The Profile of Head CT Scan Findings in Patients at Sebha Medical Center, Libya

Background: Computerized tomography (CT) is one of the most widely available and used methods of imaging. There are no known results published to show the most frequent findings on CT Scans of head in Sebha Medical Center in South Libya or the incidence of the different findings detected on the scans done in our region.Objectives: To study the characteristics of patients who underwent CT scan of head in our center, to investigate the most common findings in these patients, and to describe the distribution of the findings in relation to patients’ age and sex.Materials and Methods: This was a retrospective observational descriptive study that involved reviewing the CT scans of 255 patients who underwent Head CT in our center in the period between the 8th of March 2015 and 9th of April 2015. The collected data were analyzed using SPSS program (version 20).Results: Patients’ age ranged from one month to 89 years of age. Almost equal numbers of male and females were found (129 and 126 respectively). Sixty eight percent of the cases had normal scans. The most common abnormalities were: brain infarction (11.2%), brain edema (6.1%), intracerebral hemorrhage (4.7%) and hydrocephalus (3.6%). Other findings were: skull fractures (3.2%), subdural hematomas (3.2%), masses (1.8%), subarachnoid hemorrhage (1.1%) and intraventricular hemorrhage (1.1%).Conclusion: Most of the cases that undergo CT scan of head in south Libya have no detectable abnormalities by CT. The most common abnormalities seen are: infarctions (both old and new ones), brain edema, intracerebral hemorrhage and hydrocephalus.Keywords: Head CT, South Libya, infarctions, intracerebral hemorrhage, intraventricular hemorrhage, subdural hematoma, skull fracture, brain edema, hydrocephalus, intracranial masses

Impact of Consumer Attitude and Online Video Advert Characteristics on Consumer Purchase Decision in Nuremberg Germany

Background: The global increased internet penetration has resulted in a shift in the way people do business. Similarly, marketers and companies have changed from traditional offline advertisements to online advertisement to increase their product reach and tap into new tech-survey customers who spend many hours online. Online Video Advertisement (OVA) is one of the forms of online advertisement that has witnessed tremendous growth over the last decade. With Germany being one of the countries with high internet penetration and high volumes of e-commerce, high internet and social media users, many companies have embraced OVA to reach this population with their brands. However, the consumers' knowledge, attitude, and perceptions of OVA have rarely been explored. It remains largely unknown how the OVA characteristics and consumer attitude on the OVA affect their purchase intention and purchase decision. In this study, we sought to assess the knowledge, attitude, and perceptions on OVA among consumers in Nuremberg, Germany and determine the influence of the OVA characteristics and consumer attitude on their purchase intention and decision. Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out among conveniently selected Nuremberg adult residents. A semi-structured questionnaire administered online was used for data collection using Google forms. The data was imported into Excel for cleaning before being imported into IBM Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 26.0 for analysis. For descriptive analysis, frequencies and percentages were used for categorical variables, while for the Likert scale data, mean and standard deviation were used. The reliability of the Likert scales was assessed using Cronbach alpha. Pearson's correlation was used to determine the association between the different scales, while Linear and multiple linear regression were used to quantify the association between perceptions on OVA influence of the OVA characteristics and consumer attitude (explanatory variables) and purchase intention and decision (outcome variable). Results: Of the 206 participants, 128 (62.1%) were male. Most (135; 65.5%) had frequently seen OVA, 194 (94.2%), saw it in the last one month, 169 (82.0%) on YouTube, 13 (6.3%) on Facebook, and 7 (3.4%) on Instagram. A total of 195 (94.7%) preferred OVA with the skip option. More than half (104; 50.5%) agreed that OVA reinforce product familiarity. There was a strong significant positive correlation between attitude towards OVA (r=0.622; P-value<0.001) and content and quality of OVA (r=0.602; P-value<0.001) and purchase intention. In the multiple regression analysis, attitude towards OVA, invasiveness of OVA, and OVA quality and content were significantly associated with intention to purchase and purchase decision for the advertised product (P value<0.001). Conclusion: The positive attitude of the consumer on OVA, and its content and quality are key aspects that influence consumers to purchase the advertised product while invasiveness of the OVA seems to put them off. This has implication for marketers as these are key aspects that they need to consider in designing OVA to ensure that they result in improved sales hence value for money invested in OVA advertisements. Keywords: Online Video Advertisement, Consumer decision, consumer purchase, marketing. DOI: 10.7176/JMCR/81-01 Publication date:August 31st 202

An investigation into the methodologies of value-at -risk and a simulation process of a portfolio of financial instruments.

>Magister Scientiae - MScFinancial companies such as investment and commercial banks as well as insurance companies, mutual and pension funds hold assets in the form of financial instruments in portfolios. Nowadays, financial instruments have proliferated so much that there are so many forms of them namely: derivatives, common stock, corporate and government bonds, foreign exchange and contracts. With so many financial instruments, companies can have very large and diversified portfolios for which they must quantify the risk. With high profile calamities that have rocked the financial world lately, the need for better risk management has never been so in demand as before. Value-at-Risk (VaR) is the latest addition in the investor's toolkit as far as measurements of risk is concerned. This new measure of risk complements well the existing risk measures that exist.Unfortunately, VaR is not unanimous and it has attracted a lot of critics over the years. This research thesis is threefold: to introduce the reader to the VaR concept; to discuss the different methods that exist to calculate VaR; and, finally, to simulate the VaR of a portfolio of government bonds. The first part of this research is to introduce the reader to the general idea of risk forms and its management, the role that the existing risk measures have played so far and the coming up of the new technique, which is VaR. The pros and cons that accompany a new technique are discussed as well as the history of VaR. The second part is about the different methods that exist to compute the VaR of a portfolio. Usually, VaR methodologies fall into three categories namely: Parametric; Historical; and Monte Carlo. In this research, the advantages and disadvantages of these three methods are discussed together with a step-wise method on how to proceed to calculate the VaR of a portfolio using any of the three methods. The practical side of this thesis deals about the VaR simulation of a portfolio of financial instruments. The chosen financial instruments are four South African government bonds with different characteristics. VaR for this particular portfolio will then be simulated by the three main methods. Eleven different simulations are run and they are compared against a Control Simulation (Benchmark Portfolio) to see how factors influencing VaR measure cope under different conditions. The main idea here was to check how VaR measures can change under different portfolio characteristics and to interpret these changes. Moreover, the VaR estimates under the three different methods will be compare

PROCJENA STABILNOSTI PODZEMNIH ISKOPA UPORABOM RAZLIČITIH POTPORNIH STIJENSKIH SUSTAVA

Rock support systems have become widely dominant components in underground hard rock mines. They are used to maintain the stability of underground openings and reinforce disturbed rock masses after creating an excavation or starting mining activity. Thus, the objective of this study is to examine the effect of support types on the performance stability of underground tunnels that exist in hard rock mines, in terms of deformation, the extent of failure zones and the strength of the rock mass surrounding the tunnel. This, in turn, will help in the selection of an appropriate support system that mitigates the stress-deformation conditions around the tunnel. Herein, four models have been built using the RS2D program, simulated and introduced to evaluate the behaviour of an underground tunnel with different rock support systems. The first model is simulated without any support system, whereas, rock bolts have been installed in the second model. The third model applied only shotcrete, while rock bolts and shotcrete are combined together in the fourth model. The results are presented and discussed in terms of strength factor, the extent of yielding zones and rock mass displacement/convergence. The results show that tunnel stability suffers when there is no rock support at all, while, it is significantly improved when the rock support system is installed. The optimum improvement is obtained when both shotcrete and rock bolts are employed together.Potporni stijenski sustavi široko se koriste u podzemnim rudnicima čvrstih sirovina. Njima se održava stabilnost podzemnih prostorija i ojačavaju se oslabljene stijenske mase tijekom iskopavanja ili miniranja. Cilj istraživanja bio je ispitati utjecaj vrste potpora na stabilnost podzemnih tunela u rudnicima čvrstih sirovina, na širenje zona oslabljenja i stabilnost stijena koje okružuju tunele. Na taj način moguće je odabrati odgovarajući potporni sustav koji ublažava deformacije prouzročene stresom. Načinjena su četiri modela uporabom programa RS2D, kojima se simulira i procjenjuje ponašanje podzemnih tunela s različitim potpornim sustavima. Prvi model simulirao je slučaj bez ikakve potpore, drugi slučaj uključio je stijensko sidro, a treći isključivo mlazni beton, dok je četvrti temeljen zajednički na stijenskome sidru i mlaznome betonu. Dobiveni rezultati raspravljeni su s obzirom na faktor naprezanja, prostiranje zona smicanja te rasjedanja. Opaženo je kako je stabilnost tunela, očekivano, najmanja u slučajevima gdje potpore nema, dok je znatno veća kada takav sustav postoji. Optimum je postignut kada su zajednički primijenjeni mlazni beton i stijensko sidro

Effect of Some Medicinal Plants as Feed Additives on Growth Performance, Blood Constituents and Carcass Characteristics of Broilers

The present work aimed to study the effect of feeding broiler chicks on diets containing different levels of fenugreek, anise and curcuma seeds powder, as natural feed additive on productive performance, carcass characteristics, some blood constituents and economic feed efficiency. One hundred and forty, one-day old (Ross 38) unsexed broiler chicks were obtained from local commercial source, weighed and randomly distributed to 7 equal groups, each of 20. The birds were fed with two basal diets (starter and finisher diets). The experimental diets were as follows: basal control diet without any feed additives (G1), basal diets supplemented with 0.2 and 0.5% fenugreek (G2 and G3 respectively), basal diets supplemented with 0.3 and 0.6% anise seeds (G4 and G5 respectively), and lastly basal diets supplemented with 0.3 and 0.5% curcuma (G6 and G7 respectively). During the experiment the body weight and feed intake were measured and consequently, weight gain and feed conversion ratio were calculated. At the end of the experiment, three birds from each group were slaughtered for blood sampling and serum extraction then. Finally, economical evaluation of the diets was calculated. The results showed that, dietary inclusion of fenugreek, anise and curcuma, had significant (P <0.05) improvement in the live body weight, total weight gain and feed conversion ratio, While, the feed intake was not affected by the dietary inclusion of them. Some blood constituents were affected with these additions. The relative economic feed efficiency was increased by dietary inclusion of the three additives

Welding fumes as a cause of impaired lung function in shipyard workers

PhD ThesisWelders and caulker/burners are usually exposed to heavy clouds of fumes. These fumes contain some gases and particulates which are potentially harmful. There have been several surveys of the health of welders since 1936. These studies demonstrated an association between exposure to fumes and respiratory symptoms. However, no long term effect of fumes on respiratory function has been established. The gases and particulates in the fumes from welding and caulking/burning are very small in size and on this account are capable of reaching the small airways in the periphery of the lung. If welding fumes are harmful to the lung small airway dysfunction should be present in the younger workers. In view of this, in the present study relatively young men were examined and tests specific to small airway function were used. The subjects for this study were male Caucasian workers aged 18 - 47 years, mean age 31.5 years. The target sample comprised 181 welders and 151 caulker/burners and the control sample comprised 181 other tradesmen. The two samples were selected from the same yard. Anthropometry, respiratory symptom and occupational questionnaires, cough frequency questions, forced spirometry, single breath nitrogen test, transfer factor, and an exercise test were performed. The results were submitted to multiple regression analysis. The target workers were compared with the control subjects. Comparisons were also made within the groups of welders and caulker/burners separately. A subsample of the whole selected subjects (age 20 - 25 years) was examined separately to investigate the early effects of fumes on the lung of exposed young workers. In the whole population, compared with the controls, the welders and caulker/burners were found to have significantly higher prevalence of wheeze symptom, and fume exposure interacted with age to increase breathlessness on exertion in the older subjects. In the very young workers (age 20- 25 years) chronic cough and phlegm (chronic bronchitis, MRC) was significantly higher among the target workers compared with the controls. In the group of welders smoking interacted with fumes to increase wheeze in the workers who smoked while increased fume exposure in the older subjects was associated with increased breathlessness on exertion. In the whole population the mean values of closing volume (CV%) and closing capacity (CC%) were significantly higher in the target workers compared with the controls. This effect was independent of age and smoking which were also important. In the subsample of the very young workers similar effects were found, and in addition the mean value of the residual volume (RV%) in the target group was significantly higher than that in the control group. In the whole population fume exposure enhanced the deterioration with age in forced expiratory volume (FEV1) and forced vital capacity (FVC) significantly more in the target workers than in the control subjects. These indices were not affected by exposure in the very young workers. Amongst the group of welders, increased levels of exposure to fumes (duration and intensity) enhanced the deterioration with age in CV%, CC%, breathlessness on exertion and Tlco. High exposure was also associated with decreased Kco in the workers who smoked. Amongst the caulker/burners, increased levels of exposure to fumes enhanced the deterioration with age in CV%, CC%, slope of phase III (SLIII), nitrogen difference index (N2 Diff) and RV%. The findings of the present study are evidence that high levels of fumes from welding and burning or other factors related to these trades, cause long term impairment of lung function of shipyard welders and caulker/burners.Egyptian government and an ORS award from the Vice-Chancellors and Principals of the Universities of the United Kingdom

Predicting surgical outcome of pediatric percutaneous nephrolithotomy

Purpose: The aim was to evaluate the outcome of pediatric percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PCNL) guided by Guy’s stone score grading system.Patients and methods: This was a prospective study of children with renal calculi more than 2 cm. They were younger than 18 years and were a candidate for PCNL at our University Hospitals from January 2013 until July 2016. All of them had a low-dose noncontrast enhanced computed tomography. The procedure was performed under general anesthesia with the patients in the prone position guided by fluoroscopy. The stone-free rate and the presence and type of complications were estimated. The demographic and clinical data, stone characteristics, radiologic anatomy as well the PCNL approach and methods of lithotripsy used were evaluated. Comparison was performed through using univariate and multivariate analyses, and factors predicting the PCNL outcome were determined.Results: A total of 110 children with kidney stones were accepted for PCNL. Overall, 95 (86.3%) of 110 children were stone free after one-stage PCNL. Grade 1 Guy’s stone score was 97.5% (40/41) (P<0.05). Mean hospital stay was 4.01 ± 2.0 days. Operative complications include bleeding in 12 (10.9%), extravasation in seven (6.4%), injury to the colon in one (0.9%), and renal pelvis perforation three (2.7%). In our study, larger Amplatz sheath, stone burden, and longer operative time are related to complications.Conclusion: Guy’s stone score correlated with both success and complications and can be used for decision making preoperatively in pediatric PCNL.Keywords: Guy’s stone score, minimally invasive, percutaneous nephrolithotomy, pediatric, urolithiasi

Developing, implementing and evaluating an internet curriculum for Egyptian teachers.

This research aimed to develop, implement and evaluate an Internet curriculum for pre-service teachers in Egypt within a constructivist learning environment. Accordingly, this study included the development of the content and objectives of the Internet curriculum, the design of a web-based learning environment, the trialling with groups of pre-service teachers and the evaluation of the effectiveness of both the Internet curriculum and the Web-based learning environment.The methodology used in this study is considered to be a case study and it was also influenced by an action research methodology involving cycles of development, design, implementation and evaluation of the Internet curriculum. A number of methods were used in order to collect research data including questionnaires, observations, interviews and a learning styles inventory (Kolb, 1981). Furthermore, a content analysis was carried out of Internet users' guides and teachers' guides and a Web-based questionnaire was used in order to develop the objectives of the Internet curriculum. A Web-based learning environment namely 'Internet-Tutoring System' was designed in order to provide the students with cognitive tools, information resources and authentic activities.The implementation of the study took place in two phases. The first phase was conducted with a group of students' teachers in Sheffield and the second phase was conducted with another group in Egypt. These phases aimed to identify the issues that emerge from using a Web-based learning environment based on the students' feedback on both the learning environment and the Internet curriculum.This study led to significant results in relation to the content of the Internet curriculum, student learning within a Web-based learning environment, the roles of the teacher, the design of the web-based learning environment and the students' progress in the use of the Internet. The models of constructivist learning environments, particularly Jonassen's (1997a) model, influenced the development of the Internet curriculum and its structure. Accordingly, several content structures were developed in order to take into consideration the different needs and expectations of the students. These included well-structured content with teacher-centred learning, semi-structured content with teacher-student learning and ill-structured content with learner-centred learning. In addition, the Web-based learning environment was designed in order to provide the students with cognitive tools, information resources and authentic activities. As a consequence, a range of tools and resources were integrated in order to encourage the students to play an active role in knowledge construction. This integration is considered to be a key aspect of this study and it was developed in order to accommodate the preferred learning styles of the students. Moreover, a range of roles for the teacher were illuminated in this study such as those of mentor, facilitator and orchestrator. These roles developed due to the integration of a number of teaching methods alongside the use of the Web-based learning environment. They were also influenced by the different content structures of the Internet curriculum and the different types of control over the learning process.The study concludes with a discussion of major implications for both policy and practice in Egyptian education. Furthermore, it highlights key characteristics and key design phases that should be taken into account in the future development of Web-based learning environments. Finally, further research questions are highlighted for the future development of integrated learning and teaching environments