Faculty of Communication, Arts and Sciences

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Impact of education on interdental cleaning behaviour based on the transtheoretical model
(Quintessence Publishing Co., Ltd., 2012) Hashemian, Masomeh; Fallahi, Arezoo; Tavakoli, Golaleh; Zarezadeh, Yadolah; Babaki, B. Nemat Shahr; Rahaei, Zohreh
Purpose: To determine the impact of education on stages of change of behaviour in Iranian senior high school students for interdental cleaning based on the transtheoretical model. Materials and Methods: This experimental study took place from April to November 2010. 306 students were selected by multistage cluster sampling and placed into two groups: control (153 students) and intervention (153 students). Appropriate instruments and the intervention programme were designed with the purpose of improving stages of interdental cleaning behaviour, perceived benefits and self-efficacy, as well as reducing perceived barriers and gingival index (GI). The impact of the intervention programme was assessed after 24 weeks and the GI of each student was recorded for both groups before and after intervention. The data were analysed using SPSS software and the chi-square, t test, ANOVA, paired t test, Mann-Whitney U-test and sign test. Results: The intervention had a significant, positive impact on improvement of the stages of interdental cleaning behaviour, increase in self-efficacy, perceived benefits, decrease in perceived barriers and improvement of GI (P < 0.001). After the intervention, the average grades of self-efficacy, perceived barriers and perceived benefits in the control group vs the intervention group were significantly different (P < 0.001 to 0.01). Conclusion: The programme was found to positively influence the stages of change and potential indicators of interdental cleaning behaviour and GI. It is suggested that this model be used for interventions in the other population groups.
Equivariant structure constants for hamiltonian-T -spaces
(TUBITAK, 2014) Leung, Ho Hon
If there exists a set of canonical classes on a compact Hamiltonian-T -space in the sense of R Goldin and S Tolman, we derive some formulas for certain equivariant structure constants in terms of other equivariant structure constants and the values of canonical classes restricted to some fixed points. These formulas can be regarded as a generalization of Tymoczko's results. © TÜBİTAK.
Divided difference operators in equivariant KK-theory
(World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., 2014) Leung, Ho Hon
Let G be a compact connected Lie group with a maximal torus T. Let A, B be G-C*-algebras. We define certain divided difference operators on Kasparov's T-equivariant KK-group KKT(A, B) and show that KK G(A, B) is a direct summand of KKT(A, B). More precisely, a T-equivariant KK-class is G-equivariant if and only if it is annihilated by an ideal of divided difference operators. This result is a generalization of work done by Atiyah, Harada, Landweber and Sjamaar. © 2014 World Scientific Publishing Company.
Exploratory study on the impact of game-based learning on student engagement
(Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc., 2015) Yousef, Dima; Baadel, Said; Makad, Rama
Motivating students has always been the main concern of seasoned and new teachers. This is evident as they plan their lessons meticulously to ensure that their students are actively engaged in some form of activity or preparing for a task. The purpose of the paper is to examine the advantages, obstacles, and impact of using games on student engagement and involvement throughout the learning process. The findings will reveal that game-based learning has a profound and positive outcome on student level of motivation, comprehension, and retention of newly taught concepts. © 2014 IEEE.
Foundational frameworks of positive psychology : mapping well-being orientations
(Canadian Psychological Association, 2015) Lambert, Louise; Passmore, Holli-Anne; Holder, Mark D.
The scientific study of well-being has been strongly influenced by ideas from a number of related fields, including different areas of psychology. Two major philosophical traditions-hedonia and eudaimonia-underscore much of our current understanding of well-being, and are reflected across early and contemporary psychological theories of well-being. These traditions help delineate the various conceptualisations of well-being and its components; moreover, these traditions influence which research questions are asked, and where and how answers are sought. This has resulted in a plethora of categories and terms referring to similar, yet distinct, concepts such as: well-being, happiness, optimal or positive experiences, life satisfaction, and flourishing. Given the difficulties of distinguishing these concepts, this article aims to provide clarity by delineating the major orientations in positive psychology. We provide a "road-map" to theories and models of well-being found within positive psychology, thereby providing a starting a point from which an integrative framework of theories and models of well-being can be developed. To that end, also included in this review is a selection of well-being models that lie beyond the traditional frameworks. We conclude with a consideration of several criticisms that have been directed at positive psychology, and provide recommendations for future directions. © 2015 Canadian Psychological Association.
MCOKE: Multi-Cluster Overlapping K-Means Extension Algorithm
(World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology, 2015) Baadel, Said; Thabtah, Fadi; Lu, Joan
Clustering involves the partitioning of n objects into k clusters. Many clustering algorithms use hard-partitioning techniques where each object is assigned to one cluster. In this paper we propose an overlapping algorithm MCOKE which allows objects to belong to one or more clusters. The algorithm is different from fuzzy clustering techniques because objects that overlap are assigned a membership value of 1 (one) as opposed to a fuzzy membership degree. The algorithm is also different from other overlapping algorithms that require a similarity threshold be defined a priori which can be difficult to determine by novice users.
Made in the UAE : an indigenous positive psychology for the United Arab Emirates
(Palgrave Macmillan, 2015) Lambert, Louise; Pasha-Zaidi, Nausheen
Positive psychology focuses on the creation of positive emotions and positive experiences in the lives of individuals, groups, and societies. It examines the positive aspects of people’s lives and its research aims are to study the reasons for individuals and groups to excel. The founders, Martin Seligman and Mihalyi Csikszentmihalyi (2000), argue that traditional psychologists ignore people who want to be happy if they don’t have a mental disorder. As such, although the psychologist’s goal is to help, they often just help individuals to better cope with misery. In other words, they argue that mainstream psychologists have been so programmed to see only what is wrong with a person that when someone doesn’t necessarily have any sort of pathology but wants to simply improve his or her life, psychologists have nothing to say. Clients such as these end up feeling disappointed in therapy—and often grow worse—as they are not given the skills to move forward.
Global triumph or exploitation of security and privacy concerns in E-learning systems
(Springer Verlag, 2016) Majeed, Asim; Baadel, Said; Haq, Anwar Ul
This paper identifies the causes of privacy concerns which emerged when an educational institution launched an automated proctoring technology to examine E-Learners. In the modern era of information, privacy is an integral concern due to its fluid, dynamic and complex nature. In certain situations where it is very difficult to understand the privacy concerns, privacy is often misunderstood by the interactive systems designers. The qualitative data in this research was collected using content analysis approach from 120 online bloggers and useful insights were found; those that pertained to the privacy concerns for E-Learners. The findings revealed both practical and theoretical implications for both the institutions offering online courses and organization designing tools for proctoring. © Springer International Publishing AG 2016.
Internet of everything (IoE) exploiting organisational inside threats : global network of smart devices (GNSD)
(Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc., 2016) Majeed, Asim; Haq, Anwar Ul; Jamal, Arshad; Bhana, Rehan; Banigo, Funke; Baadel, Said
Various disruptive technologies have evolved a paradigm for setting up the Internet-of-Everything (IoE) and continuous evolution of technologies has demanded those devices to communicate and exchange information with each other. The marketing research company Gartner has surveyed and estimated that around 30 billion devices would be interconnected and exchanging information by 2020. The IoE is accompanied by several substantial opportunities in all fields of life, ranging from the energy sector to the healthcare industry. The trail of IoE development has opened new doors of attack vectors. The evolution in the plethora of ubiquitous devices has raised several insider threats, thus generating concerns of security and privacy within enterprises who have framed the use of smart devices through IoE. This paper discusses a different perspective of security and privacy issues in IoE by considering insiders bringing personal smart devices to use within the enterprise. The central theme of this research is to identify the challenges and explore the extent of security and privacy issues a global network of smart devices could exacerbate within the enterprise. © 2016 IEEE.
Facial recognition cane for the visually impaired
(Springer Verlag, 2016) Majeed, Asim; Baadel, Said
The modern era is accompanied by various traditional mobility aids which help visually impaired to stay independent and enabling them detecting the objects and scanning surroundings. The use of haptic touch, as well as ultrasound, is embedded in today’s smart canes which detect obstacles up to 3 m distance, GPS navigation, informs the user through Bluetooth and earpiece, and guide the visually impaired to direct from one location to another. The evolution of this technology has motivated the integration of inexpensive camera technology within the cane for facial recognition purposes. The concept of developing this intelligent smart cane which would detect obstacles from up to 10 m as well as recognises friends and family faces, was envisioned by students at Birmingham City University. The developments in this product and adopted technologies guide a visually impaired user to detect obstacles and to find an alternative route while at the same time try to recognize any family or friends within the vicinity. These have been reflected in this research paper along with the limitations and wider issues which may come up when adopting the high-tech advances. © Springer International Publishing AG 2016.
The emerging ‘alternative’ journalism paradigm: Arab journalists and online news
(Intellect Ltd., 2016-11-01) Douai, Aziz; Ben Moussa, Mohamed
Education policy in South Korea : a contemporary model of human capital accumulation?
(Cogent OA, 2017) Hultberg, Patrik; Calonge, David Santandreu; Kim, Seong-Hee
We argue that South Korean families with children are today overinvesting in the level of education due to their high levels of expenditures on private after-school tutoring programs. This situation has evolved due to a combination of factors: a changing labor market, increasing housing and debt payments, as well as an educational “arms race” among Korean families with children. These changes are exacerbating both economic and social issues in Korean society, but are increasingly difficult to address due to issues of complementarity and coordination failures related to educational expenditures. Korea might be inexorably falling into a surprising “education trap.”. © 2017 The Author(s).
Women in political positions and countries' level of happiness
(Bridgewater State College, 2017) Kabene, Stefane; Baadel, Said; Jiwani, Zahra; Lobo, Vanessa M.
This study discusses the relationship between a country's happiness, and relevant country characteristics including gender inequality, levels of corruption, and the percentage of women in parliamentary positions. The aim of the study is to understand how these variables change according to female representation in political leadership. Secondary source data was collected and correlation analyses were performed between the variables using the SPSS statistical program. Results show that the lower the Gender Inequality Index, the higher the percentage of Women in Parliament Positions and the higher the Happiness Index. Furthermore, the results indicate that a higher number of women in leadership position is associated with a lower corruption level and a higher degree of Happiness. Results suggest that the context in which women reach political positions is characterized by less corruption and gender inequality alongside greater happiness in the country. © 2017 Journal of International Women's Studies.
Semantics of intelligent learning environment (ILE) : Cesim simulation
(Association for Computing Machinery, 2017) Majeed, Asim; Baadel, Said; Williams, Mike Lloyd
In the past few decades, learning through simulation and games has evolved in response to a continuous demand for new methods of teaching learners - thus helping academics to deliver their courses effectively. This research paper aims to identify the impact(s) of simulation-based virtual learning environment on postgraduate studentslearning abilities. To achieve the learning objectives; positive relations between simulations and students learning are gathered based on the systematic review of the literature. A successful use of simulations depends on four factors: the role of the instructor, integration in the course, the courses technical specifications and, the practical exposure as an integrative dynamic virtual learning environment. We utilized a quantitative methodology to compile data from online bloggers and analysed the content. The findings in this paper reveal that students from all groups, disaggregated by gender and ethnicity, showed significant learning gains after playing these challenging simulation games. We also present some recommendations that can help alleviate some of the constraints experienced by institutions of higher education that integrate simulations into classrooms. © 2017 ACM.
Technology adoption and diffusion in the gulf : some challenges
(Association for Computing Machinery, 2017) Baadel, Said; Majeed, Asim; Kabene, Stefane
In today's technologically advanced world, it is crucial that instructors continuously stay up to date with the ever changing uses of technology in the classroom. Technologies transform the way instructors conduct their lectures and present course material, thereby fundamentally altering the way students learn. It is essential that some challenges such as training needs, funding, and dealing with perceptions are addressed and aligned with one another in order to facilitate technology adoption in institutions of higher education. These challenges are discussed in this paper in the context of gulf countries. © 2017 ACM.
Managerial Recruitment Issues in China: The Expatriate Factor
(Springer Science and Business Media B.V., 2017) Kabene, Stefane; Baadel, Said
With China becoming the world’s largest economy, it must somehow manage the existing human capital. The problem lies in the lack of managerial talent currently located in China. This paper attempts to look how China is currently recruiting managers and examines the factors hindering the recruitment of Chinese-born and expatriate managers. China is recruiting managers using the same methods as the Western world. However, a strong emphasis is put on a factor known as guanxi. The shortage of Chinese-born managers can be attributed to financial reasons and the lack of education and government commitment. China’s culture is a major factor hindering the success of expatriates as well as the organizational structure in China because of the socialist culture. These issues must be addressed to attract managers into China to successfully compete in a globalized economy. © 2017, Springer International Publishing Switzerland.
Weathering the Storm: Financial Variable as a Key Influence to Entrepreneurial Venture Survival Over Time in Canada
(Springer Science and Business Media B.V., 2017) Baadel, Said; Kabene, Stefane
Each year numerous new small businesses confidently enter the marketplace but a vast majority of these firms will fail to survive beyond their tenth birthday. Past studies have focused on a variety of external factors such as geographic location and industry size. Despite the effects these variables play over time, a great amount of decisions are made internally and thus it is imperative to consider their impact on survival rates. Young firms with little experience can be heavily disadvantaged when attempting to gain funding within financial markets. Evidence indicates that a vast number of new small firms are forced to rely on equity financing, specifically in the form of internal resources. Beyond retained earnings, firms must rely on social networks in an attempt to solidify relationships with potential investors. Firms require capital to fund future growth but face barriers as turning a profit initially can be quite challenging. This chapter takes an in-depth look into one crucial internal variable, financing, and statistically analyzes its effect on the survival of small entrepreneurial ventures. The objective entails uncovering the causation for such internal downfall and providing such an insight may greatly assist small firms to compete and grow in their respected industries, therefore substantially increasing their chance of survival. © 2017, Springer International Publishing Switzerland.
Antifungal activity of some indigenous lactic acid bacteria isolated from soft wheat
(Journal of Pure and Applied Microbiology, 2018) Djaaboub, Serra; Abdallah, Moussaoui; Meddah, Boumedien; Makhloufi, Souad; Gouri, Saif; El Khatib, Rami
The objective of this study was to find an alternative to chemical control of pathogenic fungi in wheat, using microorganisms that are safe and that can be isolated from the same biotopes of the pathogens. Lactic acid bacteria isolated from soft wheat grains were screened for their antifungal activity against Fusarium graminearum Schwab, Aspergillus flavus Link and Aspergillus parasiticus Speare, using two techniques (overlay and co-culture) on De Man, Rogosa, and Sharpe agar. The overlay method showed that out of forty-six lactic acid bacteria, five isolates showed an inhibition of radial growth range from 1% to 73.89%. According to the co-culture method, the most efficient biological agent for wheat mold growth isolate was LAB001 with an average rate of inhibition of 31.18% against A. flavus, 42.26% against A. parasiticus and 55.53% against F. graminearum. Lactic acid bacteria LAB001 was identified as Enterococcus faecium with 99.6% of similarity. E. faecium LAB001 can be considered as promising isolate for the biocontrol of pathogenic molds in small grain cereals. © 2018 Journal of Pure and Applied Microbiology. All rights reserved.
Critical care nurses' reasons for working or not working overtime
(American Association of Critical Care Nurses, 2018) Lobo, Vanessa M.; Ploeg, Jenny; Fisher, Anita L.; Peachey, Gladys; Akhtar-Danesh, Noori
BACKGROUND Around the world, registered nurses are working increasing amounts of overtime. This is particularly true in critical care environments, which experience unpredictable fluctuations in patient volume and acuity, combined with a need for more specialized nurses. OBJECTIVE To explore critical care nurses' reasons for working or not working overtime. METHODS A semistructured interview guide was used to interview 28 frontline nurses from 11 critical care units in Ontario, Canada. Analysis was guided by Thorne's interpretive description methodology. RESULTS Participants' reasons for working overtime included (1) financial gain (96% of participants); (2) helping and being with colleagues (68%); (3) continuity for nurses and patients (39%); and (4) accelerated career development (39%). Their reasons for not working overtime were (1) feeling tired and tired of being at work (50%); (2) having established plans (71%); and (3) not receiving enough notice (61%). CONCLUSIONS Findings from this study provide important variations and extension of existing literature on the topic, and appear to be the first reported in Canadian critical care units. Additional research is required to understand administrative decision-making processes that lead to the use of overtime. © 2018 American Association of Critical-Care Nurses.
The Professional Identity of Adjunct Faculty: Exploratory Study at a Private University in the UAE
(Canadian Center of Science and Education, 2018) Masri, Taghreed Ibrahim
Professional identity has recently made its way as a concept that has become a central theme in teachers’ professionalism. However, adjunct faculty professional identity and development have not been given enough interest in literature despite their increasing contribution in higher education. The purpose of this study was to assess adjuncts’ perceptions of their identity. It also aimed to examine what institutional professional development they receive and the effect of its presence or absence on their professional identity. Four semi-structured interviews were conducted with four adjunct faculty in the Department of Writing Studies at a university in the UAE. Results showed that adjunct faculty have dilemma making sense of their professional selves due to being perceived differently by their students, colleagues, administrators and themselves. Results also showed that adjuncts are vulnerable, insecure, and embarrassed to declare their identity to their students. In addition, findings revealed that they do not get institutional professional development opportunities that they need and that ignoring their professional development threatens the quality of teaching and the reputation of the institution they work in.

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