Promoting EFL Learning Outside the Classroom Through the Use of Web-based Technologies After the Adoption of Blackboard in a Saudi University

Many Saudi universities recently have used different technologies including a learning management system (LMS) to establish their blended learning systems. Faculty and students are encouraged to use online resources in their courses. I was interested in learning if English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers used Blackboard as a LMS to promote English learning outside the classroom and to extend limited opportunities of using English in Saudi Arabia. This study is important for EFL teaching and learning because it describes how web-based learning platforms are used to promote learning of English. It also sheds light on the teachers\u27 approaches, suggestions, and perceptions as well as on the students\u27 experiences and perceptions. It helps policymakers in Saudi Arabia to understand the role of web-based technologies (WbTs) in students\u27 learning of English outside the classroom. This study is motivated by one main research question: How does the adoption of Blackboard in this university help teachers provide web-based opportunities and employ online resources to support students\u27 English learning outside the classroom? This question is explored through three sub-questions. This qualitative study collects data from EFL teachers and students at a Saudi university through questionnaires, interviews, and follow-up questions. These multiple methods enabled me to find four teachers and nine students who richly experienced the implementation of Blackboard and other WbTs. The data analysis process produces descriptive codes and themes. It shows that the adoption of Blackboard at SSU was a fundamental change that had many consequent changes. The findings reveal that these changes were related and worked together to provide many learning opportunities and to expose students to English in real-life situations. Using WbTs reshapes EFL teaching approaches (Chapelle, 2009) and offers blended learning experiences as optimal learning environments for EFL students to learn by themselves. Participants were enthusiastic, confident, and highly motivated to utilize more WbTs in their course work. Curriculum developers and teachers are encouraged to choose more meaningful activities to meet many students\u27 needs, interests, and learning styles. I conclude by requesting the Saudi policymakers to adopt in the near future LMSs in Saudi educational institutions

Studies of Vitamin A in Nutrition and Cancer

This thesis describes the development of specific assays for separation and extraction of vitamin A (retinol) and its metabolites, retinal, retinoic acid, retinol acetate, retinol palmitate and its pro-vitamin carotene. The assay employed a liquid/liquid extraction procedure which gave reproducible recoveries for retinol and its metabolites. This was followed by a high pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC) procedure using a silica column with hexane:tetrahydrofuran:formic acid as mobile phase. This gave excellent chromatographic efficiency and resolution of metabolites and resulted in a highly sensitive and specific assay for all the compounds analysed. The assay was used for serum, and was modified to be applicable also for liver and nutritional solutions. A major benefit of this assay compared with previous methods is that all retinol metabolites can be separated on a single column without requirement for expensive gradient systems

The Role of Forensic Auditing in Enhancing Ethical Compliance in the Accounting and Auditing Profession

The research aims to investigate the role of forensic auditing in enhancing ethical compliance in the accounting and auditing profession, especially considering that auditing is fundamentally based on honesty, integrity, and transparency, and requires professional conscience free from bias, personal opinions, and favoritism. A descriptive approach was adopted to study the phenomenon, and a survey was used to collect data from the field of study. The research included a sample of employees from government banks in Karbala province. Given the importance of the auditor's role and ethical commitment, as well as the significance of forensic auditing and its revelation of important facts to relevant parties, the following key findings were reached: There is a statistically significant relationship between practicing forensic auditing and working objectively among professionals in the accounting and auditing profession. There is a statistically significant relationship between practicing forensic auditing and adhering to absolute confidentiality among professionals in the accounting and auditing profession. There is a statistically significant relationship between practicing forensic auditing and working efficiently among professionals in the accounting and auditing profession. There is a statistically significant relationship between practicing forensic auditing and the integrity of professionals in the accounting and auditing profession. There is a statistically significant relationship between practicing forensic auditing and compliance with all auditing laws among professionals in the accounting and auditing profession

Enhanced oil recovery by smart water injection in sandstone reservoirs (Malaysian Crude Oil)

Recently, the scale of studies on smart water – one of EOR method - has increased. From decades, water flooding is one of the most used methods to increase oil recovery. However, more effective in sandstone reservoirs is injecting low salinity brine. Due to changing wettability, improved oil mobility in pores can be reached. The studies show, that the significant increase of oil recovery might be achieved. Main objective of the project is to answer the question: Can “smart water” be used to enhance oil recovery in Malaysian sandstone reservoirs. Laboratory experiments and field tests show that it can enhance the oil recovery over conventional higher salinity water flooding. Until now, the mechanism behind low salinity water flooding is under consideration for further discussions, but it is generally accepted that low salinity water flooding improves microscopic sweep efficiency by modifying rock wettability. For low salinity condition, it has been suggested that desorption of polar oil components as result of pH increase makes the rock more water-wet. In this project, three core flood experiments will be performed to determine the effect of different water salinities on the oil recovery. Two homogeneous reservoir cores which contain active clays with crude oil which has enough polar organic compounds will be used during the experiments. All experiments were conducted at reservoir temperature, around 100°C. Core flood effluents will be sampled regularly to investigate crude oil-brine-rock interactions by measuring pH, density, and different ions concentration of produced water. Comparison between the results of the three types of water and its effect on the recovery factor will be conducted

Chaos synchronization in a 6-D hyperchaotic system with self-excited attractor

This paper presented stability application for chaos synchronization using a 6-D hyperchaotic system of different controllers and two tools: Lyapunov stability theory and Linearization methods. Synchronization methods based on nonlinear control strategy is used. The selecting controller's methods have been modified by applying complete synchronization. The Linearization methods can achieve convergence according to the of complete synchronization. Numerical simulations are carried out by using MATLAB to validate the effectiveness of the analytical technique

Characterisation of metal organic frameworks for adsorption cooling

Silica gel/water adsorption cooling systems suffer from size, performance and cost limitations. Therefore, there is a need for new adsorbent materials that outperform silica gel. Metal organic frameworks (MOFs) are new micro-porous materials that have extraordinary porosity and uniform structure. Due to the lack of published data that characterise MOF/water adsorption, this paper experimentally investigates the adsorption characteristics of HKUST-1 (Cu-BTC (copper benzene-1,3,5-tricarboxylate), C 18H 6Cu 3O 12) and MIL-100 (Fe-BTC (Iron 1,3,5- benzenetricarboxylate), C 9H 3FeO 6) MOFs compared to silica gel RD-2060. The adsorption characteristics of Silica gel RD-2060, HKUST-1 and MIL-100 were determined using an advanced gravimetric dynamic vapour sorption analyser (DVS). Results showed that HKUST-1 performed better than silica gel RD-2060 with an increase of water uptake of 93.2%, which could lead to a considerable increase in refrigerant flow rate, cooling capacity and/or reducing the size of the adsorption system. However, MIL-100 MOF showed reduced water uptake comparable to silica gel RD-2060 for water chilling applications with evaporation at 5 0C. These results highlight the potential of using MOF materials to improve the efficiency of water adsorption cooling systems

Numerical investigation of turbulent flow heat transfer and pressure drop of AL2O3/water nanofluid in helically coiled tubes

Passive convective heat transfer enhancement can be achieved by improving the thermo-physical properties of the working fluid, changing flow geometry or both. This work presents a numerical study to investigate the combined effect of using helical coils and nanofluids on the heat transfer characteristics and pressure losses in turbulent flow regime. The developed computational fluid dynamics models were validated against published experimental data and empirical correlations. Results have shown that combining the effects of alumina (Al2O3) nanoparticles and tube coiling could enhance the heat transfer coefficient by up to 60% compared with that of pure water in straight tube at the same Reynolds number. Also, results showed that the pressure drop in helical coils using Al2O3 nanofluid for volume fraction of 3% was six times that of water in straight tubes (80% of the pressure drop increase is due to nanoparticles addition), while the effect of Reynolds number on the pressure drop penalty factor was found to be insignificant

Modified Mathematical Model of Tumor Treatment by Radiotherapy

درسنا في هذا البحث نموذجاً رياضياً لمعالجة الاورام باستخدام العلاج الاشعاعي و تم اقتراح تعديل جديد للنموذج بالاضافة الى التحقق من التعديل. وايضاً تم تحليل استقرارية النموذج في البند الاخير.In this research, a mathematical model of tumor treatment by radiotherapy is studied and a new modification for the model is proposed as well as introducing the check for the suggested modification. Also the stability of the modified model is analyzed in the last section