The role of television and social media news videos in raising the socio-political awareness of Jordanian University students

This thesis investigates the use and perceived awareness of Jordanian university students towards the socio-political news presented by Television “National Jordanian and Satellite TV” in comparison to Social Media “Facebook and YouTube”. The thesis employs the use of qualitative and quantitative data through surveys and interviews with stratified simple sampling from 1000 students enrolled at the University of Jordan. The survey had been designed after a careful view of the demographics and behavioural perceptions and subsequently examined the viewing habits of the university students with 66% of the sample aged between 18 and 25 years old. The survey questions allow the participants to explore, identify and state their perceptions of online news videos, their credibility weighed against traditional media television, more specifically, JRTV with a focus on how each of the two mediums influenced and manipulated their socio-political awareness. The research further identifies the motivations and perceptions that each of these factors had to play in allowing the sample survey to identify their preferences through the application of uses and gratifications theory. This study reveals that traditional media such as television contribute to raising socio-political awareness of domestic and global events. JRTV has taken the role of domestic news provider to all age groups in Jordan, despite university students relying on satellite television for international news. Interestingly, a significant number of students spend more than an hour on social media for news updates. The findings of the study indicate that 86% of the sample survey to be more inclined towards using social media than watching JRTV. The research further concludes that the traditional media platforms including JRTV need to enhance their content and to include various programs and talk shows that capture the interest of students and allow them to rely on national television rather than satellite or online news for local socio-political news, since only 3.4% of the total sample size placed reliance on traditional media. Therefore, the research identifies the need to provide importance to content improvement by national authorities, to result in having representative platform to all voices in the country and also, reducing the possible influence by other foreign media providers

Treatment of oily produced water with low-cost adsorbents and ceramic membrane microfiltration

Huge quantities of water produced during oil and gas exploration. There is a need for the application of new technologies to come up with better treatment methods for oily produced water to comply with the environmental regulations and to achieve better quality for beneficial uses. In this study the application of date seeds and attapulgite were used as an effective alternative low-cost adsorbents along with the application of ceramic membrane for treating oily produced water

A New Ranking Technique to Enhance the Infection Size in Complex Networks

Detecting the spreaders/sources in complex networks is an essential manner to understand the dynamics of the information spreading process. Consider the k-Shell centrality metric, which is taken into account the structural position of a node within the network, a more effective metric in picking the node which has more ability on spreading the infection compared to other centrality metrics such the degree, between and closeness.  However, the K-Shell method suffers from some boundaries, it gives the same K-Shell index to a lot of the nodes, and it uses only one indicator to rank the nodes. A new technique is proposed in this research to develop the K-Shell metric by using the degree of the node, and a coreness of its rounding friends to estimate the ability of the node in spreading the infection within the network. The experimental results, which were done on four types of real and synthetic networks, and using an epidemic propagation model SIR, demonstrate that the suggested technique can measure the node effect more precisely and offer a unique ordering group than other centrality measures

An Analysis Of Technical Writing Needs Of Students In Colleges Of Technology In Oman

Matlamat keseluruhan kajian ini adalah untuk menganalisis keperluan penulisan para pelajar Kolej Teknolgi (CT) di Oman. Dalam persepsi yang lebih luas, kajian ini berusaha mengetahui sejauh manakah bahan kursus Penulisan Teknikal (TW) memenuhi ciri-ciri kursus TW dan keperluan penulisan pelajar. Selain itu, ia juga menilai keperluan penulisan pelajar CT di Oman dan mengkaji jurang di antara amalan semasa dan amalan terbaik. Lima kumpulan peserta yang terdiri daripada pelajar penulisan teknikal, guru, jabatan teknikal, pensyarah, dan graduan serta pekerja CT dihubungi bagi tujuan pengumpulan data. Keperluan penulisan pelajar dianalisis berdasarkan dapatansoal selidik, temu bual dan analisis genre. Data dianalisis secara kuantitatif dan kualitatif. Triangulasi sumber maklumat dan instrumen membantu dalam memperoleh gambaran yang lebih ketara tentang keperluan penulisan sebenar dalam kalangan pelajar. Kajian menunjukkan tahap ketidaksepadan di antara kandungan kursus TW, penyampaian dan penilaian dan keperluan penulisan sebenar pelajar dan teori TW. The overall aim of this study is to analyze the writing needs of students in the Colleges of Technology (CTs) in Oman. Within this broad perception, the study endeavored finding out to what extent the Technical Writing (TW) course materials meet the TW course features and the students writing needs. It also assessed the students‟ writing needs in the CTs in Oman to investigate the gap between the current practice and the best practice. Five groups of participants were approached for the purpose of data collection; students, technical writing teachers, technical departments‟ lecturers, CTs graduates and employers. The students writing needs were analyzed by means of questionnaires, interviews and genre analysis. Data was analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively. The triangulation of sources of information and instruments helped in obtaining a more tangible picture of the students‟ actual writing needs. The study revealed a level of mismatch between the TW course content, delivery and assessment and the students‟ actual writing needs and the TW theory

A Critical Analysis Of The Financial Declaration Systems For Public Officials In Oman And Other Jurisdictions. Is There Scope For Reforming The Omani System?

A financial declaration system (FD system) is a key anti-corruption instrument, particularly as it is directed at public officials, that has gained broad international recognition, especially since the adoption of the United Nations Convention against Corruption in 2003. The FD system in Oman was adopted in its current form as part of a legislative reform package introduced in 2011. Despite these important changes, there has been no significant study conducted to date of the operation and effectiveness of the legal framework within which the country’s FD system operates, and certainly not in respect of the system’s policy objectives, key mechanisms and operational features. It is this gap in the existing literature, along with the wider aspects that emerge from a comparative analysis of other countries’ disclosure systems, that prompted this research. This thesis critically evaluates Oman’s FD system. It examines the legal framework and identifies strengths and weaknesses in the system with a view to developing and improving it as an effective anti-corruption mechanism. The study carefully examines the key elements of FD systems including the institutional arrangements of the body responsible for managing them and the scope of coverage of public officials and others, such as family members, who are also subject to disclosure requirements. Furthermore, it examines operational issues, policy implementation and related aspects, for example data checks, and how they are assisted by mechanisms such as ‘whistleblowing’. As the FD system in Oman is a relatively new one, and there is much to learn from other FD systems’ design and modus operandi, full use is made of the comparative law method, which is essential for the effectiveness of the study, enriching the project and enabling the research to benefit from the experiences of other countries’ systems and operational challenges, some of which are not dissimilar to Oman’s. A comparative analysis of comparable systems, particularly those operating in other Gulf Cooperation Council States, as well as some of the key features of other well-established (but still evolving) systems helps to inform the research and conclusions. The study also makes full use of semi-structured interviews with officials who possess an intimate knowledge and experience of the Omani FD system’s operation. This proves to be an important source, offering invaluable insights into the system’s design, operational characteristics, and strengths and weaknesses. It helps to provide a critical understanding of the significant challenges that Oman faces as it seeks to develop an improved and effective legal framework. This thesis concludes that Oman's current FD system is not sufficiently regulated and ineffective, primarily due to the weaknesses of the legal framework regulating the FD system's requirements. In particular, there are no comprehensive provisions regulating such requirements. In addition, the current provisions are tainted by certain deficiencies. The most notable shortcomings are: (i) There are no powers and competencies granted to the SAI under Law No. 112/2011 to perform the FD system's tasks, (ii) The law surrounds declarations with a high level of confidentiality to the extent that it hinders the FD Department’s ability to verify declarations on an ongoing and systematic basis, (iii) Officials are not required to submit their declarations periodically and regularly at specific times, such as upon taking office, upon leaving office and periodically while assuming office. Instead, the law gives the SAI's Chairman discretionary power to request declarations, and (iv) Sanctions provided in the law upon violation of the FD requirements are insufficient. The thesis proposes recommendations that aim to address the weaknesses in the current law and improve the FD system, the most important being the establishment of comprehensive provisions which regulate the FD requirements, whether by making amendments to the current law or enacting a new, dedicated law for the FD system

EFFECT OF ADDING CHAMOMILE POWDER TO DIETS ON PRODUCTIVE PERFORMANCE OF BROILER REARED UNDER HEAT STRESS CONDITIONS

This study was conducted to determine the effect of adding chamomile powder to the diet of broilers (Ross308) raised under heat stress conditions on production performance and economic indicators. Unsexed chicks were raised from one day until 42 days. Chicks were randomly distributed at the beginning of second week on experimental treatments with three replications / treatment as follows: T1: Feeding birds with out adding (Control), T2: adding 9 gm chamomile / kg feed , T3: adding: 15 gm chamomile /kg feed. The statistical analysis of data showed: a significant superiority in the final live body weight rate and the total weight gain rate, an improvement in the weekly and total feed conversion, and the superiority of the production index and the productive factor, while we did no find a significant effect showed in feed consumption rate and the percentage of mortality% and in the production yield per m2 in Production of one kilogram of live meat. The result indicated that  addition of chamomile lead to improve growth performance and reducing the cost per unit of production in conditions of heat stress.&nbsp

Homenaje al señor Jean Pictet

El señor Jean Pictet, al limite de la edad laboral y tras cuarenta y dos años de actividad al servicio del CICR, se jubilará el 30 dejunio de 1979. La can era del señor Pictet es de plenitud. Comenzó el año 1937 en el CICR, a la vez como pensador, jurista, escritor, profesor y hombre de actión, participando en todas las grandes empresas de la Cruz Roja, de las que ha sido inspirador y guí

A Tribute to Jean Pictet

On 30 June 1979, Mr. Jean Pictet will reach retirement age after forty-two years of service with the ICRC. He joined the ICRC in 1937 and has had a very full career. He is a thinker, a jurist, a writer, a teacher and at the same time a man of action, who took part in all major Red Cross undertakings; he is the inspirer and the mentor of the Red Cros

Hepatic venous outflow obstruction after living donor liver transplantation managed with ectopic placement of a foley catheter: A case report

AbstractIntroductionThe early hepatic venous outflow obstruction (HVOO) is a rare but serious complication after liver transplantation, which may result in graft loss. We report a case of early HVOO after living donor liver transplantation, which was managed by ectopic placement of foley catheter.PresentationA 51 years old male patient with end stage liver disease received a right hemi-liver graft. On the first postoperative day the patient developed impairment of the liver functions. Doppler ultrasound (US) showed absence of blood flow in the right hepatic vein without thrombosis. The decision was to re-explore the patient, which showed torsion of the graft upward and to the right side causing HVOO. This was managed by ectopic placement of a foley catheter between the graft and the diaphragm and the chest wall. Gradual deflation of the catheter was gradually done guided by Doppler US and the patient was discharged without complications.DiscussionMechanical HVOO results from kinking or twisting of the venous anastomosis due to anatomical mismatch between the graft and the recipient abdomen. It should be managed surgically by repositioning of the graft or redo of venous anastomosis. Several ideas had been suggested for repositioning and fixation of the graft by the use of Sengstaken–Blakemore tubes, tissue expanders, and surgical glove expander.ConclusionWe report the use of foley catheter to temporary fix the graft and correct the HVOO. It is a simple and safe way, and could be easily monitored and removed under Doppler US without any complications