371 research outputs found
On Solution of Fractional Differential Equations Using Osler Definition in Hilbert Space
In this paper we consider the fractional differential equations with constant coefficients, using Osler definition.......
A Review of Service Quality at Higher Learning Institutions
In light of plenty of challenges and obstacles facing higher learning institutions, that include increasing tuitions fees, funding shrinkages, if not cuts, worries of decreasing numbers of students or preventing them in pursuing their education, and more importantly, accomplishing a sustainable competitive advantage in the marketplace of higher education, universities pay more attention and make all these challenges and obstacles at the top of its agendas. These pressing challenges have called on universities around the world to look for ways through which they can tackle them. Universities in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia have not also been left behind in the wind of change that seems to have swept through the service sector. Service quality is a model developed under the management field in order to facilitate effective measurement of quality of services provided by any organisation, whether public or private. Therefore, the objective of this paper is to determine which of the five instruments of service quality has the relative superior measuring capability in measuring service quality in Saudi Arabian higher learning institutions. It also attempts to review the various models developed in service quality. The overall literature focuses on service quality at higher learning institutions. The conclusion of this paper shows that although higher learning institutions in Saudi Arabia have already joined in the implementation of service quality using various instruments, they still have not yet made a significant progress in the newly adopted system and there is lack of enough so far on this regard. Keywords: Service Quality, Higher Learning Institutions
Basidiobolomycosis of the Colon Masquerading as Stenotic Colon Cancer
Basidiobolus ranarum
is a widespread saprophyte fungus with pathogenic potential. It affects mainly the subcutaneous tissues of the trunk and limbs. Relatively recently, occasional reports of gastrointestinal basidiobolomycosis appeared in the literature. Due to the rarity of the condition and the nonspecific presenting features, the correct diagnosis is usually hard to reach. In this paper, we describe the clinical course of an otherwise healthy female, who presented with a colonic mass. She received subtotal colectomy followed by oral itraconazole, with successful outcome
ASSESSMENT OF IL-33, TNF- α AND LEUKOTREINS B4 IN PATIENTS SERUM WITH ENTERIC FEVER
Salmonella typhoid and paratyphoid are transmitted mainly by the fecal-oral route. This study was designed to find the correlation between Salmonella and IgM, IgG, and the levels of interleukin-33, TNF-α, and LTB 4. The study was carried out from March 2020 to January 2021 for the detection of Salmonellosis in 100 suspected patients with age group ranging from 17 - 69 years, who attended Baghdad teaching hospitals that had been examined and defined as suspected cases by a specialized physician with the recording of clinical manifestation. The diagnosis was done by immunochromatography method, a blood sample was taken from the patient as well as other 30 healthy controls matching in age and gender. The study included measurement of the level of interleukin -33, Tumor necrosis Factor α, and Leukotreins B4 level in sera of patients and healthy control. The results indicated that anti –salmonella IgM positive in 54 cases, anti- salmonella IgG positive in 46 cases, and 18 positive cases with both IgM and IgG. The Level of interleukin 33, Tumor necrosis Factor – α increased significantly while the serum Leukotreins B4 level decreased significantly in patients sera as compared with healthy control
Attitude and intention of Iraqi healthcare providers to get vaccinated against COVID-19: a cross-sectional study
Background: International efforts to confront the COVID-19 pandemic are joining forces by accelerating the pace of vaccination. This study aims to explore the attitude and the intent to get vaccinated against COVID-19 among healthcare providers (HCPs) in Iraq.
Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted in January 2021 using web-based facilities to access the respondents. The data were collected through a semi-structured and self-administered questionnaire, including sociodemographic and close-ended questions related to attitude and intention toward COVID-19 vaccination. Bivariate and multivariate logistic regression were recruited to predict variables. The statistical significance is considered at less than 0.05.
Results: Data of 209 HCPs with a mean age of 45.12 (± 6.37) years have undergone final analysis. Most of the HCPs were males (112, 53.6%) and nurses (110, 52.6%), who had close contact (64.6%) with COVID-19 patients, and forty percent have been infected with COVID-19. Overall, 115 HCPs (58.0%) reported intention to get vaccinated compared to 94 (42.0%) who declined vaccination. Variables associated with intention to get vaccinated among HCPs were high attitude toward COVID-19 vaccination (odds ratio (OR) = 1.740, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.799, 3.786), aged less than 45 years (OR = 3.713; 95% CI: 1.647, 8.367), married (OR = 2.155; 95% CI: 0.984, 4.720), highly educated (OR = 2.657; 95% CI: 1.202, 5.871), doctors (OR = 3.153; 95% CI: 1.428, 6.963), contracted with COVID-19 (OR = 4.119; 95% CI: 1.623, 10.455), directly engaged in management of COVID-19 patients (OR = 3.962; 95% CI: 1.569, 10.005), and had lost a close relative due to COVID-19 (OR = 5.698; 95% CI: 1.506, 12.564).
Conclusion: The urgent need to improve the COVID-19 vaccine uptake rates among Iraqis requires a positive attitude and a high vaccination rate among HCPs
In Situ Hybridization for Molecular Detection of Human Papilloma Viral 6 / 11 DNA in Adenoctomized Tissues from A group of Iraqi Pediatric Patients
هنالك أكثر من 200 من الأنماط الجينية لفايروس الورمي الحليمي البشري والتي تم التعرف عليها من خلال الترابط مابين الانماط الجينية ذات الاختطار الواطئ للفايروس الحليمي البشري مع مجموعة متنوعة من الأورام الفموية والبلعوم والبلعوم الأنفي وكذلك الأورام الحليمية غير الخبيثة وتضخم الغدة. هدفت هذه الدراسة من نوع الاستقصائية- السيطرة إلى تحديد الحمض النووي للفيروس الورمي الحليمي البشري 6/11 في انسجة الغدد البلعومية الأنفية واللوزتين لمجموعة من المرضى الذين يخضعون لاستئصال اللوزتين. تم الحصول على 60عينة من أنسجة اللوزتين الأنفية البلعومية من الأطفال الذين يعانون من تضخم اللوزتين الغدي, تضمنت 40 من أنسجة اللوزتين الأنفية البلعومية للمرضى الذين يعانون من تضخم غدي ، و 20 عينة نسجية من الأطفال بعد عمليات التشذيب للانسجة الأنفية السفلية بدون تغييرات مرضية ملحوظة (كمجموعة سيطرة). تم اجراء الكشف الجزيئي عن الحامض النووي للفيروس الورمي الحليمي البشري نمط 6\11 باستخدام تقنية التهجين الموضعي ذات الحساسية العالية في عينات الأنسجة الضخمة الغدية ز تم العثور على 8 من أصل 40 تحتوي على نتائج إيجابية للحمض النووي للفيروس الحليمي البشري 6\11 حيث شكلت 20 ٪ من إجمالي الأنسجة الغدية البلعومية الأنفية.بينما لاتوجد أي اشارة موجبة للحامض النووي للفايروس الحليمي البشري نمط 6\11 في مجموعة السيطرة. أظهر التحليل الإحصائي للنتائج في هذا البحث اختلافًا كبيرًا مقارنةً مابين مجموعتي المرضى والسيطرة عند مستوى احتمالية اقل او يساوي 5%. يمكن أن يلعب فيروس الورم الحليمي البشري ذات الاختطار الواطئ في تلك الأنسجة الغدية المتضخمة دورًا في التسبب في الأمراض و / أو يشكل عامل لانتشار العدوى الفيروسية للانسجة الاخرىAmong more than 200 different human papilloma viral genotypes, the association of low oncogenic risk-HPV genotypes have been recognized with a variety of oral, oropharyngeal, nasopharyngeal benign tumors as well as non-neoplastic polyposis and papillomas and adenoid hypertrophy. This prospective case- control study aims to determine the rate of DNA detection of HPV genotype 6/11 in nasopharyngeal adeno- tonsillar tissues from a group of patients subjected to adenoctomy for adenoid hypertrophy . A total number of nasopharyngeal adeno-tonsillar tissue specimens from pediatric patients with adenoid hypertrophy were enrolled; 40 nasopharyngeal adeno-tonsillar tissues from patients with adenoid hypertrophy, and 20 normal nasal tissue specimens were obtained from pediatric patients following trimming operations of their inferior nasal turbinates' with unremarkable pathological changes (as an apparently healthy control group). The molecular detection methods for HPV detection were performed by using DNA probes via a recent version of chromogenic in situ hybridization specified for low- risk HPV genotypes. Among total adenoid hypertrophied tissue specimens group, 8 out of 40 were found to contain positive results for DNA of HPV 6 / 11 genotype, constituting 20% of the total screened nasopharyngeal adenotonsillar tissues. No positive– CISH reactions were detected in the control nasal tissues. The statistical analysis of results in this research showed significant difference when compared to the control apparently healthy tissues. The significant rate of low- oncogenic HPV genotypes detection in those adenoid hypertrophied tissues could play, in part, a role in their pathogenesis and / or constituting a herald focus for the spread of such important virally transmitted infection
Investment opportunities, corporate governance quality, and firm performance in the UAE
Purpose – This paper examines the influence of investment opportunities on firm performance and evaluates corporate governance practices in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to determine whether corporate governance quality moderates that influence. Design/methodology/approach – A fixed-effects regression was employed to examine the influence of investment opportunities on firm performance and the role of corporate governance quality as a moderator forall listed firms on the Abu Dhabi Stock Exchange (ADX) and the Dubai Financial Market (DFM). We examined 501 firm-year observations for the period when the corporate governance code in the UAE was coming into
force, from 2008 to 2012. Findings – The regression results indicate that investment opportunities have a negative influence on firm
performance. The corporate governance index used here shows that the level of corporate governance
practiced in the UAE is weak. We also find that strong corporate governance ameliorates the negative influence of investment opportunities, which supports our hypotheses. The sub-indices of corporate governance that matter the most for moderating investment opportunities are board functioning and ethics.Practical implications – The results of this paper reflect the need to examine corporate governance in the context of the external environment represented by investment opportunities in our study. The findings could
raise awareness of the importance of strong corporate governance practices, not only to directly improve firm performance but also through its influence on external variables. Legislators, regulators and other interested parties could use these results to examine practices in the UAE following the implementation of the corporate
governance code.Originality/value – This study contributes to the literature by evaluating the role that corporate governance quality and its components could play in firm performance and indirectly moderating other external factors
(such as investment opportunities)
What influence entreprenuer to pay Islamic tax (zakat)
This study was carried out to examine the determining factors of knowledge, selfefficacy, service quality and frequency of interaction between staff of Zakat institution and Entreprenuer (Zakat payers) on Zakat on business income compliance behaviour. A survey questionnaire was administered to 700 respondents out of which 227 usable questionnaires were used for analysis purposes. The measure of the adequacy of the sample, Kaiser-MeyerOlkin (KMO) and internal consistency using Cronbach Alpha value was applied to assess the validity and reliability of the variables. For the purposes of hypothesis testing, multiple regression analysis was performed. Findings revealed that knowledge, self-efficacy and frequency of interaction influenced compliance behaviour of Zakat on business income.
Based on the findings, it can be concluded that any strategy to be implemented by the authorised institutions to improve the collection of Zakat in the near future should focus on increasing Entreprenuer’s knowledge and self-confidence as well as increasing the number of interactions between staff and entreprenuer
The Bivariate Rogers-Szeg\"{o} Polynomials
We present an operator approach to deriving Mehler's formula and the Rogers
formula for the bivariate Rogers-Szeg\"{o} polynomials . The proof
of Mehler's formula can be considered as a new approach to the nonsymmetric
Poisson kernel formula for the continuous big -Hermite polynomials
due to Askey, Rahman and Suslov. Mehler's formula for
involves a sum and the Rogers formula involves a sum.
The proofs of these results are based on parameter augmentation with respect to
the -exponential operator and the homogeneous -shift operator in two
variables. By extending recent results on the Rogers-Szeg\"{o} polynomials
due to Hou, Lascoux and Mu, we obtain another Rogers-type formula
for . Finally, we give a change of base formula for
which can be used to evaluate some integrals by using the Askey-Wilson
integral.Comment: 16 pages, revised version, to appear in J. Phys. A: Math. Theo
Model Free Approach for Non-Isothermal Decomposition of Un-Irradiated and γ-Irradiated Silver Acetate: New Route for Synthesis of Ag2O Nanoparticles
Kinetic studies for the non-isothermal decomposition of unirradiated and γ-irradiated silver acetate with 103 kGy total γ-ray doses were carried out in air. The results showed that the decomposition proceeds in one major step in the temperature range of (180–270 °C) with the formation of Ag2O as solid residue. The non-isothermal data for un-irradiated and γ-irradiated silver acetate were analyzed using Flynn-Wall-Ozawa (FWO) and nonlinear Vyazovkin (VYZ) iso-conversional methods. These free models on the investigated data showed a systematic dependence of Ea on α indicating a simple decomposition process. No significant changes in the thermal decomposition behavior of silver acetate were recorded as a result of γ-irradiation. Calcinations of γ-irradiated silver acetate (CH3COOAg) at 200 °C for 2 hours only led to the formation of pure Ag2O mono-dispersed nanoparticles. X-ray diffraction, FTIR and SEM techniques were employed for characterization of the synthesized nanoparticles
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