Time Management Practices and Job Satisfaction: A Case of Private University

This paper examines the time management practices in a private higher education institution in Jordan. The data are generated by questionnaire which was informed by preliminary interviews. Further interviews were carried out to aid interpretation of the responses. Descriptive statistics on the importance and frequency of use of individual practices provide the basis for discussion. The findings in regards to the demographic variable (gender), females are satisfy with their jobs and using time management mechanics more than males, and have more ability than males to organize their activities in the work environment. Males have control over their time and have a habit of setting goals and priorities more than females. Also, the results indicate that both males and females personalities are equally the same which they are “open to a new experience”. The results of the regression analysis show there’s a significant relationship between time management mechanics and job satisfaction, and no significant relationship between both “goal setting and priorities” and “preference of organization” and job satisfaction. Also, the personality variables have no significant relationship wish job satisfaction. Furthermore, the correlation results show that job satisfaction had significantly positive relationships with goal setting and priorities, and time management mechanics. Also job satisfaction was significantly associated with preference of organization. Though according to the results the time management behavior TMB is highly correlated with job satisfaction, hence the people who have job satisfaction are highly using time management behavior. Time management practices are used but there are indication of likely increased the relationship between time management behavior and job satisfaction. As a result, time management mechanics should encourage in the work environment but more research is needed especially the case study approach. The survey provides a unique detailed examination of actual time management practices and an indication of future trends. Keywords: Time Management, Time Management Practices, Job Satisfaction, Higher Education Institution, Jorda

Higher Education, Social Mobility and Social Class: Importance of Habitus and Capitals when Analysing Student Choice and Transitions

Extensive literature spanning decades articulates the complexities for young people from ‘lower socioeconomic communities’ in the decision-making process surrounding education – possibly highlighting how Widening Participation (WP) policy and practice, is not necessarily reducing socioeconomic inequalities, and contributing to social mobility. Arguing for the crucial role of cultural, social, and economic capital to be considered in educational policy-making, this article examines the educational and transitional experiences of students from lower socioeconomic communities within the United Kingdom (UK), moving to Higher Education (HE). Bourdieu’s conceptual toolkit (habitus, agency, and capitals) is operationalised in reference to the data, to unravel the fraught relationship of habitus and choice or more specifically ‘free choice’. Through the use of focus groups, the research suggests that despite governmental optimism and policy the presence of anxiety and fear in young people from lower socioeconomic communities, in applying to HE, is multifaceted. This article highlights that despite students demonstrating a determination and aspiration in the transition from Further Education (FE) to HE, the idea of ‘choice’ remains widely problematic for the under-represented. The article urges educators and policy-makers to rethink the complexities of choice concerning student transitions when opportunities in terms of life trajectories remain governed by social class boundaries

Microbial carbon and nitrogen cycling responses to drought and temperature in differently managed mountain grasslands

Grassland management can modify soil microbial carbon (C)and nitrogen (N)cycling, affecting the resistance to extreme weather events, which are predicted to increase in frequency and magnitude in the near future. However, effects of grassland management on microbial C and N cycling and their responses to extreme weather events, such as droughts and heatwaves, have rarely been tested in a combined approach. We therefore investigated whether grassland management affects microbial C and N cycling responses to drought and temperature manipulation. We collected soils from in situ drought experiments conducted in an extensively managed and an abandoned mountain grassland and incubated them at two temperature levels. We measured microbial respiration and substrate incorporation, as well as gross rates of organic and inorganic N cycling to estimate microbial C and N use efficiencies (CUE and NUE). The managed grassland was characterized by lower microbial biomass, lower fungi to bacteria ratio, and higher microbial CUE, but only slightly different microbial NUE. At both sites drought induced a shift in microbial community composition driven by an increase in Gram-positive bacterial abundance. Drought significantly reduced C substrate respiration and incorporation by microbes at both sites, while microbial CUE remained constant. In contrast, drought increased gross rates of N mineralization at both sites, whereas gross amino acid uptake rates only marginally changed. We observed a significant direct, as well as interactive effect between land management and drought on microbial NUE. Increased temperatures significantly stimulated microbial respiration and reduced microbial CUE independent of drought or land management. Although microbial N processing rates showed no clear response, microbial NUE significantly decreased at higher temperatures. In summary in our study, microbial CUE, in particular respiration, is more responsive to temperature changes. Although N processing rates were stronger responding to drought than to temperature microbial NUE was affected by both drought and temperature increase. We conclude that direct effects of drought and heatwaves can induce different responses in soil microbial C and N cycling similarly in the studied land management systems

“Crying and Chaos” – Starting School Experiences of Teachers in the United Arab Emirates (UAE)

The transition to full time schooling can be considered as the most important academic move that children make. Cross-cultural research demonstrates that a positive start to school leads to a more successful school career, academically and socially. Therefore, understanding the viewpoints of teachers about the first days in school is essential in understanding what contributes to a successful transition. This study focused on teacher experiences and perspectives of children starting school in the private school system in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Ten teachers were interviewed using semi structured interviews. Thematic analysis revealed two themes: ‘A New Order’ and ‘Talking not Crying’, along with associated sub-themes. The findings indicated that the focus of the first few days at school was on establishing routines and order, which would indicate successful transition. Crying rather than talking is seen as a barrier to the establishment of the new order and, therefore, is seen as a hindrance to a successful transition. Consideration of cultural factors in how teachers view transition is given with suggestions for best practice in the context, specifically in relation to transition preparation and how to target hard to reach groups. Areas of focus and directions for future research are highlighted

Internet-based search of randomised trials relevant to mental health originating in the Arab world

BACKGROUND: The internet is becoming a widely used source of accessing medical research through various on-line databases. This instant access to information is of benefit to busy clinicians and service users around the world. The population of the Arab World is comparable to that of the United States, yet it is widely believed to have a greatly contrasting output of randomised controlled trials related to mental health. This study was designed to investigate the existence of such research in the Arab World and also to investigate the availability of this research on-line. METHODS: Survey of findings from three internet-based potential sources of randomised trials originating from the Arab world and relevant to mental health care. RESULTS: A manual search of an Arabic online current contents service identified 3 studies, MEDLINE, EMBASE, and PsycINFO searches identified only 1 study, and a manual search of a specifically indexed, study-based mental health database, PsiTri, revealed 27 trials. CONCLUSION: There genuinely seem to be few trials from the Arab world and accessing these on-line was problematic. Replication of some studies that guide psychiatric/psychological practice in the Arab world would seem prudent

Randomised trials relevant to mental health conducted in low and middle-income countries: a survey

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>A substantial proportion of the psychiatric burden of disease falls on the world's poorest nations, yet relatively little is known about randomised trials conducted in these countries. Our aim was to identify and describe a representative sample of mental health trials from low and middle-income countries.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>6107 electronic records, most with full text copies, were available following extensive searches for randomised or potentially randomised trials from low and middle-income countries published in 1991, 1995 and 2000. These records were searched to identify studies relevant to mental health. Data on study characteristics were extracted from the full text copies.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Trials relevant to mental health were reported in only 3% of the records. 176 records reporting 177 trials were identified: 25 were published in 1991, 45 in 1995, and 106 in 2000. Participants from China were represented in 46% of trials described. 68% of trials had <100 participants. The method of sequence generation was described in less than 20% of reports and adequate concealment of allocation was described in only 12% of reports. Participants were most frequently adults with unipolar depression (36/177) or schizophrenia (36/177). 80% of studies evaluated pharmacological interventions, a third of which were not listed by WHO as essential drugs. 41% of reports were indexed on PubMed; this proportion decreased from 68% in 1991 to 32% in 2000.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>In terms of overall health burden, trial research activity from low and middle-income countries in mental health appears to be low, and in no area adequately reflects need.</p

Large-scale unit commitment under uncertainty: an updated literature survey

The Unit Commitment problem in energy management aims at finding the optimal production schedule of a set of generation units, while meeting various system-wide constraints. It has always been a large-scale, non-convex, difficult problem, especially in view of the fact that, due to operational requirements, it has to be solved in an unreasonably small time for its size. Recently, growing renewable energy shares have strongly increased the level of uncertainty in the system, making the (ideal) Unit Commitment model a large-scale, non-convex and uncertain (stochastic, robust, chance-constrained) program. We provide a survey of the literature on methods for the Uncertain Unit Commitment problem, in all its variants. We start with a review of the main contributions on solution methods for the deterministic versions of the problem, focussing on those based on mathematical programming techniques that are more relevant for the uncertain versions of the problem. We then present and categorize the approaches to the latter, while providing entry points to the relevant literature on optimization under uncertainty. This is an updated version of the paper "Large-scale Unit Commitment under uncertainty: a literature survey" that appeared in 4OR 13(2), 115--171 (2015); this version has over 170 more citations, most of which appeared in the last three years, proving how fast the literature on uncertain Unit Commitment evolves, and therefore the interest in this subject

Radiation degradation of aromatic pollutants exit in wastewater and ph dependence

The effect of gamma radiation on the degradation of phenol (hydroxybenzene), resorcinol (1,3 dihydroxybenzen) and hydroquinone (1,4 dihydroxybenzen) exit in waste water was investigated. The concentrations of these pollutants as well as the irradiated solution ph were studied. The results showed that the phenol is very resistance against the radiation doses comparing the other phenol compounds. Phenol was also a product of radiolysis of resorcinol and hydroquinone. On the other hand, the acid phase of the irradiation sample increased the degradation rate of pollutants. Spectrophotometer (UV-VIS) and chromatography (HPLC) were used to monitor the analysis of the radiation product solution. The results illustrated the existing of many substances such as organic alcohol, aldehyde, ketone and acidic functional groups as a final radiation products. The degradation of benzene, monochlorobenzene (CB) and 1,2 dichlorobenzene (1,2 DCB) exit in waste water by gamma irradiation was investigated. The effect of the irradiated solution composition was studied. The results showed that the benzene is very resistance against the radiation doses comparing to other chlorobenzene. However, the existence of oxidizing substances in the irradiation phase leads to increase the degradation rate of pollutants. The dechlorination of CB and 1,2 DCB that is a result of the hydrated electron reaction with studied compounds was observed. Chromatography (HPLC) and spectrophotometer (UV-VIS) were used to monitor the analysis of the radiation product solution. The results illustrated the existing of many species as a final radiation product. On the other, the irradiation phase containing scavengers such as methanol and ethanol requires large doses to decompose the pollutants, while the oxidizing phase accelerates the degradation