Use of social media by governments to enhance online civic engagement: The case of Egypt

This research examines the extent to which the use of social media by the Egyptian government in its communication with the public enhances online civic engagement. Its importance lies in the fact that several studies highlighted the benefits of the utilization of social media by governments in engaging with the public. This thesis defines civic engagement as the involvement of citizens in online activities that seek to address public issues through the social media platforms of the Egyptian government. It focuses on the five types of online civic engagement behavior as described by Denning (2001), i.e. collection of information, publication of information, dialogue, coordination of action, and lobbying decision makers. This study employs content analysis. Over a period of 15 months, a probability, simple random sample of 491 posts by three Facebook pages of Egyptian ministries and 2287 comments by the public on these Pages was analyzed. It reached four main conclusions. First, the Egyptian ministries use of social media contributes poorly to the strengthening of online civic engagement. Second, a linear, one-way model characterizes the type of communication conducted by the Egyptian ministries. Third, the content of the interaction of the public with the government provides evidence that citizens are active in exploiting the ministries’ social media to voice their opinions, lobby decision makers, and raise questions. Finally, though there is marginal interaction between the ministries and the public, citizens are more engaged into dialogue amongst themselves. Thus, this research concludes that social media is an untapped communication resource in the context of its utilization by the Egyptian government. Consequently, this study fills a gap in the literature and could encourage other researchers to tackle that topic from its different aspects

Assessing EFL Learners’ Consecutive Interpreting Skills

Interpreting is taught to senior EFL learners in Saudi Faculties of Arts. Since it is a branch with a vast number of skills, the present study seeks to evaluate EFL learners’ interpreting skills. Forty graduate-level majors at Uqlat Asoqour Faculty of Arts, Qassim University were chosen randomly to sit for an interpreting test. A consecutive interpreting skills rubric was used to assess twelve interpreting skills over six points scale. Results of the statistical analysis showed variances among the subjects’ interpreting skills, with a need to tackle some of interpreting skills intensively in the translation and interpreting courses presented to EFL students in Faculties of Arts

DNA integrity in diagnosis of premalignant lesions

Carcinogenesis is a dynamic process which traditional biopsying can not keep up with. Saliva as fluid in the vicinity of the tumor can offer better insights to this process. This study aimed to identify the accuracy of salivary DNA integrity index in differentiating between oral premalignant lesions and oral cancer. This phase II diagnostic test accuracy study included 93 patients divided into three groups: 30 oral cancer patients, 33 patients with oral premalignant lesions divided into 21 oral lichen planus patients and 12 patients with leukoplakia and 30 normal individuals who acted as controls. Oral rinse was collected from all participants and they all underwent conventional visual and tactile examination, and patients with oral lesions had the diagnosis confirmed by histopathological examination of tissue biopsy. DNA integrity index was determined as the ratio between ALU247 and ALU115 measured by qPCR. There was no statistically significant difference regarding ALU115, ALU247 and DNA integrity index between the three study groups. The index was significantly higher in the oral cancer group than the oral lichen planus patients, while no significant difference was found between the oral cancer and the leukoplakia cases. The DNA integrity index sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values were 73%, 45%, 55% and 65% respectively. Salivary DNA integrity index showed poor diagnostic abilities in differentiating between the oral cancer and premalignant lesions

Integrated framework towards construction waste reduction: The case of Egypt

The construction industry is plagued with significant construction and demolition waste (C&DW) generated during various phases of construction projects. This waste has created a universal, pervasive, and enduring problem globally. To propose practical solutions to resolve this consequential issue, this research adopted a quantitative approach in two stages. The first stage involved an online survey, administrated to 360 methodically selected construction organisations working in Egypt, to evaluate the impact of six main factors on C&DW reduction (C&DWR). The six main factors are as follows: (1) materials procurement measures (MPMR); (2) materials procurement models (MPMO); (3) green building practices (GBPR); (4) legislation (LG); (5) culture and behaviour (CB); and (6) awareness (AW). The second stage comprised multivariate statistical analysis via the structural equation modelling (SEM) approach to develop an integrated framework for C&DWR, to support Egypt’s vision 2030. The results revealed that these six factors positively affect C&DWR in Egypt. Additionally, the study found that GBPR has the highest importance value of 0.293 and the highest performance rate of 92.169. However, CB has the second highest importance value of 0.238 whilst it has the lowest performance of 72.08 among the six factors. This paper proposes practical recommendations for the government and the construction sector to reduce the C&DW in support of Egypt's Vision 2030

Echocardiographic assessment of the right ventricle and its correlation with patient outcome in acute respiratory distress syndrome

Introduction: Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is a life-threatening chest disease associated with a poor outcome and increased mortality. It may lead to pulmonary hypertension and, eventually, right ventricular failure. These changes can be investigated by transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) which is considered a non-invasive and cost-effective modality. We studied the role of right ventricular function in the prediction of the severity and mortality in ARDS. Material and methods: In this observational study, 94 patients suffering from ARDS were subjected to TTE to evaluate the parameters of right ventricular function by measuring tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion (TAPSE), right ventricular fractional area change (RV-FAC), myocardial performance index (Tei index), and systolic pulmonary artery pressure (SPAP) to assess their relation to the severity and mortality in ARDS. Results: TAPSE, SPAP, Tei index, and RV-FAC showed significant differences between survivors and non-survivors after 30 days (all p < 0.001). An increased length of intensive care unit stay was significantly correlated with TAPSE, Tei index, and RV-FAC (p = 0.002‚ 0.007‚ and 0.013, respectively). Meanwhile, the length of mechanical ventilation days was significantly correlated with the Tei index only (p < 0.001). Multivariate regression analysis found that TAPSE and the Tei index were independent factors affecting mortality (p = 0.004‚ and 0.006, respectively). RV-FAC, with a cut-off point ≤ 57%, had the highest sensitivity‚ while TAPSE, with a cut-off point ≤ 17 mm, had the highest specificity to predict mortality.Conclusions: Transthoracic echocardiographic parameters of the right ventricle could be used to predict severity and mortality in patients with ARDS with high sensitivity and specificity

Effects of sun-drying and exogenous enzymes on nutrients intake, digestibility and nitrogen utilization in sheep fed Atriplex halimus foliages

This study was conducted to assess effects of sun-drying and/or addition of an exogenous enzyme (ENZ) preparation on intake, digestibility of nutrients and recovery values of secondary metabolites (SM) in the gastrointestinal tract of sheep fed Atriplex halimus (AH) foliages. A randomized block design for 28 d was used for four experimental treatments based on either fresh (AH-F) or sun-dried (AH-S) A. halimus foliages in the absence (−ENZ) or presence (+ENZ) of 10 g/sheep/d of the exogenous of ZADO® enzyme preparation. Three adult sheep weighing 51 ± 2.7 kg were fed for each experimental treatment. The ENZ was added daily with a small amount of concentrate to help balance the dietary metabolizable energy concentration. Nutrient intake and digestibility, N balance and recovery of SM (i.e., total phenolics (TP), saponins (SP), alkaloids (AK), aqueous fraction (AF)) in the gastrointestinal tract were determined. Levels of most nutrients did not differ between AH-F and AH-S foliages, but the AH-S contained less than half of the SM in AH-F. Drying of A. halimus and ENZ addition increased (P=0.001) intake as well as OM and NDFom digestibility (P=0.02). Feed intake and digestibility were higher (P=0.01) in AH-S with ENZ addition. Intake of N by sheep fed the treatment diets depended on DM intake as the dietary concentration of N in the diets was similar. Thus AH-S sheep supplemented with ENZ had higher (P=0.001) N intake. Digestibility of N was similar to DM and OM digestibility, and was higher (P=0.03) in AH-S sheep supplemented with ENZ. Drying and ENZ addition to the diet increased (P=0.004) recovery of all SM. The fate of these compounds in the rumen needs to be evaluated considering that SM have been implicated in fiber and protein degradation in the rumen. The study showed that there are beneficial impacts of sun-drying and/or dietary exogenous enzyme addition for sheep fed A. halimus

Epidural Corticosteroids, Lumbar Spinal Drainage, and Selective Hemodynamic Control for the Prevention of Spinal Cord Ischemia in Thoracoabdominal Endovascular Aortic Repair: A New Clinical Protocol

In patients undergoing thoracoabdominal aorta repair, spinal cord ischemia (SCI) remains one of the most common and important complications resulting in transient paraparesis through to permanent flaccid paraplegia. In this manuscript, after a brief introduction to spinal cord ischemia complication and its prevention in thoracoabdominal endovascular aortic repair (TEVAR), we propose a new clinical protocol potentially able to prevent such complication. The proposed protocol suggests the use of high dosages of corticosteroids by epidural route, along with drainage of cerebrospinal fluid and controlled vascular hypertension, to reduce the incidence of SCI in TEVAR. Moreover, we paid particular attention to the control of the hemodynamic parameters to obtain adequate peripheral tissue perfusion (oxygen delivery), including in the spinal cord. We applied this new protocol in 50 consecutive patients treated with TEVAR for thoracoabdominal aortic aneurysms (TAAs); 47 patients completed the procedure: 27 patients Crawford type I and 20 Crawford type II. Three patients died during surgery because of untreatable aneurysm rupture. The results show that in all patients there were no cases of SCI, after 5 days from TEVAR. To the best of our knowledge, there are no clinical studies on the use of epidural corticosteroids in patients undergoing treatment of aortic syndrome (both in "open surgery" and endovascular aortic repair). This initial study on 50 consecutive patients has shown that the clinical protocol used could be of great interest to prevent one of the worse complications of TEVAR. Its limitations are the low number of patients studied till now, and the non-randomized protocol adopted. Further studies would be necessary. Our experience and the results obtained with this new perioperative protocol with epidural corticosteroid and accurate hemodynamic control have been encouraging and it seems a valid proposal to be explored in future by well-structured prospective, randomized protocols

Workplace-Related Traumatic Injuries: Insights from a Rapidly Developing Middle Eastern Country

Traumatic workplace-related injuries (WRIs) carry a substantial negative impact on the public health worldwide. We aimed to study the incidence and outcomes of WRIs in Qatar. We conducted occupational injury surveillance for all WRI patients between 2010 and 2012. A total of 5152 patients were admitted to the level 1 trauma unit in Qatar, of which 1496 (29%) sustained WRI with a mean age of 34.3±10.3. Fall from height (FFH) (51%) followed by being struck by heavy objects (FHO) (18%) and motor vehicle crashes (MVC) (17%) was the commonest mechanism of injury (MOI). WRI patients were mainly laborers involved in industrial work (43%), transportation (18%), installation/repair (12%), carpentry (9%), and housekeeping (3%). Use of protective device was not observed in 64% of cases. The mean ISS was 11.7±8.9, median ICU stay was 3 days (1–64), and total hospital stay was 6 days (1–192). The overall case fatality was 3.7%. Although the incidence of WRI in Qatar is quite substantial, its mortality rate is relatively low in comparison to other countries of similar socioeconomic status. Prolonged hospital stay and treatment exert a significant socioeconomic burden on the nation’s and families’ resources. Focused and efficient injury prevention strategies are mandatory to prevent future WRI