An Exploration of Speaking Anxiety with Kurdish University EFL Learners

The issue of language learning anxiety has been widely researched and investigated in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) settings. However, there have been very few studies conducted on this issue in Kurdistan, specifically about speaking anxiety in English classes. This study, therefore, aims to investigate Kurdish students' perceptions about the sources contributing to English language speaking anxiety in the context of universities of Kurdistan. It then proposes possible learning and teaching strategies to overcome this problem or at least decrease it. The present study also provides fresh approaches and feasible pedagogic implications for foreign language instructors to create a safe and low anxiety environment in English classes. In this qualitative research, a survey strategy was applied by means of both semi structured interview and questionnaire methods for the purpose of data collection. For achieving the study purposes, thirty students were selected purposively who were studying English language at Soran University, Faculty of Arts. Key words: Speaking anxiety, English as a foreign language (EFL), sources, strategies, Kurdish EFL learner

Accurate metaheuristic deep convolutional structure for a robust human gait recognition

Gait recognition has become a developing technology in various security, industrial, medical, and military applications. This paper proposed a deep convolutional neural network (CNN) model to authenticate humans via their walking style. The proposed model has been applied to two commonly used standardized datasets, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CASIA) and Osaka University-Institute of Scientific and Industrial Research (OU-ISIR). After the silhouette images have been isolated from the gait image datasets, their features have been extracted using the proposed deep CNN and the traditional ones, including AlexNet, Inception (GoogleNet), VGGNet, ResNet50, and Xception. The best features were selected using genetic, grey wolf optimizer (GWO), particle swarm optimizer (PSO), and chi-square algorithms. Finally, recognize the selected features using the proposed deep neural network (DNN). Several performance evaluation parameters have been estimated to evaluate the model’s quality, including accuracy, specificity, sensitivity, false negative rate (FNR), and training time. Experiments have demonstrated that the suggested framework with a genetic feature selector outperforms previous selectors and recent research, scoring accuracy values of 99.46% and 99.09% for evaluating the CASIA and OU-ISIR datasets, respectively, in low time (19 seconds for training)

Sinteza novih derivata testosterona sa supstituiranim pirazolinskim prstenom kao inhibitori 5alpha-reduktaze

Condensation of 3β-hydroxy-16-[(4-chlorophenyl)methylene]androst-5-en-17-one 1 with hydrazine hydrate in acetic acid afforded N-acetyl pyrazoline derivative 2, while, condensation of 1 with semicarbazide afforded compound 3. Also, compound 1 was treated with hydrazine hydrate in absolute methanol or ethanol to afford the corresponding -methoxy (4) and -ethoxy (5) derivatives, which were cyclized with etherated boron trifluoride to the pyrazoline derivative 6. The later could be prepared directly by refluxing of 1 with hydrazine hydrate in dioxane. Oxidation of compound 6 with Oppenour or Moffat oxidizing agents yielded 3-oxo-derivatives 7 and 8, respectively. On the other hand, condensation of compound 1 with substituted hydrazines, gave the corresponding 3beta-hydroxyandrostenopyrazolines 9a,b, which were oxidized using Moffat method give 3-oxo-androstenopyrazolines 10a,b, which were condensed with ethylene triphenyl-phosphorane in DMSO to yield 3-ethylene androstenopyrazolines 11a,b. Dehydrogenation of 9a,b with Wettestein oxidation afforded 4,6-diene-3-one analogues 12a,b, which were treated with chloranil to yield delta4,6,8(14)-triene-3-one analogues 13a,b. Oppenour oxidation of 9a,b afforded Δ4-ene-3-one analogues 14a,b, which were treated with dichlorodicyanoquinone (DDQ) in dioxane to give Δ1,4,6-triene-3-one analogues 15a,b. Pharmacological screening showed that many of these compounds exhibit 5alpha-reductase activity.Kondenzacijom 3β-hidroksi-16-[(4-klorofenil)metilen]androst-5-en-17-ona 1 s hidrazin hidratom u octenoj kiselini dobiven je derivat N-acetil pirazolina 2, a kondenzacijom 1 sa semikarbazidom priređen je spoj 3. Reakcijom spoja 1 s hidrazin hidratom u apsolutnom metanolu ili etanolu nastali su odgovarajući -metoksi (4) i -etoksi (5) derivati, koji su ciklizirani s borovim trifluoridom u derivat pirazolina 6. Isti spoj se može pripaviti izravno refluksiranjem spoja 1 s hidrazin hidratom u dioksanu. Oksidacijom spoja 6 s Oppenourovim ili Moffatovim oksidansom dobiveni su 3-okso derivati 7, odnosno 8. S druge strane, kondenzacija spoja 1 sa supstituiranim hidrazinima dala je odgovarajuće 3beta-hidroksiandrostenopirazoline 9a,b, koji su oksidirani Moffatovom metodom u 3-okso-androstenopirazoline 10a,b. Ovi produkti su dalje kondenzirani s etilen rifenil-fosforanom u DMSO u 3-etilen androstenopirazoline 11a,b. Wettesteinovom dehidrogenacijom 9a,b dobiveni su delta4,6-dien-3-on analozi 12a,b, koji su s kloranilom dali 4,6,8(14)-trien-3-on analoge 13a,b. Oppenourovom oksidacijom 9a,b dobiveni su Δ4-en-3-on analozi 14a,b, koji su s diklorodicianokinonom (DDQ) u dioksanu dali Δ1,4,6-trien-3-on analoge 15a,b. Farmakološka ispitivanja ukazuju da mnogi od sintetizirnih spojeva inhibiraju 5alfa-reduktazu

Relationship between Caregiver's Expressed Emotions and Patient's Symptoms Severity among Schizophrenic Patients: A Comparative Study

Background: Schizophrenia is one of the most common mental disorders which is characterized by debilitating nature and recurrent relapse of its psychotic episodes that have been often misunderstood and lead to confusion among the family members, who play the role as primary caregivers. Although expressed emotion (EE) has been widely studied in the Western world, it is not well understood in Middle East communities. Aim: The aim of the present study was to assess and compare the association between expressed emotion EE and patients’ symptoms severity among caregivers of schizophrenic patients in two Middle East countries (Egypt and Saudi Arabia).Methods: A convenient sample of 120 patients and their caregivers was selected; (60) patients and their caregivers from Saudi Arabia, and (60) caregivers and their patients from Egypt. Three tools were utilized in the current study including; (1) the Socio-demographic Data Sheet; (2) The Family Attitude Scale (FAS); and (3) Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS).Results: The study result revealed that there were statistically significant relationships between FAS levels and Egyptian and Saudi patients' duration of illness as (X2=24.466, p=.000, and X2= 10.792, p=.001 respectively). However, Egyptians and Saudi patients did not differ in relation to the number of patients' admission and caregivers' FAS. Conclusion: The study concluded that, Egyptian patients' socio-demographic and medical characteristics differ with FAS levels; however, Saudi patients did not. On the other hand, PANSS scores differ by Saudi patients' socio-demographic and medical characteristics. Recommendations: The study recommended that there is a need to develop specialized nursing interventions program to raise awareness of family caregiver by schizophrenia and mange their psychological and emotional problems that result from caring for mentally ill patients. Keywords: Expressed emotions, Symptom intensity, Schizophrenic patient

Weight awareness among parents and health care providers in Sharjah, UAE

Background: This study looks at weight perception among parents and health care providers in Sharjah, UAE.Methods: This study was done through reviewing 1000 patients files who visited the paediatric OPD in university hospital Sharjah (UHS) during 2015. The files were reviewed for the cause of the visit, the diagnosis of weight status and weight counselling.Results: 18% of study patients were either overweight or obese. In children with abnormal weight status, the cause of the visits was weight related in 3.3% of patients, while it was due to weight unrelated causes in 96.7%. Weight counselling in obese individuals were reported in 35.5% of obese patients. While in overweight group, weight counselling was found in 5% of the patients and in patients with normal BMI, counselling was done in 0.2% of patients.Conclusions: This study shows clear defects in weight awareness and perception in parents and health care providers. Most parents are either not aware about the weight status of their kids or they don’t consider overweight or obesity as medical issues that require medical advice. The very low percentage of specific weight counselling shows weight counselling is not practiced if these patients are evaluated for other complaints. Weight misperception among parents and health care providers can be genuine barriers for prevention of childhood obesity

Dynamic complexity of a slow-fast predator-prey model with herd behavior

The complex dynamics of a slow-fast predator-prey interaction with herd behavior are examined in this work. We investigate the presence and stability of fixed points. By employing the bifurcation theory, it is shown that the model undergoes both a period-doubling and a Neimark-Sacker bifurcation at the interior fixed point. Under the influence of period-doubling and Neimark-Sacker bifurcations, chaos is controlled using the hybrid control approach. Moreover, numerical simulations are carried out to highlight the model's complexity and show how well they agree with analytical findings. Employing the slow-fast factor as the bifurcation parameter shows that the model goes through a Neimark-Sacker bifurcation for greater values of the slow-fast factor at the interior fixed point. This makes sense because if the slow-fast factor is large, the growth rates of the predator and its prey will be about identical, automatically causing the interior fixed point to become unstable owing to the predator's slow growth

Magnetohydrodynamic Free Convection Flows with Thermal Memory over a Moving Vertical Plate in Porous Medium

The unsteady hydro-magnetic free convection flow with heat transfer of a linearly viscous, incompressible, electrically conducting fluid near a moving vertical plate with the constant heat is investigated. The flow domain is the porous half-space and a magnetic field of a variable direction is applied. The Caputo time-fractional derivative is employed in order to introduce a thermal flux constitutive equation with a weakly memory. The exact solutions for the fractional governing differential equations for fluid temperature, Nusselt number, velocity field, and skin friction are obtained by using the Laplace transform method. The numerical calculations are carried out and the results are presented in graphical illustrations. The influence of the memory parameter (the fractional order of the time-derivative) on the temperature and velocity fields is analyzed and a comparison between the fluid with the thermal memory and the ordinary fluid is made. It was observed that due to evolution in the time of the Caputo power-law kernel, the memory effects are stronger for the small values of the time t.  Moreover, it is found that the fluid flow is accelerated / retarded by varying the inclination angle of the magnetic field direction

Lawsonia inermis seeds cotyledon and coat extracts as a potential antimicrobial agent

Background: The plant Lawsonia inermis, which is a member of the Lythraceae family, has long been used to cure a number of diseases. Previous studies have demonstrated the antibacterial capabilities of the plant's components. However, neither the efficiency of these extracts on bacterial strains that are antibiotic-resistant nor a systematic analysis of the extracts from the various seed components have been conducted. Methods: The coat part was separated from the cotyledon. Each part was pulverized and extracted with ethanol, acetone, and hexane. The inhibitory effects of the resulting extracts were tested on three pathogenic bacterial strains and a fungus. The effect of the extracts on antibiotic-resistant bacteria was also evaluated.Results: When tested against pathogenic bacteria (Bacillus subtilis, Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella pneumonia, and Candida albicans), L. inermis seed parts (cotyledon and coat) showed varying levels of antibacterial and antifungal activity. In which the ethanolic extract outperformed the acetonic extract in effectiveness. The minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) for each pathogenic microorganism was established. Utilizing the extract yield, total antibacterial activity (TAA) was calculated. Lawsonia inermis seed components inhibited antibiotic-resistant strains of S. aureus and P. aeruginosa, with strong antibacterial activity seen in aqueous extracts of their cotyledons and coats.Conclusion: We summarize that Lawsonia inermis seed extracts, which have historically been used as secure antimicrobials for human healthcare and cosmetics have the potential to replace current antimicrobial agents that are no longer effective. Moreover, may be a promising source for the isolation of potent drugs for the treatment of bacterial diseases.Keywords: Lawsonia inermis; Henna; Extract; Seeds; Bacterial Infection; Antibiotics Resistance   

Sinteza novih derivata testosterona sa supstituiranim pirazolinskim prstenom kao inhibitori 5alpha-reduktaze

Condensation of 3β-hydroxy-16-[(4-chlorophenyl)methylene]androst-5-en-17-one 1 with hydrazine hydrate in acetic acid afforded N-acetyl pyrazoline derivative 2, while, condensation of 1 with semicarbazide afforded compound 3. Also, compound 1 was treated with hydrazine hydrate in absolute methanol or ethanol to afford the corresponding -methoxy (4) and -ethoxy (5) derivatives, which were cyclized with etherated boron trifluoride to the pyrazoline derivative 6. The later could be prepared directly by refluxing of 1 with hydrazine hydrate in dioxane. Oxidation of compound 6 with Oppenour or Moffat oxidizing agents yielded 3-oxo-derivatives 7 and 8, respectively. On the other hand, condensation of compound 1 with substituted hydrazines, gave the corresponding 3beta-hydroxyandrostenopyrazolines 9a,b, which were oxidized using Moffat method give 3-oxo-androstenopyrazolines 10a,b, which were condensed with ethylene triphenyl-phosphorane in DMSO to yield 3-ethylene androstenopyrazolines 11a,b. Dehydrogenation of 9a,b with Wettestein oxidation afforded 4,6-diene-3-one analogues 12a,b, which were treated with chloranil to yield delta4,6,8(14)-triene-3-one analogues 13a,b. Oppenour oxidation of 9a,b afforded Δ4-ene-3-one analogues 14a,b, which were treated with dichlorodicyanoquinone (DDQ) in dioxane to give Δ1,4,6-triene-3-one analogues 15a,b. Pharmacological screening showed that many of these compounds exhibit 5alpha-reductase activity.Kondenzacijom 3β-hidroksi-16-[(4-klorofenil)metilen]androst-5-en-17-ona 1 s hidrazin hidratom u octenoj kiselini dobiven je derivat N-acetil pirazolina 2, a kondenzacijom 1 sa semikarbazidom priređen je spoj 3. Reakcijom spoja 1 s hidrazin hidratom u apsolutnom metanolu ili etanolu nastali su odgovarajući -metoksi (4) i -etoksi (5) derivati, koji su ciklizirani s borovim trifluoridom u derivat pirazolina 6. Isti spoj se može pripaviti izravno refluksiranjem spoja 1 s hidrazin hidratom u dioksanu. Oksidacijom spoja 6 s Oppenourovim ili Moffatovim oksidansom dobiveni su 3-okso derivati 7, odnosno 8. S druge strane, kondenzacija spoja 1 sa supstituiranim hidrazinima dala je odgovarajuće 3beta-hidroksiandrostenopirazoline 9a,b, koji su oksidirani Moffatovom metodom u 3-okso-androstenopirazoline 10a,b. Ovi produkti su dalje kondenzirani s etilen rifenil-fosforanom u DMSO u 3-etilen androstenopirazoline 11a,b. Wettesteinovom dehidrogenacijom 9a,b dobiveni su delta4,6-dien-3-on analozi 12a,b, koji su s kloranilom dali 4,6,8(14)-trien-3-on analoge 13a,b. Oppenourovom oksidacijom 9a,b dobiveni su Δ4-en-3-on analozi 14a,b, koji su s diklorodicianokinonom (DDQ) u dioksanu dali Δ1,4,6-trien-3-on analoge 15a,b. Farmakološka ispitivanja ukazuju da mnogi od sintetizirnih spojeva inhibiraju 5alfa-reduktazu

Transient MHD Convective Flow of Fractional Nanofluid between Vertical Plates

Effects of the uniform transverse magnetic field on the transient free convective flows of a nanofluid with generalized thermal transport between two vertical parallel plates have been analyzed. The fluid temperature is described by a time-fractional differential equation with Caputo derivatives. Closed form of the temperature field is obtained by using the Laplace transform and fractional derivatives of the Wright’s functions. A semi-analytical solution for the velocity field is obtained by using the Laplace transform coupled with the numerical algorithms for the inverse Laplace transform elaborated by Stehfest and Tzou. Effects of the derivative fractional order and physical parameters on the nanofluid flow and heat transfer are graphically investigated