Out of sight out of rights: Rejected asylum seekers and closed-files individuals in Egypt

According to international law, everyone has the right to seek asylum; however, not every asylum seeker receives refugee status. Individuals whose asylum claims are rejected often stay in their country of destination out of fear of returning back to their countries of origin. Such populations are known as rejected asylum seekers and closed-files and in Egypt they are often found among the Sudanese, South Sudanese, Ethiopian, Eritrean, and Somali communities. This thesis focuses on the rights and entitlements of rejected asylum seekers and closed-files individuals who remain in Egypt after having their asylum claim rejected by UNHCR. The thesis argues that rejected asylum seekers have rights under international law but are not accessing and enjoying them in Egypt. To make this argument, the thesis answers two central questions: 1) What are the rights of rejected asylum seekers according to international and national laws; and 2) Are rejected asylum seekers receiving and enjoying these rights in Egypt? The thesis begins with an analysis of the international legal framework governing the rights of different categories of migrants. An analysis of the gaps in the international legal framework is also provided. An analytical overview on the legal, policy, and institutional frameworks governing migrants and refugees in Egypt and consular policies is presented. The situation of rejected asylum seekers is analyzed and the protection gaps identified

The governance of human trafficking in Egypt: The legal, policy, and institutional frameworks

Human trafficking is the third largest and fastest growing organized crime in the world after drug trafficking and illicit arms dealing. According to the International Labor Organization, there is an estimated 2.4 million trafficked individuals at any given moment in time. As many as 1.2 million of the 2.4 million are minors. Out of the 2.4 million trafficked individuals, UNODC points out that 230,000 are in the Middle East and North Africa region. Egypt is a country of origin, transit, and destination for trafficking. Yet, the literature available regarding Egypt’s response to the growing phenomenon of human trafficking is minimal. As a result, this study explores Egypt’s governance of trafficking in persons in order to reflect on the effectiveness of its response to the crime. This dissertation provides a comprehensive analysis of the legal, policy, and implementation frameworks of human trafficking in Egypt. It is divided into eight chapters. The first chapter serves as an introduction and provides background information on trafficking in persons. Chapter II outlines the methodology for this thesis. Chapter III discusses the flows, magnitude, and directions of trafficking in Egypt. Chapter IV explores the theoretical framework that dominates the study of human trafficking. It points out its limitations and argues that it influenced the development of the legal system of trafficking. The following chapter analyzes the emergence of the current legal framework of trafficking on an international level and showcases how the theoretical framework has influenced it. Its analysis is important to understand how its limitations has been translated down to the national level in the case of Egypt. Chapter VI explains Egypt’s policy on human trafficking in terms of actors, drivers, and strategies. It also provides a comprehensive critique of the policy development process and its design. Chapter VII analyses the implementation mechanisms of anti-trafficking policies in Egypt . Lastly, Chapter VI provides the general conclusions of the study

Transoral Endoscopic Adenoidectomy

Objective. Adenoid curette guided by an indirect transoral mirror and a headlight is a simple and quick procedure that has already been in use for a long time, but this method carries a high risk of recurrence unless done by a well-experienced surgeon. The purpose of this paper was to evaluate the efficacy of transoral endoscopic adenoidectomy in relieving the obstructive nasal symptoms. Methods. 300 children underwent transoral endoscopic adenoidectomy using the classic adenoid curette and St Claire Thomson forceps with a 70∘ Hopkins 4-mm nasal endoscope introduced through the mouth and the view was projected on a monitor. Telephone questionnaire was used to follow-up the children for one year. Flexible nasopharyngoscopy was carried out for children with recurrent obstructive nasal symptoms to detect adenoid rehypertrophy. Results. No cases presented with postoperative complications. Only one case developed recurrent obstructive nasal symptoms due to adenoid regrowth and investigations showed that he had nasal allergy which may be the cause of recurrence. Conclusion. Transoral endoscopic adenoidectomy is the recent advancement of classic curettage adenoidectomy with direct vision of the nasopharynx that enables the surgeon to avoid injury of important structures as Eustachian tube orifices, and also it gives him the chance to completely remove the adenoidal tissues

Blood Transfusion in Patients with Sickle Cell Disease Requiring Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy

Laparoscopic cholecystectomy in patients with sickle cell disease was found to be safe without preoperative blood transfusion

A Multi-Objective Optimization Method for Hospital Admission Problem—A Case Study on Covid-19 Patients

The wide spread of Covid-19 has led to infecting a huge number of patients, simultaneously. This resulted in a massive number of requests for medical care, at the same time. During the first wave of Covid-19, many people were not able to get admitted to appropriate hospitals because of the immense number of patients. Admitting patients to suitable hospitals can decrease the in-bed time of patients, which can lead to saving many lives. Also, optimizing the admission process can minimize the waiting time for medical care, which can save the lives of severe cases. The admission process needs to consider two main criteria: the admission time and the readiness of the hospital that will accept the patients. These two objectives convert the admission problem into a Multi-Objective Problem (MOP). Pareto Optimization (PO) is a common multi-objective optimization method that has been applied to different MOPs and showed its ability to solve them. In this paper, a PO-based algorithm is proposed to deal with admitting Covid-19 patients to hospitals. The method uses PO to vary among hospitals to choose the most suitable hospital for the patient with the least admission time. The method also considers patients with severe cases by admitting them to hospitals with the least admission time regardless of their readiness. The method has been tested over a real-life dataset that consisted of 254 patients obtained from King Faisal specialist hospital in Saudi Arabia. The method was compared with the lexicographic multi-objective optimization method regarding admission time and accuracy. The proposed method showed its superiority over the lexicographic method regarding the two criteria, which makes it a good candidate for real-life admission systems

Correlation of serum resistin level with insulin resistance and severity of retinopathy in type 2 diabetes mellitus

AbstractResistin is an adipocyte secreted hormone, to investigate the relationship between levels of serum resistin and C-reactive protein (as an inflammatory marker) together with insulin resistance and the presence of retinopathy in type 2 diabetes mellitus in Egyptian subjects, we measured fasting serum resistin and CRP levels in thirty obese diabetic subjects (with different grades of retinopathy: ten diabetic patients without retinopathy, ten diabetic patients with non-proliferative retinopathy and ten diabetic patients with proliferative retinopathy) and compared them with the results of ten obese non diabetic subjects and ten non obese healthy volunteers. Insulin resistance was assessed using the homeostasis model assessment for insulin resistance (HOMA-IR). All subjects were investigated to analyze the change in their total cholesterol, HDL-C, LDL-C, and triglycerides levels. Fasting glucose and insulin resistance were significantly higher (P<0.05) in diabetic compared with non diabetic subjects. Fasting Serum resistin and CRP were highly significantly different among the groups of study (P<0.001). Fasting serum resistin concentration showed highly significant positive correlation with CRP, BMI (body mass index), serum insulin, HOMA-I.R, and FBS (fasting blood sugar) and it was significantly positively correlated with waist, hip circumferences and triglycerides levels, while it was significantly negatively correlated with HDL-C. Serum resistin was associated with the presence of retinopathy in T2DM

Version reckoning of variant glenoid levels: a radiological study on dry human scapulae

Background: Preoperative glenoid version measurement can guide base plate implantation and directing screws positioning. Glenoid vault depth affects guide-wire insertion with accurate inclinations towards maximum bone stock. No consensus exists regards the precise glenoid level for version assessment, whether at midaxial or coracoid tip level, and if those values are identical or not. Additionally, there is not much data in literature concerning the deepest point of glenoid vault and its proximity to anterior and inferior glenoid surfaces. Thus, we aimed in this study to report glenoid version values at all levels utilizing two different methodologies (Freidman method, vault version method). Additionally, detecting deepest vault point and how much distant from anterior and inferior glenoid aspects.Methods: Sixty dry, unpaired scapulae were scanned with 1.25mm-thick slices. Version was measured at all levels and compared. Axial and coronal slices with greatest vault depth was determined and distance from anterior and inferior glenoid rims were determined.Results: Version method showed significant difference in version at coracoid tip and midaxial levels (p&lt;0.001). Mean versions were 18.2±10.6º and 8.9±6.8º respectively. Also, significant difference was noted between version of upper, middle, and lower thirds, except between middle and lower thirds. A significant difference was evident between both methodologies on comparing version at coracoid tip level (p&lt;0.001).Conclusions: Glenoid version at coracoid tip and midaxial levels are not the same. Correlation of preoperative version values with intraoperative situations might be studied in future studies. 

Porous SnO2-Cu x O nanocomposite thin film on carbon nanotubes as electrodes for high performance supercapacitors.

Metal oxides are promising materials for supercapacitors due to their high theoretical capacitance. However, their poor electrical conductivity is a major challenge. Hybridization with conductive nanostructured carbon-based materials such as carbon nanotubes (CNTs) has been proposed to improve the conductivity and increase the surface area. In this work, CNTs are used as a template for synthesizing porous thin films of SnO2-CuO-Cu2O (SnO2-Cu x O) via an electroless deposition technique. Tin, with its high wettability and electrical conductivity, acts as an intermediate layer between copper and the CNTs and provides a strong interaction between them. We also observed that by controlling the interfacial characteristics of CNTs and varying the composition of the electroless bath, the SnO2-Cu x O thin film morphology can be easily manipulated. Electrochemical characterizations show that CNT/SnO2-Cu x O nanocomposite possesses pseudocapacitive behavior that reaches a specific capacitance of 662 F g-1 and the retention is 94% after 5000 cycles, which outperforms any known copper and tin-based supercapacitors in the literature. This excellent performance is mainly attributed to high specific surface area, small particle size, the synergistic effect of Sn, and conductivity improvement by using CNTs. The combination of CNTs and metal oxides holds promise for supercapacitors with improved performance.Lloyds Register Foundation Londo

Effect of routine pre-operative urethral catheterization of women undergoing minor gynaecological surgeries on urinary symptoms and urinary infections: a randomized control study

Background: The prevalence of urinary tract infection increases in young sexually active women, and women with previous UTI. Routine urethral catheterization performed for bladder evacuation before minor gynecological procedures and it is not clear whether this routine urethral catheterization associated with increased incidence of bacteriuria or UTIs or not. This study designed to detect the effect of routine uretheral catheterization for women undergoing minor gynecological surgeries on urinary symptoms and urinary infections.Methods: Two hundred and forty women infertile women scheduled for uterine assessment by diagnostic hysteroscopy before in-vitro fertilization in assisted reproduction unit of Ahmadi Hospital, Kuwait Oil Company were included in this study. Participants were randomized into; group I (catheterized group) and group II (non-catheterized group). Participants’ urine samples compared pre-operatively and post-operatively and they asked to complete about their pre and post-operative urinary symptoms.Results: Post-operative dysuria, frequency and urgency were significantly higher in catheterized group (22 (18.33%), 26 (21.66%) and 18 (15%); respectively) compared to non- catheterized group [5 (4.16%), 7 (5.83%) and 4 (3.33%); respectively]. Relative risk of dysuria, frequency and urgency after catheterization were 4.4, 3.7 and 4.5; respectively (95% CI; 1.7-11.2, 1.67-8.22 and 1.56-12.9; respectively). Asymptomatic bacteriuria, UTIs and subsequent need for antimicrobial therapy were also significantly high in catheterized group [15 (12.5%), 18 (15%) and 18 (15%); respectively) compared to non-catheterized group (3 (2.5%), 2 (1.96%) and 2 (1.96%); respectively]. Relative risk of asymptomatic bacteriuria and UTIs after catheterization in women undergoing minor gynecological procedures were 5 and 9; respectively (95%CI; 1.48-16.8 and 2.1-37.9).Conclusions: Catheterization in women undergoing minor gynecological surgery was associated with increased risk of dysuria, frequency, urgency, ASB, UTIs and subsequent antimicrobial therapy. Surgeons should revise the practice of routine preoperative catheterization for women undergoing minor gynecological procedures