Spectral Clustering for Optical Confirmation and Redshift Estimation of X-ray Selected Galaxy Cluster Candidates in the SDSS Stripe 82

We develop a galaxy cluster finding algorithm based on spectral clustering technique to identify optical counterparts and estimate optical redshifts for X-ray selected cluster candidates. As an application, we run our algorithm on a sample of X-ray cluster candidates selected from the third XMM-Newton serendipitous source catalog (3XMM-DR5) that are located in the Stripe 82 of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). Our method works on galaxies described in the color-magnitude feature space. We begin by examining 45 galaxy clusters with published spectroscopic redshifts in the range of 0.1 to 0.8 with a median of 0.36. As a result, we are able to identify their optical counterparts and estimate their photometric redshifts, which have a typical accuracy of 0.025 and agree with the published ones. Then, we investigate another 40 X-ray cluster candidates (from the same cluster survey) with no redshift information in the literature and found that 12 candidates are considered as galaxy clusters in the redshift range from 0.29 to 0.76 with a median of 0.57. These systems are newly discovered clusters in X-rays and optical data. Among them 7 clusters have spectroscopic redshifts for at least one member galaxy.Comment: 15 pages, 7 figures, 3 tables, 1 appendix, Accepted by Journal of "Astronomy and Computing

REFLECTIVE THINKING STRATEGIES FOR DEVELOPING EFL LITERARY READING SKILLS AND METACOGNITIVE READING AWARENESS

The present study is aimed at examining the effect of reflective thinking strategies on developing literary reading skills and metacognitive reading awareness of the EFL student teachers. The study adopted the quasi-experimental design. One experimental group of 40 major English students at the third-year Faculty of Education, Zagazig University in Egypt, participated in the study. The treatment conducted in fourteen sessions through teaching King Lear drama by Shakespeare. The utilized instruments included a literary reading test that was developed and used as a pre-post test and a metacognitive reading awareness scale, which was also designed by the researcher and approved by the jury members. Parametric statistical calculations have used for data analysis through the SPSS program. Results revealed that reflective thinking had a positive effect on developing literacy reading skills and metacognitive reading awareness of the EFL student teachers

Teachers’ Perceptions of Reading Instructional Strategies and Reading Assessment Strategies Used In Private High Schools

This research explores private high school teachers’ perceptions of reading instructions and assessment methods used in private high schools, in Al Ain city, in the UAE. The main objective of this study is to investigate reading instructional strategies, reading assessment strategies, the difficulties teachers face while teaching reading and the difficulties high-school students face during reading classes. This study used a mixed-method design to answer the research questions. Quantitative data were collected by using a questionnaire as a first stage (N=73), and qualitative data were later collected through interviews (N=7). The attained results shed light on the current situation of reading in private high schools. They show that high-school teachers use various reading strategies to teach reading. In addition, they use formative and summative assessment strategies of reading to revisit concepts, modify plans and curricula, collect data, identify students’ levels and differentiate instruction. As ESL learners, the lack of reading motivation and habit, the weakness of vocabulary and language structure and the limited critical thinking skills are highlighted. The importance of this study is undeniable, for the findings of this research enrich the literature of research on ESL reading. They also add benefits to reading instructions and assessment strategies in the UAE. Furthermore, teachers, heads of departments, curriculum designers, schools, academic organizations, decision-makers and researchers can build on the findings to gain more benefits for ESL learners. A very important aspect that should be emphasized in teaching reading to high-school students is guiding students on how to independently choose and effectively use reading strategies to comprehend different reading texts. Building reading habits will better help students to improve reading skills, and consequently, improve all other English relative aspects

Cofactor of BRCA1 as a modulator of hepatocellular carcinoma growth and migration

Cofactor of BRCA1 (COBRA1) is one of the four subunits that make up the Negative Elongation Factor Complex (NELF) which is involved in the stalling of RNA polymerase II early during transcription elongation. As such, COBRA1 is able to regulate a substantial number of genes involved in a number of pathways, including cell cycle control, metabolism, cell proliferation and DNA repair. In the field of cancer, the role of COBRA1 is not yet fully understood. The aim of our study was to investigate the functional role of COBRA1 in the tumorigenesis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). We investigated the gene expression pattern of COBRA1 in HCC tumors using the publicly available Oncomine Cancer Microarray Database. Results from three different microarray datasets reveal the frequent overexpression of COBRA1 in HCC tumors versus their normal counterparts. To elucidate the biological significance for this overexpression in HCC, RNA interference was used to silence the expression of COBRA1 in the well differentiated HCC cell line, HepG2. The silencing efficiency was confirmed by both reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and Western blot analysis. Interestingly, knockdown of COBRA1 resulted in a significant decrease in cell proliferation, accompanied by a concomitant decrease in the expression of the proliferation marker, Ki-67. A scratch wound healing assay revealed a significant decrease in the migratory potential of the HepG2 cell line in culture upon COBRA1 knockdown. In addition, silencing of COBRA1 was associated with a significant decrease in the expression of survivin, suggesting that survivin might be one of the mechanisms by which COBRA1 mediates its role in the tumorigenicity of HCC. Collectively, data findings presented here highlight an oncogenic role for COBRA1 in hepatocellular carcinoma. To the best of our knowledge, our study provides evidence for the first time to support a positive role for COBRA1 in the growth and migration of HCC

THE DATING METHOD OF NAPOLEON BONAPARTE ON A GOLD COIN OF SELIM III AND WHAT IT REFLECTS

طريقة التأريخ الخاصة بنابليون بونابرت على نقد ذهب لسليم الثالث [Ar] يعتبر نابليون بونابرت أحد أشهر الشخصيات التاريخية العالمية، والذي غزا مصر بحملتة الفرنسية في فترة حكم السلطان العثماني الثامن والعشرين السلطان سليم بن مصطفى. وعلى الرغم من قصر مدة الحملة الفرنسية التي كانت قرابة ثلاث سنوات فقط، إلا أنها شكّلت نقطة تحول في تاريخ مصر حتى بعد انسحابها ، خاصة وأنها كانت تمثل أول غزو أوروبي على مجتمع اسلامي متمسك بقيمه وعاداته. أما فيما يخص السياسة النقدية التي كانت متبعه في مصر وقت مجيء الحملة الفرنسية، فهي نفسها التي عرفت في مقر السلطنة العثمانية باعتبار مصر ولاية تابعة لها، وبالتالي كان الزر محبوب النقد الذهبي الرئيسي للدولة. وتأتي أهمية النقد الذهبي قيد الدراسة من كونه مصنف على أنه عملة نادرة ضربت في فترة وجود بونابرت في مصر، خاصة وانه قد تم ضربها في العام الأخير من الحملة الفرنسية. ومن خلال دراسة طريقة التأريخ التي سجلت على هذه القطعة من منظور جديد ، فقد عكست ما كان يعرف عن نابليون بونابرت لموهبته في الدهاء السياسي ، وشخصيته الجاذبة ، وعقليته الحكيمة. فقد تبنى نابليون بونابرت سياسة الاقتراب من الشعب لتلبية أغراضة الخاصة، خاصة وانه كان يدرك مدى أهمية الرأي العام. هذه الأغراض في مصر كانت اقتصادية في المقام الأول، وليست السيطرة السياسية. كان هذا واضحًا من خلال الاتجاه الذي اتبعه في سك العملات المعدنية، بينما كانت مصر تحت سلطته. لذلك ساعدت الدراسة التحليلية للعملة في تأكيد نواياه الحقيقية ، وعكس وتأكيد سمات شخصيته الرئيسية. [En] One of the world\u27s most famous historical figures was Napoleon Bonaparte, who conquered Egypt with his French expedition in the reign of the twenty-eighth Ottoman Sultan Selim B. Mustafa, known as Selim Ш. Despite the short presence of the French expedition, approximately three years only, it marked a turning point in Egypt’s history even after its withdrawal. It was considered the first modern European conquest into the heartlands of the Islamic World, on an Islamic community that adhered to Islamic customs and values. Regarding the monetary system of Egypt at the time, Egypt abided by the trend of the Ottoman Empire in minting gold coins, as it was notable that there was a unified prototype for all Ottoman coins minted in the different Ottoman countries. Therefore, the main gold coin by this time was the Zeri Mahbub. The specimen investigated in this study is classified as a rare coin minted by Bonaparte, as it was minted in the last year of the French expedition. Studying its dating method from a new perspective reflected what was known about Napoleon Bonaparte regarding his political savvy, charisma, and smart thinking. Napoleon adopted a policy of getting closer to the people to achieve his main goals, which were primarily economic rather than aiming at political control. His manner was evident in the trend he followed in minting coins while ruling Egypt. Therefore, the analytical study of the coin helped demonstrate his real ideological intentions and reflect his primary personality traits

Exploring higher education policy reforms in different contexts: A comparative study of Australia, Canada and Egypt.

This study is concerned with exploring higher education policy and reforms enacted by three diverse countries, Australia, Canada, and Egypt, to improve the quality of education and its relevancy to job market needs. The purpose of this study is to develop a better understanding of similarities and differences in context and motivations for reform and the subsequent results across the three countries and thus identify the lessons learned. This, in turn, will provide an answer to the prominent question of how can Egypt benefit from the higher education reform journeys undertaken by Australia and Canada. The study employs a “simultaneous comparative analysis,” following Bereday’s four–step method: description, interpretation, juxtaposition, and simultaneous comparison. It takes into account the socio-economic context, historical background, and cultural context of each of the three countries. Next, it explores the main higher education reform initiatives, challenges and results in each country. The main findings explored in this study reveal the urgent need for quality audit procedure to assess each institution’s effectiveness in achieving its goals. It also advocates for assuring and improving the quality of higher education through building self-regulating system. The findings also learn from the Australian experience in providing vocational and technical education, which focused on providing skills for the job market. The study concludes that a quality assurance system is more powerful than accreditation system, as it focuses on student learning outcomes. There is much to learn from policy and practice in Australia to maintain and assure quality. The study recommends conducting consultation with representatives of all stakeholders prior to the development of a new program in reference to the Canadian experiences. Moreover, the role of policy and decision makers must strengthen quality assurance system in the institution internally and from an authoritative agency externally. The study recommends that Egypt prioritizes the completion of accreditation of its all higher education institutions and revisit its admission policy to HE

The 3XMM/SDSS Stripe 82 Galaxy Cluster Survey: Cluster catalogue and discovery of two merging cluster candidates

We present a galaxy cluster survey based on XMM-Newton observations that are located in Stripe 82 of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). The survey covers an area of 11.25 deg$^2$. The X-ray cluster candidates were selected as serendipitously extended detected sources from the third XMM-Newton serendipitous source catalogue (3XMM-DR5). A cross-correlation of the candidate list that comprises 94 objects with recently published X-ray and optically selected cluster catalogues provided optical confirmations and redshift estimates for about half of the candidate sample. We present a catalogue of X-ray cluster candidates previously known in X-ray and/or optical bands from the matched catalogues or NED. The catalogue consists of 54 systems with redshift measurements in the range of 0.05-1.19 with a median of 0.36. Of these, 45 clusters have spectroscopic confirmations as stated in the matched catalogues. We spectroscopically confirmed another 6 clusters from the available spectroscopic redshifts in the SDSS-DR12. The cluster catalogue includes 17 newly X-ray discovered clusters, while the remainder were detected in previous XMM-Newton and/or ROSAT cluster surveys. Based on the available redshifts and fluxes given in the 3XMM-DR5 catalogue, we estimated the X-ray luminosities and masses for the cluster sample. We also present the list of the remaining X-ray cluster candidates (40 objects) that have no redshift information yet in the literature. Of these candidates, 25 sources are considered as distant cluster candidates beyond a redshift of 0.6. We also searched for galaxy cluster mergers in our cluster sample and found two strong candidates for newly discovered cluster mergers at redshifts of 0.11 and 0.26. The X-ray and optical properties of these systems are presented.Comment: 17 pages, 12 figures, accepted for publication in A&A, revised version after language editin

Nearly Exponential Neural Networks Approximation in Lp Spaces

يدخل التقريب باستخدام الشبكات العصبية في الكثير من التطبيقات المهمة. حيث انه يحل الكثير من المشاكل في مجالات علوم الحاسوب و الهندسة و الفيزياء, الخ. ان سبب نجاح التقريب باستخدام الشبكات العصبية هو امكانيته من تقريب اية دالة مهما كان نوعها. في الثلاثين سنة الماضية نشرت الكثير من البحوث جميع تلك البحوث بينت ان كل دالة معرفة على مجموعة مرصوصة محدبة و جزئية من الفضاء الاقليدي    يمكن تقريبها بانتظام باستخدام الشبكة العصبية ذان الطبقة المخفية الواحدة. في هذا البحث قمنا بتعميم الحقائق التي قدمها رانجيتا في و برهنا أن لأية داله تنتمي الى (   و معرفه على مجموعه محدبة ومرصوصة  في  يمكن تقريبها باستخدام شبكه عصبيه ذات طبقه مخفيه واحده من نوع الاس القريب وهذا ما نسميه بالتقريب باستخدام الشبكات العصبية من نوع الاس القريب.In different applications, we can widely use the neural network approximation. They are being applied to solve many problems in computer science, engineering, physics, etc. The reason for successful application of neural network approximation is the neural network ability to approximate arbitrary function. In the last 30 years, many papers have been published showing that we can approximate any continuous function defined on a compact subset of the Euclidean spaces of dimensions greater than 1, uniformly using a neural network with one hidden layer. Here we prove that any real function in L_P (C) defined on a compact and convex subset  of can be approximated by a sigmoidal neural network with one hidden layer, that we call nearly exponential approximation

Quality of life in dialysis versus kidney transplantation

Introduction: The compromised health-related quality of life (HRQOL) of patient with end-stage renal disease(ESRD) is now well documented. One of the main pointswhen treating patients with ESRD, whose cure is not arealistic goal, is maximizing functioning and well-being,which refer to the ability to perform various dailyactivities and functions and to more subjective internalstates such as symptoms and feelings.Aim: Is to study the difference in QOL between dialysispatients and living renal transplant recipients using SF-36 Health survey and factors affecting QOL.Setting and participant: Seventy patients were includedin our study 34 of them were males and 36 females. Theywere divided into 3groups: Group Ia: 30 hemodialysispatients of at least 6 months duration on dialysis, GroupIb: 10 continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD)and Group II: 30 recipients of living renal transplants of? 6 months duration. SF-36 questionnaire was filled byall patients; it includes eight subscales which can also becombined into two component summary scores, Aphysical component summary PCS {general heath (GH),physical function (PF), role-physical (RP), bodily pain(BP)} and a mental component summary MCS {roleemotional(RE), vitality (VT), mental health (MH), andsocial function (MH)}. Data were analyzed from thisquestionnaire to determine the QOL for all patients andwere correlated also with clinical and laboratoryparameters.Results: Among hemodialysis patients, PCS, PF and VTparameters were better in young subjects and MH waspositively correlated with the hemoglobin level. Patientswithout co-morbid conditions had significantly betterQOL in PF and RP parameters. QOL was significantlybetter in employed than unemployed persons regardingPF, RP, VT, SF, GH and PCS. As regard CAPD patients without co-morbid conditions had significantly better QOL than those with co-morbid condition regarding RP, GH, SF and PCS. Among recipients of renal transplantation, there was a significant positive correlation between hemoglobin level and QOL parameters PCS, MCS, VT, SF and MH and a significant negative correlation between age of transplanted recipients and PF and VT was recorded. Finally in comparison of the three studied groups there was significant difference between the studied groups as regard PF parameter of SF-36 health survey which was higher in transplanted group than HD and CAPD.Conclusion: In hemodialysis patients the best quality of life was to males young aged with high hemoglobin level and no co-morbid conditions. In CAPD the best quality of life was to young aged and no co-morbid conditions. In renal transplant the best quality of life was to young age and high hemoglobin level. Finally there was no difference in QOL with three forms of renal replacement therapy

Vitamin E Attenuates Cardiomyopathy Via Alleviation of Autophagic Stress

Introduction: Vitamin E (Vit E) is well known antioxidant. Bisphenol A (BPA), widely used industrial chemical product, is associated with increased risk for cardiac diseases to identify the potential protective effect of Vit E on BPA induced cardiomyopathy by alleviation of oxidative and autophagic stress through its antioxidant effect. Materials and Methods: Twenty –four adult male rates were used in the study. They were randomly divided into 4 groups; negative control, vit E positive control, BPA, and vit E treated group. All chemicals were given orally via gastric gavage for 14 days. Rats were sacrificed and their hearts were dissected out. Serum, cardiac homogenates, and cardiac tissues were obtained for biochemical and histopathological evaluation. Results: There were significant increase in serum DH and CK-MB, tissue homogenates showed elevated levels of NO and MDA and decreased level of GSH in BPA group. Immunohistopathological evaluation of autophagic mediators showed significant increase in LC3 and P62 in BPA group. On Histological examination, there was pathological alteration in BPA group compared to normal group. Vit E administration showed significant improvement in cardiac enzymes and oxidative stress. Also, alleviation of autophagic process and restoration of the myocardial architecture with reduction of the fibrous tissue were observed with vit E administration. Conclusion: These results demonstrate that vitamin E exhibit substantial protective effects in BPA induced cardiotoxicity by attenuating inflammation, oxidative stress, and alleviation the autophagic process