Potential Urinary miRNA Biomarker Candidates for the Accurate Detection of Prostate Cancer among Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia Patients

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a class of short (similar to 22nt), single stranded RNA molecules that function as post-transcriptional regulators of gene expression. MiRNAs can regulate a variety of important biological pathways, including: cellular proliferation, differentiation and apoptosis. Profiling of miRNA expression patterns was shown to be more useful than the equivalent mRNA profiles for characterizing poorly differentiated tumours. As such, miRNA expression "signatures" are expected to offer serious potential for diagnosing and prognosing cancers of any provenance. The aim of this study was to investigate the potential of using deregulation of urinary miRNAs in order to detect Prostate Cancer (PCa) among Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia (BPH). To identify the miRNA signatures specific for PCa, miRNA expression profiling of 8 PCa patients, 12 BPH patients and 10 healthy males was carried out using whole genome expression profiling. Differential expression of two individual miRNAs between healthy males and BPH patients was detected and found to possibly target genes related to PCa development and progression. The sensitivity and specificity of miR-1825 for detecting PCa among BPH individuals was found to be 60% and 69%, respectively. Whereas, the sensitivity and specificity of miR-484 were 80% and 19%, respectively. Additionally, the sensitivity and specificity for miR-1825/484 in tandem were 45% and 75%, respectively. The proposed PCa miRNA signatures may therefore be of great value for the accurate diagnosis of PCa and BPH. This exploratory study has identified several possible targets that merit further investigation towards the development and validation of diagnostically useful, non-invasive, urine-based tests that might not only help diagnose PCa but also possibly help differentiate it from BPH

How Applying Soft Lean Components Can Contribute to Reducing Costs in the Service Sector: The Case of Al-Ahliyya Amman University

This research aims to identify the rules of lean system application in the service industry. It also seeks to highlight the requirements of applying the lean production system on Al-Ahliyya Amman University to reduce costs. The research was conducted in the form of a case-study in Al-Ahliyya Amman University. Data was collected through discussions with some the officials in the university. Including the HR manager, the financial manager, the student affairs manager, and the student registration manager. The results showed that lean production was most successful in service organisations that depend on the core components of lean; such as continuous improvement, problem-solving, decision-making, knowledge management, and technology usage. These components together can be a critical key to reducing costs which is what Just-in-time technique aims to do

Potential Urinary Protein Biomarker Candidates for the Accurate Detection of Prostate Cancer among Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia Patients

Globally, Prostate cancer (PCa) is the most frequently occurring non-cutaneous cancer, and is the second highest cause of cancer mortality in men. Serum prostate specific antigen (PSA) has been the standard in PCa screening since its approval by the American Food & Drug Administration (FDA) in 1994. Currently, PSA is used as an indicator for PCa - patients with a serum PSA level above 4ng/mL will often undergo prostate biopsy to confirm cancer. Unfortunately fewer than similar to 30% of these men will biopsy positive for cancer, meaning that the majority of men undergo invasive biopsy with little benefit. Despite PSA's notoriously poor specificity (33%), there is still a significant lack of credible alternatives. Therefore an ideal biomarker that can specifically detect PCa at an early stage is urgently required. The aim of this study was to investigate the potential of using deregulation of urinary proteins in order to detect Prostate Cancer (PCa) among Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia (BPH). To identify the protein signatures specific for PCa, protein expression profiling of 8 PCa patients, 12 BPH patients and 10 healthy males was carried out using LC-MS/MS. This was followed by validating relative expression levels of proteins present in urine among all the patients using quantitative real time-PCR. This was followed by validating relative expression levels of proteins present in urine among all the patients using quantitative real time-PCR. This approach revealed that significant the down-regulation of Fibronectin and TP53INP2 was a characteristic event among PCa patients. Fibronectin mRNA down-regulation, was identified as offering improved specificity (50%) over PSA, albeit with a slightly lower although still acceptable sensitivity (75%) for detecting PCa. As for TP53INP2 on the other hand, its down-regulation was moderately sensitive (75%), identifying many patients with PCa, but was entirely non-specific (7%), designating many of the benign samples as malignant and being unable to accurately identify more than one negative

Development of Power Electronic Circuits Database for Knowledge-Based System

The development of design automation tools for a power electronic circuit has received a great deal of attention in the last two decades. To provide an optimum solution for each power electronics application demands the selection of the most appropriate power electronic devices, power circuit and control philosophy. For a certain applications, it must be decided which power circuit topology and which power semiconductor with which control strategy is best suited for it. Their design and fabrication require extensive knowledge and sophistication, that must be continually updates as the technologies improve. Considerable engineering effort and knowledge are required to take a power circuit from a laboratory prototype to a finished product. Other than being an expert in areas as diverse as thermal design, circuit and system packaging, circuit protection, and safety and electromagnetic interference regulations. With such a highly demanding expertise required of power electronic circuits' designers and with such rapid advancements in the field of circuit topology and semiconductor devices it is difficult for designers to come up with an optimum circuit and the right device within a short time. These difficulties can be solved using a design-aided system with high accuracy and flexibility in a short time. In this study the developed system is named PEDAS (Power electronic Design Aid System). The system is characterized as an intermediate object-oriented system that allows the user to deal with different software packages through an attractive interface. The aim of this research is to develop a database circuits library. The implementation includes generation of formatted files to be used as input streams with the design packages, writing an interface program for each kind of these software, and managing the data flow timing and dependency among them. In this thesis the circuit topology data base development based on PSPICE is presented with examples of converters and inverters circuits. The database circuits library was designed and used successfully by some of the researchers of the electrical engineering department in the Control and Automation System Center

Factors Affecting Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Integration in Jordanian Secondary Schools

This study attempted to investigate the relationship between stages of concern, adopter categories, obstacles faced by the teachers and the strategies used by the teachers in integrating ICT in the teaching and learning process in Jordanian public schools, while attitude toward computers was used as a moderator variable. A concern-based adoption model and Rogers' adopter categories were used as basis for this study. The researcher distributed 360 questionnaires to teachers who taught English, Math and Science in the Amman area in Jordan only 345 were usable. Descriptive and inferential statistics including one way ANOVA, independent sample t-test, correlation and hierarchical regression were used to analyse the data. Data showed that Jordanian teachers exhibited high attitude and moderate concern towards integration of LCT. In addition. the teachers faced many obstacles when they integrate ICT in their classroom such as time-related obstacle, training and insufficient equipment. This study indicated that there were no significant differences in teachers' stage of concern based on their demographic variables which include teaching experience and subject matter taught. But the study indicated that significant differences were found between subject matter taught with regard to obstacles and strategies in ICT integration. Similarly. significant differences were found between teaching experience with regard to obstacles and strategies in ICT integration. English teachers as well as the teachers who belong to the group with 1-5 years of experience were found to face lesser obstacles and integrate ICT more than the other groups. This study also revealed that there was a positive relationship between concern and strategies in ICT integration. On the other hand, there was a negative relationship between obstacles in ICT integration and the strategies in ICT integration. Moreover, this study showed that teachers' attitudes toward computer did moderate the relationship between obstacles in ICT integration and the strategies in ICT integration. But, attitudes towards computer did not moderate the relationship between concern and strategies in ICT integration. The results showed that out of the thirteen hypotheses only three were rejected. Findings from the interview showed that the early and late adopters differed in terms of integrating ICT in the classroom. It also confirmed the results of the questionnaire that Jordanian teachers faced many obstacles when integrating ICT for teaching and learning purpose. On the contrary, the interview showed that most of the teachers still employed conventional teaching strategies. Based on the findings, several recommendations are provided including the need to provide training for late adopters, to synergize between the early and late adopters and to plan properly for technology integration in order to enhance technology integration in Jordanian schools

Working memory learning method and astrocytes number in different subfields of rat's Hippocampus

The aim of this study was evaluation of the astrocytes number in different subfields of rat's Hippocampus after spatial learning with usage of Morris Water Maze technique and working memory method. In this study, between 2005-2006 years in Pasteur institute of Iran-Tehran and histological department of Gorgan University with usage of Morris Water Maze and working memory technique, we used 14 male albino wistar rats. Seventh rats were in control group and 7 rats in working memory group. After histological preparation, the slides were stained with PTAH staining for showing the Astrocytes. Present results showed significant difference in astrocytes number in CA1, CA2 and CA3 areas of hippocampus between control and reference memory group. The number of astrocytes is increased in working memory group. Then we divided the hippocampus to three parts: Anterior, middle and posterior and with compare of different area (CA1, CA2 and CA3) of hippocampus, we found that the differences between Anterior-middle and Middle-Posterior of CA1 and CA2 area of hippocampus were significant, whereas the difference between Anterior-Posterior parts was not significant in CA1 and CA2 areas. In CA3 area, the difference between Anterior-Middle and Anterior-Posterior parts was significant, whereas the difference between middle and posterior parts was not significant. We concluded that the number of astrocytes increased due to spatial learning and working memory technique. © 2008 Science Publications

An Empirical Study of the Relationship Between Covid-19 and Jordanian Banks' Profitability

Purpose:  To investigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the profitability of Jordanian banks using financial disclosure data.   Theoretical framework:  The study focuses on the impact of external environmental factors such as the COVID-19 pandemic and non-performing loans on the profitability of Jordanian banks.   Design/methodology/approach:  The study uses a panel model to analyze financial disclosure data of 15 Jordanian banks between 2017 and 2021. The study employs both descriptive and inferential methods, utilizing a range of secondary sources including official reports, articles, electronic journals, and previous studies.   Findings:  The study reveals that the COVID-19 pandemic had a negative impact on the Return on Assets (ROA) of Jordanian banks. Additionally, the number of bank branches, earnings per share, and non-performing loans were significantly associated with ROA and Return on Equity (ROE).   Research, Practical & Social implications:  The study highlights the sensitivity of banks to external environmental factors such as pandemics and economic shocks, which can impact their solvency and trigger a chain effect that puts the entire economy at risk. The findings can inform policy decisions and help increase bank resilience in the face of future crises.   Originality/value:  The study contributes to the literature on the impact of external environmental factors on the profitability of banks in emerging economies such as Jordan. The study's use of financial disclosure data provides a unique insight into the performance of Jordanian banks during the COVID-19 pandemic

Codification technology strategy in Iran power industry

Due to the rapid advancement of technology in the world and a major influence in the development and progress of human civilization, other communities are in the need of new technologies , which takes on an intellectual framework design. To achieve the required technology company that aims to satisfy customers and to develop and maintain power grid stability is one of the core strategic objectives to address. This Article describes the characteristics of the electricity industry in Power Distribution Company of Eastern Azerbaijan, the role of technology in improving performance and future development needs of the industry and technology strategy in this industry And, we analyzed technology strategy Power Distribution Company of East Azarbaijan the Heks model and Mazlof

Impact of Heavy Metals on Childhood Behaviors and Development: A UAE Study

BACKGROUND: Environmental toxic metal exposure is well known to adversely affect children\u27s development and behavior. To our knowledge, there are no studies that carefully examined this potential hazard in UAE and Gulf countries. OBJECTIVES: The aim of this case-control study was to determine blood concentrations of 12 heavy metals in school-age children in Al Ain City. The other aim was to correlate the blood levels with developmental (e.g., learning disability) and behavioral (e.g., Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder) problems in children. METHODS: One hundred and forty seven subjects (73 with developmental and/or behavioral disorders and 74 controls) participated in the study. The median age was 8 years (range, 5 -15). Raven\u27s Colored Progressive Matrices Scale was used to assess the IQ. Whole blood samples were drawn in trace element-free vacuum tubes. ICPMS instrument was used to determine the metal concentration. Data analysis was performed using the SPSS-PC software package, version 15.0. Logistic regression and independent samples {-test were used. All statistical tests were performed at the 5% significance level. RESULTS: The blood level (mean±SD, n=146) of lead was 25.86±13.06 ppb, cadmium 0.31±0.25 ppb, arsenic 10.74±4.71 ppb, mercury 1.39±1.16 ppb, manganese 1.85±1.09 ppb, nickel 9.18±8.23 ppb, zinc 3731±1752 ppb, chromium 2.1 0±1.53 ppb, cobalt 0.65±0.40 ppb, copper 1064±403 ppb, molybdenum 1.59±1.25 ppb, and antinomy 0.60±0.63 ppb. Higher levels of blood concentrations of lead, cadmium, arsenic, manganese, nickel, zinc, copper and molybdenum were significantly associated with a higher risk of developmental/behavioral disorders (p-value \u3c 0.01); best predictors were manganese and molybdenum. Higher blood concentrations of lead, cadmium, arsenic, manganese, nickel, copper and molybdenum were significantly associated with a higher risk of learning disability (p- value ≤ 0.02); best predictor was molybdenum. An increase in blood concentrations of lead, manganese, zinc and copper was significantly associated with a higher risk of Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (p-value \u3c 0.02); best predictors were manganese and zinc. Increases in blood concentrations of cadmium, arsenic, manganese, nickel, copper and molybdenum were significantly associated with a below average IQ (≤ 25th percentile) (p- value \u3c 0.05). Associations (p-value \u3c 0.05) between increments in blood levels of certain heavy metals and Child Behavior Check List syndromes (anxiety, depression, withdrawn, somatization, social problems, thought problems, attention deficit, delinquency, aggression, internalization and externalization) were noted. For example, nickel (best predictor), copper and molybdenum were significantly higher in the children with aggression. CONCLUSIONS: The results show significant associations between heavy metal exposure and learning, developmental and behavioral problems in children. Even low levels of lead and other heavy metals can serve as potential risk factors for developmental and behavioral disorders. Surveillance linked to appropriate public health interventions is strongly recommended for UAE