Measuring Empathy Levels among Kurdish Medical Students in Erbil City, Iraq : Cross-sectional study

Objectives: Empathy is a crucial attribute within the physician-patient relationship. This study aimed to evaluate the empathy levels of students in the College of Medicine at Hawler Medical University (HMU) in Erbil city, Iraq. Methods: This cross-sectional study took place between January and May 2015 and included all medical undergraduates enrolled at HMU (n = 989). The validated self-administered English language version of the Jefferson Scale of Physician Empathy-Student Version (JSPE-SV) was used to measure empathy levels. Students reported their conformity to each statement of the 20-item questionnaire on a 7-point Likert scale. Levels of empathy were considered directly relative to their final score. Results: A total of 927 students completed the questionnaire (response rate: 93.7%). The male-to-female ratio was 0.72:1 and the mean age was 21.3 ± 1.4 years. The mean empathy score was 101.9 ± 19.2. Female students had significantly higher empathy (P = 0.023) and more frequently chose people-oriented specialties (P = 0.001) than males. First-year students reported the highest mean score (112.9 ± 20.1) while fourth-year students had the lowest (92.7 ± 16.0). There was a significant decline in mean scores between first- and second-year male students (P = 0.020) and first- and fourth-year male students (P = 0.050). Students who chose people-oriented specialties had significantly higher scores than those who chose technology-oriented specialties (P = 0.002). Conclusion: The studied cohort of HMU students demonstrated low empathy levels. As such, the inclusion of empathy instruction in medical school curricula is recommended to promote professionalism and patient welfare

Electron refraction at lateral atomic interfaces

We present theoretical simulations of electron refraction at the lateral atomic interface between a “homogeneous” Cu(111) surface and the “nanostructured” one-monolayer (ML) Ag/Cu(111) dislocation lattice. Calculations are performed for electron binding energies barely below the 1 ML Ag/ Cu(111) M-point gap (binding energy EB ¼53 meV, below the Fermi level) and slightly above its C -point energy (EB ¼160 meV), both characterized by isotropic/circular constant energy surfaces. Using plane-wave-expansion and boundary-element methods, we show that electron refraction occurs at the interface, the Snell law is obeyed, and a total internal reflection occurs beyond the critical angle. Additionally, a weak negative refraction is observed for EB ¼53 meV electron energy at beam incidence higher than the critical angle. Such an interesting observation stems from the interface phase-matching and momentum conservation with the umklapp bands at the second Brillouin zone of the dislocation lattice. The present analysis is not restricted to our Cu-Ag/Cu model system but can be readily extended to technologically relevant interfaces with spinpolarized, highly featured, and anisotropic constant energy contours, such as those characteristic for Rashba systems and topological insulators. Published by AIP Publishing.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Utilization of Colocynth (Handal) Seeds Oil as a Lubricating Base Oil

This study investigated the use of Colocynth seeds oil as lubricating base oil. The Colocynth seeds were collected from Eastern Gezira and Western Kordofan. Viscosity index is 162 and 164; Flash point is 292oC and 288oC for Eastern Gezira and Western Kordofan samples, respectively. The pour point is -3oC for both samples. At 40oC, the kinematics viscosity is 34.37 cSt and 32.69 cSt, and at 100oC is 8.00 cSt and 7.77 cSt for Eastern Gezira and Western Kordofan samples, respectively. The study suggested that the Colocynth seeds oil is a suitable base fluid to produce lubricants

Pengaruh Balanced Scorecard Dan Knowledge Management Terhadap Kinerja Karyawan Dan Kinerja Perusahaan (Studi Pada Karyawan PT Semen Indonesia (Persero) Tbk)

This study examines the effect of balanced scorecard and knowledge management on employee performance and company performance of PT Semen Indonesia (Persero) Tbk. The balanced scorecard is measured from the perspectives of internal business processes, learning and growth, while knowledge management capability is measured from the knowledge infrastructure. Seven hypotheses are formulated related to the research objectives. This study uses a quantitative approach and is the type of research explanation. Data is collected using a survey questionnaire (online and writing), of 240 questionnaires (150 online and 90 written) were distributed, 101 questionnaires were returned. To test the hypothesis, testing the path analysis using SPSS version 20.00. Prior to the hypotheses testing, validity and reliability were examined. This study shows that the balanced scorecard has significant effect on the performance of the employee, but no significant effect on the company's performance. It is also found that knowledge management has significant influence on employee performance and company performance. Employee performance is also significantly influence the company's performance

Thermal Performance Evaluation of a Small-Scale Drying Machine for Palm Oil Mill Sludge

Malaysia is one of the major contributors of palm oil production globally with large amount of palm oil production. This has significantly contributed to large amount of palm oil mill effluent that eventually affect the environment. A small-scale drying machine for palm oil mill is evaluated on its thermal performance to assess the suitability of the machine to produce organic fertilizer from the palm oil mill sludge. Evaluation was performed with computational fluid dynamics simulation and experiment on design configuration options of the drying machine. The effect of air flow to the thermal performance was also studied in conjunction with the design configurations of the drying machine. The results showed promising potential of a design configuration over another in term of thermal performance and functionality

Prevalence of Metallo-β-Lactamase producing Pseudomonas aeruginosa in wound infections in Duhok city, Iraq

Background: Pseudomonas aeruginosa is common pathogen causing nosocomial infection. Acquired drug resistance and Metallo-β-lactamases (MBL) production have recently emerged as one of the most worrisome resistance mechanism that hydrolyze all beta-lactam antibiotics including penicillins, cephalosporins and carbapenems, with the exception of aztreonam. The aim was to find out the prevalence of multi drug resistant (MDR) and Metallo-β-lactamase (MBL) positive isolates of P. aeruginosa in wounds samples which are a serious concern.Methods: Pseudomonas aeruginosa strains were obtained by standard isolation and identification techniques from 307 wound samples of hospital. Strains were then subjected to susceptibility testing for anti-pseudomonas drugs as per Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) guidelines. Carbapenems resistant strains were selected for the detection of MBL enzyme production by disc potentiation test. Production of MBL was confirmed by enhancement of inhibition zone around imipenem and meropenem discs impregnated with EDTA, as compared to discs without EDTA.Results: Amongst the 71 isolates of P. aeruginosa, 62(87.3%) isolate were imipenem-sensitive, while 9(12.7%) isolates were found to be imipenem resistant and MBL producers. Very high resistance to antibiotics was recorded amongst MBL producers’ P. aeruginosa compared with non-MBL imipenem-sensitive strains.Conclusion: Study indicates that, surveillance for the detection of MBL is necessary. The rapid dissemination of MBL producers is worrisome and necessitates the implementation of proper and judicious selection of antibiotics especially carbapenem.

Thermal Performance Evaluation of a Small-Scale Drying Machine for Palm Oil Mill Sludge

Malaysia is one of the major contributors of palm oil production globally with large amount of palm oil production. This has significantly contributed to large amount of palm oil mill effluent that eventually affect the environment. A small-scale drying machine for palm oil mill is evaluated on its thermal performance to assess the suitability of the machine to produce organic fertilizer from the palm oil mill sludge. Evaluation was performed with computational fluid dynamics simulation and experiment on design configuration options of the drying machine. The effect of air flow to the thermal performance was also studied in conjunction with the design configurations of the drying machine. The results showed promising potential of a design configuration over another in term of thermal performance and functionality

Classification of visualization exudates fundus images results using support vector machine

This paper classifies the characteristics of normal and exudates fundus images by determine its accuracy for diagnostic purposes. Image normalization was performed on 149 fundus images (81 normal and 68 exudates) from MESSIDOR databases to standardize the colours in the fundus images. The OD removed fundus image and fundus image with the exudates areas removed. The SVM1 classifier was applied to 30 test fundus images to determine the best optimal parameter. The kernel function settings; linear, polynomial, quadratic and RBF have an effect on the classification results. For SVM1, the best parameter in classifying pixels is linear kernel function. The visualization results using CAC and radar chart are classified using ts accuracy. It has proven to discriminated exudates and non exudates pixels in fundus image using linear kernel function of SVM1 to diagnose DR.Keywords: Diabetic retinopathy (DR); Optic disc (OD); Support Vector Machine (SVM); AC); Radial Basis Function (RBF)

Synthesis of Hybrid Electroactive Materials by Low-Potential Electropolymerization of Gold Nanoparticles Capped with Tailored EDOT-Thiophene Precursor Units

The synthesis of gold nanoparticles (GNPs) capped with alkanethiols with terminal bithiophenic polymerizable groups, consisting of 3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene (EDOT) and 3-alkylsulfanylthiophene, is described. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and light diffusion show that these stabilized GNPs have an average size of 2–3 nm with low polydispersity. The electrochemical behavior of C10S-Au is investigated in dichloromethane in the presence of Bu4NPF6. The results show that these capped GNPs undergo straightforward and efficient electropolymerization under potentiodynamic or potentiostatic conditions. TEM images show that the electrodeposited films of the composite material present a very homogeneous structure, in which the size of the GNPs incorporated into the polythiophene matrix is unchanged. Results of cyclic voltammetry and spectroelectrochemistry obtained on polymer films deposited on platinum electrodes and transparent indium tin oxide electrodes, respectively, show that the reversible charging–discharging process and electrochromic behavior typical of poly(thiophenes) are preserved in the hybrid electroactive material