Arabic validation of the Compulsive Internet Use Scale (CIUS)

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The popularity of using the Internet and related applications has grown in Arabic countries in recent years. Despite numerous advantages in terms of optimizing communications among individuals and social systems, the use of the Internet may in certain cases become problematic and engender negative consequences in daily life. As no instrument in the Arabic language is available, however, to measure excessive Internet use, the goal of the current study was to validate an Arabic version of the Compulsive Internet Use Scale (CIUS).</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The Arabic version of the CIUS was administered to a sample of 185 Internet users and exploratory and confirmatory analyses performed.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>As found previously for the original version, a one-factor model of the CIUS had good psychometric properties and fit the data well. The total score on the CIUS was positively associated with time spent online.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The Arabic version of the CIUS seems to be a valid self-report to measure problematic Internet use.</p

Cultural distance, mindfulness and passive xenophobia: Using Integrated Threat Theory to explore home higher education students' perspectives on 'internationalisation at home'

This paper addresses the question of interaction between home and international students using qualitative data from 100 home students at two 'teaching intensive' universities in the southwest of England. Stephan and Stephan's Integrated Threat Theory is used to analyse the data, finding evidence for all four types of threat that they predict when outgroups interact. It is found that home students perceive threats to their academic success and group identity from the presence of international students on the campus and in the classroom. These are linked to anxieties around 'mindful' forms of interaction and a taboo around the discussion of difference, leading to a 'passive xenophobia' for the majority. The paper concludes that Integrated Threat Theory is a useful tool in critiquing the 'internationalisation at home' agenda, making suggestions for policies and practices that may alleviate perceived threats, thereby improving the quality and outcomes of intercultural interaction. © 2010 British Educational Research Association

A922 Sequential measurement of 1 hour creatinine clearance (1-CRCL) in critically ill patients at risk of acute kidney injury (AKI)

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EFFECT of GIBBERELLINS on SEED GERMINATION OF Tithonia rotundifolia Blake

ABSTRACT: Plant growth studies involve seed germination studies and this depends on storage viability and dormancy aspects besides essential requirements and factors for the same. Of the various factors regulations plant growth and developmental processes intrinsic factors play a significant role. Plant hormones are chemicals that regulate plant growth. These occur in extremely low concentrations and influence all developmental and physiological processes in plants. The effect of different concentrations of GA 3 on seed germination of Tithonia rotundifolia Blake was studied. The maximum percentage of seed germination was at 500 ppm GA 3

Effect of Aspect Ratio and Degree of Truncation on Bending Behaviour of Laminated Composite Conoidal Shell Roof

Abstract: Civil and structural engineers have always preferred conoidal configuration, which is a ruled and aesthetically pleasant shape. The introduction of laminated composite as the structural material has provided the impetus to explore the different behavioural aspects of composite conoids. But the variation of curvature is the major difficulty encountered in the analysis of these shells. Keeping above point in mind, a finite element analysis is carried out using an eight noded isoparametric element with five degrees of freedom per node together with Sanders&apos; strain displacement relationships. Benchmark problems are solved to validate the present approach and a wide variety of composite conoidal shell problems with cross ply laminates are solved by varying aspect ratio and degree of truncation for different the stacking sequence and clamped boundary condition under uniformly distributed pressure. Results are presented for truncated and full conoid and a set of conclusions are arrived at based on a parametric study

Distributed transmit beamforming using feedback control

A simple feedback control algorithm is presented for distributed beamforming in a wireless network. A network of wireless sensors that seek to cooperatively transmit a common message signal to a Base Station (BS) is considered. In this case, it is well-known that substantial energy efficiencies are possible by using distributed beamforming. The feedback algorithm is shown to achieve the carrier phase coherence required for beamforming in a scalable and distributed manner. In the proposed algorithm, each sensor independently makes a random adjustment to its carrier phase. Assuming that the BS is able to broadcast one bit of feedback each timeslot about the change in received signal to noise ratio (SNR), the sensors are able to keep the favorable phase adjustments and discard the unfavorable ones, asymptotically achieving perfect phase coherence. A novel analytical model is derived that accurately predicts the convergence rate. The analytical model is used to optimize the algorithm for fast convergence and to establish the scalability of the algorithm. Index Terms Distributed beamforming, synchronization, wireless networks, sensor networks, space-time commu-nication