The Halting Process of Democratization in the Arab World: Current Challenges and Prospects

Following the uprisings that began in 2010, a number of scholars leaped to hasty conclusions about the end of “Arab exceptionalism” in regard to democracy. More than half a decade later, however, the outcomes have generally been negative and disappointing, as some Arab countries have plunged into civil war and internal conflict that threaten their very existence as political entities. In other cases, the ruling elites have taken tentative steps on the path of political reform in an effort to divert the winds of change; alternatively, democratization has at times been considered a low priority in the face of perceived security and development challenges. All of these responses represent attempts by ruling regimes to modernize authoritarianism rather than to engage in genuine democratization. The aim of this chapter is to account for the most significant political and democratic trends in the Arab world in the wake of the Arab Spring and to analyze the current challenges facing the process of democratization

Renoprotective effect of red grape (Vitis vinifera L.) juice and dark raisins against hypercholesterolaemia-induced tubular renal affection in albino rats

Background: Red grape juice (RGJ) and dark raisins (DR) are rich in polyphenols and antioxidants. This study aimed to assess the efficacy of RGJ and DR in protec- ting the renal tubules against hypercholesteraemic-induced pathological changes.  Materials and methods: Forty albino rats divided into four groups (n = 10) were utilised in this study. They included the control, high cholesterol diet (HCD)-fed, HCD+RGJ-fed, and HCD+DR-fed groups. Body weight gain, food and water in- take, blood and insulin levels, lipid profile and kidney functions were assessed at the start of the experiment and after 12 weeks. The right kidney was dissected out and processed for both light and electron microscopic examination. Desmin and cytokeratin antibodies were utilised as histologic markers to assess the integrity of the proximal (PTs) and distal tubules (DTs) of the kidney.  Results: Administration of HCD resulted in hypercholesterolaemia in rats as evi- denced by the lipid profile. The PTs of hypercholesteraemic rats appeared dilated with hyaline casts and mitochondria in most of the tubular cells were affected. Immunohistochemical assessment revealed affection of both PTs and DTs. Both RGJ and DR, when administered along with the HCD for 12 weeks, improved the lipid profile, kidney functions as well as the histologic and cellular changes-induced by hypercholesterolaemia in the rats. The effect of raisins was superior to RGJ which might be due to its high contents of fibres and proteins.  Conclusions: This study highlighted the importance of supplementation of red grape and raisins in protection against the harmful effects induced by deposition of fat on the renal tubules’ structure and function.

Developing an adaptive protection scheme towards promoting the deployment of distributed renewable sources in modern distribution networks: operational simulation phase.

The large-scale integration of renewables into the electricity grid as distributed generation sources for providing clean energy supply together with the recent introduction of the smart grid concept, have accelerated the need to modernize the existing protection schemes to accommodate the challenges originated from distributed generation. This paper presents an adaptive protection scheme that has been developed to allow automatic adjustment of optimal relay settings in response to multiple network topologies and unexpected variations arising from renewable energy systems integration towards promoting their deployment in modern distribution networks. A Simulink model is developed to simulate the operation of the adaptive protection scheme, being interlinked to a linear-programming technique to allow optimizing the relay settings in response to dynamic changes of network topology associated with the integration of distributed generation sources. The performance of the developed adaptive protection scheme in accommodating the dynamic changes of network topology has been assessed under two proposed network topologies using a small-scale network that has been built in the lab as part of experimental work for the purpose of implementing the adaptive control unit. Results have demonstrated the effectiveness of the developed approach in optimizing the relay settings in response to the subjected topology changes, achieving minimum relay trip times while ensuring a suitable relay coordination is satisfied in each of the tested network topologies

Towards digitalized and automated substations: implementation of adaptive protection control unit and monitoring system for modern distribution networks under increased hosting capacity of distributed renewable sources.

Maximizing the hosting capacity of modern distribution networks to accommodate more distributed renewable sources is key driver to realise energy system security and Net-Zero carbon goals. Protection systems under increased share of renewable sources became more challenging with diverse topology changes originated from the addition, disconnection, or islanding of distributed generation to secure increasing energy demands. This paper aims to implement an adaptive protection control unit interlinked with an interactive monitoring system to enable the real-world application of smart adaptive protection schemes for modern distribution networks under increased hosting capacity of distributed renewable sources. An adaptive protection control kit is experimentally developed to enable the automatic adjustment of optimal relay settings in response to network topology changes arising from the integration of distributed generation. A set of relay settings are pre-optimized within a small-scale meshed network under possible network topologies and stored offline via a master microcontroller which then uses the online breaker status to identify the corresponding network topology and accordingly adjust the pre-optimized relay settings. A human machine interface is further designed and interlinked with the experimentally developed control kit via a slave microcontroller, providing real-time data of actual current measurements and waveforms together with topological changes and self-adaptation of pre-optimized relay settings. Experimental results showed successful adjustment of pre-optimized relay settings in response to topological changes while achieving coordination time intervals within acceptable limits under the tested network topologies

Evolution of second trimester low implanted placenta to previa at term: a prospective cohort study

Background: The objective of this study is to identify the percentage of low implanted placenta (LIP) at second trimester of pregnancy and identify the risk factors of its persistence to placenta previa (PP) at term.Methods: Through a registered prospective cohort study conducted at tertiary hospital in Upper Egypt, authors screened all pregnant ladies comes to present facility for antenatal second trimester USG between 18-24 weeks gestation. All participants interviewed for detailed risk factors of placenta previa. Those diagnosed to have a LIP (≤1.5 cm from the internal os) had had TVS to confirm the exact distance between the lower edge of the placenta and the internal os. Serial USG had been done every 4 weeks up to delivery to measure the same distance. The primary outcome was the percentage of LIP at 18-24 weeks. Logistic regression analysis was performed to predict the risk factors for PP at term.Results: Through screening of 1000 pregnant lady, LIP had been identified in (52 cases) 5.2% of pregnant women between 18-24 weeks. This percentage dropped gradually to reach 1.3% at 36 weeks of gestation and at time of delivery. The logistic regression analysis demonstrated that the distance between the internal os and the lower edge of the placenta between 18-24 weeks was the single significant variable associated with PP at term (p<0.001, odds ratio 0.319, 95% CI 0.20-0.50). However, excluding the distance from the regression model demonstrated other risk factors as previous miscarriage, previous cesarean section (CS), and history of multiple pregnancies and history of previous PP.Conclusions: About 5.0% of pregnant women have LIP at the second trimester of pregnancy (18-24 weeks) and only 25.0 % of them remain placenta previa at term. A cut-off value of 10 mm between the internal os and the lower edge of the placenta is the most important predictor of development of PP

Cisplatin augments the anti-schistosomal effect of praziquantel in a schistosoma-infected cancer model

Schistosomiasis is the third most devastating tropical disease worldwide caused by blood flukes of the genus Schistosoma. Praziquantel (PZQ) is the drug of choice for treating all species of schistosomes. However, PZQ kills only adult Schistosoma worms, not immature stages. The inability of PZQ to abort early infection or prevent re-infection, and the lack of prophylactic effect prompt the need for novel drugs and strategies for the prevention of schistosomiasis. Tumor burden can be developed in Schistosoma-infected patients. The present study aimed to determine the host responses to mutual interaction between cancer, represented by Ehrlich ascites, and infection, represented by Schistosomiasis. Mice infected with Schistosoma and challenged with tumor 4-5 weeks later showed the same anti-schistosomal (worm and egg burden) and antitumor (total tumor cell count and mouse survival) parameters when compared to mice infected with Schistosoma alone or challenged with tumor cells alone. As expected, combinatorial treatment with PZQ and cisplatin of Schistosoma-infected mice that were challenged with tumor cell line decreased the tumor burden as well as the worm and egg burden after treatment as compared to the non-treated controls; while the worm burden and egg counts were significantly decreased (P &lt;0.001) in treated group (VI) treated with cisplatin (0.5 mg/kg), group (VII) treated with cisplatin (2 mg/kg), group (VIII) treated with PZQ/ cisplatin (0.5 mg/kg) and group (IX) treated with PZQ / cisplatin (2 mg/kg) by 44.55% , 74%, 100% and 97.8% in worm burden, and by 47%, 78.7%, 96% and 97% in liver egg count , respectively than that of group (II) non treated S. mansoni infected alone and (IV) non treated S. mansoni/EAC alone. Also, Group IX caused a significant reduction (P &lt;0.05) in worm burden than that of group VI. Also, total ascetic volume and the tumor cell counts in Ehrlich's ascites carcinoma (EAC)-cells were significantly decreased (P &lt;0.001) in groups VIII and IX than that of the group (III) non-treated (EAC) inoculated alone. There was no mutual interaction between schistosomiasis infection and tumor burden. Also, whereas, PZQ did not affect on the antitumor parameters, cisplatin even at low doses had anti-schistosomal effects

Hiding data in images using steganography techniques with compression algorithms

Steganography is the science and art of secret communication between two sides that attempt to hide the content of the message. It is the science of embedding information into the cover image without causing a loss in the cover image after embedding.Steganography is the art and technology of writing hidden messages in such a manner that no person, apart from the sender and supposed recipient, suspects the lifestyles of the message. It is gaining huge attention these days as it does now not attract attention to its information's existence. In this paper, a comparison of two different techniques is given. The first technique used Least Significant Bit (LSB) with no encryption and no compression. In the second technique, the secret message is encrypted first then LSB technique is applied. Moreover, Discrete Cosine Transform (DCT) is used to transform the image into the frequency domain. The LSB algorithm is implemented in spatial domain in which the payload bits are inserted into the least significant bits of cover image to develop the stego-image while DCT algorithm is implemented in frequency domain in which the stego-image is transformed from spatial domain to the frequency domain and the payload bits are inserted into the frequency components of the cover image.The performance of these two techniques is evaluated on the basis of the parameters MSE and PSNR

Monocaprin eye drop formulation to combat antibiotic resistant gonococcal blindness

Abstract: Neisseria gonorrhoeae bacteria are acknowledged as an urgent threat to human health because this species has developed resistances to all of the antibiotics used clinically to treat its infections. N. gonorrhoeae causes the sexually transmitted disease gonorrhoea, but also causes blindness when the bacteria infect the eyes. Infants are particularly susceptible, acquiring the infection from their mothers at birth. We have shown that the monoglyceride monocaprin rapidly kills N. gonorrhoeae and other bacterial species and is non-irritating in ocular assays. Here we show that the physical and chemical properties of monocaprin make it ideal for use in a thickened eye drop formulation to combat eye infections. Monocaprin-containing formulations were assessed using analytical techniques and for antimicrobial activity in vitro and in ex vivo infections. Monocaprin-containing formulations retained activity after three years and are non-irritating, unlike preparations of povidone iodine in our assays. A recommended formulation for further development and investigation is 0.25% monocaprin in 1% HPMC with 1% polysorbate 20