Promoting local economic development in Egypt: Challenges and lessons learned from the case of Fayoum governorate

Local Economic Development continues to emerge as an important and a viable tool for achieving economic growth, creating new jobs, increasing income level, and improving the quality of life in different local communities, in both industrialized and developing countries. There are a number of different approaches to promoting Local Economic Development (LED), yet they all share a common rationale: assessing the local economy, identifying different challenges and economic potentials, coming up with a set of proposed interventions and projects, and collaborating with different local and national actors to implement those interventions and projects. Local administrations in Egypt, however, have little experience in adopting such comprehensive strategic planning approach to plan, manage, and develop their local economies. This study adopts a qualitative research approach by analyzing in-depth interviews conducted with a number of relevant local and national actors in order to explore one of the most solid LED promotion experiences ever to take place in Egypt: Fayoum LED Promotion Experience. The study was able to identify a number of external and internal challenges that hindered the full realization of the LED promotion process objectives in Fayoum. The main recommendations to overcome those challenges as suggested by this study include: institutionalize the LED promotion process, guarantee a formal political commitment to the process, develop a national framework for LED promotion, and move towards a decentralized local administration system. The study also proposes an alternative participatory partnership-based approach; Government-Led Active Partnership Approach (GAPA), that is designed on the assumption that local administrations have to promote LED within the currently identified challenges

Odious Debt Doctrine: a legal perspective

International law obliges states to respect their obligations in accordance with the principle of pacta sunt servanda unless the obligation is odious. Citizens of any state should depend on state practice and judicial precedent to repudiate obligation that originated odiously. Jurisprudential and legal controversy arose about the extent of the state’s commitment with debt arising from those obligations. Jurisprudence and the judiciary tried to set a definition of odious debt since the eighteenth century. The difficulty of the definition arises in determining when and how debt is odious, and what are the criteria of odious debt. Another difficulty arises in finding sources of international law to cancel and reject such debt. This paper will be primarily concerned with identifying the precise definition of and normative basis for the doctrine of odious debt in international law. It also concerned with the international legal standards that states can rely on to get rid of that debt. The legal principles are founded on the sources of international law laid down in Article 38 of the Statute of ICJ. Through a review of different sources of international law, the conclusion is that odious debts arise without the consent of the population, without benefit to them, and with the knowledge of the creditor. The paper also concludes that there are at least three legal grounds for repudiating odious debt

Numerical investigation of the combustion processes of various combustion regimes

This thesis concerns numerical investigations of the combustion behaviour of various combustion regimes. The simulations are based on modelling the flow of the fuels in the combustion devices. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modelling and analysis were used in three different works. FLUENT software, which is based on the finite volume method, is used to carry out all the simulations. Firstly, numerical simulations were carried out to investigate the turbulent non-premixed combustion of a mixture of methane (CH4) 90% and nitrogen (N2) 10%, on volume basis, inside an axis-symmetric cylindrical chamber (base case). The objective is to investigate the turbulent flow, flame propagation, temperature and species concentration and evaluate the effects of different reduced reaction mechanisms of methane and the influence of various turbulence models on them. The turbulent combustion inside the chamber occurs under a condition for which the equivalence ratio (ɸ) of 1.04 is used. Instead of using fully detailed chemical kinetics schemes and to reduce the computational costs, four global reduced chemical kinetics mechanisms are employed in the combustion model and they are named as (M-I, M-II, M-III and M-IV). The simulations, in which M-I is used, are performed by Renolds-Averaged Navier Stokes (RANS) approach with the three two-equation k-ϵ closures (standard, realizable and RNG) employed to model the turbulent flow. Concerning the chemistry-turbulence interaction, the finite-rate/eddy-dissipation model (FR/ED) is used. The first two of the above kinetics schemes are two-step reaction mechanisms and the other two are first-step and five-step reaction mechanisms, respectively. The latter one is used to assess the capability of FR/ED model for modeling such a mechanism. The influence of thermal radiation is also investigated by means of P-1 model. The standard k-ϵ model and realizable k-ϵ model are also modified and used in the course of simulations. Moreover, the reaction mechanism (M-II) is optimized to see its effects on the combustion process. The results are compared with the experimental data and gave good agreement. It is found that the best results are generally obtained using the modified standard k-ϵ model. Moreover, the simulation results using the realizable turbulence model are found to have large discrepancies compared to the experimental data. In comparison with the experimental data, the optimization of M-II (Em = 1.6x108 J/kmol) is found to have good results in terms of temperature. Increasing the dilution of the fuel by N2 is investigated. Four cases, CH4 (85, 80, 75 and 100%) on volume basis, are performed. The latter one concerns the combustion of pure methane. The results are compared with the base case and found that the base case is the best compromise to obtain the highest temperature in inside the chamber. Secondly, an axis-symmetric combustion model based on the Euler-Lagrange approach was formulated to model the combustion of pulverized bituminous coal. Three cases with three different char oxidation models are presented. In case1 and case 2, the diffusion and kinetic/diffusion global char models are used, respectively. Whereas, to model char oxidation in case 3, the multi-surface reactions model is used. The volatiles released during the devolatilization stage, which is modelled using a single kinetic rate model, are treated as one species and its combustion is modelled using the FR/ED model. The predicted results have good agreement with the available experimental data and the best predictions are obtained from case 3. The results showed that the combustion inside the reactor was affected by the particulate size. It is found that the burnout of the particle with the diameter of 16 μm at the exit of the furnace is 100%. Whereas, the burnout of the particles with diameters of 84, 154, 222, 291 μm is approximately 86, 75, 35, 33, 29 %, respectively. A number of simulations were carried out to find the best values of parameters suitable for predicting NOx pollutants. The chemical formation and reduction rates of NO are calculated by post-processing data obtained from the previously reacting flow simulations. This method is computationally efficient. For volatile-N is assumed that the nitrogen is released via the intermediates HCN and NH3. For char-N path way, it is assumed that all the nitrogen is released via the intermediate HCN. It is found that the assumption of the partition of volatile-N by 52% HCN, 10% NH3 and 38% NO has the best agreement with the experiment data. The influence of different operating parameters on the combustion process and NOx formation was investigated as well. For the same operating conditions and the same particles size distribution, the combustion of pulverised biomass alone, represented by straw, was investigated followed by the investigation of its firing with coal. The former one show a promising results under such operating conditions. It is found that the temperature distribution when burning straw particles is nearly the same as that obtained from burning coal because all the saw particles are completely burned out inside the furnace when compared with the coal particles. The NOx model, in which the ratio of HCN to NH3 is suggested to be for the partitioning of volatile-N, shows that NO formation is reduced by approximately 20% for case I and 26% for case II at the exit of the furnace when compared to coal. For the latter one the results of co-firing blends of coal with 10, 20, 30 and 40% share of biomass are presented and show the influence of co-firing on the combustion process. Co-firing of straw with coal enhances the combustion behaviour and increases the burnout of coal particles compared to that of coal firing only. It is seen that the burnout of the particles with sizes 84, 154 and 222 μm is remarkably increased. On the other hand, the burnout of the other two particles (291 μm and 360 μm) does not show a great change. The share of 10% of straw shows the highest temperature. Thirdly, Two-phase computational modelling based on the Euler–Euler was developed to investigate the heterogeneous combustion processes of carbon particles inside a newly designed combustion chamber. A transient simulation was carried out for a small amount of carbon powder situated in a cup which was located at the centre of the combustion chamber. A heat source was provided to initiate the combustion with the air supplied by three injection nozzles. The combustion simulations are performed for particle sizes with different diameters (0.5mm, 1mm, 1.5mm, 2mm, 2.5mm and 3mm). The particle of 1mm diameter is assigned to the baseline case. The results show that the combustion is sustained in the chamber, as evidenced by the flame temperature. It is shown that, up to a time of 0.55 s, the higher temperature was gained from the case of carbon particles with the diameter of 3 mm and burning the carbon particles with a diameter of 0.5 mm produces lower temperature. This may be attributed to the residence time of the carbon particles and the design of the burner. The larger particles stay longer than the smaller ones inside the chamber. This may due to the reason that the smaller particles follow the streamlines of the continuous phase and increasing the particle size leads to that the larger particles may deviate from the streamlines of the continuous phase and their slip velocity may increase resulting in enhancing convective transports of heat and species concentrations. The influence of the chamber design was also investigated. The height of the chamber is doubled. With the same operating conditions, up to a time of approximately 0.55 s, it is found that burning carbon particles in the doubled height chamber produces higher temperature than the baseline case (particle diameter 1 mm) and after this time the opposite takes place. Most of the other cases do so

Personal variables, organisational variables and moral intensity dimensions underlying external auditors' ethical decision making: Egyptian evidence

Academic and professional attention towards ethics in business in general and audit ethics in particular has grown significantly following well-documented audit failures and corporate scandals. Several empirical studies have been carried out to investigate the factors underlying such auditors’ ethics. The majority has been done in the USA and other developed countries, often using undergraduate student convenience samples. They have provided clearly mixed results and have tended to focus on only one or two stages of the ethical decision making (EDM) model devised by Rest (1986). This study sought to build and improve on the previous research by investigating the impact of a broad set of personal, organisational, and issue-specific variables on three stages of external auditors’ EDM process. Moreover, it did so in a developing country, namely Egypt, which is the largest country by population in the MENA (Middle East and North Africa) region. This study hypothesised that personal variables (gender, age, educational level, position level, work experience, certification status, professional commitment, and personal moral philosophy), organisational variables (code of ethics, firms size, ethical climate types), and moral intensity dimensions are significantly related to the different stages of external auditors’ EDM process. Using a relatively large sample, data was collected via a questionnaire which include four context-based external audit ethics scenarios. An adapted Arabic version of the questionnaire translated using translation-back translation technique was administered to Egyptian participants and usable responses were received from 393 external auditors working for 19 international audit firms in Egypt. For each scenario, the EDM process was examined in terms of the recognition, judgment and intention stages of Rest’s model. While moral intensity was originally conceptualised as a six-dimensional construct, factor analysis revealed only two dimensions, which were named ‘perceived social pressure’ and ‘actual harm’. Results show that these two dimensions, particularly social pressure, are the strongest predictors of auditors’ three stages of EDM. Ethical climate types and personal moral philosophy also showed some significant results. Significant and positive results were also found regarding firm size, work experience, position level, and certification status. However, findings revealed that age, educational level, code of ethics, and professional commitment have very limited impact on auditors’ EDM stages. Interestingly, when gender differences were found, male auditors exhibited more ethical choices than females. Findings reinforces the need to give more attention to auditors’ socialisation and training, as well as the importance of continuing professional education to enhance auditors’ EDM abilities. Egyptian audit firms should also pay more attention to their organisational ethical infrastructure and maintain an organisational consensus regarding unethical acts. Using alternative methodologies and inclusion of the ethical behaviour stage in future studies, may aid future research in complementing these results, thus provide an enhanced understanding of auditors’ ethical decisions. At the very least, future studies should study all the first three stages, as in this research, rather than focusing on only one or two stages. Additionally, cross-cultural audit ethics studies represent a fruitful avenue for future research. The questionnaire used in this study could be used, with minimal adaptations, in other countries

Needle Stick and Sharp Injuries Among Healthcare Workers: A retrospective six-year study

Objectives: This study aimed to examine the proportion of needle stick and sharp injuries (NSSIs) among healthcare workers at King Hussein Medical Center (KHMC), Amman, Jordan. Methods: All NSSI reports referred from departments at KHMC to the Preventive Medicine Department between 2013–2018 were retrospectively reviewed. Proportion of NSSIs were calculated and stratified according to age, gender, job title, place and site of injury and the procedure/task during which the injury occurred. Results: There were a total of 393 NSSIs. A significant association was found between the proportion of NSSIs and all tested variables (P <0.001). The reported proportion of NSSIs was highest among nurses (39.7%) followed by cleaners (36.3%), physicians (10.4%), other workers (7.4%) and lab technicians (5.9%) during the study’s six-year period. Hospital wards were the most common locations (46.1%) where injuries took place. Injuries also occurred most frequently during medical waste collection (38.2%). Conclusion: The proportion of NSSIs was highest among nurses and cleaners. Safety policies and training among high-risk groups should be reviewed to reduce the risk of NSSIs. Multicentre studies at a national level should be conducted to examine whether this study’s findings reflect national trends.Keywords: Needlestick Injuries; Safety; Self Report; Nurses; Accident Prevention; Jordan

Effectiveness of Structured Nursing Teaching Program on Outcomes of Chronic Low Back Pain Patients Undergoing Radiofrequency Ablation

Background: Chronic low back pain is a full disorder that considers an important health problem. Aim: To evaluate the effectiveness of structured teaching program on outcomes of chronic low back pain patients undergoing radiofrequency ablation. Methods: A quasi-experimental research design has been utilized. Setting: Anesthesia and pain management department at the main Assiut University Hospital. Sample: Sixty low back pain patients undergoing radiofrequency ablation. They were randomly assigned in two groups of 30 patients each. Tools: three tools were utilized: Tool I: Structured interview patients' questionnaire. Tool II: Visual analogue pain scale and Tool III: "Modified Oswestry low back pain disability questionnaire" in addition, structured nursing teaching program. Results: More than half (53.3%) of the case group their age was from 18 to < 55 years, and the rest of them (46.7%) were older adults aged 55 years and more. 80% of the case group had good knowledge post implementation of the program. (100%) of the case group had worst pain intensity level which decrease to (46.7%) post program. 40% of case group had sever disability, which decreased to 30% post implementation of the program. there were significant relation between pain analogue scale and Oswestry low back pain disability scale in pre and post structured nursing teaching program regarding to occupation Conclusion: Structured nursing teaching program had an effective strategy to improve the patients’ outcomes through increasing patients' knowledge, and decreasing both pain intensity and physical disability in the case group versus the control group. Recommendation: Supervised structured teaching program should be carried out for all patients undergoing radiofrequency ablation about pre-and post-procedure instructions and helpful hints for a healthy back when standing, walking, sitting, sleeping, and lifting. Keywords: Chronic low back pain, Radiofrequency ablation, structured nursing teaching program. DOI: 10.7176/JHMN/65-08 Publication date: August 31st 201