The estimation of the parameters of linear regression is based on the usual Least Square method, as this method is based on the estimation of several basic assumptions. Therefore, the accuracy of estimating the parameters of the model depends on the validity of these hypotheses. The most successful technique was the robust estimation method which is minimizing maximum likelihood estimator (MM-estimator) that proved its efficiency in this purpose. However, the use of the model becomes unrealistic and one of these assumptions is the uniformity of the variance and the normal distribution of the error. These assumptions are not achievable in the case of studying a specific problem that may include complex data of more than one model. To deal with this type of problem, a mixture of linear regression is used to model such data. In this article, we propose a genetic algorithm-based method combined with (MM-estimator), which is called in this article (RobGA), to improve the accuracy of the estimation in the final stage. We compare the suggested method with robust bi-square (MixBi) in terms of their application to real data representing blood sample. The results showed that RobGA is more efficient in estimating the parameters of the model than the MixBi method with respect to mean square error (MSE) and classification error (CE).
Objective: To identify barriers to healthcare access, to assess the health literacy levels of the foreign-born Arabic speaking population in Iowa, USA and to measure their prevalence of seeking preventive healthcare services. Methods: A cross-sectional study of native Arabic speaking adults involved a focus group and an anonymous paper-based survey. The focus group and the Andersen Model were used to develop the survey questionnaire. The survey participants were customers at Arabic grocery stores, worshippers at the city mosque and patients at free University Clinic. Chi-square test was used to measure the relationship between the characteristics of survey participants and preventive healthcare services. Thematic analysis was
... Show MoreThe study targets exploring the similarities and differences between Iraqi and Malaysian learners of English in refusing marriage proposals. Also, it examines the favored politeness strategies that learners use to protect their interlocutors’ face, heeding both their social distance and status. Data were gathered by a Discourse Completion Task (DCT) which contained six marriage situations. Responses were analyzed based on Beebe et al.’s (1990) refusal taxonomy and Scollon et al.’s (2012) politeness system. The findings indicated that both the Iraqi and Malaysian learners preferred the indirect refusal strategies in marriage proposals, as well as the hierarchical politeness in the form of independence strategies regardless of t
... Show MoreBackground. Alopecia areata (AA) is a common form of noncicatricial hair loss of unknown cause, affecting 0.1-0.2% of the general population. Most evidence supports the hypothesis that it is disease of the hair follicle of autoimmune nature mediated by T-cells, with important cytokine role. Objective of the Study. The objective of this study is to study the association and changes in serum levels of interleukin-15 (IL-15) and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) in patients with AA in relation to the type, activity, and disease duration. Patients and Methods. Thirty-eight patients with AA and 22 individuals without the disease as controls were enrolled in this case-controlled study conducted in the Department of Dermatology in the Al-K
... Show MoreA laboratory experiment was conducted in the labs of Seeds Testing and Certification Department, Ministry of Agriculture in 2017 to improve germination and seedling growth in primed sorghum seeds by different concentrations and soaking durations of acids of gibberellic (GA3)(distilled water, 75, 150 and 300 mg l-1), salicylic (SA)(distilled water, 40, 70 and 100 mg l-1) and soaking duration (SD)(12 and 24 h). Factorial experiment in completely randomized design was applied with four r replications. The results showed the superiority of the two soaking treatments with GA3 (300 mg l-1) and SA (70 mg l-1) at germination ratio, radicle and plumule lengths, seedling dry weight and seedling vigour index (81.3%, 2.7 cm, 8.9 cm, 0.081 mg and 984) a
... Show MoreBackground: Patients with decompensated cirrhosis are often given therapeutic and prophylactic drugs. Polypharmacy raises both the likelihood of prescription errors and the complications associated with drugs. Clinical pharmacists are excellent at recognizing, addressing, and preventing clinically significant drug-related problems.
Objectives: Identification types of pharmacist interventions to address drug-related problems in patients with decompensated cirrhosis and assess the acceptance/implementation of these recommendations. And identify patient factors associated with accepting pharmacist recommend
... Show MoreSubstantial research has been performed on Building Information Modeling (BIM) in various topics, for instance, the use and benefit of BIM in design, construction, sustainable environment building, and Facility assets over the past several years. Although there are various studies on these topics, Building Information Modeling (BIM) awareness through facilities management is still relatively poor. The researcher's interest is increased in BIM study is based heavily upon the perception that it can facilitate the exchange and reuse of information during various project phases. This property and others can be used in the Iraqi Construction industry to motivate the government to eliminate the change resistance to use innovat
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