North Jordan Research Articles

Time Series Analysis of Rainfall Variability at North Jordan: A Case Study at Yarmouk River Basin

Water represents a key challenge to sustain the progress of Jordan. Providing healthy drinking water, along with current scarcity is one of the most major constraints in the water sector. This paper pursues to investigate the Spatio-temporal distribution of rainfall variability for time slice 1985-2014 over the Yarmouk River Basin (YRB) – Jordan side. Ten rainfall gauges were selected within the basin over the observation period. Applying two nonparametric statistical tests; Mann-Kendall to detect the rainfall trend in YRB, and Kolmogorov–Smirnov to detect the variations of rainfall distribution. Besides, the GIS spatial analyst tool was utilised to create interpolated rainfall map using the Thiessen polygons method. The results indicated that YRB will witness a potential decline in annual rainfall in most stations. Further, a shift in rainy season timing 2 and 58 days was observed at late in the start of the season (SoS) and 2 to 48 days for an early end of the season (EoS) on a decade’s basis accompanied by the significant uptrend in the long-term.

The clinical characteristics of primary headache and associated factors in children: A retrospective descriptive study

BackgroundHeadache is the most encountered manifestation of pain in childhood. The purpose of this study was to investigate the incidence and clinical characteristics of primary headaches. Further, the factors associated with primary headache were examined. Materials and methodsA retrospective study was conducted among young children and adolescents over 3 years at a tertiary referral teaching hospital in North Jordan. Relevant patient information was obtained by reviewing patients' medical records. ResultsThis study included 194 children (95 males, 99 females). The incidence rate of primary headache in the current study was 2.815 per 1000 children visited pediatric clinic. The mean age of patients at the time of headache onset was 10 years, and about half of them were males (95/194; 49%). Approximately 30% (56/194) had a family history of headache. Migraine headaches were the most commonly reported types (87/194; 44.8%) and only 17/194; 8.7% suffered from tension type headaches. Approximately, 40% (84/194) of patients reported severe headache and a third of them (67/194; 34.5%) complained of daily headaches. Pain location was reported as bilateral in most patients (153/194; 78.9%). About one fifth (41/194; 21.1%) stated that their headache was precipitated by sleep deprivation. Abnormal serum level of vitamin D and family history of headache were significantly associated with primary headache (p < 0.001). ConclusionsThese findings highlight the importance of early detection and management of headaches among pediatric population. In addition, screening vitamin D status should be encouraged for children presented with primary headaches.

The Knowledge of People About the Use of Renewable Energy and Environmental Awareness in Their Area, Irbid Governorate as a Case Study

In the global effort to curb energy consumption and promote a sustainable lifestyle for our societies, we must strive to lower our energy needs in all aspects of our lives. One of the biggest contributors to our energy requirements are the buildings we spend most of our time inside. Buildings’ energy consumption can take many forms, such as, air conditioning, heating, ventilation, and lighting systems in order to create a comfortable environment for the users. One way of reducing buildings’ energy consumption is the use of renewable resource for energy. The main aim of this research is to measure and assess the public perceptions, knowledge and awareness of the concept of renewable energy, with specific regards to the use of solar photovoltaic cells, as well as investigate the desire to spend on the installation of renewable energy sources. Data was collected through a survey questionnaire applied in Irbid governorate in the north of Jordan. The statistical SPSS program was used to analyze closed-ended questionnaires and obtain numerical results based on arithmetical averages and percentages. The results show people are adequately aware of the benefits of renewable energy and most would like to have photovoltaic cells installed. However, 54.35% of the study sample live in apartments and do not have the space for the installation. 70.1% are open to the idea of sharing the solar energy system with their neighbors. 50% thought that the photovoltaic cells affected the aesthetics of the architecture style of the buildings especially the more traditional styles. It is concluded that the government needs to build a large-scale solar energy project to sustainably produce electricity instead of relying on individuals who generally lack the ability or the space for such systems, taking in note that the general public supports such concepts.

The impact of COVID-19 pandemic on training and mental health of residents: a cross-sectional study

BackgroundResidency programs have been impacted by the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. In this study we aim to investigate and evaluate the impact of the pandemic on residents as well as residency training programs.MethodsThis was a cross-sectional study including a survey of 43 questions prepared on Google forms and electronically distributed among a convenience sample of residents training at a tertiary center in North Jordan during the COVID-19 pandemic. Data were collected in the period between October 30th and November 8th of 2020. The survey included questions that addressed the impact of the pandemic on residents’ health as well as training programs. The study participants included residents in training at KAUH in 2020 and were stratified according to the type of residency program (surgical residents (SRs) and non-surgical residents (NSRs)). Statistical methods included descriptive analysis, Chi-square or Fisher’s exact test, Mann Whitney U test, and Cramer’s V and r statistics as measures of effect sizes.ResultsOf all 430 residents, 255 (59%) responded to the survey. A total of 17 (7%) of residents reported being infected with COVID-19 and a significant difference was reported between SRs and NSRs (10% vs 4%, V = .124 “small effect” (95% CI; .017–.229), p = 0.048). Approximately, 106 (42%) reported a decrease in the number of staff working at the clinic and 164 (64%) reported limited access to personal protective equipment during the pandemic. On a 4-point Likert scale for the feeling of anxiety, the median was 2 (2–3 IQR) in the NSRs group, vs 2 (1–2 IQR) in the SRs groups, with the NSRs being more likely to feel anxious (r = 0.13 “small effect” (95% CI; 0.007–0.249), p = .044). Similarly, the proportion of residents who reported feeling anxious about an inadequacy of protective equipment in the work area was significantly greater in the NSRs group (90.3% vs 75.2%; V = .201 “small effect” (95% CI; .078–.313), p = .001), as well as the proportion of residents who reported feeling increased stress and anxiety between colleagues being also significantly higher in the NSRs group (88.1% vs 76%; V = .158 “small effect” (95% CI; .032–.279), p = .012).ConclusionThe burden of the ongoing pandemic on the mental health status of residents is very alarming and so providing residents with psychological counseling and support is needed. Also, critical implications on the flow of residency training programs have been noticed. This necessitates adapting and adopting smart educational techniques to compensate for such limitations.

Verbal abuse among newly hired registered Jordanian nurses and its correlate with self-esteem and job outcomes

Purposes1) identify the verbal abuse prevalence among newly hired registered nurses in Jordan; 2) examine the mean score of self-esteem, intent to stay, and job commitment 3) examine the relationships between the exposure to and the effects of verbal abuse, self-esteem, job commitment, and intent to stay in newly hired Jordanian registered nurses. BackgroundStudies shows that verbal abuse in health care settings is a health-risk factor for both nurses and patients. DesignA cross-sectional descriptive correlational study was conducted jn 2019. Materials and methodsA convenient sample of 200 registered nurses were recruited from two large cities in the North of Jordan. Self-reported questionnaires were used to collect data. ResultsVerbal abuse is highly prevalent among newly hired registered nurses in Jordan 100%, the mean score of exposure to verbal abuse was M = 6.76, and the effect of verbal abuse scale was M = 28.35. The result of person r indicated that there is a significant negative correlation between verbal abuse affect/reactions and registered nurses' intention to stay p = ˂0.01, job commitment p = ˂0.01 and self-esteem p = ˂0.01. Also, the exposure to verbal abuse is negatively correlated with nurse's job commitment, (r = -.203, p = .004). ConclusionVerbal abuse is negatively correlated with nurses’ self-esteem, intent to stay and job commitment. ImplicationsAdministrators and nurse managers should establish educational training programs and workplace safety protocols to protect nurses and to create a safe positive work environment with no tolerance to verbal abuse.

Acute Lower Limb Ischemia in Patients Infected with COVID-19.

BackgroundThe aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of acute lower limb ischemia (ALLI) among patients infected with COVID-19 and to review their characteristics and outcomes.MethodsThis study was performed at King Abdullah University Hospital (KAUH) in the north of Jordan. All patients with ALLI and COVID-19 infection, between November 1, 2020 and December 31, 2020, were retrospectively identified and reviewed.ResultsA total number of 1300 COVID-19 patients were admitted to KAUH during the period of the study. Seven patients (0.54%) had ALLI. Of them, 5 were males (71.4%) with a mean age of 68 ± 3 years and 2 were females (28.6%) with a mean age of 58 ± 7 years. Five patients (71.4%) were admitted as COVID-19 infection and developed ALLI during hospitalization, all of them were males, had COVID-19 related pneumonia, and died within 24 hours of ALLI diagnosis. While 2 patients were presented with ALLI and found to have positive COVID-19, all of them were females, underwent successful thrombo-embolectomy, and had no deaths, however, one of them had recurrent ALLI which resulted in below knee amputation.ConclusionThe prevalence of ALLI in patients infected with COVID-19 was 0.54%. We observed that patients with COVID-19 related pneumonia who develop ALLI during hospitalization had a high mortality.

Lexical Variation in the Rural North Jordanian Dialect

This study investigates lexical variation, which is due to more education, more mobility, and widespread use of the social media, in the dialect of three towns around Irbid City in north Jordan and its correlation with age, gender, and level of education. Labov’s approach is adopted to examine the linguistic variation among 98 speakers of the Irbidite dialect. Around 100 words were collected and put in the form of a questionnaire to elicit the opinion of speakers from different age groups, genders, and levels of education towards the frequency of their use of these words. The study used the method of direct interview to elicit the feelings of the participants about the dialect they use. The results show that old speakers and less educated ones tend to preserve their native lexical items more than others. They indicated that they use the original lexical items because they are proud of their dialect which reflects their identity. The groups which tend more to neglect some lexical items are educated young and middle-aged female subjects. They indicated that they do so for prestige and imitation of peers in the Irbidite society.

Emergency peripartum hysterectomy in a tertiary teaching hospital in Northern Jordan: a 15-year review

Emergency peripartum hysterectomy is a major operation performed when conservative measures fail to stop life-threatening postpartum hemorrhage. It is associated with a high rate of maternal morbidity among survivors. This work aims to evaluate the incidence, indication, and complications of peripartum hysterectomy at King Abdulla University Hospital over 15 years. A retrospective cohort study of emergency peripartum hysterectomy. The incidence was calculated. Risk factors for abnormally adherent placenta were explored. A comparison between total and subtotal hysterectomy in terms of morbidity outcomes was conducted. The chi-square test, Fisher’s exact, and independent sample T test were used for analysis. Statistical significance was declared at α < 0.05. The incidence of peripartum hysterectomy was 1.38 per 1000 births. Fifty-nine were performed after cesarean section and three were performed after vaginal delivery (P<0.001). Abnormally adherent placenta (accreta, increta, and percreta) was the main indication (44.06%). The strongest risk factor for abnormally adherent placenta was placenta previa with previous cesarean section (P=0.001, OR 16.25, 95% CI 1.95-135.01). One maternal and three neonatal deaths were recorded. Urinary bladder injury was the most frequent complication (27.11%). No difference in morbidity was noted between total and subtotal hysterectomy. The incidence of emergency peripartum hysterectomy is increasing steadily over the last two decades in the north of Jordan. Abnormally adherent placenta is the most common indication for emergency peripartum hysterectomy. There is no significant difference between total and subtotal hysterectomy in terms of complications’ development, admission to the intensive care unit, and estimated blood loss. The morbidity associated with emergency peripartum hysterectomy is significant.

Knowledge and compliance with standard precautions among registered nurses: A cross-sectional study

BackgroundNurses and patients are often exposed to various types of infections during their clinical practice. Knowledge and compliance with standard precautions are essential to prevent hospitals associated infections and protect patients as well as medical workers from exposure to infectious agents. AimsThis study aimed to assess the level of knowledge, level of compliance, and associated factors toward compliance with standard precautions among registered nurses in the North of Jordan. MethodsA cross-sectional study was conducted at three hospitals in the North of Jordan. Two were public hospitals and one was a university-affiliated hospital. A questionnaire concerning the knowledge and compliance with the standard precaution guidelines was distributed among 300 registered nurses of whom 266 completed the questionnaire (response rate 88.7%). Results53% of the participants were from governmental hospitals and 57.1% were females. The age median of them was 30 years (IQR = 28–32). The majority of the participants were medical/surgical RNs (33.1%) while only 8.3% of them were from the pediatric/gynecology departments. The overall knowledge score was 16.27 (SD = 3.15), and the total compliance score was 49.15 (SD = 12.36). Besides, the study showed a moderate positive correlation between the level of knowledge, experience in years, and the standard precautions compliance (r = 0.387, p = 0.01), (r = 0.341, p = 0.01), respectively. Conclusionsstandard precautions are the basic level of the infection control process. The participants may possess satisfactory knowledge and compliance levels. However, more training programs and more focusing on the standard precautions by educational institutes are needed for nurses to improve their knowledge and compliance with infection-control standard precautions.

Assessing and predicting air quality in northern Jordan during the lockdown due to the COVID-19 virus pandemic using artificial neural network.

This study deals with the simulation and prediction of air pollutants in Irbid city (north of Jordan) before and during the spread of the COVID-19 virus pandemic by using an artificial neural network (ANN). Based on the data obtained from the air quality monitoring station for the year 2019 and the first quarter of the year 2020, it was possible to develop an ANN model to simulate and predict the concentrations of three air pollutants, namely nitrogen dioxide (NO2), sulfur dioxide (SO2), and particulate matter with diameter less than 10 μm (PM10). Several ANN model configurations were tested to select the best model that could predict the concentration of the three air pollutants with meteorological parameters being used as input to the model. The results showed that the concentration of the pollutants during the coronavirus lockdown was declined by various percentages (from 29% for PM10 to 72% for NO2) as compared to their concentration before the pandemic period. Furthermore, the developed ANN model could simulate and predict the concentration of the pollutants during the pandemic period with sufficient accuracy as judged by the values of the coefficient of determination and the mean square error. The study results indicate that properly trained and structured ANN can be a useful tool to predict air quality parameters with adequate accuracy.

Church Burials from the Ancient Byzantine Settlement in Khirbet es-SamrÄ in Jordan

This report presents the results of the osteological analysis that were carried out on human remains excavated in two tombs that were dug in side-rooms of differing churches in Khirbet es Samrā site, north of Jordan, and dated to the 7th century. The first, Room-94 tomb, contained the remains of six males, five adults and a child, while in the second, Chrch-79 tomb, a senile female was buried, and not the archaeologically anticipated male church functionary. Besides documenting some less common, if not rare, anatomic variants, the report presents a number of observed pathological features, including two very probable brucella cases. Despite the absence of a conclusive evidence and mainly based on the observed biological features (aided with archaeological evidence), it was suggested that six successively buried in the first tomb were possibly members of a prosperous family that was somehow associated, i.e. not clerical, with the adjacent church, where they were allowed to be buried andnot in the proper cemetery just outside the ancient town. It was also hinted upon apossible relatedness between all those buried in both tombs.

Neonatal Screening for Congenital Hearing Loss in the North of Jordan; Findings and Implications.

Background:Congenital hearing loss is one of the important illnesses that affect newborns. Early diagnosis and treatment are a challenge for medical authorities in developing countries to improve children's functional, intellectual, emotional, and social abilities. We aimed to study the prevalence of congenital hearing loss in northern Jordan community and identify factors that could affect hearing screening protocol.Methods:Prospective cross-sectional study of 1595 infants born in our hospital underwent hearing screening tests. Totally, 104 were tested in NICU and the rest examined in the nursery room using Otoacoustic emission (OAE) test as a primary testing tool. The patients were followed in the three hearing screening phases. Factors affecting screening results were studied and analyzed.Results:The total number of newborns who didn't pass the first OAE test in one or both ears were 90 (5.6%); 69 from the nursery group and 21 from the NICU group. In the 2nd screening phase 21 (23.3%) didn't attend the appointment. Sixty-four passed the second screening OAE test. Five newborns (5.6%) had a second refer result in one or both ears and referred for a diagnostic ABR test. Three infants passed the test and two found to have bilateral hearing loss.Conclusions:Hearing screening test is conducted via a 3-phases-protocol. OAE is used in the first two phases and ABR in the third phase. Hearing results is significantly affected for infants admitted to NICU. The following factors increase OAE fail response: mechanical ventilation for more than 5 days, Hyperbilirubinemia, associated congenital anomalies. Mode of delivery doesn't have statistical significance on hearing screening results.

Cervical lymphadenitis as a result of (Hijab) pin prick in north of Jordan

Introduction. Cervical lymph nodes are lymph nodes found in the neck. Hijab is a head cover worn by some Muslim women in the presence of any adult male outside of their immediate family, which usually covers the head, neck and chest. It is strictly forbidden to Muslim woman to unveil any single hair of her head, so they use many pins around the head to fix their Hijab. Often, while using pins they are self-pricked. Aim. The main aim of our work is to reveal a new cause of lymphadenopathy, which is not known till now. Material and methods. Retrospective study during the past five years among seventy-five female outpatients, visited our Oral and Maxillofacial clinic in dental department. Our data was collected according to medical history of patients; all female patients with cervical lymphadenopathy were using (A hijab). Results. Data collected of 75 female patients. Lymphadenopathy causes were various. Most of these causes resulted from nonspecific lymphadenitis (67 patients), 4 tuberculosis, 2 lymphoma, 2 cat scratch disease. Aetiology of 67 nonspecific lymphadenitis was 40 patients of dental cause, 10 of sore throat, 7 of acne vulgaris, 3 of mild facial injuries, and 7 of (Hijab pin pricks). Conclusion. Hijab pin prick cervical lymphadenitis in Islamic communities is not uncommon and, unexplained cervical lymphadenitis should be considered as potential cause.

Assessment of Soil Loss Rates in Asreh Watershed (North Jordan Badia) Using RUSLE and GIS

In arid lands, rainwater harvesting can play an important role in making more water available since most of the rainfall runoff evaporates. If rainwater can be collected, it will form a useful resource. Jordan is classified as one of the poorest countries regarding water resources with an arid and semi-arid climate. For these limited and vital sources of water, good estimation of rainfall runoff quantity and quality can enhance the sustainability of water harvesting projects. The hydrologic estimations of runoff quantities and qualities are essential, and several techniques to achieve that exist. Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) is one of the widely used techniques to assess the soil erosion due to runoff, by assessing other physical factors that affect the soil loss. RUSLE combined five parameters to identify the soil loss rate: rainfall erosivity, topographic, soil erodibility, vegetation cover and management, and land management. Based on RUSLE results, areas are classified as a highly soil loss rate if the annual rates exceeded 20 tons per hectare. The Asreh watershed is a 196 km2 area that is mostly wasted land and receives an annual rainfall between 50 and 300 mm per year. The RUSLE equation inputs parameters for the study area are found and the equation is applied for the watershed. Results of RUSLE application on the Asreh watershed showed that the average annual soil loss rate is about 7.8 tons per hectare, about 73% of the area are classified as low soil loss rate with less than 10 tons per hectare per year, and only 13% of the area is classified as a high soil loss rate of more than 20 tons per hectare per year.

Gutturals, emphatics, and the phenomenon of emphasis spread in Fallaahi Jordanian Arabic: A non- linear analysis

The study aims to investigate guttural and emphatic sounds and the phenomenon of emphasis spread in Fallaahi Jordanian Arabic (FJA), a rural Jordanian dialect spoken in the north of Jordan. The study uses a non-linear approach, namely, the feature geometry approach to represent guttural and emphatic sounds and the phenomenon of emphasis spread. The data are collected by recording spontaneous conversations of twenty participants who are native speakers of this dialect. The analysis shows that gutturals in FJA are (/x, ʁ, ʕ, ħ, h, ?/) and the primary emphatics are (/T, D, S/). The analysis also shows that emphatic sounds can cause spreading of emphasis to other segments since they involve the back of the tongue and accompany a primary articulation at another place of articulation. Moreover, the study reveals that emphasis spread is bi-directional: leftward and rightward. Leftward emphasis is absolute, while rightward emphasis is blocked by the [+high, -back] segments (/i/, /i:/, /y/, and /ʃ/) since they are incompatible with and antagonistic to the Retracted Tongue Root [RTR] feature. Finally, the study shows that the domain of emphasis is minimally over the syllable and maximally over the phonological word.

Prevalence of antimicrobial use in a tertiary academic hospital: a venue for antimicrobial stewardship programs

ABSTRACT Objective To quantify antimicrobial use in inpatients setting as part of antimicrobial stewardship program surveillance. Method Antimicrobial use was obtained using a pre-designed data collection form in this point prevalence study. Setting: The study was conducted in a tertiary academic hospital in the North of Jordan on 13 August 2018. Main outcome measures: antimicrobial use was determined using two methods: defined daily use (DDD) and days of therapy (DOT). Results This study identified antimicrobial use in 144 patients. Carbapenems, glycopeptides, and piperacillin-tazobactam were the most utilized antimicrobials in the inpatients’ setting in both measures DDD and DOT. The highest prescription rate of antibiotics was in the internal medicine wards (49.8 DDD/100 admissions), followed by surgery wards (33.2 DDD/100 admissions) and intensive care unit (20.6 DDD/100 admissions). Conclusion This surveillance study addressed patterns of antimicrobial usage in inpatients settings in a tertiary care hospital in Jordan. This practice is feasible and could be adopted routinely by antimicrobial stewardship programs.

Antecedents of destination tourists' loyalty through tourists’ satisfaction: an empirical study of international tourists' in Jerash festival in Jordan

In this research we are going to investigate the effect of tourist's satisfaction and loyalty in Jerash festival in Jordan. The researcher used a questionnaire survey to elicit data from the participants of the study. The sample included 490 responses were correct and used for analysis, with a response rate of 62%. They were distributed over a number of international tourists in Jerash festival in Jordan, particularly in the North of Jordan. Results of the study showed that the hypotheses were having a big positive and direct effect on tourists’ satisfaction and loyalty in Jerash festival in Jordan (H1, H2, H4, H6 and H7). While, have insignificant positive and direct impact on tourist insignificant and loyalty (H3 and H5). Finally, the study displayed that tourist satisfaction not mediating impact between Jordan image, service climate and tourist loyalty (H8 and H10. While, found that the mediating effect of tourist satisfaction in the relationship between price fairness and tourist loyalty (H9). The study showed the importance of the climate and price of the tourism service in Jordan, specifically in the Jerash Festival. The Ministry of Tourism and the Director of Tourism in Jerash should take care of everything that leads to the satisfaction of tourists.

The Association Between Coffee and Tea Consumption During Pregnancy and Preterm Delivery: Case-Control Study.

ObjectiveTo assess a possible association between coffee and tea consumption and preterm delivery.MethodsA case–control design was implemented on a sample of women who were admitted for delivery to a tertiary hospital in the north of Jordan. Three hundred and fourteen cases and 796 controls were evaluated. The study was conducted while women were in the hospital for delivery. They were questioned about coffee and tea consumption and relevant confounding factors. Women were asked to state the average number of coffee and tea cups they drank per day.ResultsThe mean coffee consumption among women with preterm delivery was 0.75 cups/day ±1.23 and the mean tea consumption was 1.47 cups/day± 1.76. Multivariable logistic analysis revealed that increased age (OR=1.05; CI=1.02–1.08), parity (OR=3.82, CI=2.58–5.64), history of abortions (OR=1.69; CI=1.21–2.35), family history of preterm deliveries (OR=2.45, CI=1.33–4.52), having treatment for subfertility (OR=12.14, CI=2.39–61.62), diabetes mellitus (OR=2.22, CI=1.06–4.66), worsened emotional status during pregnancy (OR=2.35, CI=1.49–3.72), short inter-pregnancy interval (OR=1.72, CI=1.10–2.72), no iron consumption (OR=1.46, CI=1.06–2.03), using folic acid (OR=2.45, CI=1.33–4.52), and black colour women (OR=2.87, CI=1.35–6.10) were predictive for preterm delivery. After controlling for all significant predictors, coffee and tea consumption during pregnancy was not significantly associated with increased odds of preterm delivery.ConclusionThese results do not support an association between coffee and tea consumption and preterm delivery.

The Impact of Employees’ Gender and Age on Organizational Citizenship Behavior Using a Fuzzy Approach

Organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) is vital for continuous organizational growth and development. OCB also plays an evident role in advancing the quality of health care services and practicing OCB in hospitals can be useful. Although OCBs’ contributing factors have been studied in Jordan in earlier researches, the utilization of OCB in health sector is still a new topic. Therefore, this article aimed to investigate the impact of employees’ gender and age on OCB at Jordanian governmental hospitals using a fuzzy approach. A convenient sample of 126 employees working in three main governmental hospitals in the north of Jordan has been taken. The collected data include linguistic terms that suffer from uncertainty which, in turn, cannot be dealt with traditional numerical values. This study indicates that gender impact on OCB has statistically significant differences at α = .05 in favor of males with the total score of 0.011% as far as altruism, courtesy, and civic virtue are concerned. Similarly, the effect of age factor on OCB is statistically significant differences at α = .05 in relation to courtesy, sportsmanship, and civic virtue with the total score of 0.27%. Finally, the results provide baseline data for further studies that may pay more attention toward employees’ demographics in OCB. This study can support mangers and leaders holding dominant positions in public sector health care organizations.

Intramural Burials from the Ancient Byzantine Settlement in Khirbet es-Samrā in Jordan

The church burials of Room-94 and Church-79 as well as the Tower 35-Tomb were excavated within the ancient Byzantine settlement in Khirbet es-Samrā, North Jordan. They were initially dated between the 7th and 9th centuries AD. The report provides the results of macroscopic analyses of the obtained human skeletal remains. These include demographic, anthropometric, epigenetic, and pathologic features. The available biological and archaeological evidence tend to suggest that the five adults and child buried in Room-94 tomb were related males, possibly of one local and highly positioned family that was associated with the adjacent Church 95. The six were successively buried in the “private” tomb in Room-94 of Church-95 and not in the “public” cemetery just outside the settlement. The two probable cases of brucellar lesions on the cervical vertebrae of two adults could be indicative of an animal breeding family and that dairy products were part of the local diet. The report also suggests a possible relatedness between Room-94 tomb burials and the 7th century AD senile female burial in Church-79, which was previously assumed to be a male church-functionary burial. Despite being marked by a cross-engraved stone and a probably lethal arrow injury, the available evidence lead to conclude that the male Tower burial, previously identified as of the 9th century AD, was in fact a medieval burial and that it is neither related to the ancient settlement nor to its ancient population. Also presented are some rarely reported biological features, e.g. the “en bloc” manifestation of the transverse foramen division on the cervical vertebrae C5 to C7.&#x0D; Keywords: Jordan - Byzantine Period - Church Burial – Anthropometry - Epigenetics- Paleopathology.