Who are Rural Students? How Definitions of Rurality Affect Research on College Completion

Given a revived national discourse about rural populations, more educational research on rural students is necessary, including ways that rural students transition to college and the success (or lack thereof) that they experience once there. However, the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) has changed the definition of rurality used in each iterative dataset over the last few decades, casting doubt on the consistency of what is meant by the term rural. The purpose of this study is to: (a) communicate to the educational research audience various ways of defining rural students, and specifically how NCES has changed their definition of rurality over their last three major data collections; (b) demonstrate how conclusions about rural students’ and their college degree completion may differ based on these alternate NCES definitions; and (c) discuss how this specific example using NCES data relates to the wider landscape of research on rural students. Results show that conclusions about college degree completion change depending on the definition of rurality used for analysis. Therefore, the education research community should consider the options for defining rural students, report transparently about the choices made, consider the sensitivity of results to the definition of rurality, and ultimately build a more robust body of literature concerning rural students’ college success. Gaining definitional clarity will be beneficial, particularly for those who wish to translate their research into practical action for the benefit of rural students

Framing of media coverage of the Palestinian -Israeli conflict in CNN and FoxNews

Use of media, especially television, is an important point in the history of important events and recent wars. This type of media coverage of events and wars transfers the audience to the heart of the event and has a direct impact on public opinion Internationally. For example, much criticism has been directed at the American media regarding coverage of the Israeli aggression on Gaza. Many demonstrations against the two largest networks in the United States, CNN and FOXNEWS, have also taken place in New York City to protest against the biased media coverage of the Palestinians and the Israeli aggression against Gaza.This paper contains various news frameworks used in media coverage of events and its result and impact on different audiences. In conclusion, the study addressing the mentioned conflict declared that the coverage was biased and non- objective, relying heavily on Israeli sources in comparison to Palestinian sources

Albie the mad Albanian: The cross-cultural influence between Byron and Albania

The subject of Byron and Albania has been historically neglected but merits study for a number of reasons, not the least of which is the importance Byron himself gave to Albania. While Western Byron scholars have tended either to omit discussion of Albania or to conflate Albania with Greece in Byron’s writing, a reading of “Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage” and its notes will demonstrate the centrality of Albania to the formation of the Byronic persona. In addition, this thesis draws on Albanian scholarship on Byron, furthering international work on this crucial aspect of Byron’s career

Obstacles Facing Promoting Tourism for Islamic Landmarks From the Perspective of Tour Operators in Egypt

The UNESCO launched a campaign #unite4heritage in Egypt to defeat extremism and intolerance. The message of such campaigne is peace, dialogue and unity embedded in cultural heritage. As culture and tourism are linked together, such message could be delivered through improving culture heritage tourism in Egypt. Islamic landmarks are considered as a part of human heritage. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to identify how much tour operators in Egypt include Islamic landmarks in their programs to determine the obstacles facing promoting cultural tourism in Islamic landmarks areas. Additionally, the study would identify positive results in the case of developing heritage tourism in Egypt. To achieve a high result, a survey approach was employed to collect data from 100 tour operators, using a completed questionnaire technique as well as a Likert Scale and statistical models in order to test and interpret the research outcomes. The research findings indicated that although tour operators in Egypt are convinced of the significance of the Islamic landmarks, there is no contradiction between creating global understanding and at the same time achieving benefit to the local community. However, there is a range of obstacles facing promoting such type of tourism in Egypt. Keywords: Culture heritage tourism, community, Egypt, Islamic civilization

Removed versus unremoved vicryl sutures used for subcuticular skin closure

Background: The objective was to compare the difference between removing vicryl suture thread after skin healing or burry the knots and leaving it to be absorbed in situ, after subcuticular skin closure of Pfannesteil incisions.Methods: Prospective, randomized controlled trial included 449 eligible participants were prospectively recruited between July 2016 and June 2017. All selected patients had a pfannenstial incision with subcuticular skin closure using 2-0 absorbable vicryl stiches (for primary caesarean section or extra peritoneal surgical approach to the prostate, bladder and distal ureters). The left side knot was buried under the skin edge and a knot in the midline and the right edge was made. After 10 days postoperative, the right half of the stitch thread and the two knots were removed, and the left half of the thread was left in situ. Patients were observed for any complication at time of stitch removal, after one month and after 6 months' post-operative.Results: Wound infection rate, hypertrophic scars, keloids and skin itching were significantly higher in the un-removed wound sides while skin dehiscence was significantly higher in the removed wound sides.Conclusions: Leaving behind absorbable suture material after wound healing -when used in subcuticular pfannenstial skin closure- is associated with increased rates of wound infection, hypertrophic scars, itching and keloids, which of course overweight any known benefits of the technique

Application of General Regression Neural Networks (GRNNs) in Assessing Liquefaction Susceptibility

Liquefaction is considered among the most important hazards associated with earthquakes. The damage resulting from seismic liquefaction may be huge; thus, there always exists needs to mitigate the damage associated with such risks. One of the main problems challenging geotechnical engineers is how to assess the seismic liquefaction hazard. Statistical and probabilistic approaches for seismic liquefaction are currently available. In this paper, a general regression neural networks approach (GRNNs) has been used to assess the liquefaction hazard in Egypt. Thus, data from new locations can be analyzed using GRNNs to obtain the liquefaction risk associated with this new site. The computer package “Neuroshell 2®” has been extensively used to build up the GRNNs models. Highly encouraging results have been obtained in the field of seismic liquefaction mitigation

Parents' experiences of flexible work arrangements in changing European workplaces

Various leaves and other forms of flexible working arrangements have been implemented in workplaces to support employees with family commitments. Some are a response to public policy, others developed voluntarily. However, research examining the effectiveness of these policies in a search for “good practices” often neglects the impact of specific national and workplace contexts. Some researchers are calling for more attention to social systems, especially at the macro and meso levels, and the relationships between them, to extend understanding of work family processes and experiences. We argue that this is critical for evaluating work-family policies and practices. However it is important to recognize that social systems are not static. They are dynamic and changing, particularly in the context of globalization processes. Drawing on data from six case studies of private sector organizations undergoing rapid change and transformation, carried out in six European states, as part of a qualitative cross-national EU project (Transitions)1 , this paper explores the impact of multiple layers of context on parents’ experiences of flexible working arrangements for managing work and family boundaries. The study shows that although various aspects of macro layers of context are important and it is easier to make use of flexibility to combine work and parenting in some national and workplace contexts than others, changes taking place at the workplace level in response to global competition and efficiency drives can undermine both regulatory and voluntary initiatives to enhance flexibility for parents. This is occurring across national boundaries. Some implications for debates on “good practices” and for future work-family research are discussed

The Influence of STEM Definitions for Research on Women\u27s College Attainment

Background Prior research has inconsistently operationalized Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) fields, presenting an interpretation challenge. A content analysis of 51 quantitative, gender-focused, higher education-oriented, STEM-related studies in the ERIC database published between January 2010 and July 2018 revealed that only 13 articles used an existing STEM definition. In 15, STEM was not explicitly defined, and others defined STEM independently. This wide range of definitions may lead to confusion or misrepresentation of findings for interventions and practices to support women in STEM. To illustrate the issue and prompt recommendations for future research, this study uses data from the United States National Center for Education Statistics’ Education Longitudinal Study (ELS:2002/12) to investigate the connection between STEM definition and the outcome of college degree completion, comparing results by gender for five ways of operationalizing STEM fields. Results We found the size, direction, and significance of the gender gap depended on STEM operationalization. When STEM was defined as high paradigm fields, the odds of women attaining a non-STEM degree were higher than otherwise. When social science fields were included in STEM, there was no statistically significant difference by gender. When looking specifically at fields considered related to science and engineering, the direction of the relationship was reversed. Conclusion While our findings follow expectations about social science fields and gender, it is noteworthy that results regarding STEM degree completion by gender for science and engineering-related fields were opposite those of high paradigm STEM fields. This result highlights that the definition of STEM matters, and inconsistent operationalization in the literature presents an interpretation challenge. We argue the field should strive to find common categorizations of STEM that retain the legitimate variation in how STEM can and should be defined, while providing a basis for consistent comparison. We recommend researchers and practitioners developing research-based practices: 1) interpret research findings understanding potential inconsistency from different STEM operationalizations, 2) explicitly describe STEM operational definitions to enable comparing findings, 3) routinely analyze sensitivity to alternate STEM definitions, and 4) find common STEM categorizations that retain legitimate variation while providing a basis for consistent comparison

Damage of Governmental Building Due to Geotechnical Properties (Case History)

This paper is a case study for a governmental building in a site located at Katamia zone (an extension of Great Cairo, Egypt). The site is belonging the Great Cairo Bus Station under the authority of Ministry of Transportation. It consists of two buildings and a shed for buses cleaning and lubrication. The buildings had been constructed since 15 years. However after two years of construction many cracks were noticed in the main building. Furthermore, after another few years, sever cracks had appeared in different parts of the building and the concrete water tank on the roof of same building had suffered from failure. The aim of this study is to know and examine the reasons of these cracks and damages which happened to the building, particularly the other building suffered no cracks or damages although it was built on the same soil and under the same conditions. Observation of the building movements were recorded over several years as well as soil investigation around and under the building. A structural analysis and an estimation of stresses under foundation have been calculated using a three dimensional finite element program before and after deformation. At the end of study the causes of the failure had been determined and conclusions were draw