Why Do States Develop Multi-tier Emigrant Policies? Evidence from Egypt

Why do states vary their policies towards their citizens abroad, and why are some emigrant groups treated preferentially to others? The literature on the politics of international migration has yet to explore this as a separate field of inquiry, assuming that states adopt a single policy that encourages, sustains or prevents emigration abroad. Yet, in the case of Egypt, the state developed a multi-tiered policy that distinctly favoured specific communities abroad over others. I hypothesise that policy differentiation is based upon the perceived utility of the emigrant group remaining abroad versus the utility of its return. This utility is determined by two factors: the sending state’s domestic political economy priorities and its foreign policy objectives

Interaction between Education and Household Wealth on the Risk of Obesity in Women in Egypt

Obesity is a growing problem in lower income countries particularly among women. There are few studies exploring individual socioeconomic status indicators in depth. This study examines the interaction of education and wealth in relation to obesity, hypothesising that education protects against the obesogenic effect of wealth

The violent youth of bright and massive cluster galaxies and their maturation over 7 billion years

In this study, we investigate the formation and evolution mechanisms of the brightest cluster galaxies (BCGs) over cosmic time. At high redshift (z ∼ 0.9), we selected BCGs and most massive cluster galaxies (MMCGs) from the Cl1604 supercluster and compared them to low-redshift (z ∼ 0.1) counterparts drawn from the MCXC meta-catalogue, supplemented by Sloan Digital Sky Survey imaging and spectroscopy. We observed striking differences in the morphological, colour, spectral, and stellar mass properties of the BCGs/MMCGs in the two samples. High-redshift BCGs/MMCGs were, in many cases, star-forming, late-type galaxies, with blue broad-band colours, properties largely absent amongst the low-redshift BCGs/MMCGs. The stellar mass of BCGs was found to increase by an average factor of 2.51 ± 0.71 from z ∼ 0.9 to z ∼ 0.1. Through this and other comparisons, we conclude that a combination of major merging (mainly wet or mixed) and in situ star formation are the main mechanisms which build stellar mass in BCGs/MMCGs. The stellar mass growth of the BCGs/MMCGs also appears to grow in lockstep with both the stellar baryonic and total mass of the cluster. Additionally, BCGs/MMCGs were found to grow in size, on average, a factor of ∼3, while their average Sérsic index increased by ∼0.45 from z ∼ 0.9 to z ∼ 0.1, also supporting a scenario involving major merging, though some adiabatic expansion is required. These observational results are compared to both models and simulations to further explore the implications on processes which shape and evolve BCGs/MMCGs over the past ∼7 Gyr

Improved morphology control using a modified two-step method for efficient perovskite solar cells

© 2014 American Chemical Society. A two-step wet chemical synthesis method for methylammonium lead(II) triiodide (CH3NH3PbI3) perovskite is further developed for the preparation of highly reproducible solar cells, with the following structure: fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO)/TiO2 (compact)/TiO2 (mesoporous)/CH3NH3PbI3/spiro-OMeTAD/Ag. The morphology of the perovskite layer could be controlled by careful variation of the processing conditions. Specifically, by modifying the drying process and inclusion of a dichloromethane treatment, more uniform films could be prepared, with longer emission lifetime in the perovskite material and longer electron lifetime in solar cell devices, as well as faster electron transport and enhanced charge collection at the selective contacts. Solar cell efficiencies up to 13.5% were obtained

Visualizing Bulk-to-Surface Carrier Diffusion via Band-bending of Solar Cell Materials by 4D Electron Microscopy at Low Applied Potential

Utilizing four-dimensional scanning ultrafast electron microscopy (4D-SUEM) is a powerful tool to monitor charge dynamics at material surfaces and interfaces especially for the application in renewable energy field. Herein, we uncover unique physical features for 4D-SUEM upon reducing the acceleration of probed primary electrons to 1 keV, for wide range of materials including various single crystals, thin films and quantum dots upon the presence of oxidized and neat surfaces. Working at 1 keV helps to uncover the migration of photogenerated carriers originating from both sub-surface and bulk layers, under the influence of the carriers scattering and the band-bending phenomena. This approach provides a new avenue for the spatial and temporal access to the surface exclusive dynamics in renewable energy materials to unlock their interfacial behaviors at the nanoscale level