SYRIAN REFUGEE STUDENTS\u27 ACADMIC AND SOCIAL EXPERINCES IN AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOLS

The present research explores the experiences of Syrian refugee students in American schools. This qualitative research project is based in interviews of five Syrian students from refugee backgrounds aged between 11-18 years old who had come to the United States after the civil war raged in Syria in 2011. This qualitative research examines the educational barriers and supports, from the Syrian refugee students\u27 perspectives, by understanding their educational and social experiences. Based on the findings, these five Syrian refugee students had both positive and negative experiences in the United States schools. Major themes were found in the data that are central to the students\u27 educational and social experiences. These themes presented as (a) social and academic experiences in Syria, Jordan, and Egypt and then, (b) learning a new language, and then, (c) current experiences in U.S., with attention to the building of relationships. Recommendations on how educators can support their quest for belonging and inclusion are discussed. Recommendations on how Syrian refugee can be supported in the U.S. schools are discussed

Evaluation of The Quality of E-Learning Platforms Used in Educating Kindergarten Children Distantly During the Coronavirus Pandemic

During the coronavirus pandemic, and for the first time, ministries of education in many countries have resorted to electronic education platforms for kindergarten children as a safe alternative to face-to-face education. This shift to distance education is still used partly in the education process, even after the end of the pandemic. The current study aimed to consider this unique experience by evaluating the quality of the Rawdaty platform, which is one of the e-learning platforms launched by the Saudi Ministry of Education during the coronavirus pandemic, to ensure the continuation of the educational process in kindergartens. The analytical descriptive approach was used, and a scale derived from the Saudi National E-Learning Center (NELC) standards was designed to achieve the studys objectives. The scale includes four main dimensions: Design, Interaction, Equity and accessibility, Measurement and Evaluation. The research sample consisted of (94) mothers and (67) kindergarten teachers. The results of the study were as follows: The quality standards of the Rawdaty platform were achieved to a high degree from the point of view of mothers, with an arithmetic mean of (55.93) and an average weight of (2.664). It also showed the high-quality standards of the kindergarten platform from the point of view of the teachers, with an arithmetic mean of (58.35) and an average weight of (2.78). The study recommended the possibility of adopting e-learning platforms to teach kindergarten children distantly during exceptional circumstances

Receiver Function Constraints on Crustal Seismic Velocities and Partial Melting beneath the Red Sea Rift and Adjacent Regions, Afar Depression

The Afar Depression is an ideal locale for the investigation of crustal processes involved in the transition from continental rifting to oceanic spreading. To provide relatively high resolution images of the crust beneath the Red Sea rift (RSR) represented by the Tendaho graben in the Afar Depression, we deployed an array of 18 broadband seismic stations in 2010 and 2011. Stacking of about 2300 receiver functions from the 18 and several nearby stations along the ~200 km long array reveals an average crustal thickness of 22 ± 4 km, ranging from ~17 km near the RSR axis to 30 km within the overlap zone between the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden rifts. The resulting anomalously high Vp/Vs ratios decrease from 2.40 in the southwest to 1.85 within the overlap zone. We utilize theoretical Vp and melt fraction relationships to obtain an overall highly reduced average crustal Vp of ~5.1 km/s. The melt percentage is about 10% beneath the RSR while the overlap zone contains minor quantities of partial melt. The observed high Vp/Vs values beneath most of the study area indicate widespread partial melting beneath the southwest half of the profile, probably as a result of gradual eastward migration of the RSR axis. Our results also suggest that the current extensional strain in the lower crust beneath the region is diffuse, while the strain field in the upper crust is localized along narrow volcanic segments. These disparate styles of deformation imply a high degree of decoupling between the upper and lower crust

Efficient 3D trilateration algorithm for visible light positioning

© 2019 IOP Publishing Ltd. This letter presents an efficient algorithm for estimating the three-dimensional (3D) location of a photodiode (PD) receiver via visible light positioning. It solely works on measured powers from different light-emitting diode (LED) sources and does not require any prior knowledge of the PD receiver height. It is found that four LEDs are required that are not on the same circle, in order to unambiguously determine the 3D location. The algorithm is optimized towards a minimized calculation time in view of real-time operation on energy-constrained lightweight and mobile devices such as drones

Innovative Blockchain-Based Applications - State of the Art and Future Directions

Recently, blockchain technology has increasingly being used to provide a secure environment that is immutable, consensus-based and transparent in the finance technology world. However, significant efforts have been made to use blockchain in other fields where trust and transparency are required. The distributed power and embedded security of blockchain leverage the operational efficiency of other domains to be immutable, transparent, and trustworthy. The trust of the published literature in blockchain technology is centered on crypto-currencies. Therefore, this paper addresses this gap and presents to the user several applications in many fields, including education, health, carbon credits, robotics, energy, pharmaceutical supply chains, identity management, and crypto-currency wallets. This paper overviews the knowledge on blockchain technology, discusses the innovation of blockchain technology based on the number of applications which have been introduced, describes the challenges associated with blockchain technology, and makes suggestions for future work

Carrier-mediated transport as a common route of antibiotic ingress into bacteria

Among the most significant challenges in antibacterial discovery is achieving delivery of small molecule inhibitors across the bacterial membrane(s) to reach their intracellular targets. It is considered axiomatic that the typical route for antibiotics across the cytoplasmic membrane (CM) involves diffusion directly through the lipid bilayer, though this concept has not translated into actionable information for rationally achieving ingress of inhibitors into bacteria. Here, using antibiotic accumulation measurements in bacteria inactivated for individual or multiple CM transporters, we provide evidence that a diverse range of established antibiotic classes are transported across the CM by hitch-hiking on carrier proteins. The chemical similarity between some antibiotic classes and the native substrate(s) of the importer they share provides a molecular logic for drug transport. Our results indicate that carrier-mediated uptake is a common route of antibiotic entry into bacteria and highlight the value of metabolite mimicry in designing new antibacterial drugs

Long-term care facilities' response to the COVID-19 pandemic: an international, cross-sectional survey.

To (i) assess the adherence of long-term care (LTC) facilities to the COVID-19 prevention and control recommendations, (ii) identify predictors of this adherence and (iii) examine the association between the adherence level and the impact of the pandemic on selected unfavourable conditions. Cross-sectional survey. Managers (n = 212) and staff (n = 2143) of LTC facilities (n = 223) in 13 countries/regions (Brazil, Egypt, England, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Norway, Portugal, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Spain, Thailand and Turkey) evaluated the adherence of LTC facilities to COVID-19 prevention and control recommendations and the impact of the pandemic on unfavourable conditions related to staff, residents and residents' families. The characteristics of participants and LTC facilities were also gathered. Data were collected from April to October 2021. The study was reported following the STROBE guidelines. The adherence was significantly higher among facilities with more pre-pandemic in-service education on infection control and easier access to information early in the pandemic. Residents' feelings of loneliness and feeling down were the most affected conditions by the pandemic. More psychological support to residents was associated with fewer residents' aggressive behaviours, and more psychological support to staff was associated with less work-life imbalance. Pre-pandemic preparedness significantly shaped LTC facilities' response to the pandemic. Adequate psychological support to residents and staff might help mitigate the negative impacts of infection outbreaks. This is the first study to comprehensively examine the adherence of LTC facilities to COVID-19 prevention and control recommendations. The results demonstrated that the adherence level was significantly related to pre-pandemic preparedness and that adequate psychological support to staff and residents was significantly associated with less negative impacts of the pandemic on LTC facilities' staff and residents. The results would help LTC facilities prepare for and respond to future infection outbreaks. No Patient or Public Contribution.This study was supported by JSPS KAKENHI Grant (number: JP20K23127); any opinions, findings and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this study are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the authors' organization, the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS), or the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Japan (MEXT). The conduct of this study was self-supported at each site. Data collection in Spain was supported by the Regional Government of Extremadura-ERDF funds under Grant BBB021- GR21042.gold o

Sustainable Event Management: Opportunities and Trends

Sustainable Event Management is the act of managing events with respect to reducing their negative impacts on the environment. This negative impact could be direct pollution to the site of the event or indirect pollution to the entire world. To be able to manage events sustainably and avoid event-related pollution, all stakeholders such as Events Organizations, clients, suppliers, venues, etc. must be convinced to adopt sustainable change. The stakeholders need to see a financial benefit to make the switch. Sustainable Events’ stakeholders can gain that benefit in two forms. First, sustainable events offer many opportunities for cutting costs by encouraging locally produced products and the conservation of utilities. Second, they provide the opportunity to improve an organization’s reputation by supporting a good cause and publicizing this involvement with a large number of prospective clients, customers, and media. The opportunities for changing the event industry to a sustainable industry are summarized in five aspects: Energy, transportation, water, purchases, and waste. Reducing the impact of energy use on the environment focuses on reducing and eliminating greenhouse gases. Selecting certified sustainable venues and using energy saving techniques and technologies could accomplish the reduction of greenhouse gases. Sustainable transportation practices have the same purpose of reducing greenhouse gases resulting from freights’, participants’, and guests’ transportation. Water is also a critical resource used during events that could negatively impact the environment through waste and pollution. Conserving water by using advanced techniques and technologies and filtering and eliminating grey water contribute to minimizing the amount of polluted water. The last two important aspects of sustainable events are purchases and waste. Minimizing the number of purchases needed for the event and maximizing the use of recycled and reusable materials are sustainable goals. Also, planning to eliminate wastes ahead of the executing of events and encouraging recycling and separating recyclable materials at events reduce the damage. In this study, a survey was conducted to investigate current sustainable event practices and to determine the barriers that prevent event organizations from being sustainable. The study shows that most of the participants have few approaches to sustainability. The major barriers are the cost of sustainable practices and tools, the time required to maintain the sustainability of the organization, and the lack of competition between vendors that drive costs up

Struktur bahasa Melayu dialek Kuantan

xiv, 111 p.; 20 cm