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In a recent paper of Philcox, Goodman and Slepian, the solution of the elliptic Kepler's equation is given as a quotient of two contour integrals along a Jordan curve that contains in its interior the unique real solution of the elliptic Kepler's equation and does not include other complex zeroes. In this paper, we show that a similar explicit integral solution can be given for the hyperbolic Kepler's equation. With this purpose, we carry out a study of the complex zeros of the hyperbolic Kepler's equation in order to define suitable Jordan contours in the integrals. Even more, we show that appropriate elliptic Jordan contours can be defined for such integrals, which reduces the computing time. Moreover, using the ideas behind the fast Fourier transform (FFT) algorithm, these integrals can be approximated by the composite trapezoidal rule which gives an algorithm with spectral convergence as a function of the number of nodes. The results of some numerical experiments are presented to show that this implementation is a reliable and very accurate algorithm for solving the hyperbolic Kepler's equation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study paper is to examine Jordan's mineral development and investment policies. Mining policies that attract foreign investment must handle both traditional investor concerns and some new challenges. The paper delves deeply into issues such as a country's geological, political, financial, regulatory, operational, fiscal, social, and environmental characteristics, as well as profit and marketing factors. After analyzing these criteria for Jordan, they were compared to the MENA region in order to provide insights into potential changes and improvements to both the MENA and Jordan mineral policies. International investors have not been drawn to Jordan's mineral resource sector for a number of reasons, including—but not limited to—a lack of digitally available and accessible geological data, lack of access to finance exploration projects, an unfavorable legal and fiscal environment, lack of many of the best practices for transparency standards, and lack of awareness and promotion of Jordan's mineral potential among international businesses. For Jordan to improve its standing in the world for investing in mining, it needs effective mining regulations, effective regulatory agencies, very lenient foreign investment laws, highly competitive tax system, enormous geologic potential, highly qualified personnel, exceptional local expertise and skills, modern infrastructure, and stable political and economic systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thermal comfort is usually calculated using discrete point measurements. This procedure is not suitable to study thermal comfort for inhabited areas with rugged terrains where climate gradient is high. The wide availability of remote sensing data and GIS tools has revolutionized data management, processing, and visualization. The present paper implemented digital elevation data, GIS tools, and a computational algorithm to generate spatially continuous maps of climatological elements which were employed to derive thermal comfort levels across Jordan. Results show detailed information of the spatial distribution of the degree of thermal comfort in winter and summer across the country which cannot be resolved using discrete point measurements. It is shown that most mountainous areas in the country, where most urban centers are situated, experience "slightly warm" to "warm" indoor apparent temperatures in summer in 50% of the diurnal cycle. The Jordan Valley and the desert experience high indoor apparent temperatures in summer with warm and hot conditions for the most part of the diurnal cycle. Cold conditions prevail over most parts of the country in winter, with the heating degree days ranging from 2200 in the southern mountains to values close to zero near the Dead Sea area. Mountainous and desert areas experience cold or very cold conditions in more than 75% of the diurnal cycle. The presented procedure demonstrated that the very low levels of ambient vapor pressure is an important atmospheric forcing contributing to the widespread cold conditions prevailing over the desert areas in winter. The efficiency of direct evaporative cooling systems to achieve thermal comfort in the various parts of the country is investigated. The procedure presented can be used over regional scales with different levels of spatial resolutions for a wide range of climatological studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Electronic health records provide a vast amount of text health data written by physicians as patient clinical notes. The world health organization released the international classification of diseases version 10 (ICD-10) system to monitor and analyze clinical notes. ICD-10 is system physicians and other healthcare providers use to classify and code all diagnoses and symptom records in conjunction with hospital care. Therefore, the data can be easily stored, retrieved, and analyzed for decision-making. In order to address the problem, this paper introduces a system to classify the clinical notes to ICD-10 codes. This paper examines 7541 clinical notes collected from a health institute in Jordan and annotated by ICD-10's coders. In addition, the research uses another outsource dataset to augment the actual dataset. The research presented many approaches, such as the baseline and pipeline models. The Baseline model employed several methods like Word2vec embedding for representing the text. The model structure also involves long-short-term memory a convolutional neural network, and two fully-connected layers. The second Pipeline approach adopts the transformer model, such as Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformers (BERT), which is pre-trained on a similar health domain. The Pipeline model builds on two BERT models. The first model classifies the category codes representing the first three characters of ICD-10. The second BERT model uses the outputs from the general BERT model (first model) as input for the special BERT (second model) to classify the clinical notes into total codes of ICD-10. Moreover, Baseline and Pipeline models applied the Focal loss function to eliminate the imbalanced classes. However, The Pipeline model demonstrates a significant performance by evaluating it over the F1 score, recall, precision, and accuracy metric, which are 92.5%, 84.9%, 91.8%, and 84.97%, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study addresses two distinct but interwoven questions on the link between spirituality and religion in the lives of Syrian Muslim refugee parents. (1) How do religious and spiritual convictions impact these refugees and their families? (2) How do these convictions shape Syrian Muslim refugee parents' own positionality as caregivers and as individuals? We distinguish religious convictions as ones entrenched in the practice of organized religion (e.g., prayer and fasting), and spiritual convictions as ones associated with the frame of reference inspired by religion (e.g., embedded references to God and/or the Prophet Muhammad peace and blessing be upon him). This paper is focused on qualitative findings from 16 Syrian refugee parents (15 mothers and 1 father) and their individual families. While the study began as a pilot for an intervention program focused on early childhood education among refugee children in Jordan, it became overwhelmingly clear that the refugee parents' individual senses of parenthood, responsibility, and aspiration for their children's futures are inextricably linked to their spiritual and religious convictions. Highlights: Explores the importance of faith and spirituality in the context of refugee parenting and early childhood development. Provides insight into how refugee parents speak about their faith and spirituality in the context of their migration experiences, aspirations for their children, and as an extension of their own development. Based on a qualitative study with 16 Syrian caregivers in Jordan. Argues for the need to include awareness of and sensitivity to Islamic religious and spiritual practices in the design of interventions and programs concerning Muslim refugee children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The prevalence of needy-students who cannot afford their university fees has become a phenomenon in countries like Jordan. Thus, supporting such students by establishing a reliable cloud-based platform for collecting donations from wealthy people is a very noble action. Such donations will enable needy-students to continue their education to up their development, reduce their poverty, improve their health, scale-up their gender equality, promote peace across their communities, enhance stability in their societies, and enrich the field of cloud-based services development. This paper proposes a new cloud-based platform that aims at connecting donors with needy-students in a very discrete way that preserves and honors the privacy and confidentiality of their information. We claim that our proposed cloud-based platform depicts a unique novelty that can be easily anticipated from the perspectives of its status as a cloud-based donations and financial support services platform; its ability to interconnect its users privately and confidentially; and its ability to easily verify the credentials of its users and confirm their eligibility to receive financial support. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Let Φ n (k) (x) be the kth derivative of the nth cyclotomic polynomial. We are interested in the values Φ n (k) (1) for fixed positive integers n. D. H. Lehmer proved that Φ n (k) (1) / Φ n (1) is a polynomial of the Euler totient function ϕ (n) and the Jordan totient functions and gave its explicit formula. In this paper, we give a quick proof that Φ n (k) (1) / Φ n (1) is a polynomial of them without giving the explicit form. In the final section, we deduce some curious congruences: 2 Φ n (3) (1) is divisible by ϕ (n) - 2 . Moreover, if k is greater than 1, then Φ n (2 k + 1) (1) is divisible by ϕ (n) - 2 k . The proof depends on a new combinatorial identity for general self-reciprocal polynomials over Z , which gives rise to a formula that expresses the value Φ n (k) (1) as a Z -linear combination of the coefficients in the minimal polynomial of 2 cos (2 π / n) - 2 . As a supplement, we show the monotonic increasing property of Φ n (x) on [ 1 , ∞) in two ways. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper seeks to explore why women's participation in the Jordanian workforce remains comparatively low—despite an increase in the number of employed women across many countries and regions. Focusing on the Jordanian private sector, where the greatest disparities lie, we assess the conformity between the provisions that regulate family-related rights in the workplace within national labour law and international law. From this examination, we conclude that whilst law offers the potential for significant positive change in the Jordanian labour market, and notwithstanding the labour law reforms which took place between 2000 and 2020, the underlying structure of the existing laws is inimical to the goal of women's full participation. Using a women's rights perspective, we argue that, instead of piecemeal reform, the labour law sphere must be revised as a whole to better accommodate respect for women's needs in the workplace. This change must be underpinned by family-friendly legislation, which, as our study shows, is a key factor in alleviating some of the major challenges facing women workers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper set out an automatic multicategory damage detection technique using convolutional neural networks (CNN) models based on image classification and features' extraction, to detect damages of historic structures such as: erosion, material loss, color change of the stone, and sabotage issues. The city of "Al-Salt" in Jordan was selected for the case study in this research. The best model showed an average damage detection accuracy of 95%. It was demonstrated that the proposed CNN model was significantly powerful, effective and reliable for damage detection of historic masonry buildings using features' extraction based on imaging, and it contributed to the management and safety of historic heritage and preservation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The applicability of the four-parameter (4P) kappa distribution to fit the annual maximum (AM) and the peak over threshold (POT) extreme precipitation series in the Amman Zarqa Basin (AZB), Jordan, is assessed. This paper presents a practical, easy-to-implement, yet accurate method in light of the method of L-moments for parameter estimation of 4P kappa. Based on the results from the data analysis of daily precipitation records during a period that exceeded 50 years at 23 weather stations, the 4P kappa distribution can fit the precipitation extremes for both the AM and POT series for each weather station well. The 4P kappa distribution can be employed in place of its three-parameter distributions typically selected for simulating precipitation extremes (i.e., generalized extreme value (GEV), generalized logistic (GLO) distribution for AM series, and generalized Pareto (GP) distribution for POT series). The bootstrap resampling for performance evaluation beyond the dataset length shows that the 4P kappa distribution outperforms its three special cases (GLO, GEV, and GP distributions) in the context of modeling the AM and POT series for all sampling sizes. Additionally, in representing the distribution's upper right tail quantile estimations, the 4P kappa distribution performed better and, in some circumstances, was comparable to its three special cases (GLO, GEV, and GP distributions). The outcomes of this study and the method employed should lay the groundwork for wider implementation of the 4P kappa distribution in hydrological and climate science applications, as well as in other disciplines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Let n ≥ 1 be a fixed integer and R be a ring with involution ' ∗ '. For any two elements x and y in R, the n-skew Lie product and n-skew Jordan product are given by ▿ [ x , y ] n = ▿ [ x , ▿ [ x , y ] n - 1 ] with ▿ [ x , y ] 0 = y , ▿ [ x , y ] 1 = ▿ [ x , y ] = x y - y x ∗ , ▿ [ x , y ] 2 = x 2 y - 2 x y x ∗ + y (x ∗) 2 and x ⋄ n y = x ⋄ (x ⋄ n - 1 y) with x ⋄ 0 y = y , x ⋄ 1 y = x ⋄ y = x y + y x ∗ , x ⋄ 2 y = x 2 y + 2 x y x ∗ + y (x ∗) 2 . The purpose of this paper is to characterize Jordan left ∗ -centralizers satisfying certain functional identities involving skew Lie product and skew Jordan products. In particular, it is proved that if R is a 2-torsion free prime ring with involution of the second kind admits a non-zero Jordan left ∗ -centralizer T such that ▿ [ x , T (x) ] n ∈ Z (R) (n = 1 , 2) for all x ∈ R , then T (x) = λ x ∗ for all x ∈ R , where λ ∈ C , the extended centroid of R. We also characterize Jordan left ∗ -centralizers of prime rings with involution via skew Jordan product. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Landslides are a geological phenomenon that is causing considerable economic and human losses annually in various regions of the world. In some cases, the complex behaviors of some such phenomena cause that single machine learning models fail in modeling them well. To overcome this issue, this paper presents two novel genetic-algorithm (GA)-based ensemble models constructed with the decision tree (DT), k-nearest neighbors (KNN), and Naive Bayes (NB) models based on the bagging and random sub-space (RS) methods for landslide susceptibility assessment and mapping in Ajloun and Jerash governorates in Jordan. Sixteen factors, including topographic, climatic, human, and geological factors were used as possible factors that influence landslide occurrence in the study area. In addition to this, one hundred and ninety two landslide locations were employed for training and testing the models. The GA was used in this study for feature selection based on three models: DT, KNN, and NB. Model performance evaluation based on the area under the receiver operating characteristic (AUROC) curve indicated that the ensemble models outperform the standalone ones. The values of the AUROC curves in the validation phases for the five models, namely, the GA-based DT, KNN, NB, bagging-based, and RS-based ensemble model, were 0.63, 0.69, 0.63, 0.89, and 0.95, respectively. The results of this study suggest that simple models can be combined using the bagging and RS methods to produce integrated models that have higher accuracy than that of any of the individual simple models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adaptability of an effective access network in optical code division multiple access domain requires an efficient coding scheme which has the abilitiy to provide required communication capacity in terms of cardinality, reach, and data rates. In this paper, an extensive study and investigation has been carried out for adaptability study of a well-known coding scheme diagonal eigenvalue unity (DEU) code at various date rates in passive optical network (PON) environment. DEU code design is based on Jordan block matrix with ideal in-phase cross correlation (IPCC) properties. The numerical and simulation results show the ability of DEU code in supporting synchronized transmissions at different data rates that suits triple play services of video, audio and data (VAD). An algorithm is developed to determine the required chip duration that matches a particular service. It shows that data rate is more influential than code length on pulse duration especially for video applications. In support of the proposed algorithm, 5 Gb/s, 2.5 Gb/s, and 1.25 Gb/s data rate transmissions have been validated for various simultaneous users. In addition, a Poisson's distribution analysis is carried out aiming to study different bit rate scenarios with ad hoc population network. Results have concluded that higher value of average rate of simultaneous users (σ) is preferable for low data rate whereas the lower value of σ is suitable to the higher data rates in accordance with network population. In particular, for video streaming, the traffic running in a continuous fashion requires the highest transmission priority and small value of σ. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper concerns test matrices for numerical linear algebra using an error-free transformation of floating-point arithmetic. For specified eigenvalues given by a user, we propose methods of generating a matrix whose eigenvalues are exactly known based on, for example, Schur or Jordan normal form and a block diagonal form. It is also possible to produce a real matrix with specified complex eigenvalues. Such test matrices with exactly known eigenvalues are useful for numerical algorithms in checking the accuracy of computed results. In particular, exact errors of eigenvalues can be monitored. To generate test matrices, we first propose an error-free transformation for the product of three matrices YSX. We approximate S by S ′ to compute Y S ′ X without a rounding error. Next, the error-free transformation is applied to the generation of test matrices with exactly known eigenvalues. Note that the exactly known eigenvalues of the constructed matrix may differ from the anticipated given eigenvalues. Finally, numerical examples are introduced in checking the accuracy of numerical computations for symmetric and unsymmetric eigenvalue problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Electricity, a kind of clean energy, has been widely used in people's production and daily life. However, it is very difficult to estimate the electricity energy production in advance and store the rest of the electric energy due to the climate, environment, population and other factors. Based on data preprocessing and artificial intelligence optimization algorithm, this paper introduces a combined forecasting method. The proposed method contains six individual methods, and each individual method has its own usage. Singular spectrum analysis (SSA) is adopted to reduce noise from the original data; three individual forecasting methods, Jordan neural network, the echo state network, least squares support vector machine, are applied to obtain the intermediate forecasting results; two optimization algorithms, particle swarm optimization and simulated annealing, are used to optimize the parameters of the combined model. This paper not only validates the superiority of the combined model compared to the single predictive model through the simulation experiments of power load data and electricity price data. The mean absolute percent error (MAPE) of the combined power load and electricity price forecast results are 1.14% and 7.58%, respectively, which are higher than the MAPE error of the corresponding single models prediction results. It has also been verified that the process of eliminating noise by the SSA plays a positive role in the accuracy of the combined forecasting model. In addition, two series of experiments on the power load data lead to two very interesting conclusions. One of the conclusions is that as the size of the test data increases, the prediction accuracy of the model decreases; the other is that the predicted result calculated through the optimized combined weight is better than the combined result calculated using the average weight, and the average weight is used. Weighted combination does not improve the prediction accuracy of a single model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For general complex or real 1-parameter matrix flows A(t)n, n and for static matrices A ∈ ℂ n , n alike, this paper considers ways to decompose matrix flows and single matrices globally via one constant matrix similarity Cn, n as A(t) = C− 1 ⋅ diag(A1(t),...,Aℓ(t)) ⋅ C or A = C− 1 ⋅diag(A1,...,Aℓ) ⋅ C with each diagonal block Ak(t) or Ak square and their number ℓ exceeding 1 if this is possible. The theory behind our proposed algorithm is elementary and uses the concept of invariant subspaces for the MATLAB eig computed 'eigenvectors' of one associated flow matrix B(ta) to find the coarsest simultaneous block structure for all flow matrices B(tb). The method works efficiently for all time-varying matrix flows A(t), be they real or complex, normal, with Jordan structures or repeated eigenvalues, differentiable, continuous, or discontinuous in t, and likewise for all fixed entry matrices A. Our intended aim is to discover unitarily diagonal-block decomposable flows as they originate in real-time from sensor given data for time-varying matrix problems that are unitarily invariant. Then, the complexities of their numerical treatments decrease by adopting 'divide and conquer' methods for their diagonal blocks. In the process, we discover and study k-normal fixed entry matrix classes that can be decomposed under unitary similarities into various k-dimensional block-diagonal forms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To be in the competitive industrial world, industries required high quality, speed in completing the required work, and commitment to the delivery dates. One of the most important issues in the field of production management is the job shop scheduling problem (JSSP). In this paper, the researchers tried to solve JSSP of factory by presenting a method to improve the factory's production. Job shop scheduling (JSS) is a suitable method for solving these types of problems, which aims to improve the production flow through minimizing the whole operation time of the products. Moreover, considering the factory that depends on workers as same as machine, human factor should be considered while scheduling by using the workers' weightage, in order to improve the workers' working time flexibility in terms of their waiting time among their tasks by proposed model of JSS. In addition, the researchers proposed a new combination of weightage values by using Taguchi method, regarding to improve the workers' working time and using genetic algorithm (GA) to solve the proposed model of JSS. One of the factories which is located in Jordan, and it is considered as one of the important factories; nevertheless, it can cover the local demands hardly, and hence, it deserves to be as a study case for this research. The findings of the studies decreased the whole operation time of the products by saving 75 min for each production line and 90 min by using GA, and the proposed model improved the flexibility of the workers' working time in terms of their waiting times among their tasks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the present paper, the notion of (additive) local multiplier on the ring of matrices over an arbitrary unital associative ring is introduced and investigated. It is proved that every local left multiplier on the matrix ring over a division ring is a left multiplier. Also, in the present paper, the notion of (additive) local Jordan multiplier on a Jordan ring of symmetric matrices is introduced and investigated. It is proved that every local Jordan multiplier on the Jordan ring of symmetric matrices over the field of rational numbers is a Jordan multiplier. Also corollaries of these results are proved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper extends the analysis of a much studied singularly perturbed three-component reaction–diffusion system for front dynamics in the regime where the essential spectrum is close to the origin. We confirm a conjecture from a preceding paper by proving that the triple multiplicity of the zero eigenvalue gives a Jordan chain of length three. Moreover, we simplify the center manifold reduction and computation of the normal form coefficients by using the Evans function for the eigenvalues. Finally, we prove the unfolding of a Bogdanov–Takens bifurcation with symmetry in the model. This leads to the appearance of stable periodic front motion, including stable traveling breathers, and these results are illustrated by numerical computations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of Electronic cigarettes (E-cigarettes) has considerably expanded especially among adults. This paper highlights the behavior regarding E-cigarettes uses among adult males in Jordan. Moreover, we studied the electronic cigarette devices, the electronic cigarette liquids used in them, and the health-related complaints associated with e-smoking. Among smokers, we studied the association between E-cigarette use and their interest in smoking cessation. A questionnaire-based study regarding electronic cigarette prevalence and awareness among Jordanian individuals was conducted with a total sample size of 1536 participants. The questionnaire was distributed using Facebook and WhatsApp social groups. In this study, we included data of a total of 254 adult male participants after excluding non-E-cigarettes smokers, female smokers, and male smokers younger than 18 years old from the previously published study (Electronic Cigarettes Prevalence and Awareness among Jordanian Individuals) to describe electronic smoking behavior among adult males in Jordan. We described smoking behavior, electronic smoking technologies and materials, source of knowledge, and believe regarding electronic smoking among participants. A total of 254 E-cigarette smokers have participated in this study. 104 participants (40.9%) were found to smoke both traditional and electronic cigarettes, 111 (43.7%) quit traditional cigarette smoking and switched to E-cigarettes, and 39 (15.3%) individuals are exclusively e-smokers. More than half of the participants (n = 144; 56.7%) believe E-smoking is not addictive, and 213 (83.8%) suppose that the overall health effects attributable to E-smoking are less severe and not as serious as those related to traditional smoking. The use of E-cigarettes increased both nationally and globally in the past few years and is considered an emerging modality of smoking among non-smokers. Social media and other internet websites are the main sources of knowledge regarding E-cigarettes. Health-related issues and addiction are thought to be less than traditional smoking in considerable percentages of E-smokers. A more comprehensive conception of E-smoking patterns in Jordan is required to approach this phenomenon. Health authorities in collaboration with governmental policymakers are obligate to adopt strict recommendations to control the promotion of E-smoking through social media and other internet websites to limit its distribution among people especially youths. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigate the Hilbert boundary-value problem for Beltrami equations ∂ ¯ f = μ∂f with singularities in generalized quasidisks D whose Jordan boundary ∂D consists of a countable collection of open quasiconformal arcs and, maybe, a countable collection of points. Such generalized quasicircles can be nowhere even locally rectifiable but include, for instance, all piecewise smooth curves, as well as all piecewise Lipschitz Jordan curves. Generally speaking, generalized quasidisks do not satisfy the standard (A)–condition in PDE by Ladyzhenskaya–Ural'tseva, in particular, the outer cone touching condition, as well as the quasihyperbolic boundary condition by Gehring–Martio that we assumed in our last paper for the uniformly elliptic Beltrami equations. In essence, here, we admit any countable collection of singularities of the Beltrami equations on the boundary and arbitrary singularities inside the domain D of a general nature. As usual, a point in D ¯ is called a singularity of the Beltrami equation, if the dilatation quotient Kμ := (1 + |μ|)/(1 – |μ|) is not essentially bounded in all its neighborhoods. Presupposing that the coefficients of the problem are arbitrary functions of countable bounded variation and the boundary data are arbitrary measurable with respect to the logarithmic capacity, we prove the existence of regular solutions of the Hilbert boundary-value problem. As a consequence, we derive the existence of nonclassical solutions of the Dirichlet, Neumann, and Poincaré boundary-value problems for equations of mathematical physics with singularities in anisotropic and inhomogeneous media. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we study the noncommutative functional equation h (λ z) - λ h (z) = g (z) , z ∈ C and we give a new perspective from this equation to obtain a completely dynamical classification for complex matrices. Coarsely speaking, there are four different types: 0 , 1 2 , 2 and e i 2 π θ with θ ∈ [ 0 , 1 2 ] for diagonal matrices and Jordan matrices, respectively. Moreover, we obtain that for a complex matrix A, if its eigenvalues are 0 < | λ i | ≠ 1 , where 1 ≤ i ≤ rank (A) , then A is topologically conjugate to a diagonal matrix on C rank (A) . [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this survey paper, synaptic algebras are considered as suitable models for the description of quantum mechanical systems. It is shown that physically most important concepts, states and observables, can be modeled in the frame of synaptic algebras. It is shown that every element of a generalized Hermitian algebra, which is a special case of a synaptic algebra, corresponds to an observable on the OML of its projections, and a continuous functional calculus is developed. It is also shown that synaptic algebras admit type decompositions analogous to type decompositions of von Neumann algebras. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Solving linear system of differential equations by Jordan canonical form needs the change in the real field to complex and then retrieve the complex solutions to the real ones. B. Malesevic, D. Todoric, I. Jovovic, and S. Telebakovic suggest that it is more convenient to apply the rational canonical form than the Jordan canonical form. They reduce the linear system D Y = A Y to higher order differential equations f j (D) z = 0 , where the polynomials f 1 , f 2 , ... , f k appear in the rational canonical form of A. ( D = d / d x .) The present paper proves the converse of their theorems and discovers certain dimensionality relations between the solution spaces of the two types of differential equation problems. The approach is pure algebraic and leaves the door open for extensions to formal differential equations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we study some important means of Jordan's totient function, especially, we obtain asymptotic formula for geometric mean and harmonic mean. We also study alternating sums of Jordan's totient function and Carleman's inequality for this function. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently Avis and Jordan have demonstrated the efficiency of a simple technique called budgeting for the parallelization of a number of tree search algorithms. The idea is to limit the amount of work that a processor performs before it terminates its search and returns any unexplored nodes to a master process. This limit is set by a critical budget parameter which determines the overhead of the process. In this paper we study the behaviour of the budget parameter on conditional Galton–Watson trees obtaining asymptotically tight bounds on this overhead. We present empirical results to show that this bound is surprisingly accurate in practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

LiDAR is considered as an effective technology for digitizing the real scene at a very high-resolution and in a short time. However, the resolution of the LiDAR is not sufficient to identify and evaluate the façade surface features like edges and cracks. Generally, photographs provide a better interpretation of the linear characteristics. The complementary benefits of each allow exploring valuable spatial information with different surface detail levels. The paper introduces a flexible image-based approach for linear feature extraction from LiDAR point cloud. Initially, the algorithm converts the point clouds into a structured depth image to reduce the complexity and computation time. Using transformation matrix and camera calibration parameters, the visible point clouds are perceptively projected into color image space using co-linearity equations. The result depth channel is sampled with the interpolation process and added to the color channels to compute (RGBD) layers. The edges and linear features of the surface are initially extracted using the optical 2D imagery and subsequently, each pixel of the linear features can be projected directly into 3D space. Due to the various acquisition positions of the laser and color images, the issue of occlusion is resolved using the visibility algorithm. Applying the methodology, experimental results from the Treasury Monument of Jordan's ancient Petra City, indicate that the developed approach provides adequate contour points for better interpretation and quantification of weathering processes and dangerous cracking. 3D Modeling these features can also reduce data size, facilitating surface inspection and analysis with simpler models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This short paper demonstrates numerically and experimentally observed transitions between the stable states, regular and chaotic oscillations in the case of state representations of binary memory transformed into the Jordan form. Math model of original memory describes simple anti-series connection of two resonant tunneling diodes (RTDs). Derived third-order dynamical system is analyzed with respect to global behavior and, consequently, implemented as lumped analog circuit with piecewise linear (PWL) vector field. Oscilloscope screenshots prove that chaotic motion of binary memory is robust. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A ring R is called reversible if for a , b ∈ R , a b = 0 implies b a = 0 . These rings play an important role in the study of noncommutative ring theory. Kafkas et al. (Algebra Discrete Math. 12 (2011) 72–84) generalized the notion of reversible rings to central reversible rings. In this paper, we extend the notion of central reversibility of rings to ring endomorphisms. We investigate various properties of these rings and answer relevant questions that arise naturally in the process of development of these rings, and as a consequence many new results related to central reversible rings are also obtained as corollaries to our results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Differentiation matrices are in wide use in numerical algorithms, although usually studied in an ad hoc manner. We collect here in this review paper elementary properties of differentiation matrices for univariate polynomials expressed in various bases, including orthogonal polynomial bases and non-degree-graded bases such as Bernstein bases and Lagrange and Hermite interpolational bases. We give new explicit formulations, and new explicit formulations for the pseudo-inverses which help to understand antidifferentiation, of many of these matrices. We also give the unique Jordan form for these (nilpotent) matrices and a new unified formula for the transformation matrix. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Walter et al. (Science 340:1205, 2013), they gave a sufficient condition for genuinely entangled pure states and discussed SLOCC classification via polytopes and the eigenvalues of the single-particle states. In this paper, for 4n qubits, we show the invariance of algebraic multiplicities (AMs) and geometric multiplicities (GMs) of eigenvalues and the invariance of sizes of Jordan blocks (JBs) of the coefficient matrices under SLOCC. We explore properties of spectra, eigenvectors, generalized eigenvectors, standard Jordan normal forms (SJNFs), and Jordan chains of the coefficient matrices. The properties and invariance permit a reduction in SLOCC classification of 4n qubits to integer partitions (in number theory) of the number 2 2 n - k and the AMs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Let H and K be complex Hilbert spaces.Denote by B(H) and B(K) the algebras of all bounded linear operators on H and K, respectively. In this paper, we characterize that nonlinear map φ : B(H) → B(K) that preserves the higher-dimensional numerical ranges of Jordan *-products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Extreme event magnitude and frequency are prerequisites for accurately designing and managing various water infrastructure systems. This paper studies precipitation extremes in the Amman Zara Basin (AZB) using daily precipitation records from 24 weather stations during a period that exceeds 50 years. Two extreme precipitation series (the annual maximum (AM) and the peak over threshold (POT)), four generalized probability distributions (generalized extreme value (GEV), generalized Pareto (GP), generalized lognormal (GLN), and generalized logistic (GLO)) and the L moment method for distribution parameter estimation are used. A mix of increasing and decreasing trends is observed at different stations for both the AM and POT series over the study period. Since the POT series considers up to the fifth largest precipitation in some years, in contrast to the AM series, and skips the largest precipitation in the AM series in other years, the trend analysis results for the POT series differ slightly from those for the AM series. According to the goodness-of-fit (Kolmogorov-Smirnov test and L moment diagram), the probability distributions GEV, GLN, and GLO can better fit the AM series, with no unique distribution among them consistently ranking the best for all stations, while the POT series is better fitted by the GP distribution. The calculated extreme precipitation amounts of the AM series are up to 18% greater than those of the POT series for the same return period. Additionally, the AM series can describe extreme precipitation events better than the POT series based on relative error calculations. The 50- and 100-year extreme precipitation events occurred more frequently in recent years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The aim was to critically appraise, synthesise and present the evidence of medication errors amongst hospitalised patients in Middle Eastern countries, specifically prevalence, nature, severity and contributory factors. Methods: CINAHL, Embase, Medline, Pubmed and Science Direct were searched for studies published in English from 2000 to March 2018, with no exclusions. Study selection, quality assessment (using adapted STROBE checklists) and data extraction were conducted independently by two reviewers. A narrative approach to data synthesis was adopted; data related to error causation were synthesised according to Reason's Accident Causation model. Results: Searching yielded 452 articles, which were reduced to 50 following removal of duplicates and screening of titles, abstracts and full-papers. Studies were largely from Iran, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan. Thirty-two studies quantified errors; definitions of 'medication error' were inconsistent as were approaches to data collection, severity assessment, outcome measures and analysis. Of 13 studies reporting medication errors per 'total number of medication orders'/ 'number of prescriptions', the median across all studies was 10% (IQR 2–35). Twenty-four studies reported contributory factors leading to errors. Synthesis according to Reason's model identified the most common being active failures, largely slips (10 studies); lapses (9) and mistakes (12); error-provoking conditions, particularly lack of knowledge (13) and insufficient staffing levels (13) and latent conditions, commonly heavy workload (9). Conclusion: There is a need to improve the quality and reporting of studies from Middle Eastern countries. A standardised approach to quantifying medication errors' prevalence, severity, outcomes and contributory factors is warranted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Let H be a complex Hilbert space with dim H ≥ 3, B s (H) be the Jordan algebra of all bounded self-adjoint operators on H, and let F : B (H) → [ d , ∞ ] with d ≥ 0 be a radial unitary similarity invariant function. In this paper, a characterization is obtained for maps ϕ on B s (H) satisfying F (ϕ (A) ϕ (B) ϕ (A)) = F (A B A) (A , B ∈ B s (H)) . As applications, a general form of the maps on B s (H) preserving the p-norm, the maps preserving the pseudo-spectral radius and the maps preserving the pseudo-spectrum are also described. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The existence of complementarity constraints causes the difficulties for studying mathematical programs with second-order cone complementarity constraints, since the standard constraint qualification, such as Robinson's constraint qualification, is invalid. Therefore, various stationary conditions including strong, Mordukhovich and Clarke stationary conditions have been proposed, according to different reformulations of the second-order cone complementarity constraints. In this paper, we present a new reformulation of this problem by taking into consideration the Jordan algebra associated with the second-order cone. It ensures that the classical Karush–Kuhn–Tucker condition coincides with the strong stationary condition of the original problem. Furthermore, we propose a class of approximation methods to solve mathematical programs with second-order cone complementarity constraints. Any accumulation point of the iterative sequences, generated by the approximation method, is Clarke stationary under the corresponding linear independence constraint qualification. This stationarity can be enhanced to strong stationarity with an extra strict complementarity condition. Preliminary numerical experiments indicate that the proposed method is effective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Let Mn(C) denote the algebra of all n × n complex matrices, and fix a nonzero vector x0 in Cn. For any matrix T ∈Mn(C), let σT (x0) denote the local spectrum of T at x0. Given three scalars μ, ν and ξ simultaneously nonzero, we study maps ϕ on Mn(C) satisfying σμSTS+νTS+ξST (x0) = σμϕ(S)ϕ(T)ϕ(S)+νϕ(T)ϕ(S)+ξϕ(S)ϕ(T)(x0) for all S, T ∈Mn(C). Our main result extends and unifies the main results of several papers on maps on Mn(C) preserving the local spectrum of different products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Through narrative analysis, this paper explores the changes in acceptance of and response to substance use in Muslim culture by evaluating data collected in qualitative interviews in Jordan in 2013. What is known and unknown about substance use in Muslim culture throughout the Arab world from previous research findings provides a foundation from which to explore new perspectives and compare themes between younger and older generations in Jordan. Trends of social change and behavioral expression influenced by dramatic political and social upheaval in the Arab world in the last 5 years will also be evaluated for the way in which they may be influencing both substance use and its acceptance among young adults in this population. Recommendations for future research and work in this area are also provided based on these findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Diabetes is considered a chronic disease that incurs various types of cost to the world. One major challenge in the control of Diabetes is the real time determination of the proper insulin dose. In this paper, we develop a prototype for real time blood sugar control, integrated with the cloud. Our system controls blood sugar by observing the blood sugar level and accordingly determining the appropriate insulin dose based on patient's historical data, all in real time and automatically. To determine the appropriate insulin dose, we propose two statistical models for modeling blood sugar profiles, namely ARIMA and Markov-based model. Our experiment used to evaluate the performance of the two models shows that the ARIMA model outperforms the Markov-based model in terms of prediction accuracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents results from ground penetrating radar surveys using the SIR-10B GPR instrument (manufactured by Geophysical Survey System Inc., USA), with 400 MHz monostatic antenna (model 5 103). Survey was made over 3 excavation levels along the highway section at the Ras en Naqab escarpment area, Southwest Jordan. A total of 217 m along 4 profiles were covered in the winter of 2012. The objectives of the study are (i) to evaluate the resolution of the GPR technique in the field for detecting and locating anomalies caused by subsurface structures like cavities, fractures and faults, and (ii) to describe stratigraphic nomenclature of the subsurface rocks of the area. 2D interpretation of the obtained data and the geological information demonstrate a strong correlation between the GPR anomalies and the subsurface geology. Based upon the lateral and vertical velocity changes with depth, the thickness and orientation of the subsurface layers are outlined. Analysis of the exposed section shows good agreement between the estimated thicknesses of lithostratigraphic units and the quantitative assessment of the radar waves velocity inferred from GPR data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Alkaptonuria (AKU) is one of the four initially identified inborn errors of metabolism. The prevalence of AKU is unknown in Jordan. Therefore, a research project was started in April 2009 at the Faculty of Medicine/Mutah University in southern Jordan. The aims of the project were to identify people with AKU, to screen all family members with history of AKU, and to increase the awareness about the disease among health care professionals and the community in southern Jordan. Targeted family screening method was used to identify patients with AKU. In this paper, we present preliminary results of screening 17 families with history of AKU in a single village in southern region of Jordan. Forty cases with AKU were identified in this village (age range, 1-60 years). Early cases with AKU were diagnosed through out this study, two-third of patients ( n = 28) were under the age of thirty. Interestingly, nine cases with AKU were identified in one family. Our experience suggests that for the identification of cases with AKU where consanguinity is common, the focus for screening should be extended to all family members. The prevalence of AKU among Jordanian is likely to be greater than the prevalence rates worldwide due to high rates of consanguineous marriages. Further studies and effective screening programs are needed to detect undiagnosed cases of AKU, to provide genetic counseling, and ultimately to prevent the occurrence of new cases of AKU in Jordan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract  This paper reports an experimental investigation into the inherent anisotropy and particle breakage of natural Aqaba sand. The natural sand specimens were subjected to one dimensional compression to induce breakage. The grain size distributions of the specimens were obtained before and after the application of the stresses. Thereafter, the sand shear strength parameters were assessed using direct shear box tests. The results indicate that peak shear strength parameters show little decrease with increasing particle breakage. However, the dilatancy component of the shear strength diminishes with increasing particle breakage and a considerable amount of dilation occurs on samples with a higher bedding plane, regardless of the extent of particle breakage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, the interest grew in research on measuring the “quality of life” (QOL) in cities. This interest comes from the success QOL measurement achieved in understanding communities’ needs, tracking changes in different aspects of life and assessing the most desired types of future development among citizens. This research highlights the importance of measuring QOL in Jordan. It examines the opportunity and applicability of carrying out QOL measurement studies in Amman, the capital city. It outlines different scopes, visions and approaches that can be used to study and measure QOL and the most suitable mechanism that can work firmly. A professional top–bottom approach was used for that. Thirty-three experts with different backgrounds were interviewed in order to determine the appropriate scopes and visions for studying QOL, define the most significant aspects affecting QOL in Amman, and define the appropriate domains to be studied. Results were analyzed, limitations were defined and the final set of representative domains was stated. Domains were ranked according to their relevance and the important -underneath- aspects were defined in the form of models, each representing a certain domain. The paper attempts by the end to set the stage for setting up criteria for measuring QOL in Amman and to open the way for future QOL research to take place in Jordan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drawing on recent critiques and advances in theories of the rentier state, this paper uses an in-depth case study of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan to posit a new “supply and demand” approach to the study of external rents and authoritarian durability. The Jordanian rentier state is not exclusively a product of external rents, particularly foreign aid, but also of the demands of a coalition encompassing groups with highly disparate economic policy preferences. The breadth of the Hashemite coalition requires that the regime dispense rent-fueled side payments to coalition members through constructing distributive institutions. Yet neither rent supply nor coalition demands are static. Assisted by geopolitically motivated donors, the Hashemites have adapted institutions over time to tap a diverse supply of rents that range from economic and military aid to protocol trade, allowing them to retain power through periods of late development, domestic political crisis, and neoliberal conditionality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT. This study investigates how mathematics secondary schools' teachers in \hbox{Jordan} perceive critical thinking and compares teachers' perceptions before and after educational reform. Data were collected from 12 schools twice: in 1988 and in 2004 by interviewing 47 Mathematics teachers. The interview included questions related to teachers' understanding of critical thinking, its role and importance in learning Mathematics, and instructional strategies that could help improve students' critical thinking skills. Results found no improvement in secondary Mathematics teachers' perceptions of critical thinking despite 15 years of educational reform. The majority of Mathematics teachers seemed not to have a clear and adequate understanding of critical thinking. Though most of the teachers claimed they have to teach critical thinking, more than half of them could not suggest any learning situation that could help in fostering critical thinking in Mathematics classes. Also most of the teachers claimed that critical thinking would help students in learning Mathematics; yet less than half were able to give a convincing justification for that. A small percentage of the secondary Mathematics teachers believed they can help all students to foster their critical thinking. It is thus recommended that the concept of critical thinking be transferred from the realm of rhetoric to the field of practice. The paper ends with some recommendations related to the Mathematics teachers training programs in view of the results of this study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The history of the Islamic movement in Jordan displays glaring contrasts with its counterparts in other Islamic countries such as Egypt, pre-Revolutionary Iran, and Syria. In a marked departure from a history of violence that characterized the relationship between the state and the Islamic opposition in these countries, the Jordanian Muslim Brothers was not only a peaceful movement but also often defended the state against the challenges of radical ideologies. Following the democratization process launched by the late King Hussein, the Muslim Brothers participated in electoral politics. To adapt itself to the new pluralistic environment, the movement displayed a move toward secularization. This process was reflected in an organizational differentiation and the rationalization of religious discourse. This paper attempts to explain this remarkable phenomenon by first considering the effects of the structure, ideology, and cultural policies of the state and of the development of social classes on the Islamic movement. It then considers the way in which the legal framework and political pluralism in the 1990s contributed to the secularization of the movement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Inspired by the pioneer work of H.L. Resnikoff, which is described in full detail in the first part of this two-part paper, we give a quantum description of the space P of perceived colors. We show that P is the effect space of a rebit, a real quantum qubit, whose state space is isometric to Klein's hyperbolic disk. This chromatic state space of perceived colors can be represented as a Bloch disk of real dimension 2 that coincides with Hering's disk given by the color opponency mechanism. Attributes of perceived colors, hue and saturation, are defined in terms of Von Neumann entropy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents abstracts of papers related to blood and marrow transplantation including "Retrospective studies by data managers," by J. E. Schep. "Establishing data management system for HSCT in Jordan: a success story from a developing country," by A. Hussein, N. Hussein, and F. Abdelrahman, and "Challenges of setting up an efficient data management structure/system in Nigeria: first functional bone marrow transplant centre," by E. Blessing and B. Godwin.