Digital Commons Network^™

اﻷﻣﺒﻮدﺳﻤﺎن ﻛﺂﻟﯿﺔ ﻧﺤﻮ ﺗﻌﺰﯾﺰ ﺛﻘﺔ اﻟﻤﺘﻌﺎﻣﻠﯿﻦ بجهة اﻹدارة ﻓﻲ دوﻟﺔ اﻹﻣﺎرات اﻟﻌﺮﺑﯿﺔ اﻟﻤﺘﺤﺪة, ﻋﺒﺪاﻟﺤﻤﯿﺪ أﺣﻤﺪ اﻟﻮاﺣﺪي

Dissertations

The Ombudsman Serves as a Mechanism to Enhance Trust in Administrative Entities in the United Arab Emirates

In the midst of governments’ trend towards re-evaluating the relationship with customers by building a partnership relationship between them to achieve common and diverse interests at the legal, administrative, social and economic levels, the researcher sought to find mechanisms that would enhance trust between the government and customers to find alternative solutions to address customer’s complaints and disputes arising from administrative work.

Therefore, the choice fell on the experience of the State of Sweden in establishing the Ombudsman system, which aims to protect …

Enhancement Of Rainfall Prediction And Satellite Precipitation Estimates: A Machine Learning Approach For United Arab Emirates, Faisal Baig

Dissertations

The accurate estimation of rainfall in arid regions presents a significant challenge due to sparse ground observations and complex atmospheric dynamics. This dissertation investigates various aspects of rainfall estimation and prediction in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), employing Satellite Precipitation Products (SPPs) and Machine Learning (ML) techniques. The research is structured around four key articles, each addressing different facets of the overarching theme. The first publication examines rainfall variability, consistency, and concentration in the UAE by comparing satellite precipitation products with rain gauge observations, highlighting the discrepancies between the two data sources. The second publication evaluates the performance of precipitation …

School Leadership For The Practice Of Inclusive Education In Elementary Schools In The United Arab Emirates, Aysha Saeed Al Nuaimi

Dissertations

The number of students with disabilities in regular classrooms is increasing. In 2020, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) introduced a new policy with the goal of promoting inclusive education in all public schools. Although the UAE government is committed to the education of children with disabilities, the role of school leaders is vital to the successful implementation of inclusive education in schools. While school leaders have been found to be the main agents in steering inclusive practices, their contribution to practices in schools in the UAE context remains empirically unresearched. The objective of this study was to explore elementary school …

Experimental Investigation Of Various Hydrogen Knock Limit Extension Strategies On A Hydrogen-Gasoline Dual Fuel Spark Ignition Engine, Sanad Thurakkal Puthan

Dissertations

Hydrogen is a clean and carbon free substitute with the ability to significantly cut down the harmful emissions while enhancing the energy efficiency of internal combustion engines (ICE) typically powered by conventional fossil fuels. Hydrogen is the most abundant elements which can be easily obtained from sources like water and biomass. The wide flammability range and high laminar flame velocity outstands hydrogen from other fuels. However, hydrogen fueled engines are more prone to abnormal combustion like knock and backfire due to its low ignition energy and high adiabatic flame temperature. To avoid backfire, several well developed approaches have been reported. …

An Intelligent Framework Towards Fully Autonomous Driving Fueled By Smart Roads, Muhammad Jalal Khan

Dissertations

Autonomous Vehicles (AVs) are transforming next-generation autonomous mobility. These vehicles promise to increase road safety, improve traffic efficiency, reduce vehicle emissions, and enhance overall mobility. They achieve higher levels of Autonomous Driving (AD) by integrating sensors, communication technologies, computation, and Artificial Intelligence (AI). Apart from these advancements, significant gaps remain in integrating heterogeneous technologies and disciplines essential for optimizing AD. Therefore, the current solution approaches lack the capability to exploit intelligent road infrastructures and effectively orchestrate perceptual services for complex driving scenarios. The main objective of this dissertation is to address these challenges by proposing a novel end-to-end intelligent framework …

Investigating Parental Roles In Developing Preschool-Aged Children’S Emergent Literacy In English, Their Second Language, Through Storybook Reading In A Sample Of Kuwaiti Homes, Fajr M. Alkouz

Dissertations

Using a convergent mixed methods design, this study explored home emergent literacy environments actualized by six mothers of young preschool-aged children living in Kuwait. It investigated the role of these Kuwaiti mothers in developing their bilingual preschool-aged children’s print knowledge, oral language, and phonological awareness, as three areas associated with Emergent Literacy (EL). In particular, the study explored the influence of parental storybook reading on the development of bilingual children’s EL skills in English, their Second Language (L2). Employing purposive sampling, this case study obtained statistical quantitative results from parents who responded to a questionnaire about their home literacy experiences …

ﻣﺪى ﻛﻔﺎﯾﺔ ﺿﻤﺎﻧﺎت اﻻﺳﺘﺜﻤﺎر اﻷﺟﻨﺒﻲ اﻟﻤﺒﺎﺷﺮ - دراﺳﺔٌ ﺗﺤﻠﯿﻠﯿﺔٌ وَ ﻓﻘًﺎ ﻷﺣﻜﺎم اﻟﻘﺎﻧﻮن اﻻﺗﺤﺎدي رﻗﻢ (32) ﻟﺴﻨﺔ 2021, Mohammed Ibrahim Almemari

Dissertations

The Adequacy of Foreign Direct Investment Guarantees Analytical Study in Accordance with the Provisions of Federal Law No. (32) of 2021

The great economic competition between countries, and their endeavor to strengthen their economy through various fields; Make them compete with each other in attracting foreign direct investments to their territories; However, these investments cannot move from their home country to another country without having economic advantages and incentives that encourage them to invest in a country other than the home country. Likewise, these investments cannot carry out their work in any country without having The investor has many guarantees …

Synthesis And Structure-Property Relationships Of Sustainable Nanostructured Materials Towards Energy And Environment Applications, Nizamudeen Cherupurakal

Dissertations

This doctoral research aims to advance clean energy technologies by developing specialized nanostructured materials. The study covers significant research themes, each forming separate sections in the thesis, explaining the important role of nanostructures in enhancing the efficiency and sustainability of energy devices and photocatalytic technologies.

The enduring effort toward stabilizing and improving the efficiency of Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells (DSSCs) has stirred the solar research community to follow innovative approaches. The primary objective of the research is centered on electrode materials design, which improves photoanodes' Light-Harvesting Efficiency (LHE). To improve the Photoanode of DSSCs, a Metal-Organic Framework (MOF) derived porous photoanodes …

Transforming Fermentation Residues From Date Fruit Pomace For The Synthesis Of Bioadsorbent Material In An Integrated Biorefinery Framework, Sabeera Haris

Dissertations

In the pursuit of enhanced waste management solutions, this comprehensive research delves into the untapped potential of Date Fruit Pomace (DFP), an abundant byproduct from the date syrup industry that is currently underutilized, leading to environmental concerns. The study emphasizes the need for proper waste management and valorization strategies to mitigate the environmental impact of DFP and promote sustainability within the date processing industry. The initial phase involves characterizing DFP from Emirati varieties, highlighting its compositional and functional properties. The analysis reveals that DFP is rich in total dietary fiber (45.5%), residual sugars (35.3%), protein (10.6%), ash (4.1%), and fat …

Friction Stir Welding Of Tube-To-Tubesheet And Spot Joints For Virgin And Recycled Thermoplastic Materials, Syed Haris Iftikhar

Dissertations

Thermoplastic materials are becoming popular, due to their chemically inert and anti-fouling properties, for use in industrial heat exchanger applications involving heating/cooling of highly reactive fluids like acids. A novel non-conventional joining framework, based on the Friction Stir Welding (FSW) technique, is developed to create high-quality thermoplastic Tube-to-Tubesheet Joints (TTJs). The proposed technique has applications in the thermoplastic shell-and-tube heat exchanger and piping industries (as flange-to-pipe joints). The primary objective is to study the feasibility of the FSW technique for developing thermoplastic TTJs, followed by optimization of the process parameters and detailed material characterizations. This work used workpieces (tube, tubesheet) …

Enhancing Health Analytics: Secure And Private Federated Learning Solutions, Nisha Thorakkattu Madathil

Dissertations

Federated Learning (FL) is a collaborative method allowing individuals to train a model jointly without sharing their local datasets. It utilizes decentralized data sources to protect privacy, making it particularly promising in medical contexts where data confidentiality is paramount. FL facilitates the use of diverse datasets from various healthcare organizations while upholding patient confidentiality. It also plays a crucial role in advancing medical research and healthcare services while adhering to data distribution and compliance requirements. The primary challenges within federated healthcare encompass privacy preservation among sensitive distributed data, ensuring efficient communication, addressing data heterogeneity, and ultimately guaranteeing model accuracy. To …

Graphene 2d Heterostructures For Thz Applications, Omnia Samy Shaaban

Dissertations

THz technology is a promising field that has various applications in communication, medical imaging and diseases’ detection, scanning, and the food industry. Since THz technology is still in its early stages, there is a lot of work to be done to obtain devices that work efficiently in the THz range. One of these devices is THz absorbers that are the basic building blocks for the next generation THz systems whether in communication systems, imaging or shielding. THz absorbers are structures that can absorb electromagnetic waves in the THz range (0.1-10 THz). THz absorbers can be wideband (absorb a wide range …

Valorization Of The Polymeric Constituents In Plastic Wastes Through Thermo-Chemical Processes By Using Viable Metal Oxides Additives, Labeeb Hamad Ali

Dissertations

The rapid accumulation of different types of plastic waste necessitates the development of effective and economically viable waste management operations. Such a process should ideally not only mitigate associated environmental burdens but also recycle and recover value-added products. Through incineration or pyrolysis, thermal processing has emerged as a mainstream approach to waste management of the ever-increasing loads of different categorized plastic wastes. Throughout the work of the thesis, we have utilized a multitude of complementary techniques spanning material characterizations, catalysis, kinetic modelling, and density functional theory (DFT) to comprehend the complex chemistry that underpins catalytic chemical recycling of plastic wastes. …

Impact Of Brøset Violence Checklist On Safety Events In An Adult Mental Health Unit, Maritess B. Bernardo

Dissertations

Background: Workplace violence (WPV) is an escalating issue in healthcare that needs to be addressed to improve patient outcomes and staff satisfaction. Inpatient mental health facilities are at higher risk for safety event occurrences.

Problem: There is a practice gap in the assessment of possible violence at the practicum site with higher tolerance and acceptance that this is an acceptable event. The policies on deescalation are poorly implemented.

Methods: A pre- and post-intervention design was used to investigate the impact of the BVC tool on safety events. Data analysis included outcome measures on BVC scores, safety events, and de-escalation intervention. …

Increasing The Usage Of Mychart Bedside By Nurses And Patients In The Acute Care Setting: An Integrative Review, Laura Darnell

Dissertations

Teach-back has been a proven model to teach patients about their disease process, medications, or dressing changes in a simple-to-understand language that often includes a return demonstration. Teach-Back isn't just a tool to be used with patients, it can be used to help anyone understand something new. Based on the Technology Acceptance Model, people are less inclined to use new technology if they do not find it easy to use or useful in their day-to-day jobs. This integrative review aims to support the use of the Teach-Back method of instruction with staff, including return demonstration, to prove the ease of …

Confidence In Crises: School Nurses' Perceptions Of Self-Efficacy In Active Shooter Emergency Preparedness, Titilayo Idowu

Dissertations

The incidence and number of mass school shootings have increased since the first reported school shooting in 1840. Since then, extensive research has been conducted to explore school violence's underlying causes and precursors, resulting in many recommendations for preventative and mitigating practices. However, no national standard or legislation currently dictates the minimal requirements for competencies and training among school nurses in preparation for active shooter incidents. This interpretive qualitative phenomenological study was conducted to explore the lived experiences of postlicensure K-12 school nurses regarding their self-efficacy and confidence to prevent, protect, mitigate, respond, and recover from a school shooting incident. …

Uncovering The Lifeworlds Of College Students Who Are Food Insecure: An Interpretive Phenomenological Inquiry, Amber L. Kolesar

Dissertations

Food insecurity (FI) is a concern for many college students, and contributes to significant physical, mental, and academic stressors. Experts have described the need for qualitative research. A better understanding of the experience of FI among college students may help to inform future research and interventions to support students on their educational journey. This study sought to interpret the lived experience of FI, with specific focus on the sociocultural context in which students experience FI, and its' contributing factors. Incorporating the philosophical perspective of Merleau-Ponty, the researcher utilized interpretive phenomenological analysis to uncover the life-worlds of food-insecure college students.

Nursing Student Attitudes Toward Mental Illness: A Quantitative Quasi-Experimental Study, Todd B. Hastings

Dissertations

Nursing students often harbor negative stereotypes and feel unknowledgeable and unprepared to work with mentally ill people. In addition, nursing students rarely choose the psychiatric specialty as a career option. A quantitative quasi-experimental study was conducted to examine nursing student feelings about engaging those with behavioral health problems. Over 300 nursing students in eight Bachelor of Science in Nursing professional nursing programs were surveyed on the first and last day of their program's psychiatric mental health nursing course (the independent variable). A valid and reliable survey instrument was used to collect nursing student responses characterizing attitudes, impressions of knowledge and …

Peer Collaborative Clinical Decision-Making In Virtual Reality Nursing Simualtion, Thye Peng Ngo

Dissertations

In nursing education, it is common for students to collaborate and make decisions as a group in simulations. One of the vital nursing competencies is students' ability to make sound clinical judgments and decision-making in simulation. Teamwork among students in simulation significantly affects their critical thinking and clinical reasoning. However, how students collaborate and make decisions in simulation is a complex phenomenon and not well studied and understood. In addition, most existing decision-making frameworks, such as Tanner's Clinical Judgment Model and the National Council of State Boards of Nursing's Clinical Judgment Measurement Model, focus solely on individual decision-making. Alternatively, teamwork …

The Process Of Restoring Personal Integrity: Mitigating The Emotional Cost Of Medical Errors, Marie M. Prothero

Dissertations

This constructivist grounded-theory study was conducted to explore the emotional response to and recovery process following a medical error causing harm to a patient. The study participants were 37 registered nurses (30 women and 7 men), and unstructured interviews provided rich, detailed data. Through an inductive analysis of these errors, a taxonomy of errors is proposed. The Circumstance of Error Model was developed, and five distinct error circumstances were identified: accidental, unanticipated, distracted, unrecognized/unknown, and external. By linking the circumstances of error types with the recovery process, new insights were obtained. These insights resulted in a theory, reestablishing competency, that …

Nonprofit Leader Experiences In Sector-Bending After Lean Six Sigma Training: Tension, Concepts, And Changed Behaviors, Beverly Codallos

Dissertations

Government, business, and nonprofit represent three distinct types of organizations governed by different legal frameworks designed to facilitate collective action (DiMaggio & Anheier, 1990). The emergence of hybrid forms and increasing isomorphic pressures in the nonprofit sector (Bromley & Meyer, 2017; McCambridge, 2014) have challenged the traditional separation of organizational forms. This study explored the phenomenon popularized as sector-bending, “a wide variety of approaches, activities, and relationships that are blurring the distinctions between nonprofit and for-profit organizations, either because they are behaving more similarly, operating in the same realms, or both” (Dees & Anderson, 2003, pg. 16). This qualitative study …

The Complexities Of Using Digital Game-Based Learning For Writing Instruction: An Exploratory Multiple-Case Study Of Two Teachers, Sean D. Bowden

Dissertations

Digital game-based learning (DGBL) is an innovative learning approach for engaging and teaching students across various content areas. There is a shortfall in the extant literature on DGBL for writing instruction specifically. The purpose of this exploratory multiple-case study was to gain a greater understanding of (a) how teachers plan and deliver writing instruction using a DGBL approach, (b) how they evaluate the impact DGBL has on students’ writing, and (c) the shared experiences two teachers have with using DGBL for writing in two different contexts. Flow theory, activity theory, and TPACK comprised this study's theoretical foundation.

Two teachers with …

The Role Transition Characteristics Of New Registered Nurses: A Study Of Work Environment Influences And Individual Traits, Martin S. Manno

Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative research study was to explore how the environmental influences and individual traits of new registered nurses within the first year of clinical practice create positive and negative performance outcomes in the areas of clinical competence, confidence, retention and job satisfaction.

Development Of A Model To Guide The Implementation Of Simulation-Based Education In Under-Resourced Nursing Education Institutions In Lesotho, Pule Solomon Moabi

Dissertations

The changing landscape of nursing education to competency-based education has strengthened the importance of simulation learning in the process of developing the required graduate competencies. In Lesotho, simulation-based education was adopted in 2012 with the support of external experts but with no clearly defined model to suit resource-constrained nursing education institutions.

To develop a model that will guide implementation of simulation-based education for resource-constrained nursing education institutions in Lesotho.

Effects Of A Nurse-Led Transitional Rehabilitation Programme (4cs-Tburp) For Adult Burn Survivors: A Pilot Randomised Controlled Trial, Jonathan Bayuo

Dissertations

Rehabilitation is a key component of burn care which seeks to improve functional outcomes and optimise the post-burn recovery process. Burns rehabilitation is in a young stage in Mainland China, and it is only in recent years that it is considered a significant part of burns management. Rehabilitative support, where available, is often passive with a significant emphasis on managing only physical problems. The emergence of the Coronavirus Disease-2019 (COVID-19) heightened this gap as it led to either suspension or limited availability of outpatient services. Subsequently, post-burn recovery outcomes, including quality of life, psychological functioning, sleep pattern, and physical role …

Experience Of Parents Caring For A Chid With An Acquired Disability, Brad Phillips

Dissertations

Parents caring for a child with an acquired disability often report a negative impact on physical, psychological, emotional, and spiritual health associated with caregiver burden related to their child's complex health needs. This is further complicated by additional challenges related to the loss of a previously healthy child. Traditional patterns of loss follow linear, time-bound stages that have been observed to be unrelated to the experiences of these specific parents and their families. Therefore, the concept transforming loss has been developed to better understand how these parents navigate loss and find meaning in spite of their suffering.

The purpose of …

A Study Of Baccalaureate Nursing Students' Reflection On Their Caring Practice Through Creating And Sharing Story, Poetry, And Art, A. Lynne Wagner

Dissertations

Aesthetic approaches to reflective practice are not well understood nor widely used in nursing education. This descriptive, qualitative, multiple-case study investigated three baccalaureate nursing students' experience reflecting on practice through story, artistic expression, and sharing and how such reflection influenced their perception of caring. Data, collected and transcribed over 14 weeks, included interviews with each participant, the participants' written stories, poetry, art, and journals, as well as the researcher's participant observation of each class. In each case, thematic patterns around process, product, and meaning emerged and appropriate exemplars were identified. Data synthesis further led to a multi-case understanding of process, …

Clinical Supervisors Competency And Readiness To Supervise Telehealth Practices, Myriam Buitrago

Dissertations

The growing effectiveness of telehealth as an alternative practice is gaining acceptance not only by professionals in the healthcare field but also by people who have benefited from this approach. New training and supervision practices are required to meet the new telehealth approach. Clinical supervision is a new profession identifying the competencies that define their best practices. However, telehealth is forcing us to evaluate and redefine them to meet the new telehealth requirements. This study used two assessments, the Supervisor competence self assessment and the supervisor evaluation and the Supervisor Competence Scale, to measure supervisors' self-evaluation of their performance as …

An Exploration Of The Effects And Clinical Presentations Of Premature Birth Within The Latinx Population, Diana Hill

Dissertations

There are roughly ten percent, or 15 million, preterm births every year across the world. Therefore, it is vital to understand the impact on their development across cognitive, academic, socioemotional, and behavioral levels. A vast amount of research has shown that children who are born prematurely are more at risk of facing challenges across various areas of their development. However, the majority of the research samples have been limited within their scope, leaving behind a gap in research focused on specific subgroups within the population. By delving into the unique context of the Latinx population, this study endeavors to shed …

Testing A Reflection Education Intervention On Baccalaureate Nursing Students' Level Of Reflection During Online Clinical Post Conference, Jaime Hannans

Dissertations

The majority of faculty-student interactions are at low cognitive levels during nursing clinical post conference (CPC), a time often utilized for reflective thinking. Strategies have been implemented to promote or even teach reflection, but the level of reflection or impact of the intervention in nursing, such as the relationship to student attributes or clinical reasoning, is often not evaluated.

The specific aims of this study are to (a) test the effect of a reflection education intervention on the baccalaureate students' level of reflection during online CPC, (b) examine the relationship between student attributes and level of reflection, and (c) examine …