Jordan University of Science and Technology

About: Jordan University of Science and Technology is a education organization based out in Irbid, Irbid, Jordan. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Medicine. The organization has 7582 authors who have published 13166 publications receiving 298158 citations. The organization is also known as: JUST.

Dentists’ Awareness, Perception, and Attitude Regarding COVID-19 and Infection Control: Cross-Sectional Study Among Jordanian Dentists

Abstract: Background: Despite the availability of prevention guidelines and recommendations on infection control, many dental practices lack the minimum requirements for infection control. Objective: This study aimed to assess the level of awareness, perception, and attitude regarding the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and infection control among Jordanian dentists. Methods: The study population consisted of dentists who worked in private clinics, hospitals, and health centers in Jordan. An online questionnaire was sent to a sample of Jordanian dentists in March 2020. The questionnaire was comprised of a series of questions about dentists’ demographic characteristics; their awareness of the incubation period, the symptoms of the disease, mode of transmission of COVID-19 and infection control measures for preventing COVID-19; and their attitude toward treating patients with COVID-19. Results: This study included a total of 368 dentists aged 22-73 years (mean 32.9 years, SD 10.6 years). A total of 112 (30.4%) dentists had completed a master or residency program in dentistry, 195 (53.0%) had received training in infection control in dentistry, and 28 (7.6%) had attended training or lectures regarding COVID-19. A total of 133 (36.1%) dentists reported that the incubation period is 1-14 days. The majority of dentists were aware of COVID-19 symptoms and ways of identifying patients at risk of having COVID-19, were able to correctly report known modes of transmission, and were aware of measures for preventing COVID-19 transmission in dental clinics. A total of 275 (74.7%) believed that it was necessary to ask patients to sit far from each other, wear masks while in the waiting room, and wash hands before getting in the dental chair to decrease disease transmission. Conclusions: Jordanian dentists were aware of COVID-19 symptoms, mode of transmission, and infection controls and measures in dental clinics. However, dentists had limited comprehension of the extra precautionary measures that protect the dental staff and other patients from COVID-19. National and international guidelines should be sent by the regional and national dental associations to all registered dentists during a crisis, including the COVID-19 pandemic, to make sure that dentists are well informed and aware of best practices and recommended disease management approaches.

A fuzzy multi-criteria decision making model for supplier selection

Abstract: This paper presents a hybrid fuzzy model for group Multi Criteria Decision Making (MCDM). A modified fuzzy DEMATEL model is presented to deal with the influential relationship between the evaluation criteria. The modified DEMATEL captures such relationship and divides the criteria into two groups, particularly, the cause group and the effect group. The cause group has an influence on the effect group where such influence is used to estimate the criteria weights. In addition, a modified TOPSIS model is proposed to evaluate the criteria against each alternative. Here, a fuzzy distance measure is used in which the distance from the Fuzzy Positive Ideal Solution (FPIS) and Fuzzy Negative Ideal Solution (FNIS) are calculated. The resulted distances were used to calculate the similarity to Ideal and Anti-ideal points. Later, an optimal membership degree (closeness coefficient) of each alternative is computed to estimate to which extent an alternative belongs to both FPIS and FNIS. The closer the degree of membership to FPIS and the farther from FNIS the more preferred the alternative. The membership degree is obtained by the optimization of a defined objective function that measures the degree to which an alternative is similar/dissimilar to the Ideal/Anti-Ideal solutions. The closeness coefficient is used to rank the alternatives. To better have a high contrast between the ranks of alternatives an optimization problem was introduced and solved to maximize the contrast. The presented hybrid model was applied on an industrial case study for the selection of cans supplier/suppliers at Nutridar Factory in Amman-Jordan to demonstrate the proposed model. Finally a sensitivity analysis is introduced to verify the resulting ranks of the available suppliers via testing different values of the used parameters. The sensitivity analysis has shown robust and valid results that are close to real preferences of the consulted experts.

High strength concrete containing natural pozzolan and silica fume

Abstract: Various combinations of a local natural pozzolan and silica fume were used to produce workable high to very high strength mortars and concretes with a compressive strength in the range of 69–110 MPa. The mixtures were tested for workability, density, compressive strength, splitting tensile strength, and modulus of elasticity. The results of this study suggest that certain natural pozzolan–silica fume combinations can improve the compressive and splitting tensile strengths, workability, and elastic modulus of concretes, more than natural pozzolan and silica fume alone. Furthermore, the use of silica fume at 15% of the weight of cement was able to produce relatively the highest strength increase in the presence of about 15% pozzolan than without pozzolan. This study recommends the use of natural pozzolan in combination with silica fume in the production of high strength concrete, and for providing technical and economical advantages in specific local uses in the concrete industry.