Diagnosis of COVID-19 from X-rays Using Recurrent Neural Network

Nearly two years ago, the COVID-19 pandemic caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus has caused drastic changes in many aspects of life at many levels in the world, and this has affected peoples lifestyles. This impact was particularly significant and impactful on the health sectors, among many others. The COVID-19 virus has essentially increased the demand for treatment, diagnosis and testing. The definitive test for diagnosing COVID-19 is reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR); nevertheless, chest x-ray is a quick, effective and inexpensive diagnosis to detect possible pneumonia associated with COVID-19. In this study, the feasibility of using a deep learning-based Recurrent Neural Network (RNN) classifier to detect COVID-19 from CXR images is investigated. The proposed classifier consists of an RNN, trained by a deep learning model. The RNN identifies abnormal images that contain signs of COVID-19. The experiment used in the study employed 286 COVID-19 samples from the Kaggle Repository. The proposed technique is compared with the decision tree algorithm in order to prove the efficiency of the proposed one. The results revealed that the accuracy of the RNN was 97.90%, with a low data loss rate of 2.10%, while the decision tree accuracy was 75.8741%, and a relatively high data loss rate of 24.1259%. These results support the usefulness of the proposed deep learning-based RNN classifier in pre-screening patients for triage and decision-making before RT-PCR data are available

The Determinants Of Capital Flight: Evidence From MENA Countries

This paper examines the determinants of capital flight in seven Middle East and North Africa (MENA) countries during the period of 1981-2008. The results are robust to four econometrics techniques: Ordinary least Squares, Fixed effects, Random Effects, and Seemingly Unrelated Regression Model. The empirical findings indicate that the capital flight in MENA countries is driven mainly by lag capital flight, external debt, foreign direct investment, real GDP growth rate and uncertainty. Based on these results, the paper recommends that governments in these countries should manage their external debt efficiently, and stabilize their monetary and macroeconomic policies in order to staunch capital flight

Empirical linkages between ICT, tourism, and trade towards sustainable environment: evidence from BRICS countries

There is a growing utilisation of information and communication technologies (ICT) in the recent digital era. Trade and tourism have also attained attention as determinants of environmental sustainability. Therefore, this study investigates linkages between ICT, tourism, trade, economic growth, and environmental sustainability in BRICS economies. Advanced panel estimation entitled cross-sectionally augmented autoregressive distributed lags (CSARDL) was applied from 1990 to 2019. Findings suggest the adverse effect of tourism, trade, and growth factors on environmental sustainability, whereas ICT helps promote a sustainable environment among the targeted economies. Likewise, the shortrun results prove that economic growth and tourism are prone to ecological health, while trade possesses an insignificant influence on ecological sustainability. These results suggest the integration of ICT in trade and tourism sectors to mitigate their negative ecological consequences

The effect of strict state measures on the epidemiologic curve of COVID-19 infection in the context of a developing country : a simulation from Jordan

COVID-19 has posed an unprecedented global public health threat and caused a significant number of severe cases that necessitated long hospitalization and overwhelmed health services in the most affected countries. In response, governments initiated a series of non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) that led to severe economic and social impacts. The effect of these intervention measures on the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic are not well investigated within developing country settings. This study simulated the trajectories of the COVID-19 pandemic curve in Jordan between February and May and assessed the effect of Jordan’s strict NPI measures on the spread of COVID-19. A modified susceptible, exposed, infected, and recovered (SEIR) epidemic model was utilized. The compartments in the proposed model categorized the Jordanian population into six deterministic compartments: suspected, exposed, infectious pre-symptomatic, infectious with mild symptoms, infectious with moderate to severe symptoms, and recovered. The GLEAMviz client simulator was used to run the simulation model. Epidemic curves were plotted for estimated COVID-19 cases in the simulation model, and compared against the reported cases. The simulation model estimated the highest number of total daily new COVID-19 cases, in the pre-symptomatic compartmental state, to be 65 cases, with an epidemic curve growing to its peak in 49 days and terminating in a duration of 83 days, and a total simulated cumulative case count of 1048 cases. The curve representing the number of actual reported cases in Jordan showed a good pattern compatibility to that in the mild and moderate to severe compartmental states. The reproduction number under the NPIs was reduced from 5.6 to less than one. NPIs in Jordan seem to be effective in controlling the COVID-19 epidemic and reducing the reproduction rate. Early strict intervention measures showed evidence of containing and suppressing the disease

Inhibitory Effect of Mediterranean Sage and Rosemary on Clinical and Community Isolates of Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus

Abstract Plant extracts are traditionally used for treating many infectious and non-infectious diseases. This study aimed at assessing the inhibitory effect of the ethanol extracts of two medicinal plants; Mediterranean Sage (Salvia libanotica) and Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis) on clinical and community strains of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). Ethanol extracts of the two plants were tested for their antibacterial effect against 25 clinical (n=15, 60%) and community (n=10, 40%) strains of MRSA. Rosemary and Mediterranean Sage extracts demonstrated activity against all isolates, 50μl of 100 mg/ml of each plant extract yielded inhibition zone reaching as high as 27 and 30 mm by agar well diffusion method. Effective MICs and MBCs of ethanol extracts of Rosemary and Mediterranean Sage against MRSA were 0.125 to 0.5mg/ml and0.25 to 1 mg/ml respectively. Mixed ethanol extract of Rosemary and Mediterranean Sage showed antagonistic effect on MRSA strains. These results suggest the potential therapeutic implications of the ethanol extract from Rosemary and Mediterranean sage in the treatment of MRSA infections

Effectiveness of interactive teaching intervention on medical students' knowledge and attitudes toward stem cells, their therapeutic uses, and potential research applications

Background: Stem cell science is rapidly developing with the potential to alleviate many non-treatable diseases. Medical students, as future physicians, should be equipped with the proper knowledge and attitude regarding this hopeful field. Interactive teaching, whereby the teachers actively involve the students in the learning process, is a promising approach to improve their interest, knowledge, and team spirit. This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of an interactive teaching intervention on medical students' knowledge and attitudes about stem cell research and therapy. Methods: A pre-post test study design was employed. A six-session interactive teaching course was conducted for a duration of six weeks as an intervention. Pre- and post-intervention surveys were used. The differences in the mean scores of students' knowledge and attitudes were examined using paired t-test, while gender differences were examined using an independent t-test. Results: Out of 71 sixth-year medical students from different nationalities invited to participate in this study, the interactive teaching course was initiated by 58 students resulting in a participation rate of 81.7%. Out of 58 students, 48 (82.8%) completed the entire course. The mean age (standard deviation) of students was 24 (1.2) years, and 32 (66.7%) were males. The results showed poor knowledge about stem cells among the medical students in the pre-intervention phase. Total scores of stem cell-related knowledge and attitudes significantly improved post-intervention. Gender differences in knowledge and attitudes scores were not statistically significant post-intervention. Conclusions: Integrating stem cell science into medical curricula coupled with interactive learning approaches effectively increased students' knowledge about recent advances in stem cell research and therapy and improved attitudes toward stem cell research and applications. Keywords: Arab; Attitudes; Education; Interactive teaching; Jordan; Knowledge; Medical curriculum; Stem cells; Students

NiO-Nanofillers Embedded in Graphite/PVA-Polymer Matrix for efficient Electromagnetic Radiation Shielding

In this study, we report on the preparation of NiO/graphite sheets nanofillers in PVA-polymer matrix using a simple cost-effective hydrothermal process for EM shielding effectiveness applications. The careful optimization of the growth conditions and NiO/G/PVA relative ratios have resulted in NiO nanoparticles formation with homogeneous density. In this nanocomposite, the NiO nanoparticles and graphite sheets were incorporated into a polymer to enhance the electromagnetic shielding effectiveness. The morphological, structural, and chemical analysis have been conducted by SEM, EDX and XRD techniques. EDX and XRD analysis confirmed the exact chemical composition with high purity. SEM images showed the best morphology with homogenous NiO-nanoparticles distribution on graphite sheets for 15 wt% NiO relative ratio NiO/G/PVA nanocomposite. The nanocomposite was tested in different environments and shielding chambers that contained relatively high-level exposure to electromagnetic radiation. The shielding effectiveness (SE) measurements of NiO/G/PVA showed a significant increase of shielding effectiveness of about 17 dB compared to the commercial shielding paint. This can be ascribed to the homogenous distribution of NiO-NPs over the entire graphite sheets and the strong interaction of the incident electromagnetic radiation with the magnetic and electric dipoles in the nanocomposite. These finding is promising for enhanced flexible and cost-effective EMI shielding applications

5G hairpin bandpass filter

In this paper, Hairpin Bandpass Filter (HPBF) is designed, simulated and fabricated at two 5G low-frequency bands: 3.7 GHz-4.2 GHz and 5.975 GHz-7.125 GHz. This filter will be a part of our 5G narrowband/ Ultra Wide Band (UWB) reconfigurable antenna project that plays a significant role in the recent wireless networks, such as Cognitive Radios (CRs). Through the two frequency bands, the filter resulted in good matching and transmission responses with enhanced bandwidth. The measured reflection coefficient of the proposed HBPF, S11 is <-10 dB and <-11.66 dB through 3.45 GHz – 4.25 GHz and 5.62 GHz – 7.6 GHz, respectively. However, the transmission coefficient, S12 is around-1.5 dB and – 1.17 dB at the center frequencies FC = 3.75 GHz and 6.61 GHz, respectively. In this paper, the High-Frequency Structure Simulator (HFSS) software is used to carry out the simulation. The full-wave simulation results are validated with the hardware measurements

A study of the Scrum Master’s role

Scrum is an increasingly common approach to software development adopted by organizations around the world. However, as organizations transition from traditional plan-driven development to agile development with Scrum, the question arises as to which Scrum role (Product Owner, Scrum Master, or Scrum Team Member) corresponds to a Project Manager, or conversely which Scrum role should the Project Managers adopt? In an attempt to answer this question, we adopted a mixed-method research approach comprising a systematic literature review and embedded case study of a commercial software development team. Our research has identified activities that comprise the Scrum Master role, and which additional roles are actually performed by Scrum Masters in practice. We found nine activities that are performed by Scrum Masters. In addition, we found that Scrum Masters also perform other roles, most importantly as Project Managers. This latter situation results in tension and conflict of interest that could have a negative impact on the performance of the team as a whole. These results point to the need to re-assess the role of Project Managers in organizations that adopt Scrum as a development approach. We hypothesize that it might be better for Project Managers to become Product Owners, as aspects of this latter role are more consistent with the traditional responsibilities of a Project Manager