Factors Influencing Employee Engagement: A Survey of the Islamic Bank of Jordan

This study investigates the relationship between organizational communication, pay and benefit and job satisfaction and employee engagement. In this study, Organizational communication, pay and benefit and job satisfaction was treated as independent variables. Employee engagement as a dependent variable. A questionnaire survey of 97 employees working in Jordan Islamic bank shows that organizational communication, pay and benefit and job satisfaction are being implemented and are the key contributors to enhanced employee engagement in the Celestica Islamic Jordan bank

Correlation between serum interleukin- lß and neonatal sepsis in neonatal intensive care unit in Zagazig University Hospitals

Background: The role of interleukin-lß in the pathogenesis of sepsis is widely accepted, but less is known regarding its role in the newborn period.Objective: The aim of the work was to detect relation between serum level of IL- lß and clinical presentation of neonatal sepsis.Patients and Methods: This case control trial study included a total of thirty-six newborns, attending at the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, Zagazig University Hospitals. They were categorized into two groups; 18 each: Group I: newborns with suspected clinical sepsis, and Group II (control group) healthy newborns with no sepsis. Interleukin- lß was assessed in all neonates.Results: IL-lß showed significant increase in diseased versus control group (20.07±8.68 versus 1.21±0.48, respectively with p <0.001). IL-lß showed insignificant difference in preterm versus full term neonates. IL-lß showed significant difference in subgroup analysis. Full term neonates in patient group had the highest mean (23.811±10.55 pg/ml, p<0.001).Conclusion: It could be concluded that premature babies have lower IL-1ß serum concentrations, while mature newborns with sepsis had higher IL-1ß serum concentrations than healthy newborns

A Comparative Analysis of E-Scooter and E-Bike Usage Patterns: Findings from the City of Austin, TX

E-scooter-sharing and e-bike-sharing systems are accommodating and easing the increased traffic in dense cities and are expanding considerably. However, these new micro-mobility transportation modes raise numerous operational and safety concerns. This study analyzes e-scooter and dockless e-bike sharing system user behavior. We investigate how average trip speed change depending on the day of the week and the time of the day. We used a dataset from the city of Austin, TX from December 2018 to May 2019. Our results generally show that the trip average speed for e-bikes ranges between 3.01 and 3.44 m/s, which is higher than that for e-scooters (2.19 to 2.78 m/s). Results also show a similar usage pattern for the average speed of e-bikes and e-scooters throughout the days of the week and a different usage pattern for the average speed of e-bikes and e-scooters over the hours of the day. We found that users tend to ride e-bikes and e-scooters with a slower average speed for recreational purposes compared to when they are ridden for commuting purposes. This study is a building block in this field, which serves as a first of its kind, and sheds the light of significant new understanding of this emerging class of shared-road users.Comment: Submitted to the International Journal of Sustainable Transportatio

Functionalized Cellulose for the Controlled Synthesis of Novel Carbon–Ti Nanocomposites: Physicochemical and Photocatalytic Properties

H.H. gratefully thanks a predoctoral fellowship from Erasmus Mundus (Al-Idrisi II). E.B.-G. is grateful to MINECO for her postdoctoral fellowship (FJCI-2015-23769). S.M.-T. acknowledges the financial support from the University of Granada (Reincorporación Plan Propio). “Unidad de Excelencia Química Aplicada a Biomedicina y Medioambiente” of the University of Granada (UEQ - UGR) is gratefully acknowledged for the technical assistance.Carbon–Ti nanocomposites were prepared by a controlled two-step method using microcrystalline cellulose as a raw material. The synthesis procedure involves the solubilization of cellulose by an acid treatment (H3PO4 or HNO3) and the impregnation with the Ti precursor followed of a carbonization step at 500 or 800 ◦C. The type of acid treatment leads to a different functionalization of cellulose with phosphorus- or oxygen-containing surface groups, which are able to control the load, dispersion and crystalline phase of Ti during the composite preparation. Thus, phosphorus functionalities lead to amorphous carbon–Ti composites at 500 ◦C, while TiP2O7 crystals are formed when prepared at 800 ◦C. On the contrary, oxygenated groups induce the formation of TiO2 rutile at an unusually low temperature (500 ◦C), while an increase of carbonization temperature promotes a progressive crystal growth. The removal of Orange G (OG) azo dye in aqueous solution, as target pollutant, was used to determine the adsorptive and photocatalytic efficiencies, with all composites being more active than the benchmark TiO2 material (Degussa P25). Carbon–Ti nanocomposites with a developed micro-mesoporosity, reduced band gap and TiO2 rutile phase were the most active in the photodegradation of OG under ultraviolet irradiation.This work was financially supported by the Spanish Projects ref. RTI2018-099224-B-I00 from ERDF/Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities—State Research Agency and Junta de Andalucía - Grant ref. RMN-172

On the Interactions and Synergism between Phases of Carbon–Phosphorus–Titanium Composites Synthetized from Cellulose for the Removal of the Orange-G Dye

Carbon–phosphorus–titanium composites (CPT) were synthesized by Ti-impregnation and carbonization of cellulose. Microcrystalline cellulose used as carbon precursor was initially dissolved by phosphoric acid (H3PO4) to favor the Ti-dispersion and the simultaneous functionalization of the cellulose chains with phosphorus-containing groups, namely phosphates and polyphosphates. These groups interacted with the Ti-precursor during impregnation and determined the interface transformations during carbonization as a function of the Ti-content and carbonization temperature. Amorphous composites with high surface area and mesoporosity were obtained at low Ti-content (Ti:cellulose ratio = 1) and carbonization temperature (500ºC), while in composites with Ti:cellulose ratio = 12 and 800ºC, Ti-particles reacted with the cellulose groups leading to different Ti-crystalline polyphosphates and a marked loss of the porosity. The efficiency of composites in the removal of the Orange G dye in solution by adsorption and photocatalysis was discussed based on their physicochemical properties. These materials were more active than the benchmark TiO2 material (Degussa P25), showing a clear synergism between phases.This research is supported by the FEDER and Spanish projects CTQ2013-44789-R (MINECO) and P12-RNM-2892 (Junta de Andalucía). H.H. gratefully thanks the support of Erasmus-Mundus (Al-Idrisi II) project for PhD scholarship. S.M.-T. acknowledges the financial support from University of Granada (Reincorporación Plan Propio). J.C.-Q. is grateful to the Junta de Andalucía for her research contract (P12-RNM-2892)

Potential bioactivity of Phoenix dactylifera fruits, leaves, and seeds against prostate and pancreatic cancer cells

The use of functional foods’ phytochemicals in the chemoprevention of different cancer diseases has become one of the hot scientific areas in the clinical nutrition field. For instance, the Khalas palm cultivar (KPC; Phoenix dactylifera) is one of the natural sustainable resources that have high bioactivity and functionality. This study aimed to investigate the antiproliferative activity and mode of action of KPC’s different parts on prostate (Pc3) and pancreatic (panc1) cancer cells at a molecular level. In the methods, KPC’s leaves, seeds, and fruits’ chemical composition and phytochemical analysis were analyzed. Also, the cytotoxic effects of each extract were assessed against pc3 and panc1 cell lines. Besides, induction of apoptosis, cell cycle analysis, and gene expression of both Cap3 and Cap9 were studied. The obtained results indicated that KPC leaves extract exhibited the highest significant (P < 0.01) anti-proliferation activity against the utilized cancer cell lines compared to fruits and seeds extracts. Also, there were significant (P < 0.05) differences in the phenolic contents, flavonoid of compounds, and antioxidant power of the leaves when compared to the seeds and fruits. Additionally, the highest cytotoxic effect (lowest IC50) was recorded with leave extract than seeds and fruits. Meanwhile, the seeds extract induced (P < 0.05) the apoptosis and arrested cells in the G2/M phase as well as up-regulated the gene expression of the apoptotic-related genes (Casp3 and Casp9) compared to the control group. In conclusion, this study showed that the presence of bioactive components in the KPC different parts extracts have the significant ability to induce the apoptotic pathway that could down-regulate the proliferation of prostate (pc3) and pancreatic (panc1) cancer cells. The pathway mechanism of action was induced by the phytol molecule presented in its leaves extract

Overview On Surgical Management Of Overactive Bladder

Overactive bladder syndrome is a persistent and incapacitating disorder that has profound medical, psychological, and social implications, greatly impacting the wellbeing of countless individuals globally. A significant number of individuals experience urine urgency, which can be extremely bothersome. The primary indicator of overactive bladder (OAB) is a sense of urgency, often accompanied by increased urine frequency and nocturia. After ruling out other medical conditions with similar symptoms, the initial approach to managing OAB is providing guidance on fluid consumption and bladder training. If needed, antimuscarinic medicines may be added as a supplement. If patients have significant distress from OAB symptoms even after maximizing medicinal treatment, they may choose to undergo invasive procedures. There is currently a limited understanding of the hierarchical structure of central nervous system control. However, the use of functional imaging is starting to reveal the difficulties that need to be addressed in this area. Current research is exploring the use of botulinum neurotoxin-A injection, oral β3-adrenergic agonists, and innovative methods for nerve stimulation as potential therapies. The inherent subjectivity of urine urgency, the absence of animal models, and the complex pathophysiology of overactive bladder (OAB) pose substantial obstacles to achieving effective clinical therapy

Measuring universal health coverage based on an index of effective coverage of health services in 204 countries and territories, 1990–2019: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019

© 2020 Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an Open Access article under the CC BY 4.0 license Background: Achieving universal health coverage (UHC) involves all people receiving the health services they need, of high quality, without experiencing financial hardship. Making progress towards UHC is a policy priority for both countries and global institutions, as highlighted by the agenda of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and WHO's Thirteenth General Programme of Work (GPW13). Measuring effective coverage at the health-system level is important for understanding whether health services are aligned with countries' health profiles and are of sufficient quality to produce health gains for populations of all ages. Methods: Based on the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2019, we assessed UHC effective coverage for 204 countries and territories from 1990 to 2019. Drawing from a measurement framework developed through WHO's GPW13 consultation, we mapped 23 effective coverage indicators to a matrix representing health service types (eg, promotion, prevention, and treatment) and five population-age groups spanning from reproductive and newborn to older adults (≥65 years). Effective coverage indicators were based on intervention coverage or outcome-based measures such as mortality-to-incidence ratios to approximate access to quality care; outcome-based measures were transformed to values on a scale of 0–100 based on the 2·5th and 97·5th percentile of location-year values. We constructed the UHC effective coverage index by weighting each effective coverage indicator relative to its associated potential health gains, as measured by disability-adjusted life-years for each location-year and population-age group. For three tests of validity (content, known-groups, and convergent), UHC effective coverage index performance was generally better than that of other UHC service coverage indices from WHO (ie, the current metric for SDG indicator 3.8.1 on UHC service coverage), the World Bank, and GBD 2017. We quantified frontiers of UHC effective coverage performance on the basis of pooled health spending per capita, representing UHC effective coverage index levels achieved in 2019 relative to country-level government health spending, prepaid private expenditures, and development assistance for health. To assess current trajectories towards the GPW13 UHC billion target—1 billion more people benefiting from UHC by 2023—we estimated additional population equivalents with UHC effective coverage from 2018 to 2023. Findings: Globally, performance on the UHC effective coverage index improved from 45·8 (95% uncertainty interval 44·2–47·5) in 1990 to 60·3 (58·7–61·9) in 2019, yet country-level UHC effective coverage in 2019 still spanned from 95 or higher in Japan and Iceland to lower than 25 in Somalia and the Central African Republic. Since 2010, sub-Saharan Africa showed accelerated gains on the UHC effective coverage index (at an average increase of 2·6% [1·9–3·3] per year up to 2019); by contrast, most other GBD super-regions had slowed rates of progress in 2010–2019 relative to 1990–2010. Many countries showed lagging performance on effective coverage indicators for non-communicable diseases relative to those for communicable diseases and maternal and child health, despite non-communicable diseases accounting for a greater proportion of potential health gains in 2019, suggesting that many health systems are not keeping pace with the rising non-communicable disease burden and associated population health needs. In 2019, the UHC effective coverage index was associated with pooled health spending per capita (r=0·79), although countries across the development spectrum had much lower UHC effective coverage than is potentially achievable relative to their health spending. Under maximum efficiency of translating health spending into UHC effective coverage performance, countries would need to reach $1398 pooled health spending per capita (US$ adjusted for purchasing power parity) in order to achieve 80 on the UHC effective coverage index. From 2018 to 2023, an estimated 388·9 million (358·6–421·3) more population equivalents would have UHC effective coverage, falling well short of the GPW13 target of 1 billion more people benefiting from UHC during this time. Current projections point to an estimated 3·1 billion (3·0–3·2) population equivalents still lacking UHC effective coverage in 2023, with nearly a third (968·1 million [903·5–1040·3]) residing in south Asia. Interpretation: The present study demonstrates the utility of measuring effective coverage and its role in supporting improved health outcomes for all people—the ultimate goal of UHC and its achievement. Global ambitions to accelerate progress on UHC service coverage are increasingly unlikely unless concerted action on non-communicable diseases occurs and countries can better translate health spending into improved performance. Focusing on effective coverage and accounting for the world's evolving health needs lays the groundwork for better understanding how close—or how far—all populations are in benefiting from UHC. Funding: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation