Unveiling Special Policy Regime, Judgment And Taylor Rules In Tunisia

Given limited research on monetary policy rules in revolutionary countries, this paper challenges the suitability of the Taylor rule in characterizing the monetary policy behavior of the Tunisian Central Bank (BCT), especially in turbulent times.More specifically, we investigate the possibility that the Taylor rule should be formulated as a threshold process and examine the validity of such nonlinear Taylor rule as a robust rule for conducting monetary policy in Tunisia.Using quarterly data from 1998:Q4 to 2013:Q4 to analyze the movement of nominal short-term interest rate of the BCT, we find that the nonlinear Taylor rule improves its performance with the advent of special events providing thus a better description of the Tunisian interest rate setting.  In particular, our results show that the adoption of an appropriate nonlinear approach leads to a reduction in the errors of 150 basis points in 1999 and 2009, and 60 basis points in 2011, relative to the linear approach

Saudi SCD patients’ symptoms and quality of life relative to the number of ED visits

Background Individuals living with sickle cell disease (SCD) have significantly increased emergency department (ED) use compared to the general population. In Saudi Arabia, health care is free for all individuals and therefore has no bearing on increased ED visits. However, little is known about the relationship between quality of life (QoL) and frequency of acute care utilization in this patient population. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted on 366 patients with SCD who attended the outpatient department at King Fahad Hospital, Hofuf, Saudi Arabia. Data were collected through self-administered surveys, which included: demographics, SCD-related ED visits, clinical issues, and QoL levels. We assessed the ED use by asking for the number of SCD-related ED visits within a 6-month period. Results The self-report survey of ED visits was completed by 308 SCD patients. The median number of SCD-related ED visits within a 6-month time period (IQR) was four (2-7 visits). According to the unadjusted negative binomial model, the rate of SCD-related ED visits increased by (46, 39.3, 40, and 53.5 %) for patients with fever, skin redness with itching, swelling, and blood transfusion, respectively. Poor QoL tends to increase the rate of SCD-related ED visits. Well education and poor general health positively influenced the rate of SCD-related ED visits. Well education tends to increase the rate of SCD-related ED visits by 50.2 %. The rate of SCD-related ED visits decreased by 1.4 % for every point increase in general health. Conclusion Saudi patients with sickle cell disease reported a wide range of SCD-related ED visits. It was estimated that six of 10 SCD patients had at least three ED visits within a 6-month period. Well education and poor general health resulted in an increase in the rate of SCD-related ED visits

A Bayesian approach to competing risks model with masked causes of failure and incomplete failure times

We present a Bayesian approach for analysis of competing risks survival data with masked causes of failure. This approach is often used to assess the impact of covariates on the hazard functions when the failure time is exactly observed for some subjects but only known to lie in an interval of time for the remaining subjects. Such data, known as partly interval-censored data, usually result from periodic inspection in production engineering. In this study, Dirichlet and Gamma processes are assumed as priors for masking probabilities and baseline hazards. Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) technique is employed for the implementation of the Bayesian approach. -e effectiveness of the proposed approach is illustrated with simulated and production engineering applications

The COVID-19 Pandemic: A Comprehensive Review of Taxonomy, Genetics, Epidemiology, Diagnosis, Treatment, and Control

A pneumonia outbreak with unknown etiology was reported in Wuhan, Hubei province, China, in December 2019, associated with the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market. The causative agent of the outbreak was identified by the WHO as the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), producing the disease named coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19). The virus is closely related (96.3%) to bat coronavirus RaTG13, based on phylogenetic analysis. Human-to-human transmission has been confirmed even from asymptomatic carriers. The virus has spread to at least 200 countries, and more than 1,700,000 confirmed cases and 111,600 deaths have been recorded, with massive global increases in the number of cases daily. Therefore, the WHO has declared COVID-19 a pandemic. The disease is characterized by fever, dry cough, and chest pain with pneumonia in severe cases. In the beginning, the world public health authorities tried to eradicate the disease in China through quarantine but are now transitioning to prevention strategies worldwide to delay its spread. To date, there are no available vaccines or specific therapeutic drugs to treat the virus. There are many knowledge gaps about the newly emerged SARS-CoV-2, leading to misinformation. Therefore, in this review, we provide recent information about the COVID-19 pandemic. This review also provides insights for the control of pathogenic infections in humans such as SARS-CoV-2 infection and future spillovers

Games Wide Open to athlete partnership in building artificial intelligence systems

The integration of artificial intelligence (AI) in sports medicine is opening new frontiers for athlete health and performance, aligning with the spirit of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games slogan, “Games Wide Open.

Bioinformatic survey of CRISPR loci across 15 Serratia species

The Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats and CRISPR-associated proteins (CRISPR-Cas) system of prokaryotes is an adaptative immune defense mechanism to protect themselves from invading genetic elements (e.g., phages and plasmids). Studies that describe the genetic organization of these prokaryotic systems have mainly reported on the Enterobacteriaceae family (now reorganized within the order of Enterobacterales). For some genera, data on CRISPR-Cas systems remain poor, as in the case of Serratia (now part of the Yersiniaceae family) where data are limited to a few genomes of the species marcescens. This study describes the detection, in silico, of CRISPR loci in 146 Serratia complete genomes and 336 high-quality assemblies available for the species ficaria, fonticola, grimesii, inhibens, liquefaciens, marcescens, nematodiphila, odorifera, oryzae, plymuthica, proteomaculans, quinivorans, rubidaea, symbiotica, and ureilytica. Apart from subtypes I-E and I-F1 which had previously been identified in marcescens, we report that of I-C and the I-E unique locus 1, I-E*, and I-F1 unique locus 1. Analysis of the genomic contexts for CRISPR loci revealed mdtN-phnP as the region mostly shared (grimesii, inhibens, marcescens, nematodiphila, plymuthica, rubidaea, and Serratia sp.). Three new contexts detected in genomes of rubidaea and fonticola (puu genes-mnmA) and rubidaea (osmE-soxG and ampC-yebZ) were also found. The plasmid and/or phage origin of spacers was also established

Co-expression and impact of prostate specific membrane antigen and prostate specific antigen in prostatic pathologies

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The present study was undertaken to relate the co-expression of prostate-associated antigens, PSMA and PSA, with the degree of vascularization in normal and pathologic (hyperplasia and cancer) prostate tissues to elucidate their possible role in tumor progression.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The study was carried out in 6 normal, 44 benign prostatic hyperplastic and 39 cancerous human prostates. Immunohistochemical analysis were performed using the monoclonal antibody CD34 to determine the angiogenic activity, and the monoclonal antibodies 3E6 and ER-PR8 to assess PSMA and PSA expression, respectively.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In our study we found that in normal prostate tissue, PSMA and PSA were equally expressed (3.7 ± 0.18 and 3.07 ± 0.11). A significant difference in their expression was see in hyperplastic and neoplastic prostates tissues (16.14 ± 0.17 and 30.72 ± 0.85, respectively) for PSMA and (34.39 ± 0.53 and 17.85 ± 1.21, respectively) for PSA. Study of prostate tumor profiles showed that the profile (PSA+, PSMA-) expression levels decreased between normal prostate, benign prostatic tissue and primary prostate cancer. In the other hand, the profile (PSA-, PSMA+) expression levels increased from normal to prostate tumor tissues. PSMA overexpression was associated with high intratumoral angiogenesis activity. By contrast, high PSA expression was associated with low angiogenesis activity.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>These data suggest that these markers are regulated differentially and the difference in their expression showed a correlation with malignant transformation. With regard to the duality PSMA-PSA, this implies the significance of their investigation together in normal and pathologic prostate tissues.</p

Knowledge, Attitude and Practice of Village Midwives Regarding HCV in Khartoum State, Sudan; 2014

Hepatitis is a disease of liver that can be caused by chemicals or viruses. The objective of this study is to study level of knowledge, attitude and practice among village midwives regarding HCV, Khartoum State, Sudan, 2014. This study was a descriptive study. Three hundred thirty five village midwives were surveyed. Data was collected through questionaire which was composed of 20 questions; 11 for knowledge, 6 for attitude and 3 for practice. Variables were computed using SPSS version 20. The results shows that most of respondents were in age group less than 49 years (68.4%). Seventy seven percent were educated. About half of them had duration of work for more than twenty years. They had poor knowledge (33.7%) and attitude (42.4%); but they had moderate level of positive practice (61.2%). There was no significant statistical association between knowledge and age, education, or duration of work; no significant statistical association between attitude and age or duration of work, while there was significant statistical association of attitude with education; and no statistical association between practice and age, while there was significant statistical association between practice and education and duration of work. There was a poor level of knowledge and attitude; but there was moderate level of positive practice.There was significant statistical association between attitude and education; between practice and education and duration of work. Health education is highly recommended

Phytophthora nicotianae is the predominant Phytophthora species in citrus nurseries in Egypt

Phytophthora root rot is considered to be the most destructive disease to citrus production in Egypt. Phytophthora species are generally present in citrus nurseries, where soil pots containing the survival propagules are considered responsible for their spread into new orchards. The goal of this study was to investigate the distribution and seasonal variation of Phytophthora species in soil and feeder roots in two Egyptian citrus nurseries, characterized by different management, and to identify Phytophthora species associated with root rot. Soil and root samples were collected at monthly intervals from Sour orange and Volkameriana lemon rootstocks during March-July period. The inoculum density of Phytophthora species, and the percentage of infected feeder roots, were estimated using the plate dilution method in conjunction with selective media. Phytophthora isolates were identified according to their morphological characteristics and on the basis of the ITS regions of the rDNA. Phytophthora nicotianae was the predominant isolated species, followed by P. citrophthora and P. palmivora. Phytophthora nicotianae was detected in both nurseries, while P. citrophthora and P. palmivora were recovered only in one nursery. Inoculum density of Phytophthora species fluctuated during spring and summer according to the environmental conditions, rootstock, and nursery management practices