Economic aspects of houses and housing in Roman Egypt

The thesis consists of a general introduction and four chapters. Chapter I deals with the factors which influence the property market, such as: 1) reasons for selling or purchasing house property or building land, for enlarging or consolidating house property, other forms of acquisition of the property, 2) Factors which determine the price of house property (dimension, construction, building materials and labour costs, etc.). Chapter II is concerned with the prices of houses and building land. The documents are grouped by nome in chronological order. As far as the evidence allows, comparisons are between price levels in villages and cities, and between nomes. Chapter III surveys rented house property 1) houses, flats, rooms, 2) industrial and business premises. One particularly interesting problem is the abundance of antichretic loans (with the right of habitation in lieu of interest), which may be linked to the almost complete lack of contracts of rent in the first century of Roman rule. ii Chapter /V attempts a comparison between village houses in Roman Egypt and those in Modern Egypt. The conclusion: The building materials, the location, the dimension, the condition, construction, economic condition play an important part in determining the prices and rents of houses. The sizes of houses varied greatly, but most houses were small. The rural houses were generally larger than the urban houses. The average price in the first two centuries is lower than in the third century. It is also lower in villages than in cities. The level of rents in the first two centuries is lower than in the third century. The rents of houses in the first two centuries are very reasonable compared with the daily or monthly wages of the workers. The modern village houses are very similar to the houses of the Roman period

Microbial-Physical Synthesis of Fe and Fe3O4 Magnetic Nanoparticles Using Aspergillus niger YESM1 and Supercritical Condition of Ethanol

Magnetic Fe and Fe3O4 (magnetite) nanoparticles are successfully synthesized using Aspergillus niger YESM 1 and supercritical condition of liquids. Aspergillus niger is used for decomposition of FeSO4 and FeCl3 to FeS and Fe2O3, respectively. The produced particles are exposed to supercritical condition of ethanol for 1 hour at 300∘ C and pressure of 850 psi. The phase structure and the morphology measurements yield pure iron and major Fe3O4 spherical nanoparticles with average size of 18 and 50 nm, respectively. The crystal size amounts to 9 nm for Fe and 8 nm for Fe3O4. The magnetic properties are measured to exhibit superparamagneticand ferromagnetic-like behaviors for Fe and Fe3O4 nanoparticles, respectively. The saturation magnetization amounts to 112 and 68 emu/g for Fe and Fe3O4, respectively. The obtained results open new route for using the biophysical method for large-scale production of highly magnetic nanoparticles to be used for biomedical applications

EXPERIMENTAL SHEAR RESISTANCE EVALUATION OF ORDINARY AND PERFOBOND Y-SHAPED SHEAR CONNECTORS

Composite structures refer to two load carrying structural members that are integrally connected and deforming as a single unique unit using shear connectors. The use of shear connectors enhances the development of longitudinal shear forces at the steel-concrete interface. The objective of this research is to study the structural behavior of a proposed separated Y-shaped shear connector. The suggested investigated Y-shaped shear connector is intended to be an improvement to the structural response of the conventional perfobond shear connector. Accordingly, this paper carries out six push-out tests on the separated Y-shaped shear connector according to EC4. The experimental work is performed in the Reinforced Concrete and Heavy Structures Laboratory at the Structural Engineering Department, Tanta University, Egypt. The key parameters affecting the behavior of the shear connector in the current investigation are the height, the thickness and the Y-shaping of the shear connector. Also, the effect of hole existence is investigated. Other parameters such as the length of the connector, the concrete strength and the slab geometry are kept the same for all specimens. Based on the performed tests, the results show that the proposed separated Y-shaped shear connector has higher shear resistance than that of the conventionalperfobond shear connector. Also, the proposed connector shows better ductile behavior than the conventional perfobond connector. Moreover, results proved that increasing the connector thickness has a significant effect on the connector behaviour by increasing its shear resistance. Furthermore, as the height of the connector increases, the shear capacity increases. Finally, from the presented results it is clarified that the proposed separated Y-shaped connector is better and more economical than the conventional perfobond connector

Camel Milk Modulates the Expression of Aryl Hydrocarbon Receptor-Regulated Genes, Cyp1a1, Nqo1, and Gsta1, in Murine hepatoma Hepa 1c1c7 Cells

There is a traditional belief in the Middle East that camel milk may aid in prevention and treatment of numerous cases of cancer yet, the exact mechanism was not investigated. Therefore, we examined the ability of camel milk to modulate the expression of a well-known cancer-activating gene, Cytochrome P450 1a1 (Cyp1a1), and cancer-protective genes, NAD(P)H:quinone oxidoreductase 1 (Nqo1) and glutathione S-transferase a1 (Gsta1), in murine hepatoma Hepa 1c1c7 cell line. Our results showed that camel milk significantly inhibited the induction of Cyp1a1 gene expression by 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD), the most potent Cyp1a1 inducer and known carcinogenic chemical, at mRNA, protein, and activity levels in a concentration-dependent manner. In addition, camel milk significantly decreased the xenobiotic responsive element (XRE)-dependent luciferase activity, suggesting a transcriptional mechanism is involved. Furthermore, this inhibitory effect of camel milk was associated with a proportional increase in heme oxygenase 1. On the other hand, camel milk significantly induced Nqo1 and Gsta1 mRNA expression level in a concentration-dependent fashion. The RNA synthesis inhibitor, actinomycin D, completely blocked the induction of Nqo1 mRNA by camel milk suggesting the requirement of de novo RNA synthesis through a transcriptional mechanism. In conclusion, camel milk modulates the expression of Cyp1a1, Nqo1, and Gsta1 at the transcriptional and posttranscriptional levels

Phylogenetic Diversity and Antimicrobial Activities of Culturable Endophytic Actinobacteria Isolated from Different Egyptian Marine Sponges and Soft Corals

A cultivation-based approach was employed to isolate and compare the endophytic culturable actinobacterial diversity associated with different Egyptian marine sponges and soft corals. A total of 13 culturable actinobacteria isolates were obtained, five of which isolated from different sponges, two (AE27 and AE32) and three (AE29, AE41 and AE46) were isolated from Haliclona sp. and Callyspongia sp. collected from Sharm El-Sheikh and Hurghada, Egypt, respectively. Eight were isolated from different five soft corals, out of them two (AE2 and AE19), two (AE3 and AE15), two (AE20 and AE23), one (AE35) and one (AE13) were isolated from Rhytisma sp., Xenia sp., Lobularia sp., and Dendronephthya sinaiensis (collected from Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt) and the Dendronephthya hemprichi (collected from Hurghada, Egypt), respectively. The 16S rRNA genes of the 13 actinobacteria isolates were amplified and sequenced (GenBank Accession numbers JF292923 – JF292930 and JF319146 – JF319150). A BLAST analysis revealed that the 13 actinobacteria isolates belonged to three known families and genera. Six strains isolated from all sponges and soft corals belonged to the genus Streptomyces (AE15, AE19, AE20 and AE35, isolated from soft corals; Xenia sp., Rhytisma sp., Lobularia sp., and Dendronephthya sinaiensis as well as AE29 and AE41, isolated from sponges; Callyspongia sp., respectively). Six strains (AE2, AE3 and AE23, isolated from soft corals; Rhytisma sp., Xenia sp. and Lobularia sp. as well as AE27, AE32 and AE46, isolated from sponges; Haliclona sp. and Callyspongia sp., respectively) belonged to the genus Nocardiopsis. Only one isolate (AE13) derived from Dendronephthya hemprichi was belonged to the genus Pseudonocardia. The phylogenetic analysis revealed that four culturable actinobacteria strains (AE2, AE27, AE32 and AE46) were more distantly related to other previously published Nocardiopsis dassonvillei. Screening for antimicrobial activity revealed that out of the 13 culturable actinobacteria isolates, only five (AE15, AE19, AE20, AE29 and AE41) belonged to the genus Streptomyces have anticandida or anti-positive Gram bacteria activity

Mycobacterial CYP121 as a target for anti-TB drug discovery

Despite the introduction of the first line treatment regimen forty years ago and the continuous trials since that time to introduce new regimens, tuberculosis (TB) is considered to be the cause of considerable mortality worldwide. Recent research highlighted the Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb)CYP450s as potential drug targets. This article reviews mycobacterial CYP121 as a target for anti-TB drug discovery

An Investigation of Biodiesel Production from Wastes of Seafood Restaurants

This work illustrates a comparative study on the applicability of the basic heterogeneous calcium oxide catalyst prepared from waste mollusks and crabs shells (MS and CS, resp.) in the transesterification of waste cooking oil collected from seafood restaurants with methanol for production of biodiesel. Response surface methodology RSM based on D-optimal deign of experiments was employed to study the significance and interactive effect of methanol to oil M : O molar ratio, catalyst concentration, reaction time, and mixing rate on biodiesel yield. Second-order quadratic model equations were obtained describing the interrelationships between dependent and independent variables to maximize the response variable (biodiesel yield) and the validity of the predicted models were confirmed. The activity of the produced green catalysts was better than that of chemical CaO and immobilized enzyme Novozym 435. Fuel properties of the produced biodiesel were measured and compared with those of Egyptian petro-diesel and international biodiesel standards. The biodiesel produced using MS-CaO recorded higher quality than that produced using CS-CaO. The overall biodiesel characteristics were acceptable, encouraging application of CaO prepared from waste MS and CS for production of biodiesel as an efficient, environmentally friendly, sustainable, and low cost heterogeneous catalyst

Chromosome 22 microdeletion in children with syndromic congenital heart disease by fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH)

Congenital heart diseases (CHDs) are the most common of all birth defects. Congenital heart disease may occur as an isolated malformation or may be part of a syndrome. One of the most common syndromes associated with CHDs is the 22q11.2 microdeletion syndrome, the various conditions associated with del22q11 include DiGeorge syndrome (DGS), velocardiofacial syndrome (VCFS), conotruncal anomaly face syndrome (CTAFS), and others. The abnormalities associated with this syndrome include parathyroid hypoplasia, thymic hypoplasia, immune defect, cleft palate, and abnormal facies. The cardiac defects are usually derived from conotruncus. The aim of the study was to detect the prevalence and the most common or frequent clinical manifestations of chromosome 22q11.2 microdeletion among children with syndromic congenital heart disease. The study was conducted on 20 children with syndromic CHD presenting to the Menoufiya University Hospitals, Egypt. Their ages ranged from 10 days to 12 years. Cytogenetic study and fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) were performed in the patients. The study revealed that 2 patients were with chromosomal aberrations [one with 46,XY, add (13)(p13) & the other with 47,XX,+13]. In addition, FISH revealed 4 patients (20%) with 22q11.2 microdeletion syndrome. The congenital heart malformations detected in patients with 22q11.2 microdeletion were somewhat unexpected and included VSD, ASD, PDA, and double outlet right ventricle. The most frequent extracardiac features were hypocalcemia, microcephaly, brain atrophy, epicanthus, low set posteriorly rotated ears, micrognathia, and anemia. The extracardiac features were in some cases subtle. It is concluded that 22q11.2 microdeletion is not uncommon and its manifestations are highly variable. This entails that screening for the microdeletion by FISH should be performed in all patients with syndromic CHD especially those with hypocalcemia, microcephaly, brain atrophy, epicanthus, low set ears, posteriorly rotated ears, micrognathia, and anemia. In addition, patients with minor features and those with non-conotruncal heart disease should not be excluded from the screening for 22 microdeletion.Keywords: Chromosome 22 microdeletion; Syndromic congenital heart disease; DiGeorge syndrome; Hypocalcemia; Velocardiofacial syndrom

SOMATIC EMBRYOGENESIS AND PLANT REGENERATION FROM CALLUS AND SUSPENSION CULTURES OF IPHIONA MUCRONATA (FORSSK)

A protocol was designed for plant regeneration of Iphiona mucronata from embryogenic callus via somatic embryogenesis to enable micro propagation of this endangered plant. The embryogenic callus was induced using seedling cultured for nine months on Murashig and Skoog medium (MS) supplemented with 0.1 mg l-1 naphthalene acetic acid (NAA), 0.1 mg l-1 kinetin (Kn) and 5 mg l-1 ascorbic acid and incubated in the dark followed by growing on hormone free medium. Transfer of developed embryos to MS medium supplemented with 0.5 mg l-1 kinetin induced shoot formation. Four treatments were further tried for plant development by using indole acetic acid (IAA) or indole butyric acid (IBA) alone or in combination with kinetin. The results showed that 2 mg l-1 IAA was the best for in vitro plantlet regeneration. Embryogenic suspension was induced by transfer of embryogenic callus to liquid medium having the same composition followed by hormone free medium where different stages of embryos were monitored. Shoots were developed upon transfer to liquid medium supplemented with 0.5 mg l-1 Kn. However, no further development appeared upon transfer to semi solid medium containing different phytohormones. Embryogenic callus showed the highest phenolic contents when compared with embryogenic suspension, regenerated plantlets and the parent plant while flavonoids were detected only in embryogenic callus

Effect of physical therapy rehabilitation program (exercise-therapy) on Irritable Bowel Syndrome

To evaluate the effect of physical therapy rehabilitation program consisted of moderate intensity aerobic exercise training (60% MHR) (Maximum Heart Rate) treadmill training on irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) symptom and quality of Life in post cholecystectomy patients. Thirty post cholecystectomy patients complaining from irritable bowel syndrome were recruited for this study; age ranged from 25 to 40 years, Patients were divided randomly into two equal groups, Group (A): received 4 weeks moderate intensity aerobic training program (60% MHR treadmill training (3 sessions per week) plus routine medical treatment protocol, Group (B): received routine medical care only. Patients assessed by Irritable Bowel Syndrome Symptom Severity Score (IBS-SSS) and Irritable Bowel Syndrome Quality of Life (IBS-QOL), Assessment was carried out before treatment and 4 weeks after treatment in both groups. Results showed that there was a significant decrease in post treatment values of IBS-SSS and IBS-QOL in comparison to pre-treatment values at both groups with (p-value < .001). Comparison between both groups post treatment showed significant difference in IBS-SSS and IBS-QOL variables, in group (A) more than group (B). Moderate intensity aerobic exercise training (60% MHR) for 4 weeks is effective in treatment of IBS post cholecystectomy through reducing IBS symptoms and improving Quality of Life