The Enhancement of Arabic Information Retrieval Using Arabic Text Summarization

The massive upload of text on the internet makes the text overhead one of the important challenges faces the Information Retrieval (IR) system. The purpose of this research is to maintain reasonable relevancy and increase the efficiency of the information retrieval system by creating a short and informative inverted index and by supporting the user query with a set of semantically related terms extracted automatically. To achieve this purpose, two new models for text mining are developed and implemented, the first one called Multi-Layer Similarity (MLS) model that uses the Latent Semantic Analysis (LSA) in the efficient framework. And the second is called the Noun Based Distinctive Verbs (NBDV) model that investigates the semantic meanings of the nouns by identifying the set of distinctive verbs that describe them. The Arabic Language has been chosen as the language of the case study, because one of the primary objectives of this research is to measure the effect of the MLS model and NBDV model on the relevancy of the Arabic IR (AIR) systems that use the Vector Space model, and to measure the accuracy of applying the MLS model on the recall and precision of the Arabic language text extraction systems. The initiating of this research requires holding a deep reading about what has been achieved in the field of Arabic information retrieval. In this regard, a quantitative relevancy survey to measure the enhancements achieved has been established. The survey reviewed the impact of statistical and morphological analysis of Arabic text on improving the AIR relevancy. The survey measured the contributions of Stemming, Indexing, Query Expansion, Automatic Text Summarization, Text Translation, Part of Speech Tagging, and Named Entity Recognition in enhancing the relevancy of AIR. Our survey emphasized the quantitative relevancy measurements provided in the surveyed publications. The survey showed that the researchers achieved significant achievements, especially in building accurate stemmers, with precision rates that convergent to 97%, and in measuring the impact of different indexing strategies. Query expansion and Text Translation showed a positive relevancy effect. However, other tasks such as Named Entity Recognition and Automatic Text Summarization still need more research to realize their impact on Arabic IR. The use of LSA in text mining demands large space and time requirements. In the first part of this research, a new text extraction model has been proposed, designed, implemented, and evaluated. The new method sets a framework on how to efficiently employ the statistical semantic analysis in the automatic text extraction. The method hires the centrality feature that estimates the similarity of the sentence with respect to every sentence found in the text. The new model omits the segments of text that have significant verbatim, statistical, and semantic resemblance with previously processed texts. The identification of text resemblance is based on a new multi-layer process that estimates the text-similarity at three statistical layers. It employes the Jaccard coefficient similarity and the Vector Space Model (VSM) in the first and second layers respectively and uses the Latent Semantic Analysis in the third layer. Due to high time complexity, the Multi-Layer model restricts the use of the LSA layer for the text segments that the Jaccard and VSM layers failed to estimate their similarities. ROUGE tool is used in the evaluation, and because ROUGE does not consider the extract’s size, it has been supplemented with a new evaluation strategy based on the ratio of sentences intersections between the automatic and the reference extracts and the condensation rate. The MLS model has been compared with the classical LSA that uses the traditional definition of the singular value decomposition and with the traditional Jaccard and VSM text extractions. The results of our comparison showed that the run of the LSA procedure in the MLS-based extraction reduced by 52%, and the original matrix dimensions dwindled by 65%. Also, the new method achieved remarkable accuracy results. We found that combining the centrality feature with the proposed multi-layer framework yields a significant solution regarding the efficiency and precision in the field of automatic text extraction. The automatic synonym extractor built in this research is based on statistical approaches. The traditional statistical approach in synonyms extraction is time-consuming, especially in real applications such as query expansion and text mining. It is necessary to develop a new model to improve the efficiency and accuracy during the extraction. The research presents the NBDV model in synonym extraction that replaces the traditional tf.idf weighting scheme with a new weighting scheme called the Orbit Weighing Scheme (OWS). The OWS weights the verbs based on their singularity to a group of nouns. The method was manipulated over the Arabic language because it has more varieties in constructing the verbal sentences than the other languages. The results of the new method were compared with traditional models in automatic synonyms extraction, such as the Skip-Gram and Continuous Bag of Words. The NBDV method obtained significant accuracy results (47% R and 51% P in the dictionary-based evaluation, and 57.5% precision using human experts’ assessment). It is found that on average, the synonyms extraction of a single noun requires the process of 186 verbs, and in 63% of the runs, the number of singular verbs was less than 200. It is concluded that the developed new method is efficient and processed the single run in linear time complexity (O(n)). After implementing the text extractors and the synonyms extractor, the VSM model was used to build the IR system. The inverted index was constructed from two sources of data, the original documents taken from various datasets of the Arabic language (and one from the English language for comparison purposes), and from the automatic summaries of the same documents that were generated from the automatic extractors developed in this research. A series of experiments were held to test the effectiveness of the extraction methods developed in this research on the relevancy of the IR system. The experiments examined three groups of queries, 60 Arabic queries with manual relevancy assessment, 100 Arabic queries with automatic relevancy assessment, and 60 English queries with automatic relevancy assessment. Also, the experiments were performed with and without synonyms expansions using the synonyms generated by the synonyms extractor developed in the research. The positive influence of the MLS text extraction was clear in the efficiency of the IR system without noticeable loss in the relevancy results. The intrinsic evaluation in our research showed that the bag of words models failed to reduce the text size, and this appears clearly in the large values of the condensation Rate (68%). Comparing with the previous publications that addressed the use of summaries as a source of the index, The relevancy assessment of our work was higher than their relevancy results. And, the relevancy results were obtained at 42% condensation rate, whereas, the relevancy results in the previous publication achieved at high values of condensation rate. Also, the MLS-based retrieval constructed an inverted index that is 58% smaller than the Main Corpus inverted index. The influence of the NBDV synonyms expansion on the IR relevancy had a slightly positive impact (only 1% improvement in both recall and precision), but no negative impact has been recorded in all relevancy measures

Arabic Information Retrieval: A Relevancy Assessment Survey

The paper presents a research in Arabic Information Retrieval (IR). It surveys the impact of statistical and morphological analysis of Arabic text in improving Arabic IR relevancy. We investigated the contributions of Stemming, Indexing, Query Expansion, Text Summarization (TS), Text Translation, and Named Entity Recognition (NER) in enhancing the relevancy of Arabic IR. Our survey emphasizing on the quantitative relevancy measurements provided in the surveyed publications. The paper shows that the researchers achieved significant enhancements especially in building accurate stemmers, with accuracy reaches 97%, and in measuring the impact of different indexing strategies. Query expansion and Text Translation showed positive relevancy effect. However, other tasks such as NER and TS still need more research to realize their impact on Arabic IR

Irradiation Experiment for Living Insect-Based Radiological Dispersal Device

People generally associate fear with “nuclear”, “radioactive” and “insects”. It is speculated that a release of radioactive living insects would instill more fear into the general public than a “traditional” style radiological dispersion device (RDD). This paper evaluates the potential threat of an insect-based RDD using experimental data. The results of this project found that insect-based RDDs are an insignificant threat due to the challenges in making insects radioactive enough to pose any danger to humans without killing the insects

Hope: Toward Conceptual Maturity in Nursing

Purpose: to explore the contextual usage of the concept of hope within the discipline of nursing across two different contexts: spinal cord injury and cancer from the patient's perspective. Method: the Pragmatic Utility approach was utilized for surplus clarification and advancement of the concept. Findings: there is no consistency in the way the concept of hope is conceptualized across two contexts, a number of overlapping concepts were found, and the concepts' operationalization is limited. Nursing Implications and Conclusion: despite a considerable attention to the concept of hope, there is no consensus on the definition of hope. Refinement and clarification of the concept of hope will improve nursing practice through providing nurses who deal with patients suffering from chronic illnesses and their families with better understanding and helping them to design strategies to inspire hope across life span. Future studies to enhance the measurement of the concept of hope is needed. Keywords: Cancer, Concept Maturity, Hope, Spinal Cord Injury

The Effect of the Multi-Layer Text Summarization Model on the Efficiency and Relevancy of the Vector Space-based Information Retrieval

The massive upload of text on the internet creates a huge inverted index in information retrieval systems, which hurts their efficiency. The purpose of this research is to measure the effect of the Multi-Layer Similarity model of the automatic text summarization on building an informative and condensed invert index in the IR systems. To achieve this purpose, we summarized a considerable number of documents using the Multi-Layer Similarity model, and we built the inverted index from the automatic summaries that were generated from this model. A series of experiments were held to test the performance in terms of efficiency and relevancy. The experiments include comparisons with three existing text summarization models; the Jaccard Coefficient Model, the Vector Space Model, and the Latent Semantic Analysis model. The experiments examined three groups of queries with manual and automatic relevancy assessment. The positive effect of the Multi-Layer Similarity in the efficiency of the IR system was clear without noticeable loss in the relevancy results. However, the evaluation showed that the traditional statistical models without semantic investigation failed to improve the information retrieval efficiency. Comparing with the previous publications that addressed the use of summaries as a source of the index, the relevancy assessment of our work was higher, and the Multi-Layer Similarity retrieval constructed an inverted index that was 58% smaller than the main corpus inverted index

Standards of Multimedia Graphic Design in Education

This study aims to determine Standards of Multimedia Graphic Design in Education through the analysis of the theoretical basis and previous studies related to this subject. This study has identified the list of standards of Multimedia, Graphic Design, each of which has a set indicator through which the quality of Multimedia can be evaluated in education. These course standards are: General Standards, Standards for using colors, Printed text, Illustrations and photographs, Cartoons, Video clips, using vocal sound, Sound effects and Music. Keywords: standards, Graphic Design, Education, Multimedia

Factors affecting intention to breastfeed among Syrian and Jordanian mothers: a comparative cross-sectional study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Breastfeeding is considered the ideal method of infant feeding for at least the first six months of life. This study aimed to compare breastfeeding intention between Syrian and Jordanian women and determine factors associated with breastfeeding intention among pregnant women in these two countries.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A cross-sectional design was used to collect data from1200 pregnant women aged 18 years and above (600 participants from each country). A self- administered questionnaire was used to collect data on socio-demographic characteristics and breastfeeding intention.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Intention to breastfeed was reported by 77.2% of Syrian and 76.2% of Jordanian pregnant women. There was no significant difference in intention to breastfeed between Syrian women and Jordanian women. In both countries, women with a more positive attitude to breastfeeding, women with previous breastfeeding experience and women with supportive partners were more likely to intend to breastfeed. Syrian women with a monthly family income of more than US$200, younger than 25 and primiparous or having one child were more likely to report an intention to breastfeed their infants. Jordanian women with an education level of less than high school and not living with their family-in-law were more likely to intend to breastfeed.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>In Syria and Jordan, a more positive attitude to breastfeeding, previous breastfeeding experience and presence of supportive husbands are associated with intention to breastfeed. These factors should be considered when planning programs designed to promote breastfeeding in these two countries.</p

Optical, electrical and chemical properties of PEO:I2 complex composite films

Synthesized PEO:I2 complex composite films with different I2 concentrations were deposited onto fused silica substrates using a dip-coating method. Incorporation of PEO films with I2 increases the electrical conductivity of the composite, reaching a maximum of 46 mS/cm for 7 wt% I2. The optical and optoelectronic properties of the complex composite films were studied using the transmittance and reflectance spectra in the UV-Vis region. The transmittance of PEO decreases with increasing I2 content. From this study, the optical bandgap energy decreases from 4.42 to 3.28 eV as I2 content increases from 0 to 7 wt%. In addition, the refractive index for PEO films are in the range of 1.66 and 2.00.1H NMR spectra of pure PEO film shows two major peaks at 3.224 ppm and 1.038 ppm, with different widths assigned to the mobile polymer chains in the amorphous phase, whereas the broad component is assigned to the more rigid molecules in the crystalline phase, respectively. By adding I2 to the PEO, both peaks (amorphous and crystal) are shifted to lower NMR frequencies indicating that I2 is acting as a Lewis acid, and PEO is acting as Lewis base. Hence, molecular iodine reacts favorably with PEO molecules through a charge transfer mechanism, and the formation of triiodide (I3-), the iodite (IO2-) anion, I 2· · · PEO and I2+···PEO complexes. PEO:I2 complex composite films are expected to be suitable for optical, electrical, and optoelectronic applications

Faculty Staff Members’ Perceptions about the Degree of the Strategic Plan Effectiveness in the University of Kuwait(2013-2017)

هدفت الدارسة للتعرُّف على تصورات أعضاء هيئة التدريس لدرجة فاعلية الخطة الإستراتيجية (2013–2017) في جامعة الكويت. إذ تمَّ استخدام المنهج الوصفي، وقد تكوَّن مجتمع الدراسة من جميع أعضاء هيئة التدريس بجامعة الكويت البالغ عددهم (1573) فرداً، وبلغت عيِّنة الدراسة بالطريقة العشوائية (229) عضو هيئة تدريس, ولتحقيق الهدف من الدراسة ولجمع البيانات تم بناء استبانة تكونت من (52) فقرة موزعة على خمسة مجالات. وكان من نتائج الدراسة الرئيسة أن درجة فاعلية الخطة الاستراتيجية لجامعة الكويت (2013–2017) التي قدرها أعضاء هيئة التدريس فيها كانت متوسطة في جميع مجالات الخطة. كما أشارت النتائج إلى أن أكثر مجالات الخطة الاستراتيجية لجامعة الكويت (2013–2017) فاعليةً هي خدمة المجتمع؛ بمتوسط حسابي (3.38)، وأقلها البحث العلمي؛ بمتوسط حسابي (2.89). وتبين وجود فروق في تصورات أعضاء هيئة التدريس في جامعة الكويت ذات دلالة إحصائية عند مستوى دلالة (α = (0.05 لمتغير الجنس لصالح الذكور في مجال التعليم لمستوى البكالوريوس، ولمتغير الرتبة الأكاديمية لصالح رتبة أستاذ في جميع مجالات الدراسة، ولمتغير طبيعة الكلية لصالح الكليات العلمية في جميع مجالات الدراسة ما عدا خدمة المجتمع. الكلمات المفتاحية: التخطيط الإستراتيجي، التعليم العالي، جامعة الكويت.The study aimed at exploring the perceptions of the faculty members about the degree of the Strategic Plan effectiveness (2013–2017) in Kuwait University. To achieve this objective, the descriptive method was used. The population of study consisted of all the faculty members in Kuwait University, (1573) members. The sample of study consisted of (229) faculty members who were randomly selected. To collect data for the study, the researcher developed a questionnaire consisting of (52) items and divided into five sections. The major results of the study revealed that the effectiveness of the strategic plan of Kuwait University (2013–2017) was given a medium rate by the faculty members, covering all areas of the plan. The study results also indicated that the most effective area of the strategic plan is community service, with a mean of (3.38), whereas the least effective area is scientific research with a mean of (2.89). There were also statistically significant differences between the faculty members’ perceptions at (α=0.05) attributed to gender variable in favor of males in the area of university education – undergraduate level. A similar difference was attributed to the variable of academic rank in favor of professor rank in all areas of the questionnaire. Another difference was attributed to the nature of the college in favor of science colleges in all the areas of the questionnaire, except for community service. Keywords: Strategic planning, Higher education, University of Kuwai