Egyptian women's perspectives on female genital mutilation

The present project is an exploratory study about the perspectives and attitudes of Egyptian women towards the act of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM). To explore these perspectives, the principle investigator interviewed 12 Egyptian women in Alexandria, Egypt in 2015. Participants’ age ranged between 23 and 74 years. Interviews were translated, transcribed, and the content analyzed using a thematic content analysis. The five identified themes were: the view on FGM in Egypt vs. around the world, the origin of FGM, FGM’s role in religion vs. culture in Egypt, the impact of FGM on a woman’s private life, and FGM’s role in the future of Egyptian women. Data was then analyzed using data emmersion for content related to those themes. The resulting paper identifies reports on findings related to the themes, in effort to present a more holistic idea of the facilitators, barriers, and norms surrounding FGM

Heat Transfer of Non-Newtonian Drag Reducing Flow in Porous Media

Forced convection heat transfer for non-Newtonian drag reduction (polyethylene oxide) with heat flux is experimentally studied in a pipe filled with plastic spheres porous media. Along the pipeline, installing pumping stations is expensive; reducing the drag inside the pipe is better. The effect of PEO concentration on the heat transfer properties in the pipe is studied. The experiments are used to demonstrate the effect of changing Reynolds number and PEO concentrations on Nusselt number of the water and polymer solutions for different diameter ratios (d/D) and different concentrations. In the experiments, the test section is a circular pipe filled with plastic spheres of different diameters (3.3, 5.5, and 6.8 mm) covered by an electric heater of nickel-chromium with a mica sheet to warm the test section with uniform heat flux (UHF). Thermocouples (k-Type) are used to measure the temperatures of water and different concentrations of polyethylene oxide solution (50, 100, 150, and 200 ppm). The results show that Nusselt number increases with increasing Reynolds number in water and polymer solutions (PEO). The local Nusselt number and Nusselt number increase with increasing diameter ratios (d/D) of porous media for water and polymer solutions (PEO). The thermal entrance length is independent on PEO concentration and the diameter ratios but depends only on Reynolds number. Correlations of the thermal entrance length as a function of Reynolds number and of Nusselt number as a functions of Reynolds number and diameter ratio (d/D) are obtained

Heat Transfer of Non-Newtonian Drag Reducing Flow in Porous Media

Forced convection heat transfer for non-Newtonian drag reduction (polyethylene oxide) with heat flux is experimentally studied in a pipe filled with plastic spheres porous media. Along the pipeline, installing pumping stations is expensive; reducing the drag inside the pipe is better. The effect of PEO concentration on the heat transfer properties in the pipe is studied. The experiments are used to demonstrate the effect of changing Reynolds number and PEO concentrations on Nusselt number of the water and polymer solutions for different diameter ratios (d/D) and different concentrations. In the experiments, the test section is a circular pipe filled with plastic spheres of different diameters (3.3, 5.5, and 6.8 mm) covered by an electric heater of nickel-chromium with a mica sheet to warm the test section with uniform heat flux (UHF). Thermocouples (k-Type) are used to measure the temperatures of water and different concentrations of polyethylene oxide solution (50, 100, 150, and 200 ppm). The results show that Nusselt number increases with increasing Reynolds number in water and polymer solutions (PEO). The local Nusselt number and Nusselt number increase with increasing diameter ratios (d/D) of porous media for water and polymer solutions (PEO). The thermal entrance length is independent on PEO concentration and the diameter ratios but depends only on Reynolds number. Correlations of the thermal entrance length as a function of Reynolds number and of Nusselt number as a functions of Reynolds number and diameter ratio (d/D) are obtained

Conceptualisation, measurement, and validation of consumer-brand identification : a social identity theory perspective

Of particular importance to academics and practitioners in the marketing discipline is the ability to identify means of building deep, committed and enduring relationships with customers. Consumer-brand identification has been proposed as a useful construct in understanding the underlining mechanisms that explain relationships between consumers and brands. Despite the surge in interest in examining identification in the organisational settings, little attention has been paid to the investigation of the notion of identification in the branding context. Following a systematic review of relevant peer-reviewed articles in six major electronic databases, published between 1989 and 2013, three limitations were apparent (a) the lack of clear unequivocal definition of consumer identification, (b) doubts over discriminant validity between consumer identification and similar marketing constructs, and (c) limited evidence of reliability or validity for most available measures. Informed by these issues, a theoretically grounded conceptualisation and measurement of consumer-brand identification construct were developed. Specifically, three comprehensive phases were conducted to develop a reliable, valid and parsimonious consumer-brand identification scale. Following item generation from literature review and two expert surveys, these items in conjunction with related constructs and existing measures of identification were administered to two independent samples. Numerous exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) were employed to purify the scale, determine the dimensionality of the construct, assess the internal consistency of the scale, and support its convergent, discriminant and predictive validity. These analyses found support for a second-order consumer-brand identification construct comprising of five first-order factors: cognitive identification, affective identification, public evaluation, private evaluation, and emotional responses. Using a third new sample, the newly developed scale was then incorporated into a full structural model to assess its nomologicalvalidity.This thesis contributes to the identification theory and practice by, first, offering a theoretically grounded conceptualisation of consumer-brand identification and delineating the construct of interest from similarly related constructs. Second, by developing a valid, reliable and parsimonious scale that reflects the multidimensional conceptualisation of the construct. Third, by utilising the new measure to study underexplored antecedents and consequences to the newly conceptualised consumer-brand identification construct. Finally, the findings would help researchers and managers gain a better understanding of the phenomenon of identification and factors under which identification is likely to occur that can derive advocacy or championing behaviour. In addition, consumer-brand identification scale might facilitate the measurement of identification in future empirical studies and could be a useful tool for managers to determine the level of identification of both current and potential consumers

The Right to a Fair Trial before The European Court of Human Rights

Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) guarantees the right to a fair trial, applies to disputes relating to civil rights and obligations as well as to criminal charges. The right to a fair trial includes, inter alia, the right of access to a court, the right to be heard and the equality of arms between the parties. This challenging new work elucidates the meaning of the fair trial and looks at the fair trials jurisprudence of the ECHR.Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights has become the defining standard within Europe for determining the fairness of criminal proceedings. Its success has been attributed to the fact that it is not based on a particular model of criminal procedure

Testing of leakage current failure in ASIC devices exposed to total ionizing dose environment using design for testability techniques

Due to the advancements in technology, electronic devices have been relied upon to operate under harsh conditions. Radiation is one of the main causes of different failures of the electronics devices. According to the operation environment, the sources of the radiation can be terrestrial or extra-terrestrial. For terrestrial the devices can be used in nuclear reactors or biomedical devices where the radiation is man-made. While for the extra- terrestrial, the devices can be used in satellites, the international space station or spaceships, where the radiation comes from various sources like the Sun. According to the operation environment the effects of radiation differ. These effects falls under two categories, total ionizing dose effect (TID) and single event effects (SEEs). TID effects can be affect the delay and leakage current of CMOS circuits negatively. The affects can therefore hinder the integrated circuits\u27 operation. Before the circuits are used, particularly in critical radiation heavy applications like military and space, testing under radiation must be done to avoid any failures during operation. The standard in testing electronic devices is generating worst case test vectors (WCTVs) and under radiation using these vectors the circuits are tested. However, the generation of these WCTVs have been very challenging so this approach is rarely used for TIDs effects. Design for testability (DFT) have been widely used in the industry for digital circuits testing applications. DFT is usually used with automatic test patterns generation software to generate test vectors against fault models of manufacturer defects for application specific integrated circuit (ASIC.) However, it was never used to generate test vectors for leakage current testing induced in ASICs exposed to TID radiation environment. The purpose of the thesis is to use DFT to identify WCTVs for leakage current failures in sequential circuits for ASIC devices exposed to TID. A novel methodology was devised to identify these test vectors. The methodology is validated and compared to previous non DFT methods. The methodology is proven to overcome the limitation of previous methodologies

Cloning, Expression, Primary Structure, and Insertion Mutagenesis of the Pyruvate Formate-Lyase Enzyme of Aeromonas Hydrophila.

The pyruvate formate-lyase enzyme (Pfl), a key enzyme in alcoholic fermentation, catalyzes the anaerobic conversion of pyruvate into acetyl-CoA and formate in prokaryotes. The pyruvate formate-lyase gene (pfl) of the facultative anaerobe Aeromonas hydrophila was cloned and sequenced. Subsequently, the Pfl was characterized based on the deduced amino acid sequence and evaluated in vivo following insertion mutagenesis. Finally, the pathogenesis of a defined mutant was compared to wild type A. hydrophila in channel catfish. The pfl of A. hydrophila was identified from two recombinant pBluescript SK(-) clones excised from a $\lambda$ ZAP II phage library. Both clones carried the same 9.15 Kbp insert, oriented in opposite directions, and expressed two polypeptide of 85 & 82 KDa sizes regardless of isopropyl-B-D-thiogalactoside induction. Dideoxy sequencing of a 4.8 Kbp subclone expressing the two immunoreactive polypeptides identified a 2280 base open reading frame (ORF), with 70% sequence homology to the E. coli pfl. The ORF encodes an 85.5 KDa protein containing 760 amino acid residues with 85.5% homology to the E. coli Pfl peptide sequence. The Aeromonas Pfl secondary structure consists of 46% $\alpha$-helices and 39% $\beta$-sheets. Catalytically important adjacent cysteine residues in E. coli Pfl at positions 419-420 were also located at the same positions in the A. hydrophila Pfl. A free radical identified at glycine-735 residue in the cloned enzyme was also in the same position as in E. coli Pfl. A candidate trypsin cleavage site, located between arginine residues at 624-625 positions in A. hydrophila Pfl, was confirmed by the presence of a 68 KDa trypsin resistant fragment. Insertion mutagenesis of the pfl with a kanamycin resistant marker (kan) resulted in isolating an obligate aerobic A. hydrophila pfl mutant strain, which was characterized phenotypically by anaerobic growth on pyruvate and antibiotic resistance profile. Polymerase chain reaction experiments confirmed the insertion of the kan marker into the mutant chromosome and the occurrence of a double-crossover homologous recombination event. No significant difference was noticed in the LD\sb{50} in channel catfish injected with either the parent or the mutant strain, indicating that the Pfl may not play an important role in the pathogenesis of acute A. hydrophila infections

Enhanced Oil Recovery Using Seismic Excitation

The major factor in increasing residual oil recovery depends on controlling interfacial forces inside the reservoir. In a water wet system, a thin water film covers the matrix material and water forms a continuous phase. When the oil saturation drops below some critical value, it forms a droplets and become dispersed in the water phase. To pass the dispersed droplets through pore throat constrictions, large forces are required. Such large force can be provided by water injection. However, since water is the continuous phase, it bypasses the oil droplets instead of pushing them through the constrictions. A numerical study was performed in order to understand the effect of the seismic waves on the oil droplet trapped in capillary pore throat. The results show that periodic variation of pressure at the pore throat has a nudging effect on the trapped oil drops and in the process it squeezes them through the pore throat constriction

Toward Creative Cities: Assessing the Culturally Emerging Creative Doha City- Qatar

Through the holistic visionary plan 2032, Qatar is aiming for a future knowledge and economic creative based development. It is taking one main pillar in the country vision strategy to build a well-established human force that will sustain the country growth. Doha City is assigned to be a cultural and creative hub that attracts creative workers from around the globe and establish its local creative human capital. Since the 2011-2016 national development strategy plan varied initiatives have been serving the country to put itself on the creative map such as Katara and Qatar museum authority investments. In that regard, one can raise two essential questions: 1) is this vision enough to start the creative culture economy and reduce its dependency on the oil-based economy to accelerate the creative city growth? 2) or do we need to adjust our city planning to flourish and support Doha creative cultural aspect? This study responds to these questions in the analysis chapter of it through running a comparative study of the creative cultural state of Doha before the strategic plan and after it, to assess the move toward the creative city planning direction. In the end, strategies are proposed to promote the level of activities in Doha physical environment to support its global position