Improving Building Fabric Energy Efficiency in Hot-Humid Climates using Dynamic Insulation

Peer reviewedPostprin

Early signals detection of crisis in main governmental hospitals in Gaza Strip

The Study aimed to assess the crisis early signals detection in main governmental hospitals in the Gaza Strip. The design of this study descriptive, analytic, a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods (mixed method) was used to address the research questions. The study was conducted at the main governmental Gaza governorates hospitals including Al- Shifamedical hospital, European Gaza hospital, Nasser medical hospital, Al-Aqsa hospital. A structured self-administered questionnaire was distributed to samples who were working in governmental hospitals. In addition, validated by experts and reliability analysis was performed using Cranach’s Alpha test (0.954). The questionnaire was used with a response rate of 84% .the study sample included 442 eligible subjects who were work as head of departments in four main governmental hospitals .In this study, the researcher used a key informant sample of public health and crisis management experts from Palestine. These experts have highly experience in crisis management. The respondent's evaluation according to their responses to crisis early signal detection was (68%). There are no statistical differences between crisis management responseand gender, scientific qualification, managerial position, age and experience of work (sig. > 0.05). There was a statistical difference between crisis early signal detection according to hospitals, the outcome showed significant differences found in favor of Al-Aqsa Hospital. also, there was a statistical difference between crises responses according to the profession, the outcome showed significant differences found in favor of administrative. The researcher recommended that there is need to strengthen crisis early signal detection in hospitals and establishment of specialized crisis early signal detection teams in several areas of hospitals, the involvement of employees in the emergency plan, and need to bridge the gap between hospitals and different professions in the concepts of crisis managementThe Study aimed to assess the crisis early signals detection in main governmental hospitals in the Gaza Strip. The design of this study descriptive, analytic, a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods (mixed method) was used to address the research questions. The study was conducted at the main governmental Gaza governorates hospitals including Al- Shifamedical hospital, European Gaza hospital, Nasser medical hospital, Al-Aqsa hospital. A structured self-administered questionnaire was distributed to samples who were working in governmental hospitals. In addition, validated by experts and reliability analysis was performed using Cranach’s Alpha test (0.954). The questionnaire was used with a response rate of 84% .the study sample included 442 eligible subjects who were work as head of departments in four main governmental hospitals .In this study, the researcher used a key informant sample of public health and crisis management experts from Palestine. These experts have highly experience in crisis management. The respondent's evaluation according to their responses to crisis early signal detection was (68%). There are no statistical differences between crisis management responseand gender, scientific qualification, managerial position, age and experience of work (sig. > 0.05). There was a statistical difference between crisis early signal detection according to hospitals, the outcome showed significant differences found in favor of Al-Aqsa Hospital. also, there was a statistical difference between crises responses according to the profession, the outcome showed significant differences found in favor of administrative. The researcher recommended that there is need to strengthen crisis early signal detection in hospitals and establishment of specialized crisis early signal detection teams in several areas of hospitals, the involvement of employees in the emergency plan, and need to bridge the gap between hospitals and different professions in the concepts of crisis managemen

ITS for Teaching Introduction to CS

Abstract: The paper describes the design of an intelligent tutoring system for teaching Introduction to Computer Science-a compulsory curriculum in Al-Azhar University of Gaza to students who attend the university. The basic idea of this system is a systematic introduction into computer science. The system presents topics with examples. The system is dynamically checks student's individual progress. An initial evaluation study was done to investigate the effect of using the intelligent tutoring system on the performance of students enrolled in computer science curriculum at Al-Azhar University, Gaza. The results showed a positive impact on the evaluators

Strengthening of Reinforced Concrete Beams Pre-damaged in Shear

Repair and strengthening of existing reinforced concrete (RC) structures has increased drastically in recent years. Shear reinforcement in RC beams is typically of a small bar diameter, and hence any shear-damage would result in a severe safety hazard and a catastrophic mode of failure especially under extreme loading events. The present work was initiated to the effectiveness of different composite strengthening systems; namely externally bonded carbon fiber reinforced polymer (EB-CFRP), and near surface mounted glass fiber reinforced polymer (NSM-GFRP) to prolong the functional service life of RC beams pre-damaged in shear. It comprised experimental testing and analytical investigation. The experimental work was conducted over two phases. Phase I comprised testing of 12 concrete T-beams with corroded stirrups strengthened in shear with EB-CFRP and NSM-GFRP systems. Test parameters included level of corrosion damage in stirrups and external shear reinforcement ratio used for strengthening. The reduction in shear capacity attributable to corrosion of stirrups was found proportional to the reduction in the stirrups cross section area. At stirrups corrosion of 8% cross section loss, both shear strengthening systems compensated the reduction in shear capacity and also provided an additional increase over the capacity of a control undamaged beam. At stirrups corrosion of 15% cross section loss, only the higher amounts of external composite shear reinforcement in both systems could restore the shear capacity of the corroded beams. The effectiveness of using EB-CFRP system with mechanical end anchorage to retrofit severely shear-damaged RC beams with low compressive strength was examined in phase II. A total of 14 tests were performed on eight RC beams with a T-shaped section. To represent a severe damage condition, five beams were tested to failure, repaired and strengthened, then retested to failure for a second time. Test parameters included the presence of damage, number of EB-CFRP layers, and type of end anchorage system. Test results demonstrated that retrofitting of severely shear-damaged RC beams with EB-CFRP composites and proper mechanical end anchorage can fully restore the original shear capacity of the damaged beams. The use of a sandwich composite panel anchorage system in combination with a threaded anchor rod inserted through the entire web width (thru-bolt) as end anchorage system was more effective than using the panel with side powder-actuated fasteners. Increasing the number of EB-CFRP layers did not result in additional gain in shear capacity. In the analytical study, the accuracy of four different international guidelines/standards namely; the American ACI 440.2R (2008), European fib TG 9.3 (2001), Italian CNR-DT200 (2004), and Australian HB 305 (2008), were demonstrated by comparing their predictions to the experimental results. The validity of other analytical models published in the literature to predict the contribution of external composite reinforcement to shear resistance was also examined. General conclusions of the work along with recommendations for future studies and developments on structural performance of RC beams strengthened in shear were documented

Preparing Palestinian Reflective English Language Teachers through Classroom Based Action Research

Abstract: This study aimed to describe the implementation of individual action research projects among some forty English language teachers distributed in thirty Palestinian schools in Ramallah and Qabatya districts-Palestine. It aimed to analyze the outcomes of the teachers’ action research as part of a broader participatory action research project that is intended to increase the capacity among teachers in Palestine as part of the LTD program. The data revealed that in spite of the difficulties that Palestinian teachers face, action research was a powerful, inquiry and exploratory tool that impacted teachers’ classroom practices and professional development. Furthermore, the implementation of reflection on a one year professional development program revealed a number of positive changes on the part of teachers’ collaboration and cooperation. Teachers have realised that cooperation and collaboration are the healthiest part where a nourishing context for learning could be created through a respectful, supportive and fruitful dialogue. It is recommended that the results of this research capture the attention of the administrators and policy makers in Palestine to adopt the strategy of action research and reflection in all educational sectors

Atomistic Thermo-mechanical Description of the Deformation Behavior, Scaling Laws, and Constitutive Modeling of Nanoporous Gold

Metallic foams, or nanoporous (NP) metals as it is widely referred to in literature, with ligament sizes up to a few tens of nm show exceptional mechanical properties such as high strength and stiffness per weight ratio under different loading scenarios due to their high surface area to solid volume ratio. Therefore, they can be utilized in a wide range of applications making them of great interest to researchers. While their elasticity and yield strength have been the subject of several studies, very limited attention was given to the effect of size, strain rate, and temperature on the material plastic response. Moreover, despite the significant attention in the literature that is directed towards the development of scaling laws that relate the properties of nanoporous metals to bulk materials, the literature still lacks a specific model that predicts the material mechanical properties based on a combination of parameters capturing the effect of surface area, ligament size, relative density, strain rate, and temperature. Therefore, the effect of ligament size, strain rate, and temperature are investigated using large-scale atomistic simulations to probe the elastic response, plastic response, and deformation mechanisms of nanoporous gold under uniaxial compression and tension and up to strains in excess of 60 percent for strain rates in the range of 106 ��−1 and 109 ��−1 at temperatures between 300K and 700K. This work explores the full range of the material response, focusing on the modifications to strain hardening and densification under compression and on the ductility and failing mechanisms under tension. Additionally, by utilizing the literature reported results, scaling laws that account for the effect of surface area to solid volume ratio, ligament size, relative density, strain rate, and temperature to predict the elastic modulus, yield stress, and ultimate stress are proposed. Finally, a size, relative density, strain rate, and temperature dependent dislocation based constitutive model that describes the plastic flow in NP-Au is proposed. The results reported in this work will eventually help enhancing the design of novel metallic foams with tailored mechanical response

Geological analysis of parts of the southern Arabian Shield based on Landsat TM imagery

This thesis examines the capability and applicability of Landsat multispectral remote sensing data for geological analysis in the arid southern Arabian Shield, which is the eastern segment of the Nubian-Arabian Shield surrounding the Red Sea. The major lithologies in the study area are Proterozoic metavolcanics, metasediments, gneisses and granites. Three test-sites within the study area, located within two tectonic assemblages, the Asir Terrane and the Nabitah Mobile Belt, were selected for detailed comparison of remote sensing methods and ground geological studies. Selected digital image processing techniques were applied to full-resolution Landsat TM imagery and the results are interpreted and discussed. Methods included: image contrast improvement, edge enhancement for detecting lineaments and spectral enhancement for geological mapping. The last method was based on two principles, statistical analysis of the data and the use of arithmetical operators. New and detailed lithological and structural maps were constructed and compared with previous maps of these sites. Examples of geological relations identified using TM imagery include: recognition and mapping of migmatites for the first time in the Arabian Shield; location of the contact between the Asir Terrane and the Nabitah Mobile Belt; and mapping of lithologies, some of which were not identified on previous geological maps. These and other geological features were confirmed by field checking. Methods of lineament enhancement implemented in this study revealed structural lineaments, mostly mapped for the first time, which can be related to regional tectonics. Structural analysis showed that the southern Arabian Shield has been affected by at least three successive phases of deformation. The third phase is the most dominant and widespread. A crustal evolutionary model in the vicinity of the study area is presented showing four stages, these are: arc stage, accretion stage, collision stage and post-collision stage. The results of this study demonstrate that Landsat TM data can be used reliably for geological investigations in the Arabian Shield and comparable areas, particularly to generate detailed geological maps over large areas by using quantitative remote sensing methods, providing there is prior knowledge of part of the area

Problems of Teeth and Gums Expert System

Our gums (gingiva) act as a significant barricade in guarding our teeth and their neighboring support structures. A tiny known fact is that gum disease is the foremost cause of tooth loss in grown persons. Healthy, strong, teeth are reliant on on healthy gums. The core culprit for gum problems is bacteria in dental plaque. The bacteria in plaque yield harmful toxins that generate an inflammatory process that happens in the gum tissue. If left for a sufficient period of time, bacterial plaque causes hurt to our teeth as well as our gums. In this paper, we present a knowledge based system that help people with teeth and gums problems to diagnose their problems and get recommendation for the treatment. This expert system was designed and implemented using SL5 Object language for knowledge based system

An ITS for Teaching Introduction to Computer Science

Abstract: The paper describes the design of an intelligent tutoring system for teaching Introduction to Computer Science-a compulsory curriculum in Al-Azhar University of Gaza to students who attend the university. The basic idea of this system is a systematic introduction into computer science. The system presents topics with examples. The system is dynamically checks student's individual progress. An initial evaluation study was done to investigate the effect of using the intelligent tutoring system on the performance of students enrolled in computer science curriculum at Al-Azhar University, Gaza. The results showed a positive impact on the evaluators

Using Thinking Routines as a Pedagogy for Teaching English as a Second Language in Palestine

This study examined the results of promoting Palestinian students’ engagement and fostering their understanding in addition to their inquiry skills through the application of thinking routines. Six teachers teaching fourth and fifth grades participated voluntarily in this action research project during the school year 2014–2015. The researcher videotaped a number of classes, collected and discussed teachers’ and students\u27 reflections, and analyzed classroom observation reports. During the data collection process, the researcher depicted and narrated common themes and issues retrieved from the different sources that were used to collect data. Results revealed that the implementation of visible thinking routines in English language classrooms was a challenge for both the learners and the teachers. For the learners, the challenges were their limited abilities to express themselves using English language, and for the teachers, the challenges were the extra effort that they needed to exert because it was their first experience in implementing such routines. Teachers sometimes found it difficult to decide which thinking routine is appropriate to the activities they wanted to implement. However, teachers asserted that positive changes occurred in English language classrooms and in students’ learning and interaction. Teachers expressed their admiration of how students were more engaged to explore, connect ideas, and delve deeper for better understanding of topics discussed. Classroom activities became more enjoyable, more learning directed and more learners centered. In the light of the research results, Palestinian teachers were recommended to use thinking routines to promote students’ engagement and foster their understanding