Fear of the Unknown among Normal People, People with Psychological Disorders, and People with Organic Disorders in the Light of Some Demographic Variables

The present paper aimed to determine the fear of the unknown among normal people, people with psychological disorders, and people with organic disorders in the light of some demographic variables. The authors adopted the descriptive-comparative method and developed and applied a three-domain questionnaire to a randomly selected sample of (942) participants. The results showed that the people with psychological disorders suffer from fear of the unknown more than normal people and people with organic disorders at a significance level of (0.05). There were no statistically significant differences between the different categories of psychological disorders (including generalized anxiety disorder, depression, panic attacks, post-traumatic stress disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and phobia) in contrast with the organic diseases, in which cardiac and respiratory diseases were at a greater risk of being afraid of the unknown more than those with diabetes, blood pressure, and thyroid. The paper recommends conducting further studies on the concept of fear of the unknown in the Arab countries and adopting fear of the unknown as a psychological intervention for people with psychological disorders and people with cardiac and respiratory diseases

Lightweight Scheme for Smart Home Environments using Offloading Technique

Internet of Things (IoT) as an emerging technology has been transforming the different aspects of our world from simple preprogrammed coffee machine to smart farming. Due to the human nature to simplify and ease of living, human are becoming dependent on these automated IoT devices and smart environments like smart phones, wearable devices, smart home and etc. In order to provide better QoS, these devices needs to work together and share data among them, also to the service providers and the cloud. Since these devices are resource constrained, IoT technology heavily depends on the cloud for processing, analytics and storage. But these data coming from the devices contains lot of personal identity information (PII). Almost all the time, the users of these devices are unaware of these information that is being transmitted or they do not possess the control over the data that they are being sent to the service provider, as well as to the cloud. Even the cloud services and service providers are secured but they are always curious. There are lot of security measures implemented for end to end communication but IoT lacks the mechanism for securing the data that the devices are generating along with access control. In this article we are proposing an approach for the security, privacy and access control of user data using Attribute Based Encryption (ABE) in smart home as the case study

Protoplast fusion enhances antagonistic activity in Trichoderma spp

Abstract: Genus Trichoderma is one of the most important filamentous fungi used as a biocontrol agent. Because of the absence of sexual reproduction in this fungus, other methods of genetic improvement have been developed such as proptoplast fusion to enhance its bicontrol potential. Therefore the objectives of this study were; 1) protoplast fusion and regeneration of two fungicide tolerant mutants of Trichoderma viride and T. harzianum 2) using ISSR for fingerprinting of inter-specific protoplast fusants and 3) assessment of antagonistic ability of Trichoderma fusants against three soil born diseases. Protoplast was isolated from two fungicide tolerant mutants PTv-V and PTz-F of Trichoderma,. The frequency of fusion tolerant to both pesticides was about 0.3 % and eight fusants were selected for further studies. In fusant stability experiments, only five of these fusants were the result of nuclear fusion of parental cells. Molecular characterization of two stable fusants using ISSR indicated the presence of novel fragments which may be due to recombination events between parents. In dual culture biocontrol experiments, five selected fusants showed growth inhibition against three pathogens namely; Rhizoctonia solani, Fusarium oxysporum and Pythium ultimum.. However, Fus 7 indicated the best ability of inhibition the growth of the three pathogens. In greenhouse experiments Fus 7 demonstrated a great ability to reduce tomato damping off of the three pathogens in the presence of the two fungicides understudy. It was concluded that, the protoplast fusion is a powerful tool to enhance the biocontrol ability of Trichoderma sp. against diseases

Prevalence and intensity of smoking among healthcare workers and their attitude and behavior towards smoking cessation in the western region of Saudi Arabia: A Cross-sectional study

Introduction This study aimed to estimate the magnitude of tobacco smoking among healthcare workers (HCWs) and to assess the need to establish a smoking cessation program. Methods This is an institute survey that targeted HCWs from the following specialties: physicians, allied healthcare professionals and administrative workers who are affiliated to a tertiary healthcare institution in the western region of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). An electronic self-administrated questionnaire was distributed among the study subjects during the day shift from June to September, 2015. The analysis was descriptive, and comparison of the characters of smokers and nonsmokers was done. Results The total number of participating HCWs was 697 with about 62.3% response rate. Males (62.3%), allied health professionals (45.2%), and age group 19–30 years old (44.5%) dominated the sample. The crude prevalence of the current smoking was 18.4%, while 9.8% were past smokers, and 71.9% never smokers. Administrative workers, males and Saudis demonstrated significantly higher prevalence of current smoking (p>0.001). Approximately half of the current smokers had a mild smoking intensity and the subgroups did not show any significant differences for nicotine dependence (p>0.05). The results of the attitude towards smoking cessation showed that 80.3% of the currently smoking HCWs had positive attitudes and there were no statistically significant differences based on the characteristics of the participants (p>0.05). Conclusions The smoking prevalence among HCWs included in the study parallels nationally reported values. The results showed a need for the establishment of smoking cessation programs targeting HCWs, which eventually should make Mecca (Makkah) city truly free from smoking

Report on the second season (2009) of the Madâ'in Sâlih Archaeological Project

This volume is the report on the results of the second excavation season, 2009, of the Saudi-French Archaeological Project at Madâ'in Sâlih, Nabataean Hegra in northwest Saudi Arabia (MAEE, SCTA, CNRS, Univ Paris 1, IFPO). Apart from the results obtained in the different excavation areas (both in the residential area, in the monumental tomb IGN 117 and in various areas south of the Jabal Ithlib), the reader will find reports on the archaeobotanical remains (Ch. Bouchaud), on the pottery (C. Durand et Y. Gerber) and on the restoration of Area 7Ce volume constitue le rapport sur les résultats de la deuxième campagne de fouilles (2009) de la Mission archéologique franco-saoudienne de Madâ'in Sâlih, l'ancienne Hégra des Nabatéens, dans le nord-ouest de l'Arabie Saoudite (MAEE, SCTA, CNRS, Univ. Paris 1, IFPO). Outre les résultats obtenus dans les différents chantiers (dans la zone résidentielle, dans le tombeau monumental IGN 117 et dans différents secteurs au sud du Jabal Ithlib), le lecteur trouvera des rapports sur les macro-restes végétaux (Ch. Bouchaud), la céramique (C. Durand et Y. Gerber) et la restauration de la Zone

Efficacy of Prednisolone/Zn Metal Complex and Artemisinin Either Alone or in Combination on Lung Functions after Excessive Exposure to Electronic Cigarettes Aerosol with Assessment of Antibacterial Activity

The use of transition metal complexes as therapeutic compounds has become more and more pronounced. These complexes offer a great diversity of uses in their medicinal applications. Electronic cigarettes (ECs) are an electronic nicotine delivery system that contain aerosol (ECR). The ligation behavior of prednisolone, which is a synthetic steroid that is used to treat allergic diseases and asthma arthritis, and its Zn (II) metal complex were studied and characterized based on elemental analysis, molar conductance, Fourier-transform infrared (FT-IR) spectra, electronic spectra, XRD, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive x-ray (EDX), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The FT-IR spectral data revealed that PRD acts as a mono-dentate ligand via oxygen atoms of the carbonyl group. Electronic and FT-IR data revealed that the PRD/Zn (II) metal complexes have square planner geometry. Artemisinin (ART) is the active main constituent of Artemisia annua extract, and it has been demonstrated to exert an excellent antimalarial effect. The experiment was performed on 40 male mice that were divided into the following 7 groups: Control, EC group, PRD/Zn, ART, EC plus PRD/Zn, EC plus ART, and PRD plus combination of PRD/Zn and ART. Serum CRP, IL-6, and antioxidants biomarkers were determined. Pulmonary tissue histology was evaluated. When in combination with Zn administration, PRD showed potent protective effects against pulmonary biochemical alterations induced by ECR and suppressed severe oxidative stress and pulmonary structure alterations. Additionally, PRD/Zn combined with ART prevented any stress on the pulmonary tissues via antioxidant regulation, reducing inflammatory markers CRP and Il-6 and improving antioxidant enzymatic levels more than either PRD or ART alone. Therefore, PRD/Zn combined with ART produced a synergistic effect against any sort of oxidative stress and also improved the histological structure of the lung tissues. These findings are of great importance for saving pulmonary function, especially during pandemic diseases, such as during the COVID-19 pandemic