thermogram Breast Cancer Detection : a comparative study of two machine learning techniques

Breast cancer is considered one of the major threats for women’s health all over the world. The World Health Organization (WHO) has reported that 1 in every 12 women could be subject to a breast abnormality during her lifetime. To increase survival rates, it is found that it is very effective to early detect breast cancer. Mammography-based breast cancer screening is the leading technology to achieve this aim. However, it still can not deal with patients with dense breast nor with tumor size less than 2 mm. Thermography-based breast cancer approach can address these problems. In this paper, a thermogram-based breast cancer detection approach is proposed. This approach consists of four phases: (1) Image Pre-processing using homomorphic filtering, top-hat transform and adaptive histogram equalization, (2) ROI Segmentation using binary masking and K-mean clustering, (3) feature extraction using signature boundary, and (4) classification in which two classifiers, Extreme Learning Machine (ELM) and Multilayer Perceptron (MLP), were used and compared. The proposed approach is evaluated using the public dataset, DMR-IR. Various experiment scenarios (e.g., integration between geometrical feature extraction, and textural features extraction) were designed and evaluated using different measurements (i.e., accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity). The results showed that ELM-based results were better than MLP-based ones with more than 19%

The impact of legal responsibility of external auditors on auditing quality and investment level

This thesis was submitted for the award of Doctor of Philosophy and was awarded by Brunel University London.This research aims to study the effects of legal liability rules on auditing quality in order to devise and implement a guideline for the optimal liability rules that can be applied to the auditing profession within society, and thus encourage investment. In an emerging market like Kuwait state, there is a weakness in the legal system, which may cause users to place less reliance on financial reports and auditing services. This environment does not encourage investment. The position in Kuwait state will be studied as an example of how emerging economies can add to the understanding of the role of the auditor, for the purposes of improving audit quality and encouraging a greater amount of investment. Where this position can be understood, this study gives a strong impression of how the legal liability of external auditors can impact on the auditing quality and, importantly, the chances of obtaining investment. For this reason the study is applied in Kuwait state. This research differs from the other literature in several important ways. First, the study has been performed in an environment of weak governance. Second, it studies the effects of the civil legal liability system from two views at the same time, so the research is carried out in relation to two different sides: first, the demand side of the auditing services represented by the users of financial information; and second, the supply side of the auditing services represented by the auditors. This has been done through two questionnaires, one distributed for each side. The results of users' questionnaire revealed that the existence of civil legal liability will increase the demand for auditing service. Also, consideration is directed towards the main determinant of auditing quality, which is the legal liability system, more so than other factors. As well as, through increasing auditor liability, trust in financial information will be enhanced, subsequently prompting investment within society. Moreover, the users, besides their needs for auditing services, require auditors to provide collateral for their investment process in order to increase their investment level. On other side, the results of auditors' questionnaire detected that the auditors hold the view that the demand for auditing services by companies will not be affected by the existence or non-existence of the liability rules. However, auditors believe that the existence of legal liability rules will make financial statement users more trustful in financial information, thereby increasing the number of users of audited financial reports. Also, the auditors do not agree that their liability should be increased since this will make auditing services more costly through the need to collect more evidence, increase the time of auditing, increase the sample size, etc. The increase in liability will also limit their acceptance of risky clients, make them increase their efforts, and due care. Furthermore, the introduction of legal liability may cause them to reduce their supply of audit services. Finally, a statistical test is carried out to compare the answers of the two groups. It is found that there are differences in views concerning the effects of the existence of legal liability on the demand for auditing. As well as, there are differences regarding their preferences about the alternative civil legal rules. The results of this study will help legislators by comparing the effects of available legal rules on audit quality and investment level. Accordingly, legislators can select the appropriate legal structure for auditors’ liability that achieves benefits to the business environment

The Impact of Strategic Leadership on the Employees' Creativity Atprivate Hospitals in Palestine: a Case Study

Purpose: The aim of this research is to investigate the effect of strategic leadership on the employees' creativity at private hospitals in Nablus in Palestine. The study problem is the lack of the number of studies concerning the same topic in the private sector in Palestine. Thus, it was essential to conduct a new study about this topic.   Theoretical Framework:  It is taken out of the topics of strategic leadership and employees' creativity. This framework aims at providing understanding on how this strategic leadershipeffects on the employees' creativity in their work place.   Methodology: The required information and some certain specific data have been collected via e-mails and social media. A scale was adopted from a sample of 30 respondents through online and social media. The methodof thisstudyisquantitative, andthe respondents' answers werediscussed and analyzed by applyingSPSS statistical program.   Results: Thefindingsofthetopicshowedthatthereare positive relationships between the employees' creativity and the strategic leadership in their work place.   Research Implications: The study investigates the impact of strategic leadership and the employees' creativity inside their organizations. The results of this study are helpful for the new researchers who would like to conduct more studies regarding the same topic in private or public sectors in Palestinian cities. It added more contributions to the field of this topic.   Originality: This research is considered a positive attempt to reinforce the importance of strategic leadership in private sector institutions in order to discover the actual effect of strategic leadership on the employees' creativity and their performance.

Islamic education elementary teachers’ degree of using e-learning skills in their teaching process, and its relationship with some variables, in Hail Region

This study aimed at identifying the Islamic education elementary teachers’ degree of using e-learning skills in their teaching process, and its relationship with some variables in Hail Region. And to achieve the objectives of the study; the researcher had used a questionnaire consisted of (33) statements covering two fields, and it has been applied to a sample of 90 male and female teachers during the first academic semester 2015/2016. The study results showed that the degree of possession of e-learning skills that the teachers of Islamic education have in the elementary stage in their teaching came significantly, and also showed that there are no statically significant differences due to gender and  teaching experience variables, and in the light of the study results the researcher presented a set of recommendations which will hopefully benefit the decision makers of educational policy, curriculum and teachers in schools for the universal use of e-learning in the educational system learning-processes, including the importance of mobilizing schools with capabilities that allows the use of innovative e-learning processing, and holding training courses for all teachers, through which they are updated on the newest techniques in the field of using e-learning.

Refurbishment Model for Qatari Neighborhoods

Present a model that remedies root causes of sustainability and livability issues as they are not tackledin Qatar’s current urban development plans with relation to the most basic unit of urbanism: theneighborhood. The developed model presents modifications to Al-Markhiya in short-, medium-, andlong-term implementation phases that include typical characteristics applicable to any Dohaneighborhood so that they could be easily adopted by municipalities as well as local communities.Developed model received favorable feedback when presented to a group of environmental and urbanplanning experts at the frontlines of developing and updating Qatar National Master Plan and detailsof urban planning regulations to poll their views on its applicability for greater. This study is expectedto influence decision makers in Qatar to pay the required attention to the enhancement ofneighborhood sustainability and livability. This model may be the stepping stone to future strategiesand plans of refurbishment as the next national goal post the World Cup to be hosted in 2022

Vibration Response of Free and Force Analysis of a Rectangular Plate

            في هذا البحث، تم دراسة تأثير الاهتزازات الحرة والقسرية على لوحة رقيقة (50 سم طول،30 سم عرض و0.5 مم سمك)، مصنوعة من الحديد 37 مع نوعين من التثبيت، أ أولا عندما تكون ثابتة الشكل وجانبي الجانبين الأخرى حرة (CFCF) وثانياً عند تثبيت أحد أطراف اللوحة وتكون الأطراف الثلاثة الأخرى حرة (CFFF). كذلك، دراسة أشكال النمط والتردد الطبيعي للوحة. عندما يتم تطبيق التردد على الصفيحة بمقاييس مختلفة (4،6،8،10) Hz، يقل اتساع الاهتزاز عن الاهتزاز الحر وعندما يزيد التردد يزيد او ينقص اتساع الاهتزاز لكنه لا يزال أقل عند الاهتزاز الحر، وايجاد التردد الطبيعي باستخدام برنامجي ماتلاب وانسز بادخال الشروط الحدية لتثبيت الصفيحة لغرض مقارنة النتائج.This paper presents the influence of free and forced vibrations on thin the plate of (50cm length, 30 cm width, 0.5 mm thickness), made from steel 37 with two types of supports, firstly when it is fixed from two sides and other sides are free (CFCF) and secondly when one end of the plates is fixed and the other three sides are free (CFFF). As well as, this work studies the mode shapes and natural frequency of the plate. When the frequency is applied on the plate with different magnitudes (4,6,8,10) Hz, the amplitude of vibration decreased more than free vibration and when the frequency increased, the amplitude of the vibration increased or decreased but still less then at free vibration depending on the type of support. Ansys and MATLAB software were used to find the natural frequency and to enter the boundary conditions of the plate for comparison purposes

The Case for Sustainable Concrete Waste Management in Qatar

The construction industry is a major generator of waste. There are many challenges associated with implementing sustainable methods to manage construction waste. While the construction industry in the State of Qatar has been adopting plenty of progressive practices, waste management, especially of concrete waste, has not advanced notably. In addition to the limited supply of limestone suitable for use as natural aggregate for concrete production in Qatar, the ability to recycle and reuse concrete waste is critical to reducing environmental impacts to meet national, regional and global environmental goals. Therefore, this research aims to identify the current status of concrete waste management practices in construction projects in Qatar exemplified by a local case-study project. Concrete waste was particularly monitored over the span of the construction stage of a large research and development facility in Qatar, benchmarking trends and practices on a certified “green” building. In response, this study addresses key challenges to concrete waste recycling and reuse to then recommend opportunities of advancements in local concrete waste management and reuse