The Influence of Technology and Innovation in Online Teaching Arabic as a Second Language in Dubai

Arabic as a second language (ASL) is an upcoming social exploration area in Dubai and the larger UAE (Alfataftah & Jarrar, 2018). However, there is insufficient literature on the subject. Teaching and learning ASL is the subject of increasing controversy. Amara (2017) states that Arabic is the official language in the UAE; however, most of the population speaks English because UAE was a British colony until 1971. Given that the UAE is one of the Arab countries, the Arabic language is one of the national curriculum's key subjects apart from Social Studies and Islamic Education. According to AlHagbani and Khan (2016), there has been an increased significance of teaching the Arabic language for non-Arabic speakers in the UAE over the last few years. Besides, the main objectives are developing an awareness of learners about relationships between the Arabic language and Arabic or Islamic culture, enhancing awareness of the need for the Arabic language across the world, and improving both oral and written communication skills to strengthen the process of obtaining informational literacy level. One divide argued that Arabic was a dying language in the Middle East in the face of the globalized English language, according to Sabbah (2016). Different studies (Cook, 2016; Carroll, Al Kahwaji, & Litz, 2017) indicate that the other controversial divisions argued that the Arabic language was a growing language in the UAE. Keywords: technology, online learning, online teaching, motivation, Arabic as a second language, Dubai DOI: 10.7176/JEP/12-5-08 Publication date: February 28th 202

Sustainable Agricultural Development in the Western Desert of Egypt Under Climate Change: A Case Study of the Siwa Region

The Siwa region located in the Western Desert of Egypt is a natural depression and has a large volume of groundwater from the non-renewable Nubian Sandstone Aquifer System (NSAS). Recently the government initiated a development project to reclaim 1.5 million acres where most of the lands are located in the Western Desert to use available groundwater from NSAS. The primary goal of this project is to increase agricultural areas enabling rural development. Siwa is one of the areas that will be reclaimed in the desert by about 30,000 acres consisting of good soil quality. This dissertation aims to understand the historical groundwater use, its impact on the Siwa region, and ways to expand agricultural practices in the coming decades per government development initiative considering different climatic conditions. In this dissertation, three studies are addressed. The first one is to analyze and assess the historical use of the groundwater from NSAS and the corresponding impact on crop yield and revenue. The second study is to address the proposed development project in Siwa consisting of 30,000 acres under current climatic conditions and considering government policies in the next 20 years. In the third one, the effect of climate change on agricultural developments is studied. This research is a useful guide to analyze and assess the development potentials of other areas of the Western Desert under similar government policies considering different climatic conditions

Middle Eastern Smart Water Technologies for Distribution Networks

The hydraulic analysis of water distribution systems (WDS) can be analyzed by two main approaches: demand-driven analysis (DDA) and pressure-driven analysis (PDA). The DDA works well under normal operating conditions, while the PDA produces reliable results under partially failed conditions of a network. Comparisons are carried out by semi-pressure driven analysis (SPDA), Emitter normal pressure driven analysis (ENPDA), Emitter UNESCO pressure driven analysis (EUPDA) and the DDA. The verification is carried out by one of the most commonly used hydraulic modelling software developed by the United States Environmental Protection Agency, EPANET. Applying EPANET demonstrates that unrealistic results from an initial DDA, in the form of pressure deficiencies, could be transformed into the partial fulfillment of nodal demands without losing computational efficiency by PDA methods. The fixed demands of the hydraulic engine in EPANET software is not suitable for analysis of WDS with low pressure. ENPDA is one of the PDA approaches and depends on an emmiter equation which is built-in EPANET software. Another approach of PDA is carried out by the modifications of EPANET (EUPDA) for pressure impact in DDA employing emitter modelling of demands. The EUPDA proposed version can work in a fully transparent way with standard EPANET network files. The verification was carried out to select the most convenient approach for the reliability analysis. The results of the selected PDA modelling approach will be utilized to apply a Middle Eastern solution by adding the elevated tank. Smart enhancement solutions can eliminate the impacts of burst pipelines and/or the effects of firefighting

Assessment of Groundwater Resources in Siwa Oasis, Western Desert, Egypt

One of the major challenges facing Egypt is limited water resources associated with rapid increase in population. In 1960s, Egyptian government started to use groundwater from the Nubian Sandstone Aquifer System (NSAS) in the Western Desert to expand agricultural sector. Siwa Oasis is the focus of this study to assess the efficiency of groundwater use and corresponding impacts from 1980 to 2012. Results show that from 1980 to 1998, withdrawal from poorly designed wells increased rapidly causing an increase in excess water about 336%. The increase of excess water with the usage of poor drainage produced lakes. Remote Sensing showed in 2000, there were 21,348 acres of lakes with an increase of 89% since 1987 due to unmanaged withdrawal. After management intervention, excess water decreased about 94.7% from 1998 to 2012 causing a decrease in lakes area by 24%. Groundwater electrical conductivity (EC) increased from 4.5 to 10.5 ds/m in 1996 and 2013, respectively. Yields of olives and date palms decreased about 46% and 55%, respectively from 2000 to 2011 resulting in net revenue decrease of more than 60%. Results show that salinity has a strong negative correlation with yield and net revenue. Findings showed the importance of developing a meaningful groundwater resources management plan for Siwa region

Teaching and learning Arabic as a second language online: A case study of Dubai during COVID-19 pandemic

Enrollment into Arabic as a second language (ASL) in Dubai has increased steadily due to the high influx of expatriates’ populations. Although Arabic is the primary language in Dubai, the government has mandated that Arabic be taught in all private schools for non-native Arabic speakers from grades one to nine. This was at the time when the COVID-19 pandemic hit the world and it threw this mandated study into the world of teaching and learning via online means. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to examine the teaching and learning of ASL online in Dubai during the COVID-19 pandemic by exploring the role of innovation and technology infusion in teaching ASL, assessing how education stakeholders can motivate students in online learning, and investigating ways of effectively assessing students’ progress in online learning. The study utilized a qualitative case study where ten teachers and ten learners in 20 private schools in Dubai were interviewed, having been selected through the purposively sampling technique for the administration of unstructured interviews. The researcher analyzed the data using thematic analysis. There were three major findings in this study. First, the adoption of online digital technologies for the teaching and learning of ASL has a positive influence on online teaching. The adoption of such technologies was successfully carried out with the support of capable infrastructure and efforts by the Dubai government, parents, leaders, and teachers of Dubai schools. Second, students are motivated by their parents and teachers for the adoption of online learning techniques where the learning was made interesting, flexible, manageable, autonomous, and generalized. Third, online learning shifted the focus from quantifiable assessment means such as grades, credits, rankings, and markets to the achievement of learning and teaching outcomes and acquiring the needed skills. The study concluded with recommendations, implications for practitioners, and limitations of the study. It also identified suggestions for future research

Added value of graded compression ultrasound to the Alvarado score in cases of right iliac fossa pain

IntroductionAcute appendicitis is one of the most common emergencies treated by the general surgeon. Simple appendicitis can progress to perforation, which is associated with a much higher morbidity and mortality, and surgeons have therefore been inclined to operate when the diagnosis is probable rather than wait until it is certain. The aim of this study was to evaluate the sensitivity and specificity of the Alvarado score combined with ultrasounds of the abdomen and pelvis in cases of right iliac fossa pain with suspected acute appendicitis.Methods100 patients admitted to the Department of Surgery at Alexandria Main University Hospital in 2013 complaining of right iliac fossa pain with suspected acute appendicitis were studied prospectively. The demographic information, histopathology, physical examination, laboratory data, Alvarado score, sonography report and histopathological reports of these patients were gathered. The treating surgeon made decisions for surgery or conservative management without any intervention from the research team.ResultsA combination of methods showed that Alvarado alone was 100% sensitive in excluding appendicitis at scores below five and was highly specific at scores above eight (91.9%) with no added value when combining it with ultrasound in those scores. On the other hand, ultrasound was beneficial only in patients with Alvarado scores between five and eight for detecting appendicitis and not excluding it (increasing specificity to 100% and not affecting sensitivity).ConclusionUltrasound is a good adjuvant examination in cases with Alvarado scores between five and eight in order to diagnose appendicitis. Negative ultrasound results do not exclude appendicitis and further assessment by other modalities should be performed

Acute spontaneous extraconal hematic cyst of the orbit

AbstractA 49year old man presented with one day history of mild right eye pain and proptosis. There was no definite history of trauma. On examination there was limitation of movement in all directions of gaze and 6mm proptosis of his right eye. CT scan showed extraconal lesion compressing the optic nerve and inferior rectus muscle. Right inferior conjunctival fornix based approach was performed with lateral canthotomy and inferior cantholysis and exploration revealed a cyst containing blood which was removed

Molecular characterization and prevalence of Bacillus species isolated from Egyptian hospitals

Background: Bacillusspecies are widely distributed in all environments including health care settings and represent one of  the highly resistant organisms. Objective: This study aimed to find out the prevalence, molecularcharacterization of genetic diversity among studied Bacillus species in Egyptian hospitals environment and their antibiotic susceptibility profile. Methods: A total 528 swab samples were collected from different hospitals environment. Isolation and identification were performed according to conventional bacteriological methods, semi-automated and molecular characterization methods. Antimicrobial susceptibility was carried against different groups of antimicrobial agents. Results: The most isolated microorganism was Bacillus spp. (43.2%), followed by coagulase-negative Staphylococci (19.2%), Staphylococcus aureus (15.2%), Enterococus spp. (10.1%), Gram-negative rods (8.9%), and Micrococcus spp. (3.4 %). The most prevalent species, were Bacillus cereus (46.6%) followed by Bacillus subtilus (38.1%) while, Bacillus pumilus was the least (1.1%). A majority of Bacillus isolates (25.6%) were isolated in Internal medicine department followed by Emergency department (18.8%) while operating rooms showed the lowest prevalence rate (4.5%). Antimicrobial susceptibility testing revealed high resistance of Bacillus isolates to β-lactams and tetracycline antibiotics. Multi-drug resistance (MDR) isolates which resistance to three or more antibiotics was (21.6%). Susceptibility reports of the 176 Bacillus isolates revealed 45 antibitypes and the most common was antibiotype 31, which included 32 isolates (18.2%), that is resistant to both penicillin and cefoxitin. Conclusions: This study revealed that, dissemination of Bacillus species in study hospital environments with high resistance to β-lactams and tetracycline antibiotics. The molecular analysis revealed the existence of genetic diversity among studied Bacillus isolates. Thus, monitoring the hospital environment is an important tool in the prevention of hospital-associated infection by Bacillus species

The Diagnostic accuracy of transvaginal ultrasonography, magnetic resonance imaging and diffusion weighted image in female patients with endometrial carcinoma

Aim of work: To evaluate the efficacy of transvaginal ultrasonography (TVUS), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and diffusion weighted imaging (DWI) in presurgical staging of endometrial cancer.Methodology: This work included 35 female patients. Thirty patients were diagnosed to have endometrial carcinoma.Results: The sensitivity, specificity, predictive values, accuracy of transvaginal ultrasound in detection of invasion of myometrial cavity were 67.25%, 75.0%, 90.00%, 30.00% and in distant metastasis were 77.78%, 80.95%, 63.64%, 89.47% and %80. These variables for MRI were 88.89%, 100.0%, 100%, 66.67% and 91% in myometrial invasion and in distant metastasis were 100.0%, 100.0%, 100.0%, 100% and 100.0%. There was an inversely proportional relationship between ADC values and the tumor grading. Apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) magnitude of 0.77 ± 0.21 x 10-3 mm2/s was associated with endometrial cancer while normal endometrial cavity showed ADC value of 1.31 ± 0.11 x 10-3 mm2/s).Conclusion: Conventional MRI, diffusion weighted imaging and contrast enhanced MR images are superior to TVUS in patients with endometrial cancer and ADC values help to differentiate between normal and endometrial cancer which may replace MR contrast enhanced images.Keywords: Transvaginal ultrasound, MRI, DWI, Endometrial carcinom

Glutathione S-transferase M1, T1 and P1 gene polymorphisms and the risk of developing type 2 diabetes mellitus in Egyptian diabetic patients with and without diabetic vascular complications

Background and aim of work: Persistent oxidative stress is one of several factors thatparticipate in the pathogenesis of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Glutathione S-transferases (GSTs) are a family of antioxidant enzymes that exert important antioxidant roles in the elimination of reactive oxygen species. We aimed to assess the association of genetic polymorphisms in the GST isoenzymes M1, T1 and P1 with the risk of developing T2DM and its vascular related complications in Egyptian diabetic patients.Subjects and methods: Fifty-four T2DM patients of whom twenty-seven were suffering from vascular complications were compared to fifty-one healthy volunteers. Null genotypes in the GST M1 and T1 genes were screened using polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The A313G single nucleotide polymorphism in the GSTP1 gene was detected using PCR–restriction fragment length polymorphism.Results: No significant differences were noted between diabetic cases and control group regarding frequencies of null genotypes of GSTM1 and GSTT1 genes (χ2p=0.631 and χ2p= 0.832, respectively). Furthermore, both null genotypes were not associated with the risk of developing T2DM or its related vascular complications whether alone or in combination. The frequency of the heterozygous mutation (AG) in the A313G GSTP1 polymorphism among diabetic cases with and diabetic cases without vascular complications was significantly higher compared to the control group (p=0.023). The risk of developing T2DM was significantly higher in cases presenting with combined heterozygous GSTP1 and null GSTM1 genotypes (Odds ratio= 6.285, 95% confidence interval =1.184–33.347, p=0.021).Conclusion: Our results could point out to potential roles of GSTP1 polymorphism alone or combined with GSTM1 gene polymorphism in the pathogenesis of T2DM related oxidative stress. Screening for other functional GST gene polymorphisms is important to understand the impact of interaction of multiple genetic factors in the pathogenesis of T2DM