Exploring the Influence of Cultural Intelligence on the Cross-Cultural Adaptation of Chinese Expatriate Workers:A Phenomenological Analysis

This study delves into the experiences of a small section of Chinese expatriate workers in the UAE, investigating the roles of Guanxi and cultural acclimatisation as critical adjustment factors. Using a phenomenological technique, we explore the influence of cultural intelligence on the cross-cultural adaptation of workers in the construction sector. As part of a more extensive study, the initial findings suggest that Chinese migrants resort to reconnecting with their families back home to mitigate the linguistic and cultural challenges faced whilst abroad. At the same time, feelings of isolation and loneliness were dealt with through recreational activities and building social capital

Impact de la réforme économique sur les chances de scolarisation en Égypte

L'enseignement est un des défis essentiels de l'Égypte, eu égard aux contraintes qu'impose à ce secteur une politique de restriction budgétaire, d'une part, et aux exigences d'une réforme impliquant une amélioration qualitative de l'enseignement, d'autre part. Dès après la Révolution de Juillet, l'Égypte a adopté une série de mesures visant à élargir l'accès à tous les cycles de l'enseignement, d'où une nette croissance du taux de scolarisation : le nombre d'élèves du cycle primaire est ainsi..

Effect of consanguinity on birth weight for gestational age in a developing country.

Consanguinity, the marriage between relatives, has been associated with adverse child health outcomes because it increases homozygosity of recessive alleles. The objective of this study was to assess the effect of consanguinity on the birth weight of newborns in Greater Beirut, Lebanon. Cross-sectional data were collected on 10,289 consecutive liveborn singleton newborns admitted to eight hospitals belonging to the National Collaborative Perinatal Neonatal Network during the years 2000 and 2001. Birth weight was modeled by use of the fetal growth ratio, defined as the ratio of the observed birth weight to the median birth weight for gestational age. A mixed-effect multiple linear regression model was used to predict the net effect of first- and second-cousin marriage on the birth weight for gestational age, accounting for within-hospital clustering of data. After controlling for medical and sociodemographic covariates, the authors found a statistically significant negative association between consanguinity and birth weight at each gestational age. No significant difference was observed in the decrease in birth weight between the first- and second-cousin marriages. Overall, consanguinity was associated with a decrease in birth weight for gestational age by 1.8% (beta = -0.018, 95% confidence interval: -0.027, -0.008). The largest effects on fetal growth were seen with lower parity and smoking during pregnancy

Enhance desilication and delignification in paddy straw via chemical and physical pretreatment

Paddy straw is one of the most common agricultural wastes and renewable resources available in Malaysia containing lignocellulosic values. Large parts of these plant materials are made up of complex carbohydrates such as cellulose and hemicelluloses which can be converted to fermentable sugars. In fermentation process of sugars, ethanol can be produce as by-product with the help of aerobic microorganism. However, the presence of high ash and silica content in paddy straw makes it an inferior feedstock for ethanol production. The objective of this study is set to determine the best physical and chemical pretreatment for desilication of paddy straw and encouraged delignification process. The pretreatment comprises the combination of physical and chemical treatments to maximize the process of desilication and delignification in the paddy straw. Physical treatment begins with paddy straws cut and grind to three different sizes which were 2 mm, 5 mm and 8 mm. All different sizes of paddy straw was (i) autoclave, (ii) boiled and (iii) soaked in four different concentrations (0.5%, 1%, 2% and 5%) of nitric acid and sodium hydroxide, respectively for chemical treatment. With the comparison on dry matter basis to untreated paddy straw, 5mm paddy straw pretreated with 0.5% nitric acid showed the highest cellulose content (96.6%). Through this combination, the cellulose fragment was improved by 54% but the lignin and hemicellulose were reduce to 38% and 54%, compared to untreated paddy straw, respectively. The percentage of ash content in acid treatment have total increment of 56% compared to untreated samples content while the percentage of ash content for alkali treatment have total loss of 55% and reduced compared to untreated samples. Therefore, 0.5% nitric acid was found to be the most suitable condition to break the cellulose-lignin complex

Standing on the shoulder of a giant landslide:A six-year long InSAR look at a slow-moving hillslope in the western Karakoram

In this work, we investigate a slow-moving, large landslide (∼20 km2) in the Chitral district in Northern Pakistan, near several villages. The slow-moving landslide was reported more than four decades ago but has never been examined afterward. Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) analyses, using Sentinel-1 data that span a period of six years, allowed us to retrieve the spatio-temporal pattern of hillslope deformation. We combined both ascending and descending orbits to identify vertical and horizontal deformations. Our results showed that the crown is moving relatively fast in comparison to the nearby regions; 30 mm/year and 40 mm/year in downward and eastward directions, respectively. Also, step-like deformations observed over the crown reflect a deep-seated landslide. At the footslope, on the other hand, we captured relatively high deformations but in an upward direction; specifically 30 mm/year and 30 mm/year in upward and eastward directions, respectively. We have discussed the possible roles of meteorologic and anthropogenic factors causing hillslope deformation occurred during the six-year period under consideration. We observed a seasonal deformation patterns that might be mainly interpreted to be governed by the influence of snowmelt due to increasing temperatures during the start of spring. Overall, the same mechanism might be present in many other hillslopes across the whole Hindukush-Himalayan-Karakoram range, where seasonal snowmelt is an active agent. In this context, this research provides a case study shedding a light on the hillslope deformation mechanism at the western edge of the Himalayan range.</p

Implantable slot antenna with substrate integrated waveguide for biomedical applications

This work presents a new design of capsule slot antenna with substrate integrated waveguide (SIW) for wireless body area networks (WBANs) operating at the range of (2.5-4 GHz) which is located in the body area networks (BAN) standard in IEEE802.15.6. The proposed antenna was designed for WBANs. The substrate is assumed to be from Rogers 5880 with relative permittivity of 2.2, and thickness of 0.787 mm. The ground and the patch are created from annealed copper while the capsule is assumed to be a plastic material of medical grade polycarbonate. The antenna designed and summited using computer simulation technology (CST) software. A CST voxel model was used to study the performance of SIW capsule antenna and the ability of the band (2.5-4 GHz). Results indicated a wide bandwidth of 1.5 GHz between the range of (2.5-4) GHz at 3.3 GHz as center frequency, with return loss with more than -24.52 dB, a gain of -18.2 dB, voltage standing wave ratio (VSWR) of 1.17, and front-to-back ratio (FBR) of 10.07 dB. Through simulation, all considerable parameters associated with the proposed antenna including return loss, bandwidth, operating frequency, VSWR less than 2, radiation pattern were examined. Regarding size, gain, and frequency band, the proposed antenna is located with the standards of implantable medical devices (IMDs)

Screening of lignocellulolytic fungi for hydrolyzation of lignocellulosic materials in paddy straw for bioethanol production

Aims: Paddy straw is known to have lignocellulosic materials such as cellulose and hemicellulose which can be readily converted into fermentable sugar for production of bioethanol via simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF). In order to produce ethanol competently, the degradationof biomass by cellulase and highly ethanol-producing microorganism in fermentation process are necessarily needed. However, there is lacking in cellulose degrading organism in producing adequate amount of lignocellulosic enzyme. Therefore, the screening and selection for the best fungi to hydrolyze the lignocellulosic materials as well as forming consortium between two species of fungi has become the main focus. Methodology and results:Thirteen strains of fast-growing fungi were tested qualitatively forcellulase (congo red staining) and polyphenol oxidase (Bavendamm test). All tested strains displayed lignocellulolytic fungi characteristics. The selection was narrowed down by quantitative assay on endoglucanase, exoglucanase, β-glucosidase and xylanase and the highest cellulases enzyme producer were Trichoderma asperellumB1581 (3.93 U/mL endoglucanase; 2.37 U/mL exoglucanase; 3.00 IU/mL β-glucosidase; 54.87 U/mL xylanase), followed by Aspergillus nigerB2484 (5.60 U/mL endoglucanase; 1.08 U/mL exoglucanase; 1.57 IU/mL β-glucosidase; 56.85 U/mL xylanase). In compatibility test, both T. asperellumB1581 and A. nigerB2484 were inoculated on the same Petri dish for 4 days and the interaction showed by the two species was mutual intermingling.Conclusions, significance and impact of study:Both T.asperellumB1581 and A.nigerB2484 produced the highest cellulase enzyme. Since both strainscan co-exist and produce enzymes that complete each other, a fungal consortiumwas suggested to increase the yield of sugars in saccharification process

Effectiveness of incentivised adherence and abstinence monitoring in buprenorphine maintenance : a pragmatic, randomised controlled trial

Acknowledgements The authors wish to thank the patients and staff at the National Rehabilitation Centre for their participation and to the NRC director general, Dr. Hamad Al Ghaferi, for his advice and support. Work on this study was included as part of H.E.'s doctoral studies and supervisor J.M. kindly acknowledge support from the Scholarship Office at the Ministry of Presidential Affairs, United Arab Emirates.Peer reviewedPublisher PD