuracy of classificationswas80% and 82% for 1990 and 2015 respectively. Keywords: Land use, Land cover, Satellite image, Landsat, Classification, Accuracy assessment

Life cycle optimization of sustainable energy systems within planetary boundaries

Curbing carbon emissions in the power sector has become a priority to mitigate climate change, yet the sustainability implications of power generation decarbonization remain unclear. To shed light on whether current plans to decarbonize the electricity system would be enough to deliver sustainable energy, modeling frameworks able to achieve multi-criteria environmental analysis need to be developed. Firstly, this thesis combines multi-objective optimization, life cycle impact assessment and multivariate regression based on elasticities to quantify the occurrence and severity of burden-shifting in energy systems due to carbon policies. Secondly, it integrates thousands of life cycle inventories into the optimization of energy systems using monetization. Thirdly, it downscales and integrates planetary boundaries into the optimization of energy systems. Finally, it evaluates and optimizes the planetary boundaries performance of the global power sector in 2100 using data obtained from Integrated Assessment Models (IAMs). Results classify life cycle indicators into three categories: no burden-shifting, total burden-shifting and partial burden-shifting. Depending on the severity of the carbon target, burden-shifting to some life cycle indicators could take place. While meeting the Paris Agreement could generate indirect environmental savings, concurrently optimizing the direct and indirect costs of electricity generation would yield the highest environmental benefits. Few pathways developed via IAMs would operate within the planetary boundaries that all anthropogenic activities should share jointly in 2100, while all of them would exceed the share of budget allocated to the global power sector. Energy mixes in line with some carbon policies could transgress critical planetary boundaries, including those on climate change. Deploying bio-energy with carbon capture and storage hand-in-hand with renewables and nuclear plants is critical to minimizing the transgression of planetary boundaries while maintaining the grid’s reliability. This thesis, therefore, highlights the need to depart from carbon policies to multi-criteria environmental policies to power our development sustainably.Open Acces

MODIFICATION OF ASPHALT MIXES USING WHITE CEMENT DUST AND IRON FILINGS AS A FILLER

The possibility of using white cement dust and iron filings as fillers to modify asphalt mix properties was investigated. Numerous aggregate tests were conducted, including sieve analysis, specific gravity, absorption, and abrasion tests. Several bitumen tests were also conducted, including penetration, softening point, ductility, flash point, and specific gravity tests. Marshall properties were used to evaluate the physical performance of the mixtures. The construction of pavements with iron filings in hot asphalt mixtures is not recommended, but white cement dust powder or limestone powder can be beneficial. A 5% content was observed to be the best white cement dust content. There is no clear relationship between air voids and the percentages of white cement dust and iron filings, as the curve fluctuates. The use of white cement dust as a filler always exhibits better results; therefore, using white cement dust widely is recommended over using iron filings

Change Detection of Vegetation Cover Using Remote Sensing Data as a Case Study: Ajloun Area

Remote sensing data in combination with the appropriate multispectral bands such as Landsat OLI/TIR and TM data were used to change detection of vegetation cover using vegetation indices for the periods of 1990 – 2015 in Ajloun area, where this study area has the highest forest cover in Jordan.  The results indicate that overall increase in Unclassified area (urbanization, land degradation and agricultural activities) in the study area between 1990 and 2015 is approximately 146.84 km2. Despite the fact that the cultivation and urbanization caused significant changes in the study area. and the percentages to removal of vegetation in the study area reached up to 5.84 of overall area annually which refer to the risk situation which mean that the study area reach to the high level degradation of the vegetation cover. Keywords: NDVI, Satellite image, Landsat TM, Forest and Classificatio

Habit tic nail dystrophy: a case report affecting single thumb nail

Habit-tic deformity is a classic example of overlap between the domains of dermatology and psychiatry.  Mostly seen in adults, it results from the habit of picking or pushing the cuticle backward. A case of habit-tic deformity of a single thumb nail is reported and the simple treatment measure adopted discussed

MORAL IDEAL-BASED QUR`AN INTERPRETATION ACCORDING TO SHĀṬIBĪ’S CONCEPT OF MAQĀṢID AL-SHARĪ’AH

The interpretation of the Qur`an has been frequently subjected to exploring legal aspects of verses, regardless of their underlying ethical bases. The goals of Islamic doctrines called as maqāṣid al-sharī'ah provide ethical judgements that can be functioned for this sake. Unfortunately, they have been applied just for legal formulation. This article employs Fazlur Rahman’s theory of distinction between legal-specific and moral-ideal of Qur`anic doctrines. This perspective will be used to analyze moral dimensions of Shāṭibī’s maqāṣid. In this article, it will be argued that the moral principles extracted from these goals can be functioned as the paradigm for interpreting the Qur`an. There are two models of moral value-based interpretation that can be developed. The first is ethical-historical interpretation. This interpretation aims to understand the verses of the Qur'an in the light of a historical context as the starting point, not only based on background or reason behind the verse that respond the historical situation, but also based on the moral message extracted from these ends. The second is the ethic-contextual interpretation. It is an interpretation that is projected to respond current issues by applying three interacting sides; present situations, the literary context, and the ideal-moral paradigm drawn from these ends

The Impact of Innovation in Jordanian Chemical and Pharmaceutical Industries on Export Performance

Innovation has long been considered an important factor for creating and maintaining the competitiveness of the firms. Common knowledge stands that innovation is the cause of the increase of exports. However, contradicting empirical evidences are reported in the literature on the relationship between innovation and export performance. In this research we examine whether innovation performed by Jordanian chemical and pharmaceutical industries enhances their export performance. Based on research objectives, a structured questionnaire was developed to collect the needed data to test the developed hypotheses. Data were collected from twenty two companies, representing a sixty-five percent response rate. Data were analyzed and hypotheses were tested using various analytical methods. Research findings indicate that there is a statistical significant relationship between innovation and export performance for the sample under study; mainly for research and development, marketing data base, management (atmosphere conductive to innovation), promotion and product (quality). Based on the results, several recommendations are suggested

Development of a Pavement Management System to be Used in Highway Pavement Evaluation in Jordan

Since year 2000, the main road network in Jordan has witnessed large developments in the fields of design, construction, evaluation and maintenance. This development aimed at keeping up with the socio-economical and social development and to accommodate the large increase in the number of vehicles of heavy loads and to contribute in reducing traffic accidents through constructing more corridors around the capital city of Amman. In addition, to rehabilitate and develop the present main roads and construct more new roads that link isolated areas with industrial centers and residential communities.The road network length in Jordan has increased to reach up to 8200km of major and minor roads. During the last ten years, expenditure on roads rose up to 547 million JD. This means that 76% of the allocated budget for roads was spent on road construction.The Ministry of Public Works and Housing (MPW&H) has paid a particular attention to road maintenance with the purpose of conserving this national wealth in spite of the limited allocated amounts for maintenance and rapid increase in maintenance costs. MPW&H took the initiative and awarded maintenance of some of the major roads to Private Sector so that they could contribute in improving this sector. This helped in opening up the opportunity to exchange experiences and to be aware of the sate- of –the- art in road maintenance. The total expenditures on road maintenance for the same period rose up to 173 million JD representing 24% of the road financial budget. Road maintenance includes periodical maintenance, rehabilitation, improvement and reconstruction. This study aims at introducing the presently adopted pavement management system by MPW&H, showing its positive and negative points, along with suggestions for development. Keywords: Pavement management, Road maintenance, Pavement evaluation, Roughness, Serviceability, Crack