128 research outputs found

    Web-Based Brokerage System Development

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    Electronic Commerce (ecommerce) depends on the emergence of capabilities that empower buyers to obtain the product data they need to make informed purchase decisions, quickly and easily. Traditional physical markets are often brokered by intermediaries that facilitate market transitions by providing brokerage services. In the global Internet Electronic Brokers provide a central marketplace, and provide many essential third party services. Electronic Brokerages are regarded as the core functionality in overcoming many current limitation of Internet Commerce. Also, search costs, lack of privacy, incomplete information, contracting risk, and pricing are better managed with Electronic Brokers. However, Brokers are currently facing the problem of combining all the information within a single coherent structure through which buyers can navigate readily. This is due to the lack of interoperability standards between ecommerce applications, which leads to high costs for the brokers. The research is to design a framework for building a web-based brokerage system. The system plays a central role in allowing service providers to publish and advertise their offer and at the same time helping the consumer to access easily and in a moderate manner the offered services and information and try to solve the problem of interoperability. Consumer Buying Behavior model which consists of six stages that defines the decision process and acts of people involved in buying and using products had been applied in the design of the system. In addition to offering many essential third party services, the system offers some tasks, which simplify the functionality of brokers, which override the limitations of Internet e-commerce. Client-server communication that uses 3-tier architecture had been used to override the 2-tier limitations and enhance the security features of the system. To achieve the requirements of such as online e-commerce application Java servlets with JDBC on the server side, HTML and JavaScript on the client side are used. Unified Modeling Language (UML) had been applied in order to determine system structure and system behavior from user/system requirements. The study shows that online brokerage can replace traditional brokers with additional functionality. By designing reusable components and using certain tools will try to solve Interoperability problem between ecommerce applications. Java servlets shown as a powerful tool to be used on server side in this type of application which can help to override some limitations of Internet e-commerce

    interactive Islamic Prayer (iIP)

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    The implementation of Virtual Environments has often been used within the educational domain. This study adopts a Virtual Environment (VE) setting to enhance and develop the physical aspects of teaching the Islamic prayer to primary school children, in comparison to traditional forms of teaching through a prayer book and prayer video. An interactive teaching Software, the interactive Islamic Prayer (iIP), was designed and developed for this purpose and uses technology by Microsoft’s Microsoft Kinect 360 for Windows to demonstrate the various movements of the prayer in sequence. Through the administration of a number of questionnaires, a quantitative analysis of the participants’ learning experience were identified, as well as details over which approach the participants preferred. The questionnaires also provided a detailed insight into six areas of study from the learners’ perspective when using the various learning approaches: comprehension, learning experience, interaction, satisfaction, usability and achievement. The results revealed a higher degree of interaction within the lesson on prayer when using the iIP compared to the traditional teaching methods, and although some were unfamiliar with using the Microsoft Kinect 360, on the whole, they found it to be fun and educational. The findings also showed that the software was able to focus on lower level thinking skills, such as recalling information and memory, as a test of the students’ knowledge on the prayer before and after using the software showed a significant improvement in comparison to the other approaches. Recommendations have been given on how to effectively implement this software within these relevant classrooms

    Design and Implementation of an Interactive System for Teaching the Islamic Prayer

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    Background: The Islamic Prayer is central to the Islam religion and is a requirement for all Muslims to learn and perform properly. Teaching the Islamic Prayer had traditionally been through the use of textbooks. Aims: This paper describes the design and implementation of the IIP (interactive Islamic Prayer) system to teach the Islamic prayer using Virtual Environments and interactive technologies. Method: The approach taken was to first define the various elements that make up the Islamic Prayer (positions, verbal statements and units). This is then captured in software that uses the Microsoft Windows Kinect system. Results: The Islamic Prayer sequences were successfully captured and implemented in the iIP system. Conclusions: The iIP system design and implementation using Microsoft Windows Kinect system was described. This was based on the definition of the different elements of the Islamic Prayer

    Rapid Seismic Vulnerability Assessment of Buildings in the Old Algiers

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    The selection of an appropriate seismic vulnerability method to evaluate buildings stock in urban area depends essentially on the available information. Information about buildings can be obtained essentially from field visual inspection. In this context, rapid visual procedure to collect buildings data can be used to identify vulnerable buildings based their structural characteristics. In this study, which aims to evaluate the seismic vulnerability of existing buildings in the old part of Algiers (Algeria), including Casbah and Bab El Oued areas, buildings data has been collected using rapid visual exterior examination. Then, with the main purpose to evaluate the physical damage and its relationship with the seismic intensity, empirical method using the vulnerability index, previously developed during the European project Risk-UE, is used. Results and conclusions of this work could be useful to define appropriate measures to upgrade seismic performance of existing buildings

    Rapid Seismic Vulnerability Assessment of Buildings in the Old Algiers

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    The selection of an appropriate seismic vulnerability method to evaluate buildings stock in urban area depends essentially on the available information. Information about buildings can be obtained essentially from field visual inspection. In this context, rapid visual procedure to collect buildings data can be used to identify vulnerable buildings based their structural characteristics. In this study, which aims to evaluate the seismic vulnerability of existing buildings in the old part of Algiers (Algeria), including Casbah and Bab El Oued areas, buildings data has been collected using rapid visual exterior examination. Then, with the main purpose to evaluate the physical damage and its relationship with the seismic intensity, empirical method using the vulnerability index, previously developed during the European project Risk-UE, is used. Results and conclusions of this work could be useful to define appropriate measures to upgrade seismic performance of existing buildings

    Unusual Indolent Course of a Chronic Active Epstein-Barr Virus-Associated Natural Killer Cell Lymphoproliferative Disorder

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    Natural killer (NK) cell lymphoproliferative disorders are uncommon and the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) plays an important aetiological role in their pathogenesis. We report a 20-year-old male with a chronic active EBV infection associated with a NK cell lymphoproliferative disorder which had an unusual indolent course. He presented to the Sultan Qaboos University Hospital in Muscat, Oman, in December 2011 with a history of intermittent fever and coughing. Examinations revealed generalised lymphadenopathy, hepatosplenomegaly, leukocytosis, transaminitis, diffuse bilateral lung infiltrates and bone marrow lymphocyte involvement. A polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test revealed a high EBV viral load in the peripheral blood cells. The patient received a course of piperacillin-tazobactam for Klebsiella pneumoniae, but no active treatment for the lymphoproliferative disorder. However, his lymphocyte count, serum lactate dehydrogenase and liver enzymes dropped spontaneously. In addition, EBV PCR copies fluctuated and then decreased significantly. He remained clinically asymptomatic over the following four years.

    The impact of the 2021 cyclone Shaheen on the mental health of affected Omanis

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    Objectives: Nine strong cyclones have been recorded in Oman in the last 50 years, the last being tropical cyclone Shaheen in October 2021, in the northern Oman area. The aim of our study was to determine the relationship between property loss and the mental health of residents after cyclone Shaheen. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study among Omani citizens living in areas affected by cyclone Shaheen three to six months post-cyclone. In an online, self-reported questionnaire, we assessed the loss of participants’ properties due to the cyclone and the impact on their perceived mental health. Descriptive statistics, chi-square tests, and associations between demographics, loss of properties, and mental health were performed. Results: Of 440 participants, 79.3% had their houses directly damaged by the cyclone and 90.7% had their outside properties damaged. Most of the respondents reported that they suffered from mental health symptoms in the months following the cyclone. Women, people with a lower socioeconomic status, the unemployed, and those without a university degree were associated with poorer mental health outcomes. Mental health was significantly lower for respondents whose properties were mostly affected by the cyclone. Conclusions: With scant knowledge about how cyclones directly affect Omanis’ mental health, the results of this study are paramount for the planning of psychological care services to improve the country’s response to extreme weather events.</p

    Antifungal Activity of Shirazi Thyme (Zataria multiflora Boiss.) Essential Oil against Hypomyces perniciosus, a causal agent of wet bubble disease of Agaricus bisporus

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    Wet bubble disease (WBD) caused by Hypomyces perniciosus is a major constraint of button mushroom (Agaricus bisporus) cultivated worldwide. A few synthetic chemical fungicides are used to control WBD. In our study, the potential of essential oil (EO) from Zataria multiflora in inhibition of H. perniciosus was evaluated as an alternative to chemical fungicides. An isolate of H. perniciosus was isolated from wet bubble diseased A. bisporus and pathogenicity of the mycoparasite was determined under artificially inoculated conditions. The mycoparasitic fungus was identified using sequences of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region of ribosomal DNA. The EO was extracted from the aerial parts of Z. multiflora by microwave extraction method and evaluated in vitro for its antifungal activity against H. perniciosus. The EO of Z. multiflora (ZEO) at the tested concentrations (50% and 100%) inhibited the growth of H. perniciosus in the agar diffusion test. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of ZEO was 0.04% as assessed by the poisoned food technique. The chemical composition of ZEO was determined by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis. A total of 23 compounds were identified. Among them, the most abundant compounds were Linalool (20.3%) and Bornyl acetate (15.5%). Linalool at the tested concentrations of 0.25% and 0.125% completely inhibited the mycelial growth of H. perniciosus in an in vitro assay. These results suggest that ZEO can be exploited for control of WBD

    Dermatofibrosarcoma Protuberans Mimicking Primary Breast Neoplasm: A case report and literature review

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    Dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans (DFSP) is a rare, slow-growing mesenchymal neoplasm of the dermis and subcutaneous tissues that has a low- to intermediate-grade malignancy. DFSP commonly involves the trunk and extremities, and very rarely the breast skin, mimicking a primary breast neoplasm with few reported cases in the literature. We report a 35-year old female patient who was referred to the Royal Hospital, Muscat, Oman in 2017, with a two-year history of a slow growing left breast lump. Assessment of the breasts with mammography revealed a lobulated lesion in the left-upper-inner quadrant with neither microcalcification nor architectural distortion, mimicking a benign lesion. However, on ultrasound, the lesion had suspicious features with increased vascularity and hence, it was categorised as breast imaging reporting and data system (BIRAD) IV. The patient underwent left breast wide local excision and the histopathological diagnosis was dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans.Keywords: Breast; Dermatofibrosarcoma Protuberans; Ultrasonography; Oman
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