The association between personality, coping and depressive symptoms in adult patients with chronic pain

As a rising concern in the medical and mental health fields, this study aims to examine predictors of depressive symptoms in a sample of Egyptian chronic pain patients in terms of coping styles and personality traits. Patients with chronic pain are believed to experience different stressors which include, but are not limited to, pain, disability, reduced productivity and financial difficulties. Such factors, in addition to various psychosocial factors, constitute the disease burden of chronic pain. This study examines the degree to which coping styles and personality traits can influence the disease outcome in terms of comorbid depressive symptoms. A total of 98 (50 patients with fibromyalgia and 48 patients with rheumatoid arthritis) patients were interviewed and were assessed in terms of their coping styles, personality profile and severity of depressive symptoms. Results show a high prevalence of depressive symptoms and suggest passive coping, high neuroticism, low extraversion, unmarried status and more years of education. to be moderate predictors of the severity of chronic pain. Findings of this study shed light on the significance of the psychological aspects of chronic pain conditions and may help in designing liaison interventions for the management of secondary and comorbid depressive symptoms

OPTIMIZATION OF n-HEXANE REFORMING AND KINETICS OF CATALYST REGENERATION

Catalytic naphtha reforming is practiced extensively in the petroleum-refining industry to convert low research octane number (straight chain paraffin) naphtha feed into high RON component (aromatics and branch isomers) with minimum average molecular weight changes needed for the modern auto-industry. A valuable byproduct, hydrogen, from the process is added bonus needed for hydro processing operations in the refinery. Depending on the operating conditions, hydrogen may be consumed in unwanted hydrocracking reactions which directly contribute to deactivate the catalyst. The present study looks into the optimization of process variable (pressure, temperature and contact time) to maximize isomerization and aromatization (increasing RON value) reaction while minimizing the hydrocracking (catalyst deactivation and reducing RON) reactions in n-hexane reforming using commercially available Pt/Al2O3 catalyst. From the results it is found that high temperature (723 K) with low hydrogen partial pressure (300 KPa) and low contact time (1.78 to 2.4 minutes) favor the production of isomers and aromatics over coke precursors and cracked product species. Addition of CCl4 to the n-hexane reforming process which increases the catalyst acidity, promotes the formation of cracked products. Selective poisoning using dimethyl-disulfide on the other hand is found to decrease monofunctional metal-catalyzed reactions and increased the activity for the isomerization reactions.. To understand and enhance n-hexane reforming the kinetics and catalyst regeneration are also investigated using TGA and TPO analysis. From TPO analysis it was found that applying slow heating rate was the most efficient and convenient way to control the regeneration process. The TGA results indicate that there exist three types of coke categorize as soft, hard and laid coke which can be distinguished by a temperature profile. It was found that the hard coke followed by soft coke makes up the major constituent of the coked catalyst which can be removed successfully by proper regeneration process

The compatibility of Yusuf Al Qaradawi\u27s wasateyya school of thought with the second generation of the Muslim Brotherhood

This paper aims to study the influence of the Wasateyya (centrist) school of thought on the Muslim Brotherhood\u27s second generation of leaders. The study shows that the Wasateyya school and its advocates within the Muslim Brotherhood were unsuccessful in bringing about a meaningful change in the direction of moderateness within the movement. The research assesses the influence of the Wasateyya school of thought by evaluating the compatibility of Qaradawi\u27s ideology with that of four members of the middle generation of the Brotherhood; Abd El Moniem Abul Fotouh, Essam el Eryan, Khairat al Shater, and Mohamed Morsi. The thesis is composed of seven large sections; sections one to three introduce the research question, methodology, and limitations. Section four is a literature review, section five addresses the relationship between Qaradawi and the second generation of the MB and defines ideological and political Wasateyya, section six is about the case study of the four leaders, and finally section seven concludes the main findings of the study

Does visual letter similarity modulate masked form priming in young readers of Arabic?

Available online 19 January 2018 Supplementary data associated with this article can be found, in the online version, at https://doi. org/10.1016/j.jecp.2017.12.004.Supplementary data associated with this article can be found, in the online version, at https://doi. org/10.1016/j.jecp.2017.12.004.We carried out a masked priming lexical decision experiment to study whether visual letter similarity plays a role during the initial phases of word processing in young readers of Arabic (fifth graders). Arabic is ideally suited to test these effects because most Arabic letters share their basic shape with at least one other letter and differ only in the number/position of diacritical points (e.g., ض - ص ;ظ - ط ;غ - ع ;ث - ت - ن ب ;ذ - د ;خ - ح - ج ;ق - ف ;ش - س ;ز - ر). We created two one-letter-different priming conditions for each target word, in which a letter from the consonantal root was substituted by another letter that did or did not keep the same shape (e.g., خدمة - حدمة vs. خدمة - فدمة). Another goal of the current experiment was to test the presence of masked orthographic priming effects, which are thought to be unreliable in Semitic languages. To that end, we included an unrelated priming condition. We found a sizable masked orthographic priming effect relative to the unrelated condition regardless of visual letter similarity, thereby revealing that young readers are able to quickly process the diacritical points of Arabic letters. Furthermore, the presence of masked orthographic priming effects in Arabic suggests that the word identification stream in Indo-European and Semitic languages is more similar than previously thought.This article was made possible by a National Priorities Research Program (NPRP) award (Grant No. 6-378-5-035z) from the Qatar National Research Fund (a member of the Qatar Foundation)

Does visual letter similarity modulate masked form priming in young readers of Arabic?

Available online 19 January 2018 Supplementary data associated with this article can be found, in the online version, at https://doi. org/10.1016/j.jecp.2017.12.004.Supplementary data associated with this article can be found, in the online version, at https://doi. org/10.1016/j.jecp.2017.12.004.We carried out a masked priming lexical decision experiment to study whether visual letter similarity plays a role during the initial phases of word processing in young readers of Arabic (fifth graders). Arabic is ideally suited to test these effects because most Arabic letters share their basic shape with at least one other letter and differ only in the number/position of diacritical points (e.g., ض - ص ;ظ - ط ;غ - ع ;ث - ت - ن ب ;ذ - د ;خ - ح - ج ;ق - ف ;ش - س ;ز - ر). We created two one-letter-different priming conditions for each target word, in which a letter from the consonantal root was substituted by another letter that did or did not keep the same shape (e.g., خدمة - حدمة vs. خدمة - فدمة). Another goal of the current experiment was to test the presence of masked orthographic priming effects, which are thought to be unreliable in Semitic languages. To that end, we included an unrelated priming condition. We found a sizable masked orthographic priming effect relative to the unrelated condition regardless of visual letter similarity, thereby revealing that young readers are able to quickly process the diacritical points of Arabic letters. Furthermore, the presence of masked orthographic priming effects in Arabic suggests that the word identification stream in Indo-European and Semitic languages is more similar than previously thought.This article was made possible by a National Priorities Research Program (NPRP) award (Grant No. 6-378-5-035z) from the Qatar National Research Fund (a member of the Qatar Foundation)

Identification and Quantification of Phthalates in Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) Water Bottles Produced In the UAE

This thesis highlights the criticality of phthalate esters (PEs), widely used in plastic molding and possessing carcinogenetic and toxicological effects. The thesis aims to assess the presence and abundance of these compounds in polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottled water produced in the UAE. The thesis tests for 6 types of PEs (dimethyl phthalate (DMP), diethyl phthalate (DEP), diisobutyl phthalate (DiBP), dibutyl phthalate (DBP), butylbenzyl phthalate (BBP) and Di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) in widely used bottled water brands produced in the UAE. 126 bottled water samples were extracted by liquid-liquid extraction using petroleum ether, followed by analysis of the target compounds using Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry, with a limit of detection that ranges between 0.07 and 0.55 μg/L. The study examined the impact of several parameters on leaching of PEs to bottled water contents including bottle brand, elevated temperature, sunlight exposure, storage time and bottle reuse. It also underlined the harmfulness of the PEs concentration on human health, with details about the commonly enforced regulations on these compounds in bottled water, both worldwide and in the UAE. The only found PE was DiBP with an average concentration ranging between 0.6 and 2.6 μg/L. Moreover, none of the tested parameters showed a clear effect on leaching of PEs to water. Risk analysis was done based on the maximum detected DiBP (3.5 μg/L) and the limits of quantification for all other PEs. No substantial risk was observed. It is concluded that UAE bottled water is safe for drinking from PE leaching perspective. However, it is recommended that extra care should be given to PET bottle recycling; which was used for bottling products other than water as bottle source is suspected to be the reason behind any found PEs in PET bottled water all over the world, considering the fact that PEs are not used in the synthesis of PET plastic. It is also suggested to test water bottles during different steps of the bottling process, to identify the actual sources of PEs, which may not be the PET bottles. Finally, it is vital to do a comprehensive risk analysis to estimate the risk of cumulative exposure to PEs through different channels

SLE, An Overlooked Disease: Possibilities for Early Rescue by Early Diagnosis

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a progressive autoimmune disease associated with widespread organ damage that can eventually cause death. Worldwide prevalence of SLE is difficult to report mainly due to difficulty in diagnosis as a result of its heterogeneous nature and nonspecific protean manifestations. Currently, circulating anti-DNA antibodies are the most specific diagnostic biomarkers for SLE where many detection assays are being employed in clinical practice. However, the diagnostic value of these techniques is challenged by the detection of only subpopulations of these antibodies with varying sensitivity and specificity. This is mainly attributed to differences in the antigen source and presentation and in the employed reaction conditions. This chapter will thoroughly discuss the technology, advantages, and limitations of each assay in addition to a special focus on the recently developed diagnostic technologies and novel biomarkers. Moreover, SLE will be presented as a disease model highlighting the importance of personalized medicine

Enhanced Obfuscation for Software Protection in Autonomous Vehicular Cloud Computing Platforms

Nowadays, sensors, communications connections, and more powerful computing capabilities are added to automobiles, making them more intelligent. The primary goal was to eliminate the need for human control, making them Autonomous Vehicles (AVs). Consequently, researchers thought to put all that newly added computational power to use for other endeavors. Hence, Autonomous Vehicular Cloud Computing (AVCC) models were introduced. Nevertheless, this goal is not an easy undertaking, the dynamic nature of autonomous vehicles introduces a critical challenge in the development of such a distributed computing platform. Furthermore, it presents far complicated issues as far as security and protection of services associated with this framework. In this paper, we center around securing programs running on AVCC. Here, we focus on timing side-channel attacks which aim to leak information about running code, which can be utilized to reverse engineer the program itself. We propose to mitigate these attacks via obfuscated compilation. In particular, we change the control flow of an input program at the compiler level, thereby changing the program’s apparent behavior and accompanying physical manifestations to hinder these attacks. We improve our previous ARM-based implementation to address its limitations and provide more comprehensive coverage for different programs. Our solution is software-based and generically portable - fitting different hardware platforms and numerous input program languages at the source level. Our findings prove a considerable improvement over our previous technique, which may provide more defense against timing side-channels