Using Indexes to Detect the Environmental Changes of Hor Al-Dalmaj and Surrounding Areas in Central Sector of Mesopotamia Plain

The study area has large desertification areas which covered by salty soils and sand dunes and sand sheet. It lies in Wassit, Al-Qadissiya and Karbala Governorates in central sector of the Mesopotamia plain. The study area depends on Thematic Mapper (TM) data of Landsat 5 for two scenes acquisition in 1990, Enhancement Thematic Mapper (ETM) data of Landsat7 for two scenes Acquisition in 2002, these data are mosaic and subset it by using area of interest (AOI) file and made use of a nearest neighbor polynomial correction within the ERDAS 9.2 software.The images carried out with WGS84 datum and UTM N38 projection using nearest neighbor resampling. Different types of indexes were adopted as practical tools for monitoring of Hor Al-Dalmaj and surrounding areas such as Normalized Differential Vegetation Index (NDVI), Water Index (WI), Eolian Mapping Index (EMI) and Salinity Index (SI) to study environmental changes from 1990to 2002, by using ERDAS 9.2 Imagine and Arc GIS 9.3 programs. The vegetation distribution determined by Normalized Differential Vegetation Index (NDVI), Water determined by using Water Index (WI), Eolian sediments determined by using Eolian Mapping Index (EMI) and to detect the salinity soil used Salinity Index (SI). The obtained result showed that the desertification lands have increased during the period from 1990 to 2002. Keywords: Environmental Changes, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Water Index (WI), Eolian Mapping Index (EMI), Salinity Index (SI)

Assessment Environmental Changes in Al-Habbaniya Lake and Surrounding Areas in the Central Part of Iraq

The study area lies in the central part of Iraq, in Al-Anbar Governorate, it covers about (4400) km2.It includes Al-Habbinya Lake which represent touristic region and waterish reserves used for water balance management of Euphrates River. The present study depends on Thematic Mapper (TM) data of Landsat 5 acquisition in 1990, Enhancement Thematic Mapper (ETM) data of Landsat7 acquisition in 2001, these data are mosaic and subset it by using area of interest (AOI) file and made use of a nearest neighbor polynomial correction within the ERDAS 9.2 software.The images carried out with WGS84 datum and UTM N38 projection using nearest neighbor resampling. Types of image ratioing were adopted as practical tools for monitoring of Al-Habbinya Lake and surrounding areas such as Normalized Differential Vegetation Index (NDVI), Water Index (WI) and Salinity Index (SI) to study environmental changes from 1990 to 2001, by using ERDAS 9.2 Imagine and Arc GIS 9.3 programs. The vegetation distribution determined by Normalized Differential Vegetation Index (NDVI), Water determined by using Water Index and to detect the salinity soil used Salinity Index (SI). The obtained result shows increase in area of vegetation, and decrease in area of water, salty soil and sabkha during the period from 1990 to 2001. Keywords: Environmental Changes, Image Ratioing, Thresholding, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Water Index (WI), Salinity Index (SI

A Survey-Based Vision for Restructuring Concrete Business in the New Residential Communities in Egypt

Due to its evolving technology and dynamic nature, a sizeable segment of the world’s construction market that used to partly rely on traditional site-mixed concrete (SMC) had almost completely shifted to ready-mixed concrete (RMC) several decades ago in the developed countries. Likewise, this targeted trend has been observed in developing countries. The Egyptian residential sector has also adopted some corrective changes in this direction in the last decade. Nevertheless, the vast majority of builders in the Egyptian market have continued to oppose to this global paradigm shift. The observed “cultural” resistance to change seems to be chiefly driven by the difference in the unit price of SMC and RMC, overlooking the latter’s superior characteristics and its added values that fundamentally overweigh this apparent difference in cost.This study aims at promoting the use of RMC over SMC for construction of new residential communities in Egypt. Proper business measures need to be implemented for the desired change in the culture of concrete market. A mixed (qualitative and quantitative) approach was used in this survey. A customized survey, comprised of a series of interviews with consultants/contractors in the field and a detailed questionnaire targeting practitioners (developers, contractors and end users), was conducted to gage market responsiveness to the desired change. The desired market shift towards RMC (targeted variable) hinges on generic variables: price, concrete quality and customer satisfaction, and market-specific variables: local concrete culture, perception of average customers, and permitting process.The survey revealed that professional participants, a small fraction of the local concrete market, are aware of the added values of utilizing RMC. The participation rate is clearly indicative of the absence of awareness of the numerous competitive advantages of using RMC in the Egyptian market.  The resistance to change, unarguably, still hinges on the mistakenly believed difference in SMC and RMC unit prices, not the cost/benefit ratio

The intercorrelations among risk factors and trust dimensions in S-commerce: An empirical investigation from the user experience

With the increase in social media users, businesses are trying to benefit from the popularity and reachability of such platforms by introducing a new channel for promoting and selling their products. This study surveyed 267 social commerce consumers in the UAE to understand the impact of the perceived risks on users\u27 trust, which is known to impact customers\u27 purchase intention. Structural equation modeling and factor analysis were applied. The results highlighted the importance of security risks as statistically significant influencers of the users\u27 trust. On the other hand, financial and time risks were insignificant. The study has both practical and theoretical implications discussed in the paper

Empathy toward Patients with Mental Illness among Baccalaureate Nursing Students: Impact of a Psychiatric Nursing and Mental Health Educational Experience

Empathy is an ability and skill that can be learned and developed through appropriate education and practice. While the importance of nurses' empathy is widely acknowledged, little is known about the impact of passing through the psychiatric nursing and mental health educational experience at the Faculty of Nursing, Alexandria University on students' level of empathy. This study aimed to assess the change in level of empathy toward patients with mental illness among baccalaureate nursing students before and after completing a psychiatric nursing and mental health educational experience. The study followed a cross-sectional exploratory research design. It was conducted on 204 students in the eighth semester of the academic year 2012-2013, who were enrolled in the course of psychiatric nursing and mental health. A Student's Socio-demographic Characteristics and Previous Experience with Mental Illness Questionnaire and Empathy toward the Mentally Ill Scale were used to collect data. The results indicated that all students significantly achieved high levels of empathy after the psychiatric nursing experience. It was concluded that passing through a psychiatric nursing and mental health educational experience can improve baccalaureate nursing students' empathy toward patients with mental illness. Recommendations included the need for further studies compare between students’ levels empathy toward people with mental illness before and after completing various psychiatric nursing educational experiences at different faculties of nursing.   Keywords: Empathy; Mental illness; Nursing students; Psychiatric nursing educational experience

The Impact of Audit Committee and External Auditor Characteristics on Financial Reporting Quality among Malaysian Firms

The quality of a financial reporting system is highly dependent upon the mechanism of corporate governance, such as effectiveness of the audit committee, external audit, financial expertise and board structure. This study examines the relationship between audit committee characteristics and external auditors’ characteristics (independent variables) and financial reporting quality (dependent variable). The study used a sample of firms from Bursa Malaysia, explicitly the top 100 performing firms according to the Bursa Malaysia stock exchange. The analysis of annual reports proves that audit committee (independence, expertise, and diligence) has the prediction capability to financial reporting quality. However, results indicate that industry leadership has significant impact on financial reporting quality, but on the other hand, large audit firms do not have any significant effect on financial reporting quality. This study adds to the knowledge of audit committee practices and procedures in accounting literature regarding the Malaysian context. The results of this study cannot be generalized because the study used the top 100 performing firms from Malaysia irrespective of particular industries. The results of this study might be changed if future researches use different sets of sample firms. Keywords: Audit committee, external auditor, financial reporting quality, Discretionary Accrual

An Electronic and Performance Test for the Applicants to Faculty of Education for Early Childhood in Egypt for Measuring the Skills of Teacher Students

The current study presents an electronic test to measure teaching skills. This test is a part of the admission system of the Faculty of Education for Early Childhood, Cairo University. The test has been prepared to evaluate university students who apply for admission the Faculty. It measures some social and physiological skills which are important for successful teachers, such as emotional adjustment and problem solving; moreover, the extent of their love for children and their capability to interact with them. The test has been approved by 13 experts. Finally, it has been introduced to 1,100 students during the admission system of the academic year 2016/2017. The results showed that most of the applicants have an auditory learning style. In addition, 97% of them have the minimum requirement skills for teaching children

Detecting uterine cervical cancer cells using molecular biomarkers

Arrière-plan: les cellules tumorales circulantes (CTC) sont détectables dans de nombreux cancers et peuvent être utiles cliniquement pour le pronostic de la maladie, pour mesurer la récidive et pour prédire la sensibilité aux medicaments chimiothérapeutiques. Au cours des dernières années, l’études des CTC dans de nombreux cancers tels que le cancer du sein, du poumon, du côlon et de la prostate a grandement évolué. Alternativement, il y peu d'études à ce sujet concernant le cancer du col de l’utérus (CCU). Objectifs: Notre objectif est d’optimiser le processus d'enrichissement des CTC dans le CCU et la détection moléculaire des biomarqueurs E6 et E7. Matériel et Méthodes: Dans l’optique de mimer la présence de CTC dans le sang, nous avons dilué des cellules cancéreuses CaSki VPH16-positif provenant d’un CCU dans du sang humain prélevé sur des volontaires sains. Les CaSki ont été collectées suite à une centrifugation par densité avec le Ficoll, la lyse des globules rouges (RBC) et la lyse des RBC combinée avec un enrichissement positif et négatif à l’aide de marqueurs de surface cellulaire. Les CTC ont été détectées par la mesure d’expression des oncogènes E6 et E7 du virus du papillome humain (VPH), de la cytokératine 19 (CK19) et de la cycline p16INK4 en utilisant la technique quantitative en temps réel de Reverse Transcriptase-Polymerase Chain Reaction (qRT-PCR). Pour valider notre méthode de détection des CTC in vivo, nous avons recruté dix patientes atteintes d’un CCU VPH16 positif et six contrôles sains. Résultats: Dans le modèle de dilutions de cellules CaSki, la lyse des RBC seule ou combinée avec l'enrichissement négatif ou positif suggèrent des limites de détection de 1 CTC par mL de sang pour tous les biomarqueurs moléculaires utilisés. La sensibilité de détection est accrue lors de l'utilisation de l’enrichissement positif et négatif en réduisant le bruit de fond causé par les monocytes sanguins. Contrairement aux oncogènes E6 et E7, les marqueurs CK19 et p16INK4A ont été détectés chez des individus sains, les niveaux d'expression de base appropriés doivent donc être déterminés avec précision par rapport aux patientes CCU. Le gradient de densité par Ficoll a une limite de détection de seulement environ 1000 cellules par mL de sang. Enfin, les CTC ont été détectées dans 2/10 patientes en utilisant le marqueur CK19. Cependant, ces patientes étaient négatives pour les oncogènes E6/E7. Le marqueur p16INK4A était exprimé au même niveau dans tous les échantillons (CCU et normaux). Conclusion: Notre étude suggère que les oncogènes E6 et E7 du VPH16 sont les marqueurs biologiques les plus sensibles et spécifiques en qRT-PCR pour détecter les CTC dans le modèle de dilution de cellules de CCU dans le sang. Chez les patientes atteintes d’un CCU de stade précoce, seulement CK19 a révélé la présence potentielle de CTC, ce qui suggère que ces cellules sont rares à ce stade de la maladie. Mots clés: cancer du col de l’utérus, cellules tumorales circulantes, RT-qPCR, E6 et E7, CK19, p16INK4A, enrichissement immunomagnétique, détection moléculaire.Background: Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) have been detected in many cancers and are used in multiple clinical applications including disease prognosis, tumor recurrence prediction and prediction of tumor sensitivity to chemotherapeutic drugs. Studies in most major solid cancer(s) (breast, lung, colon and prostate) are progressing rapidly, but there has been very little progress concerning uterine cervical cancer (UCC).Objective: our aim is to optimize enrichment processes and the molecular biomarker-based detection of human circulating tumor cells (CTCs) in uterine cervical cancer (UCC). Material & Methods: To mimic CTCs in patients, we designed an experimental spiking model where the CaSki HPV16-positive UCC cell line was serially diluted and spiked into human blood collected from healthy volunteers. CaSki CTCs were enriched using either Ficoll density centrifugation, red blood cell (RBC) lysis or RBC lysis combined with cell surface markers negative or positive enrichment. CTCs were detected using real-time quantitative reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) to measure the gene expression of human papillomavirus (HPV) viral oncogenes (E6 and E7), cytokeratin 19 (CK19), or the cyclin dependent kinase inhibitor p16INK4A. Finally, ten HPV16- positive UCC patients and six healthy controls were recruited to validate CTCs detection in vivo. Result: In the spiking model, RBC lysis alone or combined with negative or positive enrichment suggests detection limits close to 1 CTC per mL of blood for all molecular biomarkers used. The sensitivity of detection increased when using positive and negative enrichment probably by reducing the peripheral blood mononuclear cell-derived RNA background. Unlike HPV oncogenes, CK19 and p16INK4A were detected in normal individuals, thus appropriate basal expression levels need to be accurately determined compared to cancer patients. Alternatively, Ficoll density gradient had a detection limit of only about 1000 cells per mL of blood. Finally CTCs were detected in 2/10 patients using CK19. None of the patients had E6/E7 transcripts and p16INK4A was expressed at similar level across all samples (cancer and healthy). Conclusion: qRT-PCR of HPV16 E6 and E7 is the most sensitive and specific biomarker used to detect CTCs in the spiking model. In early disease UCC patients, only CK19 revealed the presence of CTCs suggesting that these cells are rare at that stage of the disease. Keywords: uterine cervical cancer, circulating tumor cells, qRT-PCR, E6 and E7 oncoprotein, CK19, p16INK4A, immune-magnetic enrichment, molecular detection