Modelling Logistic Decision-Making Optimization Techniques: A Longitudinal Study of the Seaport of Aqaba

Through a correlative comparative analysis, the purpose of this study is to utilize LP and the data accumulated between (2009- 2017) to investigate the optimality of the current transportation strategy of actual costs to transport major Jordanian exports and imports. Study findings reveal that current exporting and importing strategies are ineffective. Results assert that decision-makers have not developed nor have taken the required action needed to resolve excessive expenditures. The current study poses some implications and recommendations as a strategic technique within decision-making paradigms to utilize effective decision making to minimize transportation costs

Molecular and Immunological Methods to Confirm Toxiginicity (Microcystin Production) of Westiellopsis Prolifica Isolated from Tigris River – Iraq

تنتج العديد من الطحالب الخضر المزرقة السم الكبدي المايكروسستين. ولكون هذا السم يشكل خطرا على الصحة والبيئة, لذا فأن فحص مصادر المياه لوجود هذه السموم بصوره متزايدة يعد من الإجراءات البيئية الموصي بها في العديد من بلدان العالم. أجريت هذه الدراسة لتقييم الطحلب الأخضر المزرق Westillopsis proloficaالمعزول من نهر دجلة والذي شكل في الآونة الأخيرة  ازدهارات في المياه العذبة العراقية وبيان قدرته على انتاج المايكروسستين عن طريق التحاليل الجزيئية والمناعية التاكيديه. وقد قورنت إنتاجية W.prolofica للسم عن طريق التجارب المختبرية، مع بعض الطحالب الخضر المزرقة السائدة في المياه العذبة العراقية والمعزولة من نهر دجله وهي Microcystis aeruginosa, Chroococcus turigidus, Nostoccarneum, and Lyngbya sp. وخلافا للمفهوم السائد القائل بان الطحلب الأخضرMicrocystis aeruginosa هو المنتج الرئيسي لسم الميكروسيتين في المياه العذبة في جميع انحاء العالم فأن انتاج طحلب W. prolofica في هذه الدراسة قد فاق إنتاجية M. aeruginosa.  اما الطحالب الأخرى المعزولة لم يلاحظ أي إنتاج لهذه الأنواع في جميع الفترات الزمنيه التي لُوحظت مختبريا. اما بالنسبة C. turigidus, N. carneum و Lyngbya sp فلم يكن لها تعبير جيني ملحوظ للجينmcyE  أو إنتاج ملحوظ لسم الميكروسيتين. بشكل عام فأن البيانات الناتجة من التعبيرالجيني لجين mcyE  بواسطة تقنية تفاعل سلسلة البلمرة اللحظي كانت متفقة مع تلك التي تم الحصول عليها من القياس بواسطة تقنية الامتزاز المناعي المرتب بالانزيم ELISA)). ومن المثير للاهتمام في هذه الدراسة، ان طحلب W. prolofica أظهرالقدرة الواضحة لانتاج سم الميكروسيتين، والتي لم يتم  الإشارة عنها من قبل في الدراسات السابقة فيما يخص انتاجه لهذا السم، ومن الممكن اضافته إلى قائمه الطحالب الخضر المزرقة كطحلب جديد منتج لسم الميكروسيتين.Several toxigenic cyanobacteria produce the cyanotoxin (microcystin). Being a health and environmental hazard, screening of water sources for the presence of microcystin is increasingly becoming a recommended environmental procedure in many countries of the world. This study was conducted to assess the ability of freshwater cyanobacterial species Westiellopsis prolifica to produce microcystins in Iraqi freshwaters via using molecular and immunological tools. The toxigenicity of W. prolifica was compared via laboratory experiments with other dominant bloom-forming cyanobacteria isolated from the Tigris River: Microcystis aeruginosa, Chroococcus turigidus, Nostoc carneum, and Lyngbya sp. significant expression of mcyE gene and microcystin production was most evident in W. prolifica. Contrary to the prevailing concept that M. aeruginosa is a main microcystin producer in freshwaters around the world, no significant microcystin production was observed with this species throughout the time points studied in our laboratory methods. As for C. turigidus, N. carneum and Lyngbya sp., neither mcyE expression nor microcystin production was significant. Data from mcyE expression by RT-qPCR were generally in agreement with those obtained from microcystin quantification by ELISA. Interestingly, W. prolifica, which showed clear microcystin-producing ability in this study and which was not reported before in the literature to produce microcystin, can be added as a new microcystin producer to the list of toxigenic cyanobacteria

Developing Load Balancing for IoT - Cloud Computing Based on Advanced Firefly and Weighted Round Robin Algorithms

أدى التطور في إنترنت الأشياء (IoT) إلى ربط البلايين من الأجهزة المادية غير المتجانسة معاً لتحسين نوعية الحياة البشرية، من خلال جمع البيانات من بيئتهم. يجب تخزين هذه البيانات الهائلة التي تم تجميعها في سعة تخزين كبيرة بالإضافة إلى قدرات حاسوبية عالية، التي توفيرها الحوسبة السحابية. يتم نقل بيانات أجهزة IoT باستخدام نوعين من البروتوكولات. نقل الرسائل في قائمة انتظار النقل (MQTT) وHypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP). يهدف هذا البحث لتحسين أداء النظام وزيادة الموثوقية من خلال الاستخدام الفعال للموارد. من خلال، استخدام موازنة التحميل في الحوسبة السحابية لتوزيع عبء العمل ديناميكيًا عبر العقد لتجنب زيادة التحميل على أي مورد فردي. من خلال الجمع بين نوعين من الخوارزميات: الديناميكية خوارزمية (اليراعة المتقدمة (Advanced Firefly Algorithm  والخوارزمية الثابتة (Weighted Round Robin Algorithm). وأظهرت النتيجة تحسن في استخدام الموارد وزيادة الإنتاجية وتقليل وقت وقت الاستجابة.The evolution of the Internet of things (IoT) led to connect billions of heterogeneous physical devices together to improve the quality of human life by collecting data from their environment. However, there is a need to store huge data in big storage and high computational capabilities.   Cloud computing can be used to store big data.  The data of IoT devices is transferred using two types of protocols: Message Queuing Telemetry Transport (MQTT) and Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP). This paper aims to make a high performance and more reliable system through efficient use of resources. Thus, load balancing in cloud computing is used to dynamically distribute the workload across nodes to avoid overloading any individual resource, by combining two types of algorithms: dynamic algorithm (adaptive firefly) and static algorithm (weighted round robin). The results show improvement in resource utilization, increased productivity, and reduced response time

Common Fixed Point of a Finite-step Iteration Algorithm Under Total Asymptotically Quasi-nonexpansive Maps

       خلال هذا البحث, تم اقتراح خوارزمية التكرار معممة لعائلة منتهية من التطبيقات شبه اللامتمددة المقاربة كليا في فضاء بناخ المحدب بشكل منتظم. وكذلك تم برهنة نظريات التقارب ضعيف وقوي لهذه الخوارزمية الى نقطة صامدة مشتركة. واخيرآ , تم عرض مثال توضيحي عددي باستخدام ماتلاب.      Throughout this paper, a generic iteration algorithm for a finite family of total asymptotically quasi-nonexpansive maps in uniformly convex Banach space is suggested. As well as weak / strong convergence theorems of this algorithm to a common fixed point are established. Finally, illustrative numerical example by using Matlab is presented

The level of Self-Disclosure for Irbid University College Female Students and its Relation with Some Special Variables

This study aimed to detect the level of Self- Disclosure at Irbid university college students and its relationship with some variables, the sample of the study consisted of (343) students were selected randomly. The results of the study show that the level of self- Disclosure in this sample was high. The person who was most targeted in disclosure is the parent, friend, the same sex and then parent respectively, as the results showed that the detection of Self- Disclosure influenced by style of upbringing and was in a democratic style, and it was also influenced by location of housing and came in favor of the city. Keywords: Self- Disclosure, Irbid university college students, psychological stress, Democratic, Dictatorial, Jourard questionnair

Conflict Behaviors: Religiosity, Culture, and Gender as Predictors for Conflict Management Styles Among First and Second Generation Arab Muslim Immigrants in the United States

Multiple studies have shown that culture, religiosity, and gender influence people’s behavior in managing their conflict; however, there has been little investigation of the impact of the acculturation process on these variables utilized by Arab-Muslim immigrants in the United States. My study follows a sequential explanatory model with a mixed methods approach, and specifically explores the conflict management styles utilized by first and second-generation Arab-Muslim immigrants in the U.S. and how their culture, gender, and religiosity contribute to these processes. Data was collected by conducting 257 online surveys and 24 face-to-face semi-structured interviews, with the sample population stemming from the Arab-Muslim communities in Columbia, Kansas City, and St. Louis, Missouri. Binary logistic regression and Chi-square tests were used to analyze this quantitative data through SPSS. The resulting analysis showed that first-generation immigrants tended to be more collectivistic, have a higher level of religiosity, and utilize a wider variety of conflict management styles including obliging, compromising, integrating, and avoiding. Second-generation immigrants were more likely to have a lower level of religiosity and were more likely to utilize the dominating conflict management style for managing their interpersonal conflicts. In addition, gender had a significant relationship only with the avoiding conflict management style, while level of religiosity had a significant relationship with the obliging, compromising, integrating, and dominating conflict management styles. Finally, culture had a significant predictive relationship with integrating and avoiding conflict management styles. In this sequential explanatory model, more weight was given to the quantitative phase; however, the face-to-face semi-structured interviews enhanced the understanding of the overall trends in conflict management style preferences of first and second generation Arab-Muslim immigrants when trying to manage their interpersonal conflicts. While this study establishes predictive relationships between gender, culture, and religiosity with utilization of the various conflict management styles, other studies should be conducted to better understand the implications of these relationships

Image quality and radiation exposure with low-contrast-dose computed tomography angiography of the lower extremities

Introduction: Multidetector computed tomography is the reference standard for the diagnosis of peripheral arterial disease (PAD). The aim of this study is to optimise the image quality of computed tomography (CT) scanning for the diagnosis of PAD with the lowest possible radiation and contrast volume. Material and methods: Seventy-two patients were referred for evaluation of suspected PAD with CT angiography. Patients were randomly assigned to an optimise care dose of kVp - group A, n = 36; 18 men, 18 women; mean age, 63 years with standard deviation 15; range, 20-88 years (contrast volume 80-85 ml was injected automatically with bolus tracking, and group B, n = 36; 18 men, 18 women; mean age, 61 years with standard deviation 16; range, 26-88 years (contrast volume 120-140 ml was injected automatically with bolus tracking). Other scanning parameters were kept constant. Lower extremities vessel enhancement and image noise were quantified, and the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) were calculated. Subjective vessel contrast was assessed by two radiologists in consensus. Result: A total of 16 cases of PAD (22.2%) were found in the evaluated of subjects (10 in group A, and six in group B). All PAD cases were detected by the two readers. There was no significant difference in the size or location of the PAD between the two groups; the average image noise was 19 HU for group A and 16 HU for group B. The difference was not statistically significant (p = 0.183). Overall, the SNR and CNR were slightly higher in group B (25.5 and 24.1, respectively) compared with group A (20 and 17.4, respectively), but those differences were not statistically significant (p = 061 and p = 0.38, respectively). Conclusions: All patients were evaluated by lower extremities CTA protocol allowing similar image quality to be achieved in both groups, with optimised care dose for both protocols, and contrast volume was reduced by 40% in the new protocol group compared to the conventional protocol group

Effects of dopamine on ion transport across rat colon

Dopamine (5.10-6 – 5.10-4 mol.l-1) when added serosally induced a concentrationdependent decrease in short-circuit current (Isc) across rat distal and proximal colon. This response was preceded by a transient and inconsistent increase in Isc. A part of the catecholamine action is mediated by subepithelial actions sites as it was indicated by the inhibiton of dopamine effects by the cyclooxygenase inhibitor, indomethacin (10-6 mol.l-1), and the neuronal blocker, tetrodotoxin (10-6 mol.l-1). The positive Isc evoked by dopamine was due to chloride secretion as indicated when both Cl- and HCO3- were substituted (using HEPES as buffer) and when of the basolateral membrane was depolarizing by high potassium concentration. The negative Isc evoked by dopamine was due to potassium secretion. This was demonstrated by unidirectional flux experiments. 86Rb+ efflux experiments revealed a redistribution of cellular K+ efflux in favour of the apical K+ conductance in the presence of dopamine. The negative Isc evoked by dopamine was inhibited by the blocker of apical K+ channels, quinine (10-3 mol.l-1), indicating that a stimulation of K+ secretion underlies the measured current. Both the alpha-adrenoceptor blocker phentolamine (10-4 mol.l-1) and as well as inhibitors of D2-like receptors such as L-741,626 (10-5 mol.l-1) and L-745,870 (10-5 mol.l-1) inhibited the dopamine response. All these observations indicate similarities between dopamine and the other catecholamines derivatives in their effect on ions transport in rat colon