Association between urinary Bisphenol A & the reporting of cardiovascular diseases: case of American adults

Objective: Bisphenol A is categorized as an organic synthetic compound, which is commonly used for developing epoxy resin and polycarbonate plastics. Bisphenol A is measured as endocrine disrupter, which consists of estrogens receptors and estrogenic influence within laboratory findings. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to explore the association of urinary Bisphenol A with cardiovascular disease. Urinary BPA is considered as independent variable while CVD was treated as dependent variable. Methods: The participants were selected in the study through statistical process commenced with the data provided in 2009/10 survey by NHANES. The quantitative approach was implemented in the study to explore the association between urinary BPA and reporting of cardiovascular disease. The adult U.S. population between the age group 18 to 80 years was included as a targeted population. Results: The step 1 in binary logistic regression examined the correlation among presence of cardiovascular disease and the controls, predicting controls to be significant in forecasting the presence of cardiovascular disease. The step 2 binary logistic regression indicates the significant relation among the independent variable and controls to explore the occurrence of cardiovascular disease. Conclusion: There were no changes found by the coefficient of two-step binary regression with covariates and independent variable Bisphenol A to identify cardiovascular disease. Age was revealed as the only control variable among other variables that estimates the reporting of cardiovascular disease. Bisphenol A is categorized as an organic synthetic compound, which is commonly used for developing epoxy resin and polycarbonate plastics. Bisphenol A is measured as endocrine disrupter, which consists of estrogens receptors and estrogenic influence within laboratory findings. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to explore the association of urinary Bisphenol A with cardiovascular disease. Urinary BPA is considered as independent variable while CVD was treated as dependent variable. Methods: The participants were selected in the study through statistical process commenced with the data provided in 2009/10 survey by NHANES. The quantitative approach was implemented in the study to explore the association between urinary BPA and reporting of cardiovascular disease. The adult U.S. population between the age group 18 to 80 years was included as a targeted population. Results: The step 1 in binary logistic regression examined the correlation among presence of cardiovascular disease and the controls, predicting controls to be significant in forecasting the presence of cardiovascular disease. The step 2 binary logistic regression indicates the significant relation among the independent variable and controls to explore the occurrence of cardiovascular disease. Conclusion: There were no changes found by the coefficient of two-step binary regression with covariates and independent variable Bisphenol A to identify cardiovascular disease. Age was revealed as the only control variable among other variables that estimates the reporting of cardiovascular disease

Modeling and analysis of bilharzia disease

In this paper the dynamics of bilharazia disease in the humans, which represents its main host, is formulated mathematically. The proposed system is studied analytically. The local stability is investigated for all possible equilibrium points.  Using suitable Lyapunov functions the basin of attraction of each point is specified. The conditions of occurring local bifurcation in the system are established. Numerical simulations are performed to study the global dynamics of the system and specify the set of control parameters. It is observed that the system has no periodic dynamics and the disease is controlled under some conditions on the parameters. Keywords: Bilharzia; Parasite disease; Stability; Local bifurcation

Shari’ah supervisory board characteristics effects on Islamic banks’ performance: evidence from Malaysia

Islamic banks (IBs) must stay Shari’ah compliant to enhance their customer loyalty and obtain a competitive edge. Given the performance of Shari’ah supervisory board (SSB) continues to be a matter of concern especially for IBs across countries that have different regulatory environment, this paper aims to examine the effects of SSB characteristics on IBs’ performance in Malaysia being a country that applies the most extreme intervention of regulatory agencies (pro-active model). Design/methodology/approach A sample of 15 Malaysian IBs is used to test the study hypotheses for the period from 2008 to 2015 using the Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) estimator. Findings The results reveal strong support for a significant association between SSB size, doctoral qualification, change in the SSB composition and performance. In addition, the study supports the view that SSB with cross-membership and reputation are very important in improving the performance of IBs. Research Limitations Firstly, the paper focused only on Malaysia which adopts a pro-active model, and therefore, extending the investigation to include countries that adopt the different models may provide a better view of the best Shari’ah governance (SG) practices for IBs. Secondly, there is a need for more empirical analysis regarding the optimal SSB size of IBs. Practical Implications This paper provides empirical evidence for regulators and policy makers in Malaysia, to understand how to enhance the performance of IBs using Shari’ah governance. Furthermore, marketers of Malaysian IBs should focus on SG practices as an important element for attracting Muslim customers especially there is a lack in this aspect. Originality/value (mandatory) To date, it seems there is no empirical study that has examined to what extent the impact of SSB characteristics on IBs performance can be affected by whether the degree of agencies intervention extreme or slight. Malaysia has been chosen as the only country that adopts the most extreme model

Evaluation of Legislation Adequacy in Managing Time and Quality Performance in Iraqi Construction Projects- a Bayesian Decision Tree Approach

Delay and quality defects are significant problems in Iraqi construction projects. During the period from 2003-2014, legislation has been changed to enhance the performance of construction project. This change is done by modifying some clauses of legislation and adding or deleting the others. The aim of this study is to evaluate the adequacy of these changes by using questionnaire and Bayesian decision tree model. 30 projects were taken for the period from 2003-2014. Performance of construction project was assessed on one hand by conducting a questionnaire which depend on the impact of legislation clauses on the time and quality performance, while on the other hand Bayesian decision tree model was developed in which qualitative estimate of time and quality performance by using KNIME program. The results of questionnaire estimate the delay from very low to very high and quality from very low to high in Iraqi construction industry. The results of Bayesian decision tree model reveal that the high percentage of construction projects were implemented with very high delay and high level of quality. The model gives good accuracy in prediction time and quality performance about 86.7%. These results show the enhancement in the quality performance is greater than the time performance under the legislative change. The model can assist the Iraqi legislator in evaluation the impact of legislation on time and quality performance of construction project

Improvement of thermal homogenization using multiple swirling jets

The aim of this study is to examine different blowing configurations of multiple swirling jets for use it in terminal units of ventilation applications. The influence of several parameters such as the inclined vanes of diffuser and the sense of rotation of the single or multiple swirling jets, their number and their arrangement on the flow resulting dynamically and thermally is experimentally investigated. Flow rate was adjusted at Reynolds numbers, Re0, ranging from 104 to 30.103. The current study is carried out under uniform heat flux condition for each diffuser at Reynolds number of 30.103, the air being the working fluid. Experiences concerning the fusion of several jets show that the resulting jet is clearly more homogenized under swirling influence. The findings of this study show that the gap between the jets and their sense of rotation relative to the central jet, affects the quality of the homogenization of ambiance. Among the studied different configuration, the one which consists of a swirling central jet controlling the behavior of six swirling jets in counter-rotation is shown to be the most effective in terms of thermal destratification

Association of Bisphenol A and C-Reactive Protein Concentrations with Cardiovascular Diseases

Bisphenol A (BPA), a widely used chemical in plastic, has drawn wide attention due to its presence in many consumer products and the environment. The purpose of this study was to examine the association between urinary BPA and the reporting of cardiovascular diseases (CVD), and then to examine the effect of C-reactive protein (CRP) as a moderating variable. The data used in this research were extracted from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey collected in 2009-2010. Guided by the advanced epidemiological triangle, analysis involved 2 stepwise binary logistic regressions. The first step suggested that the controls were significant in predicting CVD (Ï?2 (5) = 83.72, p \u3c .001, R2 = .15). The Nagelkerke R2 coefficient of determination indicated that the controls explained approximately 15% of the variance in instances of CVD. The second step of the binary logistic regression included the controls and BPA level in the model together. The regression analysis suggested that the Nagelkerke coefficient of determination (Ï?2 (6) = 83.76, p \u3c .001, R2 = .15) did not increase from the 15% explained by the controls, and BPA level was found to be a nonsignificant predictor of CVD (p = .853). Due to lack of association between BPA and CVD, the analysis was shifted to examine the association between urinary BPA and serum CRP. The association between urinary BPA and serum CRP was also statistically nonsignificant (Spearman correlation coefficient, rs= .06, p = .015). The results may have positive social change by contributing to the body of knowledge on BPA and by increasing scientific scrutiny for substances used in people\u27s daily lives

Language Teachers’ Conceptions of Intelligence and their Roles in Teacher Care and Teacher Feedback

Abstract: The purpose of this study was to find the relationships among teachers’ conceptions of intelligence, teacher care, and teacher feedback in the realm of English Language Teaching (ELT). To this aim, three scales were developed to measure the aforementioned constructs. The participants consisted of 81 English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers and their 426 students who were learning English in private language institutes. The scales were validated by Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) and the correlations among their subscales were investigated. The findings suggested that modularity, increasibility and applied ELT are associated with the nature and amount of teacher feedback and care as perceived by the students. Moreover, the results revealed that teachers’ conceptions of intelligence significantly affect how they evaluate their students (p \u3c .05). In the end, implications were provided in the context of teaching

Rapid detection tests for distinguishing between influenza virus type A and B among children less than 5 years, using direct immunofluorescence assay and RT-PCR techniques

Detection of influenza virus surveillance was world concerned for long time, because of series public health caused by the virus. In this study, rapid and sensitive methods of direct immunofluorescence assay (DFA) and the real time quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was used to detect and distinguish between influenza virus type A and B in children, with influenza like illness symptoms, of age ranged between 2 months and 5 years old in two children hospitals in Baghdad city.  Eight out of 100 (8%) children under investigation were found positive for influenza virus type A by using DFA while 13 (13%) was detected by RT–PCR. Whilst influenza B was completely absent in all individuals tested. In summary, influenza virus type A was moderately present (8%-13%) and absence of type B in population tested in Baghdad city by using serological and molecular assays. Kaywords: key word, Influenza virus A and B, , DFA and RT-PC

Energy Loss of a Heavy Particle Near 3D Rotating Hairy Black Hole

We consider rotating black hole in 3 dimensions with a scalar charge and discuss energy loss of heavy particle moving near the black hole horizon. We find that drag force was increased by scalar charge while it was decreased due to the rotation of black hole. We also study quasnormal modes