Increased prevalence of premature ejaculation in men with metabolic syndrome

This prospective study aimed to investigate the relationship between metabolic syndrome (Met S) and premature ejaculation (PE) among men. The study included 300 consecutive male patients (53.6 y?±?8.7) who attended the urology clinic (December 2013–September 2014), mostly complaining of renal/ureteric calculi. A diagnostic approach was undertaken to include demographics, clinical features and laboratory investigations of the study subjects. Both erectile function and PE were evaluated using the International Index of Erectile Function (abridged form, IIEF-5) and Premature Ejaculation Diagnostic Tool (PEDT) questionnaires, respectively. Results identified 182 (60.7%) men had Met S. Prevalence of PE was significantly higher in the subjects with Met S than the controls (35.2% vs 7.6%, p?< 0.001). Patients with Met S and PE had significantly higher PEDT scores (15.4 vs 6.7), smaller waist circumference (108.3?cm vs 111.5?cm) and higher fasting blood sugar (187?mg% vs 161?mg%) than those with no PE (p?p?=?0.047 and <0.001, respectively) with PE in Met S. In conclusion, PE has a high prevalence in Met S. Patients with Met S should be questioned about PE. Both ED and systolic hypertension may be associated with PE. Prevention of Met S should be considered, and this may be of help to decrease the prevalence of PE.     

Household and Contextual Indicators of Poverty in Tunisia: A Multilevel Analysis

Using micro data from the 2010 National Survey on Households’ Budget, Consumption and Standard of Living, this study aims to investigate main factors contributing to poverty distribution, one of the most severe socioeconomic problems in Tunisia. To this end, we use a multilevel Logit model and a multilevel mixed linear model to simultaneously analyze the micro-level (household) and macro-level (governorate) factors that might affect the household poverty status. Household size, household composition, occupation, education levels, the gender of the household head and the number of earner by household variables were assessed at the micro-level. Unemployment rate, poverty rate, industrial and agriculture parts and the migration are included to control the effect of contextual effects. Our findings showed that the likelihood of household being poor is positively and significantly related to household size, more children and lower education level. Extreme poverty is more likely to occur in rural than urban areas. Macro-level analyses indicated that greater neighbourhood unemployment rate was associated with higher odds of poverty, while greater industrial agglomeration and migration balance were associated with reduced odds of poverty.     

Factors influencing teachers' attitudes toward personal use and school use of computers: new evidence from a developing nation

This study reports on the Arabization and empirical evaluation of two standard scales to assess Egyptian teachers' attitudes toward personal use and school use of computers. To date, no similar instruments have been translated and empirically evaluated in an Arabic-speaking community. Data provided by a sample of 443 teachers support the reliability and validity of the two Arabic versions and the body of the research evidence, which suggests that computer attitude is multidimensional. The relationship between gender, years of teaching experience, computer use, computer experience, and computer attitudes is also examined. Implications for preservice and in-service teacher preparation in Egypt are provided.     

On Ehrhart polynomials and probability calculations in voting theory

In voting theory, analyzing the frequency of an event (e.g. a voting paradox), under some specific but widely used assumptions, is equivalent to computing the exact number of integer solutions in a system of linear constraints. Recently, some algorithms for computing this number have been proposed in social choice literature by Huang and Chua (Soc Choice Welfare 17:143–155 2000) and by Gehrlein (Soc Choice Welfare 19:503–512 2002; Rev Econ Des 9:317–336 2006). The purpose of this paper is threefold. Firstly, we want to do justice to Eugène Ehrhart, who, more than forty years ago, discovered the theoretical foundations of the above mentioned algorithms. Secondly, we present some efficient algorithms that have been recently developed by computer scientists, independently from voting theorists. Thirdly, we illustrate the use of these algorithms by providing some original results in voting theory. Helpful comments by Philippe Clauss and his team are gratefully acknowledged.     

Cinematic Terrorism: Deleuze,ISIS and Delirium

This paper will use the concept of time-image discussed by Gille Deleuze in Cinema 1 and Cinema 2 as a heuristic tool for thinking about the Internet films of the Islamic State (ISIS). By considering that ISIS films primarily operate on two different axes: a time-image that presents a recollection of a mythic past, and a movement-image that reverses roles of power and sovereignty with a Western antagonist through mimesis, I discover that although we are unable to consider the ISIS films strictly as documentary, they are nonetheless not representational either. Within this context, I will argue that ISIS films may be experienced as actualizations of a global schizophrenic delirium. The ISIS films demonstrate what Deleuze describes as the “powers of the false.” They show a reality that is unbearable to witness. In the same way that the Marquis de Sade exhibited in life and fiction a physical violence and perversion that were symptomatic of the chaotic and brutal realities of the French Revolution, ISIS itself, and not only its film productions, becomes the foci of a symptomatic and cinematic realization of the failures of our globalized society in the post-Cold War/Arab Spring era. We experience the unbearable violence in the form of schizophrenic delirium, as if this violence is being performed somewhere else, by someone else, to someone else. These forms of spatial and temporal shifts, detachments, and interchanges are emphasized by the arrival of war refugees to the Western world from Syria, Iraq, and Afghanistan. In this process of becoming the Other, there is no escaping the delirium of Otherness.     

Multidimensional Analysis of Water Poverty in MENA Region: An Empirical Comparison with Physical Indicators

It is not easy to determine whether water is really scarce in the physical sense or whether it is available, but people cannot get access to it, or use it better. This paper reviews selected physical water scarcity indicators, and criticisms made against them on several grounds. Under the premise that the water scarcity issue is inherently multidimensional, a composite Water Poverty Index has been developed, to complement the traditional physical water indicators. In this paper we propose some technical refinements based on principal component analysis, in order to improve the method of calculation of the index. Using the proposed methodology, the present paper assesses the applicability of the index for the MENA region, by comparing the situation of oil-rich and water-poor countries (Gulf States) with that of lower-income yet water-rich countries (Horn of Africa states).     

Mixture experiments with mixing errors

In mixture experiments the properties of mixtures are usually studied by mixing the amounts of the mixture components that are required to obtain the necessary proportions. This paper considers the impact of inaccuracies in discharging the required amounts of the mixture components on the statistical analysis of the data. It shows how the regression calibration approach can be used to minimize the resulting bias in the model and in the estimates of the model parameters, as well as to find correct estimates of the corresponding variances. Its application is made difficult by the complex structure of these errors. We also show how knowledge of the form of the model bias allows for choosing a manufacturing setting for a mixture product that is not biased and has smaller signal to noise ratio.     

Shrinkage estimation in lognormal regression model for censored data

We introduce in this paper, the shrinkage estimation method in the lognormal regression model for censored data involving many predictors, some of which may not have any influence on the response of interest. We develop the asymptotic properties of the shrinkage estimators (SEs) using the notion of asymptotic distributional biases and risks. We show that if the shrinkage dimension exceeds two, the asymptotic risk of the SEs is strictly less than the corresponding classical estimators. Furthermore, we study the penalty (LASSO and adaptive LASSO) estimation methods and compare their relative performance with the SEs. A simulation study for various combinations of the inactive predictors and censoring percentages shows that the SEs perform better than the penalty estimators in certain parts of the parameter space, especially when there are many inactive predictors in the model. It also shows that the shrinkage and penalty estimators outperform the classical estimators. A real-life data example using Worcester heart attack study is used to illustrate the performance of the suggested estimators.     

A new lifetime distribution for a series-parallel system: properties,applications and estimations under progressive type-II censoring

A compound class of zero truncated Poisson and lifetime distributions is introduced. A specialization is paved to a new three-parameter distribution, called doubly Poisson-exponential distribution, which may represent the lifetime of units connected in a series-parallel system. The new distribution can be obtained by compounding two zero truncated Poisson distributions with an exponential distribution. Among its motivations is that its hazard rate function can take different shapes such as decreasing, increasing and upside-down bathtub depending on the values of its parameters. Several properties of the new distribution are discussed. Based on progressive type-II censoring, six estimation methods [maximum likelihood, moments, least squares, weighted least squares and Bayes (under linear-exponential and general entropy loss functions) estimations] are used to estimate the involved parameters. The performance of these methods is investigated through a simulation study. The Bayes estimates are obtained using Markov chain Monte Carlo algorithm. In addition, confidence intervals, symmetric credible intervals and highest posterior density credible intervals of the parameters are obtained. Finally, an application to a real data set is used to compare the new distribution with other five distributions.