Classification of COVID-19 in Chest X-Ray Images using Deep Transfer Learning

In December 2019, the novel coronavirus appeared in Wuhan, China, and became a critical public health problem worldwide. The transmission of this virus via small droplets produced by coughing, sneezing, and talking led to the rapid spread of the virus. Noteworthy, the coronavirus caused a devastating effect on daily lives, public health, the global economy and still threatening the lives of billions of people. Therefore, a fast and accurate method of diagnosing COVID-19 infection is vital to prevent the spread of the disease and to quickly treat affected patients. In this paper, we proposed a deep learning model for classifying covid-19 chest X-ray images into six classes. However, the main challenges are there is no large enough covid-19 dataset in the public domain compared to other classes. Hence, it is not easy to distinguish the similarities between categories and detailed features. Therefore, to counteract the problem of insufficient annotated images of covid-19 compatible with other classes, transfer learning is used which is also an effective deep feature extractor to extract similarity features between these classes.  In fact, we trained three pre-training models [RestNet50, MobileNet, ResNet101] to classify covid-19 X-ray images into six classes. The experimental results showed the validity and efficiency of our proposed model which exceeds all proposed models in the literature

Construction and Usage of Control Charts for Some Properties of Sugar Crystals

Statistical process control benefits organization by providing a systemic method for monitoring and evaluation of process variation. In this research application of statistical process control using variables control charts on the data from Al Gunaid Sugar Factory season (2015 – 2016) to test quality for three properties of sugar crystal namely purity%, colour(IU) and moisture%. The samples were selected at systemic randomness  to cover all the season days. The periodic interval of sample was about 2 hours, the sample size is equal 10 and the subgroups are equal 15. Two variables control charts were constructed ( - charts and R-- charts) for the purity%, colour (IU) and moisture % of sugar crystals. Six random samples were taken and measured  for the purity%, colour and moisture and plotted on the constructed charts. The average of purity% was  98.03% . The  charts for purity of sugar crystal showed that, Three points were located below lower action limit and one point was located above upper action limits other points were located within the stable limits.  This means that process was out of control  The average of colour was  342.24 (IU). The  -chart for colour of sugar showed that  three  points were located above upper action limit and three points were located  above upper  warning limits.  This means that the process was out of control and therefore the cause for that should be searched for.  The average of moisture  was 0.0572 %.  – chart for moisture showed that one point was located above upper warning limit, other points were located between the upper and lower warning limits  this indicated the process was under control. The study recommended  to construct control charts for other properties of sugar crystal such as Ash% , and Brix%

Survey of Arabic Checker Techniques

It is known that the importance of spell checking, which increases with the expanding of technologies, using the Internet and the local dialects, in addition to non-awareness of linguistic language. So, this importance increases with the Arabic language, which has many complexities and specificities that differ from other languages. This paper explains these specificities and presents the existing works based on techniques categories that are used, as well as explores these techniques. Besides, it gives directions for future work

Historical Islamic Fiscal Solutions in Times of Crises and Its Contemporary Equivalences

The COVID-19 crisis led to great pressure on the world governments’ fiscal budgets as governments scrambled to find new ways to finance and expand social protection and health programs. In order to provide for their populace, many Islamic countries had to pursue loans from international institutions. These loans have been observed to be followed by a phase of austerity that affects the access of the populace to health and education services. In this paper, the researchers seek to put forward a number of fiscal policies to finance the fiscal needs of the countries inside the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) by utilizing countries’ own internal resources. By surveying the fiscal tools used by past Islamic empires during the times of plague and famine, we find that past Islamic empires used different policies that shared a distinctive characteristic, this characteristic is the voluntary and mandatory just redistribution of resources. Based on this concept, the researchers recommend the redistribution of the community resources through the early payment of zakat, extrabudgetary funds, wealth tax and the utilization of excess bank reserves

Comparative Study of Utilising Neural Network and Response Surface Methodology for Flexible Pavement Maintenance Treatments

The use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) for the prediction of flexible pavement maintenance that is caused by distressing on the surface layer is crucial in the effort to increase the service life span of pavements as well as reduce government expenses. This study aimed to predict flexible pavement maintenance in tropical regions by using an Artificial Neural Network (ANN) and the Response Surface Methodology (RSM) for predicting models for pavement maintenance in the tropical region. However, to predict the performance of the treatment techniques for flexible pavements, we used critical criteria to choose our date from different sources to represent the situation of the current pavement. The effect of the distress condition on the flexible pavement surface performance was one of the criteria considered in our study. The data were chosen in this study for 288 sets of treatment techniques for flexible pavements. The input parameters used for the prediction were severity, density, road function, and Average Daily Traffic (ADT). The finding of regression models in (R2) values for the ANN prediction model is 0.93, while the (R2) values are (RSM) prediction model dependent on the full quadratic is 0.85. The results of two methods were compared for their predictive capabilities in terms of the coefficient of determination (2), the Mean Squared Error (MSE), and the Root Mean Square Error (RMSE), based on the dataset. The results showed that the prediction made utilizing ANN was very relevant to the goal in contrast to that made using the statistical program RSM based on different types of mathematical methods such as full quadratic, pure quadratic, interactions, and linear regression

Integral Equations Concepts and Solutions

In this research I shall study general concepts of integral equations including classifications, some theorems that help in formulating the solutions analytically and numerically, with some applications of integral equations in applied and pure mathematics

A Review of the Utilisation of Recycled Waste Material as an Alternative Modifier in Asphalt Mixtures

The possibility of using waste materials in road construction is of great interest as their utilisation may contribute to reducing the problems of hazard and pollution and conserve natural resources. Thus, there is an urgent need to find a sustainable method for using waste materials as a substitute in the standard asphalt binders. There are several concerns about the physical and chemical properties and mechanical performance of asphalt pavements incorporated with waste material in the effort to reduce permanent deformation of the road surface. This review article presents a brief discussion of the asphalt mixtures modified with waste material, and the recycled materials used as a modifier in the asphalt mixture. The present paper summarises the use of crumb rubber, crushed concrete, steel slag, glass fibre and plastic waste in asphalt mixtures. The use of waste materials as a modifier in asphalt mixture resulted in improved asphalt pavement performance. Results advocate that rubberised asphalt mixture with desired properties can be designed as an additive with a friendly environmental approach in construction materials. The researches that adopted the influence of usage, recycle waste material to improve the performance of the asphalt of the road are still limited compared to other construction fields. Doi: 10.28991/cej-2020-SP(EMCE)-05 Full Text: PD

ASSESSMENT OF THE RISK OF TYPE 2 DIABETES AMONG HEALTHY WITHOUT DIABETES IN SUDAN USING THE FINDRISC TOOL

Background and objective: Diabetes is increasingly recognized as a serious public health concern worldwide. The risk assessment of type 2 diabetes can be done through a risk questionnaire that provides an accurate, low-cost, educational and time-effective method for this. By early identification of people at risk of developing diabetes and if it is confirmed that they are in the pre-diabetes stage, adequate care is provided to them through lifestyle interventions or even hypoglycemic drugs if needed, thus delaying or preventing their progression to diabetes. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the risk of developing type 2 diabetes (T2DM) among healthy Sudanese without diabetes in Khartoum. Methods: A cross-sectional study from Nov 2016-March 2017 comprising 122 adult participants, age (>20 yrs) visiting the garden yard located at airport street at Khartoum district without a diagnosis of T2DM was carried out. The risk of developing T2DM was assessed using the validated and widely used Finish diabetes risk score (FINDRISC) Total Risk Score of each participant was analysed and compared. Knowledge assessment tool and Anthropometric measurements were also used. Results: 122 participated in the study, the mean age of the participants was 31.55 ± 10.122, the mean BMI was 25.718 ± 5.813 and the mean of waist circumstances 90.2 ± 16.63. Estimated risk of developing T2DM in 10 years of study for participants according to FINDRISC, only 3.3% have a high risk.The risk factors for the participants in the study for developing DM type 2 were 66.4% has positive family history, 44.3% were overweight or obese, has 41.8% limited physical activity and 27.9% has central obesity. The pattern of vegetables and fruits daily intake according to FINDRISC only 36.1% from participants. Significant positive correlation (r= 0.395, p=0.000) High risk score of FINDRISC is >14, Estimated age: Y=24.1+ (0.9x15) = 37.9≈38years.Significant positive correlation (r= 0.6, p=0.000) High risk score of FINDRISC is > 14, Estimated BMI: Y= 19.24+ (0.8x15) = 31 Kg/ m2. Conclusion: The knowledge about diabetes risk factors, classical symptoms and common complication was not satisfactory. None of the “at high” risk had their risk further investigated. While 25% adapted health their lifestyle. Large scale studies to test the validity of FINDRISC in Sudanese population should be conducted. Development of Sudanese population specific risk score that take into count the local risk factors is warranted.                     Peer Review History: Received 12 July 2020; Revised 10 August; Accepted 26 August, Available online 15 September 2020 Academic Editor: Dr. Muhammad Zahid Iqbal, AIMST University, Malaysia, [email protected] UJPR follows the most transparent and toughest ‘Advanced OPEN peer review’ system. The identity of the authors and, reviewers will be known to each other. This transparent process will help to eradicate any possible malicious/purposeful interference by any person (publishing staff, reviewer, editor, author, etc) during peer review. As a result of this unique system, all reviewers will get their due recognition and respect, once their names are published in the papers. We expect that, by publishing peer review reports with published papers, will be helpful to many authors for drafting their article according to the specifications. Auhors will remove any error of their article and they will improve their article(s) according to the previous reports displayed with published article(s). The main purpose of it is ‘to improve the quality of a candidate manuscript’. Our reviewers check the ‘strength and weakness of a manuscript honestly’. There will increase in the perfection, and transparency. Received file:                Reviewer's Comments: Average Peer review marks at initial stage: 5.0/10 Average Peer review marks at publication stage: 7.0/10 Reviewer(s) detail: Prof. Dr. Hassan A.H. Al-Shamahy, Sana'a University, Yemen, [email protected] Dr. Tanveer Ahmed Khan, Hajvery University, Lahore, Pakistan, [email protected] Similar Articles: EFFECTS OF EMODIN ON BLOOD GLUCOSE AND BODY WEIGHT IN TYPE 1 DIABETIC RATS THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN DIABETES MELLITUS AND TUBERCULOSIS IN REVIEW OF PREVALENCE, DIAGNOSTICS AND PREVENTION PLASMA FERRITIN AND HEPCIDIN LEVELS IN PATIENTS WITH TYPE 2 DIABETES MELLITU

Hybrid Timber Concrete Composite Slab for Analysis of Lag Screw Embedment Connections

Push-out-shear tests were used in this study to analyze lag screw connections in timber-concrete composite (TCC) slabs based on the embedment depth. The goal of this research is to look into the relationship between shear capacity and embedment depth in TCC, as well as to investigate the embedment strength of the wood. Experiments were carried out at different embedment depths (5.08 cm, 7.0 cm, and 8.9 cm). The prepared samples were examined in order to determine the failure modes and provide an accurate assessment of the influence of embedment depth on TCC slabs. The investigation on the embedment strength of the wood was performed then for the analysis of the crushing of wood fibers, lag screw yielding strength, and maximum load applied at embedment depths of 6.6 cm and 7.0 cm. The results indicate that between 5.08 cm and 7.0 cm, there was an apparent improvement in the relationship between embedment depth (ED) and shear capacity of TCC slabs in terms of the shear strength, while a significant difference was observed between 7.0 cm and 8.9 cm. The study suggests that the ED of the TCC slab should be maintained at around 7.33 times the diameter of the lag screw