Research Title: Rhetorical Analysis of King Abdullah's English Speeches during the Covid-19 Pandemic

Author: Hanan Ali Amaireh, Published Year: 2023

Dirasat, 50(1)

Faculty: Arts

Abstract: This paper analyses King Abdullah's II English speeches during the Covid-19 crisis in a corpus-based study. It investigates the rhetorical techniques employed by the King to convince the audience. The data include 14 English speeches (8,694 words) delivered by King Abdullah II of Jordan during the Covid-19 crisis, from January 2020 to August 2021. The rhetorical analysis is based on the classical Aristotelian classification of rhetoric. It examines one canon of rhetoric, invention. In the analyzing invention, the speaker's ethical appeals (ethos), emotional appeals (pathos), and logical appeals (logos) will be examined in detail in a corpus-based study. The analysis reveals that King Abdullah II employs ethical appeals to identify himself with the audience and create a rapport with them by using first-person pronouns and lexical items like "my friends". The quantitative analysis shows that the inclusive pronoun we and the pronoun I am used for rhetorical reasons to convince the audience. Direct and indirect emotional appeals are also used to stir the audience's emotions to call them to action. King Abdullah II uses logical arguments such as an argument from statistics, quoting from the Holy Quran, and an argument from a dilemma, inter alia, to convince the audience of his viewpoints and persuade them to do specific actions.

Keywords: Keywords: Covid-19, Ethos, King Abdullah II, logos, pathos, rhetoric.

Research Title: Jordan in the Writings of the English Orientalist “John Baggot Globe.”(My life in the Arab Levant as an example)

Author: Abdalla Ahmad Abdalla, Published Year: 2024

Faculty: Arts

Abstract: Globe's memoirs revealed very important historical events and facts related to Iraq, Jordan, and Palestine from the founding of the Emirate of Transjordan until the year he bid farewell to Jordan, heading to Britain in 1956 AD, which made those memoirs an important historical source for the Arab region, especially the modern and contemporary history of Jordan, where He excelled in describing the Arab East, Especially his prominent role in establishing the foundations of security and stability in Iraq and Jordan, a region that witnessed political and security turmoil during the period of World War I, in order to enjoy security and stability. In this study, we were keen to clarify the following matters that the memoirs were keen to list, narrate and document: - Glubb Pasha with the Arab Legion in Jordan, where he assumed command of the Arab Legion (the Jordanian Arab Army), from 1939-1956 AD, succeeding the British General “Frederick Peake,” who founded the Arab Army in Jordan. - His talk about Theodor Herzl and the Balfour Declaration - The 1948 war and the role of war politicians in that war. - And his farewell to the Arab East. - And his talk about himself as a general who is a professional writer. The study also sought to identify the talents of the British general in the military and war fields, the cultural and cognitive fields, and historical writing.

Keywords: Jordan, Globe, Palestine, Jews, tribes, Iraq

Research Title: Applications of q−Ultraspherical polynomials to bi-univalent functions defined by q−Saigo’s fractional integral operators

Author: Abdullah Mohammed Khalid Al Soboh, Published Year: 2024

Aim Mathematics, 9

Faculty: Science

Abstract: This study established upper bounds for the second and third coefficients of analytical and bi-univalent functions belonging to a family of particular classes of analytic functions utilizing q−Ultraspherical polynomials under q−Saigo’s fractional integral operator. We also discussed the Fekete-Szeg¨ o family function problem. As a result of the specialization of the parameters used in our main results, numerous novel outcomes were demonstrated.

Keywords: q−Ultraspherical polynomials, univalent functions, bi-univalent functions, q−calculus, analytic functions

Research Title: Enhancing Software Effort Estimation with Pre-Trained Word Embeddings: A Small-Dataset Solution for Accurate Story Point Prediction

Author: Issa Ali Falah Atoum, Published Year: 2024

Electronics, 23(13)

Faculty: Information Technology

Abstract: Traditional software effort estimation methods, such as term frequency–inverse document frequency (TF-IDF), are widely used due to their simplicity and interpretability. However, they struggle with limited datasets, fail to capture intricate semantics, and suffer from dimensionality, sparsity, and computational inefficiency. This study used pre-trained word embeddings, including FastText and GPT-2, to improve estimation accuracy in such cases. Seven pre-trained models were evaluated for their ability to effectively represent textual data, addressing the fundamental limitations of TF-IDF through contextualized embeddings. The results show that combining FastText embeddings with support vector machines (SVMs) consistently outperforms traditional approaches, reducing the mean absolute error (MAE) by 5–18% while achieving accuracy comparable to deep learning models like GPT-2. This approach demonstrated the adaptability of pre-trained embeddings for small datasets, balancing semantic richness with computational e

Keywords: software effort estimation; story points; pre-trained embedding models; regression algorithms; FastText; GPT-2; deep learning

Research Title: Bidenian and Harrisian Metaphors: A Corpus-Based Analysis of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris’ Political Discourse

Author: Hanan Ali Amaireh, Published Year: 2024

Jordan Journal of Modern Languages and Literatures, 16 (3)

Faculty: Arts

Abstract: This research analyzes some political leaders’ discourse which aims to achieve the objective of persuading their audience to align with their respective viewpoints and policies. Applying the Conceptual Metaphor Theory by Lakoff and Johnson (1980) and guided by the principles of Critical Discourse Analysis by Fairclough (1995), this study examines a corpus of 40 speeches delivered by each of US President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. The analysis uncovers a recurrent utilization of metaphors grounded in the domain of life, such as "LIFE IS A BATTLEFIELD," "LIFE IS A JOURNEY," and "LIFE IS A GAME" by Biden. Similarly, Harris frequently employs "LIFE IS A BATTLEFIELD," which conveys attributes of resilience and fortitude, reflecting her capacity as Vice President. Furthermore, the analysis identifies another prevailing conceptual metaphor, "AMERICA IS A PERSON," by Harris. These metaphorical expressions operate as persuasive tools, facilitating the transmission of their respective political ideologies.

Keywords: Conceptual metaphors, corpus analysis, Critical Discourse Analysis, Joe Biden, Kamala Harris.

Research Title: The genetic landscape of autism spectrum disorder in an ancestrally diverse cohort

Author: Raida W. Khalil, Published Year: 2024

npj Genomic medicine , 9

Faculty: Science

Abstract: Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) comprises neurodevelopmental disorders with wide variability in genetic causes and phenotypes, making it challenging to pinpoint causal genes. We performed whole exome sequencing on a modest, ancestrally diverse cohort of 195 families, including 754 individuals (222 with ASD), and identified 38,834 novel private variants. In 68 individuals with ASD (~30%), we identified 92 potentially pathogenic variants in 73 known genes, including BCORL1, CDKL5, CHAMP1, KAT6A, MECP2, and SETD1B. Additionally, we identified 158 potentially pathogenic variants in 120 candidate genes, including DLG3, GABRQ, KALRN, KCTD16, and SLC8A3. We also found 34 copy number variants in 31 individuals overlapping known ASD loci. Our work expands the catalog of ASD genetics by identifying hundreds of variants across diverse ancestral backgrounds, highlighting convergence on nervous system development and signal transduction. These findings provide insights into the genetic underpinnings of ASD and inform molecular diagnosis and potential therapeutic targets.

Keywords: autism spectrum disorder

Research Title: Antioxidant activity of jambu bol [Syzygium malaccense (L.) Merr. and Perry] leaf extract

Author: Hani Jameel Mohammad Hamad, Published Year: 2024

Faculty: Allied Medical Sciences

Abstract: Jambu bol [Syzygium malaccense (L.) Merr. and Perry] is well known to be used in folk medicine and reports are proving the biological activity of each part of this plant. This study aimed to determine the antioxidant activity of S. malaccense L. leaf extract. The methods used in this study were total phenolic content (TPC) assay, 2,2-Diphenyl-1picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) assay, 2,2'-azino-bis (3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) (ABTS•) radical scavenging activity assay and ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) assay. The results showed that the extract contained TPC of 44.10±0.06 mg GAE/g. The IC50 scavenging activities of DPPH and ABTS• were 0.0334 mg of Ascorbic acid E/g and 0.1352 mg of TE/g, respectively, while the antioxidant reducing power was 1013.50±0.07 mM Fe2+ /g. In conclusion, S. malaccense L. leaf extract was found to possess antioxidant activity, and this extract has potential to be developed to be used in food as a natural antioxidant agent.

Keywords: Antioxidant activity, ABTS•, DPPH, FRAP, Jambu bol, Syzygium malaccense (L.) Merr. and Perry

Research Title: Cytotoxic, a ntioxidant and αlpha amylase inhibitory activities of wild and N abali olive leaf extracts from Jordan

Author: Hani Jameel Mohammad Hamad, Published Year: 2024

Faculty: Allied Medical Sciences

Abstract: Abstract Olive leaf extracts contain several phytochemical and pharmacological properties. This study evaluated the cytotoxic, antioxidant, α amylase inhibitory activities of aqueous, ethanol and ethyl acetate extracts fro m the Nabali, Muhassan and wild olive leaves grown in Jordan. Total polyphenols, flavonoids and flavonols contents, chelating power activity, total antioxidant activity and DPPH free radical scavenging activity of each extract were evaluated. The α amylase inhibitory activity of each extract was evaluated using CNP G3 assay while cytotoxicity was assessed against viability of MCF7 and MB MDA 231 breast cancer cell lines by MTT. The results showed that total polyphenol content was the highest in the ethanoli c wild leaf extract (113.97 mg gallic acid equivalent/g of dry extract). At a concentration of 100 µg/ml, the extracts from ethanolic wild leaf, ethyl acetate of wild leaf, and ethanolic Nabali leaf exhibited the highest chelating activity for ferrous ions (52.4%, 50.5%, and 47.2%). A ll olive leaf extracts significantly reduced MCF7 cell growth, while ethyl acetate wild leaf extract decreased MB MDA 231 viability. The findings revealed a robust correlation between the antioxidant, cytotoxic, and α amylase in hibitory activities of various olive leaf extracts. Further investigations are needed to identify cytoprotective effects of olive leaf extracts and the evaluation of its efficacy in vivo.

Keywords: Olea europaea , c ytotoxicity, MTT, a ntioxidant activity, D PPH, CNP G3, p henolic

Research Title: Midwives’ attitudes toward the use of cardiotocograph (CTG) machines in labor units: A study in Jordan

Author: Maha Mohammed Wahbi Atout, Published Year: 2024

Midwifery , 132

Faculty: Nursing

Abstract: Background: The purpose of cardiotocograph (CTG) usage is to detect any alterations in fetal heart rate (FHR) early before they are prolonged and profound. However, the use of CTG machines on a routine basis is not an evidence-supported practice. There is no Jordanian study that assesses the midwives’ attitudes toward this machine. This study aimed to identify Jordanian midwives’ attitudes towards the use of cardiotocograph (CTG) machines in labor units, alongside examining the relationships between midwives’ personal sociodemographic characteristics and such attitudes. Methods: A descriptive research design was used to identify Jordanian midwives’ attitudes towards the use of CTG machines in both public and private labor units in Jordan. Data were collected using the valid and reliable tool designed by Sinclair (2001), and these were used to identify midwives’ attitudes towards CTG usage. A total of 329 midwives working in the labor units of governmental and private hospitals in the center and north of Jordan participated in the study from May to July 2022. Results: The total mean score for the attitude scale was M = 3.14 (SD = 0.83). More than half of the sample (N = 187, 58.4 %) demonstrated a mean score greater than 3.14, however, which indicates generally positive attitudes toward CTG usage in labor units. Midwives working in private hospitals and those holding Bachelor’s degrees had more positive attitudes toward the use of CTG machines. Conclusion: This study provides new insights into the attitudes of Jordanian midwives towards CTG use in labor units. These suggest that it is critical to conduct training courses for registered midwives to help them develop and/or regain confidence and competence with respect to various key aspects of intrapartum care, including intermittent auscultation and the appropriate use of CTG.

Keywords: Midwife Attitudes Cardiotocograph Labor Jordan

Research Title: Hematological cross sectional study of the anemia types in children in Al-Zahraa hospit

Author: Khadeejha Fawzi AlAbrouni, Published Year: 2017

Faculty: Science

Abstract: This study determined the cytotoxicity, antioxidant activity, total phenolic and flavonoid contents of hydroethanolic and aqueous extracts of aerial parts of Anchusa strigosa Banks et Sol, Cardaria draba, Marrubium vulgare, Sarcopoterium spinosum and Capparis spinosa. These medicinal plants were collected from Jordan. Hydro-ethanolic and aqueous extracts displayed a strong scavenging capacity for DPPH radical; IC50 values ranging from 11 to 57, and from 13 to 464 g/mL, respectively. Total phenolic contents, expressed as gallic acid equivalent, varied from 3.4 to 16 mg/g dry plant in hydro-ethanolic extract and from 1.8 to 15.1 mg/g in aqueous extracts. Total flavonoids in the same extracts, expressed as quercetin equivalent, ranged from 2.55 to 10.1 and from 0.68 to 9.4 mg/g dry plant, respectively. There was a strong correlation between antioxidant activities and phenolics for aqueous extracts (r= 0.893), but moderate correlation for hydro-ethanolic ones (r=0.581) implying the contribution of other non-phenolic compounds to the antioxidant activity in the latter. Both hydro-ethanolic and aqueous extracts of Sarcopoterium Spinosum showed the highest antioxidant activity, reducing power, phenolic, and flavonoid contents. Therefore, Sarcopoterium Spinosum is a promising candidate for antioxidants from a natural source Furthermore. Hydro-ethanolic extracts of all plants were not toxic to HCT116 or SW480 cell-lines.

Keywords: Jordan, Antioxidant, Cytotoxicity, DPPH, Phenolics, Flavonoids.