The Predicted Trainer and Training Environment Influence toward Vocational Training Effectiveness in Bahrain

This research aims to examine the development of vocational training issues faced in the public sector extent in Bahrain. Training implication should not be overlooked in delivering the required capabilities and knowledge in performing a certain task. The proposed research framework is established with a reference to the training evaluation model of Kirkpatrick, however, the study analyzes one of four levels for evaluating training effectiveness, those are reaction, learning, behavior, and the level of interests; result. A quantitative research design is applied. The survey instrument comprised of 29 items that tested two hypotheses. It was distributed to 382 respondents according to their interests using the purposive sampling technique adopted across 4 different public sector organizations in Bahrain. However, 128 were the usable ones from the returned 155 questionnaires. It is discovered that the contextual factor namely trainer has a positive influence on the training programmes implemented in this sector. Also, surprisingly this study unlocks an interesting and challenging area in the training environment for scholars in exploring and improving the quality of training programmes. The study essentially contributes to the paucity in training antecedents and training effectiveness in the public sector literature-related research. Hence, enhancing training effectiveness requires the management and practitioners to enhance the training antecedents to ensure the achievement of training/organization objectives. Understanding the importance of these certain types of factors will help the management to enhance the trainees’ gaining and therefore their performance. Thus, training antecedents should play an important role before trainee’s training. Managers should as well be involved with sponsoring reliable factors and drawing up a comprehensive vision

Effects of Aluminium Exposures on Growth, Photosynthetic Efficiency, Lipid Peroxidation, Antioxidant Enzymes and Artemisinin Content of Artemisia annua L.

Acid soils are widely distributed at a global scale; under acidic conditions, the solubility of aluminium (Al) increases and the elevated concentration of toxic Al3+ in soil solution seriously limits crop production. There is no information on the effects of aluminium (Al) on Artemisia annua L., which is a most important antimalarial plant in the recent time being artemisinin; responsible for its antimalarial activity. In this report, we describe the effects of Al contamination on growth, photosynthetic efficiency, membrane damage, antioxidant enzyme activities and changes in artemisinin content in A. annua. Al addition to the soil medium significantly reduced the yield and growth of the plants. Lower values of net photosynthetic rate, stomatal conductance, internal CO2 and total chlorophyll content were observed as a result of different Al concentrations applied. The activities of nitrate reductase (NR) and carbonic anhydrase (CA) were also found to be hampered by Al exposure to the plants. Al enhanced lipid peroxidation rate (TBRAS content) and activated the activities of catalase (CAT), peroxidase (POX) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) enzymes in the treated plants. The elicitation in the endogenous ROS levels, due to the Al treatments, was also noticed in the present study. Furthermore, enhanced artemisinin content and yield was obtained at 0.10mM concentration of soil applied Al. Our study provides evidence that excess Al in soil hamper the growth and yield, slow down the activities of NR and CA, induce lipid peroxidation and antioxidant enzymes but a low level of Al-toxicity can induce artemisinin content in A. annua plants.Key words: Aluminium (Al); Artemisia annua L.; Artemisinin; Lipid peroxidation; Reactive oxygen species (ROS)Tariq Aftab et al. Effects of Aluminium Exposures on Growth, Photosynthetic Efficiency, Lipid Peroxidation, Antioxidant Enzymes and Artemisinin Content of Artemisia annua L. J Phytol 2/8(2010) 23-37

Does organizational culture support matter in elucidating the relationship between training antecedents and training effectiveness in Bahrain?

This paper intends to inspect the potential organizational culture moderating influence on the relation between trainer and social support and training effectiveness. The research model was established based on the theory of social cognitive (SCT), which involves training and organizational antecedents. We distributed 382 questionnaires, the returned questionnaires were only 155, and only 128 ones were valid. The hypotheses were assessed by SPSS version 23.0. The study examines training effectiveness and its determining factors. The results disclose that trainer, social support and organizational culture were associated with the nature of positive and significant type with training effectiveness. The findings represent that organizational culture had a partial significant and positive moderating effect on training effectiveness. This paper proposes to identify training effectiveness and its determining factors in the Bahraini public sector generally and local employees specifically. This is because there are limited similar studies in the perspective of Bahrain; therefore, the existing study presents abstract and practical implications for additional consideration for practitioners and administrators

Antecedents of training effectiveness in Bahrain

This study focuses on antecedents of the training programmes’ effectiveness at public sector organizations in Bahrain. A Kirkpatrick model is utilized as a partial research framework and tested as the dependent variable training effectiveness in this study.This study further examines the relationship between the independent variables, trainer and social support toward training effectiveness. The survey instrument was developed for data collection and the questionnaires were distributed to the staff working in the public sector in Bahrain. The total usable questionnaires are 128. The study adopts a quantitative approach using SPSS statistic approach. The outcomes also discover that both antecedents have a positive and a significant relationship with the training effectiveness at various Kirkpatrick’s levels

The united stated drone strikes in Pakistan and violation of humanitarian laws

Purpose - After the incident of 9/11, the use of unmanned combat aerial vehicle, also known as combat drone in armed conflicts among States, non-state actors, disruptive groups and organizations has increased and expanded.Combat drones are controlled by operators who depend on the information obtained from cameras and sensors which are the primary sources of information needed for purposes of launching any strikes. Drone strikes hit their targets without any identification process therefore many innocent people are killed.Drone strikes launched at non-conflict area also increases concern about illegitimate interference of State’s territorial sovereignty and issue of violation of international laws. This paper aims at critically reviewing and evaluating incidences of the United States’ combat drone strikes in Pakistan.In particular, this paper reviews the damage caused to innocent people through drone strikes and identifies any possible violations of international laws.It also examines to what extent the strikes diminishing the sovereignty of Pakistan

Maximizing urban features extraction from multi-sensor data with Dempster-Shafer theory and HSI data fusion techniques

This paper compares two multi-sensor data fusion techniques – Dempster-Sharfer Theory (DST) and Hue Saturation Intensity (HSI). The objective is to evaluate the effectiveness of the methods interm in space and time and quality of information extraction. LiDAR and hyperspectral data were fused using the two methods to extract urban land scape features. First, digital surface model (DSM), LiDAR intensity and hyperspectral image were fused with HSI. Then the result was classified into five classes (metal roof building, non-metal roof building, tree, grass and road) using supervised classification (minimum distance) and the classification accuracy assessment was done. Second, Dempster Shafer Theory (DST) utilized the evidences available to fuse normalized DSM, LiDAR intensity and hyperspectral derivatives to classify the surface materials into five classes as before. It was found out that DST perform well in the ability to discriminate different classes without expert information from the scene. Overal accuracy of 87% achieved using DST. While in HSI technique, the overal accuracy obtained was 74.3%. Also, metal and non-metal roof types were clearly classified with DST which, does not have a good result with HSI. A fundamental setback of HSI is its limitation to fusion of only two sensor data at a time whereas we could integrate different sensor data with DST. Besides, the time required to select trainimg site for supervised classificition, the accuracy of feature classification with HSI fused data is dependent on the knowledge of the analyst about the scene with the other one. This study shows DST to be an accurate and fast method to extract urban features and roof types. It is hoped that the increasing number of remote sensing technology transforming to era of redundant data will make DST a desired technique available in most commercial image processing software packages

Carbonic anhydrase II based biosensing of carbon dioxide at high temperature: an analytical and MD simulation study

Concentration of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere has increased significantly due to anthropogenic activities and attributed as a major factor to global warming. Its detection by biosensing methods will provide an alternative for the assessment of CO2 concentration. Biomineralization of CO2 is one of the available methods for the biological conversion of CO2 to carbonate using a highly active enzyme, carbonic anhydrase II (CAII). CAII was used for the carbonation reaction to convert CO2 to CaCO3. The precipitation of calcium carbonate (CaCO3) was promoted in the presence of the CAII at 325 K. CAII showed an enhanced formation of solid CaCO3 through the acceleration of CO2 hydration rate at 325 K. Furthermore, the electrocatalytic properties of glassy carbon electrode enable us to determine the reduction peak potential values of CO2 through cyclic voltammetry at –1.75 and 0.3 V at 325 K. Molecular dynamic (MD) simulations were performed each at 50 ns time scale provided a deeper insight into the molecular basis of the CAII interaction with CO2 at different temperatures, highlighted that the CAII can detect CO2 up to 325 K. We assume that CAII could be an effective and economical biosensor for biomineralization of CO2 at high temperature 325 K

Assessing the transferability of a hybrid Taguchi-objective function method to optimize image segmentation for detecting and counting cave roosting birds using terrestrial laser scanning data

As far back as early 15th century during the reign of the Ming Dynasty (1368 to 1634 AD), Gomantong cave in Sabah (Malaysia) has been known as one of the largest roosting sites for wrinkle-lipped bats (Chaerephon plicata) and swiftlet birds (Aerodramus maximus and Aerodramus fuciphagus) in very large colonies. Until recently, no study has been done to quantify or estimate the colony sizes of these inhabitants in spite of the grave danger posed to this avifauna by human activities and potential habitat loss to postspeleogenetic processes. This paper evaluates the transferability of a hybrid optimization image analysis-based method developed to detect and count cave roosting birds. The method utilizes high-resolution terrestrial laser scanning intensity image. First, segmentation parameters were optimized by integrating objective function and the statistical Taguchi methods. Thereafter, the optimized parameters were used as input into the segmentation and classification processes using two images selected from Simud Hitam (lower cave) and Simud Putih (upper cave) of the Gomantong cave. The result shows that the method is capable of detecting birds (and bats) from the image for accurate population censusing. A total number of 9998 swiftlet birds were counted from the first image while 1132 comprising of both bats and birds were obtained from the second image. Furthermore, the transferability evaluation yielded overall accuracies of 0.93 and 0.94 (area under receiver operating characteristic curve) for the first and second image, respectively, with p value of <0.0001 at 95% confidence level. The findings indicate that the method is not only efficient for the detection and counting cave birds for which it was developed for but also useful for counting bats; thus, it can be adopted in any cave

Understanding the role of metal supported on TiO2 in photoreforming of oxygenates

To achieve net-zero targets regarding GHG emissions by 2050, the identification of sustainable energy vectors is critical. In this context, photoreforming presents a potential candidate for recycling and transforming widely available biomass-derived wastes into clean hydrogen fuel, such as crude glycerol from biodiesel and a potential future H2 production opportunity from bioethanol. Many years of work has proved that TiO2 is an excellent material for photoreforming of organics due to its stability, availability, and environmentally friendly characteristics as compared to other semiconductors. However, photoreforming faces several obstacles, including the comparatively low hydrogen generation under Sun-equivalent light sources and the need of expensive noble metals. Efforts have been made in several directions, such as extending light absorption by TiO2 to the visible range, reducing the recombination rate of charge carriers, and preventing back reactions. To overcome these challenges, many methods have been proposed, such as controlling the phase and morphology of TiO2 nanoparticles, decoration with various metal co-catalysts, doping with metal and non-metal ions, plasmonic enhancement, and preparation of composite systems. Although each approach has its own merits, metal loading has proven to be the most effective among them all. This review provides a deep insight into the underlying role of metal towards the enhancement of TiO2 catalytic activity, focusing on the findings of recent published work. We discuss in detail the effect of various metals on TiO2 electronic structure, preparation methods, role in light absorption (surface Plasmon resonance) and chemical changes during various photoreforming steps. Following this we extend our discussion to dye sensitized systems and catalyst testing benchmarking. At the end of the review, we provide possible future research directions to enhance the photocatalytic activity of TiO2 based photocatalysts for photoreforming

Geoeconomic variations in epidemiology, ventilation management, and outcomes in invasively ventilated intensive care unit patients without acute respiratory distress syndrome: a pooled analysis of four observational studies

Background: Geoeconomic variations in epidemiology, the practice of ventilation, and outcome in invasively ventilated intensive care unit (ICU) patients without acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) remain unexplored. In this analysis we aim to address these gaps using individual patient data of four large observational studies. Methods: In this pooled analysis we harmonised individual patient data from the ERICC, LUNG SAFE, PRoVENT, and PRoVENT-iMiC prospective observational studies, which were conducted from June, 2011, to December, 2018, in 534 ICUs in 54 countries. We used the 2016 World Bank classification to define two geoeconomic regions: middle-income countries (MICs) and high-income countries (HICs). ARDS was defined according to the Berlin criteria. Descriptive statistics were used to compare patients in MICs versus HICs. The primary outcome was the use of low tidal volume ventilation (LTVV) for the first 3 days of mechanical ventilation. Secondary outcomes were key ventilation parameters (tidal volume size, positive end-expiratory pressure, fraction of inspired oxygen, peak pressure, plateau pressure, driving pressure, and respiratory rate), patient characteristics, the risk for and actual development of acute respiratory distress syndrome after the first day of ventilation, duration of ventilation, ICU length of stay, and ICU mortality. Findings: Of the 7608 patients included in the original studies, this analysis included 3852 patients without ARDS, of whom 2345 were from MICs and 1507 were from HICs. Patients in MICs were younger, shorter and with a slightly lower body-mass index, more often had diabetes and active cancer, but less often chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and heart failure than patients from HICs. Sequential organ failure assessment scores were similar in MICs and HICs. Use of LTVV in MICs and HICs was comparable (42\ub74% vs 44\ub72%; absolute difference \u20131\ub769 [\u20139\ub758 to 6\ub711] p=0\ub767; data available in 3174 [82%] of 3852 patients). The median applied positive end expiratory pressure was lower in MICs than in HICs (5 [IQR 5\u20138] vs 6 [5\u20138] cm H2O; p=0\ub70011). ICU mortality was higher in MICs than in HICs (30\ub75% vs 19\ub79%; p=0\ub70004; adjusted effect 16\ub741% [95% CI 9\ub752\u201323\ub752]; p&lt;0\ub70001) and was inversely associated with gross domestic product (adjusted odds ratio for a US$10 000 increase per capita 0\ub780 [95% CI 0\ub775\u20130\ub786]; p&lt;0\ub70001). Interpretation: Despite similar disease severity and ventilation management, ICU mortality in patients without ARDS is higher in MICs than in HICs, with a strong association with country-level economic status. Funding: No funding