Despite efforts to contain and manage the SARS-CoV-2 outbreak which was declared a public health emergency of international concern in January 2020 by the World Health Organization (WHO), the COVID-19 pandemic still remains a major global challenge. Patients who display the classical symptoms of the infection are easily identified, tested, isolated and monitored. However, many cases of infected asymptomatic patients have been documented. These patients are not easily identified even though many evidences suggest that they can spread the virus to others. How and why these COVID-19 asymptomatic presentations occur remain unclear. The many theories and views are conjectural, and supporting evidences are still needed. In this review, we described the trend in SARS-CoV-2 viral shedding and susceptibility, providing perspectives on gender differences and asymptomatic patients. We further discussed how genetics, gender, viral inoculum, and pre-existing immunity may influence asymptomatic presentations in COVID-19 infections. We hope that this article improves our understanding of asymptomatic SAR-CoV-2 infection and it sheds light on some salient areas that should be considered as the search for a potent vaccine continues.
At the heart of every robust economy is a vital banking system. The functional banking system can effectively perform several functions such as mobilizing savings, allocating credit, monitoring managers, transforming risks, and facilitating the financial transactions. This paper aims to measure the impact of banking system development on economic growth in Iraq. Credit to private sector divided by GDP used as a proxy of banking development. Real per capita GDP used as a proxy of economic growth. By using Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) model, the paper finds that the undeveloped Iraqi banking system could not promote economic growth in the country. Therefore, a variety of policies need to be taken to spur the role of bankin
... Show MoreThe performance of flexible pavements is significantly impacted by the permanent deformation (rutting) of asphalt pavements. Rutting shortens the pavement's useful service life and poses significant risks to those using the highway since it alters vehicle handling characteristics.. The aim of this research is to evaluate the permanent deformation of asphalt mixtures under different conditions,to achieve this aim 108 cylindrical specimens has been prepared and tested under repeated loading in uniaxial compression mode. Five factors were considered in this research, these factors represent the effect of environmental condition and traffic loading as well as mixture properties, they include testing temperature, loading condition (stress level
... Show MoreThis study investigates the influence of Strategic Consensus (SC) on Organizational Performance (OP), with Strategic Alignment (SA) serving as a mediating variable, within private academic institutions in Iraq. The research utilized scales developed to measure each variable: SC, OP, and SA, all of which are unidimensional. The sample comprised 131 senior participants, including deans and faculty council members, with questionnaires distributed across three institutions: Dijla University College (35 respondents), Baghdad College of Economic Sciences (31 respondents), and the University of Uruk (65 respondents). Data analysis employed various statistical techniques, including normality testing, confirmatory factor analysis, descriptive statis
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Students’ feedback is crucial for educational institutions to assess the performance of their teachers, most opinions are expressed in their native language, especially for people in south Asian regions. In Pakistan, people use Roman Urdu to express their reviews, and this applied in the education domain where students used Roman Urdu to express their feedback. It is very time-consuming and labor-intensive process to handle qualitative opinions manually. Additionally, it can be difficult to determine sentence semantics in a text that is written in a colloquial style like Roman Urdu. This study proposes an enhanced word embedding technique and investigates the neural word Embedding (Word2Vec and Glove) to determine which perfo
... Show MoreSpatial Intelligence is a mental ability to understand and solve real-world problems. These visual-spatial representations are fundamental in learning various "STEM" topics, like digital drawing, art presentations, creating graphical representations, 2D designs. Opportunity to interact with real and/or virtual objects. It is a good opportunity in applying new techniques such as the augmenter, which is able to clarify mathematical tables, concepts and generalizations greatly to the visualization, understanding and mastery of concepts mathematically. The purpose of the research is to investigate impact of using AR technology in developing spatial intelligence for secondary school students, Baghdad. The quasi-experimental design was us
... Show MoreAs an alternative to Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC), the alkali-activated binders have been developed with better technical characteristics and more extended durability. The Alkali-Activated Iraqi Natural Pozzolans (AANP) could produce geopolymer cementation building materials and make them ecologically acceptable. The primary advantage of geopolymer cement is that it has a lower environmental effect that contributes to it. The engineering characteristics of geopolymer concrete produced using activated Iraqi natural Pozzolan are summarized in this research. The mechanical properties, modulus of elasticity, and ultrasonic pulse velocity of various concrete mixes were determined via experimental study. The impact of essential variables like w
... Show MoreBackground: This research describes the methodology used for the preparation of selenium nanoparticles from Pseudomonas aeruginosa and their administration to lambs for lipid profile checking, administration of selenium nanoparticles as a medication in lambs results in hypolipidemia. Aim: The study aimed to investigate the potential of selenium nanoparticles in improving lipid profiles in lambs. Methods: Healthy lambs (n=10) of similar age and weight were selected for the study. The animals were housed in individual pens with free access to water and a standard diet. The lambs were randomly divided into two groups: the control group (n=5) and the treatment group (n=5). The control group received a standard diet, while the treatme
... Show MoreThe Internet of Things (IoT) is an expanding domain that can revolutionize different industries. Nevertheless, security is among the multiple challenges that it encounters. A major threat in the IoT environment is spoofing attacks, a type of cyber threat in which malicious actors masquerade as legitimate entities. This research aims to develop an effective technique for detecting spoofing attacks for IoT security by utilizing feature-importance methods. The suggested methodology involves three stages: preprocessing, selection of important features, and classification. The feature importance determines the most significant characteristics that play a role in detecting spoofing attacks. This is achieved via two techniques: decision tr
... Show MoreVarious speech enhancement Algorithms (SEA) have been developed in the last few decades. Each algorithm has its advantages and disadvantages because the speech signal is affected by environmental situations. Distortion of speech results in the loss of important features that make this signal challenging to understand. SEA aims to improve the intelligibility and quality of speech that different types of noise have degraded. In most applications, quality improvement is highly desirable as it can reduce listener fatigue, especially when the listener is exposed to high noise levels for extended periods (e.g., manufacturing). SEA reduces or suppresses the background noise to some degree, sometimes called noise suppression alg
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