Factors Affecting Tourists Satisfaction of Jordan as a Tourism Destination

This study aimed to examine the factors affecting tourist’s satisfaction of Jordan as a tourism destination. A Convenience sample of 500 tourists was selected from those who visited different Jordanian places. They asked to answer a set-scale questionnaire that measure tourist expectation and his/her perception toward destination image, emotional involvement, perceived outcome, self image and his satisfaction. Findings of the study indicated that Perceived outcomes, Jordan image and the emotional involvement had a significant impact on the tourists’satisfaction/ dissatisfaction. While self image, and perceived expectations had no influence. Furthermore, findings indicated that tourist’s satisfaction levels do not change according to gender, martial status, and education levels. But with different nationalities, ages, and monthly income the tourists had different level of satisfaction. Finally, many recommendations were recommended as follows: 1- Giving more attention to the Gulf of Aqaba and Dead Sea beaches and work on developing suitable protection and maintenance programs. 2 - Focusing on the development of promotional programs which aim to inform tourist about different festivals in Jordan. Also, spreading the festivals to all seasons of the year. 3- Increasing co-operation between tourism organizations in Jordan and other Arab countries in order to develop a good package of tourism programs at competitive prices. 4- Focusing on exploring new Foreign and Arab markets to attract tourists to visit Jordan

Development and validation of spectrophotometric and spectrofluorimetric methods for determination of cilnidipine

Purpose: To develop simple and reliable quantitative methods for the determination of cilnidipine (CLD) in pharmaceutical tablets.Methods: Two simple and sensitive methods (spectrophotometric and spectrofluorimetric) were developed for the determination of cilnidipine (CLD) in pure form and in a pharmaceutical preparation. Spectrophotometric method (A) is based on oxidation of CLD with a known excess amount of Nbromosuccinamide (NBS) in acidic medium, followed by addition of methyl orange indicator and absorbance measurement at 510 nm. The spectrofluorimetric method (B) is based on oxidation of CLD to cerium (IV), followed by measurement of fluorescence emission of Ce (III) at 350 nm. Factors that affect the performance of the two methods were studied and optimized.Results: The spectrophotometric and spectrofluorimetric procedures were successfully used for measuring CLD levels in pharmaceutical dosage form, in the ranges of 2.0 - 25.0 and 0.25 - 11.2 μg/mL, at detection limits of 1.05 and 0.13 μg/mL, respectively. There were no significant differences between the proposed methods and a standard reference method (p < 0.05).Conclusion: The developed methods provide simple and reliable procedures for quantitative measurement of CLD in bulk and tablet forms. Keywords: Cilnidipine, Oxidation, Spectrophotometric, Spectrofluorimetric, Drug formulatio

Serum vitamin D in patients with mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease

Objectives: To determine the relevance of Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D3), and 1,25(OH)2D3 concentrations to mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and various stages of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Materials and Methods: The study included 230 participants (>74 years) allocated to three main groups: 1-healthy subjects (HS, n = 61), 2-patients with MCI (n = 61), and 3- patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) subdivided into three stages: mild (n = 41), moderate (n = 35), and severe AD (n = 32). The cognitive status was evaluated using MMSE. Serum 25 (OH)D3 (ng/ml) and 1,25(OH)2D3 concentrations (pg/ml) were determined by competitive radioimmunoassay. Results: MMSE scores and 25(OH)D3 were decreased in MCI and all stages of the AD in both genders. MMSE variability was due to gender in HS (11%) and to 25(OH)D3 in MCI (15%) and AD (26%). ROC analysis revealed an outstanding property of MMSE in diagnosis of MCI (AUC, 0.906; CI 95%, 0.847–0.965; sensitivity 82%; specificity, 98%) and AD (AUC, 0.997; CI 95%, 0.992–1; sensitivity, 100%; specificity, 98%). 25(OH)D3 exhibited good property in MCI (AUC, 0.765; CI 95%, 0.681–0.849; sensitivity, 90%; specificity, 54%) and an excellent property in diagnosis of AD (AUC, 0.843; CI 95%, 0.782–0.904; sensitivity, 97%; specificity, 79%). Logistic analyses revealed that, in MCI, MMSE could predict (or classify correctly) with 97.6% accuracy (Wald, 15.22, β, −0.162; SE, 0.554; OR = 0.115:0.039–0.341; p =.0001), whereas 25(OH)D3 with 80% accuracy (Wald, 41,013; β, −0.213; SE, 0.033; OR = 0.808: 0.757–863; p =.0001). 25(OH)D3 was the only significant predictor for the severe AD and contributed to MMSE variability. Age and gender were significant predictors only in the moderate AD. In patients with MCI, 25(OH)D3 and 1,25(OH)2D3 were correlated men, but in case of the AD, they were correlated in women. Conclusions: MMSE and serum 25(OH)D3 concentrations could be useful biomarkers for prediction and diagnosis of MCI and various stages of the AD. The results support the utility of vitamin D supplementation in AD therapy regimen. © 2018 The Authors. Brain and Behavior published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc

INVESTIGATION OF ALUMINUM TOXICITY AMONG WORKERS IN ALUMINUM INDUSTRY SECTOR

The study was conducted to evaluate urine aluminum concentration among a total of 150 participants (80 aluminum technicians and 70 non- aluminum technicians as a control). Data were collected through a previously prepared questionnaire which consists of two parts. The first part concerned with demographic data such as age and nationality. The second part concerned with occupational data such as working hours, working years, smoking, and diseases. The mean concentration of aluminum is 51.62+ 29.59 μg/l and the mean concentration of group control 16.32 + 12.49 μg/l. The following variables were associated significantly with aluminum concentration: age, weekly working hours, smoking and daily smoking packets.According to our study, aluminum workers have high concentrations of urine aluminum compared with other studies, in addition to that the incidence of diseases in relation to exposure is low, simply because: 1-Self reported questionnaires may be not a proper way to collect data about diseases. 2- Traditional surveillance approaches used in public health practice are difficult to apply to metals poisoning because adverse health effects related to metal exposure may not be clinically diagnosed, except at very high exposure levels, and are not usually listed as reportable diseases.Finally Special safety precautions and educational programs are also needed to limit the aluminum exposure in this industrial group

Solid Pseudopapillary Tumor of the Pancreas: A Case Report

Introduction: Solid pseudopapillary tumor (SPT) of the pancreas is rare, accounting for 0.13-2.7% of all pancreatic tumors. It has specific clinical, pathological and radiological characters that make it quite different from other pancreatic tumors.Presentation of case:  A 15-year-old girl with SPT of the pancreas diagnosed after surgical resection with histopathology and immunohistochemistry confirmation. As no clear role for adjuvant treatment, she was elected for follow up.Conclusion: Although SPT is a rare tumor without notable symptoms. Complete surgical excision is the treatment of choice. The place of chemotherapy or radiotherapy needed to be elucidated

Sri Lankan tsunami refugees: a cross sectional study of the relationships between housing conditions and self-reported health

BACKGROUND: On the 26th December 2004 the Asian tsunami devastated the Sri Lankan coastline. More than two years later, over 14,500 families were still living in transitional shelters. This study compares the health of the internally displaced people (IDP), living in transitional camps with those in permanent housing projects provided by government and non-government organisations in Sri Lanka. METHODS: This study was conducted in seven transitional camps and five permanent housing projects in the south west of Sri Lanka. Using an interviewer-led questionnaire, data on the IDPs' self-reported health and housing conditions were collected from 154 participants from transitional camps and 147 participants from permanent housing projects. Simple tabulation with non-parametric tests and logistic regression were used to identify and analyse relationships between housing conditions and the reported prevalence of specific symptoms. RESULTS: Analysis showed that living conditions were significantly worse in transitional camps than in permanent housing projects for all factors investigated, except 'having a leaking roof'. Transitional camp participants scored significantly lower on self-perceived overall health scores than those living in housing projects. After controlling for gender, age and marital status, living in a transitional camp compared to a housing project was found to be a significant risk factor for the following symptoms; coughs OR: 3.53 (CI: 2.11-5.89), stomach ache 4.82 (2.19-10.82), headache 5.20 (3.09-8.76), general aches and pains 6.44 (3.67-11.33) and feeling generally unwell 2.28 (2.51-7.29). Within transitional camp data, the only condition shown to be a significant risk factor for any symptom was household population density, which increased the risk of stomach aches 1.40 (1.09-1.79) and headaches 1.33 (1.01-1.77). CONCLUSION: Internally displaced people living in transitional camps are a vulnerable population and specific interventions need to be targeted at this population to address the health inequalities that they report to be experiencing. Further studies need to be conducted to establish which aspects of their housing environment predispose them to poorer health

Optimisation of arsenic adsorption from water by carbon nanofibres grown on powdered activated carbon impregnated with nickel

Contamination of water due to arsenic (As) is increasing in many parts of the world. The removal of As from aqueous solution by using impregnated carbon nanofibres (CNFs) as the adsorbent is reported in this paper. The effects of pH, CNFs dosage, contact time and initial concentration of arsenic were studied at room temperature (±25°C). The interactions among the parameters were also investigated. The data obtained from the adsorption experiment were analysed using statistical software in order to develop a regression equation to represent the optimum operating conditions. The interactions of each parameters were considered during this analysis and the result indicated that the highest removal (97.25%) of As can be attained at pH 6, initial concentration of arsenic of 0.08 mg L-1, contact time of 60 min and CNF dosage of 200 mg L-1. Comparison between impregnated CNF and Powdered Activated Carbon (PAC) were also done and it is determined that impregnated CNF has better removal compared to PAC alone. The final concentration of As after the treatment using CNFs was about 8 ~ 10 times less than that of using PAC. Therefore, it can be concluded that CNFs are highly potential for the adsorption of As from water

Rate versus rhythm control and outcomes in patients with atrial fibrillation and chronic kidney disease: Data from the GUSTO-III Trial

Background: Atrial fi brillation (AF) and chronic kidney disease (CKD) have both beenshown to portend worse outcomes after acute myocardial infarction (MI); however, the benefi tof a rhythm control strategy in patients with CKD post-MI is unclear.Methods: We prospectively studied 985 patients with new-onset AF post-MI in theGUSTO-III trial, of whom 413 (42%) had CKD (creatinine clearance < 60 mL/min).A rhythm control strategy, defi ned as the use of an antiarrhythmic medication and/orelectrical cardioversion, was used in 346 (35%) of patients.Results: A rhythm control strategy was used in 34% of patients with CKD and 36% of patientswith no CKD. At hospital discharge, sinus rhythm was present in 487 (76%) of patients treatedwith a rate control strategy, vs. 276 (80%) in those treated with rhythm control (p = 0.20). CKDwas associated with a lower odds of sinus rhythm at discharge (unadjusted OR 0.56, 95% CI0.38–0.84, p < 0.001). However, in multivariable analyses, treatment with a rhythm controlstrategy was not associated with discharge rhythm (HR 1.068, 95% CI 0.69–1.66, p = 0.77),30-day mortality (HR 0.78, 95% CI 0.54–1.12, p = 0.18) or mortality from day 30 to 1 year(HR 1.00, 95% CI 0.59–1.69, p = 0.99). CKD status did not signifi cantly impact the relationshipbetween rhythm control and outcomes.Conclusions: Treatment with a rhythm or rate control strategy does not signifi cantly impactshort-term or long-term mortality in patients with post-MI AF, regardless of kidney disease status.Future studies to investigate the optimal management of AF in CKD patients are needed

A Survey on the Use of Plastic versus Biodegradable Bottles for Drinking Water Packaging in the United Arab Emirates

Due to intensive utilization and extensive production, plastic waste is becoming a serious threat to the environment and human health. The situation is even worse in countries such as the United Arab Emirates (UAE), where single-use plastic water bottles add to the load of plastic pollution. The main objective of this survey was to assess the extent of bottled water utilization by the UAE residents and their awareness of the environmental concerns arising from single-use plastic bottles. The aim was also to evaluate their willingness to shift towards using biodegradable plastic bottles. This study involved the feedback of 2589 respondents living in the UAE. The eigenvalue decomposition (EVD) was applied to determine the most responsible variables explaining the variability of our data set. A chi-square analysis was also used to determine the significance among the responses. Most of the respondents to this survey were UAE nationals (79.8%) of ages ranging from 21 to 35 years (42%), who were educated, with most holding a university degree (69.6%). Regardless of their gender, age, occupation, education, and income, a large group of respondents (40.7%) was concerned about the impact of their purchased items on the environment; however, the frequency of plastic products recycled was observed to be low (49.7%). According to the findings of this survey, 42.4% of the respondents were likely to purchase 100% biodegradable bottles, and about 70% of the respondents expressed a willingness to spend at least AED 1 more for purchasing 100% biodegradable bottles