Representations of Arab Women in Hollywood Pre- and Post- 9/11

Many scholars argue that the image of Arabs in Hollywood has always been tainted by prejudice and stereotyping. However, little attention is paid to women\u27s representation in general or the influence of 9/11 on that representation. This paper compares portrayals of Arab women in popular Hollywood films before and after 9/11. A purposive sample of 76 Arab female characters from 40 popular Hollywood films is used to conduct a content analysis, comparing portrayals in films released before and after 9/11. Popular Hollywood films are defined as films with at least 50,000 reviews that score seven or more on the International Movie Database (IMDB). The results show that Arab women’s representation lacks diversity and Arab women remain unidentified in Hollywood films. Arab women’s portrayal shifts from one of the magical or sexualized characters to one of the violent terrorists. Despite the overall increase in the amount of violence depicted after 9/11, there is a shift in favor of the portrayal of Arab women, with more depicted as good or pure after 9/11. Finally, the results show that the morality of Arab female characters improves, with more characters depicted as evaluating options and making their own decisions

Development of chitosan-glucose and chitosan-citric complexes edible coating to improve tomatoes post-harvest quality

 The effect of different shrimp chitosan molecular weights as well as shrimp chitosan complexes (chitosan-glucose and chitosan-citric) on the quality characteristics of the stored (at 7°C±2°C and 90% RH) tomato fruits (Lycopersicum esculentum) was investigated.  Coating tomatoes with high molecular weight chitosan (H.M.C.G) significantly improved firmness and weight loss.  The lowest weight loss was found in high molecular weight chitosan-glucose (H.M.C.G) treatment followed by the fruits coated with high molecular weight chitosan (HMC) and then uncoated tomato fruits.  Both molecular weights was clear on retarding the total acidity loss especially for stored tomato fruit coated with low molecular weight chitosan, while control tomatoes exhibited a larger reduction (p ≤ 0.05) in total acidity over storage.  Meanwhile, the increasing of cold storage time significantly (p ≥ 0.05) increased the pH in all uncoated and coated tomatoes.  Generally, no significant (P > 0.05) difference was observed in pH, titratable acidity and total soluble solids (T.S.S.) as well as sensory attributes among the tomato fruits coated with chitosan, chitosan citric and chitosan glucose.  Meanwhile, the fruits coated with low molecular weight chitosan had a higher (p ≥ 0.05) T.S.S. compared with that coated by the high molecular weight chitosan.   Keywords: chitosan, edible coating, tomatoes, firmness and weight loss

Study the Physical Properties of Some Alloy Materials and Effect of Gamma Radiation

The present paper reports the effect of replacement of selenium by tellurium on the optical gap and some other physical parameters of new quaternary chalcogenide TexGe20Se(60-x)As20 (x = 0, 10, 15 and 20 at. %) thin films. Thin films with thickness 100 nm of TexGe20Se(60-x)As20 were prepared by thermal evaporation of the bulk samples. Increasing tellurium content is found to affect the average heat of atomization, cohesive energy and energy gap of the TexGe20Se(60-x)As20 alloys. Optical absorption measurements showed that the fundamental absorption edge is a function of composition. The optical absorption is due to allowed direct transition and the energy gap decreases with the increase of tellurium content. The chemical bond approach has been applied successfully to interpret the decrease of the optical gap with increasing tellurium content. it has also been observed that the increase of Te was followed by decrease in glass transition temperature. The prepared films were irradiated by gamma rays at doses up to 200kGy. It was found that the compositions were almost stable against gamma radiation. Keywords: amorphous, chalcogenide, optical properties

Vibration analysis influence during crisis transport of the quality of fresh fruit on food security

Mechanical damage of agriculture produce is a major problem in the harvest and post-harvest chain.  This damage could cause huge economic loss.  In addition, it could lead to serious food safety concerns.  Several cases of foodborne illness have been traced to poor or unsanitary postharvest practices.  Escherichia coli (E. coli) O157:H7, Salmonella, Shigella, Listeria, Cryptosporidium, Hepatitis, and Cyclospora are among the diseases and disease-causing organisms that have been associated with fresh fruits and vegetables.  Measurements of mechanical characteristics of agricultural products under different static and dynamic loads should help in predicting the type and magnitude of mechanical injuries which will help in minimizing losses and improve the safety the produce.  In the current study, we examined the parameters essential for fruit package processes.  Fruits were exposed to random excitation( is excited by combination of single- sinusoidal signal and a broad band stochastic single and compared to pure stochastic excitation) by using robust techniques EFDD enhanced frequency domain to harmonic excitation.  Six vibration modes were identified in the frequency range of 0-1.6 kHz by two techniques FDD & EFDD.  The paper-wrap and foam-net cushioning materials interaction is also studied.  Damage identification technique has been applied to determine the integrity of the structure.  Nearly all the examined fruit showed deterioration due to vibro-pressure and friction stresses mainly consisting of translucent or darkened bruises and streaks.  Results obtained from test without cushioning materials have been correlated with the package of paper-wrap cushioning materials and foam-net cushioning materials.     Keywords: vibration analysis, crisis transport, quality, damage, food safet

Integrating spatial data and shorebird nesting locations to predict the potential future impact of global warming on coastal habitats: A case study on Farasan Islands, Saudi Arabia

AbstractOne of the expected effects of the global warming is changing coastal habitats by accelerating the rate of sea level rise. Coastal habitats support large number of marine and wetland species including shorebirds (plovers, sandpipers and allies). In this study, we investigate how coastal habitats may be impacted by sea level rise in the Farasan Islands, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. We use Kentish plover Charadrius alexandrinus – a common coastal breeding shorebird – as an ecological model species to predict the influence of sea level rise. We found that any rise of sea level is likely to inundate 11% of Kentish plover nests. In addition, 5% of the coastal areas of Farasan Islands, which support 26% of Kentish plover nests, will be flooded, if sea level rises by one metre. Our results are constrained by the availability of data on both elevation and bird populations. Therefore, we recommend follow-up studies to model the impacts of sea level rise using different elevation scenarios, and the establishment of a monitoring programme for breeding shorebirds and seabirds in Farasan Islands to assess the impact of climate change on their populations

DeepLab V3+ Based Semantic Segmentation of COVID -19 Lesions in Computed Tomography Images

Abstract- Coronavirus 2019 spreads rapidly worldwide causing a global epidemic. Early detection and diagnosis of COVID-19 is critical for treatment as it causes respiratory syndrome appears in the chest medical images, such as computed tomography (CT) images, and X-ray images. The CT images are more sensitive and have more details compared to the X-ray images. Thus, automated segmentation plays an imperative role in detecting, diagnosing, and determining the spreading of COVID-19. In this paper, the DeepLabV3+ combined with MobileNet-V2 model was implemented. To validate this combination, we conducted a comparative study between the DeepLabV3+ variants by its combination with MobileNet-V2 against DeepLabV3+ combined with different CNN, namely ResNet-18, and ResNet50. Also, a comparative study with the basic traditional U-Net and modified Alex for segmentation was carried out. The experimental results showed the superiority of the using DeepLabV3+ combined with MobileNet-V2 for COVID-19 segmentation by achieving 97.5% mean accuracy, 95.2% sensitivity, 99.7% specificity, 99.7% precision, 99.3 % weighted Jaccard coefficient, and 97.5% weighted dice coefficient

Neural substrates and potential treatments for levodopa-induced dyskinesias in Parkinson's disease

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is primarily a motor disorder that involves the gradual loss of motor function. Symptoms are observed initially in the extremities, such as hands and arms, while advanced stages of the disease can effect blinking, swallowing, speaking, and breathing. PD is a neurodegenerative disease, with dopaminergic neuronal loss occurring in the substantia nigra pars compacta, thus disrupting basal ganglia functions. This leads to downstream effects on other neurotransmitter systems such as glutamate, γ-aminobutyric acid, and serotonin. To date, one of the main treatments for PD is levodopa. While it is generally very effective, prolonged treatments lead to levodopa-induced dyskinesia (LID). LID encompasses a family of symptoms ranging from uncontrolled repetitive movements to sustained muscle contractions. In many cases, the symptoms of LID can cause more grief than PD itself. The purpose of this review is to discuss the possible clinical features, cognitive correlates, neural substrates, as well as potential psychopharmacological and surgical (including nondopaminergic and deep brain stimulation) treatments of LID