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Abstract Background Currently, tap water consumption is not highly preferred in Egypt and around the world. People prefer to consume bottled water because they believe that it is much safer and tastes better than tap water. Unfortunately, this preference can create an economic burden for many people, especially in developing countries. Clay pots can be used to provide cool, alkaline drinking water because of their porous micro-texture, which traps pollutants. This study aimed to investigate the use of clay pots to store tap water and its impact on the requirements for drinking water quality. This is done with the intent to decrease the need for bottled water as a means of offering a more sustainable and economical option. Methods In this study, the efficiency of clay pots as sustainable storage containers for drinking water was tested by measuring physicochemical parameters (pH, TDS, EC, turbidity, DO, ammonia, chloride, total hardness, Ca hardness, Mg hardness, chlorine, Zn, and CaCO3) and biological parameters (TPC and Legionella). Results After 7 days of storage, the quality of the water stored in clay pots met the standards set by the Egyptian law with a significant difference (p

Crime is undeniably rising, thus negatively affecting countries’ economies. Despite several efforts to study crime prediction to reduce crime rates, few studies take the timeline factor into account when extracting crime-related tweets to predict crime. Aiming to predict Arabic crime tweets on Twitter/X, this study predicts crimes after analyzing social sentiment—that is, whether a tweet raises positive, negative, or neutral feelings—and filters the tweets based on crime behavior through an intelligent dictionary built through a genetic algorithm. The study uses a variety of machine learning (ML) models—random forest, logistic regression, and decision trees—which are assessed according to their accuracy, precision, recall, and F1 scores to guarantee robustness and dependability in crime prediction. The accuracy after filtering crimes based on an intelligent dictionary is 97% for decision tree, 97% for random forest, and 94.43% for logistic regression. This research will provide insight into potential crime attitudes and public opinion toward safety and law enforcement.

Chemicals known as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) can be found in foods that have been grilled or barbecued, especially meats. One hundred and twenty samples of meat products represented by roasted kofta, roasted meat, charcoal grilled kofta and charcoal grilled meat (20 of each) were collected randomly from different markets at Kalyobia governorate, Egypt. The collected samples were examined for determination of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs). Natural oils as lauryl oil, garlic oil and lemon oil with concentration (0.5%-1% 1.5%) were used to reduce fat pyrolysis by minimizing the amount of meat drips. The recorded results revealed that mean values of PAH4 was 10.35±0.89, PAH8 was 14.53±1.17 and PAHs was 16.49±1.33, respectively in untreated samples of charcoal grilled meat. Meanwhile PAH4 residual concentrations in samples treated with lauryl oil of 0.5, 1.0 and 1.5% were 13.7±0.6, 10.3±0.4 and 7.2±0.3, and with reduction percentages of 26.4, 44.5 and 61.2 %, respectively. Samples treated with garlic oil of 0.5, 1.0 and 1.5% showed PAH4 residual concentrations ere 12.1±0.5, 8.9±0.4, 5.5±0.2, with reduction percentages of 34.9, 52.2 and 70.0%, respectively. However, samples treated with lemon oil in concentrations of 0.5, 1.0 and 1.5% revealed that PAH4 levels were10.3±0.5,6.8±0.4 and 3.9±0.2, with reduction percentages of 45.7, 65.6 and 79.1%, respectively. It could be concluded that charcoal-grilled meat treated with natural oils decreased the levels of PAH4 in the examined samples. As PAH4 raises the risk of caner.

New method has been applied recently in our Laboratories to distinguish between irradiated and non-irradiated dates. The method depends on the measurement of color intensity and viscosity values for dates sugar water extracts for five different stages of treatments. Doses of (0 .5, 0.75, 1.00 and 1.5 kGy) were applied. A considerable increase and decrease of irradiated and non-irradiated dates in color intensity and viscosity values were found between the stages; the results obtained showed that there is a significant increase and decrease in the values of irradiated dates Samples at stages 3, 4 and 5 as compared to non-irradiated Samples (control). At stage 3 the results showed a drop in color intensity of the solution sample from 8701 (control) to 1009 at dose of 1.00 kGy, the results also showed an increase in color intensity (Stage 4) from 2046 (control) to 2712 as the doses increased from 0.50 to 1.50 (kGy), while the results of the viscosity at stage 5 showed a significant increase from 5.605 (Control) to 7.914 as the doses increased from 0.50 to 1.50 (KGy).The method appears to be promising to discriminate irradiated from non-irradiated dates. Further developments are needed for this method to increase its accuracy and reliability in measuring the actual dose used in the treatment.

Universal Design for Learning (UDL) framework supports students' diversity principles in inclusive education settings. This systematic review and meta-analysis examined the effectiveness of UDL principles in educational settings. The inclusion criteria of the systematic search include empirical peer-reviewed research (pre- and post-design) published between 2015 to 2021 in English and Arabic (N = 13). Findings of the systematic review revealed that the identified studies were conducted in six countries, either specific or generic domain-related; targeting K-12 or higher education levels, generally implemented all UDL principles, directed to teachers or students using professional development programmes or school interventions, and mainly used one group quantitative research design. The meta-analysis findings showed that the total effect sizes for the identified studies were 3.56; however, considerable heterogeneity was evident. The meta-analysis results specifically showed statistically significant effect sizes for one group studies, student participants, specific domain, and quantitative research design. Discussion and future directions are presented.

This study concerns the removal of a trihydrate antibiotic (Amoxicillin) from synthetically contaminated water by adsorption on modified bentonite. The bentonite was modified using hexadecyl trimethyl ammonium bromide (HTAB), which turned it from a hydrophilic to a hydrophobic material. The effects of different parameters were studied in batch experiments. These parameters were contact time, solution pH, agitation speed, initial concentration (C0) of the contaminant, and adsorbent dosage. Maximum removal of amoxicillin (93 %) was achieved at contact time = 240 min, pH = 10, agitation speed = 200 rpm, initial concentration = 30 ppm, and adsorbent dosage = 3 g bentonite per 1L of pollutant solution. The characterization of the adsorbent, modified bentonite, was accomplished using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller. The isotherm models were also investigated, and it was found that the Freundlich isotherm model fitted well with the experimental data (R2 = 94.77), which suggests heterogeneity in the multilayer adsorption of amoxicillin onto modified bentonite. The kinetics of the adsorption process were studied. The experimental data were found to obey the pseudo-first-order kinetic model (R2 = 95.1). Thermodynamic studies indicated that the adsorption process was physisorption and endothermic. Finally, the modified bentonite proved to be a good adsorbent for the removal of amoxicillin from contaminated solutions.

Malignant pleural effusion (MPE) is a manifestation of advanced cancer that requires a prompt and accurate diagnosis. Ultrasonography (US) and computed tomography (CT) are valuable imaging techniques for evaluating pleural effusions; however, their relative predictive ability for a malignant origin remains debatable. This prospective study aimed to compare chest US with CT findings as predictors of malignancy in patients with undiagnosed exudative pleural effusion. Fifty-four adults with undiagnosed exudative pleural effusions underwent comprehensive clinical evaluation including chest US, CT, and histopathologic biopsy. Blinded radiologists evaluated the US and CT images for features suggestive of malignancy, based on predefined criteria. Diagnostic performance measures were calculated using histopathology as a reference standard. Of the 54 patients, 33 (61.1%) had MPEs confirmed on biopsy. No significant differences between US and CT were found in detecting parietal pleural abnormalities, lung lesions, chest wall invasion, or liver metastasis. US outperformed CT in identifying diaphragmatic pleural thickening ≥10 mm (33.3% vs. 6.1%, p < 0.001) and nodularity (45.5% vs. 3%, p < 0.001), whereas CT was superior for mediastinal thickening (48.5% vs. 15.2%, p = 0.002). For diagnosing MPE, diaphragmatic nodularity detected by US had 45.5% sensitivity and 100% specificity, whereas CT mediastinal thickening had 48.5% sensitivity and 90.5% specificity. Both US and CT demonstrate reasonable diagnostic performance for detecting MPE, with particular imaging findings favoring a malignant origin. US may be advantageous for evaluating diaphragmatic pleural involvement, whereas CT is more sensitive to mediastinal abnormalities.

There is growing interest in automating crime detection and prevention for large populations as a result of the increased usage of social media for victimization and criminal activities. This area is frequently researched due to its potential for enabling criminals to reach a large audience. While several studies have investigated specific crimes on social media, a comprehensive review paper that examines all types of social media crimes, their similarities, and detection methods is still lacking. The identification of similarities among crimes and detection methods can facilitate knowledge and data transfer across domains. The goal of this study is to collect a library of social media crimes and establish their connections using a crime taxonomy. The survey also identifies publicly accessible datasets and offers areas for additional study in this area.

Background: Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM) patients are exposed to a 7.5 times higher risk of hypoglycemia while fasting during Ramadan. Relevant diabetes guidelines prioritize the use of SGLT2 inhibitors over other classes. There is a great need to enrich data on their safe and effective use by fasting patients at greater risk of hypoglycemia. Therefore, this study aims to assess the safety and tolerability of Empagliflozin in T2DM Muslim patients during Ramadan. Methodology: A prospective cohort study was conducted for adult Muslim T2DM patients. Patients who met the inclusion criteria were categorized into two sub-cohorts based on Empagliflozin use during Ramadan (Control versus Empagliflozin). The primary outcomes were the incidence of hypoglycemia symptoms and confirmed hypoglycemia. Other outcomes were secondary. All patients were followed up to eight weeks post-Ramadan. A propensity score (PS) matching and Risk Ratio (RR) were used to report the outcomes. Results: Among 1104 patients with T2DM who were screened, 220 patients were included, and Empagliflozin was given to 89 patients as an add-on to OHDs. After matching with PS (1:1 ratio), the two groups were comparable. The use of other OHDs, such as sulfonylurea, DPP4 inhibitors, and Biguanides, was not statistically different between the two groups. The risk of hypoglycemia symptoms during Ramadan was lower in patients who received Empagliflozin than in the control group (RR 0.48 CI 0.26, 0.89; p-value = 0.02). Additionally, the risk of confirmed hypoglycemia was not statistically significant between the two groups (RR 1.09 CI 0.37, 3.22; p-value = 0.89). Conclusion: Empagliflozin use during Ramadan fasting was associated with a lower risk of hypoglycemia symptoms and higher tolerability. Further randomized control trials are required to confirm these findings.

Background: Immunization performed an important role in enhancing global health through decreased transmission of infectious diseases. Numerous aspects within healthcare facilities including supervision, cold-chain management, immunization session procedure, and reporting, must be thoroughly examined to ensure the effective delivery of immunization service. The study aims to evaluate the knowledge of healthcare workers working in the immunization unit in randomly selected primary healthcare centers at Najaf Province. For subjects and method, a cross-sectional research descriptive study took place at 26 healthcare facilities at six districts of Najaf, by using simple random sampling. The study involved a total of 143 healthcare personnel, including 122 healthcare workers working in the immunization units and 21 doctors. A questionnaire was used to evaluate the vaccine knowledge of healthcare workers. Data collecting began on December 2nd, 2022, and ended on March 2nd, 2023. The statistical program Statistical Package for Social Sciences/version 26 was used to examine and achieve the desired findings. Analytic statistics of Chi-square test (X2) was used to establish the statistically significant relationship between variables. Results: The study's findings revealed that healthcare workers have moderate degrees of overall vaccine knowledge (mean of score =2.23). Furthermore, a statistically significant link was discovered between the place of residence of healthcare workers and their knowledge (P=0.007), indicating that those live-in urban regions had greater knowledge levels than those living in rural areas. Conclusion: Healthcare workers possess good knowledge regarding vaccine types, doses, and schedules, moderate knowledge about contraindications and causes of postponement, and their knowledge was substantially associated with their place of residence.

AbstractUniversal Design for Learning (UDL) framework supports students’ diversity principles in inclusive education settings. This systematic review and meta-analysis examined the effectiveness of UDL principles in educational settings. The inclusion criteria of the systematic search include empirical peer-reviewed research (pre-and post-design) published between 2015 to 2021 in English and Arabic (N = 13). Findings of the systematic review revealed that the identified studies were conducted in six countries, either specific or generic domain-related; targeting K-12 or higher education levels, generally implemented all UDL principles, directed to teachers or students using professional development programmes or school interventions, and mainly used one group quantitative research design. The meta-analysis findings showed that the total effect sizes for the identified studies were 3.56; however, considerable heterogeneity was evident. The meta-analysis results specifically showed statistically significant effect sizes for one group studies, student participants, specific domain, and quantitative research design. Discussion and future directions are presented.

Understanding the consistency of pituitary macroadenomas is crucial for neurosurgeons planning surgery. This retrospective study aimed to evaluate the utility of diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) and the apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) as non-invasive imaging modalities for predicting the consistency of pituitary macroadenomas. This could contribute to appropriate surgical planning and therefore reduce the likelihood of incomplete resections. The study included 45 patients with pathologically confirmed pituitary macroadenomas. Conventional MRI sequences, DWIs, ADC maps, and pre- and post-contrast MRIs were performed. Two neuroradiologists assessed all of the images. Neurosurgeons assessed the consistency of the tumor macroscopically, and histopathologists examined it microscopically. The MRI findings were compared with postoperative data. According to the operative data, macroadenomas were divided into the two following categories based on their consistency: aspirable (n = 27) and non-aspirable tumors (n = 18). A statistically significant difference in DWI findings was found when comparing macroadenomas of different consistencies (p < 0.001). Most aspirable macroadenomas (66.7%) were hyperintense according to DWI and hypointense on ADC maps, whereas most non-aspirable macroadenomas (83.3%) were hypointense for DWI and hyperintense on ADC maps. At a cut-off value of 0.63 × 10−3 mm2/s, the ADC showed a sensitivity of 85.7% and a specificity of 75% for the detection of non-aspirable macroadenomas (AUC, 0.946). The study concluded that DWI should be routinely performed in conjunction with ADC measurements in the preoperative evaluation of pituitary macroadenomas. This approach may aid in surgical planning, ensure that appropriate techniques are utilized, and reduce the risk of incomplete resection.

Nowadays, the modern internet has adopted all the uses of the IoT in addition to 3D technologies. The exchange of information on the internet takes place in the form of packets that are almost supported by a finite throughput. A large number of transferred packets must flow smoothly and be controlled to avoid congestion. Therefore, the trend lies in adopting smart algorithms to control the flow of data, which will increase the efficiency of traffic management while preventing the occurrence of congestion. Congestion problems and transmission packet losses may greatly reduce communication activities. In this paper, a rate-based congestion control framework for managing TCP applications as well as monitoring data traffic in wireless network-based sensors was presented. Further, optimal management dedicated to internet bearers is also suggested. The contributions of this paper have included an analytical comparison with the following congestion control algorithms; HSTCP, STCP, and CUBIC-TCP. This is to optimize the use of the available bandwidth as well as to control the flow of data in a smoothly. In addition, an intentional sequential queuing delay was adopted as feedback control modeling to be a challenge in increasing the number of users in the network. Finally, simulation sketches between the blocking probability versus no. of channels with an increase in no. of users, users in a queue, channels, CRR, and HTG, were distinct and stable to a large extent. The sketches also showed a noticeable change in the characteristics of data traffic: more data traffic and less transmission time.

This paper presents a new technique by support vector machines after extracting the prominent iris features using discrete wavelet transformations, to achieve an optimal classification of energy system disturbances. A framework for iris recognition and protection of the recognition system from fake iris scenes was proposed. The scale-invariant feature transform is set as an algorithm to extract local features (key points) from iris images and their classification method. To elicit the prominent iris features, the test image is first pre-processed. This will facilitate confining and segmenting the region of interest hopefully, reducing the blurring and artifacts, especially those associated with the edges. The textural features can be exploited to partition irises into regions of interest in addition to providing necessary information in the spatial distribution of intensity levels in an iris neighborhood. Next, the detection efficiency of the proposed method is achieved through extracting iris gradients and edges in complex areas and in different orientations. Further, the iris diagonal edges were easily detected after calculating the variance of different blocks in an iris and the additive noise variance in a textured image. The vertical, horizontal, and diagonal iris image gradients with different directions were successfully extracted. These gradients were extracted after adjusting the threshold amplitude obtained from the histograms of these gradients. The average calculations of MAVs, peak signal-to-noise ratios (PSNRs), and mean square errors (MSEs) within the orientation angles (?45°, +45° and 90°) for both vertical and horizontal iris gradients had occurred within the rates of 1.9455—3.1266, 36.388—39.863 dB and 0.0001—0.0026, respectively.

Abstract This study aims to develop an alternating polyketone containing cationic groups in one and four alternating positions for increased functionality. A novel polyarylidene ketone was synthesized using simple condensation polymerization of terephthaldehyde and 2,5-hexane dione (PAK) The physicochemical properties of the resulting polymer were evaluated using Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, X-ray diffraction, UV-Visible absorbance, fluorescence, and SEM investigations. The findings show that the polymer is amorphous, has good thermal stability, and emits red light. It can also be used as a dye adsorbent in aqueous solutions, with high selectivity for the cationic dye methylene blue (MB). The adsorbent efficiency of PAK was measured as a function of pH, dosage, and initial dye concentration; the greatest dye removal of 96 % was obtained at pH 10, 50 mg dosage, and initial dye concentration of 20 ppm. Kinetics and isotherms were studied, showing that the pseudo-second-order model described kinetic data better than Freundlich and Langmuir and revealed a satisfactory chemisorption process. This study suggests that PAK can purify MB dyeing wastewater, remove Zn2+, Cu2+, Ni2+, Co2+, Cd2+, Fe3+ metal ions well, and is selective for Fe3+ and Cu2+; ion adsorption is chelating-based.

Mucormycosis (MCM) is a rare fungal disorder that has recently been increased in parallel with novel COVID-19 infection. MCM with COVID-19 is extremely lethal, particularly in immunocompromised individuals. The collection of available scientific information helps in the management of this co-infection, but still, the main question on COVID-19, whether it is occasional, participatory, concurrent, or coincidental needs to be addressed. Several case reports of these co-infections have been explained as causal associations, but the direct contribution in immunocompromised individuals remains to be explored completely. This review aims to provide an update that serves as a guide for the diagnosis and treatment of MCM patients’ co-infection with COVID-19. The initial report has suggested that COVID-19 patients might be susceptible to developing invasive fungal infections by different species, including MCM as a co-infection. In spite of this, co-infection has been explored only in severe cases with common triangles: diabetes, diabetes ketoacidosis, and corticosteroids. Pathogenic mechanisms in the aggressiveness of MCM infection involves the reduction of phagocytic activity, attainable quantities of ferritin attributed with transferrin in diabetic ketoacidosis, and fungal heme oxygenase, which enhances iron absorption for its metabolism. Therefore, severe COVID-19 cases are associated with increased risk factors of invasive fungal co-infections. In addition, COVID-19 infection leads to reduction in cluster of differentiation, especially CD4+ and CD8+ T cell counts, which may be highly implicated in fungal co-infections. Thus, the progress in MCM management is dependent on a different strategy, including reduction or stopping of implicit predisposing factors, early intake of active antifungal drugs at appropriate doses, and complete elimination via surgical debridement of infected tissues.

Biodiesel as an attractive energy source; a low-cost and green synthesis technique was utilized for biodiesel preparation via waste cooking oil methanolysis using waste snail shell derived catalyst. The present work aimed to investigate the production of biodiesel fuel from waste materials. The catalyst was greenly synthesized from waste snail shells throughout a calcination process at different calcination time of 2–4 h and temperature of 750–950 °C. The catalyst samples were characterized using X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET), Energy Dispersive X-ray (EDX), and Fourier Transform Infrared (FT-IR). The reaction variables varying in the range of 10:1–30:1 M ratio of MeOH: oil, 3–11 wt% catalyst loading, 50–70 °C reaction temperature, and 2–6 h reaction time. The designed model optimization was set its parameters at 21.5 methanol molar ratio, 9.8 wt% catalyst loading, 4.8 h reaction time, and 62.2 °C reaction temperature, resulting in a mixture comprised of 95% esters content.

The study included 200 cats of different ages, genders, types of breeding, source, vaccination programs, and health status. They were examined clinically and traditionally and recorded clinical signs appearing on them, and swabs were collected from the eye's conjunctiva and the pharyngeal area. RNA was extracted from the swabs and then converted into a cDNA molecule to investigate viral nucleic acid from collected swabs. Then, the open reading template gene two was detected using the primer for this within the applied polymerase chain reaction technique. The Molecular method found the highest infection rate in the oropharyngeal compared with conjunctival swabs. It was found in the highest percentage of infection in the age group more than six months, and the rate of infection decreased with age and in cats outdoors management and imported ones. While nonvaccinated cats recorded the highest rate of infection with the feline calicivirus. In conclusion, feline calicivirus affected the cats in Mosul, Iraq.

This study has been performed in Agricultural Research Directorate labs, Ministry of Science and Technology. Amid to develop a new method to differentiate between irradiated and non-irradiated potatoes. Our laboratory experiments were able to develop a new method for differentiation; this method depends on (volume, viscosity, and color intensity) measurements of potatoes water extract, together with the value of reduced pressure measurements during filtration of the water extract. Doses of (0.075, 0.15 and 0.20 kGy) were applied. The results obtained shows a considerable increase in volume, viscosity and reduced pressure values of the water extract of irradiated potatoes as compared to untreated control, with an increase values between treated samples as the dose increases. While the color intensity values of the water extract shows a considerable decrease in values as compared to untreated control. A gradual decrease in values was observed between treated samples as the applied doses increases. The results obtained appeared to be suitable to distinguish between irradiated and non- irradiated potato tubers, and also practically useful for the estimation of the applied doses.

Wavelet transformations with neural networks can be used to classify and identify the most important problems that may occur when analyzing high-resolution digital images in a distinctive style. In this paper, the discrete wavelet transformations (DWT) were adopted, after using a 3-levels of Haar decomposition to decompose the damaged images. The lost coefficients in the high frequency sub-bands of the 3-haar levels were guessed by using the vertical and horizontal interpolation process between the lost and their adjacent pixels. Evaluation results for these coefficients were more accurate after calculating the mean square errors at the top and bottom of the missing pixels, respectively. Further, the estimated decomposition matrices were directly connected with a trained artificial neural network (ANN) in order to increase the accuracy of the results and obtain high quality images. The artificial neural network architecture was trained in an efficient configuration and represented by a fast forward multi-layer perceptron using resilient back-propagation with the intention of reducing error ranges (i.e., blurring and artifacts). Experimental results were convincing and very close to the desired values.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has created a massive psychosocial situation for healthcare professionals due to workplace conditions. This study is to assess the knowledge of employees in Al-Nasiriyah heart center about psychological risk of occupational hazard during COVID-19 pandemic. Methodology: A descriptive cross-sectional study includes random sample of 300 employee from Al-Nasiriyah heart center. A questionnaire was constructed according to five-point Likert scales by direct interviews. Results: 94.3% of employees’ response of knowledge about psychological risk of was found to be at statement number six “During Corona pandemic, as a health-care provider, you are afraid of transferring the infection to family members”. While 28% was found to be with the statement number 14: “The decision makers at the institution provide psychological support to the cadre at the heart center through material privileges and praise for their performance.” A statistical significance was found in the employees’ responses for all the statements included in the assessment except for the tenth one: "During Corona pandemic, as a health care provider, you feel afraid of quarantine and isolation": and statement number 13: "During Corona pandemic, as a health care provider, you feel job dissatisfaction as a result of work pressures".Conclusions: most of employees in Al Nasiriyah Heart Center have good knowledge about the psychological hazard at the work place during COVID-19 pandemic including stress, fair from infection and fatigue from workloads.

Abstract Introduction A high demand has been placed on radiologists to perform screen reads due to higher number of women undergoing mammography. This study aims to examine radiographer performance in reporting low compared with high‐mammographic density (MD) images; and to assess the influence of key demographics of Jordanian radiographers on their performance. Methods Thirty mammograms with varied MD were reported by 12 radiographers using the Breast Imaging‐Reporting and Data System (BI‐RADS). Radiographer performance was measured using sensitivity, specificity, positive (PPV) and negative predictive values (NPV), and area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC AUC). Performance measures were compared between cases with low‐ and high‐MD and between subgroups of radiographers according to key demographics. Results All performance measures were significantly higher in low‐ compared to high‐MD cases (P value

As technology advances and develops, the need for strong and simple authentication mechanisms that can help protect data intensifies. The contemporary approach to giving access control is through graphical passwords comprising images, patterns, or graphical items. The objective of this review was to determine the documented security risks that are related to the use of graphical passwords, together with the measures that have been taken to prevent them. The review was intended to present an extensive literature review of the subject matter on graphical password protection and to point toward potential future research directions. Many attacks, such as shoulder surfing attacks, SQL injection attacks, and spyware attacks, can easily exploit the graphical password scheme, which is one of the most widely used. To counter these security threats, several measures have been suggested, but none of the security attacks can be completely overcome. Each of the proposed measures has its pros and cons. This study begins by elucidating some of the graphical password schemes studied between 2012 and 2023, delving into potential threats and defense mechanisms associated with these schemes. Following a thorough identification and selection process, five of the reviewed papers explain the threat of shoulder surfing and spyware attacks on graphical password schemes, while two explain the threat of brute force attacks. One paper focuses on dictionary attacks, while four other papers address social engineering, SQL injection attacks, and guessing attacks as potential threats to graphical password schemes. In addition, the papers recognize other forms of attacks, such as video recording attacks, filtering attacks, reverse engineering attacks, multiple observation attacks, key/mouse logger attacks, insider attacks, computer vision attacks, image gallery attacks, sonar attacks, reply attacks, data interception attacks, and histogram manipulation attacks. These attacks are examined in three, three, eight, one, four, one, one, one, one, one, one, and one papers, respectively. Moreover, out of all such countermeasures, most of them are based on three categories—randomization, obfuscation, and password space complexity—which are the most commonly employed strategies for improving graphical password schemes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Physical performance and overall health are crucial in the athletic population, and their improvement relies on specific dietary guidelines and practices. Athletes and physical activity practitioners who participate in physical activity for specific health reasons need nutritional knowledge to improve physical performance. This study aimed to understand nutrient intake and nutritional knowledge among physical activity practitioners and athletes in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. This cross-sectional study sampled 263 individuals divided into two groups: athletes (n = 121) and practitioners (n = 142). Their nutritional knowledge and dietary intake were measured with validated questionnaires: the Arabic Abridged Nutrition for Sport Knowledge Questionnaire and the Saudi Food Frequency Questionnaire. The majority of the sample (77.2%) had poor nutritional knowledge. Highest scoring domains for the dietary intake were protein from meat, fish, chicken (65.6%), vegetarian protein (62.4%), grains (51.0%), and the lowest were vegetables (41.1%), dairy (36.3%), and fruits (27.9%). In conclusion, athletes and practitioners in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, have poor nutritional knowledge and dietary intake and may benefit from nutritional education and training to improve their knowledge, dietary intake, and performance.

Research Findings: Universal screening practices that utilize reliable and valid screening measures are vital for identifying social-emotional and behavioral (SEB) concerns for students at-risk for future behavioral and academic difficulties. Screening procedures implemented at the start of kindergarten can result in early identification and intervention for students with SEB difficulties. However, few studies have systematically identified and reviewed screeners of SEB constructs of kindergarten readiness. The current study systematically identified and reviewed the psychometric properties of 11 rating scales that may be used as screeners of SEB difficulties at kindergarten entry in the United States. In addition, this study evaluated bias identification methods to determine the extent to which scales may be used with diverse populations. Results of this study demonstrated adequate to strong reliability evidence and inadequate validity and bias evaluation evidence. Practice or Policy: Results of this study can be used by school personnel as they work to identify universal screening rating scales that are most appropriate in their setting. In addition, this study identified significant gaps in the current landscape of SEB assessments for universal screening measures that may be addressed through future research efforts.

In this paper a generalized formulation for the spectral domain Green's functions of unit current sources embedded within a multilayer stack is presented. The current source can be either electric or magnetic. It can be oriented either parallel to the layers or perpendicular to them. The electric and magnetic fields due to these generalized sources are calculated. The proposed technique utilizes inward and outward recurrence processes in order to solve for the desired quadruple-dyadic Green's functions. It requires the calculation of 6 spectral coefficients only, from which all types of spectral Green's functions can be calculated. The proposed formulation is written such that the electromagnetic fields are directly obtained in terms of the current sources rather than the vector and scalar potentials with no explicit analogy with transmission lines. The dependencies on the z-coordinates of the source and field points are expressed explicitly, which is important for Volume Integral Equation (VIE) formulation. The proposed generalized formulation is applied on a number of plasmonic layer structures such as Insulator/Metal/Insulator (IMI), Metal/Insulator/Metal (MIM), and five-layer plasmonic/dielectric layer structure. The poles of the spectral domain Green's functions are linked to the Surface Plasmon Polaritons (SPPs), i.e., surface wave modes, associated with the source-free layer structure. The spectral Green's functions calculated using the proposed generalized technique are also used by an in-house Method of Moments (MoM) solver. The results of this solver are compared with those obtained by a full-wave commercial software.

A detailed Volume Integral Equation (VIE) formulation for planar plasmonic nano structures with finite thickness in flat multi-layers medium is presented. The boundary condition along the localized metallic objects is expressed in terms of the unknown polarization current flowing through these objects in the form of an integral equation, which is solved using the Method of Moments (MoM). The Green's functions associated with a layered medium of practical importance are expressed in the spectral domain. The corresponding spatial domain Green's functions are obtained using the Discrete Complex Images Method (DCIM). Special treatment for the spectral function's asymptote at high spectral values is performed. The presented formulation is applied on different plasmonic structures immersed inside layered media. The structures include nano-rod and nano-patch excited by an incident plane wave. In addition, a simple band-stop filter based on quarter-wavelength stubs is considered. This filter is fed with a couple of plasmonic transmission lines. The obtained current distributions and S-parameters are compared with those obtained using a commercial full-wave electromagnetic simulator, namely CST Microwave Studio. A very good agreement is observed. The proposed integral equation formulation enjoys high degree of stability, numerical efficiency, and accuracy.

Nearly one in four students residing in the United States is from an immigrant family and these children's school readiness is related to their parent's nativity and other sociodemographic characteristics. Social-emotional skills are an important conduit for academic development, yet these relations have not been explored for children from immigrant families. This study utilized the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study--Kindergarten Class of 2010-2011, a nationally representative sample of 13,400 students in the United States, to compare the social-emotional development of kindergarten students from immigrant and nonimmigrant families, and to determine the relations of social-emotional functioning to kindergarten achievement. Results indicate elevated social-emotional functioning among children from immigrant families, particularly those who emigrated immigrated from Mexico, compared with children of U.S.-born parents. Parent nativity predicted reading achievement, but not mathematics performance, even when controlling for sociodemographic factors and social-emotional skills. This study suggests an immigrant advantage in early social-emotional development. Implications for research and practice are discussed.

Abstract Introduction Soluble forms of cytokine receptors can be involved in the endogenous regulation of cytokine activity. Soluble interleukin 7 receptor α (sCD127) naturally binds IL‐7, therefore there is interest in its potential application as an immunotherapeutic agent to regulate IL‐7. With the hypothesis that sCD127 enhances IL‐7 activity, thus promoting T‐cell proliferation in vivo, we sought to assess the effect of sCD127, IL‐7 or IL‐7 + sCD127 treatment on CD4+ and CD8+ T‐cells in the blood and spleen of mice. Methods Peripheral blood mononuclear cells and splenocytes were prepared, and analyzed for T‐cell number, phenotype and proliferation (Ki67+) by flow cytometry. Results IL‐7 treatment induced T‐cell proliferation, increased T‐cell number, and triggered T‐cell differentiation each of which was enhanced with the addition of sCD127. IL‐7 + sCD127 treatment significantly increased spleen weight over that seen with IL‐7 treatment alone. More pronounced proliferation and a greater increase in cell number was observed in CD8+ T‐cells relative to the effect on CD4+ T‐cells. Conclusions These findings suggest that the addition of sCD127 enhances IL‐7‐mediated T‐cell proliferation and suggests a potential therapeutic use for sCD127.

The aim of the present study is to determine the efficiency of silver nanoparticles in mastitis treatment induced by Staphylococcus aureus, 20 lactating goats were infected intramammaryinoculated with 1.5×108 cfu/ml of virulence Staphylococcus aureus isolated from milk of caprine mastitis and at 48hr post inoculation, the animals were divided randomly into four groups equally, 1st group left without treatment as control positive, 2nd group treated intramammaryinfusion with 5 ml Silver nanoparticle after 2h from infection daily for 3 consecutive days, 3rd group treated intramammaryinfusion with 5 ml Silver nanoparticle after 72h from infection daily for 3 consecutive days, 4th group treated intramammaryinfusion with 5 ml Silver nanoparticle mixed with gentamycin after 72h from infection daily for 3 consecutive days. The silver nanoparticles used in this study were created using a green method from Bacillus clausii. The Scanning electron microscope was spherical and homogeneous form, with a size range of 25 to 45 nm. Results showed severe clinical signs of the mammary gland with heavy bacterial isolation in 1st control groups at 3, 6-, 9-, 14- and 21-days post infection, while animals that were intramammary treated with Silver nanoparticle alone or combination with gentamycin showed a disappearance in clinical signs of the mammary gland and bacterial isolation, it was concluded that Silver nanoparticle had a strong action against mastitis caused by Staphylococcus aureus.

An ultra-wideband (UWB) antennas used with the applications of wireless communication systems (WCS), the following five antenna parameters; radiation patterns, directivity, bandwidth, efficiency, and antenna gain should be well optimized. A new design approach based on the coupling matrix theory of synthesis antenna has been presented. The most important parameters of this matrix are; external normalized quality factor, normalized un-loaded quality factor, radiation quality factor, and coupling coefficients between the resonators. Accuracy in calculating these parameters will greatly facilitate control of the antenna bandwidth to be designed. The design approach included a BPF which was also expanded to become an antenna arrays-filter in the hope of increasing the gain and bandwidth of the antenna. Further, a matching unit is placed between the designed BPF and the antenna, to overcome the mismatching situation, and to achieve a high transmission power. The paper presented a new design approach for an active BPF at a frequency “2.45 GHz” and then its integration with a 3rd-order dipole antenna [1]. This design is followed by the creation of another efficient couple-resonant filter (CRF), in which each resonant grid is represented by a radiator. Moreover, a lossless two-port dipole antenna was introduced. Here, each of the poles is integrated with an inductor, to sure that the bipolar antennas can exploit as a resonator. The scores of the simulation sketches and the computed results were convincing. Finally, the performance efficiency of the designed filter at the resonant frequency 2.45 GHz and for both “H-plane” and “E-plan” were summarized in Table 1.

For criminal investigations, fingerprints remain the most reliable form of personal identification despite developments in other fields like DNA profiling. The objective of this work is to compare the performance of both commercial charcoal and activated carbon powder derived from the Alhagi plant to reveal latent fingerprints from different non-porous surfaces (cardboard, plain glass, aluminum foil sheet, China Dish, Plastic, and Switch). The effect of three variables on activated carbon production was investigated. These variables were the impregnation ratio (the weight ratio of KOH: dried raw material), the activation temperature, and the activation time. The effect factors were investigated using Central Composite Design (CCD) software. The optimum activation conditions were found as an impregnation ratio of 1:2.6, activated time of 160 min, and temperature of 630oC. The results of the comparison show that Alhagi active carbon powder (AAC) has a high ability to develop latent fingerprints on all surfaces except on plastic surfaces while the commercial charcoal failed to develop the latent fingerprint on both plastic and aluminum foil sheets surfaces. AAC was found to clearly show every feature of the latent fingerprints more than commercial charcoal for both males and females. Also, AAC has the ability to show latent fingerprints till 15 days while commercial charcoal has the ability to show latent fingerprints just till 7 days.