Otisma: an integrated application and humanoid robot as an educational tool for children with autism.

Autistic children have difficulty communicating wants, needs, and thoughts. In cases of low functioning autism, an individual can have serious speech and language disabilities. In response to the need of parents and therapists dealing with autistic children, social robots have been developed and incorporated into assisting children with autism.

Exploring the impact of air pollution on COVID-19 admitted cases: Evidence from vector error correction model (VECM) approach in explaining the relationship between air pollutants towards COVID-19 cases in Kuwait.

In urban areas, air pollution is one of the most serious global environmental issues. Using time-series approaches, this study looked into the validity of the relationship between air pollution and COVID-19 hospitalization. This time series research was carried out in the state of Kuwait; stationarity test, cointegration test, Granger causality and stability test, and test on multivariate time-series using the Vector Error Correction Model (VECM) technique.

An enhanced binary Rat Swarm Optimizer based on local-best concepts of PSO and collaborative crossover operators for feature selection.

In this paper, an enhanced binary version of the Rat Swarm Optimizer (RSO) is proposed to deal with Feature Selection (FS) problems. FS is an important data reduction step in data mining which finds the most representative features from the entire data. Many FS-based swarm intelligence algorithms have been used to tackle FS.

Validation study of a wellbeing scale (SPANE) in the Arab Gulf region: A multicountry study.

The Scale of Positive and Negative Experience (SPANE) is an emerging wellbeing scale to measure the frequency of positive and negative emotions. This study explores the psychometric properties of SPANE on a sample from the Arab Gulf region. The Arab Gulf region shares cultural elements with the broader Muslim and Arab world, but maintains distinct features that warrants validation studies for psychological instruments.

Psychometric properties of the Arabic version of the hospital anxiety and depression scale in hemodialysis patients.

The literature lacks a rigorous psychometric evaluation of the Arabic version of Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) in hemodialysis (HD) patients. This study aims to evaluate reliability, determine the underlying factor structure of the Arabic version of HADS and assess its suitability as screening tool for depression and anxiety among Arabic HD patients.A sample of 370 HD patients were recruited from all health districts in Kuwait.

Review on COVID-19 diagnosis models based on machine learning and deep learning approaches.

COVID-19 is the disease evoked by a new breed of coronavirus called the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Recently, COVID-19 has become a pandemic by infecting more than 152 million people in over 216 countries and territories. The exponential increase in the number of infections has rendered traditional diagnosis techniques inefficient.

Quantifying the Speed of Chromatophore Activity at the Single-Organ Level in Response to a Visual Startle Stimulus in Living, Intact Squid.

The speed of adaptive body patterning in coleoid cephalopods is unmatched in the natural world. While the literature frequently reports their remarkable ability to change coloration significantly faster than other species, there is limited research on the temporal dynamics of rapid chromatophore coordination underlying body patterning in living, intact animals. In this exploratory pilot study, we aimed to measure chromatophore activity in response to a light flash stimulus in seven squid, .

An Intensive and Comprehensive Overview of JAYA Algorithm, its Versions and Applications.

In this review paper, JAYA algorithm, which is a recent population-based algorithm is intensively overviewed. The JAYA algorithm combines the survival of the fittest principle from evolutionary algorithms as well as the global optimal solution attractions of Swarm Intelligence methods. Initially, the optimization model and convergence characteristics of JAYA algorithm are carefully analyzed.

Coronavirus herd immunity optimizer (CHIO).

In this paper, a new nature-inspired human-based optimization algorithm is proposed which is called coronavirus herd immunity optimizer (CHIO). The inspiration of CHIO is originated from the herd immunity concept as a way to tackle coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19). The speed of spreading coronavirus infection depends on how the infected individuals directly contact with other society members.

Hydrogen Sulfide Donor NaHS Improves Metabolism and Reduces Muscle Atrophy in Type 2 Diabetes: Implication for Understanding Sarcopenic Pathophysiology.

Sarcopenia, a loss of muscle mass and functionality, constitutes a major contributor to disability in diabetes. Hydrogen sulfide (HS) dynamics and muscle mass regulatory signaling were studied in GK rats, a model for type 2 diabetes (T2D). GK rats exhibited a number of features that are consistent with sarcopenia and T2D including loss of muscle mass and strength, in addition to glucose intolerance, insulin resistance, and impaired -cell responsiveness to glucose.

The Hazards of a Ubiquitary Metalloid, Arsenic, Hiding in Infant Diets: Detection, Speciation, Exposure, and Risk Assessment.

Different types of infant foods categorized as formulas, cereals, and purees imported from seven different countries and available on the Kuwaiti retail market were collected for arsenic analysis. The samples were analyzed both for total arsenic concentration using ICP-MS and for arsenic speciation using HPLC-ICP-MS. Speciation is essential for food analysis because of the toxicity and carcinogenicity of inorganic arsenic species.

Key success factors behind electronic medical record adoption in Thailand.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the elements that health care personnel in Thailand believe are necessary for successful adoption of electronic medical record (EMR) systems. Design/methodology/approach Initial qualitative in-depth interviews with physicians to adapt key elements from the literature to the Thai context. The 12 elements identified included things related to managing the implementation and to IT expertise.

Chemical characterization of sunscreens composition and its related potential adverse health effects.

Although the sun is very beneficial and essential for life, exposing ourselves too much to sunlight might lead to detrimental health effects such as skin cancer. Eight percent of the total different electromagnetic radiation that regularly irradiates the earth is classified as ultraviolet (UV) radiation. The ozone layer absorbs the most energetic UV rays; consequently, UV-A and UV-B reach the earth surface.

Heavy metal exposure from ingesting rice and its related potential hazardous health risks to humans.

Different types of rice grains imported from 11 different countries and available on the Kuwaiti retail market were collected for heavy metal analysis. The surveyed rice samples were grouped according to their country of origin into four different regions namely Asia, Europe, Middle East, and North America. The samples were analyzed for total arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb), and mercury (Hg) using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS).

Leadership: validation of a self-report scale: comment on Dussault, Frenette, and Fernet (2013).

In a recent study, Dussault, Frenette, and Fernet (2013) developed a 21-item self-report instrument to measure leadership based on Bass's (1985) transformational/transactional leadership paradigm. The final specification included a third-order dimension (leadership), two second-order dimensions (transactional leadership and transformational leadership), and a first-order dimension (laissez-faire leadership). This note focuses on the need for assessing convergent and discriminant validity of the scale, and on ruling out the potential for common method bias.

Effects of distracting ads and cognitive control on the processing of online news stories with stereotype-related information.

An experiment (N=123) examined how individuals cognitively process online news stories depicting African-American characters with stereotype-consistent and -inconsistent attributes and whether distracting online ads interfere with story processing. Two cognitive control functions, updating and inhibition, were predicted to moderate the effects of distracting ads. Recall of characters' attributes and overall characters' description were included in the study as dependent measures.

Human rights monitoring in virtual community.

Holistic disability rights monitoring is essential in order to translate rights on paper into rights in reality for people with disabilities. At the same time, evidence-based knowledge produced through holistic monitoring has to be made accessible to a broad range of groups - researchers, representatives of disability community, people with disabilities, the media, policy makers, general public - and also has to contribute to building capacity within disability community around human rights issues. This article focuses on the design process of a complex Virtual Knowledge Network (VKN) as an operational tool to support mobilization and dissemination of evidence-based knowledge produced by the Disability Rights Promotion International Canada (DRPI-Canada) project.

Lead exposure from the use of Lawsonia inermis (henna) in temporary paint-on-tattooing and hair dying.

This study reports the evaluation of a number of spectroscopic techniques used in identifying and quantifying the presence of lead in twelve commercial and traditional henna samples. The lead levels found in henna were low with concentrations ranging from 2.29 ppm to 65.