Sorry, academia is not relevant to the system!

Journal #82 from Media Rise's Quarantined Across Borders Collection by Hanan Badr. From Cairo, Egypt. Quarantined in Berlin, Germany.Invisible struggles of an academic mom whose lifework has been labeled not system criticalMedia Rise Publications. Quarantined Across Borders Collection. Edited by Dr. Srividya "Srivi" Ramasubramanian

Strengthening Journalism from the Margins: Engaged Journalism in Brazil and Egypt

This article develops the concept of engaged journalism outside a US context, comparing how engaged journalists in Brazil and Egypt discursively negotiate their professional positions in the face of far-right governments’ constraints. Engaged journalists are professional journalists working in alternative media and strongly committed to a political position. Inspired by Bourdieu’s field theory, the article investigates how engaged journalists legitimise themselves by contesting legacy journalism from the margins through innovative digital formats in times of blurred boundaries. A qualitative content analysis of 21 articles (editorials and op-ed pieces) published in The Intercept Brasil and MadaMasr from 2015 to 2020 (a) develops the concept of engaged journalism in alternative media, (b) reconstructs how two media initiatives in the Global South discursively negotiated editorial actions and distinguished themselves from legacy journalism, and (c) proposes a global transferable understanding of engaged journalism based on research in two media systems. Three themes emerge: raison d’être and purpose, tensions between democratic and authoritarian norms, and the establishment of legitimacy through an emphasis on journalistic practices, revealing that engaged journalists are driven by media criticism, but still position themselves within journalism, offering a radical new path. This article contributes to theory-building about engaged journalism in the Global South

Limitations of the Social Media Euphoria in Communication Studies

The political effects of social media in the Arab countries are complex and unpredictable. The body of literature remains fragmented with inconclusive empirical results due to a number of factors like the multitude of disciplines and theoretical approaches, being a new phenomenon in social sciences, the fast developments and dynamic settings, the massive data, and questions of methodology. This article argues for a more balanced and nuanced view of social media and their democratization potential. In this sense, research on social media in Arab countries should not aim to prove certain determinism, but rather study the shifting interplay of online communication and offline actors as they develop over time.Les conséquences politiques des réseaux virtuels dans les pays arabes sont complexes et imprévisibles. Le corpus à ce sujet demeure fragmenté et ses résultats sont empiriques et peu conclusifs. Cela s’explique par un certain nombre de facteurs, notamment le grand nombre de disciplines et d’approches théoriques à l’œuvre pour ce qui constitue un phénomène nouveau pour les sciences sociales ; la rapidité de l’évolution et le dynamisme de cet environnement ; la quantité massive des données et les problèmes de méthodologie. Cet article plaide pour une vision plus équilibrée et nuancée des réseaux virtuels et de leur potentiel de démocratisation. La recherche sur les réseaux virtuels dans les pays arabes, plutôt que de s’attacher à en prouver le déterminisme, devrait se pencher sur l’évolution de l’interaction entre la communication en ligne et les acteurs hors ligne à mesure que ces derniers se développent

Monte-Carlo Galerkin Approximation of Fractional Stochastic Integro-Differential Equation

A stochastic differential equation, SDE, describes the dynamics of a stochastic process defined on a space-time continuum. This paper reformulates the fractional stochastic integro-differential equation as a SDE. Existence and uniqueness of the solution to this equation is discussed. A numerical method for solving SDEs based on the Monte-Carlo Galerkin method is presented

The effect of caffeine on some indicators of bone metabolism in rats

The propose of this article is to evaluate the effect of caffeine on some indicators of bone metabolism in rats by biochemical measurement of minerals, bone densitometry and histometry. Forty eight Wistar albino male rats, age 6-8 weeks and weighing 100±0.11 g were randomly divided into four groups (12 rats each). Each group of animals received balanced diet; the second, third and fourth groups received pure caffeine dissolved in distilled water with different oral doses (0.35, 0.43 and 50 mg/day) for 12 constitutive weeks. Blood samples were withdrawn at 3, 6, 9 and 12 weeks. Serum and urinary calcium, phosphorus, magnesium and caffeine were estimated. Bone density and bone length were measured. Bone minerals were also estimated. The data revealed that the bone density was significantly decreased (p ≤ 0.05) in the fourth set (1.05±0.10 g/cm3) for right femur rats. The length of right femur increased with more doses of caffeine and it was highly significant in the fourth group (3.40±0.12cm). The proportion of each calcium, phosphors and magnesium in bone ash was significantly lower (p ≤ 0.05). Serum levels of calcium, phosphors and magnesium were decreased with increasing the dose over time. The levels of urinary calcium and magnesium were increased significantly (p ≤ 0.05) in group 4, but phosphors was raised (p ≤ 0.05) in all groups. In conclusion, intakes of caffeine in amounts >300 mg/dl significantly affected the quantitative composition of the bone and this finding lead to be at a greater risk for bone loss. These results suggested that appropriate lifestyle changes to conserve bone mineral density (BMD) by reducing the consumption of caffeine and need further studies to elucidate the mechanism that caffeine effects on bone metabolism

ASSESSMENT OF WATER QUALITY IN CHLORINATED DRINKING WATER DISTRIBUTION NETWORKS REGARDING TO TRIHALOMETHANES FORMATION

Chlorine disinfection in conventional water treatment plants in Egypt is a popular and inexpensive technique for disinfecting raw surface water before distribution to consumers. Nevertheless, the chlorination process in the presence of natural organic matter and decreased water quality due to uncontrollable population results in formation of high concentrations of carcinogenic disinfection by-products, from which trihalomethanes (THMs). In this paper, the water quality of Assiut drinking water network (ADWN) was assessed in terms of THMs studying different water quality parameters. An extended period simulation based on a modelling software WaterGEMS was employed to obtain the critical locations to be examined according to key parameters namely: water age, residual chlorine concentration, water velocity, and type of storage. The study concluded that THMs concentrations from all critical locations in Assiut drinking water network would not exceed the Egyptian regulatory threshold and US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) guidelines. Even more, an investigated domestic roof tank should be critically operated under a planned scheme of monitoring and maintenance due to its deteriorated water quality

Investigation of Shear Strength of Subbase-Subgrade Interface with Geosynthetics Reinforcement Utilizing A Large-Scale Direct Shear Test

Geosynthetics are being used to strengthen road pavement. Geosynthetic inclusions improve pavement carrying capacity, maintenance costs, highway service life, reflective cracks, and undesirable large lateral and vertical deformations. The primary purpose of this research is to determine the effectiveness of geosynthetics (geogrids and geotextiles) in stabilizing the subgrade and reinforcing the base course layers in unpaved test sections. Determine the mechanical interaction of subgrade soils (clay and sand) and aggregate road base layers (subbase) with and without reinforcement. Compute the shear strength parameters (cohesion, friction angle, and interface coefficient factor). Therefore, Large-scale direct shear experiments in the laboratory were performed on subbase-subgrade materials with and without geosynthetics, under the applying normal of stresses (25, 50, 75, and 100) kPa, indicating the quantity overburden the pressure in paving. The present research uses a large-scale direct shear apparatus with an up square box (200 mm×200 mm×100 mm) and a bottom rectangular box (200 mm×250 mm×100 mm). A direct shear test was implemented by manufacturing this equipment. The results obtained from experiments showed that biaxial geogrid G1 has the best behavior for both (subbase-clay) and (subbase-sand) and has an interface shear coefficient factor more significant than unity and equal to 1.05 and 1.02, respectively

Maternal supplementation of diabetic mice with thymoquinone protects their offspring from abnormal obesity and diabetes by modulating their lipid profile and free radical production and restoring lymphocyte proliferation via PI3K/AKT signaling

BACKGROUND: Epidemiological studies have shown that the offspring of mothers who experience diabetes mellitus during pregnancy are seven times more likely to develop health complications than the offspring of mothers who do not suffer from diabetes during pregnancy. The present study was designed to investigate whether supplementation of streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic pregnant mice with thymoquinone (TQ) during pregnancy and lactation improves the risk of developing diabetic complications acquired by their offspring. METHODS: Three groups of pregnant female mice were used: non-diabetic control dams (CD), diabetic dams (DD), and diabetic dams supplemented with TQ (DD + TQ) during pregnancy and lactation (n = 10 female mice in each group). RESULTS: Our data demonstrated a marked decrease in the number of neonates born to DD, and these neonates showed a marked increase in their mean body weight (macrosomic pups) compared to those born to CD and DD + TQ. The induction of diabetes during pregnancy and lactation resulted in macrosomic pups with several postpartum complications, such as a marked increase in their levels of blood glucose, free radicals, plasma pro-inflammatory cytokines (IL-1β, IL-6, and TNF-α), and lipids, and a tendency toward abnormal obesity compared to the offspring of CD. By contrast, macrosomic offspring born to DD exhibited a marked reduction in plasma cytokine levels (IL-2, -4 and -7), an obvious reduction in the number of circulating lymphocytes, decreased proliferation of superantigen (SEB)-stimulated lymphocytes and aberrant AKT phosphorylation. Interestingly, the supplementation of DD with TQ during pregnancy and lactation had an obvious and significant effect on the number and mean body weight of neonates. Furthermore, TQ significantly restored the levels of blood glucose, insulin, free radicals, plasma cytokines, and lipids as well as lymphocyte proliferation in the offspring. CONCLUSIONS: Our data suggest that the nutritional supplementation of DD with the natural antioxidant TQ during pregnancy and lactation protects their offspring from developing diabetic complications and preserves an efficient lymphocyte immune response later in life