A study of the climate of Egypt with special reference to agriculture

This thesis contains a study of the climate of Egypt with special reference to agriculture. It is organised in three main sections. The main body of the thesis, beginning with Chapter 3 (Temperatures in Egypt), deals with surface, earth and water temperatures in detail. Analysis of daily maximum temperatures at selected stations during the 15 year period (1960 - 1974) showed that spring is the period during which the frequency and severity of hot spells is greatest. Analysis of precipitation over Egypt showed that the rainy season in Egypt occurs between October and May and the maximum rainfall over the coastal Mediterranean region occurs in January, but in Middle and Upper Egypt this maximum occurs in October and May. Evaporation and evapotranspiration was estimated using the Penman equation and the Thornthwaite formula for selected stations in Egypt. These indicated that the evaporation and evapotranspiration values for each month are very high at Aswan, Kharga and Dakhla stations, in comparison to Alexandria and Tanta. The main weather features which are sufficient to specify what is called Khamsin weather have been analysed. These are excessively high surface temperatures and extremely low humidities, associated with the invasion of south and south-east winds which produce rising dust and duststorms. It is also seen that there are two types of Khamsin depressions. The first originates over the Atlantic and the second forms to the south of the Atlas mountains. Factor analysis techniques have been used to classify the climate of Egypt. The results showed that the climate of Egypt can basically be divided into two climatic zones. The first comprises the Mediterranean Coastal area, including the Delta. The second zone covers the rest of the country south of Cairo. Multiple regression equations have been used to explain the relationships between the crop yields and selected climatic variables. The results derived show that the multiple regression equations analysing climatic data have good predictive qualities in terms of annual yields

Geometry of Evolving Plane Curves Problem via Lie Group Analysis

The purpose of the present work is to construct new geometrical models for motion of plane curves. We have obtained nonlinear partial differential equations and have discussed the solutions of these equations using symmetry groups methods. Also, geometric interpretation for these solutions are given through the Gaussian and mean curvatures to the soliton surfaces attached to the solution of the evolving problem. Key Words: Motion of curve; Symmetry groups; Monge for

The Impact of Corporate Governance on Agency Costs in Jordanian Service Companies

The objective of this study investigates the impact of corporate governance (CG) on agency costs (AC) in Jordanian service companies. The analysis is conducted using the random-effects model on a sample of (42) service companies listed in the Amman Stock Exchange, during the period (2012-2018). Independent variables are used (Board Size, CEO Duality, Audit Committee, Managerial Compensation, Dividend, & Leverage). AC are measured by Asset Turnover Ratio (AT), Selling, General & Administrative Expense Ratio (SG&A) & Free Cash Flow (FCF). This study also includes three control variables: firm size, firm growth & firm profitability. The results of this study, according to the AT index, leverage increases AC through decreasing AT ratio, and this indicates that management uses the borrowed funds in an ineffective manner. The results, according to the SG&A index, are that AC caused by squandering the companies resources on managerial privileges and discretionary expenses are low in large companies and in companies that have high profits. While the results, according to the FCF index, are that the separating of the positions of chairman of the board and CEO & dividend decrease AC through decreasing FCF available under management control, and we find AC caused by possible misuse of FCF are more existing in large companies and in companies that have high profits. This study recommends the Jordanian service companies pay a dividend to shareholders and recommends the Jordanian legislative bodies oblige companies to apply some CG mechanisms, instead of compliance or explain approach. An example includes separating the positions of chairman of the board and CEO for their effective role in reducing AC through reducing FCF available under management control

Kynurenine 3-Monooxygenase gene associated with Nicotine initiation and addiction: Analysis of novel regulatory features at 5' and 3'-Regions

© 2018 Aziz, Abdel-Salam, Al-Obaide, Alobydi and Al-Humaish. Tobacco smoking is widespread behavior in Qatar and worldwide and is considered one of the major preventable causes of ill health and death. Nicotine is part of tobacco smoke that causes numerous health risks and is incredibly addictive; it binds to the α7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (α7nAChR) in the brain. Recent studies showed α7nAChR involvement in the initiation and addiction of smoking. Kynurenic acid (KA), a significant tryptophan metabolite, is an antagonist of α7nAChR. Inhibition of kynurenine 3-monooxygenase enzyme encoded by KMO enhances the KA levels. Modulating KMO gene expression could be a useful tactic for the treatment of tobacco initiation and dependence. Since KMO regulation is still poorly understood, we aimed to investigate the 5' and 3'-regulatory factors of KMO gene to advance our knowledge to modulate KMO gene expression. In this study, bioinformatics methods were used to identify the regulatory sequences associated with expression of KMO. The displayed differential expression of KMO mRNA in the same tissue and different tissues suggested the specific usage of the KMO multiple alternative promoters. Eleven KMO alternative promoters identified at 5'-regulatory region contain TATA-Box, lack CpG Island (CGI) and showed dinucleotide base-stacking energy values specific to transcription factor binding sites (TFBSs). The structural features of regulatory sequences can influence the transcription process and cell type-specific expression. The uncharacterized LOC105373233 locus coding for non-coding RNA (ncRNA) located on the reverse strand in a convergent manner at the 3'-side of KMO locus. The two genes likely expressed by a promoter that lacks TATA-Box harbor CGI and two TFBSs linked to the bidirectional transcription, the NRF1, and ZNF14 motifs. We identified two types of microRNA (miR) in the uncharacterized LOC105373233 ncRNA, which are like hsa-miR-5096 and hsa-miR-1285-3p and can target the miR recognition element (MRE) in the KMO mRNA. Pairwise sequence alignment identified 52 nucleotides sequence hosting MRE in the KMO 3' UTR untranslated region complementary to the ncRNA LOC105373233 sequence. We speculate that the identified miRs can modulate the KMO expression and together with alternative promoters at the 5'-regulatory region of KMO might contribute to the development of novel diagnostic and therapeutic algorithm for tobacco smoking

CXCL16 and oxLDL are induced in the onset of diabetic nephropathy

Diabetic nephropathy (DN) is a major cause of end-stage renal failure worldwide. Oxidative stress has been reported to be a major culprit of the disease and increased oxidized low density lipoprotein (oxLDL) immune complexes were found in patients with DN. In this study we present evidence, that CXCL16 is the main receptor in human podocytes mediating the uptake of oxLDL. In contrast, in primary tubular cells CD36 was mainly involved in the uptake of oxLDL. We further demonstrate that oxLDL down-regulated α3-integrin expression and increased the production of fibronectin in human podocytes. In addition, oxLDL uptake induced the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in human podocytes. Inhibition of oxLDL uptake by CXCL16 blocking antibodies abrogated the fibronectin and ROS production and restored α3 integrin expression in human podocytes. Furthermore we present evidence that hyperglycaemic conditions increased CXCL16 and reduced ADAM10 expression in podocytes. Importantly, in streptozotocin-induced diabetic mice an early induction of CXCL16 was accompanied by higher levels of oxLDL. Finally immunofluorescence analysis in biopsies of patients with DN revealed increased glomerular CXCL16 expression, which was paralleled by high levels of oxLDL. In summary, regulation of CXCL16, ADAM10 and oxLDL expression may be an early event in the onset of DN and therefore all three proteins may represent potential new targets for diagnosis and therapeutic intervention in DN

Weingarten timelike tube surfaces around a spacelike curve,

Abstract The subject of this paper is the study of a timelike tube surface around the spacelike curve with timelike and spacelike binormal vectors in a three-dimensional Minkowski space E 3 1 . Moreover, we have discussed Weingarten and linear Weingarten conditions for this surface with respect to their curvatures; the mean curvature H , Gaussian curvature K and the second Gaussian curvature K II

أثر التصنيع الرشيق على اإلستراتيجيات التنافسية في شركات صناعة األلمنيوم األردنية

هدف المقال التع ّرف على أثر التصنيع الرشيق على االستراتيجيات التنافسية في شركات تصنيع األلمنيوم في األردن. حيث تم توزيع )135( استبانة على مديري األقسام وموظفي التصنيع وموظفي المبيعات ومهندسي اإلنتاج في )12( شركة من أصل )17( شركة متخصصة في صناعة األلمنيوم وذلك لغرض تحقيق هدف الدراسة. وتم استرجاع )114( استبانة منها فقط صالحة للتحليل، بعد ان تم فحص صدق ثبات االستبانة تم إدخالها على برنامج SPSS. وتم فحص صدق أداة الدراسة واختبار ثباتها باإلضافة إلى اختبار العالقات بين متغيرات الدارسة وتم استخدام فحص االنحدار الختبار الفرضيات. توصلت الدراسة إلى وجود تطبيق مرتفع لك ٍل من مرتكزات التصنيع الرشيق واالستراتيجيات التنافسية في شركات صناعة األلمنيوم األردنية. كما وأظهرت النتائج ّ أن هناك عالقة بين عناصر التصنيع الرشيق واالستراتيجيات التنافسية. كما تبّين أن هناك أثر للتصنيع الرشيق على االستراتيجيات التنافسية بشكل عام، حيث تبّين أن هناك أثراً ذا داللة إحصائية لمكونات التصنيع الرشيق )تنظيم موقع العمل، التصنيع الخلوي، والصيانة اإلنتاجية(، ولم يكن هناك أثر ذو داللة احصائية لكل من )اإلنتاج في الوقت المحدد، والتحسين المستمر( على االستراتيجيات التنافسية. وأوصت الدراسة بتطبيق مفهوم التصنيع الرشيق بكافة مرتكزاته في جميع القطاعات الصناعية في األردن؛ لما لها من أثر في رفع الميزة التنافسية لها