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This study investigated the influence of digital payment systems on banks’ stability by exploring their effect on the Z-score of the Jordanian banking sector during the period from 2004 until 2022. It specifically focused on liquidity risks generated from e-payment transactions and how sufficient capital adequacy ratios enhance banking sector stability over both short-term and long-term periods by standing against sudden volatilities yielded from large amounts of transactions executed through digital payment systems. To achieve this objective, the study utilizes time series dual regression analyses of vector autoregression and vector error correction models on E-views 12 to cover the time variation influences of digital payment on the banking sector Z-score. The regression results indicate varied effects between the benefits and risks of digital payment systems on a bank’s Z-score that influence the immediate sector’s stability, indicating that while digital payment systems can initially hold liquidity risks, leading to short-term instability; the strategic implementation of robust capital adequacy ratio stands as a protective buffer by fostering long-term banking sector resilience. The results also suggest future predictions and insights for financial sector legislators and regulators emphasizing the need for monitoring strategies that stimulate continuous innovations in the digital payment infrastructure while constantly ensuring the stability and resilience of the banking sector. Thus, prudent liquidity management and the reinforcement of capital buffers are encouraged to pilot the dual challenges and opportunities that appeared at the stages of the digital payment process, ultimately guiding the sector toward continuous growth and sustainability. AcknowledgmentThe author is grateful to the Middle East University, Amman, Jordan for the financial support granted to cover the publication fee of this research.

This study investigates the implications of the interaction of financial literacy, regulatory technology, and decentralized finance applications for financial sector development. A two-step analytical regression approach on EViews 10 was used, which performs a one-factor analysis for each variable to identify the individual impact of each factor. A linear FMOLS approach was used to evaluate the cooperative effect of integration. The methodology was implemented on a dataset comprising 2,880 observations from 23 financial institutions in Jordan.The findings support the hypothesized dynamic interrelations between the essential Fintech factors relevant to the sustainable development of the financial sector, including significant and insignificant factors with the impact of inflation, which provides an adequate understanding of Fintech’s evolution. Additionally, the outcomes consider post-2017 regulatory changes that reflect the role of supervision and regulation for the financial sector’s flexibility and efficiency. Therefore, the results reveal the essential contribution of integrating decentralized finance applications, financial literacy, and regulatory technology to the development of Jordan’s financial sector. Financial literacy serves as a facilitator, regulatory technology is a compliance enabler, and decentralized finance applications are driving forces of innovation and financial inclusion, ensuring a robust and sustainable financial ecosystem. It is shown that the interaction of factors forces the sector’s development, reflecting the world’s trend in digital inclusion and viable financial development.

Abstract Background Despite a large burden of life-limitingillness, there exists a dearth of services of palliative care in Pakistan. International guidelines have questionable applicability in Pakistan due to the socioeconomic differences. We generated a protocol describing the process of developing comprehensive palliative care guidelines and palliative care referral pathways for primary care practitioners to adopt in Pakistan. Methods A GRADE-ADOLOPMENT approach with modification has been employed to create guidelines for a Pakistani context. The “National Comprehensive Cancer Network Guidelines Insights: Palliative Care, Version 2.2021” was used as the source guideline. Recommendations from the source guideline were reviewed by two local palliative care specialists to either “Adopt,” “Adapt” or “Exclude”. The finalized recommendations were incorporated into the local palliative care guideline. Clinical diagnosis and referral pathways were made from the finalized guideline. Any gaps in management found in the pathways were filled by taking existing recommendations from other credible guidelines. Results Twenty-seven recommendations were adopted without modification. No recommendations were deemed to be adapted and 15 were excluded. The referral care pathways created were reflective of the local guideline and included elements of initial assessment, preliminary management, reassessment, and referral. 6 additional recommendations were made. Conclusion The described clinical practice guidelines and primary care clinical referral pathways will aid to standardize palliative care provision in Pakistan. These can be used by other resource constrained settings to develop guidelines within their own local context.

Social media platforms have become essential for disseminating news and expressing individual sentiments on various life topics. Arabic, widely used in the Middle East, presents unique challenges for sentiment analysis due to its complexity and multiple dialects. Motivated by the need to address these challenges, this article develops methods to overcome the lack of topic-based labeling techniques, compares different approaches for preparing extensive, annotated datasets, and analyzes the efficacy of machine learning (ML), deep learning (DL), and large language models (LLMs) in classifying Arabic textual data. Our research utilizes the topic-modeling technique to build a topic-based sentiment dataset of Arabic texts aimed at enhancing our understanding and processing capabilities. We present a comprehensive evaluation of dataset balancing techniques, including under-sampling, over-sampling, and using imbalanced datasets, providing insights into how these approaches impact classification outcomes. Additionally, we explore the influence of dataset sizes on the performance of various ML models, highlighting the importance of dataset scale in developing effective Arabic NLP applications. A further focus of our study is the comparative analysis of generative artificial intelligence (AI) models, including the emerging ChatGPT LLM, assessing their effectiveness in managing the complexities of Arabic language classification tasks. Our results show that support vector machines (SVM) achieved the highest performance, with F1-scores of 0.97 and 0.96 in classifying sentiment and topic, respectively, in Arabic tweets. This research not only benchmarks existing methodologies but also paves the way for more nuanced and robust models in the future, enhancing the application of generative AI in Arabic topic-based sentiment analysis.

Abstract Introduction The prevalence of hyperthyroidism in Pakistan is 2.9%, which is two times higher than in the United States. Most high-quality hyperthyroidism clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) used internationally originate from high-income countries in the West. Local CPGs in Pakistan are not backed by transparent methodologies. We aimed to produce comprehensive, high-quality CPGs for the management of hyperthyroidism in Pakistan. Methods We employed the GRADE-ADOLOPMENT approach utilizing the 2016 American Thyroid Association Guidelines for Diagnosis and Management of Hyperthyroidism and Other Causes of Thyrotoxicosis as the source CPG. Recommendations from the source guideline were either adopted as is, excluded, or adapted according to our local context. Results The source guideline included a total of 124 recommendations, out of which 71 were adopted and 49 were excluded. 4 recommendations were carried forward for adaptation via the ETD process, with modifications being made to 2 of these. The first addressed the need for liver function tests (LFTs) amongst patients experiencing symptoms of hepatotoxicity while being treated with anti-thyroid drugs (ATDs). The second pertained to thyroid status testing post-treatment by radioactive iodine (RAI) therapy for Graves’ Disease (GD). Both adaptations centered around the judicious use of laboratory investigations to reduce costs of hyperthyroidism management. Conclusion Our newly developed hyperthyroidism CPGs for Pakistan contain two context-specific modifications that prioritize patients’ finances during the course of hyperthyroidism management and to limit the overuse of laboratory testing in a resource-constrained setting. Future research must investigate the cost-effectiveness and risk-benefit ratio of these modified recommendations.

The use of reinforcement is widely researched and has been demonstrated as an effective method to increase desired, appropriate behavior and to decrease problematic behavior at both the individual and group level. This study aimed to identify what types of reinforcement Jordanian preschool teachers employ in the classroom and if they perceive their students as benefiting from reinforcement. A total of one hundred seventy-eight (178) teachers participated in the study. An open-ended questionnaire was used to collect data from preschool teachers. The data were then translated from Arabic to English. Four main categories were identified from the data analysis process: verbal, tangible, social and activity reinforcement. Analyses revealed that teachers emphasized verbal reinforcement the most, favoring general over specific praise, followed by tangible, social and activity reinforcement as the least. Moreover, teachers reported twenty-three (23) benefits of using reinforcement with children at this age, which were grouped into six main themes: behavioral specific, internal specific, social specific, learning specific, perceived child preference, and general. Teachers reported that reinforcement directly and positively affect children. Recommendations for teachers are also presented.

Background: The global prevalence of mental disorders, including depression, has steadily increased. Objective: To identifying the prevalence rate of depression and the related predictors among old-age people in Iraq. Patients and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted from August to November 2021. A random sampling technique was employed to gather information from the old age patients during their routine visits to outpatient clinic of three public hospitals (Baquba, Ramadi, Samarra), in Iraq. Data collection involved the utilization of a semi-structured questionnaire incorporating the validated Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS-30) administered through face-to-face interviews. Descriptive, bivariate, and multivariate logistic regression analyses were employed to examine the relationships between variables in the study. SPSS version 16 was utilized for data analysis, with statistical significance set at a threshold below 0.05. Results: Data of 344 old-age respondents (range 60-81 years) with a mean age of 75.15 (± 7.52) years have undergone final analysis. More than half were males (50.6%), married (62.2%), ranked themselves as unhealthy (72.4%), physically inactive (70.6%), and financially dependent (71.8%). The overall prevalence of depression was 74.4%. Logistic regression revealed significant associations: elderly females had 3.805 times higher risk (P

يهدف البحث إلى عرض الرؤية التجريبية عند رائد فلسفتها في العصر الحديث الإنكليزي جون لوك، كونه المنظر لها، وكل من جاء بعده إنما هم آخذون منه فلسفته تلك، ولأن الفلسفة التجريبية تعتبر الفلسفة المهيمنة على الساحة الفلسفية والعلمية في العالم الغربي في الوقت الحالي، وتكاد تصبح العدسة الوحيدة التي يرى من خلالها الغرب العالم، وما لهذه الفلسفة من أهمية وتأثير على الرؤية الغائية للإنسان وعلاقته بالعالم سواء في بعده الفيزيقي أو الميتافيزيقي كان لا بد -والحال هذه- من عرض شفاف ومتوازن لأبرز حججها ومحاولة تقديم نقد بنَّاء لها من قِبَل خصومهم العقلانيين، وذلك في نقد عقلي لهذه الفلسفة من وجهة نظرنا، في دراسة تحليلية نقدية، مستعينًا بأدلة عقلية تجريبية، وملزمًا للطرف المقابل القائل بالتجريبية بلازم قوله. وتم التوصل إلى أن الفلسفة التجريبية القائلة بأن المعرفة الحقة إنما هي من خلال التجربة والحواس فحسب تحمل عوامل نقضها داخليًا، كونها لا تستطيع أن تثبت دعواها من خلال التجربة، مما يعني أنها لا تعتبر المصدر الوحيد الموثوق للمعرفة، كما أن جون لوك يؤمن بتجريبية معينة للعقل دور فعال وأساسي في تحديد ملامحها، منكرًا للضرورات العقلية الأولية، ومثبتًا في الوقت نفسه وجود الخالق والشعور بالذات الإنسانية، والتي تعتمد في طيات استدلالها قانون السببية الفطري. بالإضافة إلى أن التجربة معتمدة بالضرورة على استقراء ناقص تقيس الغائب على الشاهد في الحكم، فيمكن -أقلها إمكانًا عقليًا- أن تُرفض كونها مجرد تجربة لم تسنح الفرصة لإيجاد أمثلة مخالفة لها فحسب، وعليه فاليقين الذي ينشده جون لوك ممتنع. والدراسات المسحية الأنثروبولوجية التي أجريت على الأطفال أثبتت أنهم في مراحل مبكرة جدًا يدركون المبادئ الفطرية ووجود كائن أسمى وإن لم تكن هذه المفاهيم محددة لديهم ودون معرفة ماهيتها، فهو إدراك عملي لا نظري.

Summary: Psychiatric disorders are highly prevalent in Pakistan and burdens the scarce number of psychiatrists present in the country. The establishment of evidence-based clinical practice guidelines (EBCPGs) and primary-care referral pathways within the local context is imperative to make the process efficient. In this Health Policy, we aimed to develop EBCPGs and primary-care referral pathways that are specific to Pakistan's primary-care setting, with the aim of facilitating the management of psychiatric conditions. Ten EBCPGs were created through the GRADE-ADOLOPMENT process; two recommendations were adopted with minor changes, 43 were excluded, and all others were adopted without any changes. Ten primary-care referral pathways for managing ten psychiatric disorders were created and 23 recommendations were added which will help to bridge the gap in care provision. These psychiatric referral pathways and EBCPGs will bring Pakistan's healthcare system a step closer to achieving optimal health outcomes for patients.

This study makes experimental evaluations of the corrosion and tip tests of CP-Ti joint (commercial pure Ti) implant alloys coated with YSZ nanoceramic. A Taguchi design of experiments (DOE) strategy was used to create a thin adhesive covering utilizing dip coating and electrophoretic deposition techniques. An L9-type orthogonal Taguchi array determined how dip coating and electrophoretic deposition factors, such as temperature, voltage, YSZ concentration, time, and the degree of pulverizing the Ti alloy substrate, affected the deposition yield. The Ti alloys were coated using the optimal settings for the dip coating and electrophoretic deposition procedures as previously described, utilizing the output data from the thickness and adhesion experiments used to optimize the conditions of dip coating and electrophoretic deposition. The optimal conditions for electrophoretic deposition were 60 volts, 7 minutes, 15% concentration, and 400 grit of grinding. The optimal dip coating conditions were 60°C temperature, 10 seconds, 1% concentration, and 250 grit size of Grinding. High-resolution scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) images of the coated alloys were employed for the examination. The microstructure and thickness of the coated surfaces were further examined using optical microscopy and atomic force microscopy (AFM). The corrosion resistance of the best-coated Ti alloys was examined using electrochemical techniques such as polarizing (Tafel) and cyclic polarization in simulated bodily fluid (SBF). Using a tip tester, the coatings' adhesive strength was evaluated. The coated CP-Ti alloys were contrasted using the following corrosion-resistant values: Both coating alloys enhanced corrosion resistance in Ringer's solution at 37°C. However, the coated CP-Ti alloy by electrophoretic deposition corroded less quickly than the CP-Ti alloy by dip coating (3.031×10-3 vs 1.042×10-3 respectively).

Abstract Authorship determination on a research article remains a largely subjective process. Existing guidelines on authorship taxonomy lack objectivity and are more useful in determining who deserves authorship rather than determining the order of authors. To promote best practices in authorship taxonomy, we developed an authorship rubric that provides a fair, objective, and transparent means of crediting authorship. We christened this tool the “CalculAuthor”. The following steps are to be undertaken to create a scoring system based on the requirements of the projects: determining creditable criteria, assigning credit weightages, deciding levels of contribution, determining each author’s contribution, calculating authorship scores and ranking. These must be performed by or in close collaboration with the primary investigator (PI), with conflicts being resolved at the PI’s discretion. All team members should be informed about the authorship determination process early in the project and their agreement regarding its use must be obtained. While the CalculAuthor was developed to be used in medical research, its customizability enables it to be employed in any field of academia. We recommend that the CalculAuthor be piloted within institutions before its mainstream adoption, and any institution-specific factors should be considered to make the process more efficient and suitable.

Abstract Background One in three adults over the age of 65 and one in two adults over the age of 80 will experience a fall a year. Falls account for a considerable cost burden for the National Health Services. Preventing falls in elderly care homes is a significant public health policy goal in the United Kingdom. The 2004 National Institute for Health and Care Excellence Clinical Guideline (CG21) recommends risk detection and multifactorial fall prevention interventions. Digital technology allows individualised monitoring and interventions. However, there is no certainty of the impact of multifactorial interventions on the rate of falls. Methods A mixed methods Real-World Validation incorporating a retrospective multi-centre case–control study using real-world data and qualitative study to assess the effectiveness of a falls prevention application in 32 care homes in the Northwest of England. The study aims to assess if a multifactorial fall-prevention digital App reduces falls and injurious falls in care homes. The primary outcome measures were the rate of patient falls per 1000 occupied bed days in care homes for 12 months. A digital multifactorial risk assessment and a tailored fall prevention plan linking each risk factor with the appropriate preventive interventions were implemented/reviewed monthly. For the intervention group two datasets were used. The first set was data recorded in the App on falls and resulting injury levels, multifactorial risk assessments, and number of falls. Sociodemographic variables (gender and age) of care homes residents were also collected for this group. Data for the first twelve months of use of the intervention were collected for early adopter intervention homes. Less than twelve months data was obtainable from care home adopting the intervention later in the study. The second dataset was constituted by intervention and comparable control anonymised data extracted from the care home residents' registries from Borough 1 Council and Borough 2 Clinical Commissioning Group, including quantitative data on the number of falls, number of injurious falls, and outcomes, with emergency room and hospital records for Borough 2. For the qualitative study, twelve video interviews conducted by Safe Steps were analysed thematically to identify user perceptions of various aspects of the App including need, development, implementation, use and benefits. Results The secondary outcome was the rate of injurious falls per 1000 occupied bed days. There were 2.23 fewer falls per 1000 occupied bed days in the Intervention group (M = 6.46, SD = 3.65) compared with Control (M = 8.69, SD = 6.38) (t(2.67) = -2.686, p = 0.008). The intervention had 3.5 fewer low harm injurious falls ratio per 1000 occupied bed days (M = 3.14, SD = 4.08) (M = 6.64, SD = 6.22) (t(144) = -3588, p

Visual comfort includes the ability to provide sufficient daylight without exaggeration. When daylight levels are insufficient inside a place or when daylight is intense, inhabitants experience visual discomfort. This study examines visual comfort in prayer halls by investigating the effectiveness of daylighting performance, including daylight amounts, such as illuminance level and daylight factor, and glare, including daylight glare probability, in different mosque morphologies. The evaluation had done by applying a quantitative method via the most recently updated daylighting simulation software using Autodesk-Insight-360 for Revit-2023 and SolemmaClimateStudio for Rhinoceros-6. Results show that mosques with courtyard lighting have reduced glare, and windows placed uniformly along the vertical axis get lots of natural light. The study concluded that levels of visual comfort in the prayer halls, in turn, vary according to mosques morphology. The current research contributes to detecting visual discomfort in mosque architecture based on differences in typological and morphological design characteristics.

The purposes of this study are: 1) To find out the restrictions on the political rights of ex-convicts to participate in the election of Regional Heads 2) To find out the legal consequences of restrictions and revocation of political rights of ex-convicts to be elected in regional head elections. The type of normative legal research is doctrinal legal research or library research. The results of the researchare: 1) Limiting the political rights of ex-convicts to be elected is contrary to the hierarchy higher regulations. Based on Law No.12 of 2011 concerning the Formation of Legislation and Invitation and is not in line with the principle (Lex Superior Derogat Legi Inferiori) meaning that the reshould be nolower regulations contrary to higher regulations. 2) Due to the law limiting the political rights of ex-convicts to be elected, it can be canceled through are quest for examination. Judicial review at the Supreme Court based on Law Number 12 of 2011 concerning the Establishment of Legislation, Law Number 39 of 1999 concerning Human Rights and Law Number 7 of 2017 concerning General Elections

The research dealt with the topic representations of the ruling icon in modern European painting which concerned the issue of ruling icons through their employment and uses in European painting, and included four chapters: the first of which concerned the methodological framework of the research, and contained the research problem in which light was highlighted on (the ruling icons in Modern European painting), and the research problem was identified by answering the following question: What are the ruling icons in modern European painting? As for the second chapter, it included the theoretical framework, which contained two sections, the first included the concept of the ruling icon, while the second chapter included the ruling icon in modern European painting, while the third chapter was concerned with the research procedures, and the fourth chapter contained results and conclusions, including: The icon in European painting relied on the emotional impact of colors and shapes, and the artist used a way to communicate their inner feelings such as fear and sadness, and their works became . Contemporary painters added the religious figure in their works, and this employment came to bear key characteristics . The icon took its place in the contemporary arts, which were able to develop forms that carry iconographic connotations with religious dimensions, in principle, to serve the secrets of the faith or to simplify its concepts and consolidate them in the minds of the societies that we see to this day as a system immortalized by legends.

Abstract Introduction In Pakistan, chronic respiratory conditions contribute a large burden of morbidity and mortality. A major reason for this is the lack of availability of local evidence-based clinical practice guidelines (EBCPGs) in Pakistan, particularly at the primary care level. Thus, we developed EBCPGs and created clinical diagnosis and referral pathways for the primary care management of chronic respiratory conditions in Pakistan. Methods The source guidelines were selected by two local expert pulmonologists after a thorough literature review on PubMed and Google Scholar from 2010 to December 2021. The source guidelines covered idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disorders, and bronchiectasis. The GRADE-ADOLOPMENT process consists of three key elements: adoption (using recommendations as is or with minor changes), adaptation (effective context-specific changes to recommendations) or additions (including new recommendations to fill a gap in the EBCPG). We employed the GRADE-ADOLOPMENT process to adopt, adapt, adopt with minor changes, or exclude recommendations from a source guideline. Additional recommendations were added to the clinical pathways based on a best-evidence review process. Results 46 recommendations were excluded mainly due to the unavailability of recommended management in Pakistan and scope beyond the practice of general physicians. Clinical diagnosis and referral pathways were designed for the four chronic respiratory conditions, explicitly delineating the role of primary care practitioners in the diagnosis, basic management, and timely referral of patients. Across the four conditions, 18 recommendations were added (seven for IPF, three for bronchiectasis, four for COPD, and four for asthma). Conclusion The widespread use of the newly created EBCPGs and clinical pathways in the primary healthcare system of Pakistan can help alleviate the morbidity and mortality related to chronic respiratory conditions disease in the country.

Abstract In Indonesia, the implementation of regional autonomy has been inconsistent with the concept of sovereignty where the president is the head of government and an open legal policy. These arguments have been employed by each governing system to justify centralized programs. This causes regional autonomy to be immobilized and eliminated the aspirations of Indonesia’s founders who mandated effective regional autonomy implementation. As a result, the Constitutional Court must reach an agreement on a level of regional autonomy to prevent further centralization. This research is normative legal research with a statutory, historical, and conceptual approach. The concept of regional autonomy originates from the principles of residual power and Westphalian sovereignty. The Constitutional Court created some regional autonomy criteria to execute its function as a positive legislator with the main goal of supporting the President and the DPR in fulfilling their responsibilities as lawmakers who made a mistake devised and approved. Abstrak Pelaksanaan otonomi daerah di Indonesia acapkali tidak konsisten mulai era orde lama sampai era reformasi karena disokong oleh tiga faktor konsep kedaulatan dalam negara kesatuan, presiden sebagai kepala pemerintahan, dan open legal policy. Tiga faktor ini menjadi dalil setiap rezim pemerintahan dalam melegitimasi kebijakannya yang sentralisitik. Akhirnya otonomi daerah menjadi lumpuh dan menenggelamkan cita-cita para pendiri bangsa Indonesia. Maka dari itu, Mahkamah Konstitusi perlu menggagas standar tertentu otonomi daerah sebagai konsensus untuk mencegah sentralisasi kekuasaan terulang kembali. Penelitian ini adalah penelitian yuridis normatif dengan pendekatan perundang-undangan, pendekatan historis, dan pendekatan konseptual. Gagasan standar tertentu otonomi daerah mengalir dari prinsip residual power dan prinsip kedaulatan Whestphalian yang menjadi asal kedaulatan dalam negara kesatuan. Standar tertentu otonomi daerah yang digagas oleh Mahkamah Konstitusi adalah dalam rangka memainkan perannya sebagai “positive legislator” dengan peruntukan utama membantu menyempurnakan tugas Presiden dan DPR sebagai pembentuk UU yang khilaf yang sengaja dibentuk dan ditetapkan.

Objectives: The present study was carried out to investigate COVID-19 vaccination coverage among populations of internally displaced persons (IDPs), refugees, and host communities in northern Iraq and the related underlying factors.Methods: Through a cross-sectional study conducted in five governorates in April–May 2022, 4,564 individuals were surveyed. Data were collected through an adapted questionnaire designed to gather data on participants.Results: 4,564 subjects were included (59.55% were 19–45 years old; 54.51% male). 50.48% of the participants (51.49% of host communities, 48.83% of IDPs, and 45.87% of refugees) had been vaccinated with at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine. 40.84% of participants (42.28% of host communities, 35.75% of IDPs, and 36.14% of refugees) had been vaccinated by two doses, and 1.56% (1.65% of host communities, 0.93% of IDPs, and 1.46% of refugees) were vaccinated with three doses.Conclusion: Sociodemographic factors including age, gender, education, occupation, and nationality could affect vaccination coverage. Moreover, higher acceptance rate of vaccination is associated with belief in vaccine safety and effectiveness and trust in the ability of the vaccine to prevent complications.

This study was conducted to determine the most common contemporary evaluation methods used by kindergarten teachers to assess kindergarten children. The study sample consisted of 527 kindergarten teachers. A scale was developed in order to achieve the study's purposes. The results indicated that the Teacher's Practices in the Evaluation Process (TPEP) had the highest mean score, and the Informal Evaluation Methods (IEM) had the lowest. The results revealed that there are statistically significant differences in the evaluation methods kindergarten teachers use in their classrooms according to their qualifications, their years of teaching experience and the interaction between these two variables. The study recommends training courses for kindergarten teachers to raise their competencies in the field of evaluation, in order to change the methods of evaluation used and avoid the errors of traditional evaluation methods.

This paper experimentally investigates the heating process of a hot water supply using a neural network implementation of a self-tuning PID controller on a microcontroller system. The Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) algorithm employed in system tuning proved very effective, as it is simple and fast optimization algorithm. The PSO method for the PID parameters is executed on the Matlab platform in order to put these parameters in the real-time digital PID controller, which was experimented with in a pilot study on a microcontroller platform. Instead of the traditional phase angle power control (PAPC) method, the Cycle by Cycle Power Control (CBCPC) method is implemented because it yields better power factor and eliminates harmonics in the power supply line. The smoothness of the heating process’s output response, which is a result of both empirical experiments and simulation results, demonstrates the efficacy of the suggested control mechanism, where the output response had a small ripple margin. The system performed according to design expectations and had unimpaired unity power factor throughout its operating range and no ripple was detected during its functioning.

Despite tax being a fundamental method to redistribute wealth and achieve a sustainable economic and social system, tax agencies and institutions in most countries are struggling with low tax collections. This issue is often attributed to the level of compliance among taxpayers. To gain more insight into this problem, a study was conducted to examine how socio-economic determinants such as probability of detection, tax complexity, tax penalty, tax sanctions, tax ethics, tax justice, government spending, and tax services quality impact VAT compliance decisions. The study drew a random sample of 770 retail industry participants from Jordan, an Arabic country, for a self-administered survey. Smart-PLS structural equation modeling was used to analyze and estimate the compliance model. The results indicated that all proposed direct relationships were supported, and the interactions between tax knowledge and the socio-economic determinants on VAT compliance were found to be significant. The findings of this research can be useful for policymakers and institutions responsible for taxpayers' communities to understand the role of tax knowledge in VAT compliance in the retail industry. The study emphasizes the significance of instilling tax knowledge, social and moral values among VAT payers, establishing an equitable system, and launching awareness programs in Jordanian society. Additionally, it contributes to existing literature by confirming a practical compliance model rooted in the socio-economic theory of regulatory compliance. This model incorporates the moderating effect of tax knowledge within socio-economic aspects of VAT compliance. By understanding the importance of tax knowledge, policymakers and institutions can develop effective strategies to boost VAT funds and improve compliance in the retail industry. This can ultimately lead to increased government revenues without placing an undue economic burden on lower-income taxpayers.

Human thought and the environment interact to create a synthesis of visual quality. Spatial characteristics of space affect human perception and indoor visual components. To review a wide range of knowledge, a systematic review of visual comfort assessment and recent developments in mosque architecture was conducted. Apart from effective-physical design and socio-emotional aspects related to visual comfort in mosque buildings, the most relevant methods, techniques, and measurement tools were examined. Current research identified all eligible studies through systematic searching as an essential component of a systematic review. State-of-the-art reviewed the latest knowledge, methodologies, tools, and techniques related to the research topic, highlighting priority areas, visual comfort standardization, and their importance to mosque architecture. The research found knowledge gaps about the complicated relationship between mosque typo morphology and the visual comfort of worshippers. Thus, exhaustive and in-depth methodologies and comparisons between previous studies can help bridge knowledge gaps on such crucial topics.

Social learning spaces on campus ground, including nearby pockets, have become crucial for sustainable development to promote academic outcomes by enhancing the social learning experience. In line with the global trends, nearby pocket settings on the tropical campus should encourage interactive social learning activities. This study aimed to identify the preferred attributes of pocket spaces to predict students' social learning experience on campus grounds in a tropical context. A visual-verbal questionnaire survey was conducted at three Malaysian universities to investigate the visual preference of 408 respondents toward four different design attributes of pocket settings (softscape, hardscape, shading structure, and activity type). Six photographs of sustainable pocket spaces from tropical and hot moist regions were selected and analyzed using a systematic approach. This study found that the main attribute predicting social learning experience on campus ground in a tropical context was providing nearby pocket settings designed with a robust, sustainable shading structure. Providing different types of unique softscape and hardscapes also contribute to predicting the social experience on campus ground in the Tropics. The results also indicated that students from different backgrounds (ethnicity, education, and university) have different preferences for nearby pockets and perform different social learning experiences on campus grounds. The findings contributed information to the development of sustainable, interactive on-campus settings through integrating nearby pockets in social learning to improve academic experience. It may serve as a reference for policymakers, academic administration, architects, landscape architects, and urban planners to optimize social learning as essential in on-campus settings.

Preserving historical buildings is a very essential aspect as these buildings represent sociocultural indicators of the past. Historic buildings may lose their function during their life stages and become deserted. Adaptive reuse is a way to sustain a building by changing its function according to its area needs and current context. Qishla Castle is one of Koya, Iraq’s most important historical buildings. In addition to its historical and cultural status, it has an important geographic location in the city center. This paper aims to test the potentiality of reusing this historical building. The Adaptive Reuse Potentiality ARP model was applied to the Qishla Castle in Koya. To apply this model to the Qishla area, a working paper was prepared, including a set of questions to estimate building obsolescence attributes, these questions were answered based on a survey and interviews with experts. Results obtained from experts showed that the building was constructed solidly and to a high level of quality despite its obsolescence. Building physical life is estimated at 250 years, the building age is 152 years, the useful life is estimated at 161 years, ARP value is 62.24%, that is, the Qishla building has a high potential for adaptive reuse.

Natural Sciences is the study of natural phenomena. In science learning, students are expected to have scientific knowledge, high-level thinking, critical and creative thinking, so that they become independent learners. The purpose of this study was to describe students' critical thinking skills through environmental-based TPACK learning on the human motion system material. This research method is done by lesson study with 3 learning cycles. The results showed that TPACK learning can improve students' critical thinking, especially in identifying, linking, analyzing and concluding in this study the application of TPACK learning to improve thinking skills in categories can be very good.