A Hierarchical Approach for Investigating Social Features of a City from Mobile Phone Call Detail Records

Cellphone service-providers continuously collect Call Detail Records (CDR) as a usage log containing spatio-temporal traces of phone users. We proposed a multi-layered hierarchical analytical model for large spatio-temporal datasets and applied that for the progressive exploration of social features of a city, e.g., social activities, relationships, and groups, from CDR. This approach utilizes CDR as the preliminary input for the initial layer, and analytical results from consecutive layers are added to the knowledge-base to be used in the subsequent layers to explore more detailed social features. Each subsequent layer uses the results from previous layers, facilitating the discovery of more in-depth social features not predictable in a single-layered approach using only raw CDR. This model starts with exploring aggregated overviews of the social features and gradually focuses on comprehensive details of social relationships and groups, which facilitates a novel approach for investigating CDR datasets for the progressive exploration of social features in a densely-populated city

Visibility as Muslim, Perceived Discrimination and Psychological Distress among Muslim Students in the UK

Perceived discrimination, a subjective appraisal of disadvantageous treatment on the grounds of identity, is negatively associated with wellbeing. We explored this association among British Muslim students, sampled online, by questions about perceived and experienced discrimination, visibility as a Muslim, symptoms of depression and anxiety, and positivity. Results from 457 respondents showed greater discrimination was experienced by those with more visible signs of Muslim faith, with a small but statistically significant positive correlation between perceived discrimination and psychological distress. Many participants gave examples of discrimination experienced. Implications for educational institutes, policy makers, clinicians, and the wider Muslim community are discussed

An analysis of android malware classification services

The increasing number of Android malware forced antivirus (AV) companies to rely on automated classification techniques to determine the family and class of suspicious samples. The research community relies heavily on such labels to carry out prevalence studies of the threat ecosystem and to build datasets that are used to validate and benchmark novel detection and classification methods. In this work, we carry out an extensive study of the Android malware ecosystem by surveying white papers and reports from 6 key players in the industry, as well as 81 papers from 8 top security conferences, to understand how malware datasets are used by both. We, then, explore the limitations associated with the use of available malware classification services, namely VirusTotal (VT) engines, for determining the family of an Android sample. Using a dataset of 2.47 M Android malware samples, we find that the detection coverage of VT's AVs is generally very low, that the percentage of samples flagged by any 2 AV engines does not go beyond 52%, and that common families between any pair of AV engines is at best 29%. We rely on clustering to determine the extent to which different AV engine pairs agree upon which samples belong to the same family (regardless of the actual family name) and find that there are discrepancies that can introduce noise in automatic label unification schemes. We also observe the usage of generic labels and inconsistencies within the labels of top AV engines, suggesting that their efforts are directed towards accurate detection rather than classification. Our results contribute to a better understanding of the limitations of using Android malware family labels as supplied by common AV engines.This work has been supported by the “Ramon y Cajal” Fellowship RYC-2020-029401

Risk Factors for Congenital Heart Diseases in a Group of Children in Holy Karbala Governorate/IRAQ

Background: Prevention of congenital cardiovascular defects has been hampered by a lack of information about modifiable risk factors for abnormalities in cardiac development. Over the past decade, there have been major breakthroughs in the understanding of inherited causes of congenital heart disease (CHD), including the identification of specific genetic abnormalities for some types of malformations. Aim of study: To investigate some of the risk factors and their significance in the development of congenital heart diseases among children in Holy Karbala governorate. Methods: A case control study was done on pediatric patients with a confirmed diagnosis of congenital heart disease from January 2012 to January 2013 in Karbala Pediatric Teaching Hospital. A total of 212 patients, 106 cases and 106 controls were included in this study. Results: maternal age<20 years represent 4.7 % of cases, while those above 30 years of age represent 37.7 % of cases. Paternal age >40 years found in 37 cases (34.9 %) and 24 control (22.6 %). full term gestation found in 91 cases and 101 controls.  Residency in urban area found in 84 % of cases and 75.5 % of controls. Consanguinity was positive in 37 cases (34.9 %) and 18 controls (17 %). Second birth order and more found in 81 % of cases. Family history of congenital heart disease was positive in 11(10.4%) cases and 2 control (1.9%). Winter months' conception found in 44 cases (41.5%) and 21 control (19. 8%).low social class found in39 cases (36.8%) and 17 control (16%).isolated VSD found in 29 % of cases for whom consanguinity was positive in 9 cases and negative in 21 cases. Conclusion: Analysis of our results showed that paternal and maternal age, urban residency, winter month’s conception, low socioeconomic status, being 2nd borne or more and positive consanguinity are independent risk factors for CHD. KEY WORDS: CHD, pediatric, risk factors, Karbala

The Impact of the Swom Strategy on the Achievement of First Grade Students in Arabic Grammar The impact of the Swom strategy on the Achievement of First Grade Students in the Arabic Grammar

يهدف البحث  إلى التعرف على اثر إستراتيجية سوم [swom] في تدريس قواعد اللغة العربية لدى طالبات الأول المتوسط. وكانت حدود البحث هي: [[عينة من طالبات الصف الأول المتوسط في متوسطة أهل البيت للعام الدراسي 2016- 2017. وعدد من الموضوعات المقرر تدريسها في قواعد اللغة العربية للصف الأول متوسط وهي: [العلم، والضمائر، وأسماء الإشارة، والأسماء الموصولة، والمعرف بأل، والمعرف بالإضافة، والمبتدأ والخبر، وكان وأخواتها، وأن وأخواتها].     [[ أما مجتمع البحث ويمثل بمدارس البنات المتوسطة النهارية فقط في مركز مدينة الحلة للعام الدراسي [2016 - 2017]، إذا بلغت عينة البحث [72] طالبةً من طالبات الصف الأول متوسط وتم اختيارها بأسلوب العشوائي.   [[ أعده الباحثون أداة  [الاختبار التحصلي] في قواعد اللغة العربية وبحسب المواضيع المحددة لمعرفة تحصيل الطالبات عن طريق وضع علامة دائر حول  الإجابة الصحيحة، واستخرج الباحثون الصدق والثبات للأداة، واستعمل الباحثون الوسائل الإحصائية المناسبة لمعالجة البيانات [ الاختبار التائي لعينتين مستقلتين، ومربع كاي، ومعامل ارتباط برسون، ومعادلة معامل الصعوبة، ومعادلة تمييز الفقرة، ومعادلة فاعلية البدائل غير الصحيحة]، و توصل الباحثون الى تفوق المجموعة التجريبية الذين يدرسن قواعد اللغة العربية على وفق إستراتيجية [swom] على المجموعة الضابطة الذين يدرسن قواعد اللغة العربية على وفق الطريقة الاعتيادية.      وتوصل الباحثون الى: ضرورة اعتماد مدرسي اللغة العربية ومدرساتها إستراتيجية [Swom]، لما له من فاعلية في التحصيل. ضرورة تشجيع المدرسين والمدرسات على استعمال إستراتيجية [Swom] بشكل فاعل في تدريس مواد أخرى. ضرورة استعمال الطرائق والأساليب التدريسية المنسجمة مع الاتجاهات الحديثة في التدريس من اجل التفكير لتنمية قدرات الطالبات الفكرية لمواجهة الحياة في عالم متغير .           أقترح الباحثون إجراء دراسة مماثلة لمعرفة أثر استعمال إستراتيجية سوم في بقية فروع اللغة العربية مثل الأدب، والبلاغة، والإملاء، والمطالعة، لان البحث الحالي اقتصر على قواعد اللغة العربية فقط.The current research aims to identify the impact of the SWOM strategy in teaching the grammar of the Arabic language in the first intermediate students. The limits of the research were: - A sample of the first- grade students in the average Ahl al-Bayt for the academic year 2016 - 2017. And a number of subjects to be taught in the grammar of the Arabic language for the first grade is the average: [science, pronouns, names of the sign, and names linked, and familiar Bal, and knowledge in addition, and beginner and news, and her sisters, and that sisters].      As for the research community, the current research community is the middle school day schools only in Hilla city center for the academic year [2016 -2017], if the sample of 72 female students is average and randomly selected.    The researchers used the appropriate means to process the data [the T-test of two independent samples, the Kai square, the Person correlation coefficient] , The equation of the difficulty coefficient, the equation of the paragraph distinction, and the equation of the effectiveness of the wrong alternatives], where the researchers reached the superiority of the experimental group who study according to the strategy [Swom] on the control group who study according to the usual method.      The researchers concluded: The need to adopt the teachers of the Arabic language and schools Swom strategy, because of its effectiveness in achievement. Teachers and teachers should be encouraged to use the Swom strategy effectively in the teaching of grammar. The need to use methods and teaching methods in line with modern trends in teaching in order to think to develop students' intellectual abilities to face life in a changing world.           The researchers suggested that a similar study should be conducted to determine the effect of using a Swom strategy in the rest of the Arabic language, such as literature, rhetoric, dictation, and reading

Identifying and Ranking Landfill Sites for Municipal Solid Waste Management: An Integrated Remote Sensing and GIS Approach

Disposal of municipal solid waste (MSW) is one of the significant global issues that is more evident in developing nations. One of the key methods for disposing of the MSW is locating, assessing, and planning for landfill sites. Faisalabad is one of the largest industrial cities in Pakistan. It has many sustainability challenges and planning problems, including MSW management. This study uses Faisalabad as a case study area and humbly attempts to provide a framework for identifying and ranking landfill sites and addressing MSW concerns in Faisalabad. This method can be extended and applied to similar industrial cities. The landfill sites were identified using remote sensing (RS) and geographic information system (GIS). Multiple datasets, including normalized difference vegetation, water, and built-up areas indices (NDVI, NDWI, and NDBI) and physical factors including water bodies, roads, and the population that influence the landfill site selection were used to identify, rank, and select the most suitable site. The target area was distributed into 9 Thiessen polygons and ranked based on their favorability for the development and expansion of landfill sites. 70% of the area was favorable for developing and expanding landfill sites, whereas 30% was deemed unsuitable. Polygon 6, having more vegetation, a smaller population, and built-up areas was declared the best region for developing landfill sites and expansion as per rank mean indices and standard deviation (SD) of RS and vector data. The current study provides a reliable integrated mechanism based on GIS and RS that can be implemented in similar study areas and expanded to other developing countries. Accordingly, urban planning and city management can be improved, and MSW can be managed with dexterity

Impact of Political, Social Safety, and Legal Risks and Host Country Attitude towards Foreigners on Project Performance of China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC)

The China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project was signed between China and Pakistan in the year 2013. This mega project connects the two countries to enhance their economic ties and give them access to international markets. The initial investment for the project was $46 billion with a tentative duration of fifteen years. Being an extensive project in terms of cost and duration, many factors and risks affect its performance. This study aims to investigate the effects of political (PR), social safety (SR), and legal risks (LR) on the project performance (PP) of the CPEC. It further investigates the significance of the host country’s attitude towards foreigners (HCA). A research framework consisting of PR, SR, and LR as independent variables, PP as the dependent variable, and HCA as moderator is formulated and tested in the current study. In this quantitative study, the Likert scale is used to measure the impact of the assessed risks. A questionnaire survey is used as a data collection tool to collect data and test the research framework and associated hypotheses. The partial least square structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) is used to perform the empirical test for validation of the study, with a dataset of 99 responses. The empirical investigation finds a negative relationship between PR, SR, LR, and PP. It is concluded that PR, SR, and LR negatively influence the PP of CPEC. Furthermore, HCA negatively moderates the PR, LR, and PP of CPEC. In contrast, the value of SR and PP is positive in the presence of the positive HCA