Molecular aspects of MERS-CoV

This article is made available for unrestricted research re-use and secondary analysis in any form or by any means with acknowledgement of the original source. These permissions are granted for the duration of the World Health Organization (WHO) declaration of COVID-19 as a global pandemic.Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) is a betacoronavirus which can cause acute respiratory distress in humans and is associated with a relatively high mortality rate. Since it was first identified in a patient who died in a Jeddah hospital in 2012, the World Health Organization has been notified of 1735 laboratory-confirmed cases from 27 countries, including 628 deaths. Most cases have occurred in Saudi Arabia. MERS-CoVancestors may be found in OldWorld bats of the Vespertilionidae family. After a proposed bat to camel switching event, transmission of MERS-CoV to humans is likely to have been the result of multiple zoonotic transfers from dromedary camels. Human-to-human transmission appears to require close contact with infected persons, with outbreaks mainly occurring in hospital environments. Outbreaks have been associated with inadequate infection prevention and control implementation, resulting in recommendations on basic and more advanced infection prevention and control measures by the World Health Organization, and issuing of government guidelines based on these recommendations in affected countries including Saudi Arabia. Evolutionary changes in the virus, particularly in the viral spike protein which mediates virus-host cell contact may potentially increase transmission of this virus. Efforts are on-going to identify specific evidence-based therapies or vaccines. The broad-spectrum antiviral nitazoxanide has been shown to have in vitro activity against MERS-CoV. Synthetic peptides and candidate vaccines based on regions of the spike protein have shown promise in rodent and non-human primate models. GLS-5300, a prophylactic DNA-plasmid vaccine encoding S protein, is the first MERS-CoV vaccine to be tested in humans, while monoclonal antibody, m336 has given promising results in animal models and has potential for use in outbreak situations

Arab English Language Teaching Candidates Climbing the IELTS Mountain: A Qualitatively Driven Hermeneutic Phenomenology Study

As a high-stakes international language proficiency benchmark, the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) requires different and special Language Learning Strategies (LLS), which pose numerous challenges to its takers. Some Sultan Qaboos University (SQU) majoring in English Language Teaching (ELT), have therefore, failed to achieve an overall score of Band 6 on the IELTS as a language proficiency requirement and a condition mandated by the Ministry of Education for selecting English language teachers among. This qualitatively driven hermeneutic phenomenology study, hence, discusses this issue from an ideological perspective. The study triangulates data from semi-structured interviews made with six fourth-year ELT Student Teachers (STs) at SQU and the pertinent literature. The critical discussion revealed various ideologies about the powerful impact of the IELTS on the STs’ English language development. The findings have important implications for the practices of the teachers in the Omani ELT school system and elsewhere

The Experience of Female Entrepreneurs in the United Arab Emirates

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) government has significantly increased its support for entrepreneurs. It has been eager to stimulate the entrepreneurial spirits and ambitions among local Emiratis. This has resulted in various government-led campaigns trying to assist and encourage citizens to start up their own businesses. Despite this, the female entrepreneurship in UAE is understudied, which creates the opportunity for research in this area. The aim of the research is to: understand the experiences of female entrepreneurs in UAE and suggest policies to remove the impediments which face them. The research has seven objectives: (1) to analyse the female entrepreneurship sector in UAE; (2) to analyse the most effective motivations for the Emirati female entrepreneurs; (3) to analyse the main constraints facing the Emirati female entrepreneurs; (4) to evaluate how easy is it for female entrepreneurs to access finance to start up or grow their own businesses; (5) to evaluate the degree of effectiveness of the business network institutions which aim to support Emirati female entrepreneurs; (6) to analyse the performance of Emirati female entrepreneurs’ businesses; (7) to suggest policies to improve female entrepreneurship in UAE. The achievement of research questions has been carried out using a mixed-method research methodology. A survey strategy has been conducted through a questionnaire technique, with the questionnaire being distributed to female and male entrepreneurs. Further, semi-structured interviews have been carried out with selected Emirati women entrepreneurs, staff from relevant supportive institutions and bankers. The main finding of the research is that female Emirati entrepreneurs have some characteristics that differentiate them from their male counterparts. They are risk avoiders; less able than males in presenting their ideas to financial institutions; have more commitment; like to have a balance between their business and social responsibilities; like to control their business themselves; and they have a lack of planning and other management skills. The profile of female Emirati entrepreneurs in UAE is different from their male counterparts from many perspectives. They start up at a younger age and are single; the majority of them start their businesses without prior experience and with less capital than males; and they prefer to start their businesses in areas that align with females’ nature. About half of female Emiratis use self-finance or paternal support in their start-up or for growth. Overall, female Emirati entrepreneurs face less financial challenges in comparison to their male counterparts. Motherhood motivates some females to start their businesses so as to have flexibility in their personal and family life. Families support female Emirati entrepreneurs financially and morally as well. On the other hand, motherhood becomes more of a restriction when females don’t receive support from their families. Because of this, a work-life balance and dependency are challenges facing them. The Emirati business environment motivated female entrepreneurs in UAE to start their businesses. Although there are a number of institutions which support entrepreneurs in UAE, the majority of UAE entrepreneurs are not members of any of these institutions. This may mainly result from less awareness of the role and activities of these institutions. Entrepreneurs think that they have no time or they don’t think that the business networks will support them. This simply shows a poor awareness about these institutions. Keywords: Female entrepreneurship; Entrepreneurship in UAE; business environment; 5M Model

The effect of solar cells distribution on the Performance of solar panel

Three different distribution modules of silicon solar cells in a panel are used in this study . Each module consists of five identical circular silicon solar cells of radius (5cm) and then the total panel areas are identical. The five solar cells are arranged in the panel in different shapes: circular, triangular and rectangular .The efficiency for these three panel distribution are measured indoor and outdoor. The results show that the efficiency is a function of the cells distribution

The Genetic Association between Baldness, Coronary Heart Diseases and ABO Blood Group System in Men in Baqubah City-Diyala Province in Iraq

Background and objectives: Coronary heart disease (CHD) is a major cause of death and disability worldwide. This study designed to determine the correlation of ABO histo-blood groups with baldness and susceptibility to cardiac diseases in Baqubah city, Diyala province in Iraq .Patients and methods: In this cross sectional, hospital based case control study, 68 male were enrolled .Group (A) include 34 males with CHD, ages ranged ( 45 – 55) year old. Group (B), include 34 healthy males, age range (45 – 55) years old. Coronary artery diseases diagnosis based on laboratory investigation of complete lipid profile analysis(LDL, triglyceride, HDL),Echocardiography and history of cardiac catheterization .ABO Histo-blood groups determined using commercial kits. Results: In healthy men , the ratio of individuals with normal hair to bald one was 1:1 . Regarding to patients group, 32% of CHD patient with normal hair and 68% bald with statistical significant difference (p ? 0.01). The frequency distribution of blood group type O between healthy people and CHD patients was 50% and 62%, respectively, and the difference was statistically significant (p ? 0.05).The frequency of histo-blood group of B type within bald healthy group was more than that reported in patients with normal hair. On the contrary, the frequency of histo-blood group of O type reported among patient with normal hair than bald CHD with statistical significant difference (p ? 0.05).Conclusion: people with hereditary baldness may have a predisposition to heart disease compared with people with natural hair. Blood groups distribution may affect indirectly on rates of heart disease difference Keywords: Coronary heart disease; ABO blood group; Baldness, Ira

The L2 motivational self system: A meta-analysis

This article reports the first meta-analysis of the L2 motivational self system (Dörnyei, 2005, 2009). A total of 32 research reports, involving 39 unique samples and 32,078 language learners, were meta-analyzed. The results showed that the three components of the L2 motivational self system (the ideal L2 self, the ought-to L2 self, and the L2 learning experience) were significant predictors of subjective intended effort (rs = .61, .38, and .41, respectively), though weaker predictors of objective measures of achievement (rs = .20, -.05, and .17). Substantial heterogeneity was also observed in most of these correlations. The results also suggest that the strong correlation between the L2 learning experience and intended effort reported in the literature is, due to substantial wording overlap, partly an artifact of lack of discriminant validity between these two scales. Implications of these results and directions for future research are discussed

Unconscious motivation. Part II: Implicit attitudes and L2 achievement

This paper investigates the attitudinal/motivational predictors of second language (L2) academic achievement. Young adult learners of English as a foreign language (N = 311) completed several self-report measures and the Single-Target Implicit Association Test. Examination of the motivational profiles of high and low achievers revealed that attachment to the L1 community and the ought-to L2 self were negatively associated with achievement, while explicit attitudes toward the L2 course and implicit attitudes toward L2 speakers were positively associated with it. The relationship between implicit attitudes and achievement could not be explained either by social desirability or by other cognitive confounds, and remained significant after controlling for explicit self-report measures. Explicit–implicit congruence also revealed a similar pattern, in that congruent learners were more open to the L2 community and obtained higher achievement. The results also showed that neither the ideal L2 self nor intended effort had any association with actual L2 achievement, and that intended effort was particularly prone to social desirability biases. Implications of these findings are discussed