Suggested Policies for Accepting PhD Students at the University of Jordan to Align Its Educational Outcomes with the Needs of the Labor Market and to Improve Its Position in the World Universities Rankings According to the Experience of Canadian Universit

This study aimed to develop proposed policies for the acceptance of doctoral students at the University of Jordan to align its educational outcomes with the needs of the labor market and to improve their positions in the World Universities Rankings according to the experience of Canadian universities for the academic year 2019/2020, To accomplish the objectives of the study, the researchers used the methodology, the qualitative, quantitative, evolutionary survey research and Synthetic-Analytic Approach.  A study tool has been developed in the light of the methodology, two study tools were used, the questionnaire and the interview with a sample of (20) academic leaders, and its validity and reliability were assured by scientific methods. -        The fairness of the procedures followed by the Faculty of Graduate Studies in attracting doctoral students, so that the criteria and conditions for admission are applied based on the principle of equality and equal opportunities in the recruitment procedures. -        The current admission policy for graduate students at the University of Jordan, specifically PhD, does not keep pace with rapid global changes, and is ineffective and appropriate to contribute to sustainable development. -        The current policy aims to increase revenues as a result of increasing the numbers of those admitted to graduate studies, and therefore it focuses on quantity, not Quality. -        Lack of understanding and awareness of the heads of academic departments in choosing the appropriate admission policy to attract distinguished students for the doctoral programs that are offered by their departments. Based on the results of the study, the researchers developed admission policies for doctoral students at the University of Jordan and made sure that they could be applied by presenting them to a committee of experts. This study has come out with a set of recommendations, including: The researchers recommend the need to apply the policies reached by this study, and the necessity of introducing academic department heads and assistant deans of faculties to the policies and procedures adopted by the Faculty of Graduate Studies to attract doctoral students at the University of Jordan in order to be fully aware and able to define criteria and the appropriate conditions for choosing an effective admission policy to attract distinguished students for the specializations of doctoral programs offered by their departments, which would improve educational outcomes and scientific research. Keywords: Policies, PhD, Admission, Registration, Labor Market, The World Universities Ranking, University of Jordan, Canadian Universities Experience, Educational Outcomes DOI: 10.7176/JEP/11-17-04 Publication date:June 30th 202

Improving the performance of accounting information systems of commercial banks in Jordan by using the balanced scorecard approach

The continuous development of information technology in the modern word affects the performance of Accounting Information Systems (AIS) in Jordanian business organizations, including commercial banks, in many respects, including: its objectives, strategies, nature of work and instruments that achieve its objectives. Hence, the traditional AIS needs to be reviewed since it requires new instruments to determine, measure and present accounting information in order to adapt to the requirements of modern technology and competition factors.The problem of this study stems from the ignorance of some commercial banks in Jordan about the impact of AIS on the level of banks' success in performing their various banking business, indicating that AIS is not used efficiently and effectively. Also, the problem stems from the great interest in AIS from other commercial banks in Jordan, although they are unable to take full advantage of AIS and what it can offer. With the prominent presence and effective role that could be played by companies of systems, programs and communications in Jordan in formulating the level of service performance of banks in Jordan, ignorance of AIS on the part of these commercial banks would negatively impact on their market share and effective performance, bilaterally, jointly, and their competitive position.Despite the argument of many commercial banks in Jordan that AIS is an important aspect of their daily operations, there are still some factors that limit the effectiveness of AIS performance. Hence, various critical problems emerged for the commercial banks, which are the main problems addressed by this study. First, specific technology in any AIS field might prevent it from being effective; second, it may prevent the production of credible information for stakeholders; third, it will hinder any technical progress in its control operations. This would negatively affect bank's performance in terms of providing highly efficient, low-cost services, and decrease its competence and competitiveness both internally and externally.Considering the negative reflections discussed in the previous section, it is noted that the impact of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) problems on AIS performance in the commercial banks in Jordan is a pressing and significant issue, especially in the KPIs field that enhances AIS performance. The problem that the researcher identifies to solve in this study is: What are the KPIs that will improve the accounting information systems' performance in the commercial banks in Jordan? This needs to address the question arising from the absence of a strategic vision in the literature to develop and improve the AIS professional performance in commercial banks in Jordan. Also, it highlights the importance of investigating the KPIs that lead to improving AIS performance in the commercial banks in Jordan.To improve AIS performance in commercial bank in Jordan, Balance Scorecard (BSC) as an integrated system of performance measures from the financial and non-financial perspectives, such as: financial, customers, internal business process, learning and growth, and internal control have been used. KPIs related to these perspectives were revealed and identified classified, and their relationships with, and their effects and influence on, the effectiveness of AIS performance in those banks, were examined. On the other hand, analyses were made for the all BSC-AIS elements and their effect on the performance of work strategies and tendencies by using Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) and Analytical Network Process (ANP). The researcher also tested BSC-AIS in the field part, on the society, with emphasis on basic performance improvement stimulants AIS-KPIs, through analysing the questionnaire's results, using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) programme. Then, analysed each element based on each of the five perspectives. A comparison was conducted between the analysis results of SPSS and analysis results of AHP/ANP, in order to get final KPIs to be adopted as a basic criterion to conduct the comparison between fact and the expected AIS future performance. Furthermore, the study suggests ten recommendations to be implemented by the commercial banks in Jordan in order to improve the performance of AIS.Finally, the study produced results that facilitate the establishment of a comprehensive AIS strategy intended to achieve, and maintain a competitive advantage, provide the attributes that produce comprehensive information for different stakeholders, improve and maintain the internal control systems. This study concluded that all of these elements together lead to the development and improvement of AIS performance in the commercial banks in Jordan, thereby improving AIS operational performance with different materiality determined by the relationship between the target elements and objectives

The Auditing Quality and Accounting Conservatism

[Abstract] This study aims at verifying that there is accounting conservatism in the financial reports issued by the industrial corporations listed on the Amman Stock Exchange (ASE) and testing the impact of auditing quality characteristics (the auditing firm size, contacts with other global auditing firms, client retention period, auditing fees and the specialty in client's industry) on the enhancement of the level of accounting conservatism. Towards realizing the objectives of the study, the relationship was estimated and examined through the Binomial Test to test the first hypothesis a One-Sample T-Test to test the second hypothesis, and multiple regressions of (Ordinary Least Squares OLS). Data of 39 companies of the industrial sector for the period 2001-2006 were arranged in a way that made it possible to apply the Pooled Data Regression. The study found significant results indicating a low level of accounting conservatism in the financial statements issued by the Jordanian industrial corporations. The results indicated that some of the characteristics of auditing quality are good, and some of audit quality characteristics have an impact on improving the level of accounting conservatism. Based on these results, we have provided recommendations to the interested parties

Antimicrobial resistance among migrants in Europe: a systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND: Rates of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) are rising globally and there is concern that increased migration is contributing to the burden of antibiotic resistance in Europe. However, the effect of migration on the burden of AMR in Europe has not yet been comprehensively examined. Therefore, we did a systematic review and meta-analysis to identify and synthesise data for AMR carriage or infection in migrants to Europe to examine differences in patterns of AMR across migrant groups and in different settings. METHODS: For this systematic review and meta-analysis, we searched MEDLINE, Embase, PubMed, and Scopus with no language restrictions from Jan 1, 2000, to Jan 18, 2017, for primary data from observational studies reporting antibacterial resistance in common bacterial pathogens among migrants to 21 European Union-15 and European Economic Area countries. To be eligible for inclusion, studies had to report data on carriage or infection with laboratory-confirmed antibiotic-resistant organisms in migrant populations. We extracted data from eligible studies and assessed quality using piloted, standardised forms. We did not examine drug resistance in tuberculosis and excluded articles solely reporting on this parameter. We also excluded articles in which migrant status was determined by ethnicity, country of birth of participants' parents, or was not defined, and articles in which data were not disaggregated by migrant status. Outcomes were carriage of or infection with antibiotic-resistant organisms. We used random-effects models to calculate the pooled prevalence of each outcome. The study protocol is registered with PROSPERO, number CRD42016043681. FINDINGS: We identified 2274 articles, of which 23 observational studies reporting on antibiotic resistance in 2319 migrants were included. The pooled prevalence of any AMR carriage or AMR infection in migrants was 25·4% (95% CI 19·1-31·8; I2 =98%), including meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (7·8%, 4·8-10·7; I2 =92%) and antibiotic-resistant Gram-negative bacteria (27·2%, 17·6-36·8; I2 =94%). The pooled prevalence of any AMR carriage or infection was higher in refugees and asylum seekers (33·0%, 18·3-47·6; I2 =98%) than in other migrant groups (6·6%, 1·8-11·3; I2 =92%). The pooled prevalence of antibiotic-resistant organisms was slightly higher in high-migrant community settings (33·1%, 11·1-55·1; I2 =96%) than in migrants in hospitals (24·3%, 16·1-32·6; I2 =98%). We did not find evidence of high rates of transmission of AMR from migrant to host populations. INTERPRETATION: Migrants are exposed to conditions favouring the emergence of drug resistance during transit and in host countries in Europe. Increased antibiotic resistance among refugees and asylum seekers and in high-migrant community settings (such as refugee camps and detention facilities) highlights the need for improved living conditions, access to health care, and initiatives to facilitate detection of and appropriate high-quality treatment for antibiotic-resistant infections during transit and in host countries. Protocols for the prevention and control of infection and for antibiotic surveillance need to be integrated in all aspects of health care, which should be accessible for all migrant groups, and should target determinants of AMR before, during, and after migration. FUNDING: UK National Institute for Health Research Imperial Biomedical Research Centre, Imperial College Healthcare Charity, the Wellcome Trust, and UK National Institute for Health Research Health Protection Research Unit in Healthcare-associated Infections and Antimictobial Resistance at Imperial College London

Search for new physics with same-sign isolated dilepton events with jets and missing transverse energy

A search for new physics is performed in events with two same-sign isolated leptons, hadronic jets, and missing transverse energy in the final state. The analysis is based on a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 4.98 inverse femtobarns produced in pp collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 7 TeV collected by the CMS experiment at the LHC. This constitutes a factor of 140 increase in integrated luminosity over previously published results. The observed yields agree with the standard model predictions and thus no evidence for new physics is found. The observations are used to set upper limits on possible new physics contributions and to constrain supersymmetric models. To facilitate the interpretation of the data in a broader range of new physics scenarios, information on the event selection, detector response, and efficiencies is provided.Comment: Published in Physical Review Letter

Measurement of jet fragmentation into charged particles in pp and PbPb collisions at sqrt(s[NN]) = 2.76 TeV

Jet fragmentation in pp and PbPb collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 2.76 TeV per nucleon pair was studied using data collected with the CMS detector at the LHC. Fragmentation functions are constructed using charged-particle tracks with transverse momenta pt > 4 GeV for dijet events with a leading jet of pt > 100 GeV. The fragmentation functions in PbPb events are compared to those in pp data as a function of collision centrality, as well as dijet-pt imbalance. Special emphasis is placed on the most central PbPb events including dijets with unbalanced momentum, indicative of energy loss of the hard scattered parent partons. The fragmentation patterns for both the leading and subleading jets in PbPb collisions agree with those seen in pp data at 2.76 TeV. The results provide evidence that, despite the large parton energy loss observed in PbPb collisions, the partition of the remaining momentum within the jet cone into high-pt particles is not strongly modified in comparison to that observed for jets in vacuum.Comment: Submitted to the Journal of High Energy Physic

Measurement of the Lambda(b) cross section and the anti-Lambda(b) to Lambda(b) ratio with Lambda(b) to J/Psi Lambda decays in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV

The Lambda(b) differential production cross section and the cross section ratio anti-Lambda(b)/Lambda(b) are measured as functions of transverse momentum pt(Lambda(b)) and rapidity abs(y(Lambda(b))) in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV using data collected by the CMS experiment at the LHC. The measurements are based on Lambda(b) decays reconstructed in the exclusive final state J/Psi Lambda, with the subsequent decays J/Psi to an opposite-sign muon pair and Lambda to proton pion, using a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 1.9 inverse femtobarns. The product of the cross section times the branching ratio for Lambda(b) to J/Psi Lambda versus pt(Lambda(b)) falls faster than that of b mesons. The measured value of the cross section times the branching ratio for pt(Lambda(b)) > 10 GeV and abs(y(Lambda(b))) < 2.0 is 1.06 +/- 0.06 +/- 0.12 nb, and the integrated cross section ratio for anti-Lambda(b)/Lambda(b) is 1.02 +/- 0.07 +/- 0.09, where the uncertainties are statistical and systematic, respectively.Comment: Submitted to Physics Letters

Search for new physics in events with opposite-sign leptons, jets, and missing transverse energy in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV

A search is presented for physics beyond the standard model (BSM) in final states with a pair of opposite-sign isolated leptons accompanied by jets and missing transverse energy. The search uses LHC data recorded at a center-of-mass energy sqrt(s) = 7 TeV with the CMS detector, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of approximately 5 inverse femtobarns. Two complementary search strategies are employed. The first probes models with a specific dilepton production mechanism that leads to a characteristic kinematic edge in the dilepton mass distribution. The second strategy probes models of dilepton production with heavy, colored objects that decay to final states including invisible particles, leading to very large hadronic activity and missing transverse energy. No evidence for an event yield in excess of the standard model expectations is found. Upper limits on the BSM contributions to the signal regions are deduced from the results, which are used to exclude a region of the parameter space of the constrained minimal supersymmetric extension of the standard model. Additional information related to detector efficiencies and response is provided to allow testing specific models of BSM physics not considered in this paper.Comment: Replaced with published version. Added journal reference and DO

Comparison of total endoscopic thyroidectomy with conventional open thyroidectomy for treatment of papillary thyroid cancer

BackgroundRecent advance of endoscopic techniques has allowed surgeons to perform thyroidectomy via an incision placement at hidden places which lead to better cosmetic acceptability compared with conventional open thyroidectomy.AimsThis study was conducted to summarize the current evidence that compare open thyroidectomy with endoscopic ‎thyroidectomy in treatment of papillary thyroid cancer‎.‎Methods An electronic literature review, including PubMed, Google Scholar, and EBSCO that examining randomized trials of endoscopic thyroidectomy (ET), conventional open thyroidectomy (COT), and management of papillary thyroid carcinoma was carried out.Results The review included 8 randomized studies that compare total endoscopic thyroidectomy versus conventional open thyroidectomy in treatment of papillary thyroid cancer. The findings showed endoscopic thyroidectomy had statically significant cosmetic appearance, less amount of blood loss and occurrence of transient hypocalcaemia than conventional open thyroidectomy in form of cosmetic outcome, amount lower blood loss.ConclusionThe current review showed that, ET has a better cosmetic outcome and lower blood loss compared with COT. While COT was associated with significantly low operation time, hospital stay, drainage time, amount of drainage fluid and transient recurrent laryngeal nerve (RLN) palsy