Infrastructure projects in Egypt: A decision-support framework for the selection from World Bank lending instruments

The funding of large-scale high-risk infrastructure projects is of growing importance in Egypt. The Government of Egypt (GoE) partners with several International Financial Institutions (IFIs) to secure the funding of infrastructure projects that are essential to supporting sustainable development. The World Bank is one of the largest IFIs that support infrastructure projects in Egypt. The World Bank Group is formed of the International Finance Corporation (IFC), International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), and the International Development Association (IDA). The IBRD and the IDA form “The World Bank”. The Bank provides three main financing instruments, namely Development Policy Finance (DPF), Investment Project Finance (IPF), and the relatively recently proposed Program-for-Results (P-for-R). The latter two are currently used to support an array of infrastructure projects dispersed in a variety of developing nations. The aim of this research is to compare between IPF and P-for-R funding mechanisms and to propose a framework for the selection of the best-suited instrument for any given infrastructure project in Egypt. Structured interviews are conducted with 21 international experts working on World Bank financed projects in Egypt in order to identify the criteria for the optimum selection of finance methods, risks associated with different infrastructure projects, and which instrument better addresses each of these risks. It was found that IPF better addresses risks related to Technical Design and Implementation, while P-for-R is better suited for Institutional Capacity and Sector Strategy risks. The outcome of the interviews and the existing literature are analyzed to develop a 4-step framework for the selection of the optimum finance instrument. The developed framework includes a logistic regression model that matches the risk profile of a given project with the most appropriate instrument. Finally, the framework is applied on two case studies in Egypt in order to assess its validity. The first case study, the SRSSP is a sanitation program funded through P-for-R which was confirmed by the devised framework to be the better–suited tool for the nature of the project. The performance of SRSSP was compared to the performance of 2 very similar projects that were funded through IPF and it was verified that the performance of the P-for-R funded SRSSP is more satisfactory. The framework as then applied on another case study which is the GNPP. The GNPP is an IPF project which also matches the output of the framework and its performance has been assessed as satisfactory by the World Bank. It was concluded that the output of developed framework is valid and it can effectively support the selection of the best-suited funding instrument for a given infrastructure project in Egypt

Numerical Solution of Coupled System of Nonlinear Partial Differential Equations Using Laplace-Adomian Decomposition Method

Aim of the paper is to investigate applications of Laplace Adomian Decomposition Method (LADM) on nonlinear physical problems. Some coupled system of non-linear partial differential equations (NLPDEs) are considered and solved numerically using LADM. The results obtained by LADM are compared with those obtained by standard and modified Adomian Decomposition Methods. The behavior of the numerical solution is shown through graphs. It is observed that LADM is an effective method with high accuracy with less number of components

New two-step predictor-corrector method with ninth order convergence for solving nonlinear equations

In this paper, we suggest and analyze a new two-step predictor-corrector type iterative method for solving nonlinear equations of the type. This method based on a Halley and Householder iterative method and using predictor corrector technique. The convergence analysis of our method is discussed. It is established that the new method has convergence order nine. Numerical tests show that the new methods are comparable with the well known existing methods and gives better results

Towards Using Word Embedding Vector Space for Better Cohort Analysis

On websites like Reddit, users join communities where they discuss specific topics which cluster them into possible cohorts. The authors within these cohorts have the opportunity to post more openly under the blanket of anonymity, and such openness provides a more accurate signal on the real issues individuals are facing. Some communities contain discussions about mental health struggles such as depression and suicidal ideation. To better understand and analyse these individuals, we propose to exploit properties of word embeddings that group related concepts close to each other in the embeddings space. For the posts from each topically situated sub-community, we build a word embeddings model and use handcrafted lexicons to identify emotions, values and psycholinguistically relevant concepts. We then extract insights into ways users perceive these concepts by measuring distances between them and references made by users either to themselves, others or other things around them. We show how our proposed approach can extract meaningful signals that go beyond the kinds of analyses performed at the individual word level

Numerical simulation of two dimensional incompressible laminar flow over square cylinder

The aim of the current work is to simulate the laminar flow over square cylinder by developing numerical code using C++ programing language. The findings of this simulation are streamlines and isotherm pattern and global quantities like; lift force coefficient, Drag force coefficient, recirculation length, and Nusselt number. Flow over square cylinder is an important research topic in many engineering fields due to its numerous applications such as building aerodynamics, cooling of electronic component and compact heat exchangers. The thesis is divided into 6 chapters. The objectives and scope of the work is explained in chapter1. In chapter 2, the governing equation and the assumption used to simplify these equations are discussed. Discretization of the domain and the governing equation will be carried out in chapter 3. In chapter 4, the algorithm for pressure velocity coupling (fractional step Method), linear solver used for solving system of linear equations and different boundary conditions are discussed. The developed numerical code is verified in chapter 5 using Method of Manufactured Solution (MMS) and comparing code solution to high accurate Benchmark solution of the Driven cavity and differential heated square cavity. Finally in chapter 6, the simulation of laminar flow over square cylinder is explained, in which the effect of Reynolds number and effect of blockage ratio are investigated. Also tandem arrangement for two square cylinder and effect of adding gravity term using Boussinesq approximation for this arrangement are studied. It is concluded that, flow patterns, drag, lift coefficient, and strouhal number are affected by changing Reynolds number and blockage number. In case of tandem arrangement, downstream cylinder has different drag, lift, and Nusselt number from upstream cylinder. Moreover adding buoyancy affect different calculated parameter especially lift coefficient

Relative Rate Observer Self-Tuning of Fuzzy PID Virtual Inertia Control for An Islanded microgrid

Expanding the usage of renewable energy in islanded microgrids leads to a reduction in its total inertia. Low inertia microgrids have difficulties in voltage and frequency control. That affected saving its stability and preventing a blackout. To improve low inertia islanded microgrids\u27 dynamic response and save their stability, this paper presented relative rate observer self-tuning fuzzy PID (RROSTF-PID) based on virtual inertia control (VIC) for an islanded microgrid with a high renewable energy sources (RESs) contribution. RROSTF-PID based on VIC\u27s success in showing remarkable improvement in the microgrid\u27s dynamic response and enhancement of its stability. Moreover, it handles different contingency conditions successfully by giving the desired frequency support. Ant colony optimization (ACO) technique is used to find the optimal values of the RROSTF-PID based on VIC parameters. Furthermore, using MATLAB TM/Simulink, RROSTF-PID based on VIC response is compared to Optimal Fuzzy PID (OF-PID) based VIC, Fuzzy PID (F-PID) based VIC, PID-based VIC, conventional VIC responses, and the microgrid without VIC response under different operation conditions