Search

It is necessary to take the pilgrims' dietary needs into consideration to avoid the complication of health especially chronic diseases, which will lead to reduce expenditure on health services. This study aimed to explore the availability of special meals that are provided to pilgrims according to their health condition, highlight the Hajj agencies’ practices with regard to food quality and safety for pilgrims and investigate the prevalence of the diseases requiring special diets among pilgrims. A cross-sectional study design was used. The data was collected via an online questionnaire. This study included 394 pilgrims who attended Hajj at least once from 2015-2019. About 20% suffered from chronic diseases; the most common: hypertension, diabetes and allergy. 15.7% required a special diet. There was an increase in the healthy method of meal preparation, the amount of water and vegetables/fruit, however, unhealthy sweets too. About 82% were overall satisfied with services; there were significant associations between it and some parameters: such as specified meal times, cleanness of eating place, utensils and hygiene of workers. In conclusion, most agencies did not provide special meals. It is important to take into consideration the calorie, nutrients and safety of food. This study recommends pre-Hajj electronic orders of meals due to health condition and using meal vending machines.

Introduction: In 2019, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the agent of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), spread all over the world. This global pandemic spread rapidly to more than 195 countries and caused over 200 million infections with a mortality rate of 2%. This study aimed to detect seropositivity against the SARS-CoV-2 virus among outpatients, symptomatic and asymptomatic individuals. Methodology: A total of 489 individuals of age 5-70 years (mean 38.0 ± 17 SD) were enrolled for a cross-sectional study. They were tested for presence of SARS‐CoV‐2 IgM/IgG antibodies in serum samples using Enzyme-linked Immunofluorescent Assay (ALFA). Results: A higher seroprevalence was recorded for IgM among females (34.96%) than males (28.83%). In the case of IgG, and IgG + IgM, both males and females had similar values. A significant correlation was identified between seropositivity and age; higher seropositivity (IgG, IgM, and IgG + IgM) was recorded in age groups 51-60 and ≥ 61 years, relative to the younger age groups. No significant correlation was found between symptomatic and asymptomatic individuals. No significant correlation was detected between seropositivity and RT-PCR positive and negative cases. Conclusions: COVID-19 is spreading rapidly and there is a high percentage of asymptomatic carriers. The sensitivity of RT-PCR tests is not uniform and may not be able to detect all cases. On the other hand, serology can be used for large scale testing to detect the real extent to which the disease has spread.

Background: Endometriosis is a prevalent benign, inflammatory, estrogen-dependent disease that affects between 1% to 11.5% of women. Deep endometriosis is one of the three types of endometriosis. Described as “deeply infiltrating endometriosis” or “adenomyosis externa,” and it is characterized histopathologically as endometrial glands and stroma penetrating adjacent fibromuscular tissue, obliterating and substituting connective tissue septa. Objective: The present work aimed to report a case of endometriotic of the iliacus muscle and psoas muscle. Mention the place and time of the study. Conclusion: Deep endometriosis is rare to infiltrate the retropsoas area (iliacus, iliopsoas) and the diagnosis can be difficult, therefore a comprehensive patient assessment is necessary for adequate treatment. The use of appropriate imaging techniques, such as MRI and CT scans, is essential to show the lesions.

Friction Stir Welding (FSW) is a solid-state welding technique with non-fusible rotary welds. Heat is generated by the friction produced between the weld tool and the two opposite surfaces of the two welded parts and the tool works on mechanical mixing with the presence of heat, pressure, and heat generated, reaching approximately (80-90%) of the melting point of the metal to be welded. In this study, Al 1050 H14 aluminum with a thickness of (6mm) was used for the purpose of welding it by means of the friction stir welding process in a butt welding method to obtain similar welding joints. A set with a square stitching tool Made of alloy steel was used by using a milling machine, with fixed (rotational speed of 1008 rpm and linear velocity of 40mm / min), an inclination angle of (2o), and counterclockwise rotation. The efficiency of welded joints was evaluated through static mechanical tests. Tensile tests, microscopic hardness, and visual examination. The results for all welds showed that the mixing zone (NZ) consists of fine grains of equal axes compared to the base metal. When welding on one side and in one path, the microstructure of HAZ was similar to the base metal. TAMZ was a transition region between HAZ and NZ. As for welding on one side, with two paths and three paths, the structure turned into a fine crystalline structure. By increasing the number of paths per side, the welding efficiency of the welded sample increased as the best efficiency was from one side and three paths (76.215%). Through the results, the tensile strength increases with the increase in the number of paths, as the best tensile strength was obtained when conducting the welding process from one side and by three paths, which is (93.653 MPa). It is equivalent to 76.21% of the tensile strength of the base metal. The hardness value in the weld zone (NZ) is higher than the other two zones (HAZ, TMAZ) due to the occurrence of dynamic recrystallization, which results in very fine and equiaxial crystals, but the hardness value in the weld zone remains less than the hardness value of the base metal.

The present study was conducted to evaluate the efficiency of pumpkin seed oil on the embryonic and larval development of Toxocara cati eggs. The eggs were extracted from the uterus of female T. cati worms. For embryonic and larval development, the eggs were suspended with 2.5% formalin-ringer solution maintained at 25°C and 80% humidity. After 35 days of incubation, 83.5% of the eggs developed into larvae. Twenty-five ml of pumpkin seed oil added into each suspension containing eggs and developed larvae, separately. The result showed that the eggs were only developed into two cells stage in rates of 61.9% and 43.2% at the first and fourth week of incubation, respectively. The rate of undeveloped eggs was 35.7% and 56.75% at the first and fourth week, respectively. The effect of pumpkin seeds oil on the second stage developed larvae showed that the rate of live larvae was 38.2% and dead larvae were 61.75% in the first week and 12.8% and 87.17% in the second week. In the control group, 84% of the eggs developed into larvae in the fourth week of the incubation period. The results revealed that pumpkin seed oil has high anthelmintic efficacy against Toxocara cati and it can be used as an effective traditional herbal medicine for the treatment of helminthiases.

In this paper, the neural network was developed to improve the dynamic scheduling of SARIA industry complex. This work implemented into two modules: modeling system by time calculation, the main purpose of this modeling is to calculate the total manufacturing times of the products. The second module is the neural network model architecture, constructed to hold a real-time optimization schedule to solve dynamic scheduling problems. The analytical model was built, including collection and manipulation of data, time calculations, and the neural networks model was formulated. Several training tests were carried out, then the dynamic scheduling was formulated. To assess the validity of the system and to investigate the efficiency and robustness of the system, the results were compared with those obtained from SARIA. The results reveal that the total time of products demand is easily calculated, and the system is agile to schedule any change that occurs in the demand, also the proposed system reduces 4 shift days for one demand. So the developed neural network leads to minimizing the total costs.

BackgroundSlums or informal settlements characterize most large cities in LMIC. Previous evidence suggests pharmacies may be the most frequently used source of primary care in LMICs but that pharmacy services are of variable quality. However, evidence on pharmacy use and availability is very limited for slum populations.MethodsWe conducted household, individual, and healthcare provider surveys and qualitative observations on pharmacies and pharmacy use in seven slum sites in four countries (Nigeria, Kenya, Pakistan, and Bangladesh). All pharmacies and up to 1200 households in each site were sampled. Adults and children were surveyed about their use of healthcare services and pharmacies were observed and their services, equipment, and stock documented.ResultsWe completed 7692 household and 7451 individual adults, 2633 individual child surveys, and 157 surveys of pharmacies located within the seven sites. Visit rates to pharmacies and drug sellers varied from 0.1 (Nigeria) to 3.0 (Bangladesh) visits per person-year, almost all of which were for new conditions. We found highly variable conditions in what constituted a “pharmacy” across the sites and most pharmacies did not employ a qualified pharmacist. Analgesics and antibiotics were widely available but other categories of medications, particularly those for chronic illness were often not available anywhere. The majority of pharmacies lacked basic equipment such as a thermometer and weighing scales.ConclusionsPharmacies are locally and widely available to residents of slums. However, the conditions of the facilities and availability of medicines were poor and prices relatively high. Pharmacies may represent a large untapped resource to improving access to primary care for the urban poor.

It has been well recognized throughout the world that Helicobacter pylori is the main cause of gastric ulcer and stomach carcinoma. Laboratory diagnosis of H. pylori infection is made by invasive and non-invasive methods. Invasive methods require endoscopy which is uncomfortable an unacceptable by the most patients. Therefore, non-invasive methods particularly serological tests are easier and comfortable for patients. A total of 86 patients with ages ranging from 18-77 years old (43 males and 43 females) who were referred to the Duhok Hepatology & Gastroenterology center/Azadi Teaching Hospital for endoscopic examination from June to October, 2013 were enrolled in the study. From each patient 5 ml of blood was collected under a septic condition and sera were separated for serology. Data from each participant were recorded in a special questionnaire form after consent agreed upon on ethical and scientific committee of the Azadi hospital. The efficacy of three different ELISA tests (IgG, IgM, IgA) was assessed taking culture as a gold standard method. pylori was found in 70.93%, 30.23% and 5.81% by ELISA IgG, IgA and IgM tests respectively. The highest percentage (70.93%) of H. pylori positive cases were found by ELISA IgG and the lowest percentage (5.81%) was recorded in ELISA IgM. The study found a significant relationship between age groups and H. pylori positive cases by ELISA IgG in which positive cases increased with the increase of ages. No statistical correlation was found between the sex, smoking status and residency of studied patients with H. pylori infection. A significant correlation was found between patients without endoscopic lesions and positive cases for H. pylori by ELISA IgG in which 75.67% of patients without endoscopic lesions were positive for anti-H. pylori antibodies compared to 41.66% in patients with endoscopic lesions. The efficacy of IgG, IgM and IgA tests was calculated compared with golden standard tests and ELISA IgG characterized by the highest values of sensitivity (75.75%), negative predictive value (36.00%) and accuracy (86.00%) but with lowest specificity (45.00%) and similar positive predictive value (81.96%) with IgM and IgA. The lowest sensitivity was 5.97% and accuracy 25.56% with ELISA Ig M. From the results of the present study we can conclude that among ELISA tests, anti-H. pylori IgG is a reliable serological test for the diagnosis of H. pylori infection.

Background: diabetes is well studied in Saudi Arabia; however, there seems to be little research in the area of awareness, education and health care delivery. Objectives: to assess the awareness about diabetes mellitus among attendees of primary health care centers, Makkah, Saudi Arabia. Subjects and Methods: a cross-sectional study was conducted among a representative random sample of adult attendees of primary health care centers (diabetic and non-diabetics), Makkah Al-Mokkaramah, the kingdom of Saudi Arabia during the study period (1-31 November, 2016). An Arabic self-administered questionnaire was used for data collection. It includes 31 questions with sections of demographic data, community awareness regarding diabetes definition, risk factors, signs and symptoms, and complications community awareness regarding diabetes prevention. Results: the study included 662 adult patients. Approximately one-third of them (32.2%) aged 60 years or more. Females represent 51.1% of them. More than one-fifth of them (21%) were university graduated whereas 6.3% were illiterates. Prevalence of diabetes among the participants was 33.7% and majority of them (97.9%) had family history of diabetes. The most frequent sources were mass media (57.4%), health sector (29.9%) and educational sector (10.6%). Overall sufficient awareness regarding diabetes mellitus was reported among majority of the participants (91.2%). Among studied factors, only marital status and income were significantly associated with sufficient awareness. Conclusion: population in Makkah AL-Mokkaramah has enough knowledge of the general knowledge of diabetes regarding risk factors, symptoms, etc. However, they are not very well aware of the diabetes associated secondary complications.

Background: A good social environment is a key strategy to improve the level of education and achievement in medical college students. However, survey data from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia have indicated that a large number of medical students are affected negatively by their social status. This article comparatively explores the impact of four main factors: Social class/Background, Students’ Personality, Health Status, and Psychological health on their achievement. Data were collected as part of a program of qualitative and quantitative research investigating the prevalence of bad environment effect on the psychological level of the students. Objectives: To study the four main factors Social class/Background, Students’ Personality, Health Status, and Psychological health affecting academic achievement among Female Students at Ibn Sina National College. Methods: The study was conducted among 1315 female students attending colleges of Ibn Sina-Jeddah-Saudi Arabia between 1st of April – 31th of May 2016. An open-ended questionnaire was developed to cover the objectives. Conclusion: After assessment of the factors and variables across the targeted sites about the academic achievement were often conclude that overall achievement were very good regardless the factor.

Globally Helicobacter pylori has been defined is the prime reason of stomach ulcer and gastric cancer. Medical laboratory analysis of H. pylori infection is done by two ways invasive and non- invasive methods. Invasive techniques frequently disapproved by patients because it is inconvenient but still remain reliable methods. Among invasive methods, culture is considered as gold standard method from which other methods are compared. A sum of eighty six persons with average of ages between 18-77 years old with mean 37.58 years ± (forty three males , forty three females) who visited to endoscopic center / Azadi Teaching Hospital for endoscopic examination from June to Oct. 2013.From everyone , two antral biopsies, one for urease test, the other for culture were collected. Biographies from each case were taken in a questionnaire form after approval by Research Ethics Committee of the college of medicine / Duhok university. H. pylorus was found in 37.2% and 68% by Culture and Rapid urease test respectively. The biggest value percentage of H. pylori positive cases was detected by rapid urease test while the fewest value percentage was by Culture. Combination of both tests it did not approve as a diagnostic test for detection of this pathogenic bacteria. The study did not detect any statistical correlation on the impact of age factor on H. pylori infection by both methods. In this research appear males were less positive for H. pylori than females by urease test and no such statistical association was noticed count on the sex and Helicobacter pylori pathogenicity via culture. Research never noticed any considerable correlation was found between smoking status and patient's residence with H. pylori positive cases by both methods. This study was performed to estimate the appropriate and better diagnostic tests for diagnosis of H. pylori among various types of samples. Due to the increasing incidence of treatment failure (caused in part by antibiotic resistance), post-treatment testing is recommended to confirm H. pylori eradication. Knowledge of the epidemic and the Routes of transmission of this pathogen are important points to avoid from spreading and may be useful in identifying high-risk populations, especially in areas that have high rates of gastric lymphoma, gastric cancer, and gastric ulcer. The current study concludes (RUT) was superlative than culture for the detection of Helicobacter pylori.

Policy marker interview guide for key informant interviews. Description of data: Sample of interview guide for key informant interviews with policy makers. (DOCX 15Â kb)

A simplified model is proposed for the shear strength of reinforced concrete (RC) membrane elements subjected to in-plane normal and shear stresses. The shear strength of these elements is evaluated at various stages of loading and can be computed by direct simple expressions. Failure in these elements is shown to occur in four different modes and to be preceded by the formation of two or more major critical cracks. At each stage of loading, the major critical cracks are shown to open at an optimum angle that supplies least shearing resistance to external loading. Consequently, these major cracks are shown to form when the contribution of the reinforcement in the x -direction to resist shear stresses is equal to that of the reinforcement in the y -direction. A unique normalized relationship is derived for the shear strength as a function of a ratio defined in terms of the amounts and yield strengths of reinforcements. Experimental results of 70 RC membrane elements subjected to in-plane normal and shear stresses obtained from literature are used to validate the proposed model. Numerical examples are provided for the computations of shear strength and modes of failure by the proposed model.

Bu araştırmanın amacı, Duhok şehrinde şirketler için artan pazar payı (bağımlı değişken) için markanın (bağımsız değişken) rolünü belirlemektir. Bu araştırma, pazar payını artıracak etkileri olan bağımsız değişkenlerdeki bazı boyutları vurgulamaktadır; Marka bilinirliği, marka imajı, marka sadakati ve marka kişilik. Araştırmacı, bu bağımsız değişkenlerin etkisini ayrı ayrı ve tamamen pazar payını artırmak için bulmayı ve incelemeyi amaçlamaktadır. Çalışmanın verileri birincil ve ikincil verileri içermektedir; İkincil veriler, kitaplardan, yüksek lisans ve doktora tezlerinden ve dergilerin makalelerinden toplanmıştır. Araştırmacı, birincil verileri toplamak için anket kullandı; araştırma anketi, Duhok şehrindeki Mazi Plus Alışveriş Merkezi'ndeki 160 kişiye dağıtıldı. Bu 160 anketten, araştırmacı 112 anketi çalışmanın bir örneği olarak kullanmış ve çalışmanın sonuçlarını bulmak için Sosyal Bilimler İçin İstatistik Paketi 18.0 (SPSS V.18) programına birincil veriler girmiştir.Çalışmanın sonuçları Marka (bağımsız değişken) ile Pazar Payı (bağımlı değişken) arasında anlamlı bir ilişki olduğunun doğrulanması ve ayrıca Pazar payını arttırmak Marka Bilinci, Marka İmajı, Marka Sadakati ve Marka Kişiliği'nin (bağımsız değişkenler) olumlu bir etkisinin olduğunu doğrulamıştır. The aim of this research is a determine the role of brand (independent variable) in increasing market share (dependent variable) for companies in Duhok city. This research emphasizes on a number of dimensions within independent variables that have influence to increase market share which are; brand awareness, brand image, brand loyalty, and brand personality. The researcher aim to find and examine the impact of these independent variables separately and totally to increase market share. Data of the study include of primary and secondary data; Secondary data have collected form the books, master thesis and doctora dissertation, and articles of journals. The researcher has used questionnaire for collecting primary data, the research questionnaire has distributed on 160 individuals in the Mazi Plus Mall in Duhok city. From those 160 questionnaires, the researcher has used 112 questionnaires as a sample of the study and primary data have entered in the program Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 18.0 (SPSS V. 18) to find the results of the study.The results of the study confirmed that there is a significance relationship between Brand (independent variable) and Market Share (dependent variable), also the results confirmed that Brand Awareness, Brand Image, Brand Loyalty and Brand Personality (independent variables) have a positive influence to increase market share. 90

An inflection point is observed in the settlement–square root of time (δt–) curve at a degree of radial consolidation U of 39·3%. The degree of radial consolidation U at the inflection point is independent of the n value (i.e., drainage pattern). The coefficient of radial consolidation is determined by using the observed inflection point in the experimental δt– curve. The proposed inflection point method requires only the identification of inflection point on the δt– curve that can be achieved either by using the finite difference technique or by visual inspection or both together. Existing experimental results of several soils obtained from literature are used to validate the proposed method and compare it with existing methods.

This study presents a method that combines both dimensional analysis and statistical regression analysis for predicting the shear capacity of slender reinforced concrete (RC) beams without web reinforcement taking the size effect into consideration. This method incorporates the modified Buckingham-PI theorem (Butterfield, 1999, Geotechnique 49(3), 357-366) to formulate two mathematical models for predicting the shear capacity at the formation of diagonal tension cracks and at the ultimate shear strength. The results of the two models are compared with several sets of existing experimental results. This study shows that the variations in the experimental results of shear capacity of slender RC beams ( a / d  2.5 ) defined at the formation of diagonal tension cracks of beams can be explained by the variations of the concrete tensile strength and the variations in the experimental results of ultimate shear strength of slender RC beams ( a / d  2.5 ) can be explained by the variations of the concrete splitting strength.

The SRS method explicitly relates the coefficient of consolidation cv and end of primary (EOP) settlement δp to the intercept and slope of the linear section of the observed dδt /dt–δt curve that can theoretically be recognized for the average degree of consolidation U ≥ 52.6%. The SRS method calculates the coefficient of consolidation independently of any specific value of U and can simultaneously compute the EOP settlement δp without the need to continue the test into the secondary compression range. Thus, the overall testing time may significantly be reduced and the influence of load duration as well as secondary compression may be minimized. Results of oedometer tests on four clayey soils are used to compare the SRS method with existing methods such as the Casagrande and Taylor methods.

Objective: This study was conducted to assess the problems related to stress encountered by Saudi dental students. Methods: One thousand and thirty questionnaires were distributed in four dental schools to all students from 2nd year level up to the internship level. The questionnaire contained 66 items organized into four categories: personal and administrative, theoretical, preclinical and clinical. The relationship between the demographic variables and students’ academic performance with the investigated items was also assessed. Results: The response rate was 53%. Saudi dental students showed high levels of perceived stress. The clinical training issues imposed the highest level of stress on the students. Some significant relationships between the investigated variables and the level of the perceived stress were found. Conclusions: Female students had higher mean overall problem scores compared to male students, and second-year students showed lower perceived problems compared to other students. Keywords: Stress, Dental students, Education, Clinical training

The settlement rate–settlement method for radial consolidation (SRSM–RC) is proposed for evaluating the coefficient of radial consolidation cr and end-of-primary (EOP) settlement δp. The SRSM–RC explicitly relates cr and δp to the intercept and slope of the linear settlement rate–settlement (dδt/dt-δt) relationship observed theoretically over the entire Ur range of the Barron theory; δt is the settlement at time t and Ur is the degree of radial consolidation. The SRSM–RC computes cr independently of any specific Ur value and can simultaneously compute δp without the need to use the secondary compression range. The SRSM–RC does not require a complete record of compression–time data; a minimum of four representative data points at any stage of primary consolidation are required to estimate cr by the SRSM–RC. Experimental results on radial consolidation of several clayey soils obtained from literature are used to validate and compare the SRSM–RC with existing methods. The validity of the method is also evaluated by matching the experimental compression–time data with the theory.

The slope method (Al-Zoubi, 2008, Geotech. Test. J., Vol. 31, No. 6, pp. 526–530) in which the coefficient of consolidation cv was expressed as function of the EOP settlement δp and slope m of the initial linear portion of the observed δt − √t curve is modified for improving the procedure used for estimating the EOP δp. The slope method EOP δp values were estimated using the point at which δt − √t curve starts to deviate from the initial linear portion. In this note, the EOP δp is determined based on a unique relationship between the ratio of the secant slope of δt − √t curve at 50 % consolidation to the secant slope at any time arbitrarily selected beyond the initial linear portion of the δt − √t curve (theoretically, at U ≥ 52.6%) and average degree of consolidation U. The modified slope method requires a minimum of four compression-time data points for better cv estimates. Two types of EOP settlement are identified; local EOP settlement δpi is obtained at a specific Ui value as is the case in the Taylor method and global EOP settlement δp is determined independently of any U value. The modified slope method yields δp and cv values quite similar to those of the Casagrande method.

The slope method explicitly relates the coefficient of consolidation cv to the slope of the initial linear segment of the observed δt- t curve and to the end of primary settlement δp. The slope method utilizes the same graphical construction as the Taylor method but eliminates the use of the factor 1.15 that usually leads to lower δp and higher cv as compared to the Casagrande method and pore water pressure measurements. Instead, the point at which the δt- t curve deviates from the linear portion (at U of about 50 %) is considered for estimating δp. Oedometer test results on four soils show that the cv values of the slope and Casagrande methods are comparable but lower than those of the Taylor method.