Dealing with the Increasing Public Debt in Egypt

The objective of this paper is to identify the magnitude of the public debt problem in Egypt and to provide some guidelines for policymakers in dealing with the increasing public debt. In the paper, the issue of public debt is looked at as a result of the interaction of fiscal policy and the economic performance, and not as a statistical concept only. It consists of four sections and an introduction. Section (1) provides an identification of the magnitude of the public debt problem in Egypt. Section (2) presents a forecast of the level of public debt in Egypt till the year 2020 using a VAR model. Section (3) provides a forecast for the size of the public debt in Egypt under various scenarios where both economic growth and fiscal policy were considered. Section (4) summarizes the findings and policy recommendations that came out of this study. The conclusions drawn from this research may be summarized as follows. (1) Based on the model used in the paper and public debt indicators, public debt in Egypt is expected to be sustainable till the year 2020. (2) Economic growth has a very strong impact on reducing public debt in Egypt. (3) Fiscal consolidation is very important in reducing public debt because of its impact on economic growth. However, in the process of fiscal consolidation, the Egyptian government has to consider rationalizing spending and not to cut investment spending

Tunnex: An Experiment System for Tunneling Through Rock

The expert system Tunnex provides an interactive consultation on the excavation of tunnels through rock. As a first step it examines the interdependence between rock quality, unsupported span and stand time of the excavation (the “O-S-T” relationship) to determine the likely overall behavior of tunnels of different diameters, the time available for installation of supports, and the optimum choice of tunnel diameter, single or twin tunnels when such choice is available. Stand-time considerations also guide decisions on the deed or otherwise for a pilot heading or staged excavation. Tunnex guides the user in forecasting primary and secondary support requirements and in the choice between drill-and-blast versus full-face boring alternatives. It provides blast design and TBM design and performance data to match any given set of ground conditions. It predicts rates of advance and requirements for muck handling and disposal. The expert system places at the disposal of the designer a broad range of well-know and well-established empirical correlations based on RMR, Q and other systems of ground classification as well as introducing some newly established correlations such as TBM performance data based on statistics provided by the Robbins Company. An example compares Tunnex predictions with those obtained without the benefit of an expert system. The predictions are closely similar, yet the Tunnex predictions were obtained much more quickly at a reduced cost. Evidently, machine intelligence tends to be less versatile than the human kind but can be useful tool when properly applied

Normative dimensions and symmetry of the lacrimal drainage system on dacryocystography: statistical analysis of morphometric characteristics

Background: Asymmetric lacrimal flow occurs in females more than males. We hypothesised that the normal lacrimal drainage system (LDS) may show subtle left-rightasymmetry in morphometry when imaged on dacryocystography (DCG).Materials and methods: We retrospectively reviewed 60 normal bilateral LDSs.Images were analysed for 7 parameters: (1) combined length of either the superioror inferior canaliculus plus common canaliculus, (2) angle of insertion of common canaliculus into lacrimal sac (LS), (3, 4) length and width of the LS, (5) length of thenasolacrimal duct (NLD), and (6, 7) width of proximal and distal NLD. We testedthe effect of independent variables (age, gender, and side) on each dependentvariable (length, width, or angle) using regression analysis. We used a Studentt-test for independent samples to statistically compare bilateral LDSs.Results: Patient median age was 62 years, and male:female ratio was 27:73. Mean dimensions and angles for all LDSs were: (1) 14.5 mm, (2) 57°,(3) 11.6 mm, (4) 2.1 mm, (5) 20.7 mm, (6) 1.4 mm, and (7) 1.8 mm. No independent variable affected variation in length, width, or angle. No significant difference emerged between dimensions of right and left LDSs in both sexes.Conclusions: A degree of affective lateralisation in the brain is known to result inlacrimal flow asymmetry after mood manipulation. We show that this is not reflected in LDS anatomy. Moreover, our detailed morphometric data can aid in therapeuticplanning of LDS luminal procedures, especially when DCG images of one LDS are used as a road map for contralateral interventions

Observation on hydatid cyst infection in Kordestan province (West of Iran) using epidemiological and seroepidemiological criteria

Echinococcosis is the major helminthic parasitic infection in Iran. The health hazard and economic loss in man and livestock is significant. In this study 3 major topics as the prevalence of hydatid cyst in human population, in livestock and echinococcosis in stray dogs, were studied. Total of 1114 serum samples in different age groups in Sanandaj and Divandareh area of Kurdestan province in west of Iran were examined by indirect immunoflurecent test (IFA). In Sanandaj area 3.3 and in Divandareh 9.5 of serum samples were positive for hydatidosis. In livestock using abattoir inspection the rate of infection was 51.9 and 28.02 for sheep and cattle, respectively. Nine stray dogs (44) autopsied in Sanandaj were positive for Echinococcosis

Secure smart contract-enabled control of battery energy storage systems against cyber-attacks

Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESSs) are an integral part of a sustainable and resilient smart grid. The security of such critical cyber-physical infrastructure is considered as a major priority for both industry and academia. In this paper, we propose a new distributed smart-contract based control approach of BESSs to enable collaborative and secure operations among them. We present a comprehensive discussion on how control strategies can be implemented as smart contracts and deployed on a distributed network of BESSs nodes in order to operate these storage systems according to secure consensus. To verify the effectiveness of the proposed method, we analyze the vulnerabilities of BESSs when controlled according to traditional schemes vs. smart-contract enabled control. Simulation results show that if individual BESSs achieve a certain maximum threshold of exploitability, then the network of distributed BESSs is more robust to cyber-attacks in smart contract-defined control. - 2019 Faculty of Engineering, Alexandria UniversityThe publication of this article was funded by the Qatar National Library.Scopu