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Abstract Background It is crucial to improve cancer patients' quality of life by developing medications that can treat cancer with minimum adverse effects. This study aimed to evaluate the therapeutic effect of chitosan nanoparticles (CNPs) and camel milk exosomes (CMEs) alone or in combination with Sorafenib (SOR) on Ehrlich ascites carcinoma (EAC)-bearing mice and to assess whether EAC-associated liver injury would be ameliorated due to this combination. Liver function and oxidant/antioxidant status were determined spectrophotometrically, while the levels of inflammatory cytokines were estimated by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Gene expression was detected using real-time polymerase chain reaction. Results The tumor burden in EAC-bearing mice was reduced after treatment with CNPs ± CMEs ± SOR as indicated by (1) reduced ascetic fluid volume and tumor-cell viability; (2) induction of apoptosis [high p53, BCL2 associated X (Bax), caspase 3, low B-cell leukemia/lymphoma 2 protein (Bcl2)]; (3) increased intracellular reactive oxygen species; (4) decreased migration [high matrix metalloproteinase 9 (MMP9) and low TIMP metallopeptidase inhibitor 1 (TIMP1)]; (5) declined angiogenesis [low vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). These treatments also reduced liver injury induced by EAC as noticed by (1) restored liver function indices [alanine transaminase (ALT), aspartate transaminase (AST), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), and albumin]; (2) restored redox balance [low malondialdehyde (MDA) levels and high superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT) and glutathione peroxidase (GPx) activities]; (3) increased antioxidant gene expression [high nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) and heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1)]; (4) declined inflammation [low interleukin-1β (IL1β) and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFα) levels), and (5) enhanced structure of liver. SOR + CNPs-treated mice showed the most improvement, followed by SOR + CMEs-treated animals. Conclusions Based on these findings, we determined that CNPs and CMEs enhanced SOR's anticancer efficacy and had an ameliorative role against EAC-induced liver injuries. Graphic abstract

The overall economic development of today’s society is showing a downward trend. In the process of operating and marketing, enterprises are affected by various factors. After the marketing risk reaches a certain level, enterprises would encounter various risks such as blocked marketing plans and failure to meet the estimated marketing goals. Enterprise marketing is affected by economic and market risks such as lack of information, decision-making errors, natural disasters, human factors, and other natural and social risks. This article combined information technology with supply chain management, applied radio frequency identification (RFID) technology to supply chain management, and controlled enterprise marketing risks through reasonable management of the supply chain. It also compared the effectiveness of enterprise marketing risk control between an information technology intelligent supply chain combined with RFID and a supply chain managed by ordinary artificial structures. The experimental results showed that the highest value of goods loss rate in the supply chain based on RFID technology and using traditional technology was 5% and 15%, respectively, according to the sample of goods loss experiments. For the information verification process of goods in supply chain management, the information identification accuracy rates of barcode and RFID technology were 89.98% and 97.7%, respectively. Therefore, applying the information technology intelligent supply chain management model combined with RFID technology to enterprise marketing risk control can save money for enterprises, ensure product quality, and effectively reduce the risks encountered in enterprise marketing by reducing information gaps, and reducing transportation and storage costs.

Crabs of the genus Charybdis are some of the world’s most aggressive and voracious marine invasive crustaceans. They are found in a wide variety of ecosystems in the Red Sea. Their near ubiquity in diverse marine habitats, however, makes them a possible resource for novel marine-derived bioactive products. To provide an important insight into the potential for C. natator as a beneficial product, its shell methanolic extract was chromatographically analyzed for identification of potential bioactive ingredients. Additionally, two different doses, i.e. a low and a high dose, of this extract were tested for their ability to protect against copper-induced oxidative stress and proinflammatory response in adult zebrafish Danio rerio. Gene expression levels of transcripts of proinflammatory mediators, i.e. nf-κβ and tnf-α; antioxidant enzymes, i.e. sod, cat, and gpx; and lipid-metabolizing enzymes, i.e., acox1 and fasn, were determined. The results showed that C. natator shell is rich in potential bioactive metabolites, including diverse unsaturated fatty acids, alkanes, flavonoids, and phenolic acids. Most antioxidant and proinflammatory transcripts in the protected groups were restored to levels that were lower than those in the CuSO4-stressed group. The low dose showed special success in inducing these effects. Also, the low-dose-protected group showed significantly elevated acox1 and decreased fasn, suggesting the capability of crab shell extract at a low dose to assist lipolysis and inhibit lipogenesis. The abundant presence of saturated fatty acids in the shell extract can be the reason for the inadequacy of the high dose to promote the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities. These results suggest that there is a potential to develop therapeutic industrial uses for C. natator shell, instead of considering it as a discard. Its wealth of bioactive metabolites may contribute to the market for natural products to combat inflammatory and oxidative stress, the origin of many diseases in the modern world.

The objective of this research was to examine the influence of decision support system (DSS) success on the operational sustainability of the service industry in Saudi Arabia. Additionally, the study investigated the moderating effect of supply chain resilience on this relationship. Data were collected via a self-administered survey from 320 employees in the Saudi Arabian service sector, utilizing a convenience sampling technique. The research adopted a cross-sectional design and a deductive quantitative approach. Data were analysed using SPSS and SmartPLS-4. The regression analysis revealed that both operational information systems and operational system quality have a positive and significant impact on net benefits, mediated by product quality and decision support satisfaction. Operational service quality demonstrated a significant positive impact on net benefits through the mediation of product quality but had an insignificant impact when mediated by decision support satisfaction. Furthermore, product quality exhibited a positive and significant impact on decision support satisfaction. Net benefits were also found to have a positive and significant impact on operational sustainability. Supply chain resilience was identified as a significant moderator between net benefits and operational sustainability. This study, through its mediated-moderated model, contributes to the existing body of literature and opens new avenues for future research. It also provides practical insights for service industry practitioners aiming to enhance sustainability in Saudi Arabia and beyond.

Abstract Background Catheter-associated urinary tract infection is a global problem but it can be prevented with the appropriate implementation of evidence-based guidelines. This study was conducted to assess the level of compliance of healthcare workers with the catheter-associated urinary tract infection prevention guidelines during the insertion of a urinary catheter. Methods An observational study using a descriptive cross-sectional design was conducted at Sana’a City hospitals, Yemen. All the nurses and physicians from the governmental, teaching, and private hospitals were eligible to participate in the study. The data collection was performed through convenience sampling from March 2020 to December 2020, using a structured observational checklist prepared specifically for this study. Results The majority of the urinary catheter insertions were performed by nurses. There were no written policy or procedures for an urinary catheter insertion and no in-service education or training departments in the majority of the hospitals. The overall mean score of compliance was 7.31 of 10. About 71% of the healthcare workers had a high or acceptable level of compliance and 29% had an unsafe level of compliance. Compliance was low for maintaining aseptic technique throughout the insertion procedure, using a single use packet of lubricant jelly, performing hand hygiene immediately before insertion, and securing the urinary catheter once inserted. Factors affecting the healthcare workers compliance were gender, the working ward/unit of the healthcare workers, the availability of a written policy/procedure and a department or unit for in-service education. Conclusion Yemeni healthcare workers’ overall compliance was acceptable but it was unsafe in several critical measures. There is an urgent need for developing, implementing, and monitoring national guidelines and institutional policy and procedures for catheter-associated urinary tract infection prevention. Periodical in-service education and training programs and adequate access to the necessary materials and supplies are paramount.

Introduction One of the most challenging outcomes after surgery is site infection, the consequences of which include the cost burden on hospitals, contributions to patient morbidity and readmissions. A shift to shorter hospital stays requires closer monitoring of surgical site infections (SSI) after discharge. This paper reviews post-discharge surveillance (PDS) methods on SSI identification, a comparison of some of these methods, SSI rates during and after hospitalization, and associated risk factors for SSI.

Abstract Background Substantial progress has been achieved in managing childhood cancers in many high-income countries (HICs). In contrast, survival rates in lower-middle-income countries (LMICs) are less favorable. Here, we aimed to compare outcomes and associated factors between two large institutions; Egypt (LMIC) and Germany (HIC). Methods A retrospective review was conducted on newly diagnosed children with cancer between 2006 and 2010 in the departments of pediatric oncology at the South Egypt Cancer Institute (SECI) (n = 502) and the University Hospital of Cologne-Uniklinik Köln (UKK) (n = 238). Characteristics including age, sex, diagnosis, travel time from home to the cancer center, the time interval from initial symptoms to the start of treatment, treatment-related complications, compliance, and outcome were analyzed. A Cox proportional hazards regression model was applied to investigate the influence of risk factors. Results The most common diagnoses in SECI were leukemia (48.8%), lymphomas (24.1%), brain tumors (1%), and other solid tumors (24.7%), compared to 22.3%, 19.3%, 28.6%, and 26.5% in UKK, respectively. Patients from SECI were younger (5.2 vs. 9.0 years, P

This study investigates the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the relationship between income diversification and bank stability among Jordanian commercial banks listed on the Amman Stock Exchange (ASE), using a panel Autoregressive Distributed-Lagged Model (panel-ARDL) and quarterly data from 2015 to 2021. The findings demonstrate that during the COVID-19 period, a higher proportion of non-interest income, resulting from income diversification, enhances bank stability. However, considering the entire sample period, the results suggest a potential deterioration in bank stability when banks diversify towards non-interest income, aligning with the negative effect observed in the literature. Additionally, the study identifies factors such as bank size, liquidity, loan loss provisions, cost efficiency, and the deposit ratio, which influence bank stability. These findings hold significant implications for policymakers and banks in developing countries concerned about the impact of income diversification on bank stability. They also offer valuable insights to understanding the dynamics of income diversification and its implications for bank stability in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.

This paper deals with a marble head of Serapis, kept in the Grand Egyptian Museum (Gem.34206). The head was found in Diospolis Magna (modern Luxor); its height is about 46cm, while the width is 32cm. The head is well-preserved. It is carved in marble. The head is broken off from the bottom part of the neck, which indicates that the head probably belonged to a colossal statue of Serapis. The artistic treatment of the head, in particular the hairstyle above the forehead and also the beard, plus the lack of information concerning the find-spot of the head in Luxor which make it difficult to determine the exact date and archeological context.All comparative examples presented in this paper indicate that this head probably represents a head of the god Serapis. The paper discusses the problem of the find-spot of the head. It suggests that the head was probably found in the site of the Roman camp

Brain tumors (BT) represent a severe and potentially life-threatening cancer. Failing to promptly diagnose these tumors can significantly shorten a person’s life. Therefore, early and accurate detection of brain tumors is essential, allowing for appropriate treatment and improving the chances of a patient’s survival. Due to the different characteristics and data limitations of brain tumors is challenging problems to classify the three different types of brain tumors. A convolutional neural networks (CNNs) learning algorithm integrated with data augmentation techniques was used to improve the model performance. CNNs have been extensively utilized in identifying brain tumors through the analysis of Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) images The primary aim of this research is to propose a novel method that achieves exceptionally high accuracy in classifying the three distinct types of brain tumors. This paper proposed a novel Stack Ensemble Transfer Learning model called “SETL_BMRI”, which can recognize brain tumors in MRI images with elevated accuracy. The SETL_BMRI model incorporates two pre-trained models, AlexNet and VGG19, to improve its ability to generalize. Stacking combined outputs from these models significantly improved the accuracy of brain tumor detection as compared to individual models. The model’s effectiveness is evaluated using a public brain MRI dataset available on Kaggle, containing images of three types of brain tumors (meningioma, glioma, and pituitary). The experimental findings showcase the robustness of the SETL_BMRI model, achieving an overall classification accuracy of 98.70%. Additionally, it delivers an average precision, recall, and F1-score of 98.75%, 98.6%, and 98.75%, respectively. The evaluation metric values of the proposed solution indicate that it effectively contributed to previous research in terms of achieving high detection accuracy.

Climate change is expected to raise river discharge and sea level in the future, and these near-term changes could alter the river flow regime and sedimentation pattern of future floods. Present hazard assessment studies have limitations in considering such morpho-dynamic responses in evaluating flood hazards or risks. Here, we present a multi-model-based approach to quantify such potential hazard parameters influenced by climate change for the most vulnerable communities living on river bars and islands of the Brahmaputra–Jamuna River. River flood-flow and flood wave propagation characteristics are predicted to be affected by changing temporal distribution patterns of precipitation as a result of enhanced global warming. Increased incidences of large multi-peak floods or uncommon floods resulting in long-duration floods driven by sea-level rise may happen as a result of this. To assess it, we have set up a hydromorphic model, Delft3D, for the Brahmaputra–Jamuna River forced by upstream flow, generated from a hydrological model SWAT, over the Brahmaputra basin. The simulations cover moderate, wettest, and driest conditions of the RCP8.5 scenario, and the results reflect the flooding consequences of the near-future, mid-century, and end-century. Floods in the Brahmaputra–Jamuna River are becoming more severe, frequent, and long-lasting, as a result of climate change, and are expected to last until the end of November rather than the current September timeline. While assessing the hazard, we found that the pattern and timing of the flood are as equally important as the peak of the flood, as the river continuously adjusts its cross-sectional area with the flow. The study also demonstrates that, depending on their location/position, climate-induced hazards can affect sand bars/islands disproportionally. The high flood depth, duration, and sedimentation have a significant impact on the sand bars downstream of the river, making them more vulnerable.

Abstract Although interstitial fluid (ISF) is recognized as an important source of biomarkers, it is difficult and time‐consuming to extract, thus limiting its use in medical diagnostic and clinical settings. An inexpensive and effective technique for accessing ISF could benefit people with various health conditions and offer platforms for on‐device sensing biomarkers. Microneedles (MNs) are minimally invasive devices that have gained extensive interest over recent decades. MNs can address some of the challenges associated with ISF extraction and sensing. Accessing ISF using MNs has the potential to develop advanced, non‐invasive point‐of‐care (POC) microdevices that enable detection or continuous monitoring within the dermal ISF, therefore drastically impacting the healthcare system. This review describes recent studies exploring MN devices for ISF sampling and sensing. Several extraction processes, sampling volume, sampling duration, integration with biosensors, sensing of biomarkers, and subsequent analysis of ISF are discussed in detail. Furthermore, opportunities, conclusions, and future prospects for developing new research in the field are also discussed.

A key goal for African Union 2063 Agenda is the acceleration of aquatic resources economic growth through promoting blue economy. Being autochthonous to Africa, Family clarotidae catfishes are very popular for fisheries, owing to their, abundance, population resilience, and reasonable economic value. To identify the status of genetic diversity of Chrysichthys species in Lake Nasser,Egypt, i.e. C. auratus and C. rueppelli specimens were collected from different side extensions (Khors or Fjords) of the Lake, that were Ghazal, Garf Hussein, Hamedo, Shenyara, Amada and Toshka. Mitochondrial Cytochrome oxidase subunit I gene (COI) hypervariable 5′ region was sequenced in all samples. The sequences were subjected to several genetic, phylogenetic, and population genetic analyses. Both DNA barcoding and COI-based phylogenies revealed that both C. auratus and C. rueppelli have the same mitochondrial genome sequence. Furthermore, the level of haplotype diversity of Chrysichthys in Lake Nasser was higher than that known for most Nile fishes. All sites showed high haplotype diversities, especially in the Northernmost parts of the Lake, the nearest to the high dam. Samples from all Khors showed signs of recent population expansion, non-significant raggedness, and mismatch curves with either unimodal or skewed unimodal patterns. All Lake Nasser Chrysichthys populations appeared to be completely mixed. The current study provided three key novelties over all previous works. The first was the identical mitochondrial barcode sequences between C. auratus and C. rueppelli. The second was the high genetic diversity within the sampled individuals. The third was the mitochondrial genetic dysconnectivity between North and West African C. auratus. These results should be strongly considered upon providing fisheries statistics about genus Chrysichthys from Lake Nasser and Africa in general. Moreover, more investigation at the level of nuclear barcode identities within genus Chrysichthys can reveal more information about those hypothetically two species, C. auratus and C. rueppelli.

Abstract Background Chronic lymphocytic thyroiditis or Hashimoto’s thyroiditis (HT) is a common form of organ specific autoimmune disease mediated by anti-thyroid autoantibodies. Ultrasound including Doppler is helpful diagnostic tool in the diagnosis of Hashimoto’s thyroiditis. This study aimed to evaluate the ultrasound and Doppler characters of Hashimoto thyroiditis and to analyze the relationship between these ultrasound, Doppler features and thyroid hormones level. Results Thyroid gland sonographic parenchymal abnormalities (septations, undulation, micronodularity, gland hyper vascularity, hypoechogenicity, sizable nodules as well as enlarged para-tracheal lymph nodes) were significantly higher in Hashimoto cases compared to control group (P value is

In this article, the authors propose to investigate the numerical solutions of several fractional-order models of the multi-space coupled Korteweg–De Vries equation involving many different kernels. In order to transform these models into a set or system of differential equations, various properties of the first-kind Chebyshev polynomial are used in this study. The main objective of the present study is to apply the spectral collocation approach for the multi-space fractional-order coupled Korteweg–De Vries equation with different kernels. We use finite differences to numerically solve these differential equations by reducing them to algebraic equations. The Newton (or, more precisely, the Newton–Raphson) method is then used to solve these resulting algebraic equations. By calculating the error involved in our approach, the precision of the numerical solution is verified. The use of spectral methods, which provide excellent accuracy and exponential convergence for issues with smooth solutions, is shown to be a benefit of the current study.

Bangladesh is situated at the confluence of GBM basins, with 90% of the basin area locating outside the country. Future climate change will lead to intense, prolonged, and frequent floods in Bangladesh. An integrated flood risk assessment that transforms flood risks from transboundary river basins to the local administrative level is necessary. A 1D/2D hydrodynamic model is developed for flood vulnerable Arial Khan River feed by basin-scale hydrologic model for low (RCP2.6) and high (RCP8.5) climate scenarios. An increasing trend in flood depth, duration, and area is observed from the early (2020s) to the end (2080s) of the century for both scenarios. The difference between both RCPs is minimal from the 2020s to 2050s but becomes very pronounced in the 2080s. The depth-duration-area with equal weightage provides better hazard results for the area. Flood risk is assessed using the IPCC AR5 framework incorporating vulnerability and exposure. Some medium-hazard zones fall into high-risk zones due to high exposure and vulnerability to flooding. The areas along the left reach are found more hazard-prone, while the areas on the right side are more risk-prone in the 2080s of RCP8.5. The hazard/risk maps will help policymakers identify priority areas for planning a sustainable flood management strategy. HIGHLIGHTS Flood risk is transferred from transboundary river basins to local administrative levels using a multi-model hydrological-hydrodynamic-statistical modelling system.; High-resolution bias-corrected GCM climate data is used.; IPCC AR5 climate scenarios and risk framework are considered.; Future flood hazard and risks are assessed for Arial Khan River Floodplain for the 2020s, 2050s, and 2080s.; Medium hazard zones might have high flood risk in the future.;

Abstract Background Blood loss is one of the major problems during operations of spine fusion. Several blood-conservative measures were applied to reduce the incidence of blood loss—among them, acute hypervolemic hemodilution (AHH) and controlled hypotension (CH). This study was designed to detect the effect of combination of AHH with CH induced by remifentanil versus magnesium sulfate on the volume of blood loss, allogeneic blood transfusion, hemodynamics, coagulation, and electrolytes during operations for spine fusion which are risky operations with high incidence of blood loss and blood transfusion. Sixty patients scheduled for posterior fusion of the spine were randomly allocated into three groups of 20 patients each (group I (AHH), group II (AHH combined with remifentanil-based CH), and group III (AHH combined with magnesium sulfate-based CH)). Estimated blood loss and total volume of packed red blood cells (PRBCS) transfused were recorded. Arterial blood pressure (ABP) and heart rate (HR) measures were recorded. Blood samples were obtained for the detection of hemoglobin (Hb) and hematocrit (HCT). Results Estimated blood loss, percentage blood loss, and intraoperative RBC transfusion units were significantly high in group I in relation to group II and group III (Table 2). Cardiac output was significantly higher in group I in relation to group II and group III at 10, 15, 30, 45, and 60 min after start of AHH. MBP and HR results were significantly high in group I in comparison with group II and group III at 30, 45, 60, and 90 min and 2 and 3 h after start of study drugs. CVP results were significantly high in group I in relation to group II and group III at 15, 30, 45, 60, and 90 min after start of AHH. PTT was significantly increased in the three study groups in comparison with baseline inside each group after AHH. Conclusion Combination of AHH with CH induced by remifentanil or magnesium sulfate was associated with reduction in estimated blood loss, and total volume of PRBCS transfused. There was no significant difference between hemodynamic parameters with the use of remifentanil or magnesium sulfate except that SBP, DBP, and MBP results were significantly high with magnesium sulfate at 15 min after drug infusion. There was significant increase in PT and PTT after AHH that was not reflected by significant blood oozing from the operative field, or by difficulty in hemostasis.

(1) Background: Scorpions (Arthropoda: Arachnida) represent a diverse group of invertebrates, accounting for a significant proportion of earth’s predators and ecosystems’ modulators. Surviving mostly in hardly reachable nests, and representing key hazards to human health, they attracted major interest for characterizing their eco-, morpho-, and genotypes. (2) Methods: Four scorpion species were collected from the New Valley governorate in Upper Egypt, where a high level of scorpionism and related neurological symptoms are found, that were Leiurus quinquestriatus, Androctonus amoreuxi, Orthochirus innesi, Buthacus leptochelys. They were DNA barcoded, genetically and phylogenetically analyzed through PCR amplification and sequencing of the mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit 1 (COI) gene hypervariable 5′ region. (3) Results: New, morphologically authenticated scorpion barcodes could be added to the barcoding databases. However, several discrepancies and barcode database inadequacies could be revealed. Moreover, taxon-specific patterns for nitrogenous bases’ distribution could be identified, resulting in a significantly high percentage of COI barcode guanine in scorpionids, in comparison to araneids and opilions. (4) Conclusions: For a group of animals where both cryptic speciation and a high risk of human envenomation are evident, the findings of the current study strongly recommend continuous and comprehensive research efforts dealing with morphogenetic authentication for different species of scorpions.

Abstract Bangladesh is one of the largest flood-prone deltas of the GBM (Ganges–Brahmaputra–Meghna) basins, and recently, it is categorized as the 7th worst climate-affected country in the world. Future climate change along with economic development, urbanization, and increase in population may worsen this situation manifolds. To cope with future flood situations and lessen probable flood losses, it is essential to develop flood maps of the major flood-prone rivers of Bangladesh considering climate change scenarios. In this study, the flood inundation of the Arial Khan River and its floodplain has been assessed for the predicted climate change scenario of RCP 8.5 (Representative Concentration Pathway 8.5) using open-source mathematical models. A calibrated and validated hydrologic model of GBM basins in SWAT (Soil and Water Assessment Tool) model has been used to estimate the future flow magnitudes at Bahadurabad Transit (Brahmaputra River) and Hardinge Bridge (Ganges River) using extreme emission scenario RCP 8.5. Using the flow magnitude of these two stations as the upstream boundaries, an HEC-RAS 1D model has been set up for the Brahmaputra, Ganges, and Padma rivers for generating future flow magnitude at the offtake of the Arial Khan River. Later, an HEC-RAS 1D-2D coupled model is set up for the Arial Khan River floodplain and flood maps are prepared considering flood depth, duration, and inundation extent. The flood assessment for different projections of RCP 8.5 shows that there is an increasing trend of flood in terms of depth, duration, and inundation from the 2020s to the 2080s. Hence, the floodplain becomes more hazardous by the end of this century. The climate change impact on the projected population for the RCP 8.5 scenario is assessed under SSP5 (Shared Socioeconomic Pathways 5) which indicates that the total flood-affected population will be nearly twice in the 2080s compared to the 2020s. So, future climate change is going to have a dreadful effect on the flood situation of the Arial Khan River floodplain.

In this paper, we aim to propose a novel q-fractional derivative in the Caputo sense included proportional derivative. To this end, we firstly introduced a new concept of proportional q-derivative and discussed its properties in detail. Then, we add this definition in the concept of Caputo derivative to state a new type of dynamical system with q-calculus. For analytically solving this system, q-Laplace transform has been successfully applied to obtain the solutions. Indeed, the bivariate Mittag-Leffler function has an essential role in this regard. Two illustrative examples are also given in detail.

Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the usage and social media habits of orthodontic patients. Materials and Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional design was employed to carry out this study. The questionnaire that was used contained the following sections: Demographic data, questions relating to social media behaviors and sociodemographic characteristics, and questions relating to orthodontists' utilization of social media. The validity and reliability of the questionnaire were examined. The final Arabic version was adopted and the Google Drive template was used. The link was sent to the orthodontic patients via different social media platforms and applications. Results: A total of 139 orthodontic patients agreed to take part in this study, of which 78 were females and 61 were males. The most popular applications for obtaining orthodontic-related information were Snapchat (28.7%) followed by Instagram (23.7%), and WhatsApp (22.3%). Approximately 58.9% of the patients reported that social media has no direct impact on their decision-making involving orthodontic treatment. Treatment modalities were found to be the most searched topic by the orthodontic patients (44.6%) followed by treatment costs (30.2%). Conclusion: Our study revealed that women not only use social media to check their treatment progress more than men, they are also more curious to compare their progress with other people than their male counterparts. In addition, the findings showed that social media has a greater impact on female patients when it comes to making a decision about orthodontic treatment. Treatment modalities and treatment costs are the topics most searched for by orthodontic patients.

Higher education institutions’ principal goal is to give their learners a high-quality education. The volume of research data gathered in the higher education industry has increased dramatically in recent years due to the fast development of information technologies. The Learning Management System (LMS) also appeared and is bringing courses online for an e-learning model at almost every level of education. Therefore, to ensure the highest level of excellence in the higher education system, finding information for predictions or forecasts about student performance is one of many tasks for ensuring the quality of education. Quality is vital in e-learning for several reasons: content, user experience, credibility, and effectiveness. Overall, quality is essential in e-learning because it helps ensure that learners receive a high-quality education and can effectively apply their knowledge. E-learning systems can be made more effective with machine learning, benefiting all stakeholders of the learning environment. Teachers must be of the highest caliber to get the most out of students and help them graduate as academically competent and well-rounded young adults. This research paper presents a Quality Teaching and Evaluation Framework (QTEF) to ensure teachers’ performance, especially in e-learning/distance learning courses. Teacher performance evaluation aims to support educators’ professional growth and better student learning environments. Therefore, to maintain the quality level, the QTEF presented in this research is further validated using a machine learning model that predicts the teachers’ competence. The results demonstrate that when combined with other factors particularly technical evaluation criteria, as opposed to strongly associated QTEF components, the anticipated result is more accurate. The integration and validation of this framework as well as research on student performance will be performed in the future.

We provide an effective simulation to investigate the solution behavior of nine-dimensional chaos for the fractional (Caputo-sense) Lorenz system using a new approximate technique of the spectral collocation method (SCM) depending on the properties of Gegenbauer wavelet polynomials (GWPs). This technique reduces the given problem to a non-linear system of algebraic equations. We satisfy the accuracy and efficiency of the proposed method by computing the residual error function. The numerical solutions obtained are compared with the results obtained by implementing the Runge–Kutta method of order four. The results show that the given procedure is an easily applied and efficient tool to simulate this model.

Soil moisture modeling is necessary for many hydrometeorological and agricultural applications. One of the ways in which the modeling of soil moisture (SM) can be improved is by assimilating SM observations to update the model states. Remotely sensed SM observations are prone to being riddled with data discontinuities, namely in the horizontal and vertical spatial, and temporal, dimensions. In this study, a set of synthetic experiments were designed to assess how much impact each of these individual components of spatiotemporal gaps can have on the modeling performance of SM, as well as streamflow. The results show that not having root-zone SM estimates from satellite derived observations is most impactful in terms of the modeling performance. Having temporal gaps and horizontal spatial gaps in the satellite SM data also impacts the modeling performance, but to a lesser degree. Real-data experiments with the remotely sensed Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) product generally brought improvements to the SM modeling performance in the upper soil layers, but to a lesser degree in the bottom soil layer. The updating of the model SM states with observations also resulted in some improvements in the streamflow modeling performance during the synthetic experiments, but not during the real-data experiments.

Shellfish consumption in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) exceeds local supply and frozen fish and seafood products are imported to fill the gap. To determine the species in frozen shellfish brands on the UAE markets, 95 frozen samples were subjected to PCR amplification and sequencing of the hypervariable region of the 16S rDNA. This identified 11 different shrimp species and two squid species in the frozen shellfish packs. About 40% of calamari brands contained peanut worm, cattle, and rat 16S rDNA. Also, most shellfish species analyzed had low nucleotide diversity, including two shrimp species (Litopenaeus vannamei and Metapenopsis barbata), which had very limited genetic diversity, low raggedness, and an absence of population expansion. Species misnaming, substitution, overexploitation, origin misreporting, and low genetic diversity were found across frozen UAE shellfish samples analyzed, suggesting inspection and monitoring of frozen seafood sold in UAE markets would be appropriate.

Effective student attendance management in higher educational institutions represents a big challenge for faculty members that need fast and accurate approaches. The traditional attendance manual approach is prone to spoofing and wasting a lot of faculty/students time and poor accuracy especially in the case of large student numbers. This paper presents an effective solution for the real-time student attendance management problem in large lecture halls. Fast response time and high accuracy imply using high-speed technologies and processes for student identification. In this paper, Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) and novel face recognition and identification approaches have been proposed and evaluated. A multimodal approach for student identification combined the power of both the traditional RFID approach and Multi-Scale Structural Similarity (MS-SSIM) index. Capturing the authentic face variability from a sequence of video frames has been considered for the recognition of faces and resulted in system robustness against the variability of facial features. Experimental results indicated an improvement in the performance of the proposed system compared to the state-of-the-art approaches at a rate between 2% and 5%. In addition, it decreased the time three times if compared with the state-of-the-art techniques, such as Extreme Learning Machine (ELM). Finally, it achieved an accuracy of 99%. Keywords: Student attendance management, Radio Frequency Identification (RFID), Face detection and recognition, Near Field Control (NFC), Multimodal person identification (MPI), Multi-scale structure similarity index (MS-SSIM)

Background: Since the time of Hippocrates, dress of the care-giver has been known to influence patient’s perception about the physician. Objectives: To explore patient’s preference about physician’s dress in Saudi primary healthcare, and how it influences their perception, regarding professionalism, competence, and confidence in the physician. Methods: A cross sectional study conducted in primary care clinics in Riyadh, enrolling 443 patients, who filled a self-administered Arabic questionnaire, enquiring about physician clothes such as white coat, scrubs and ‘thob (white-robe) shomagh (head cover)’ for males, ‘veil-skirt’ for females, and shoes. Patients’ preferences about physicians’ dresses were explored and influence of favorable dress on professionalism and trustworthiness were explored, using Chi-sq, Mann Whitney, with p ≤ .05 as significant. Principle component analysis was used to search themes in attire commonly used. Results: Over 80% of patients visiting Saudi primary care, liked seeing their physician in white coat. Traditional dress ‘thob and shomagh’ was approved by 47% whereas ‘veil and skirt’ got acceptance of 62%. Dress of physician was significantly (p

The main objective of this paper is to introduce and study the numerical solutions of the multi-space fractal-fractional Kuramoto-Sivashinsky equation (MSFFKS) and the multi-space fractal-fractional Korteweg-de Vries equation (MSFFKDV). These models are obtained by replacing the classical derivative by the fractal-fractional derivative based upon the generalized Mittag-Leffler kernel. In our investigation, we use the spectral collocation method (SCM) involving the shifted Legendre polynomials (SLPs) in order to reduce the new models to a system of algebraic equations. We then use one of the known numerical methods, the Newton-Raphson method (NRM), for solving the resulting system of the nonlinear algebraic equations. The efficiency and accuracy of the numerical results are validated by calculating the absolute error as well as the residual error. We also present several illustrative examples and graphical representations for the various results which we have derived in this paper.

One of the most important criteria for a city’s sustainability is climate adaptation. Simultaneously, traditional cities in West Asia have achieved harmony between architecture and the environment, depending on the experience and culture of the local community, indicating a fundamental stage of adaptation to the environment and climate. This research attempted to study and examine the traditional urban fabric, in order to diagnose its significance and ability to solve contemporary problems, such as the lack of comfortable and suitable urban housing environments in hot–dry climate areas, which cover most of West Asia. We used two research methods to create an integrated vision to investigate the indicators and their effect on urban form. Four case studies in the urban fabric and housing communities of West Asia’s hot–dry research areas were chosen for the analytical study. Furthermore, inductive analysis was carried out to determine the most critical sustainability parameters in the particular urban fabric. The climate response parameters of the study cities were evaluated using Ecotect simulation tools, and the determinants of sustainability indicators were quantitatively evaluated to assess each indicator’s impact on the sustainability of the urban fabric. Our findings have implications for assessing the relevance of climate adaptation in the sustainability of cities and their effectiveness in combating the impacts of climate change.

Introduction: Determination of the QT interval dispersion by means of a standard ECG at rest has been widely used for cardiovascular risk assessment during the last 15 years as one of the recent explanations for the development of life threatening ventricular arrhythmias. However, little is known about the relation between QT dispersion and the severity of coronary artery atherosclerosis as defined by SYNTAX score. Aim of work:: The present study was done to assess the correlation between QTc dispersion and the severity of coronary artery disease in acute ST elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) detected by SYNTAX score. Patients and methods: It included 50 patients who were non-diabetic, non-hypertensive and diagnosed as acute STEMI within 6 months undergoing coronary angiography in the cath. lab. of Assiut University Hospital. QT dispersion was calculated as the difference between the longest (QT max) and the shortest QT (QTmin) interval recorded by standard 12 lead ECG. The QT interval was corrected by using Bazett’s formula (QTc = QT/square root of R-R interval in seconds). Corrected QT dispersion (QTcd) was defined as the difference between the maximum and minimum QTc for a given heart rate. The SYNTAX score is calculated by syntax calculator, a new tool to grade the complexity of coronary artery disease. Results: Out of 50 participating patients, there were 43 (86%) males with mean age 53.9 ± 12.1 years. The mean QTc dispersion was 83.1 ± 20.3 ms, while mean SYNTAX score was 11.6 ± 6.1. There is a strong positive correlation between QTc dispersion and SYNTAX score. This was not related to age, gender, risk factors or family history of ischemic heart disease. Of note, there was a relationship between QTc dispersion and serum creatinine. Conclusions: Our study concluded that there is a significant positive correlation between corrected QT dispersion and severity of coronary artery disease as assessed by SYNTAX score.

The enhanced expression of heat shock proteins (HSPs) and metallothionein (MT) can be detected in response to many environmental stressors, including exposure to heavy metals. We identified partial mRNA sequences for beta2-microglobulin (ß2m), heat shock cognate 70 kDa protein (HSP70), and MT in embryos of the African catfish Clarias gariepinus (Burchell, 1822). Levels of these transcripts were assessed using reverse-transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-QPCR) after embryos of various stages were exposed to different concentrations of lead nitrate. ß2m gene expression exhibited a continuous increase over time. Neither HSP70 nor MT were upregulated, supporting the well-known sensitivity of these organisms to environmental pollutants. Interestingly, the partial MT and HSP70 mRNA sequences revealed an intimate phylogenetic relationship with these proteins in siluriforms. These partial sequences were more closely related to salmoniform proteins than to cypriniform proteins. The expression levels of HSP70 and MT were lower in embryonic tissues exposed to high concentrations of lead (500 µg/L), which impaired the fish's coping strategy via toxication at the cellular level. In conclusion, early developmental stages appear to be particularly vulnerable to lead and fail to activate the typical coping mechanisms. Therefore, these early life stages may not be suitable to characterize concentration-dependent toxicity. Keywords: Expression of stress proteins, RT-QPCR, Fish embryos, Heavy metal pollution

Artemia franciscana is a native species to the New World, and became an exotic species to most parts of the world. The Egyptian hypersaline, continental Qaroun Lake (Fayoum Governorate, Middle of Egypt) is subjected to a gradually increasing salinity rates that approximate or exceed these of seawater. Artemia populations there are known to be parthenogenetic. Yet, these populations started to exhibit abnormal morphologies. Therefore, Qaroun Lake samples of Artemia were subjected to several morphological, biometric, and molecular phylogenetic analyses for accurate species identification and phylogeographic origin approximation. These analyses revealed the existence of the alien sexual species of brine shrimp A. franciscana in Qaroun Lake. The characteristics of the subspherical frontal knob with several spines on the top, ovisac lateral triangular lobe on both sides and its projection together with the biometrics confirmed this species morphotype. DNA barcoding and other molecular analyses based on PCR-based amplification and sequencing of the barcode region of the cytochrome oxidase subunit I gene (COI) exhibited that all the collected samples belong to five haplotypes. Egyptian A. franciscana COI sequences phylogeny and pairwise distances analysis exhibited closer proximity to Latin American strains than to the Northern American ones. A. franciscana presence may be ascribed to the migratory birds present in Qaroun Lake protectorate, since no marine aquaculture activity in Qaroun Lake is known. Therefore, and for the best of our knowledge, this is the first record of the invasive A. franciscana in Egypt.

Most crab species inhabiting the Red Sea have not been characterized morphologically and genetically. In the current work, five different crab species were collected from the northern part of the Egyptian Red Sea. They were morphologically identified through description of colors, dentations of the carapace and shapes of chelipeds and pereiopods. They were also genetically characterized by the partial sequencing of the barcode region in the mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI) gene, which is known to be hypervariable among different crab species. Morphological and genetic characterization identified the crab species as: Charybdis (Charybdis) hellerii (A. Milne-Edwards, 1867), Charybdis (Charybdis) natator (Herbst, 1794), Portunus (Portunus) pelagicus (Linnaeus, 1758), Liocarcinus corrugatus (Pennant, 1777), and Atergatis roseus (Rüppell, 1830). This is the first record of L. corrugatus in the Egyptian Red Sea, despite being previously recorded in the Indian and Atlantic Ocean as well as in the Mediterranean Sea. DNA barcoding with precise morphological identification was effective in characterizing the crab species collected from the Egyptian Red Sea water.

In religious debates, the notion of the relationship among communities of different faiths occupies an important place. The religious communities manifest different positions towards one another. Among the issues of importance in religious studies is that of rulings on followers of different faiths. This research aims to identify the rulings related to followers of different faiths in general, with particular reference to Judaism, Christianity and Islam. The research follows a deductive approach. Among the important findings of the research are: ruling a follower of a different faith to be a disbeliever is typical of all faiths with scriptures; and the ruling is recognized in their "holy" books and by their scholars. The research recommends that due attempts have to be made to properly understand the beliefs of others, and to reject bias and abuse of statements taken out of context for distortion or persecution purposes. Ruling that someone is a disbeliever is one thing, but denying his human rights is another thing that must be rejected.

Background: Beach chair position (BCP) is used in arthroscopic shoulder operations for its advantages. The BCP together with deliberate hypotension used to decrease intraoperative blood loss during arthroscopic shoulder procedures, this may have risk to cause postoperative neurological insults. Dexmedetomidine and esmolol are used to induce deliberate hypotension. Near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) provides a non-invasive technique of continuous monitoring of regional cerebral tissue oxygen saturation (rScO2). In this study we evaluate the prevalence of rScO2 during hypotensive anesthesia induced by intra-operative infusion of either dexmedetomidine or esmolol in patients undergoing elective arthroscopic shoulder surgery in the BCP. Patients and methods: Fifty patients scheduled for elective arthroscopic shoulder surgery under general anesthesia with hypotensive technique in BCP, randomly assigned into two equal groups, dexmedetomidine group (D Group) and esmolol group (E Group) according to the drug used for deliberate hypotension. MAP, HR, BIS and rScO2 were recorded before induction of anesthesia T0, post-induction of anesthesia T1 as baseline, 5 min after BCP T2, 5 min after starting the studied drug T3, 30 min T4, 60 min T5, 90 min T6, 5 min after stopping the studied drug T7, 5 min after return to supine T8 and after extubation T9. Results: In D group there was significant decrease in Lt.rsco2 and Rt.rsco2, at T2 to T7 compared to T1. In E group there was significant decrease in Lt.rsco2 and Rt.rsco2 at T2, to T7 compared to T1. In D group two patients had CDEs compared to five patients in E group. Conclusion: In patients undergoing shoulder arthroscopic surgery under general anesthesia, the BCP significantly decreases rScO2, with further slight decrease of rScO2 with dexmedetomidine and esmolol induced hypotension with no affection of postoperative cognitive function with both drugs. Dexmedetomidine and esmolol are safe drugs with better safety of dexmedetomidine over esmolol.

This research is concerned with the study of the European views on Islam in the period from the dawn of Islam to the Renaissance period. It aims to identify and study those views and show how they eVol.ved. The study follows inductive and critical deductive approaches. Among the significant research results are the following. The European perception of Islam transformed throughout history. The original focus was on religious issues until the Renaissance. It gave a distorted picture of Islam. The false image gradually changed to some degree, but not completely. The focus shifted to cultural and political issues, such as freedoms and human rights. The study recommends that further studies be conducted on the issues that have not been examined yet.

Biota monitoring in ports is increasingly needed for biosecurity reasons and safeguarding marine biodiversity from biological invasion. Present and future international biosecurity directives can be accomplished only if the biota acquired by maritime traffic in ports is controlled. Methodologies for biota inventory are diverse and now rely principally on extensive and labor-intensive sampling along with taxonomic identification by experts. In this study, we employed an extremely simplified environmental DNA (eDNA) sampling methodology from only three 1-L bottles of water per port, followed by metabarcoding (high-throughput sequencing and DNA-based species identification) using 18S rDNA and Cytochrome oxidase I as genetic barcodes. Eight Bay of Biscay ports with available inventory of fouling invertebrates were employed as a case study. Despite minimal sampling efforts, three invasive invertebrates were detected: the barnacle Austrominius modestus, the tubeworm Ficopomatus enigmaticus and the polychaete Polydora triglanda. The same species have been previously found from visual and DNA barcoding (genetic identification of individuals) surveys in the same ports. The current costs of visual surveys, conventional DNA barcoding and this simplified metabarcoding protocol were compared. The results encourage the use of metabarcoding for early biosecurity alerts.