Characteristics Of The Marble Industry In Egypt: Structure, Conduct, And Performance

This paper analyzes marble extraction and production in Egypt from an applied industrial economics point of view. The marble industry in Egypt could be a promising sector if regulated properly. Market structure, conduct and performance is analyzed including degree of differentiation, nature of competition, barriers to entry, and needed regulations. Technically, production matches increasing returns of a Cobb Douglas form while cost structure follows declining average cost with entry . Factor inputs in production are non-complementary with $1000 of capital substitutable by 7.5 units of labor. Efficiency concerns necessitate deep technological segmentation with declining profitability. Critically needed regulations are related to technological use in extraction and labor allocation in production. For higher efficiency, the industry should become more capital intensive even though the Egyptian economy is undeniably labor abundant

Technical Requirements for Connecting Solar Power Plants to Electricity Networks

This chapter discusses basics of technical design specifications, criteria, technical terms and equipment parameters required to connect solar power plants to electricity networks. Depending on its capacity, a solar plant can be connected to LV, MV, or HV networks. Successful connection of a medium-scale solar plant should satisfy requirements of both the Solar Energy Grid Connection Code (SEGCC) and the appropriate code: the Electricity Distribution Code (EDC) or the Grid Code (GC) as the connection level apply. Connection of a large-scale solar plant to the transmission network should satisfy the requirements of both SEGCC and GC. For Small-Scale Photovoltaic (SSPV), the connection should satisfy both the SSPV Connection Code and the EDC. The objectives are to establish the obligations and responsibilities of each party; i.e. operators and all network users, thus leading to improved security, higher reliability and maintaining optimal operation. The technical specifications include permitted voltage and frequency variations in addition to power quality limits of harmonic distortion, phase unbalance, and flickers. Operational limits and capability requirements will be explained and discussed. Solar power grid connection codes of Egypt are explored first. Finally, brief comparisons of PV codes and related codes of UK, Germany, USA, and Egypt are presented

Review of 89 autopsies of child deaths from violence and neglect in the Suez Canal area, Egypt

AbstractIn Egypt there are no true data about the incidences of child deaths from violence and neglect. The study aims to investigate child deaths associated with violence or neglect. Cases of suspected child deaths from 2000 to 2007 in the Suez Canal area were retrospectively reviewed. Cases were collected from the database of the Forensic Institution of Port-Said. A medico-legal autopsy had been carried out for all cases. Of the 89 cases, 56 were males and 33 were females.Resultsrevealed that child deaths were 41.6% in newborns less than one month old, 29.2% in the age group between 15 and 18years old, and 5.6% in the age group between 10 and 14years old. The majority of perpetrators were unknown (44.95%), followed by victim’s colleagues and neighbors (22.47%). Neglect with no outward signs represented the majority of child deaths (41.57%). Blunt trauma used in an abusive manner during street arguments was the second cause of homicidal deaths (19.1%).The highest rate of child deaths was in newborns and early youth. There is need for further examination of child fatality profiles associated with abuse and neglect in this age group and an increase in community outreach efforts to prevent fatal child abuse in Egypt

TOPSIS Approach for Solving Bi-Level Non-Linear Fractional MODM Problems

TOPSIS (technique for order preference similarity to ideal solution) is considered one of the known classical multiple criteria decision making (MCDM) methods to solve bi-level non-linear fractional multi-objective decision making (BL-NFMODM) problems, and in which the objective function at each level is considered nonlinear and maximization type fractional functions. The proposed approach presents the basic terminology of TOPSIS approach and the construction of membership function for the upper level decision variable vectors, the membership functions of the distance functions from the positive ideal solution (PIS) and of the distance functions from the negative ideal solution (NIS). Thereafter a fuzzy goal programming model is adopted to obtain compromise optimal solution of BL-NFMODM problems. The proposed approach avoids the decision deadlock situations in decision making process and possibility of rejecting the solution again and again by lower level decision makers. The presented TOPSIS technique for BL-NFMODM problems is a new fuzzy extension form of TOPSIS approach suggested by Baky and Abo-Sinna (2013) (Applied Mathematical Modelling, 37, 1004-1015, 2013) which dealt with bi -level multi-objective decision making (BL-MODM) problems. Also, an algorithm is presented of the new fuzzy TOPSIS approach for solving BL-NFMODM problems. Finally, an illustrative numerical example is given to demonstrate the approach

Genetic and Non-Genetic Factors Association with Warfarin Long Term Therapy Stability in Sudan

Anticoagulation with warfarin is characterized by a wide inter-individual variations in dose requirements and INR (International Normalised Ratio) stability, as there are evidences that warfarin response variability is associated with CYP2C9 (cytochrome P450, family 2, subfamily C, polypeptide 9) and VKORC1 (Vitamin K epoxide reductase complex1) genetic polymorphisms. Carriers of CYP2C9*2 and VKORC11639G>A variant alleles are at greater risk of unstable anticoagulation therapy. Objectives: This retrospective case control study was directed to analyze the impact of genetic and non-genetic factors on warfarin therapy in Sudanese out-patients who were on long term warfarin therapy. Method: 118 Sudanese outpatients receiving warfarin treatment for at least six months, were interviewed for their non-genetic factors that included age, sex, indication for warfarin therapy, compliance, Vitamin K rich foods intake and concomitant drug therapy, in addition to their blood samples which were taken for DNA extraction and genotyping of CYP2C9*2 and VKORC11639G>A gene polymorphisms to study the genetic factors. INR stability % index was calculated, accordingly patients were classified into 2 groups, stable and unstable groups. Results: The frequencies of VKORC11639G>A alleles in Sudanese out-patients who were on long term warfarin therapy were 70.3% and 29.7% for the VKORC1/G and VKORC1/A alleles respectively. The frequencies of CYP2C9*2 alleles in Sudanese out-patients were 92.4% and 7.6% for CYP2C9*1 and CYP2C9*2 alleles respectively. Variables associated with low INR stability were VKCOR1/AA genotype (p-value = 0.028) and sex (p = 0.017). Variables that showed no association with INR stability were age (p-value = 0.259), compliance (p-value = 0.058). Vitamin K rich foods intake (p- value = 0.743), and mean stable warfarin dose (p-value = 0.439). Conclusion: Polymorphism in warfarin drug target gene VKORC1-11639G>A and sex are important elements of INR stability in Sudanese out- patients on long term warfarin therapy

GASTRORETENTIVE NIZATIDINE LOADING MICROBALLOONS FOR TREATMENT OF PEPTIC ULCER

Objective: The aim of the present work was to formulate a controlled release dosage form of water soluble drug such as Nizatidine to increase its gastric retention in the stomach and consequently, enhance its absorption and improve its bioavailability.Methods: Microballoons were prepared by emulsion non solvent evaporation method using ethyl cellulose 7 CP in different ratios. The prepared microballoons were evaluated for yield percentage, entrapment efficiency, in vitro buoyancy and in vitro dissolution.Results: Results showed that as drug to polymer ratio increased from 1:1 to 1:5 yield percentage, entrapment efficiency, in vitro buoyancy increased from 70.4+1.5 to87.2+1.8, from 71.5+2.1 to 90.2+2.6 and from 82.1+3.2 to 93.2+2.6, respectively, while the amount of drug released decreased from 88.1+2.1 to 68.9+1.8. When stirring rate increased from 800 rpm to 1600 rpm, the three parameters decreased from 93.2+2.7 to 81.5, from 96.4+3.5 to 82.6+1.7 and from 97+5.4 to 88.2+4.1, respectively, while the amount released increased from 63.1+2.6 to 73.8+1.2. When Span 80 concentrations increased from 0.1% to 2% the three parameters decreased from 95.2+2.6, to 81.6+3.2, from 97.6+1.8 to 82.4+1.8 and from 97.3+5.2 to 89.1+4.6, respectively, and the amount released percentage increased from 61.2+2.6 to 76.1+1.6. All drug release showed Higuchi diffusion models. The increase in the mean Tmax and the decrease in the mean Cmax of microballoons compared to the plain drug indicate a sustained release of microballoons and reflects a high improvement in its bioavailability.Conclusion: It is evident from this study that microballoons are promising gastric prolonging the delivery system for nizatidine and have good stability.Â

Lifestyle Intervention’s Effect and Predictive Value on Weight Loss for University Employees

Obesity is a costly and pervasive risk factor that requires attention to reduce chronic disease rates. This study evaluated the effect of a lifestyle medicine intervention, Complete Health Improvement Program (CHIP), on reducing weight, blood pressure, lipid levels, and hemoglobin A1c. A secondary aim was to build a preliminary predictive model for computing new participants’ potential weight change from CHIP. We evaluated pre- and post-intervention biometric data of 68 individuals who completed a 10-week CHIP intervention at a Midwestern university clinic. Significant reductions (p \u3c 0.05) were observed in weight, diastolic blood pressure, total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein, and A1c. Regression analyses indicated that the best linear model for predicting change in weight was a one-predictor model with systolic blood pressure. The CHIP intervention effectively promoted weight loss and meaningful reductions in chronic disease risk factors. Larger samples are needed for future regression analyses to create a more robust linear model