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Agency, Politics, and Media Translation in Saudi Arabia
No full textA Master of Arts thesis in Translation and Interpreting MATI (English/Arabic/English) by Nada H. Al Sowilem entitled, "Agency, Politics, and Media Translation in Saudi Arabia," submitted in November 2016. Thesis advisor is Dr. Said Faiq. Soft and hard copy available.The aim of this thesis is to explore the interconnection between politics, the media, and translation with particular reference to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). Agency and politics play an important role in both media and translation, and this is particularly so in KSA. For geopolitical reasons, KSA realized it had to be media proactive to foster its emerging regional and global position. Political discourse through the media is a complex phenomenon; it is an institutional discourse that is also a media discourse, but mediated politics. In KSA, newspapers still dominate the circulation of political discourse, including its translation. To this end, six political texts from two different newspapers, Aljazira (in Arabic) and the Saudi Gazette (in English), are analyzed according to the direct and oblique translation methods and their associated strategies as proposed by Vinay and Darbelnet (1995). The chosen texts deal with both local and international issues concerning KSA, and are translated by the two newspapers. The analysis indicates that translation from Arabic into English seems to use the two methods and their strategies more than translation from English into Arabic. This is perhaps due to the constraints of the cultural context on the translation of political discourse in KSA.College of Arts and SciencesDepartment of Arabic and Translation StudiesMaster of Arts in English/Arabic/English Translation and Interpreting (MATI
Phosphorus Recovery from the Wastewater Stream - Necessity and Possibilities
No full textThe annual demand of phosphorus (P) for fertilizer use is more than 550,000 t in Germany. Several of the input streams like mineral fertilizer produced from phosphate rock or sewage sludge are problematic due to contamination with heavy metals and organic pollutants and/or supply risks. Phosphorus recovery from the wastewater stream might help to diminish these problems. Several procedures have been developed to recover P from either sewage sludge ash (SSA) or wastewater via precipitation or crystallization as struvite. This study determined the elemental composition and trace metal mass fractions of 252 SSA samples and 17 struvite samples from wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) to see whether there are differences related to the source of the sludge (municipal/industrial) or the stage of the WWTP where the struvite is produced. Results indicated that there is no clear trend of the elemental mass fractions related to the source of the sludge. All struvite samples show very low heavy metal contents, even though the struvite precipitated from the sludge shows slightly elevated heavy metal mass fractions compared to struvite crystallized from sludge liquor. Struvite is a clean and plant available material for fertilizer production from wastewater streams and has some advantages for the wastewater treatment plant. However, since the P recovery rate of struvite processes is low (7–11%) compared to that from SSA processes (90%), recovery from SSA is necessary for a substantial P recovery from the wastewater stream
One-Hour-Ahead Wind Power Forecast Using Hybrid Grey Models
No full textThis paper proposes two hybrid grey-based short-term wind power prediction techniques: GM(1,1)-ARMA and GM(1,1)-NARnet. These techniques are combined with ARMA models and nonlinear autoregressive neural network (NARnet) models, respectively. The efficiency of these algorithms is examined using a recorded wind power dataset. The performance of these predictors is compared with classical ARMA models as well as the traditional grey model GM(1,1). Unlike the classical predictors, the proposed hybrid algorithms are not affected by the inherent uncertainty in the wind power. Therefore, the results obtained using the proposed hybrid algorithms outperform those obtained using classical predictors. In contrast to the GM(1,1)-ARMA model, the GM(1,1)-NARnet model utilises the nonlinear components of wind power in the forecasting procedure. Consequently, the obtained results from the GM(1,1)-NARnet outperform those obtained by the GM(1,1)-ARMA
Human Resource Management in the United Arab Emirates
No full textThis chapter reviews the current state of the research literature on HRM in the UAE, in part because more work has been published on "HRM in the UAE" than on any other country in the GCC country or even the Middle East generally (Afiouni, Karam, El-Hajj, 2013). We searched the ABI/INFORM and EMERALD databases for published peer-reviewed academic articles using the following keywords: human resource management, personnel, HR practices, HR policies, HR strategies, human resources roles, HR planning, job analysis, recruitment, selection, training, development, performance management, rewards, compensation, talent management, in combination with United Arab Emirates or UAE, without limiting the time frame. We excluded from this review any studies dealing primarily with HRM practices related to Emiratisation, as this literature is reviewed in the later chapter on labor localisation and HRM practices in the Gulf countries. The chapter is organized as follows. First, we examine the core issues and factors influencing HRM in the country, such as the cultural and labor market characteristics of the UAE, the evolving UAE education system and the Emiratisation process. We then review the literature on HRM in the UAE, and on the key HRM challenges in the UAE. Finally, we conclude with some recommendations for practitioners and researchers
Saliency detection in MPEG and HEVC video using intra-frame and inter-frame distances
No full textThis paper proposes a video saliency detection model for MPEG and HEVC coded videos. The model extracts features from MPEG macro blocks and HEVC coding units. The feature variables are based on syntax elements and statistics of prediction error. The suitability of the selected features is verified through the use of stepwise regression. Three saliency maps are generated based on intra-frame distances, inter-frame distances and global distances. The proposed model is tested using the eye-1 dataset compiled by Laurent Itti lab in the University of Southern California. The accuracy of the model is quantified by comparing saliency values at human saccade locations against saliency values at random locations. The comparison is performed in terms of Kullback-Leibler distances and receiver-operator curves. The proposed solution is compared against existing work using similar experimental setup. Experimental results revealed that a Kullback-Leibler distance of 2.14 and area under the receiver-operator curve of 0.936 are achieved
Added Mass Formulation For Fluid-Structure Interaction
No full textA Master of Science thesis in Mechanical Engineering by Afsoun Koushesh entitled, "Added Mass Formulation For Fluid-Structure Interaction," submitted in May 2016. Thesis advisor is Dr. Jin Hyuk Lee. Soft and hard copy available.Fluid-Structure Interaction (FSI) occurs due to interaction of multiple continuum fields. In our daily life, FSI is a common phenomenon. Birds flying in the air, leaves falling off the tree and waving flags are examples of the interaction of a structure with air. The forces of fluid (liquid/gas) that are acting on the structure will deform the adjacent elastic solid structure. The structural deformations are mainly enforced by fluid fields, acoustic fields and external forces. This work aims at demonstrating how variations of geometries' parameters would affect the fluid loading effect in water using COMSOL Multiphysics 4.4 and compared with analytical data. Three-dimensional objects are placed in a water medium. A solid circular cylinder, a solid sphere, and a rectangular cantilever beam are placed in water and the acoustic wave is applied to the objects. More specifically, background acoustic pressure has been used to simulate an incident plane wave which excites the structures in water. Additionally, the inlet velocity and an outlet pressure are applied for fluid structure interaction investigation. When a structure is placed in water, the interaction between them plays an important role in determining the amount of fluid loading mass. The calculated results of added mass of the common geometry shapes match well with the analytical calculations and the discrepancy behavior of added mass amount due to the establishment of variation of geometries' parameters. More specifically, this research introduces an added mass effect study for fluid structure interaction while a specific micro electro mechanical system is submerged in water medium. Subsequently, based on the mentioned studies, an added mass formulation is derived for a specific MEMS (Micro Electro Mechanical System).College of EngineeringDepartment of Mechanical EngineeringMaster of Science in Mechanical Engineering (MSME
Option convergence rate with geometric random walks approximations
No full textWe describe a broad setting under which, for European options, if the underlying asset form a geometric random walk then, the error with respect to the Black–Scholes model converges to zero at a speed of 1/ for continuous payoffs functions, and at a speed of 1∕√ for discontinuous payoffs functions
Application of Solar Tower Technology in Electricity Production in UAE
No full textA poster submitted in ENG 207 taught by Dr. David Prescott for the Fall 2016 semester.Worldwide energy consumption is on a constant climb due to the fact of our reliance on electricity for almost everything as well as the increase in global population. In 2010, 100% of UAE's electricity demand was fulfilled through gas power plants which have huge negative impacts on the environment with 154 mega tons of carbon dioxide being expelled that year [1]. Uae has excellent potential for harnessing solar energy to produce electricity
Treatment of Underground Water Using Ozonation
No full textA poster submitted in ENG 207 taught by Dr. David Prescott for the Fall 2016 semester.Today, water is being used at a rate twice the rate of the population increase. The sources of water commonly used today is groundwater and seawater. Groundwater is being depleted causing many countries to suffer of high stress levels in groundwater depletion example the UAE, India, and Saudi Arabia
Online-Intelligent Demand Management of Plug-in Electric Vehicles in Future Smart Parking Lots
No full textThis paper proposes an online intelligent demand coordination of plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs) in distribution systems. The proposed method is based on the assignment of scores to PEVs through a fuzzy expert system. As well, without violation of grid operational constraints, the PEVs are optimally charged in order to maximize the owners' satisfaction in terms of the energy delivered. The optimization problem of online PEV charging is defined as mixed-integer nonlinear programming. Simulation on a typical distribution network proves the effectiveness of the proposed methodology. Results of the analysis indicate that for more critical PEVs, which have shorter parking duration and higher required charging time, the proposed solution outperforms in more robust energy delivery to the PEV and, accordingly, more satisfaction for the owner