These data show that AR is common in the Middle East region as elsewhere in the world. Many patients with AR in Middle East region suffer from their symptoms (e.g., runny nose, nasal itching, nasal congestion, postnasal drip, and other symptoms) on all or most days during the times of the year that their allergies are worst. These symptoms have been shown to reduce QOL and performance at work/school to a significant degree. Additionally, the survey data underscore a considerable treatment gap with current therapies for AR and that many AR patients still have not found adequate effectiveness with currently available medications. Thus, through identification of disease impact on the Middle East population and highlighting treatment gaps, clinicians in the Middle East may better understand and treat AR, leading to improvements in overall patient satisfaction and QOL.

This paper re-examines the relationship between stock market development and economic growth. It provides a theoretical basis for establishing the channel through which stock markets affect economic growth in the long run. It examines the hypothesis of endogenous growth models that financial development causes higher growth through its influence on the level of investment and its productivity. The empirical part of this study exploits techniques recently developed to test for causality in VARs.The evidence obtained from a sample of four countries suggests that investment productivity is the channel through which stock market development enhances the growth rate in the long run.

Bone injuries represent a major challenge in the medical field. The commonly used treatments for bone regeneration rely on the use of bone grafts that are usually associated with complications such as donor site morbidity, disease transmission, high cost, and lack of availability. Bone tissue engineering has become a golden solution for the repair of bone injuries by regenerating the damaged biological tissues using biocompatible scaffolds. However, most of the tissue engineered scaffolds do not possess the combined properties of high elasticity, appropriate stiffness, biocompatibility, osteoinductivity, and antimicrobial properties. In this study, we engineered bioactive and antimicrobial nanocomposites that can promote bone formation while simultaneously provide a barrier against bacterial infections commonly associated with bone implants. We used PEGylated polyglycerol sebacate as nanocomposites base, which was functionalized with Laponite nanosilicates, a synthetic nanoclay, and an antimicrobial peptide (AMP). The successful synthesis of the PEGylated polyglycerol sebacate and Laponite incorporation within the nanocomposites were confirmed through nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The scaffolds had an elastic modulus and ultimate tensile strength within a range of 3.8–4.7 MPa and 1.5–3 MPa, respectively. Furthermore, the scaffolds loaded with antimicrobial peptide exhibited a significant antimicrobial activity against both Gram-negative (Escherichia coli) and Gram-positive (Staphylococcus aureus) bacteria. The in vitro cytocompatibility tests showed >90% viability of preosteoblast (W-20-17) cells. Moreover, in vitro differentiation assays demonstrated the scaffolds’ ability to promote osteogenic differentiation of W-20-17. Collectively, the nanocomposites containing Laponite and antimicrobial peptide were proven to have osteoinductive and antimicrobial activity, making them desirable for bone tissue engineering applications.

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This study investigates how the implementation of Enterprise Risk Management program affects the performance of firms using an Enterprise Risk Management model for the banking sector and an integrated model for measuring Enterprise Risk Management index used in the study by Mukhtar and Soliman (2016). Ten listed commercial banks were selected with the Enterprise Risk Management index as the main independent variable, with Return on Average Equity (ROAE), Share Price Return (SPR) and Firm Value (FV) used as three separate dependent variables. The study provides strong evidence of a positive relationship between Enterprise Risk Management implementation and performance in the Nigerian banking sector. The findings and conclusions of this study are consistent with those of other studies that used data from different industries, providing a basis from which to generalize the findings from this study to firms in other industries.