Major depression and disease activity among systemic lupus erythematosus Egyptian females

AbstractAim of the workThe aim of this study was to identify the relationship between disease activity in SLE Egyptian females and the presence, severity and pattern of major depression in these patients.Patients and methodsThe study sample included 100 female patients; fifty SLE patients and fifty healthy adults with matching age serving as control. Patients were assessed using Beck Inventory Score for the presence of major depression, SLEDAI to determine disease activity, SLICC/ACR damage index and HAQ score for functional disability.ResultsThe majority of patients had symptoms of major depression 32/50 (64%) based on Beck Inventory Score while in controls only 16/50 (36%) had major depression. The most common depressive symptoms in SLE patients were: Guilty feeling (92%), Self-dislike (91.6%), Self-criticalness (90.4%), Crying spells (87.5%), Loss of pleasure (83.3%), Change in appetite (83.3%), Agitation (82.8%) and Pessimism (82%). Patients with major depression presented a trend toward having greater severity of SLE disease activity compared with those without major depression (p=0.04). The presence of major depression was significantly associated with functional disability measured by HAQ score (p=0.01). The patients with major depression did not differ significantly from patients without major depression regarding their steroid dosage (p=0.55), SLICC/ACR damage score (p=0.16) and disease duration (p=0.69) but differed significantly as regards Beck Hopelessness Scale (p<0.0001) and suicidal ideation score (p=0.009).ConclusionMajor depression was highly presented in Egyptian SLE patients (64%); its severity was associated with disease activity, but not with steroid administration, cumulative damage or disease duration

Pulsed laser irradiation of plasma sprayed alumina-zirconia coatings

Plasma sprayed alumina and zirconia coatings are widely used coatings for many industrial applications. One of the most important applications is the production of thermal barrier coatings (TBCs). As sprayed alumina-zirconia coatings have relatively high degree of porosity and the properties of these coatings, such as high temperature, corrosion resistance, toughness and abrasion resistance may thereby be reduced. Laser surface treatment is one novel method that has potential for eliminating porosity and producing a homogeneous surface layer. In this research work the effect of excimer laser annealing on the surface of alumina-zirconia coatings was investigated. Alumina-40% zirconia (AZ-40) coatings were sprayed with a water-stabilized plasma spray gun. The coated surface was treated by excimer laser having a wavelength of 248 nm and pulse duration of 24 ns. In the first phase of the work an analytical model was developed in COMSOL Multiphysics 4.2 in order to investigate the effect of the defects on the heat distribution at the surface of samples irradiated by KrF beam. The model revealed that much higher temperatures were localized at areas having defects than at continuous surfaces. A detailed parametric study was carried out to investigate the effects of different laser surface treatment parameters including laser energy density (fluence), pulse repetition rate (PRR), and number of pulses on the microstructure, surface morphology, and mechanical properties of the coatings. The surface structure of the treated coating was examined by field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). Treating the surface with low laser energy of 200mJ/cm2 etched a very thin layer from the coating, which helped revealing the microstructures initially present but hidden on the surface of as sprayed coatings. High laser energy of 800mJ/cm2 resulted in significant changes in the coat surface morphology where eutectic colonies growing in a pool of zirconia matrix were identified on the surface. The surface of untreated coating was continuously alternating up and down; it had a zigzag nature. After irradiating the surface with high laser fluence of 800mJ/cm2 the zigzag nature of roughness profile of untreated coating disappeared. Also irradiating the surface with high pulse repetition rate exhibited dome-like structures on the surface, which were associated with an increase in surface hardness

Screening & Mashrabiah New Applications as Smart, Green, and Unique Identity Factors

Due to living in a society plagued by acceleration and significant development in building technology, information, and computer applications, a transformation in Arts and Architecture has resulted in a neglect, whether deliberate or non-deliberate, in the dimensions of moral and non–physical values such as heritage and civilization. It is safe to say that such neglect has led to the creation of Architectural products with no identities. As a result, an appearance of new architectural trends that includes Green and Smart Architecture, for instance, was identified. This new type of Architecture generally relies on merge between the use of the natural and surrounding environment in serving the design process as well as the use of modern computer applications, fixtures, technology, and new building materials combined to provide a comfortable and safe environment for users.When traditional Arab Architecture is the product of a rich experience of its manufacturers’, it presents an integrated mixture between each of the non–physical features represented in religious beliefs, traditions and customs prevailing in the community, and the physical elements that include the effects of the natural environment, climate changes, building materials, and natural resources available.Screening and Mashrabiah represent a very important element in traditional and Arab Architecture. It is also still being used nowadays in Modern Architecture after enduring a study of its functions, benefits, new materials and applications such as smart Mashrabiah. The conclusion of this research provides recommendations of new applications and Architectural treatments for Screening and Mashrabiah and their possible use as unique identity factors that represent our modern Architecture both in the Arab world and worldwide

Elementary teachers' conceptions of ADHD in Lebanon -

Thesis. M.A. American University of Beirut. Department of Education, 2015. T:6189Advisor : Dr. Anies Al-Hroub, Associate Professor, Education ; Members of Committee : Dr. Rima Karami Akkary, Associate Professor, Education ; Dr. Barend Vlaardingerbroek, Associate Professor, Education.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 108-111)This study adopted a mixed research design in order to explore current elementary teachers' perceptions and knowledge of ADHD in Lebanon. The purpose of this study is to: (1) interpret elementary teachers’ current knowledge about ADHD in Lebanon, (2) explore ADHD students’ gender and its implications on teachers’ perceptions of ADHD subtypes. Data were collected in mixed methods using: (1) questionnaires including four vignettes that aimed to explore the perceptions of ADHD students in relation to gender; and (2) two focus group discussions (FGDs). The sample consisted of 301 Lebanese teachers from 15 schools (6 private and 9 public) in two areas in South of Lebanon. Teachers’ performances on the KADDS questionnaire revealed several misconceptions and lack of knowledge in relation to three subscales: general knowledge, diagnosis-symptoms and treatment. Results of the KADDS questionnaire showed that teachers’ have more knowledge on the diagnosis-symptoms of ADHD than on its nature, outcome and treatment. Teachers’ ratings of the four vignettes (2 males and 2 females) showed no considerable difference between hyperactivity and inattention subtypes by gender. Some of the major conceptions that were common among teachers targeted the causes of ADHD, its treatment and its confusion with other disorders such as aggression for boys and autism for girls. Most participants used the term ‘hyper’ to describe ADHD. As for identification, there was no official identification procedure available at Lebanese schools. The results also showed that teachers tended to identify boys more than girls as students exhibiting external behaviors or ADHD. Finally, as for programs and services, no structured program seems to exist in Lebanon and in schools

An analysis of the pragmatic functions of idiomatic expressions in the Egyptian novel ‘Taxi’

The purpose of the study is to investigate the idiomatic expressions and their pragmatic functions in the conversations of the novel Taxi in the light of Speech Act Theory. The study adopts a qualitative linguistic analysis method of research. After analyzing the 58 episodes of the novel ’Taxi’, the study reveals 80 idiomatic expressions fulfilling 13 pragmatic functions: describing with six subcategories, complaining, stating, concluding, and swearing, thanking, condoling, sympathizing, deploring and excusing, agreeing and opposing and advising. These pragmatic functions have been classified based on four of Searle’s speech acts: (1) representatives, (2) expressives, (3) commissives and (4) directives. Hence, the study shows that idiomatic expressions fulfill a satisfying number of pragmatic functions which in turn operate in facilitating conversations among speakers as they are stored in their memory and easily retrieved in diverse contexts. In addition, the study shows the high usage of negative pragmatic functions such as complaining, deploring, describing negative issues in comparison with positive ones in the conversations of taxi drivers. It has been also observed that these positive and negative functions shed light on a multitude of cultural aspects in Egyptian society. The study suggests pedagogical implication: the result that the idiomatic expressions perform various pragmatic functions and fulfill cultural aspects provides a rationale for including them in Arabic foreign language classes as their main aim is to use the language appropriately and achieve cultural competence as well

Association Between Cytomegalovirus Infection and Bad Obstetric Outcomes in Women From Kirkuk

The human cytomegalovirus (CMV) is one of the common viral infections worldwide that represent a major causes of congenital infections. To determine the seroprevalence of CMV in women with bad obstetric history and sociodemographic characteristics that may influence the seropositivity, a case control descriptive prospective study was conducted in Kirkuk, Iraq. A 838 women with age range from 14 to 48 were included in the study. Of the total, 547 women were with bad obstetric history(BOH) and 291 women with normal previous pregnancy as control group. All the serum samples collected from the study and control groups were tested for CMV IgM and IgG antibodies by ELISA kits. CMV IgM seroprevalence was higher in women with BOH. CMV IgG seroprevalence was with no significant difference between BOH and control. CMV IgG seroprevalence significantly influenced by age, education, smoking, and family size. However, CMV IgM seroprevalence significantly associated with pregnancy, residence, and animal exposure. Odd ratio confirmed the association between CMV IgG and age, crowding index, residence, smoking, and number of abortion in women with BOH. In addition, current CMV infection significantly associated with residence in women with BOH

The Effect of Peer Learning vs. Traditional Learning on Knowledge and Clinical Performance of Critical Care Nursing Students

Background: Clinical practice is a vital part of nursing education, and highly valued by student nurses. From a student perspective, the clinical environment can be perceived as stressful and not welcoming. Therefore, the relationship between the student and the instructor is fundamental to the learning process. Peer learning offers students the opportunity to learn from each other. Moreover, it was suggested that academic involvement and interaction with faculty and fellow students increases the time and physical and psychological energy that students devote to the academic experience. The positive effects of peer learning have been described as increased cognitive skills, self-confidence, autonomy, clinical skills and reasoning are highlighted. Furthermore, and perhaps more difficult to evaluate in other educational models, are increased self-evaluating skills, collaborative- and leadership abilities, critical thinking and the opportunity to share the experiences of a fellow student without the immediate interference of the preceptor. Aim: The study aimed to compare the effect of using peer learning versus traditional learning on the clinical performance of critical care nursing students. Methods: The study was conducted at the critical and emergency care nursing Department, Faculty of Nursing, Damanhour University using an experimental comparative design. 100 nursing students enrolled in the third year were selected randomly to participate in this study. These were divided into two groups randomly. - Group I (study group): consisted of 50 students who were similarly assigned into 10 subgroups of 5 students each and they were learned by their colleagues. Group II (control group) included the other 50 students who were similarly assigned to 2 skill labs in subgroups of 25 students each.Results: The finding of the current study indicates significantly better performance scores among peer learning group. This study revealed that the majority of the study group students were positively satisfied as regarding peer learning. Moreover, the  majority of the students in peer group stated that being taught by their peer increases interaction and collaboration with other students, they can communicate more freely with their peer than with their clinical instructor they don't feel freer to approach the instructor for help than their peer. However, they agreed that the feedback they received from their peers is more helpful and they learn more from their peer than from their clinical instructor. Furthermore, they expressed their belief that peer learning experience was worth the time spent and students felt more comfortable when the performance is being assessed by their peer.Conclusion: The results of this study confirm the results of the previous studies, emphasizing numerous positive effects of peer learning methods in the academic environment. The results of this study also suggest that peer-assisted learning increases the confidence, reduces anxiety and affects the development of students' future responsibilities. Therefore, the study recommends more utilization of this approach in nursing education, with training workshops aimed at changing the attitude of nurse educators towards the use of more innovative models of active learning such as peer learning. Keywords: Peer learning, peer tutoring, traditional method, nursing students, clinical performance

Enhancing Image Classification with Colorization Techniques and Ensemble Learning

openIn recent decades, Artificial Intelligence systems have increasingly achieved and surpassed human-level perfor- mance in a variety of complex tasks. Despite their success, the intricate and non-linear structures of deep learn- ing models often make them opaque and challenging to interpret. This thesis presents an innovative automated system for the classification of planktic foraminifera at the species level and extends this methodology to the clas- sification of satellite images from the EuroSAT dataset. The system leverages advanced deep learning techniques, including Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs) and U-Net-based autoencoders. Initially, the foraminifera dataset, comprising 1437 groups of sixteen grayscale images (one group for each specimen), is converted to RGB images through various processing methods. Similarly, the EuroSAT dataset, based on Sentinel-2 satellite images and including 13 spectral bands across 10 classes with a total of 27,000 labeled and geo-referenced images, is also converted to RGB images through diverse processing methods. These newly colored RGB images from both datasets are then classified using transfer learning. The RGB images are fed into a set of Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) organized in an Ensemble Learning (EL) environment. The ensemble is built by training different networks using diverse approaches for creating the RGB images, supporting the classifiers to enhance performance. This study demonstrates that an ensemble of CNN models trained on the newly colored RGB images from both datasets improves the system’s performance compared to other state-of-the-art approaches. The main focus of this thesis is to introduce multiple colorization methods that differ from current cutting-edge techniques.In recent decades, Artificial Intelligence systems have increasingly achieved and surpassed human-level perfor- mance in a variety of complex tasks. Despite their success, the intricate and non-linear structures of deep learn- ing models often make them opaque and challenging to interpret. This thesis presents an innovative automated system for the classification of planktic foraminifera at the species level and extends this methodology to the clas- sification of satellite images from the EuroSAT dataset. The system leverages advanced deep learning techniques, including Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs) and U-Net-based autoencoders. Initially, the foraminifera dataset, comprising 1437 groups of sixteen grayscale images (one group for each specimen), is converted to RGB images through various processing methods. Similarly, the EuroSAT dataset, based on Sentinel-2 satellite images and including 13 spectral bands across 10 classes with a total of 27,000 labeled and geo-referenced images, is also converted to RGB images through diverse processing methods. These newly colored RGB images from both datasets are then classified using transfer learning. The RGB images are fed into a set of Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) organized in an Ensemble Learning (EL) environment. The ensemble is built by training different networks using diverse approaches for creating the RGB images, supporting the classifiers to enhance performance. This study demonstrates that an ensemble of CNN models trained on the newly colored RGB images from both datasets improves the system’s performance compared to other state-of-the-art approaches. The main focus of this thesis is to introduce multiple colorization methods that differ from current cutting-edge techniques

Rectenna Systems for RF Energy Harvesting and Wireless Power Transfer

With the rapid development of the wireless systems and demands of low-power integrated electronic circuits, various research trends have tended to study the feasibility of powering these circuits by harvesting free energy from ambient electromagnetic space or by using dedicated RF source. Wireless power transmission (WPT) technology was first pursued by Tesla over a century ago. However, it faced several challenges for deployment in real applications. Recently, energy harvesting and WPT technologies have received much attention as a clean and renewable power source. Rectenna (rectifying antenna) system can be used for remotely charging batteries in several sensor networks at internet of things (IoT) applications as commonly used in smart buildings, implanted medical devices and automotive applications. Rectenna, which is used to convert from RF energy to usable DC electrical energy, is mainly a combination between a receiving antenna and a rectifier circuit. This chapter will present several designs for single and multiband rectennas with different characteristics for energy harvesting applications. Single and multiband antennas as well as rectifier circuits with matching networks are introduced for complete successful rectenna circuit models. At the end of the chapter, a dual-band rectenna example is introduced with a detailed description for each section of the rectenna

Develop Accreditation Standards for Nursing Departments at Mansoura University Hospital.

Accreditation has gained worldwide attention as an effective quality evaluation and management tool. Accreditation has been defined as a system of external peer review for determining compliance with a set of standards. Accreditation standards are written to reflect current practice and expectations for the specific functions the nurses perform. Accreditation systems provided better quality results in nursing care; positive changes in leadership, commitment and support, use of data, staff involvement, and quality management; impact or effectiveness of health sector accreditation. Accreditation has recently gained great importance in Egypt, but nursing departments still lack accreditation standards and criteria. Hence, the present study aims to develop and validate a set of relevant, feasible, and reliable standards that needs for accrediting nursing departments at Mansoura University Hospital. The study subjects includes a jury group includes 12 academic staff from Faculty of Nursing and 10 nurse managers from Mansoura University Hospital. All head nurses (n=46) works in all inpatient departments at Mansoura University Hospital were included in the study. Three tools were used for data collection, namely; a validity form, interview questionnaire sheet, and an audit form. The study findings indicated that the proposed accreditation standards for nursing departments at Mansoura University Hospital are valid. A most proposed accreditation standard was met in less than a half of the cases. It is recommended that the developed accreditation standards could be used in Mansoura University Hospital