United Arab Emirates University
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ONE HAND DOESN’T CLAP: THE MODERATION OF INDIVIDUAL AND CONTEXTUAL FACTORS ON THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN LEADER NARCISSISM AND FOLLOWERS’ OUTCOME
Get PDFDrawing on leadership and social exchange theories, the purpose of this study is to examine the adverse impact of the toxic triangle; namely, Leader Narcissism (LN), Perceived unethical climate (PUC) and followers’ submissiveness (FS) on followers’ outcomes, particularly psychological capital (PsyCap) and constructive deviance (CD) through the mediation of leader-member exchange (LMX). The study introduces moral identity (MI) as a moderator. The conceptual framework was put to the test with data collected from both leaders and their followers in UAE-based organizations. Hierarchical linear model analysis was run on leaders and followers’ dyadic data for testing whether moral identity moderated the mediated relationships. Results suggest a negative impact of leader narcissism and perceived unethical climate on followers’ PsyCap. The results highlight that the mediation effect of LMX on the link between leader narcissism - PsyCap and perceived unethical climate - PsyCap is less pronounced when followers’ moral identity is high. No significant results were found in terms of followers’ constructive deviance. Results also show a strong direct correlation between followers’ submissiveness and constructive deviance. This research adds to current leadership and social exchange theories by exploring how leadership is jointly constructed and how exchanges within this dynamic influence outcomes. It extends the discussion on narcissism and ethical climates by identifying toxic dynamics that negatively affect follower outcomes, highlighting the mitigating role of moral identity against these negative impacts. This study broadens our understanding of these elements. It provides insight into the complex interactions that define leadership and follower relationships in contemporary organizational settings, offering practical implications to organizations within the UAE
THE IMPACT OF CHANGING THE ADMISSION POLICY ON STUDENTS’ EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES IN ABU DHABI HIGHER EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS
Get PDFNowadays, the education field is dynamic and requires changes to open the door for development and enhancement. The ultimate goal of educational change is to meet the global commitments made to education. For the UAE to keep up with the global market, as well as to ensure that its students receive a quality education, changes and reforms are occurring regularly in the educational system. Hence, being careful in dealing with changes is very important as incorrect implementation or decisions can lead to create challenges, opposition, and failure. As in the UAE context, recent research examined teachers\u27 perspectives on educational reforms in Ras Al Khaimah to gain insight into their thoughts on the educational changes and reforms in schools, as well as their thoughts on what they believe would make the reforms more effective. Based on the available information, there is limited research or data has examined the impact of admission policy change on students\u27 educational opportunities at the college and university level. Taking into account characteristics of change can help students and educational administrators alike have a better educational experience and more seamless transitions. The overall purpose of this study is to explore the effect of raising the standard of the admission policy on students’ educational opportunities. This research raised the students’ voices by providing them with the opportunity to express their perception on how they perceive the increase of the IELTS/EmSAT in the admission policy and how they think it affects their educational opportunities. The quantitative technique is used to address the research questions. The research topic evolved as the objective was to determine the effectiveness of educational reform in boosting the UAE\u27s higher education standards for students. This study will contribute to the body of knowledge on the subject of the policy change and particularly will address the gap that exists in literature and the real practice in the context of the UAE. This research study is significant as it is aiming to explore students’ views on the admission policy change. Conducting research in this area can help to promote and support the right development of an educational system that is dynamic and demands these types of adjustments. It will help policymakers, consider several aspects before attempting a change or a reform, evaluate different angles that might be affected by this change, and weigh the potential effect once it comes to reform or change which have an essential role in succeeding or failing the change
ADVANCED NANOSTRUCTURED MATERIALS FOR WATER HARVESTING AND ENERGY STORAGE
Get PDFThis thesis presents the work done developing nanotechnology-based compositions contributing to the advancement of two main sectors; Water and Energy. For they present vital impact and correspondence for sustainability and development worldwide. Composites constituted following the most recent trends in material science and nanotechnology while revolving around Manganese Oxide as the material of investigation. Water security is one of the most important challenges in our current times. Moreover, reports warn of the predicted restricted access to clean water by 2050, which is expected to impact more than half the population. Thus, many scientists and societies are exerting efforts to develop a sustainable and feasible solution. Modules of atmospheric water harvesting-based technology are sought as a promising answer. The attractiveness lies in the feasibility and low cost through a variety of materials. In our work, we aim to boost the collection of aluminum-based mesh. As natural creatures inspire us, adopting flowerlike sempervivum plants and constructing an architecture surface of alternating hydrophilichydrophobic chemistry referencing desert beetles (Stenocara gracilipes). Our composition illustrates a flowerlike morphology from nanostructured manganese oxide, tunable through a polymer linker; Polyacrylonitrile. Controlling the surface properties, our composed NF-MnO2 / PAN nanostructure paradigm advances the droplets to drop growth and release process and collecting efficiently an estimate of 45 L/m2 per Hour. In the second part of this thesis, paving for a composition facilitating the rise in energy demand. Our extended efforts investigated materials applicable to supercapacitors (SC) type of energy storage devices. Supercapacitor’s attractive fundamentals value high energy and power factors. Our hybrid SC joins the efficient electric double-layer capacitor’s (EDLC) fast charge and discharge of electrons and ions, on an increased surface area, with the pseudo-capacitance faradic current attributed to the redox reactions corresponding to the metal oxides composed. A composite material has been investigated, developed, and improved to bridge the gap between theoretical values and experimental outcomes by the insertion of carbon-based materials for better conductivity, supported by carbon nanotubes to modify their properties, increasing the stability with polymeric binders for easier proton transport and ionic migration. In our paradigm, a variety of manganese oxides with different morphologies and phases/ structures have been investigated for hybrid nanostructures with modified properties. Our resultant composite had successfully exerted very high specific capacitance in a cell of high eco-chemical stability with electrochemical capacitive retention where the specific capacitance of the composite reached 1456 F/g at 2mV/s in cyclic voltammetry measurement and had a high retention profile above 95% after 11000 cycles during GCD at 1 A/g in an environmentally eco-friendly cell system suitable for industrial scale-up
TACKLING TOXICITY AND HARASSMENT IN ONLINE ENVIRONMENTS THROUGH THE USE OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
Get PDFWith the increase in popularity of online communities, such as social media platforms, online games, and chatroom servers, there is a need to improve chat and content moderation. Platforms have reported an increase in the prevalence of toxic behavior and hate speech. Meanwhile, moderators are reporting difficulties in keeping up with the amount of data to check as well and the type of content they are exposed to, which further harms their own mental health. The main objective of this work is to address the challenges that exist within online communities with the rising prevalence of hate speech. Additionally, some of the burden of reviewing incidents and applying accountability will be lifted off any human moderators. Leveraging the evolution of Large Language Models (LLMs), a Natural Language Processing (NLP)-based solution is prototyped that would monitor chat messages passing through a server and classifying them according to their content. To do this, several LLMs are selected based on the reviewed literature and tested against a dataset containing chat messages sourced from various platforms. The LLM that “behaved” the best is selected to run on a simulated chat server to monitor chat messages and maintain a record of classifications. The results of the model comparison showed that DistilBERT using two separate datasets dedicated to training and testing performed the best with an accuracy of 79%, which was higher than what the other models achieved. When embedding this model server-side within the chat simulation, it maintained its 79% accuracy after testing it again with a separate test set containing 1000 entries. With these results, leveraging LLMs for content moderation shows promise, as presented by the prototype moderator presented in this work. With further optimization and more data, the performance of the model will improve according to the environment it is monitoring
A SECURE AND EFFECTIVE FRAMEWORK FOR KEY CONCEPT MINING FROM EDUCATIONAL CONTENT USING LARGE LANGUAGE MODELS
Get PDFThis thesis examines the use of Large Language Models (LLMs) in education, with a focus on improving performance and implementing strong security measures. The research has two main goals, namely, the development of an effective lecture summarization technique using LLMs and identifying and addressing security vulnerabilities in LLM applications according to OWASP (Open Web Application Security Project) guidelines. For the former goal, we have proposed an effective framework for fine-tuning LLMs using real lecture datasets and compared the performance of different LLMs. For the latter goal, we conducted a thorough review of the application dataflow of the proposed framework and revealed several vulnerabilities, categorized as high risk, medium risk, and low risk. We also propose countermeasures to these vulnerabilities and demonstrate their efficacy. Thus, this study suggests a framework for securely integrating LLMs into educational purposes, tackling critical security concerns while harnessing the models\u27 efficiency
CRIMINAL PROTECTION OF CHILDREN FROM PORNOGRAPHY: A COMPARATIVE ANALYTICAL
Get PDFThis dissertation investigates both the substantive and procedural criminal protections for children against pornography, focusing on the national legislations of the United Arab Emirates. The UAE legislator has implemented these protections through the Child Rights Law ( Wadeema ) and the Law on Combating Rumors and Cybercrimes. In contrast, Jordan and Egypt have each taken a singular approach, with Jordan addressing the issue under the Cybercrime Law and Egypt through the Child Rights Law. The study examines the broader scope of the UAE\u27s criminal protection measures and their application in courts, comparing them to the more focused frameworks in Jordan and Egypt. It also assesses how these protections align with international conventions and comparative legal systems, alongside a review of judicial rulings in the UAE, Egypt, and Jordan. The study concludes by highlighting various possible legislative gaps and deficiencies, offering some recommendations for reforms that lawmakers might consider to enhance child protection in this area
AUTOMATING MODULAR CONSTRUCTION MANUFACTURING FOR AFFORDABLE HOUSING
Get PDFIn recent years, there has been an increase in the frequency and intensity of natural disasters worldwide, resulting in loss of life, displacement, and extensive property damage. According to the UNHCR\u27s report, 122.6 million individuals were displaced by mid-2024, highlighting that the speed and volume of displacement exceeds the availability of solutions for those affected. To address the urgent need for affordable housing solutions, modular construction is preferred over traditional construction methods as it tackles limitations such as long project durations, high costs, and safety and environmental concerns. Integrating advanced technologies in modular construction can further enhance its benefits and address design, manufacturing, and assembly challenges. Although researchers studied automation integration in construction, research on the effectiveness of such integration in the context of modular affordable housing is limited. This study examines the impact of automation on the time efficiency and cost of the modular construction manufacturing process, ultimately enhancing affordable housing production. The research follows a mixed-methods approach, combining both quantitative and qualitative methods. Data will first be collected through a literature review to investigate the current state of automation technology integration in modular construction, and second, simulation tool will be used to evaluate the feasibility and effectiveness of integrating automation in modular affordable housing construction. The 3D simulation will compare automated and manual assembly processes, focusing on resource utilization, time savings, and cost implications. Results indicated that automated processes outperformed manual methods in terms of speed, leading to significant time reductions of about 37% and long-term cost savings, estimated at USD 523,700 to USD 545,840 annually, despite the higher upfront investment, which could be returned in less than 9 months. By conducting a detailed analysis, this research provides insights into optimizing the construction process by integrating automation into modular construction manufacturing. Also, it addresses the gap by quantitatively comparing manual and automated modular construction manufacturing processes using 3D simulation
MATHEMATICAL MODELING OF AN EPIDEMIC IN SCALEFREE NETWORK WITH IMPERFECT VACCINATION
Get PDFIn light of the recent COVID-19 pandemic, the mathematical epidemiological model has proven to be essential for understanding the disease dynamic and finding the best control tool to help contain the disease and minimize its impact. This thesis investigates the dynamics of an infectious disease spread with latent infection and vaccination. The aim is to study this model’s dynamic in a network that reflects the heterogeneity of the environment where the disease spreads. The vaccination is assumed to be not perfect, which means that vaccinated persons are likely to be infected and that the vaccinated person could lose their immunity, i.e., the waning rate of the vaccination. Using an extended version of the SEIR model with an additional vaccination compartment model, we first studied the single patch model, and we showed the basic properties in terms of the existence of a solution and its feasibility, as well as the basic reproduction number and stability results. The study was extended to scale-free networks to model the non-uniform connectivity of real-world populations, reflecting the varied susceptibility and contact rates among different groups. The findings highlight the critical thresholds for disease control and emphasize the complex interplay between network topology and disease dynamics. This study advances our understanding of epidemic control and underscores the importance of considering network structures in public health strategies
THE UNITED ARAB EMIRATES BIRTH COHORT STUDY: A PILOT EXAMINATION OF MATERNAL AND INFANT HEALTH OUTCOMES
Get PDFThe first 1,000 days of life represent a critical window for influencing optimal fetal growth and establishing lifelong health foundations. Recent evidence underscores the significant association between maternal health and nutrition during this period and the subsequent risk of non-communicable diseases, which are responsible for 74% of global deaths. Despite the rapid globalization and urbanization experienced in the United Arab Emirates in recent years, there remains a paucity of research on how maternal health and nutrition impact perinatal outcomes among Emirati women.The primary objective of this dissertation was to profile the nutritional habits, status, and lifestyle of Emirati women during gestation. Additionally, it aimed to explore the outcomes of their pregnancies and investigated their attitudes, beliefs, and intentions regarding breastfeeding and breastfeeding practices postpartum.A total of 54 Emirati women were recruited from January 2021 to February 2023 using purposeful sampling from Kanad Hospital, Al Ain, Abu Dhabi, at 12 weeks\u27 gestation. Maternal anthropometric measurements and 24-hour dietary recalls were collected once per trimester. Questionnaires were used to gather sociodemographic information, physical activity levels, and maternal knowledge, attitudes, and intentions towards breastfeeding. Maternal nutritional status was evaluated through biochemical analyses. Infant anthropometric measurements were taken at birth, and data on infant feeding practices were collected shortly after birth and one month postpartum. The ESHA Food Processor software was utilized to analyze dietary recalls. For the statistical analysis, chi-square tests and one-way ANOVA were employed to evaluate the associations between variables, with a p-value of less than 0.05 considered significant.The average maternal age was 28years, almost half 48.2% educated to high school and college diploma level, the majority of women were unemployed (69.8%), 31% were primigravida and half were either overweight or obese. The baseline results of this dissertation indicated that the average energy intake (kcal) was below recommendations. Most participants did not meet recommended dietary allowances for various micronutrients but exceeded sodium intake in all trimesters. Significant trimester differences were observed for nutritional biochemical markers (folate, ferritin, vitamin E). Gestational weight gain varied among participants compared to pre-pregnancy BMI. Most infants were appropriate for gestational age. Participants had high exposure to breastfeeding, excellent breastfeeding knowledge, and strong intentions to breastfeed, with the majority initiating breastfeeding at birth.This pilot examination identified the nutritional habits, health status, and breastfeeding knowledge and practices of Emirati women. It also highlighted current gaps in research within the UAE