Showing papers by "University of Jordan published in 2015"
TL;DR: In this article, the main objective was the removal of heavy metal ions, namely Cu2+, Cr3+, Ni2+ and Zn2+, from metal plating wastewater using electrocoagulation technique.
385 citations
TL;DR: An integrated model which includes trust, perceived benefits, perceived web quality, and electronic word of mouth along with their relationships is introduced in order to examine their effects on consumer attitudes toward online shopping in Jordan.
Abstract: Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine consumer attitudes toward online shopping in Jordan. The paper introduces an integrated model which includes trust, perceived benefits, perceived web quality, and electronic word of mouth (eWOM) along with their relationships in order to examine their effects on consumer attitudes toward online shopping. Design/methodology/approach – A structured and self-administered online survey was employed targeting online shoppers of a reputable online retailer in Jordan; i.e. MarkaVIP. A sample of 273 online shoppers was involved in the online survey. A series of exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were used to assess the research constructs, unidimensionality, validity, and composite reliability. Structural path model analysis was also used to test the hypothesized relationships of the research model. Findings – The empirical findings of this study indicate that consumer attitudes toward online shopping is determined by trust and perceived benefits. Trust ...
297 citations
TL;DR: An integrative research model is developed by extending extant Technology Acceptance Model through the incorporation of a set of social, political, and cultural constructs: trust, perceived public value, and national culture that finds strong evidence that citizen attitude toward using e-government services is the most significant determinant of citizen intention to adopt and use e- government services.
261 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the effect of biosorption experimental parameters such as initial metal concentration, contact time, temperature and adsorbent dose has been discussed and discussed in details, and the equilibrium data for the removal of copper, nickel, chromium and zinc ions from synthetic waste water by using Moringa aptera Gaertn (MAG) was analyzed by using Langmuir, Freundlich, Temkin and Dubinin-Radushkevich isotherm models.
Abstract: The investigation of the effectiveness of the removal of copper, nickel, chromium and zinc ions from synthetic waste water by using Moringa aptera Gaertn (MAG) was studied. The effect of biosorption experimental parameters such as initial metal concentration, contact time, temperature and adsorbent dose has been presented and discussed in details. The equilibrium data for biosorption were analysed by using Langmuir, Freundlich, Temkin and Dubinin–Radushkevich isotherm models to define the best correlation for each metal. Among the four isotherm models, both Freundlich and Temkin models were fitted with the equilibrium isotherm for copper, while Temkin and Dubinin–Radushkevich models best correlated for nickel and Langmuir isotherm model best describe the experimental data for chromium. The adsorption capacity for each studied heavy metals is reported as follows: copper qe = 6.07 mg Cu/g MAG, nickel qe = 5.53 mg Ni/g MAG and chromium qe = 5.497 mg Cr/g MAG with a removal percentage of 90%, 68% and 91%, respectively for each ion at 1 g dose of biosorbent. Results also show that MAG pods are not a good biosorbent for the removal of zinc from wastewater. Kinetics results were best described by pseudo-second order model for all metals.
205 citations
Journal Article•
TL;DR: It is now evident that entomopathogenic fungi are able to colonize plant tissues as symptomless endophytes, but data published so far are highly variable and not consistent with regard to the underlying mechanisms which would allow explaining these effects.
Abstract: It is now evident that entomopathogenic fungi are able to colonize plant tissues as symptomless endophytes. Although most data so far published in this regard refer to Beauveria bassiana as an endophytic fungus, two other entomopathogenic fungi, viz. Metarhizium anisopliae and Lecanicillium lecanii have also been shown to colonize plant tissues endophytically. Several recent studies have also shown reasonable detrimental effects on herbivorous insects feeding on plants harbouring these fungi as endophytes. However, data published so far are highly variable and not consistent with regard to the underlying mechanisms which would allow explaining these effects. Growth conditions, specific cultivar features, or interactions with other microorganisms may impact the effect of these endophytic entomopathogenic fungi on the herbivorous insects. Furthermore, other fungi may block the systemic growth of the fungi in plant parts distant to the point of inoculation. Other parameters which need to be taken into account for using these fungi as biocontrol agents are the level of mycotoxins produced in plants, the level of pest reduction and the nature of formulations allowing a consistent colonization of the crop plants. This review discusses these and other problems related to the use of entomopathogenic fungi as endophytic biocontrol agents.
167 citations
TL;DR: Selenium in combination with cadmium, significantly improved the elevation of serum IL-1β, IL-6, TNF α,IL-10 and malondialdehyde in addition to enhancing the antioxidant enzyme activities of GSH, CAT, GPx and SOD; selenium has shown promising effects against Cd toxicity.
165 citations
TL;DR: A critical review of eight of the most influential theories that have been used to predict and explain human behaviour towards adoption of various technologies at the individual level and concludes that a well-established theory should consider the personal, social, cultural, technological, organizational and environmental factors.
Abstract: Previous research shows that selecting an appropriate theory or model has always remained a critical task for IS researchers. To the best of the authors' knowledge, there are few papers that review and compare the acceptance theories and models at the individual level. Hence, this article aims to overcome this problem by providing a critical review of eight of the most influential theories that have been used to predict and explain human behaviour towards adoption of various technologies at the individual level. This article also summarizes their evolution; highlight the key constructs, extensions, strengths, and criticisms from a selective list of published articles appeared in the literature related to IS. This review provides a holistic picture for future researchers in selecting appropriate single/multiple theoretical models/constructs based on their strengths and weaknesses and in terms of predictive power and path significance. It is concluded that a well-established theory should consider the personal, social, cultural, technological, organizational and environmental factors
149 citations
TL;DR: This study is perhaps the first to investigate the mediating and moderating effects of coping on QoL of parents of children with autistic disorder and revealed that 'accepting responsibility' was the only mediator strategy in the relationship between stress andQoL.
Abstract: The purpose of this cross-sectional study was to examine coping strategies as mediators and moderators between stress and quality of life (QoL) among parents of children with autistic disorder. The convenience sample of the study consisted of 184 parents of children with autistic disorder. Advanced statistical methods for analyses of mediator and moderator effects of coping strategies were used. The results revealed that 'accepting responsibility' was the only mediator strategy in the relationship between stress and QoL. The results also revealed that only 'seeking social support' and 'escape avoidance' were moderator strategies in the relationship between stress and QoL. This study is perhaps the first to investigate the mediating and moderating effects of coping on QoL of parents of children with autistic disorder. Recommendations for practice and future research are presented.
149 citations
TL;DR: 2'-F-pyrimidine-containing RNA aptamer (Apt1), previously selected against CD44, was successfully conjugated to the surface of PEGylated liposomes using the thiol-maleimide click reaction, demonstrating a promising potency of Apt1-Lip as a specific drug delivery system.
132 citations
TL;DR: Results demonstrated a therapeutic effect of targeting Siglec receptors with a nanoparticle-based platform under inflammatory conditions, and confirmed the anti-inflammatory effect of these nanoparticles on human monocytes and macrophages in vitro and in a human ex vivo lung perfusion model of lung injury.
Abstract: Sepsis is the most frequent cause of death in hospitalized patients, and severe sepsis is a leading contributory factor to acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). At present, there is no effective treatment for these conditions, and care is primarily supportive. Murine sialic acid–binding immunoglobulin-like lectin-E (Siglec-E) and its human orthologs Siglec-7 and Siglec-9 are immunomodulatory receptors found predominantly on hematopoietic cells. These receptors are important negative regulators of acute inflammatory responses and are potential targets for the treatment of sepsis and ARDS. We describe a Siglec-targeting platform consisting of poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) nanoparticles decorated with a natural Siglec ligand, di(α2→8) N -acetylneuraminic acid (α2,8 NANA-NP). This nanoparticle induced enhanced oligomerization of the murine Siglec-E receptor on the surface of macrophages, unlike the free α2,8 NANA ligand. Furthermore, treatment of murine macrophages with these nanoparticles blocked the production of lipopolysaccharide-induced inflammatory cytokines in a Siglec-E–dependent manner. The nanoparticles were also therapeutically beneficial in vivo in both systemic and pulmonary murine models replicating inflammatory features of sepsis and ARDS. Moreover, we confirmed the anti-inflammatory effect of these nanoparticles on human monocytes and macrophages in vitro and in a human ex vivo lung perfusion (EVLP) model of lung injury. We also established that interleukin-10 (IL-10) induced Siglec-E expression and α2,8 NANA-NP further augmented the expression of IL-10. Indeed, the effectiveness of the nanoparticle depended on IL-10. Collectively, these results demonstrated a therapeutic effect of targeting Siglec receptors with a nanoparticle-based platform under inflammatory conditions.
129 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors used the revised universal soil loss equation (RUSLE) model to estimate the annual soil loss in Wadi Kerak watershed, and examined the spatial patterns of soil loss and intensity, as an essential procedure for proper planning of conservation measures.
Abstract: Soil erosion by water is considered a major cause for land degradation in Jordan, where 0.14 cm of productive top soil is eroded annually. This investigation is intended to estimate the annual soil loss in Wadi Kerak watershed, and to examine the spatial patterns of soil loss and intensity, as an essential procedure for proper planning of conservation measures. To achieve these objectives, the revised universal soil loss equation (RUSLE) model has been applied in a geographical information system framework. After computing the RUSLE parameters (R, K, LS, C and P) soil erosion risk and intensity maps were generated, then integrated with physical factors (terrain units, elevation, slope, and land uses/cover) to explore the influence of these factors on the spatial patterns of soil erosion loss. The estimated potential annual average soil loss is 64 ton ha−1year−1, and the potential erosion rates from calculated class ranges from 0.0 to 790 ton ha−1year−1. Soil erosion risk assessment indicates that 54.5 % of the catchment is prone to high to extreme soil losses higher than 25 ton ha−1year−1. The lower and middle parts of the catchment suffer from high, severe, to extreme soil erosion. While 45.5 % of the basin still undergoes slight and moderate levels of soil loss of less than 25 ton ha−1year−1, yet 76.91 % of soil erosion occurred on four different terrain units, and 72.29 % of soil erosion occurred in zones less than 600 m in elevation, with 88 % present on areas of 0°–6°, 5°–15°, and 15°–25° slope categories. 32.6, 30.3, and 33.1 % of soil erosion occurred on rainfed mixed farming and irrigated areas, barren, and rangeland, respectively. The present results provide a vital database necessary to control soil erosion in order to ensure sustainable agriculture in the highland region of Jordan.
TL;DR: The empirical findings of this study indicate that perceived website reputation, relative advantage, perceived website image, and trust have directly and indirectly affected consumers’ a...
Abstract: Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine an integrated model of factors affecting attitudes toward online shopping in Jordan. The paper introduces an integrated model of the roles of perceived website reputation, relative advantage, perceived website image, and trust that affect attitudes toward online shopping. Design/methodology/approach – A structured and self-administered online survey was employed targeting online shoppers of a reputable online retailer in Jordan; MarkaVIP. A sample of 273 of online shoppers was involved in the online survey. A series of exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were used to assess the research constructs, unidimensionality, validity, and composite reliability (CR). Structural path model analysis was also used to test the proposed research model and hypotheses. Findings – The empirical findings of this study indicate that perceived website reputation, relative advantage, perceived website image, and trust have directly and indirectly affected consumers’ a...
TL;DR: In this article, the authors investigated the efficiency and mechanism of immobilization of Pb(II), Cu(II, Cd(II) and Cr(III) metal solutions in kaolin/zeolite based geopolymers.
Howard Hughes Medical Institute1, Necker-Enfants Malades Hospital2, United Arab Emirates University3, French Institute of Health and Medical Research4, University of California, San Diego5, Scripps Research Institute6, Hacettepe University7, Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey8, Boston Children's Hospital9, Sohag University10, Istanbul University11, University of Jordan12, Yale University13, Broad Institute14
TL;DR: A new clinically distinguishable recessive syndrome in 12 families with cerebellar atrophy together with ataxia, coarsened facial features and intellectual disability is described, due to truncating mutations in the sorting nexin gene SNX14, encoding a ubiquitously expressed modular PX domain–containing sorting factor.
Abstract: Pediatric-onset ataxias often present clinically as developmental delay and intellectual disability, with prominent cerebellar atrophy as a key neuroradiographic finding. Here we describe a new clinically distinguishable recessive syndrome in 12 families with cerebellar atrophy together with ataxia, coarsened facial features and intellectual disability, due to truncating mutations in the sorting nexin gene SNX14, encoding a ubiquitously expressed modular PX domain-containing sorting factor. We found SNX14 localized to lysosomes and associated with phosphatidylinositol (3,5)-bisphosphate, a key component of late endosomes/lysosomes. Patient-derived cells showed engorged lysosomes and a slower autophagosome clearance rate upon autophagy induction by starvation. Zebrafish morphants for snx14 showed dramatic loss of cerebellar parenchyma, accumulation of autophagosomes and activation of apoptosis. Our results characterize a unique ataxia syndrome due to biallelic SNX14 mutations leading to lysosome-autophagosome dysfunction.
TL;DR: Water sorption and solubility of resin-composites are material-dependent and highly affected by the filler loading and hydrophilicity of the resin matrix and both were considered stable in longterm water storage.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors investigate the pressures for green supply chain management adoption and rank the pressures based on experts' opinion through an Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) technique in the mining and mineral industry context.
TL;DR: Hardness was affected to a variable extent by storage with variable inorganic filler content and initial thermal decomposition shown by TGA, and the manufacturer recommended depth of cure of bulk-fill resin-composites can be reached based on the microhardness method.
TL;DR: A recurrent neural network is trained to transcribe undiacritized Arabic text with fully diacritized sentences using a deep bidirectional long short-term memory network that builds high-level linguistic abstractions of text and exploits long-range context in both input directions.
Abstract: This paper presents a sequence transcription approach for the automatic diacritization of Arabic text. A recurrent neural network is trained to transcribe undiacritized Arabic text with fully diacritized sentences. We use a deep bidirectional long short-term memory network that builds high-level linguistic abstractions of text and exploits long-range context in both input directions. This approach differs from previous approaches in that no lexical, morphological, or syntactical analysis is performed on the data before being processed by the net. Nonetheless, when the network is post-processed with our error correction techniques, it achieves state-of-the-art performance, yielding an average diacritic and word error rates of 2.09 and 5.82 %, respectively, on samples from 11 books. For the LDC ATB3 benchmark, this approach reduces the diacritic error rate by 25 %, the word error rate by 20 %, and the last-letter diacritization error rate by 33 % over the best published results.
TL;DR: It is suggested that pharmacists have insufficient knowledge about the concept of pharmacovigilance and spontaneous ADRs reporting, and educational programs are needed to increase pharmacist’s role in the reporting process, and thus to have a positive impact on the overall patient caring process.
Abstract: Background
Adverse drug reactions (ADRs) are a major cause of drug related morbidity and mortality. Pharmacovigilance is the science that plays an essential role in the reduction of ADRs, thus the evolution and growth of this science are critical for effective and safe clinical practice.
TL;DR: Continual awareness on the impacts of the reviewed agricultural practices on environmental quality and human health and the implementation of experimentally-backed best management practices in agricultural systems remain indispensable.
TL;DR: Alkali activated products were synthesized by activation of kaolinitic clay from Hiswa area, Jordan with a sodium hydroxide solution as mentioned in this paper, and these specimens were subjected to long-term durability tests under different environmental and chemical conditions.
TL;DR: The treated GW by SMBR system can be considered as a good source for the most stringent non-potable reuse standards in arid areas after being evaluated in terms of effluent quality and membrane fouling.
21 Dec 2015
TL;DR: A new student performance model with a new category of features, which is related to the learner interactivity with e-learning system, called behavioral features is proposed, which reveals that there is a strong relationship between learner behaviors and its academic achievement.
Abstract: Educational data mining concerns of developing methods to discover hidden patterns from educational data. The quality of data mining techniques depends on the collected data and features. In this paper, we proposed a new student performance model with a new category of features, which called behavioral features. This type of features is related to the learner interactivity with e-learning system. We collect the data from an e-Learning system called Kalboard 360 using Experience API web service (XAPI). After that, we use some data mining techniques such as Artificial Neural Network, Naive Bayesian, and Decision Tree classifiers to evaluate the impact of such features on student's academic performance. The results reveal that there is a strong relationship between learner behaviors and its academic achievement. Results with different classification methods using behavioral features achieved up to 29% improvement in the classification accuracy compared to the same data set when removing such features.
TL;DR: It is proposed that low temperature increases bacterial richness while decreasing catabolic diversity and that chronic pollution promotes catabolic diversification and that the bacterial populations in chronically polluted sites may respond more promptly in degrading petroleum after accidental oil spills.
Abstract: Two of the largest crude oil-polluted areas in the world are the semi-enclosed Mediterranean and Red Seas, but the effect of chronic pollution remains incompletely understood on a large scale. We compared the influence of environmental and geographical constraints and anthropogenic forces (hydrocarbon input) on bacterial communities in eight geographically separated oil-polluted sites along the coastlines of the Mediterranean and Red Seas. The differences in community compositions and their biodegradation potential were primarily associated (P < 0.05) with both temperature and chemical diversity. Furthermore, we observed a link between temperature and chemical and biological diversity that was stronger in chronically polluted sites than in pristine ones where accidental oil spills occurred. We propose that low temperature increases bacterial richness while decreasing catabolic diversity and that chronic pollution promotes catabolic diversification. Our results further suggest that the bacterial populations in chronically polluted sites may respond more promptly in degrading petroleum after accidental oil spills.
TL;DR: Evidence is provided of an important functional role of diazotrophs in sustaining coral productivity when alternative external N sources are scarce and coral gross primary productivity remained stable despite lower Symbiodinium densities and tissue chlorophyll a contents.
Abstract: Functional traits define species by their ecological role in the ecosystem. Animals themselves are host-microbe ecosystems (holobionts), and the application of ecophysiological approaches can help to understand their functioning. In hard coral holobionts, communities of dinitrogen (N-2)-fixing prokaryotes (diazotrophs) may contribute a functional trait by providing bioavailable nitrogen (N) that could sustain coral productivity under oligotrophic conditions. This study quantified N-2 fixation by diazotrophs associated with four genera of hermatypic corals on a northern Red Sea fringing reef exposed to high seasonality. We found N-2 fixation activity to be 5- to 10-fold higher in summer, when inorganic nutrient concentrations were lowest and water temperature and light availability highest. Concurrently, coral gross primary productivity remained stable despite lower Symbiodinium densities and tissue chlorophyll a contents. In contrast, chlorophyll a content per Symbiodinium cell increased from spring to summer, suggesting that algal cells overcame limitation of N, an essential element for chlorophyll synthesis. In fact, N-2 fixation was positively correlated with coral productivity in summer, when its contribution was estimated to meet 11% of the Symbiodinium N requirements. These results provide evidence of an important functional role of diazotrophs in sustaining coral productivity when alternative external N sources are scarce.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors explored the factors that may influence or hinder the acceptance of internet banking in Nigeria and found that security is the main concerning factor that influences customers' decision to adopt online banking services.
Abstract: The emergence of the internet has created a great impact on our daily lives. In recent times, financial institutions worldwide have rapidly moved from branch-based banking to online based service delivery changing the way services are rendered to customers. Despite the deployment of technology driven services in the banking sector, the adoption of Internet banking especially in developing countries such as Nigeria is still an innovation. This paper aims to explore the factors that may influence or hinder the acceptance of internet banking in Nigeria. An interpretive approach was employed to gain a deeper insight of the subject topic. The findings show that security is the main concerning factor that influences customers’ decision to adopt online banking services. Culture and religion were also found to be influencing factors. A set of recommendations were provided on how user adoption of online banking can be increased amongst Nigerian customers. This paper concludes that the banks should better manage consumers’ experiences to enhance the use of internet banking services by including a process of adjustment and learning over time, and not just focusing on the adoption process itself.
TL;DR: The most significant prognostic parameters in patients with PBL are age, stage, and, to a lesser extent, EBV status.
Abstract: Plasmablastic lymphoma (PBL) is a rare aggressive neoplasm with lymphoid and plasmacytic differentiation that is commonly associated with immunodeficiency and an unfavorable prognosis. Clinicopathologic features have been largely derived from cases reports and small series with limited outcome analyses. The demographic, clinicopathologic features, and clinical outcomes of a cohort of 61 patients with PBL were reviewed and analyzed. Patients had a median age of 49 years (range 21–83 years) and most (49/61; 80 %) were men. Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) status was available for 50 patients: 20 were HIV-positive and 30 HIV-negative. Twenty-three patients were immunocompetent. Abdominal/gastrointestinal complaints were the most common presenting symptoms, reported in 14 of 47 (30 %) of patients. At presentation, 24 of 43 (56 %) patients had stage III or IV disease. Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) was detected in 40 of 57 (70 %) cases. MYC rearrangement was identified in 10/15 (67 %) cases assessed, and MYC overexpression was seen in all cases assessed regardless of MYC rearrangement status. HIV-positive patients were significantly younger than those who were HIV-negative (median 42 vs. 58 years; p = 0.006). HIV-positive patients were also significantly more likely to have EBV-positive disease compared with HIV-negative patients (19/19, 100 % vs. 15/29, 52 %; p = 0.002). Patients who received CHOP chemotherapy tended to have better overall survival (OS) compared with those who received hyperfractionated cyclophosphamide, vincristine, doxorubicin, and dexamethasone (hyper-CVAD) (p = 0.078). HIV status had no impact on OS. Patients with EBV-positive PBL had a better event-free survival (EFS) (p = 0.047) but not OS (p = 0.306). Notably, OS was adversely impacted by age ≥50 years (p = 0.013), stage III or IV disease (p = <0.001), and lymph node involvement (p = 0.008). The most significant prognostic parameters in patients with PBL are age, stage, and, to a lesser extent, EBV status. In this study, two-thirds of PBL cases assessed were associated with MYC rearrangement and all showed MYC overexpression.
TL;DR: Findings show that at operational and tactical levels, improving the coordination of the IT investment management process and enabling structures that strengthen the connection of budgetary controls are core structural capabilities that can positively improve the process of IS/business alignment and impact significantly the design of ITG architectures.
Abstract: This research aims to identify specific management practices that can help to improve the process of IS/business alignment and the design of ITG architecture that supports those processes. To this end the authors propose a framework that is used as a reference to classify relevant management practices in the process of IS/business alignment and design of ITG architectures. The analysis was carried out in a large leading international food and beverage company. Findings show that at operational and tactical levels, improving the coordination of the IT investment management process and enabling structures that strengthen the connection of budgetary controls are core structural capabilities that can positively improve the process of IS/business alignment and impact significantly the design of ITG architectures.
TL;DR: The metal ions uptake properties by the NaIHA fit Langmuir, Freundlich and Dubinin-Radushkevich adsorption isotherms, and showed that the equilibrium time for each metal ion occurs at 6 h to achieve maximum uptake level.
TL;DR: In this paper, a numerical radius inequality for general n × n operator matrices is given, which improves a well-known inequality of J.C. Hou and H.K. Du.