The abstract Banach associative symmetrical *-algebras over C, so called C*- algebras, were introduced first in 1943 by Gelfand and Naimark24. In the present time the theory of C*-algebras has become a vast portion of functional analysis having connections and applications in almost all branches of modern mathematics and theoretical physics. From the 1940’s and the beginning of 1950’s there were numerous attempts made to extend the theory of C*-algebras to a category wider than Banach algebras. For example, in 1952, while working on the theory of locally-multiplicatively-convex algebras as projective limits of projective families of Banach algebras, Arens in the paper8 and Michael in the monograph48 independently for the first time studied projective limits of projective families of functional algebras in the commutative case and projective limits of projective families of operator algebras in the non-commutative case. In 1971 Inoue in the paper33 explicitly studied topological *-algebras which are topologically -isomorphic to projective limits of projective families of C*-algebras and obtained their basic properties. He as well suggested a name of locally C*-algebras for that category. For the present state of the theory of locally C*-algebras see the monograph of Fragoulopoulou. Also there were many attempts to extend the theory of C*-algebras to nonassociative algebras which are close in properties to associative algebras (in particular, to Jordan algebras). In fact, the real Jordan analogues of C*-algebras, so called JB-algebras, were first introduced in 1978 by Alfsen, Shultz and Størmer in1. One of the main results of the aforementioned paper stated that modulo factorization over a unique Jordan ideal each JB-algebra is isometrically isomorphic to a JC-algebra, i.e. an operator norm closed Jordan subalgebra of the Jordan algebra of all bounded self-adjoint operators with symmetric multiplication acting on a complex Hilbert space. Projective limits of Banach algebras have been studied sporadically by many authors since 1952, when they were first introduced by Arens8 and Michael48. Projective limits of complex C*-algebras were first mentioned by Arens. They have since been studied under various names by Wenjen, Sya Do-Shin, Brooks, Inoue, Schmüdgen, Fritzsche, Fragoulopoulou, Phillips, etc. We will follow Inoue33 in the usage of the name "locally C*-algebras" for these objects. At the same time, in parallel with the theory of complex C*-algebras, a theory of their real and Jordan analogues, namely real C*-algebras and JB-algebras, has been actively developed by various authors. In chapter 2 we present definitions and basic theorems on complex and real C*-algebras, JB-algebras and complex locally C*-algebras to be used further. In chapter 3 we define a real locally Hilbert space HR and an algebra of operators L(HR) (not bounded anymore) acting on HR. In chapter 4 we give new definitions and study several properties of locally C*- and locally JB-algebras. Then we show that a real locally C*-algebra (locally JBalgebra) is locally isometric to some closed subalgebra of L(HR). In chapter 5 we study complex and real Abelian locally C*-algebras. In chapter 6 we study universal enveloping algebras for locally JB-algebras. In chapter 7 we define and study dual space characterizations of real locally C* and locally JB-algebras. In chapter 8 we define barreled real locally C* and locally JB-algebras and study their representations as unbounded operators acting on dense subspaces of some Hilbert spaces. It is beneficial to extend the existing theory to the case of real and Jordan analogues of complex locally C*-algebras. The present thesis is devoted to study such analogues, which we call real locally C*- and locally JB-algebras. / Mathematics / D. Phil. (Mathematics)

HOLANDA, Felipe D’Angelo. Introdução à geometria diferencial das curvas planas. 2015. 64 f. Dissertação (Mestrado em Matemática em Rede Nacional) – Centro de Ciências, Universidade Federal do Ceará, Fortaleza, 2015. / Submitted by Erivan Almeida (eneiro@bol.com.br) on 2015-09-14T17:46:48Z No. of bitstreams: 1 2015_dis_fdholanda.pdf: 2177390 bytes, checksum: 53286a68fd72b70cba214a2700429d7c (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Rocilda Sales(rocilda@ufc.br) on 2015-09-15T13:11:15Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 2015_dis_fdholanda.pdf: 2177390 bytes, checksum: 53286a68fd72b70cba214a2700429d7c (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2015-09-15T13:11:15Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 2015_dis_fdholanda.pdf: 2177390 bytes, checksum: 53286a68fd72b70cba214a2700429d7c (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015 / The intention of this work is to address in basic form and introductory study of Differential Geometry, which in turn has started his studies with Planas curves. It will require a knowledge of Differential Calculus, Integral and Analytic Geometry for better understanding of this work, because as its name says in Differential Geometry comes from the joint study of geometry involving Calculation. So we discuss sub-themes as smooth curves, tangent vector, arc length through formulas of Frenet, evolutas curves and involute and conclude with some important theorems, as the fundamental theorem of plane curves, Jordan 's theorem and the theorem of four vertices. What basically is, Chapter 1, 4 and 6 of the book Introduction to Plane Curves Hilário Alencar and Walcy Santos. / A intenção desse trabalho será de abordar de forma básica e introdutória o estudo da Geometria Diferencial, que por sua vez tem seus estudos iniciados com as Curvas Planas. Será necessário um conhecimento de Cálculo Diferencial, Integral e Geometria Analítica para melhor compreensão desse trabalho, pois como seu próprio nome nos transparece Geometria Diferencial vem de uma junção do estudo da Geometria envolvendo Cálculo. Assim abordaremos subtemas como curvas suaves, vetor tangente, comprimento de arco passando por fórmulas de Frenet, curvas evolutas e involutas e finalizaremos com alguns teoremas importantes, como o teorema fundamental das curvas planas, teorema de Jordan e o teorema dos quatro vértices. O que, basicamente representa, o capítulo 1, 4 e 6 do livro Introdução às Curvas Planas de Hilário Alencar e Walcy Santos.

The home delivery service is considered as the bottleneck of online shopping and plays an important role in the success of such business application. A lack of postcode system in the developing countries, Jordan specifically, is one of the main challenges that face delivery couriers and e-retailers. The main aim of this PhD project reported in this thesis is the development of a novel postcode alternative system to enable online shopping and home delivery service of purchased goods in Jordan. The system incorporates two modules: the front-end and the back-end module. The front-end module is combined of two platforms: desktop and smart phone platforms and can be used by online shoppers; the back-end module is designed to be used by retailer/delivery courier as the system administrator. Two studies were conducted in this research; the first study was aiming to understand the problems that face e-consumers when shopping online and the work behaviour of the delivery system in Jordan. Whilst; the second study was aiming to evaluate usability of the designed system. Data was collected by conducting an experimental sessions and distributing questionnaires among three samples of people (consumers, retailers, and delivery couriers). The findings of these studies showed that there was a concern from consumers-side in describing their delivery address to the retailer/delivery courier. In addition, there was a concern from retailers and delivery couriers-side in finding the delivery address location. Furthermore, a user testing was conducted on both modules by involving a number of participants according to the relevance of their use of the system to evaluate the usability of the system. In the evaluation, it was demonstrated that the system makes an important contribution for solving the problem of home delivery service and improving online shopping in Jordan.

The Full IFRS caters to the needs of shareholding corporations and their investors, which also led to incurring high cost especially for SMEs due to the requirements of financial reporting constructed for public companies as it is very complex and requires a high amount of disclosure (Fearnley and Hines, 2007, Haller and Eirle, 2008, Eierle and Haller, 2009). Hence, for the purpose of reducing essentially the reporting burdens facing SMEs, IASB in 2009 issued IFRS for SMEs. This study aims to investigate the relevance and suitability of IFRS for SMEs in Jordan. It will also analyse the current problems faced by Jordanian SMEs in the light of applying the current IFRSs, furthermore, the expected benefits from applying IFRS for SMEs, will be addressed. A total of 10 interviews with external auditors were conducted to test the ground and determine the relevant topics within IFRS for SMEs in Jordanian SMEs context. In addition to that, a total of 605 questionnaires were distributed to external auditors and financial managers of SMEs who prepare financial statements based on full IFRS. The overall outcomes reveal that managers; banks and creditors; public authorities; and analysts were the most frequent and important SMEs’ financial information users while both employees and shareholders were found as rare users of financial statements presented by SMEs. Furthermore, the current applied standards are substantially characterised to embrace many problems such as; the complexity of measurements and recognitions; high disclosures requirements; making inappropriate decisions and other issues pertaining to preparing financial reports. On the other hand, although the respondents especially the auditors group were evidently worried about several potential obstacles that may impede the effective application of IFRS for SMEs, both groups of users were obviously optimistic about the capability of IFRS for SMEs to mitigate the aforementioned problems and to enhance the accounting practice in terms of preparing and using the financial information. With respect to topics from full IFRS that have been omitted in IFRS for SMEs, all respondents agreed to exclude these topics from the IFRS for SMEs’ content due to the irrelevance of these topics to SMEs’ context. Likewise, the overall participants approved on the most proposals under IFRS for SMEs compared to those based on full IFRS except the suggestion associated with measuring some kind of assets, for instance; investment property; intangible; property; plant and equipment, which were rejected only by the group of managers while several proposals regarding expensing some kind of costs instead of capitalise them as well as lease matters were neither agreed nor disagreed by respondents. Finally the majority of responses show that both groups were willing to adopt IFRS for SMEs. The key contribution provided evidences as to whether the adoption of IFRS for SMEs would be a necessary undertaking. Thus, a recommendation were mainly made to the standard-setters on the basis of preparers’ perceptions of the importance of applying such financial standards.

Submitted by MARCOS LEANDRO TEIXEIRA DE OLIVEIRA (marcosteixeira@ufv.br) on 2018-07-26T12:59:07Z No. of bitstreams: 1 texto completo.pdf: 2498223 bytes, checksum: c49ec93b270afd4d6651cef879c3ccce (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-07-26T12:59:07Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 texto completo.pdf: 2498223 bytes, checksum: c49ec93b270afd4d6651cef879c3ccce (MD5) Previous issue date: 2018-04-06 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / Este trabalho ter ́a um enfoque nas Curvas Planas no Ensino Médio com uma perspectiva literária de aprofundamento teórico e de sugestão pedagógica. Introduziremos as noções de curvas planas com definições, teoremas e apresentaremos algumas curvas parametrizadas no plano, tais como: Elipse, Hipérbole, Ciclóide, Lemniscata de Bernoulli, dentre outras, para tanto, recorreremos ao GeoGebra. Além disso, utilizando os conceitos de geometria diferencial, vamos representar várias curvas regulares com mesmo traço, através da mudança de parâmetro e demonstraremos o conceito de Curvaturas, apresentando a fórmula de Frenet para curvas parametrizadas pelo comprimento do arco. Com intuito de demonstrar o Teorema de Jordan, forneceremos uma ideia geral de topologia, incluindo definições e resultados básicos, além de algumas noções de espaços métricos, funções e caminhos conexos, a fim de facilitar a execução e compreensão do teorema. Por fim, usando a propriedade de separação de polígonos no plano, iremos apresentar e demonstrar o Teorema de Jordan, que se enuncia: “Uma curva de Jordan separa o plano em duas regiões, uma limitada e outra ilimitada, sendo o traço da curva a fronteira comum das duas regiões” de fácil compreensão mas possui uma demonstração complexa. Como intervenção em sala de aula, apresentaremos uma proposta de atividades envolvendo parametrização e construção de curvas planas no GeoGebra / This paper will have a focus on the Flat Curves in High School with a literary perspective of theoretical deepening and pedagogical suggestion. We will introduce the notions of flat curves with definitions and theorems and present some curves parameterized in the plane, such as: Ellipse, Hyperbole, Cycloid, Lemniscate of Bernoulli, among others, and for this we will resort to GeoGebra. Beyond that, using the concepts of the differential geometry, we will represent several regular curves with the same trace, through the parameter change and we‘ll demonstrate the concept of Curvatures, presenting the Frenet formula for parameterized curves by the length of the arc. In order to demonstrate the Jordan Theorem, we will provide a general idea of topology, including basic definitions and results, as well as some notions of metric spaces, functions and connected ways, in order to facilitate the execution and understanding of the theorem. Finally, using the property of separation of polygons on flat, we will present and demonstrate the Jordan Theorem, which enunciates: ”A Jordan curve separates the flat into two regions, one limited and one unlimited, being the trace of the border curve, common of the two regions” It‘s easy to understand but has a complex demonstration. As a classroom intervention, we‘ll present a proposal of activities involving parameterization and construction of flat curves in GeoGebra

E-government, in both developed and developing countries, has become the focus of governments' agenda because it offers enormous opportunities to reform the public sector and improve its performance. However, the evolution of e-government initiatives in developing countries is not at a satisfactory level which indicates that there are still enormous barriers and concerns that need to be addressed and solved.The major aim of this research is to investigate the supply-side stakeholders' perspectives of drivers and barriers forces that stimulate or impede the development of e-government initiative in Jordan and recommend strategies to e-government leaders on how to overcome and manage the encountered forces.This is a case study based qualitative research that employs semi-structured interviews as the primary source for data collection. In addition, template analysis approach and NVivo qualitative software have been used to analyze the gathered data. Moreover, a novel conceptual framework was initially developed by the researcher in order to be used as a helpful guide in the process of data collection and analysis. The framework was then applied to the research context to establish an overall view of the key drivers and barriers that influence the implementation of e-government at national level in Jordan.Research findings indicate that there are various drivers and barriers that affect the development of e-government initiative in Jordan. Most of the research findings confirmed what was already revealed by previous studies. However, this study added new and unique findings that were not discovered before including; The Holy Month of Ramadan, Ministers Reshuffling, Religious Beliefs, Preach Without Practicing, Wasta, and Improper Use of Technology. These new findings emerged distinctively from the Jordanian, Arabic and Islamic contexts. Finally, various recommendations have been proposed to demonstrate how challenges could be handled in practice. The value of this study is threefold. First, it contributes as new reference in e-government literature with respect to drivers and barriers to e-government in developing countries in general and in Arab nations in particular. Second, it proposes a conceptual framework that could be used as a tool to understand drivers and barriers that affect the development of e-government and their correlation to e-government initiatives success or failure. Third, it motivates changes in practice as it provides practical recommendations and guidance for practitioners and leaders of e-government in Jordan on how they should take actions to overcome and manage the encountered forces in order to reduce the possibility of the initiative failure and enhance the chance of its success.

No description available.

Thesis advisor: Rebecca Schendel / Organizational culture was originally addressed in the management literature in the late 1970s (e.g. Pettigrew, 1979; Deal & Kennedy, 1982). Scholars have later on extended the discussion to include higher education institutions (e.g. Tierney, 2008). However, the majority of the literature on organizational culture in higher education is based on institutions that follow and are placed within the Western model. Despite the lack of direct evidence, it is fair to suspect that there is a relationship between the culture of an organization and its national/regional context. This study investigates the nature of that relationship and provide real world examples through an in-depth case study on the American University of Madaba (AUM). In evaluating AUM’s organizational culture, this study explores the institution’s organizational identity and its organizational design (the sum of the two, in this study, constitutes the culture of the organization). The data suggests that AUM’s organizational identity holographically (Albert & Whetten, 2004) brings together four different identity pieces: American, Catholic, Jordanian, and not-for-profit. The study concludes that the institution’s focus on its American identity and partial neglect in incorporating its other identity pieces into its organizational design with equal weight lead to a misalignment between its espoused, attributed, shared and aspirational organizational values (Broune & Jenkins, 2013), which ultimately leads to a misalignment between its organizational identity and its organizational design, resulting in what would be generally considered an unhealthy organizational culture (Gulua, 2018). In AUM’s case, this misalignment causes an amended combination of what the literature presents as an expectation gap and a dislocation gap in organizational values (Broune & Jenkins, 2013). However, context-relativity (a crucial concept in this study), with its historical, economic, political, socio-cultural and colonial components, is highly impactful in studying the relationship between AUM’s organizational culture and its national/regional context and impacts our understanding of the initial findings. This study reveals that there is a strong conception in the Middle East that American higher education = good quality (but good quality does not necessarily equal American). Therefore, in the light of context-relativity, AUM’s organizational gaps and the misalignment between its identity and design is not a matter of unauthenticity, but rather lack of options. Being an American institution in the Middle East comes with a market advantage; therefore, such an approach is a way for AUM to survive in a world where global power dynamics carry strong preconceptions about the quality of American higher education. By being American “enough” to maintain its market advantage and being Jordanian “enough” to keep the peace with their students and staff and the surrounding community, AUM, as a young higher education institution, is finding a way to survive and advance its quality in the process. / Thesis (MA) — Boston College, 2020. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Educational Leadership and Higher Education.

Objectives: To investigate the effects of Ramdan fasting on plasma levels of ACTH and cortisol in athletic students living in the Jordan Valley (JV) and compare them to those living at above sea level in Ramtha City (RC). Methods: Sample collection and measurements were done in November 1998 from non-fasting and in December 1998 from fasting people. Results: ACTH levels in non-fasting subjects in the JV were 36 ± 4 IU/ml compared to 43 ± 3 IU/ml for those in RC. Cortisol levels were 483 ± 76 (JV) and 539 ± 89 nmol/l (RC). Fasting led to an increase in ACTH (49 ± 6 (JV) and 58 ± 5 IU/ml (RC)) and cortisol levels (637 ± 101 (JV) and 805 ± 72 nmol/l (RC)). Conclusion: Fasting increases ACTH and cortisol levels in an altitude-independent fashion.

This dissertation examines the role of foreign aid in economic growth and development of Jordan. The flow of foreign capital takes two main forms: private foreign investment, mostly foreign direct investment by large multinational corporations, and public development assistance (foreign aid) from both individual national governments and multinational donor agencies. The distinguishing characteristic of foreign aid is the concessional element. In this dissertation, recent techniques and advances in time-series analysis are used in the empirical section of Chapters 2 and 3, i.e., vector autoregression (VAR), impulse response functions, and variance decompositions. In the fourth chapter, we use a nonlinear three-stage least square estimate to test the impact of foreign aid on the fiscal behavior of Jordanian government. The results of this study indicate that foreign aid in its aggregated form exerted an overall short-run positive dynamic impact on Jordanian growth rate of output, while it had a severe and long-run negative dynamic impact on domestic saving rate. When foreign aid is decomposed into its two main components, i.e., foreign aid grants and foreign aid loans, we found that grants exerted a long-run positive dynamic impact on Jordanian output growth and a severe long-run negative impact on its domestic saving rate. On the other hand, foreign aid loans had a positive but short-run impact on output growth and a positive long-run dynamic impact on domestic saving rate. We also found that foreign aid significantly affects both the revenue and expenditure side of the Jordanian government budget. Foreign aid grants positively affect consumption expenditures while foreign loans had no significant impact on government consumption. We also found that tax revenues in Jordan are mainly used to finance public consumption expenditures and not public investment. Furthermore, in the presence of foreign aid (grants and loans), an increase in taxes leads to an increase in public consumption expenditures and vice versa. Finally, the results show that in the presence of foreign aid, the Jordanian public sector reduces its efforts to collect taxes.