Design and Implementation of Educational Data Warehouse Using OLAP

Educational Data Mining (EDM) is a method to support learning and teaching processes. Educational Intelligence (EI) is not wide spreading like a business Intelligence (BI). Data Warehouse (DW) technology aims to collect historical data from different kinds of Database (DB) and unifies them under single schema by using the most powerful tool as OLAP which helps the decision maker to make a right decision. Educational Intelligence system combines Educational records of students from two different sources in a single DW. The inputs of educational data warehouse can be in any format (such as reports...). Since the quantities are huge, they are almost meaningless, on the other hand the outputs mainly consist of reports and flowcharts and KPIs with meaning and effective factor for decision maker. The proposed DW is implemented based on two simulated databases of Computer Science Department in the College of Science, University of Basra for the last ten years and AL_IRAQ University for the last 4 years implemented by SQL Server 2014 and SQL Server Data Tool (SSDT) 2012

The Cut-off Values of Triglycerides - Glucose Index for Metabolic Syndrome Associated with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

يؤدي حدوث متلازمة الأيض مع داء السكري من النوع 2 الى زيادة شدة المرض والوفيات المرتبطة بكل منهما. يوصى باستخدام مؤشر الجلوكوز الصائم للدهون الثلاثية (مؤشر TyG) كعلامة مفيدة للتنبؤ بمتلازمة التمثيل الغذائي. كان الهدف من هذه الدراسة هو تحديد القيم الحدية لنوع Triglyceride-Glucose لتشخيص متلازمة الأيض في داء السكري من النوع الثاني. تم جمع البيانات من مستشفيات بغداد في الفترة ما بين مايو وديسمبر 2019. وكان عدد المشاركين المؤهلين 424 حيث تم قياس الجلوكوز في الدم في وضع الصيام ، مستوى الدهون ، مستوى HbA1c. فضلا عن قياس ضغط الدم وتم حساب مؤشر Triglyceride-Glucose . تم الحصول على الموافقة الأخلاقية والموافقة المستنيرة .استخدم برنامج SPSS لمعالجة البيانات. أظهر مرضى السكري الذين يعانون من متلازمة الأيض زيادة مستوى مؤشر TyG. ازداد انتشار متلازمة الأيض مع زيادة مؤشر TyG. أظهر مؤشر TyG ارتباطًا كبيرًا مع جميع مكونات متلازمة الأيض. حيث ارتبط طرديا مع مستوى الكاوكوز في الدم ومحيط الخصر ,مستوى الدهون وضغط الدم الانبساطي بينما تناسب عكسيا مع مستوى الكولسترول النافع .مقدار قيمة القطع الأمثل للمؤشر كانت 9.14 ، 9.28 للذكور والإناث على التوالي.نستنج من الدراسة ان مؤشر TyG ملائم للكشف عن متلازمة الأيض في داء السكري من النوع الثاني       The co-occurrence of metabolic syndrome with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) will potentiate the morbidity and mortality that may be associated with each case. Fasting triglycerides-glucose index (TyG index) has been recommended as a useful marker to predict metabolic syndrome. Our study aimed to introduce gender-specific cut-off values of triglycerides- glucose index   for diagnosing metabolic syndrome associated with type 2 diabetes mellitus. The data were collected from Baghdad hospitals between May - December 2019. The number of eligible participants was 424. National cholesterol education program, Adult Treatment Panel III criteria were used to define metabolic syndrome. Measurement of fasting blood glucose, lipid profile, HbA1c level, blood pressure, and anthropometric were done and the triglyceride-glucose index was calculated. Ethical approval and informed consent were obtained .SPSS was used to analyze the data. Diabetic patients with metabolic syndrome showed an increased level of TyG Index. The prevalence of metabolic syndrome increased with increased TyG index quartiles. The TyG-Index showed significant correlations with all components of metabolic syndrome. The optimal cut-off value revealed 9.14, 9.28 for males and females respectively. In conclusion, TyG index is a good predictor of the presence of MetS in T2DM the TyG index, just measured in one laboratory test, is simple, informative and more suitable for the detection of metabolic syndrome in Iraqi type 2 diabetes mellitus

Design and Implementation of Educational Data Warehouse Using OLAP

Educational Data Mining (EDM) is a method to support learning and teaching processes. Educational Intelligence (EI) is not wide spreading like a business Intelligence (BI). Data Warehouse (DW) technology aims to collect historical data from different kinds of Database (DB) and unifies them under single schema by using the most powerful tool as OLAP which helps the decision maker to make a right decision. Educational Intelligence system combines Educational records of students from two different sources in a single DW. The inputs of educational data warehouse can be in any format (such as reports...). Since the quantities are huge, they are almost meaningless, on the other hand the outputs mainly consist of reports and flowcharts and KPIs with meaning and effective factor for decision maker. The proposed DW is implemented based on two simulated databases of Computer Science Department in the College of Science, University of Basra for the last ten years and AL_IRAQ University for the last 4 years implemented by SQL Server 2014 and SQL Server Data Tool (SSDT) 2012

Operational framework based on modeling languages to support product repository implementation.

Part 3: Tools and MethodologiesInternational audienceEmbracing Product Lifecycle Management approach involves integrating a product repository in the company information system. From customer's needs to disposal stage, several product representations exist. The product repository purpose is to secure consistency of one product representation with the others. This paper presents an operational modeling framework that supports product repository implementation. In order to ensure consistency, this framework identifies correspondences between entities of languages (“trade” languages and standard languages). The presented concepts are illustrated with correspondences between language entities of product designed and productplanned to be built Bills of Materials

Update on Bartonella neuroretinitis

Purpose: To review the clinical features, diagnosis, treatment modalities, and prognosis of Bartonella-associated neuroretinitis. Methods: This is a narrative review on Bartonella-associated neuroretinitis including general and ophthalmological aspects of the disease. A comprehensive literature review between January 1950 and September 2018 was conducted in PubMed database. Epidemiology, clinical features, diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis of Bartonella neuroretinitis were reviewed. Results: Cat scratch disease (CSD) is a worldwide distributed systemic infectious disease caused by a bacterium, Bartonella henselae (B. henselae) which is usually transmitted to humans through contact with infected cats. Ocular manifestations of CSD are diverse, with neuroretinitis and superficial retinal infiltrates being the most common and typical manifestations. Neuroretinitis typically presents as optic disc edema with a partial or complete macular star in association with mild vitritis. Macular star may be absent at the initial presentation, becoming evident 1�2 weeks after the onset of optic disc edema. Diagnosis of CSD is confirmed by reliable laboratory tests. Neuroretinitis usually has a self-limited course. Antibiotic therapy is required for severe systemic disease and vision-threatening ocular involvement. The adjunctive use of oral corticosteroids may further improve the visual outcome. Conclusions: The diagnosis of Bartonella-associated neuroretinitis is based on typical clinical findings and positive serology. The prognosis is usually favorable in immunocompetent individuals. © 2019 Iranian Society of Ophthalmolog

Anthropogenic Heat Flux Estimation from Space: Results of the first phase of the URBANFLUXES Project

H2020-Space project URBANFLUXES (URBan ANthrpogenic heat FLUX from Earth observation Satellites) investigates the potential of Copernicus Sentinels to retrieve anthropogenic heat flux, as a key component of the Urban Energy Budget (UEB). URBANFLUXES advances the current knowledge of the impacts of UEB fluxes on urban heat island and consequently on energy consumption in cities. This will lead to the development of tools and strategies to mitigate these effects, improving thermal comfort and energy efficiency. In URBANFLUXES, the anthropogenic heat flux is estimated as a residual of UEB. Therefore, the rest UEB components, namely, the net all-wave radiation, the net change in heat storage and the turbulent sensible and latent heat fluxes are independently estimated from Earth Observation (EO), whereas the advection term is included in the error of the anthropogenic heat flux estimation from the UEB closure. The project exploits Sentinels observations, which provide improved data quality, coverage and revisit times and increase the value of EO data for scientific work and future emerging applications. These observations can reveal novel scientific insights for the detection and monitoring of the spatial distribution of the urban energy budget fluxes in cities, thereby generating new EO opportunities. URBANFLUXES thus exploits the European capacity for space-borne observations to enable the development of operational services in the field of urban environmental monitoring and energy efficiency in cities. H2020-Space project URBANFLUXES (URBan ANthrpogenic heat FLUX from Earth observation Satellites)investigates the potential of Copernicus Sentinels to retrieve anthropogenic heat flux, as a key component of the UrbanEnergy Budget (UEB). URBANFLUXES advances the current knowledge of the impacts of UEB fluxes on urban heatisland and consequently on energy consumption in cities. This will lead to the development of tools and strategies tomitigate these effects, improving thermal comfort and energy efficiency. In URBANFLUXES, the anthropogenic heatflux is estimated as a residual of UEB. Therefore, the rest UEB components, namely, the net all-wave radiation, the netchange in heat storage and the turbulent sensible and latent heat fluxes are independently estimated from EarthObservation (EO), whereas the advection term is included in the error of the anthropogenic heat flux estimation from theUEB closure. The project exploits Sentinels observations, which provide improved data quality, coverage and revisittimes and increase the value of EO data for scientific work and future emerging applications. These observations canreveal novel scientific insights for the detection and monitoring of the spatial distribution of the urban energy budgetfluxes in cities, thereby generating new EO opportunities. URBANFLUXES thus exploits the European capacity forspace-borne observations to enable the development of operational services in the field of urban environmentalmonitoring and energy efficiency in cities

Psychometrics of health-related quality of life questionnaires in bronchiectasis:A systematic review and meta-analysis

INTRODUCTION: Understanding the psychometric properties of health related quality of life (HRQoL) questionnaires can help inform selection in clinical trials. OBJECTIVE: To assess the psychometric properties of HRQoL questionnaires in bronchiectasis. METHODS: A literature search was conducted. HRQoL questionnaires were assessed for psychometric properties (reliability, validity, minimal clinically important difference (MCID), floor/ceiling effects). Meta-analyses assessed the associations of HRQoL with clinical measures and responsiveness of HRQoL in clinical trials. RESULTS: 166 studies and 12 HRQoL questionnaires were included. The BHQ, LCQ, CAT and SF-36 had good internal consistency in all domains reported (Cronbach's α≥0.7) across all studies and the QoL-B, SGRQ, CRDQ and SOLQ had good internal consistency in all domains in the majority of (but not all) studies. The BHQ, SGRQ, LCQ and CAT had good test-retest reliability in all domains reported ((intraclass correlation coefficient) ICC ≥0.7) across all studies and the QoL-B, CRDQ and SOLQ had good test-retest reliability in all domains in the majority of (but not all) studies. HRQoL questionnaires were able to discriminate between demographics, important markers of clinical status, disease severity, exacerbations and bacteriology. For HRQoL responsiveness, there was a difference between the treatment and placebo effect. CONCLUSION: SGRQ was the most widely used HRQoL questionnaire in bronchiectasis studies and it had good psychometric properties, however good psychometric data are growing on bronchiectasis specific HRQoL questionnaires, QoL-B and BHQ. Future studies should focus on the medium-long term test-retest reliability, responsiveness and MCID in these HRQoL questionnaires which show potential in bronchiectasis

The location and vegetation physiognomy of ecological infrastructures determine bat activity in Mediterranean floodplain landscapes

Ecological infrastructures (EI), defined as natural or semi-natural structural elements, are important to support biodiversity and could play a crucial role in counteracting the well-known impacts of intensive agriculture. Yet, the importance of EI remains largely unexplored in Mediterranean agricultural landscapes and for species providing essential ecosystem services such as bats. Here, we evaluated the role of different EI types – in terms of location (riparian vs terrestrial) and vegetation physiognomy (woody vs non-woody) – in shaping bat guild activity in crop fields located in the floodplains of the Iberian Peninsula. We recorded 60,732 bat sequences in 96 crop fields and characterised 106 EI patches via an adaptation of the Biodiversity Potential Index (BPI). We found that the activity of mid-range echolocators (MRE) and long-range echolocators (LRE) was twofold higher when the nearest EI patch was riparian (i.e., contiguous to a watercourse) than when it was terrestrial. When assessing changes in bat activity in crop fields in relation to a gradient distance from EI types, our results revealed both distinct and similar effects of the location and vegetation physiognomy of the EI on bat guilds. For instance, while only the LRE guild positively responded to the proximity of woody EI, both MRE and LRE showed a marked increase of activity when increasing distances to non-woody EI, thus suggesting low bat activity levels near these features. Our habitat quality assessment also revealed that woody EI and riparian EI had higher biodiversity potential and related habitat quality, thus contributing to our understanding of bat responses to EI type in crop fields. As riparian areas are rarely targeted in biodiversity-friendly measures in farmland, we strongly recommend including riparian EI (especially the woody type) in conservation planning as they are crucial for both biodiversity conservation and ecosystem functioning

Vacuum Ohmic Heating: A Promising Technology for the Improvement of Tomato Paste Processing, Safety, Quality and Storage Stability

Ohmic heating (OH) is an electrothermal technology used to inactivate enzyme and microbial activities. This work aimed to study the impact of Ohmic Heating Under Vacuum (OHUV) which compared to conventional heating (CH) as well as storage stability at 5°C and 25 °C on microbial safety, and nutritional quality. The evaluation parameters were pH, titratable acidity, TSS, lycopene, ascorbic acid, PME, HMF, and microbiological activity. The obtained results showed that tomato paste samples that were treated by OHUV are significantly superior to CH in terms of all physicochemical and microbiological characteristics, as well as being the least harmful during storage in both transparent and dark packages. The results showed the changes in ascorbic acid, lycopene, and HMF values that were treated by OHUV at 25 °C and filled in transparent package are most affected compared to other treated samples. On the other hand, tomato paste samples stored in dark packages at 5 °C performed significantly better than those subjected to CH under the same conditions and activated PME the most had higher ascorbic acid and lycopene and fewer changes in HMF during storage time for 90 days. OHUV found to be a good alternative treatment in the production of tomato paste