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Introduction: Although Jordan has made significant progress toward expanding the utilization of facility‐based intrapartum care, prior research highlights that poor service quality is still persistent. This study aimed to identify quality gaps between women's expectations and perceptions of the actual intrapartum care received, while exploring the contributing factors. Methods: Utilizing a pre–post design, quality gaps in intrapartum care were assessed among 959 women pre‐ and postchildbirth at a prominent tertiary hospital in northern Jordan. Data were gathered using the SERVQUAL scale, measuring service quality across reliability, responsiveness, tangibles, assurance, and empathy dimensions. Results: The overall mean gap score between women's expectations and perceptions of the quality of intrapartum care was −0.60 (±0.56). The lowest and highest mean gap scores were found to be related to tangibles and assurance dimensions, −0.24 (±0.39) and −0.88 (±0.35), respectively. Significant negative quality gaps were identified in the dimensions of assurance, empathy, and responsiveness, as well as overall service quality (p < 0.001). The MLR analyses highlighted education (β = 0.61), mode of birth (β = −0.60), admission timing (β = −0.41), continuity of midwifery care (β = −0.43), physician's gender (β = −0.62), active labour duration (β = 0.37), and pain management (β = −0.33) to be the key determinants of the overall quality gap in intrapartum care. Conclusion: Our findings underscore the importance of fostering a labour environment that prioritizes enhancing caregivers' empathetic, reassuring, and responsive skills to minimize service quality gaps and enhance the overall childbirth experience for women in Jordan. Patient or Public Contribution: This paper is a collaborative effort involving women with lived experiences of childbirth, midwives, and obstetrics and gynaecologist physicians. The original idea, conceptualization, data generation, and coproduction, including manuscript editing, were shaped by the valuable contributions of stakeholders with unique perspectives on intrapartum care in Jordan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In the midst of an unprecedented refugee crisis and the shortfall of aid organization resources, a shift toward utilizing the capacity for collective resilience in refugee communities could be helpful. This paper explores experiences of psychosocial social support among a community of Syrian urban refugees in Jordan, especially the kind of support that helps them deal with secondary stressors. We were specifically interested in the role of shared social identity as a basis of support and the sources of such shared identity. We conducted an 8‐month ethnography that included observations and semistructured interviews with 13 refugees. We found many examples of support among refugees, on both personal and collective levels. Some of this support was based on sharing the identity of “refugee” that stemmed from a sense of common fate. This is similar to the process identified in the literature on disasters. Psychological membership in the refugee group is stigmatic, but it can also lead to positive outcomes in line with the social cure perspective. However, we also found examples of support that were value‐based or based on pre‐existing interpersonal networks. Implications of the findings for models of group processes in stressful situations and the practical question of refugee support are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drawing on the Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) theory, this study examines the relationship between workplace incivility and workers' psychological well-being. A related aim is to examine the link between workers' religiosity and their well-being, with workplace incivility moderating this nexus. Data were collected from 247 employees identified from private sectors (in Jordan and the UAE) via online-survey questionnaire. Factor analysis and hierarchical moderated multiple regression models were used to test the hypotheses. Study results show that workers' religiosity is positively and significantly associated with their psychological well-being, while workplace incivility is negatively (but insignificantly) associated with workers' psychological well-being. In addition, and contrary to our expectations and prior studies, our results suggest that workplace incivility strengthens the direct relationship between religiosity and well-being. The mechanism of this intersection may propose that rude and uncivil treatments positively predict self-blame, something that may lead the targets to become more religious to get recovery from different types of incivility and stressful life events. This study highlights the contextual applicability and possible extension of the JD-R theory through extending its model to religiosity and well-being of employees in a diverse cultural context in the Middle East. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• We investigated the impact of child labour on unemployment and labour force participation, using a time series data for the Jordanian data during 1993–2018. • We applied the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) bound testing approach to estimate the impact of child labour on unemployment and labour force participation. • We carried out econometric tests to provide empirical evidence of the strength and direction of such impact. • We provided empirical evidence that child labour causes unemployment but there is little evidence that child labour causes labour force participation. The results support that there is one cointegrating link between the variables of the model. • After evaluating 240 models, the paper provides ARDL estimates of the best-fitted relations. Model estimates indicate that, in the long-run, child labour helps in increasing the unemployment rate but has little effect on the reduction in the labour force participation rate. In the short-run, the impact of child labour on unemployment and labour force participation is insignificant. An increase in child labour will decrease unemployment after three years. The paper aims to investigate the impact of child labour on unemployment and labour force participation. It carries out econometric tests to provide empirical evidence of the strength and direction of such impact. Although this investigation is carried out on Jordanian data during 1993–2018, it can easily be adopted by other developing countries, especially those suffering from a high incidence of child labour. The paper uses the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) bound testing approach to estimate the impact of child labour on unemployment and labour force participation. It also examines the variables of the study by carrying out several diagnostic and pre-estimation tests to justify model selection, including stationary, causality, and cointegrations. Depending on the results of these tests, an econometric model is suggested to estimate the effect of child labour on both unemployment and labour force participation. For testing stationarity of the variables, it applies both individual and group unit root tests. The paper provides empirical evidence that child labour causes unemployment but there is little evidence that child labour causes labour force participation. The results of the Johansen cointegration test support that there is one cointegrating link between the variables of the model. Finally, after evaluating 240 models, the paper provides ARDL estimates of the best-fitted relations. Model estimates indicate that, in the long run, child labour helps in increasing the unemployment rate but has little effect on the reduction in the labour force participation rate. In the short run, the impact of child labour on unemployment and labour force participation is insignificant. An increase in child labour will decrease unemployment after three years. Because of the chosen research approach, the research results may lack generalizability, as the complexity of child labour is related to a large set of economic and social factors and policy instruments. The paper includes implications for the development of economic and social policies related to child labour including compacting child labour in developing countries. It also provides a clearer picture of the relationship between child labour and unemployment as well as labour force participation. This is the first study that addresses the impact of child labour on unemployment and adult labour force participation. However, few studies that discussed the problem of child labour focused on different aspects such as the link between child labour and informal labour force and regulation or child labour and health hazards. More precisely, empirical literature that dealt with the economic impact of child labour failed to produce rigorous evidence regarding this impact. We hope that this study will serve as a starting point to illuminate the discussion on the links between child labour and major economic variables in developing countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The question of whether landfills are or could be sustainable is somewhat unanswered within the sphere of waste management. This is partly due to two key issues: the ambiguities concerning what is sustainability?; and how to effectively assess the potential or actual sustainability of a landfill? It has been argued in the literature that this is a difficult task, however it is not impossible. This paper consequently presents the application of a mathematical model of sustainability to the results obtained for the environmental impact assessment (EIA) of the Russeifa landfill in Jordan using the rapid impact assessment matrix (RIAM) methodology. This paper demonstrates the methodology necessary to apply the model to the RIAM evaluation made at the time of assessment with respect to potential mitigation options. A determination of the level and nature of sustainability (if appropriate) for the project options were obtained for the Russeifa landfill. The results indicated that all of project options evaluated could be considered as unsustainable. This paper concludes by stating that the application of the model to the RIAM analysis offers a potential mechanism in evaluating sustainability through the use of a common and increasingly regarded technique of EIA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we present a semi-automatic method to infer groundwater flow-paths based on the extraction of lineaments from digital elevation models. This method is especially adequate in remote and inaccessible areas where in-situ data are scarce. The combined method of linear filtering and object-based classification provides a lineament map with a high degree of accuracy. Subsequently, lineaments are differentiated into geological and morphological lineaments using auxiliary information and finally evaluated in terms of hydro-geological significance. Using the example of the western catchment of the Dead Sea (Israel/Palestine), the orientation and location of the differentiated lineaments are compared to characteristics of known structural features. We demonstrate that a strong correlation between lineaments and structural features exists. Using Euclidean distances between lineaments and wells provides an assessment criterion to evaluate the hydraulic significance of detected lineaments. Based on this analysis, we suggest that the statistical analysis of lineaments allows a delineation of flow-paths and thus significant information on groundwater movements. To validate the flow-paths we compare them to existing results of groundwater models that are based on well data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper revisited the role of trust in Business to Business Electronic Commerce (B2B EC) settings in Jordan, using an alternative view on trust suggesting that this variable has a moderating effect rather than having a direct impact on the intentions of firms to adopt B2B EC. An interactionist model among trust and technological, organizational, and environmental factors was developed. A survey of 239 supply chain managers in Jordan was used to test the proposed model. Analyzed data shows that the moderating impact of trust was significant in one path, which was perceived desirability (stemming from the diffusion of innovation theory and representing the technological view). Trust did not moderate the impacts of organizational and environmental variables. The findings provided insights into how existing relationships between trading partners may not be flexible enough to absorb new technology. In a context in which trust beliefs are well established and critical such as Jordan, the flexibility of firms in responding to adoption motivations may be hampered rather than enabled. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The Earth''s lithosphere behaves as a strain softening elasto-plastic material. In the laboratory, such materials are known to deform in a brittle or a ductile manner depending on the applied geometric boundary conditions. In the lithosphere however, the importance of boundary conditions in controlling the deformation style has been largely ignored. Under general boundary conditions, both laboratory and field scale observations show that only part of the deformation can localise on through going faults while the rest must remain distributed in ‘process zones’ where spatially varying shear directions inhibit localisation. Conventional modelling methods (finite difference, finite or discrete elements) use rheologies deduced from laboratory experiments that are not constrained as a function of the geometry of the applied boundary conditions. In this paper, we propose an alternative modelling method that is based on the use of an appropriate distribution of dislocation sources to create the deformation field. This approach, because it does not rely on integrating differential equations from more or less well-constrained boundary conditions, does not require making assumptions on the parameters controlling the level and distribution of stresses within the lithosphere. It only supposes that strain accumulates linearly away from the dislocation singularities satisfying the compatibility equations. We verify that this model explains important and hitherto unexplained features of the topography of the Dead Sea region. Following the idea that strain can only localise under specific conditions as inferred from laboratory and field scale observations, we use our model of deformation to predict where deformation can localise and where it has to remain distributed. We find that ~65% of the deformation in the Dead Sea region can localise on kinematically stable through-going strike-slip faults while the remaining ~35% has to remain distributed. Observations suggest that distributed deformation occurs at stress levels that can be ten times greater than that associated with motion on well-localised faults. Thus, although only representing a minor part of the total deformation, distributed deformation should provide the greatest source of resistance to motion along this part of the Levant plate. These results can change dramatically our view of the behaviour of this and other plate boundaries. If the lithosphere can be regarded as a strain softening elasto-plastic material then similar behaviour should occur throughout, with important implications not only for its mechanical behaviour, but also for heat generation and related issues like metamorphism or magma genesis. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This research work was carried out under the assumption that wastes generated from hospitals in Irbid, Jordan were hazardous. The hazardous and non-hazardous wastes generated from the different divisions in the three hospitals under consideration were not separated during collection process. Three hospitals, Princess Basma hospital (public), Princess Bade’ah hospital (teaching), and Ibn Al-Nafis hospital (private) in Irbid were selected for this study. The research work took into account the amounts of solid waste accumulated from each division and also determined the total amount generated from each hospital. The generation rates were determined (kilogram per patient, per day; kilogram per bed, per day) for the three hospitals. These generation rates were compared with similar hospitals in Europe. The evaluation suggested that the current situation regarding the management of these wastes in the three studied hospitals needs revision as these hospitals do not follow methods of waste disposals that would reduce risk to human health and the environment practiced in developed countries. Statistical analysis was carried out to develop models for the prediction of the quantity of waste generated at each hospital (public, teaching, private). In these models number of patients, beds, and type of hospital were revealed to be significant factors on quantity of waste generated. Multiple regressions were also used to estimate the quantities of wastes generated from similar divisions in the three hospitals (surgery, internal diseases, and maternity). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new approach to adolescent aggression was adopted as a pilot project by the Social Work Department at Al Balq'a Applied University in Jordan. This came in response to the need to find alternative solutions to student expulsion at the University, as well as the push by the Ministry of Justice to support community sentences for offenders. An adapted version of the Aggression Replacement Training (J-ART) program was used that was sensitive to the sociocultural context understudy. This study assessed the effectiveness of the J-ART program outcomes in promoting the wellbeing of student offenders. The conceptual framework is framed around a social work perspective with focus on strength-based and human rights approaches. A total of 44 participants took part in four focus groups. Findings highlighted reduced levels of aggression and positive learning experiences among participants. This pilot study produced evidence to support institutional reform in Jordan's juridical system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The results of hyperreflexivity or 2-hyperreflexivity for subspaces of Toeplitz operators on the Hardy spaces on Jordan regions or upper half-plane are given. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The study aims to investigate anatomy learning styles and strategies of Jordanian and Malaysian medical students at the Jordan University of Science and Technology. Methods: The study is a cross-sectional questionnaire-based study. Students' responses for the questionnaire were numerically coded, and the results were analyzed to reveal statistically significant differences between Jordanian and Malaysian students. Results: The results showed that Jordanian medical students were less interested in using cadavers in learning anatomy than Malaysian medical students. However, similar to their Malaysian counterparts, they prefer to employ other tools to learn anatomy like plastinated models and Internet-based resources. In addition to the aforementioned tools, Malaysian students were more interested in using cross-sectional images and making their own revision cards. Both Jordanian and Malaysian medical students were more interested in learning anatomy through clinical cases, and by system rather than by region. Moreover, it was revealed that Jordanian medical students learn anatomy more efficiently when they formulate a general view of a particular topic. Both Jordanian and Malaysian medical students also relied on reciting definitions and memorizing facts to learn anatomy. The study also reported significant differences between Jordanian and Malaysian students' perspectives on learning anatomy. Conclusions: The findings of the study suggest that Jordanian and Malaysian medical students posses different cultures of learning. Jordanian anatomy instructors need to consider these different learning cultures when they prepare their instructional methods and teaching materials to fulfill the educational needs of their culturally diverse students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study investigates the under-researched relationship between capital structure and dividend policy in emerging markets with regard to the Jordanian market. The empirical analysis focuses on the estimation of both single equation models and structure equation models using the reduced form equations to examine the joint determinants of capital structure and dividend policy. The study investigates whether capital structure and dividend policy theories can explain the financial decisions in emerging market such as the Jordanian market. Namely, the study examines agency theory, signalling theory, pecking order theory and bankruptcy theory. The results indicate that there is a positive relationship between debt-to-asset ratio on the one hand, and asset tangibility, profitability, market-to-book, liquidity, firm size, and industry classification on the other hand. Also, there is a negative relationship between debt-to-asset ratio and profitability. In addition, there is a positive relationship between dividend payout ratio on the one hand, and profitability, asset tangibility, market-to-book and industry classification on the other hand. Finally, the results of the reduced form equations show that capital structure and dividend policy have the following common factors: profitability; asset tangibility; market-to-book; industry classification; and limited evidence of institutional ownership. Therefore, the determinants of capital structure and dividend policy in emerging markets such as the Jordanian market share the same set of suggested factors with the developed markets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim. The purpose of this study was to assess rates of and risk factors for deep sternal wound infection after coronary artery bypass grafting surgery. Background. Deep sternal wound infection is one of the most devastating complications of cardiac surgery, resulting in multiple operative and non-operative procedures and increased hospital costs. Design. A retrospective design using an existing coronary artery surgery database of adults ( n = 206) who had undergone coronary artery bypass grafting surgeries between January 2004–January 2006 at a university affiliated hospital, northern Jordan was used. Method. Multiple logistic regression analyses were used to asses rates of and risk factors for deep sternal wound infection. Results. Deep sternal wound infection incidence rate was 22% of the total sample. Risk factors of deep sternal wound infection include: (1) diabetes (OR = 0·317, p = 0·048), (2) Obesity (OR = 0·275, p = 0·011), (3) duration of surgery (OR = 4·22, p = 0·032) and (4) use of intraaortic balloon pump (OR = 0·033, p = 0·001). Conclusion. The proposed model provides a preliminary indication of risk factors placing coronary artery bypass grafting patients at risk of DSWI. Further investigations and testing of the model are needed. Relevance to clinical practice. Determining patients who are at risk of developing deep sternal wound infection after cardiac surgeries is the first step towards its prevention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With a yearly precipitation of 200 mm in most of the country, Jordan is considered one of the least water-endowed regions in the world. Water scarcity in Jordan is exacerbated by growing demands driven by population and industrial growth and rising living standards. Major urban and industrial centers in Jordan including the Capital Amman are concentrated in the northern highlands, mostly contained within the boundaries of the Zarqa River Watershed (ZRW). The ZRWis the third most productive basin in the greater Jordan River System. King Talal Dam was built a few kilometers upstream of the Zarqa-Jordan confluence to regulate its input mostly for the benefit of agricultural activities in the Jordan Valley. Concerns regarding the sensitivity of the ZRW to potential climate change have prompted the authors to carry out the current study. The methodology adopted is based on simulating the hydrological response of the basin under alternative climate change scenarios. Utilizing the BASINS-HSPF modeling environment, scenarios representing climate conditions with ±20% change in rainfall, and 1°?C, 2°?C and 3.5°?C increases in average temperature were simulated and assessed. The HSPF model was calibrated for the ZRW using records spanning from 1980 through 1994. The model was validated against an independent data record extending from 1995 through 2002. Calibration and verification results were assessed based on linear regression fitting of monthly and daily flows. Monthly calibration and verifications produced good fit with regression coefficient r values equal to 0.928 and 0.923, respectively. Assessment based on daily records show much more modest r value of 0.785. The study shows that climate warming can dramatically impact runoffs and groundwater recharge in the ZRW. However the impact of warming can be greatly influenced by significant changes in rainfall volume. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we proposed three simple approaches to forecast COVID-19 reported cases in a Middle Eastern society (Jordan). The first approach was a short-term forecast (STF) model based on a linear forecast model using the previous days as a learning data-base for forecasting. The second approach was a long-term forecast (LTF) model based on a mathematical formula that best described the current pandemic situation in Jordan. Both approaches can be seen as complementary: the STF can cope with sudden daily changes in the pandemic whereas the LTF can be utilized to predict the upcoming waves' occurrence and strength. As such, the third approach was a hybrid forecast (HF) model merging both the STF and the LTF models. The HF was shown to be an efficient forecast model with excellent accuracy. It is evident that the decision to enforce the curfew at an early stage followed by the planned lockdown has been effective in eliminating a serious wave in April 2020. Vaccination has been effective in combating COVID-19 by reducing infection rates. Based on the forecasting results, there is some possibility that Jordan may face a third wave of the pandemic during the Summer of 2021. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Describes a flood-analysis model developed and calibrated for the Petra catchment in Jordan. Estimation of flood flows and volumes for storm events of various return periods; Proposal of several flood mitigation measures; Evaluation of these measures on flood peakflow and volume; Predictions through the flood simulation model.

Background: As the socioeconomic conditions in Jordan have improved over recent decades the disease and economic burden of Hepatitis A has increased. The purpose of this study is to assess the potential health and economic impact of a two-dose hepatitis A vaccine program covering one-year old children in Jordan.Methods: We adapted an age-structured population model of hepatitis A transmission dynamics to project the epidemiologic and economic impact of vaccinating one-year old children for 50 years in Jordan. The epidemiologic model was calibrated using local data on hepatitis A in Jordan. These data included seroprevalence and incidence data from the Jordan Ministry of Health as well as hospitalization data from King Abdullah University Hospital in Irbid, Jordan. We assumed 90% of all children would be vaccinated with the two-dose regimen by two years of age. The economic evaluation adopted a societal perspective and measured benefits using the quality-adjusted life-year (QALY).Results: The modeled vaccination program reduced the incidence of hepatitis A in Jordan by 99%, 50 years after its introduction. The model projected 4.26 million avoided hepatitis A infections, 1.42 million outpatient visits, 22,475 hospitalizations, 508 fulminant cases, 95 liver transplants, and 76 deaths over a 50 year time horizon. In addition, we found, over a 50 year time horizon, the vaccination program would gain 37,502 QALYs and save over $42.6 million in total costs. The vaccination program became cost-saving within 6 years of its introduction and was highly cost-effective during the first 5 years.Conclusion: A vaccination program covering one-year old children is projected to be a cost-saving intervention that will significantly reduce the public health and economic burden of hepatitis A in Jordan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]