This study estimates the threshold level of the relationship between fiscal deficit and public expenditure in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) based on the public expenditure Kuznets curve (PEKC) hypothesis during the 1975-2020 period. Employing the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) bound testing approach, the results indicate the existence of an inverted U-shaped PECK. In other words, public expenditure-fiscal deficit relationship exhibits an inverted U-shaped in the long-run, feature with public expenditure ex-panding in the early phases of rising fiscal deficit, and falling in the latter phases. Using the quadratic specification, the threshold of 22.45 percent is obtained for fiscal deficit (as a share of the GDP), and Dh. 6.583 billion for public expenditure. Moreover, the results illustrate that oil price, outflow of money, FDI outflow and interest rate are other important determinants of public expenditure in the country. Based on this evidence, policies aimed at reducing fisca.....

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Due to the widespread use of the Internet, digital space has now pervaded schools. This study aimed to investigate student-teachers perspectives and experiences of digital citizenship through project-based learning in a teacher institution in Indonesia. A case study research design was employed using content analysis to analyze the data from semi-structured interviews, observation, and daily journal report. The results showed that technology overuse requires moral guidance in terms of digital citizenship. The student-teachers viewed that digital citizenship provides some principles that encompass knowledge, skills, and appropriate behavior to use technology safely and responsibly. They asserted that digital citizenship is a necessary skill for prospective teachers, particularly considering the growing demand for schools to develop character education programs that address the topic of student technology use. After engaging in digital-issue-driven project-based learning, the student-tea.....

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Hydroxyapatite (HA) coatings on metallic implants have been extensively used in orthopedic applications to improve tissue-implant interactions, enhance their biocompatibility, and enhance their functionality. However, the expensive synthetic HA is the most widely used bioceramic for implant coatings, leading to high implants costs. Hence, this research explored the potential of an inexpensive biogenic HA derived from fish scales and FsHA/yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) bioceramic coatings on a Ti6Al4V alloy as an alternative to synthetic HA coatings. The FsHA/YSZ powders and the coatings were examined with X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy/energy dispersive X-ray (SEM/EDX), and the surface roughness, microhardness, corrosion resistance, bioactivity, and in vitro cytotoxicity of the coatings were also determined. The morphological powder analysis revealed particles with a slightly irregular morphology and a fine spherical morphology, while the coating microstruct.....

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During the COVID-19 era, most countries, including Malaysia, have shifted from face-to-face teaching systems to online teaching programs. The aim of this study is to identify the main challenges that higher education students face during e-learning based on their residential location throughout Peninsular Malaysia. This study further examines the readiness of higher education students to apply e-learning. Therefore, a cross-sectional survey approach is used to fulfil the outlined objectives. Accordingly, 761 public (95.3%) and private (4.7%) higher education students residing in Peninsular Malaysia are sampled in this study. The survey was administered online for 37 days, from 21 October 21 to 6 December 2021, using either WhatsApp or Facebook. The raw data is inferentially (Principal Component Analysis, K-Means Clustering, Kruskal Wallis, and spatial analysis) and descriptively (mean, standard deviation & percentage) analyzed. It has been revealed that six clusters of students in Peni.....

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This study fabricated tantalum (Ta)-doped titanium dioxide with a unique nanorod-assembled actinomorphic-flower-like microsphere structured film. The Ta-doped TiO2 actinomorphic-flower-like microsphere (TAFM) was fabricated via the solution immersion method in a Schott bottle with a home-made improvised clamp. The samples were characterised using FESEM, HRTEM, XRD, Raman, XPS, and Hall effect measurements for their structural and electrical properties. Compared to the undoped sample, the rutile-phased TAFM sample had finer nanorods with an average 42 nm diameter assembled to form microsphere-like structures. It also had higher oxygen vacancy sites, electron concentration, and mobility. In addition, a reversed double-beam photoacoustic spectroscopy measurement was performed for TAFM, revealing that the sample had a high electron trap density of up to 2.5 ?molg?1. The TAFM showed promising results when employed as the resistive-type sensing film for a humidity sensor, with the highest se.....

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Oily wastewater (OW) is detrimental towards the environment and human health. The complex composition of OW needs an advanced treatment, such as membrane technology. Membrane distillation (MD) gives the highest rejection percentage of pollutants in wastewater, as the membrane only allows the vapor to pass its microporous membrane. However, the commercial membranes on the market are less efficient in treating OW, as they are prone to fouling. Thus, the best membrane must be identified to treat OW effectively. This study tested and compared the separation performance of different membranes, comparing the pressure-driven performance between the membrane filtration and MD. In this study, several ultrafiltration (UF) and nanofiltration (NF) membranes (NFS, NFX, XT, MT, GC and FILMTEC) were tested for their performance in treating OW (100 ppm). The XT and MT membranes (UF membrane) with contact angles of 70.4 0.2 and 69.6 0.26, respectively, showed the best performance with high flux and oil.....

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Introduction: Dexamethasone is a type of drug that is considered a steroid. It belongs to a class of drugs known as corticosteroids. Objective: Develop an electrochemical sensor of dexamethasone in a pharmaceutical sample using electrodes modified with nanostructures of MnO2 and reduced graphene oxide (MnO2/rGO). The glassy carbon electrodes (GCE) used to make the GO nanostructures were first modified using a modified Hummers technique before electrochemically reduced. Methods: MnO2 nanomaterials were electrochemi-cally deposited on rGO/GCE. SEM structural investigation indicated vertical tetragonal crystal development of-MnO2 nanostructures in sprayed rGO nanostructures. Results: Because of the high composite surface area, multiple exposed active sites, and the synergistic effect of MnO2 and rGO, the electrocatalytic reaction to dexamethasone of MnO2/rGO/CPE was shown to be broad, selective, stable, and sensitive in electrochemical tests using amperometry. It was established that the .....

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In China, secondary school students studying at the vocational stream often struggle to keep up with English language learning. This study investigates the relationship between two types of motivation extrinsic and intrinsic towards the English language test performance of students from a secondary vocational school in Chongqing, China. A mixed-method research design was employed via a survey and a semi-structured interview. A total of 212 second-grade students at randomly selected secondary vocational schools completed the questionnaire. A correlational analysis was performed to discover if there was a relationship between students extrinsic and intrinsic motivation towards their English performance. The results reveal that the intrinsic motivation was strongly correlated with the students English performance with r=0.216, p0.05. A multiple linear regression analysis was also conducted to investigate the extent that students intrinsic and extrinsic motivation predicted their English p.....

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This paper highlights the ESL pre-service elementary school teachers views on using English comics in the classroom and using English comics to assist elementary school pupils in improving their English language skills. A descriptive survey research design was used, and a quantitative method study was done among 64 pre-service teachers utilising an internet questionnaire as an instrument aimed to answer questions concerning their views towards the use of English comics as a medium for teaching and learning English and the effectiveness in improving pupils English language abilities. The results from the questionnaire were analysed quantitatively, and the findings were summarised using descriptive statistics and frequency count to characterise the properties of the large group of samples. From the survey, it was found that most pre-service teachers have positive perceptions of using comic books as teaching and learning tools in class. Furthermore, the findings indicated that the pre-ser.....

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This study investigated the use of i-THINK Mapping in teaching reading comprehension by ESL teachers to a group of Form Five students, and the factors and challenges the ESL teachers faced in teaching reading comprehension using i-THINK Mapping. A qualitative approach, specifically a case study design, was employed in this study. Classroom observations, semi-structured interviews, and document analysis of their lesson plans were used to collect the data. Four ESL teachers with a minimum of 5-year teaching experience in a rural secondary school in Hulu Selangor, Malaysia, were selected using a purposive sampling technique to participate in this study. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the data obtained from classroom observations and interviews. The findings show that the teachers had applied five i-THINK maps, including a Circle Map to define in context, a Bubble Map to describe, a Double Bubble Map to compare and contrast, a Flow Map to show the sequence of an event, and a Tree Ma.....

137 hits