312 research outputs found
Estimation of Sameera Distribution Parameters with Applications to Real Data
No full textIn this paper, a new two-parameter continuous distribution called Sameera distribution is proposed. Some statistical properties of this distribution are derived such as: moment-generating function, moments, and related measures, reliability analysis and associated functions. Also, the distribution of order statistics and the quantile function are presented. The Shannon, Re ́nyi, and Tsallis entropies are derived. The methods of maximum likelihood estimation, ordinary and weighted least squares, Anderson-Darling, Cramer-Von Mises, and maximum product spacing are used to estimate the distribution parameters. A simulation study is performed to investigate the performance of these methods. Real data applications show that the proposed distribution can provide a better fit than several competitive distributions
Reclaiming Islamic Intellectual Tradition: Revival, Challenges, and Contemporary Relevance
No full textThe Islamic intellectual tradition, with its rich heritage in theology, philosophy, science, and law, has significantly influenced global knowledge and civilization. However, in the modern era, this tradition has faced challenges due to colonialism, modernization, and ideological conflicts. This article explores the efforts to reclaim and revitalize Islamic intellectual heritage by re-engaging with classical scholarship and addressing contemporary issues through an Islamic epistemological lens. It examines key figures, movements, and institutions that seek to balance tradition and modernity, emphasizing the importance of critical thought, contextual interpretation, and ethical responsibility. The study highlights how reclaiming this tradition can contribute to intellectual renewal and address current social, political, and cultural challenges in Muslim societies and beyond
Building a Cognitive Dissonance Scale and Estimating Its Psychometric Characteristics among Umm Al-Qura University Female Students
No full textThis study aimed at building a cognitive dissonance scale that measures the dissonance and disharmony between believes, attitudes and values. The items of the measurement were articulated to suit the research female sample. Seven factors of the cognitive dissonance were extracted through the factor analysis of the answers of the sample which consists of 1097 female students from Umm Al-Qura University. Then, the factors were named according to the items they contain as follows: The family dimension, the emotional dimension, self-compatibility dimension, control and dominance dimension, social dimension, educational dimension and discipline and behavioral commitment dimension. Factorial validity and internal consistency estimates wer acceptable. The results of the study generally show the possibility of extracting cognitive dissonance. They also show that the current scale of cognitive dissonance is valid and meets the required standard specifications. Therefore it can be used in other studies. It is also recommended that more tests be made on the results, particularly on other samples in the future. </jats:p
Exploring the statistical aspects of expert elicited experiments
No full text© 2020 Hetti Arachchige Sameera Gayan DharmarathneWe explore the statistical aspects of some of the known methods of analysing experts’ elicited data to identify potential improvements on the accuracy of their outcomes in this study. It can be identified that potential correlation structures induced in the probability predictions by the characteristics of experimental designs are ignored in computing experts’ Brier scores. We show that the accuracy of the standard error estimates of experts’ Brier scores can be improved by incorporating the within-question correlations of probability predictions in the second chapter of this thesis. Missing probability predictions of events can impact on assessing the prediction accuracy of experts using different sets of events (Merkle et al., 2016; Hanea et al., 2018). It is shown in the third chapter that multiple imputation method using a mixed-effects model with questions’ effects as random effects can effectively estimate missing predictions to enhance the comparability of experts’ Brier scores.
Testing experts’ calibration on eliciting credible intervals of unknown quantities using hit rates; observed proportions of elicited intervals that contain realized values of given quantities (McBride, Fidler, and Burgman, 2012), has a property of obtaining lower values of power to correctly identify well-calibrated experts and more importantly, the power tends to decrease as the number of elicited intervals increases. The equivalence test of a single binomial proportion can be used to overcome these problems as shown in the fourth chapter. There is a possibility of allocating higher weights to some of the not well-calibrated experts by the way experts’ calibration is assessed in the Cooke’s classical model (Cooke, 1991) to derive experts’ weights. We show that the multinomial equivalence test can be used to overcome this problem in the fifth chapter.
Experts’ weights that derived from experiments to combine experts’ elicited subjective probability distributions to obtain aggregated probability distributions of unknown quantities (O’Hagan, 2019) are random variables subject to uncertainty. We derive shrinkage experts’ weights with reduced mean squared errors in the sixth chapter to enhance the precision of the resulting aggregated distributions of quantities
Bread and Social Justice : Measurement of Social Welfare and Inequality Using Anthropometrics
No full textThis work was supported by the French National Research Agency Grant ANR-17-EURE-0020, and by the Excellence Initiative of Aix-Marseille University - A*MIDEX. The authors would like to thank two anonymous reviewers, Sameera Awawda and Gaston Yalonetzky for constructive comments and suggestions. The paper was written in part while Abul Naga was a visitor at AixMarseille Université. The author thanks the IMÉRA Institute of Advanced Studies and the AixMarseille School of Economics for their kind hospitality
The Influences of Produced Water Irrigation on Soil microbial succession and Turfgrass Grass Establishment in Qatar
No full textThe Influences of Produced Water Irrigation on Soil microbial succession and Turfgrass Grass Establishment in Qatar Sameera S. Shaikh, Mohammed H. Abu-Dieyeh*, Fatima A. Al Naemi, Talaat Ahmed, and Mohammad A. Alghouti Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences, College of Arts and Sciences, Qatar University. *Corresponding author: [email protected] Abstract: Water scarcity around the world has necessitated the use of alternative water resources such as wastewaters, for irrigation purposes. Landscaped areas and turf grass systems provide varied environmental benefits including phytoremediation, erosion control and mitigation of heat island effects. They also provide safe, shady and cool places for athletic activities, exercise, and provide area for outdoor gatherings. Use of wastewater for turfgrasses has been conceptualized in the last decades and applied in various parts of the world. In this study, we attempted to use produced water (PW) to irrigate two turfgrass species, Cynodon dactylon and Paspalum sp., which are grown in local parks, green spaces and roadsides in Doha, Qatar. Effect of PW irrigation on established grasses, microbial succession, heavy metal accumulation and germination tests for weeds and turf grass seeds were investigated in greenhouse and field experiments. The two species of grass tested - C. dactylon and Paspalum sp. depicted different tolerance capacities towards PW. C. dactylon showed lower tolerance while Paspalum sp. depicted better tolerance capacity towards PW. C. dactylon grown from seeds under greenhouse conditions were not able to tolerate more than 30% concentration of PW. In comparison to tap water irrigated turfgrass, Paspalum sp. was found to accumulate higher concentrations of V and Pb in shoots and Cr, Ni and As in roots. For soil microbial succession studies, results from greenhouse experiment, using Cynodon dactylon turfgrass and after 14-weeks of produced water irrigation regimes, showed a significant reduction in bacterial colony forming units (CFU) at all produced water treatments compared with tap water irrigation. However, a significant increase through time in CFU occurred in all treatments. It was observed that PW irrigation caused changes in fungal species present in PW irrigated soil. The study of fungal succession in soil showed presence of certain species in 10%PW-30%PW treated soil that were absent in soil treated with tap water. Based on germination tests it was recommended that irrigation with PW be performed after turf grass establishment. Studies on weed germination suggested that PW could discourage growth of weeds - Amaranthus viridis and Launaea mucronata while promote growth of Chloris virgata. Based on the study conducted, it is suggested that PW could be used as alternative water resource to grow some species, but only after further research is conducted on the long term to assess any environmental toxicity.qscienc
Joint Preservation Using Orthobiologic Therapies in Osteoarthritis
No full textOsteoarthritis is estimated to be the most prevalent musculoskeletal disorder in the world. Estimates show that the disease is prevalent in 18% and 10% in women and men that are aged >60 years old. The quality of life of the affected patients can also be significantly impacted due to the associated morbidities and functional loss. Many interventions have been proposed to preserve the joint and enhance the functional outcomes in patients with osteoarthritis. In the present literature review, we have discussed the different orthobiologic therapies for patients with osteoarthritis for joint preservation and subsequent improvement in the functional and pain outcomes. Variable modalities that have been proposed in the literature include Bone Marrow Aspirate Concentrate (BMAC), gene therapy and platelet rich plasma (PRP). All of these modalities were reported with favorable outcomes and minimal complications. PRP has been reported to have a clinical efficacy that is boosed when co-administered with hyaluronic acid. However, it should be noted that the clinical efficacy is limited in the long term, and administration is continuously required. On the other hand, gene therapy is a promising technique that offers maintained favorable outcomes with no adverse events. However, further studies are still needed to indicate the effectiveness and cost-efficacy of this approach
The Effect of Floor Sitting Posture on Low-back Pain, Knee Pain and Hip Pain Among Kuwaiti Men
No full textBackground and Purpose. Ground resting posture is common in Kuwait and other Arab communities. Kuwaiti men gather daily, especially on weekend nights socializing in the Diwaniya. Diwaniya is a special room in every Kuwaiti house. The Diwaniya is traditionally furnished with seating cushions and pillows. Men are seated on the floor in a tailor-sitting posture for long periods of time. The tailor-sitting posture flexes the trunk. hips, and knees. The flexion position has been shown to decrease the lumbar lordosis and increase joint compression in hips and knees. However there are no studies about the effect of floor sitting posture on these joints. Thus, the purpose of this study is to determine if there is a relationship between long periods of floor sitting posture and the incidence of low-back pain, knee pain and hip pain among Kuwaiti men who visit Diwaniya. Subjects and Methods. Five-hundred Kuwaiti men who visit Diwaniya voluntarily completed a self designed questionnaire about the relationship between long periods of floor sitting and the incidence of low-back pain, knee pain and hip pain. Results. There were significant relationships between age and knee and hip pain, while there was no significant relationship between age and low-back pain. Body mass index was related to low-back pain, knee and hip pain. Long periods of floor sitting was not related to low-back pain, knee or hip pain, while long periods of chair sitting were related to low-back pain and hip pain. Discussion and Conclusion. Based on the results of the study, being overweight was the major factor associated with low-back pain, knee and hip pain. Kuwaitis should work on solving the overweight problem in order to decrease the incidence of low-back pain, knee and hip pain. A significant limitation with this study was the study instrument ( self-designed questionnaire)
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