United Arab Emirates University
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A DUAL APPROACH TO CARBAMATE PESTICIDES: EXTRACTION AND DETERMINATION IN CAMEL MILK AND DATE PALM FRUIT IN THE UAE, AND PHOTOCATALYTIC DEGRADATION IN WATER
Get PDFThe growing global population has led to an increasing demand for food production, necessitating the widespread use of pesticides to enhance crop yield, improve quality, and protect against pests. Among the various types of pesticides, carbamates are extensively used due to their effectiveness in controlling pests. However, their residues in food products pose serious human health risks, including neurotoxicity, genetic mutations, cancer development, and immunosuppression. Therefore, the reliable detection and quantification of carbamate residues in food are paramount to ensuring food safety and regulatory compliance.This dissertation focuses on developing and validating analytical techniques for extracting and detecting carbamate residues in two culturally and economically significant food commodities in the United Arab Emirates: camel milk and date palm fruit. The developed HPLC-MS/MS methods demonstrated high sensitivity in detecting trace levels of carbamate residues in both matrices, with detection limits ranging from 0.001 to 0.05 ng/g, well below the established maximum residue limits (MRLs). Moreover, the employed extraction techniques (liquid-liquid extraction for camel milk and QuEChERS with dispersive-solid-phase extraction (d-SPE) for date palm fruit) confirmed the methods’ reliability, accuracy, and precision, achieving recoveries and relative standard deviations within the satisfactory range set by the European SANTE/11312/2021 guidelines.In camel milk samples, carbamate residues were detected at concentrations below the MRLs, with higher levels found in raw milk than in pasteurized milk. In contrast, carbamate residues in date palm fruit exhibited more significant variation, with some exceeding their respective MRLs, particularly carbosulfan, propoxur, and carbofuran. Given that carbosulfan was detected in all date samples, its metabolites were also analyzed, revealing exceedances of carbosulfan, carbofuran, and 3-hydroxycarbofuran in certain samples. Additionally, dibutylamine was found at high concentrations, raising critical concerns regarding date safety, especially given the absence of regulatory standards for this compound. Despite these findings, a probabilistic health risk assessment indicated that the hazard quotient (HQ) values for all studied carbamates in both camel milk and dates remained below the safety threshold of 1.0, suggesting that the consumption of these commodities does not pose significant health risks for adults or children.Although the employed extraction and clean-up techniques were effective, conventional methods have several limitations, including a lack of selectivity, high solvent consumption, potential emulsion formation, matrix interferences, and time-consuming procedures. To overcome these drawbacks, a novel covalent organic framework (COF), named COF-RC, was synthesized and applied as a sorbent material for the solid-phase extraction (SPE) of seven carbamate residues in different fruits. The COF-based method demonstrated high selectivity and adsorption capacity for carbamates, enhanced recoveries, and reusability for at least ten extraction cycles, offering a more efficient and sustainable alternative to conventional extraction techniques.In addition to food analysis, this dissertation explores an advanced remediation approach for carbamate pesticide removal from aqueous systems. A porphyrin-based covalent organic framework (AE-COF) was synthesized and evaluated for its dual functionality in adsorption and photocatalytic degradation of nine carbamates in water. AE-COF exhibited high removal efficiency, effectively adsorbing carbamates and facilitating their degradation under UV irradiation through reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation. The consistently high degradation rates (≥80%) for all carbamates suggest that AE-COF is an efficient and reusable material for pesticide remediation in contaminated water sources. Keywords: Pesticide residues, carbamates, food safety, MRL
DEAF AND HARD OF HEARING STUDENTS’ SATISFACTION IN HIGHER EDUCATION AT THE UAE
Get PDFDeaf and Hard-of-Hearing (DHH) students face unique challenges in higher education, particularly regarding accessibility, communication, and academic support. This study examines the levels of satisfaction among DHH students in UAE universities, focusing on key factors such as academic support, accessibility services, teaching methods, and inclusion efforts. Using a mixed-methods approach, the research combines quantitative data from 47 students surveyed and qualitative data from 18 students interviewed. The findings highlight key barriers, including the inconsistent availability of sign language interpreters, limited faculty awareness regarding the needs of Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing (DHH) students, and insufficient academic accommodations. Despite advancements in national policies promoting inclusive education, gaps persist in their implementation across universities, impacting students\u27 experiences and learning outcomes. The study underscores the need for enhancing educational support services, improving the availability of qualified interpreters, increasing faculty training, and ensuring stronger implementation of inclusive education policies. The results provide valuable insights for policymakers, educators, and university administrators working to improve the educational experiences of DHH students in the United Arab Emirates
The Role of The Moderation Approach in Islamic Architectural Thought: Between Application and Law
Get PDFMetaverse Technology-Based Educational Program and Its Effectiveness On Developing Digital Future Skills and Enhancing Them Among University Students
Get PDFThis research aimed to design an educational program based on Metaverse technology and measure its effectiveness on developing digital future skills and enhancing them among university students in KSA. To achieve this purpose, a random sample of (40) preparatory-year students from King Faisal University in Al-Ahsa was selected, along with (6) students from the research group for a case study. The research employed a descriptive method to design the program, develop its materials and tools, an experimental method with a quasi-experimental design to measure effectiveness, and a case study approach to enrich the research with qualitative data.
Quantitative data were collected using a cognitive test for digital future skills, a performance observation checklist, and a measure of attitudes. Qualitative data were gathered through semi-structured interview questions.
The quantitative results revealed a statistically significant difference at a significance level of (0.0001) between the mean scores of the experimental group in the pre-test and post-test for the cognitive test, observation checklist, and attitude scale. The practical significance, measured using eta squared, indicated a large effect size for the program on the cognitive test (0.721%), moderate on the observation checklist (0.611%), and large on the attitude scale (0.966%), confirming the program\u27s effectiveness on developing digital future skills and enhancing attitudes towards learning them. The qualitative results also confirmed the role of the program in developing digital future skills.
Keywords: Educational Program, Metaverse Technology, Digital Future Skills
ANALYZING SEA LEVEL RISE SCENARIOS IMPACT ON THE MOBILITY, INFRASTRUCTURES, ENVIRONMENT OF ABU DHABI AND DEFINING SOLUTIONS BY CREATING A DIGITAL TWIN USING GIS AND GAME ENGINE
No full textThis dissertation is concerned with the potential impact of future sea level rise scenarios on the city of Abu Dhabi. With climate change, many coastal towns are at risk of experiencing this type of natural hazard. Currently, no precise scenario simulations have been developed, mainly related to the use of low spatial resolution elevation data. Additionally, the difficulty in understanding the real impacts persists when relying solely on traditional cartography and GIS methods. This dissertation mainly aims to take a further step by offering a new approach, which involves creating a real-time 3D simulation and dynamic flowing water. This is defined as a “digital twin” and will be applied to specific city areas to extract statistics related to four custom scenarios: 1 m, 2 m, 3 m, and 4 m. These statistics will focus on three aspects commonly analyzed separately: buildings, road network, and vegetation. Unity game engine, a software initially used for video game creation, is merged with Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to create a virtual replica of the city and perform simulations. The main results reveal a general moderate sea level rise on the shoreline by 1 m. Significant initial water intrusions are exhibited from 2 m in the eastern part of the Corniche area. The 3 m rise depicts a significant global flood with some regions still accessible. However, the last scenario exposes nearly entirely flooded areas except for a few upper-elevation zones. Conclusions highlight the high vulnerability of the vast majority of the regions, especially from 3 m, and offer a comprehensive explanation of the sea level rise impact on each aspect studied. This simulation automatically measures, in real-time, the effect of each scenario on the number of buildings, road distance, and tree species. The sea level is dynamically updated in the interface, and a compass facilitates the orientation. This allows the player to move freely in the zone by walking or flying. This novel and innovative 3D simulation probably provides one the most recent comprehensive understanding of Abu Dhabi’s vulnerability to these predictions. It gives detailed, real-time statistics, a 3D virtual city environment, and in-game total freedom of movement, with both first-person and third-person view modes implemented
Gender and the Factors Behind Female Students’ Choice of the Teaching Profession: Students’ Perspectives at College of Education, Kuwait University
No full textThe research aimed to examine the concept of gender and the related factors influencing female students\u27 choice of the teaching profession from students\u27 perspectives at College of Education, Kuwait University. A descriptive analytical approach was employed, with a questionnaire administered to a purposive sample of 1,289 students. Findings related to social factors indicated that the teaching profession continues to be associated with traditional gender roles for women. Job security emerged as significant material reason influencing the choice of the profession, while official working hours and school holidays were key factors related to the nature of the work. The research revealed significant differences in favor of males regarding social factors. Additionally, significant differences were observed regarding material factors and work conditions in favor of females. Furthermore, social factors showed significant differences in favor of fourth-year students.
Keywords: Gender, Teaching Profession, College of Education, Kuwait University
The Effectiveness of a Teaching Strategy Based on Suchman Inquiry Model in the Development of Achievement, Geometric Thinking and Maintaining the Learning Effect for Second Intermediate Grade Students
No full textThe study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of a teaching strategy based on Siekman\u27s investigative model in developing achievement, geometric thinking, and the persistence of the learning effect, for second-year intermediate students, in the [Measurement: Area and Volume] class. The study was conducted in the third semester (1444AH), at Al-Bukhari Middle School, in Arar City, Saudi Arabia. Through a quasi-experimental design; It included administering an achievement test (22Questions) and a geometric thinking test (18Questions) to two groups: one was control (26Students), and the other was experimental (24Students): pre- and post-test. The results showed that the two groups were equal before on the two tests, while the experimental group was superior afterward, with statistically significant differences, at, and with a large effect size, in the two achievement tests. After four weeks, the achievement test was re-administered to the experimental group. To examine the persistence of the learning effect, there were no statistically significant differences between the means of the experimental group in the achievement test, in the two applications: the post and the postponed.
Keywords: Mathematics Teaching, Suchman Inquiry Model, Achievement, Geometric Thinking, Maintaining the Learning Effect
خصوصيات التقاضي في منازعات العمل الفردية وفق المرسوم بقانون اتحادي رقم (33) لسنة 2021 وتعديلاته
No full textThe Specificities of Litigation in Individual Labor Disputes According to Federal Decree-Law No. (33) of 2021 and its Amendments
Modern legislations are increasingly adopting alternative methods for dispute resolution, introducing new mechanisms to reduce reliance on the courts while preserving the parties\u27 right to litigation. Among these disputes, labour disputes—whether individual or collective.
Despite the legislator\u27s adoption of alternative dispute resolution mechanisms, the unique nature of labour disputes has not been overlooked. These disputes require special protection for the worker, who is considered the weaker party in the contractual relationship. Based on this principle, the legislator has introduced modern mechanisms to address labour disputes while taking into account their distinctive nature and ensuring a balanced approach between the parties involved.
This is reflected in several aspects, including the expedited resolution of labour disputes, the reduction of financial burdens related to court fees, and the establishment of specific limitation periods. However, certain exceptions apply to these principles, particularly in individual labour disputes.
The ministry has been granted the authority to resolve certain labour disputes, expanding beyond its previous role, which was limited to mediating between the parties in individual disputes. Additionally, the ministry has been empowered to remove legal obstacles imposed by the law in some cases. Nevertheless, it continues to play a role in facilitating amicable settlements in certain labour disputes while maintaining exclusive jurisdiction over collective labour disputes. This reflects a balance between achieving justice and ensuring the swift resolution of conflicts.
Although the legislator adopted similar methods for resolving labour disputes, whether individual or collective, there is a fundamental difference in the mechanisms used to resolve each type. This study aims to clarify that difference by reviewing the methods approved by the legislator for addressing individual labour disputes
INVESTIGATING THE IMPACTS OF MICROPLASTICS ON BACTERIAL COMMUNITY DYNAMICS IN MANGROVE SEDIMENTS
No full textMicroplastic (MP) pollution poses a growing threat to global ecosystems, particularly in coastal habitats like mangroves, which serve as vital carbon sinks. This study investigates the specific impacts of polypropylene (PP), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), and adipic acid (AA) on microbial community assembly in mangrove sediments, with a focus on sequential arrival of different MPs. Based on MP identity, early arrival of specific MP before others can significantly impact microbial community composition and their functioning. However, the impacts of the sequential arrival of MPs on microbial communities have never been studied. This research fills this important knowledge gap by using novel sequential and synchronized addition of MPs on prokaryotic communities in mangrove sediments. The rationale is to inform coastal management in regions like the UAE, where urban development exacerbates MP pollution, threatening ecosystem resilience. Methods involved collecting mangrove sediments from Abu Dhabi, establishing microcosms with six treatments (PP-first, PET-first, AA-first, synchronized-early, synchronized-late, and control), incubating for six weeks, and analyzing microbial communities via 16S rRNA sequencing. The specific analytical measures examined included alpha and beta diversity metrics, ordination techniques such as NMDS and PCA, taxonomic heatmaps, and flower diagrams. Results of the study revealed different perspectives, the first one being that exposure to microplastics tends to reduce alpha diversity by 15-24% and generally causes lower beta diversity. Additionally, microplastics exposure caused communities to shift toward generalists like Gammaproteobacteria while decreasing specialists like Desulfobacterota, and occasionally microbial restructuring was induced by the sequential arrival of different MPs. Moreover, the exposure caused microbiome functions to reorient from biosynthesis domination to stress response mechanisms, implying reduced ecosystem multifunctionality
ENHANCED PRIVACY PRESERVING HEALTHCARE DATA MANAGEMENT WITH FEDERATED LEARNING USING HOMOMORPHIC ENCRYPTION
No full textFederated Learning (FL) is a decentralized approach of machine learning on multiple clients jointly training models without sharing their raw data, which drastically improves privacy and enhance protection against security breach. However, there is still a risk of privacy breach when clients send their model updates to the central server, because if a model update is intercepted or analyzed by a malicious entity, it could be used to recover sensitive data using inference attack. To address this issue, Homomorphic Encryption (HE) can be applied to protect against the interception, since the model updates remain encrypted during transmission as well as during aggregation. This is possible because Homomorphic Encryption allows computations to be performed directly on encrypted data without requiring decryption. In this research we propose an effective framework by integrating FL with HE. We focus on the encryption of model updates using HE prior to sending them to the central server. The server will perform aggregation on the encrypted updates using HE algorithms and send the encrypted aggregated model to the clients. Then the clients decrypt the aggregated model and again refine it using local data. After that, another cycle of model encryption, transmission to the central server and aggregation to the central server is conducted. Using this method, we intend to reduce the risk of leaking sensitive data and keep the efficiency of federated learning in an optimal level. We expect this study to result in (i) a robust privacy-preserving FL framework that aligns with IT management best practices for efficient and secure data handling. (ii) significant improvement in the level of potential privacy vulnerabilities, and (iii) assessment of the trade-offs between improving performance and computational overhead vs. maintaining privacy