Changes in Driving Behavior Across Age Cohorts in an Arab Culture: The Case of State of Qatar

In this investigation, we aimed to examine the structure of the Driving Behavior Questionnaire (DBQ) across age cohorts spanning 14 to 55 years in the State of Qatar. In addition, we aimed to examine variations in driving behavior across age cohorts. Participants were divided by age (in years) into five groups: not yet old enough to drive (under age), 18 to 25; 26 to 35; 36 to 45, and 46 to 55. The DBQ was administered to a sample of 1126 drivers, 50.30% of whom were female. Results are contrary to previous studies: factor analysis showed three pure factors rather than the four factors previously identified. Results also indicate that Qatari drivers share in their approach to driving even though there is great cultural diversity as well as varied language skills and educational levels. Significantly fewer driving aberrations were reported by female participants compared to those who were male. Furthermore, young men (<25 years old) with low levels of education and those who use 4-wheel-drive vehicles had the worst driving errors, violations, and lapses. 2018 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.Qatar National Research Fund, Qatar FoundationScopu

Studies on Pseudomonas aeruginosa Infection in Hatcheries and Chicken

ΔΕΝ ΔΙΑΤΙΘΕΤΑΙ ΠΕΡΙΛΗΨΗThe aim of this work was to spot light on the presence of Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P. aeruginosa) strains in hatcheries and dead in shell embryos. A total of 406 samples representing 200 and 206 swabs from hatcheries environment and yolk sacs of dead in shell embryos were collected from Damietta governorate, Egypt. P. aeruginosa was isolated and identified. Some virulent genes (toxA, psIA and fliC) of P. aeruginosa were detected using polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The antimicrobial susceptibility of P. aeruginosa was tested in vitro. Day and 11 days old broiler chicks were challenged with P. aeruginosa to determine the pathogenicity of the isolated strains. The results showed that P. aeruginosa was recovered from 16 (8%) out of 200 hatcheries and from 17 (8.25%) out of 206 chicken embryos samples. Isolated strains of P. aeruginosa showed presence of toxA, psIA and fliC virulent genes. P. aeruginosa strains were sensitive (100%) to ciprofloxacin, levofloxacin and gentamycin but resistant (100%) to amoxycillin/clavulanic acid, doxycycline and erythromycin. The pathogenicity test of day and 11 days old chicks revealed that P. aeruginosa was highly pathogenic induced mortality rates of 72 and 40%, respectively. Septicaemia of internal organs, unabsorbed yolk sacs, pneumonia, greenish exudates in the abdominal cavity, liver necrosis and enteritis were the predominant lesions. Histopathological changes supported the previous lesions. In conclusion, P. aeruginosa is of great importance pathogen of embryos and newly hatched chicks based on presence of virulent genes as well as in vivo pathogenicity study; respectively

Bayesian estimation of P[Y \u3c X] Based on Record Values from the Lomax Distribution and MCMC Technique

Our interest is in estimating the stress-strength reliability R = P[Y \u3c X], where X and Y follow the Lomax distribution with common scale parameter. We discuss the problem in the situation where the stress measurements and the strength measurements are both in terms of records. Firstly, we obtain the MLE of R in general case (the common scale parameter is unknown). The MLE of the three unknown parameters can be obtained by solving one non-linear equation. We provide a simple fixed point type algorithm to find the MLE. We propose percentile bootstrap confidence intervals of R. A Bayes point estimator of R, and the corresponding credible interval using the MCMC sampling technique have been proposed. Secondly, assuming the common scale parameter is known, the MLE of R is obtained. Using exact distributions of the MLEs of the two unknown parameters, we construct the exact confidence interval of R. In this case, Bayes estimators have been obtained using Lindley\u27s approximations. Analysis of a simulated data set has been presented for illustrative purposes. Finally, the different proposed methods have been compared via Monte Carlo simulation study

Interspecies data mining to predict novel ING-protein interactions in human

YesFunding provided by the Open Access Authors Fund

Symbolic analysis of analog circuits containing voltage mirrors

7 páginas, 7 figuras, 2 tablas, 4 imágenes.-- Open Access: This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial License.The pathological elements voltage mirror (VM) and current mirror (CM) have shown advantages in analog behavioral modeling and circuit synthesis, where many nullor-mirror equivalences have been explored to design and to transform voltage-mode circuits to current-mode ones and viceversa. However, both the VM and CM have not equivalents to perform automatic symbolic circuit analysis. In this manner, we introduce nullor-equivalents for these pathological elements allowing to include parasitics and to perform only symbolic nodal analysis. The nullor-equivalent of the CM is extended to provide multiple-outpus (MO-CM). Finally, two active filters containing VMs, CMs and MO-CMs are analysed to show the usefulness of the models.This work is supported by: UC-MEXUS and CONACyT under grants CN-09-310 and 48396-Y; by Promep-Mexico under grant UATLX-PTC-088; by Consejeria de Innovacion, Ciencia y Empresa, Junta de Andalucia-Spain TIC-2532; and by the JAE-Doc program of CSIC co-funded by FSE, Spain.Peer reviewe

Ectopy on a single 12‐lead ECG, incident cardiac myopathy, and death in the community

BackgroundAtrial fibrillation and heart failure are 2 of the most common diseases, yet ready means to identify individuals at risk are lacking. The 12-lead ECG is one of the most accessible tests in medicine. Our objective was to determine whether a premature atrial contraction observed on a standard 12-lead ECG would predict atrial fibrillation and mortality and whether a premature ventricular contraction would predict heart failure and mortality.Methods and resultsWe utilized the CHS (Cardiovascular Health) Study, which followed 5577 participants for a median of 12&nbsp;years, as the primary cohort. The ARIC (Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study), the replication cohort, captured data from 15&nbsp;792 participants over a median of 22&nbsp;years. In the CHS, multivariable analyses revealed that a baseline 12-lead ECG premature atrial contraction predicted a 60% increased risk of atrial fibrillation (hazard ratio, 1.6; 95% CI, 1.3-2.0; P&lt;0.001) and a premature ventricular contraction predicted a 30% increased risk of heart failure (hazard ratio, 1.3; 95% CI, 1.0-1.6; P=0.021). In the negative control analyses, neither predicted incident myocardial infarction. A premature atrial contraction was associated with a 30% increased risk of death (hazard ratio, 1.3; 95% CI, 1.1-1.5; P=0.008) and a premature ventricular contraction was associated with a 20% increased risk of death (hazard ratio, 1.2; 95% CI, 1.0-1.3; P=0.044). Similarly statistically significant results for each analysis were also observed in ARIC.ConclusionsBased on a single standard ECG, a premature atrial contraction predicted incident atrial fibrillation and death and a premature ventricular contraction predicted incident heart failure and death, suggesting that this commonly used test may predict future disease

Long-term prognosis associated with J-point elevation in a large middle-aged biracial cohort: the ARIC study

An association has been described between death from arrhythmia and early repolarization, an electrocardiogram pattern characterized by elevation of the QRS–ST junction (J-point). Little is known about this relationship in non-white populations. This study examines the relationship between J-point elevation (JPE) and sudden cardiac death (SCD) and whether this relationship differs by race or sex

Comparative Efficacy and Relative Ranking of Biologics and Oral Therapies for Moderate-to-Severe Plaque Psoriasis : A Network Meta-analysis

The clinical benefits of biologic and oral treatments for moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis are well-established, but efficacy outcomes can vary across therapies. Comparative efficacy analysis can be highly informative in clinical settings with multiple therapeutic options. This study assessed the short-term and long-term comparative efficacy of biologic and oral treatments for moderate-to-severe psoriasis. A systematic literature review identified phase 2/3/4 randomized controlled trials (RCTs) through to 1 July 2020 for Food and Drug Administration- or European Medicines Agency-licensed treatments for moderate-to-severe psoriasis. Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI) 75/90/100 response rates at the end of the primary response (short-term: 10-16 weeks from baseline) and maintenance periods (long-term: 48-52 weeks from baseline) were estimated using Bayesian network meta-analysis. Surfaces under the cumulative ranking curves (SUCRA) were estimated to present the relative ranking of treatments. In the short term (N = 71 RCTs), the PASI 90 response rates were highest for ixekizumab (72.9%, SUCRA 0.951), risankizumab (72.5%, 0.940), and brodalumab (72.0%, 0.930), which were significantly higher than those for guselkumab (65.0%, 0.795), secukinumab (65.0%, 0.794), infliximab (56.8%, 0.702), certolizumab (400 mg: 49.6%, 0.607; 200 mg: 42.2%, 0.389), ustekinumab (90 mg: 47.9%, 0.568; weight-based: 45.7%, 0.505; 45 mg: 44.6%, 0.460), adalimumab (43.0%, 0.410), tildrakizumab (200 mg: 39.7%, 0.327; 100 mg: 37.2%, 0.268), etanercept (18.0%, 0.171), apremilast (12.4%, 0.090), and dimethyl fumarate (12.2%, 0.092). The PASI 100 response rates were highest for ixekizumab (41.4%), risankizumab (40.8%), and brodalumab (40.3%). In the long term (N = 11 RCTs), the PASI 90 rate was highest for risankizumab (85.3%, SUCRA: 0.998), which were significantly higher than those for brodalumab (78.8%, 0.786), guselkumab (78.1%, 0.760), ixekizumab (72.1%, 0.577), secukinumab (67.0%, 0.450), ustekinumab (weight-based: 55.0%, 0.252), adalimumab (51.6%, 0.176), and etanercept (37.9%, 0.001). Risankizumab had the highest PASI 100 response rate (65.4%), followed by brodalumab (55.7%) and guselkumab (54.8%). Ixekizumab, risankizumab, and brodalumab had the highest short-term efficacy, and risankizumab had the highest long-term efficacy. The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s13555-021-00511-1

BICEP Array cryostat and mount design

Bicep Array is a cosmic microwave background (CMB) polarization experiment that will begin observing at the South Pole in early 2019. This experiment replaces the five Bicep2 style receivers that compose the Keck Array with four larger Bicep3 style receivers observing at six frequencies from 30 to 270GHz. The 95GHz and 150GHz receivers will continue to push the already deep Bicep/Keck CMB maps while the 30/40GHz and 220/270GHz receivers will constrain the synchrotron and galactic dust foregrounds respectively. Here we report on the design and performance of the Bicep Array instruments focusing on the mount and cryostat systems