Adaptation process of farming systems in response to 14 successive years of drought in North West Coastal Zone (Egypt)

The Coastal Zone of Western Desert, Egypt (CZWD) is historically a pastoral zone, and the raising of livestock is the main socioeconomic activity. The zone has witnessed major changes over the last 50 years; demographic growth, urbanization, touristic development and agro-ecological diversification. More recently, the zone has faced a long drought period from 1995 to 2011, with low erratic rainfall (< 150 mm). Scarcity of rainfall has affected farming systems and household livelihood. The Bedouin societies have diversified their farming systems, based on livestock, barley and fruit trees. The study analyzes the impacts of this long drought period on the livestock farming systems, and the adaptive processes developed by breeders to cope with it. The analysis is based on household surveys (182 families surveyed between April and July 2011) in three agro-climatic regions of the CZWD: the rainfed region (West), the new reclaimed lands (East) and Siwa desert Oasis. The role of small ruminants differs accordingly to the agro-ecological region. In the dry rainfed region (West), flock size decreased from 244 to 152 heads, over the drought period from 1995 to 2011, where it is increase from 161 to 234 in the new reclaimed lands (East), with the availability of green fodder and crop residuals. The animal reproductive performance as lamb born/ewe/year differs with the agro-ecological region being better in the new reclaimed lands. In the rainfed region, breeders have developed different adaptive mechanisms such as, decreasing flock size, raising more goats, relying more on concentrate feeding and early marketing of their lambs/kids. Migration of family members to agro-pastoral and urban areas was another social coping mechanism to the long drought. Long drought duration have induced detectable diversification of farming activities in the area. (Résumé d'auteur

Prophylactic use of carvedilol to prevent ventricular dysfunction in patients with cancer treated with doxorubicin

Objective: Deterioration in ventricular function is often observed in patients treated with anthracyclines for cancer. There is a paucity of evidence on interventions that might provide cardio-protection. We investigated whether prophylactic use of carvedilol can prevent doxorubicin-induced cardiotoxicity and whether any observed effect is dose related. Methods: A prospective, randomized, double-blind study in patients treated with doxorubicin, comparing placebo (n = 38) with different doses of carvedilol [6.25 mg/day (n = 41), 12.5 mg/day (n = 38) or 25 mg/day (n = 37)]. The primary endpoint was the measured change in left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) from baseline to 6 months. Results: LVEF decreased from 62 ± 5% at baseline to 58 ± 7% at 6-months (p = 0.002) in patients assigned to placebo but no statistically significant changes were observed in any of the 3 carvedilol groups. At 6 months, only one of 116 patients (1%) assigned to carvedilol had an LVEF < 50% compared to four of the 38 assigned to placebo (11%), (p = 0.013). No significant differences were noted between carvedilol and placebo in terms of the development of diastolic dysfunction, clinically overt heart failure or death. Conclusions: Carvedilol might prevent deterioration in LVEF in cancer patients treated with doxorubicin. This effect may not be dose related within the studied range

Influence of Trichoderma reesei or Saccharomyces cerevisiae on performance, ruminal fermentation, carcass characteristics and blood biochemistry of lambs fed Atriplex nummularia and Acacia saligna mixture

The mixtureof A.nummularia and A.saligna (1:1 DM)was autoclaved(TuttnauerUSACo.Ltd.,NY,USA)at121 °C and1.5psi for 15mintodestroyanymicrobes.Thecontentwasallowedto cool andlaterinoculatedwiththesporesof T.reesei at arateof 40 mLofthesporesuspensioncontaining107 spores permL/kg DM ofautoclaved A.nummularia and A.saligna mixture. Thein- oculatedsubstrateswerethenincubatedatambienttemperature for 10days.Bytheendoftheincubationperiod,theforageswere fullycoveredwiththefungus.Theywerethenovendriedat70 °C in aforcedairdryingoven(CascadeTEK’s ModelTFO-10,OR,USA) for 24hsoastostopfungalgrowthandpreventfurtherdena- turationofproteins.The aim of this study was to evaluate whole substitution of Egyptian berseem hay (Trifolium alexandrinum) with a mixture of Atriplex nummularia and Acacia saligna (1:1 DM) in the diet of Barki lambs for 70 days. Thirty six lambs (27.0±0.89 kg initial BW) were divided into four treatment groups of nine lambs each and fed: (1) the Control group with no substitution (70% concentrate mixture and 30% berseem hay, DM basis), (2) A. nummularia and A. saligna mixture without fungal treatment (treatment group AU), or (3) Trichoderma reesei treated A. nummularia and A. saligna mixture (treatment group AF), or (4) A. nummularia and A. saligna mixture supplemented with Saccharomyces cerevisiae at 0.5 g/kg DM of feed (treatment group AS) replaced 100% of berseem hay in the diet. Live-weight change, rumen fermentation parameters, blood chemistry, carcass characteristics and intestinal histology were investigated. Significant (P0.05). Lambs fed AF and AU diets had lower (P<0.05) feed conversion efficiency than lambs fed the AS and Control diets. Lambs fed AF and AS had increased (P<0.05) volatile fatty acid production compared to Controls. Blood albumin and urea concentrations increased (P<0.05) with lambs in AS treatment compared to lambs in the other treatments, while lambs fed AF had lower (P<0.05) cholesterol and glucose concentrations compared to the Controls. The AS lambs had the highest (P<0.05) dressing percentage. Decreased intramuscular fat weights were obtained with lambs fed halophytes compared to Control lambs. Histology of the ileum, sub mucosa and Peyer's patches were normal in all lambs. In conclusion, untreated halophyte mixtures of A. nummularia and A. saligna (at 1:1 DM) can be substituted for berseem hay without negative effects on performance while treatment with S. cerevisiae may improve performance and, like T. reesei, change certain biochemical responses

Emotional Intelligence And Its Relationship To Self-Efficacy Among Female Students In The Department Of Psychology At Blue Nile University

The study aimed to identify emotional intelligence among female students in the Department of Psychology at Blue Nile University in Sudan. The researcher used the descriptive approach, and the sample size was (200) female students who were selected by a stratified random method, where (100) first-level female students and (100) female students were selected the last level. The data collection tool was the emotional intelligence scale prepared by (Othman, Rizk, 2001), and the data was analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS). The study concluded with a set of results, the most important of which are: that emotional intelligence among female students is characterized by average, as scores ranged between (2.24 to 4.86) and the arithmetic mean for the emotional intelligence scale as a whole was (3.59). The results also showed that there were statistically significant differences in emotional intelligence between first-level and last-level female students in favor of first-level female students at the significance level (&amp;=0.05). The results were discussed in light of the theoretical framework and previous studies, and then the researcher presented a set of recommendations based on the results, and some future research proposals, and among these recommendations: working to conduct more studies on emotional intelligence in the student community, as well as conducting many courses and training programs in developing emotional intelligence

Effective Magnetic and Electric Response of Composite Materials

Metamaterials are artificial materials constructed and designed to provide unique optical properties not found in naturally existing materials, such as magnetism at high frequencies and negative index of refraction. We present an analytical model of the magnetic response for two different designs of metamaterials (MMs) including a pair of metallic stripes separated by a dielectric material and metallic bowtie separated by dielectric material. The responses of the two systems were compared to the exact numerical calculation performed by utilizing Comsol multiphysics software and the results reveal an excellent matching. Additionally, negative index materials (NIMs) were designed using Comsol Multiphysics in which the optical responses were extracted, showing negative index of refraction at THz regimes not only for metallic parallel stripes but also for semiconductor stripes immersed in a dielectric material

Effective Magnetic and Electric Response of Composite Materials

Metamaterials (MMs) are nanocomposite materials consisting of metal-dielectric resonators much smaller in size than the wavelength of the incident light. Common examples of metamaterials are based on split ring resonators (SRRs), parallel wires or strips and fishnet structures. These types of materials are designed and fabricated in order to provide unique optical responses to the incident electromagnetic radiation that are not available in naturally existing materials. The MMs can exhibit unusual properties such as strong magnetism at terahertz (THz) and optical frequencies. Additionally, negative index materials (NIMs) can provide negative index of refraction which can be used in many applications including invisibility cloaking devices and superlenses capable of overcoming the diffraction limit of light. Furthermore, NIMs manifest reversal of optical laws such as Snell’s law, the Doppler effect and Cerenkov radiation. This dissertation demonstrates comprehensive analytical and theoretical studies of the magnetic and electric susceptibilities of prospective two dimensional MMs including metallic parallel strips and bowtie resonators. Accurate analytical theories are developed to describe the diamagnetic response of a pair of metallic nanostrips separated by a dielectric material using the transmission line theory, and of metallic bowtie MMs through a high frequency LZ circuit model. These theoretical models were compared to exact numerical simulations based on the finite difference frequency domain (FDFD) Comsol Multiphysics software. The magnetic response for both systems was extracted numerically iv by applying the polarization current approach and found to be in excellent agreement with the analytical theory. Our results show that strong optical magnetism can be realized by reducing the size of the resonators; however, the scaling breaks down at high frequencies where a clear saturation in the magnetic resonance frequency is manifested in both systems under investigation. Moreover, the proposed NIMs designs are shown to exhibit negative index of refraction in the case of metallic and semiconductor based strips resonators. A record high figure of merit (FOM) of -0.9 has been demonstrated for double negative index material (demonstrating simultaneously negative permittivity and permeability). The local electromagnetic response of the NIMs was extracted using two competing approaches, namely the field averaging and inverse methods. These methods have shown consistent results, specifically with respect to the predicted magnetic susceptibility, and thus have testified that the proposed magnetic resonance designs can lead to prospective high fidelity NIMs that should be implemented in practice. As a separate effort related to this thesis, a ceramic material (i.e. yttria stabilized zirconia (YSZ)) was used to fabricate a NOx sensor. Since diesel engines emits more particulates and NOx exhaust gases compared to gasoline engine, a NOx sensor is required to monitor emission in diesels vehicle. The proposed NOx sensor consists of a porous electrolyte and dense electrode. The porosity of YSZ is studied with direct Archimedes measurements and through scanning electron microscopy (SEM) of the YSZ at different firing temperatures. The electrochemical performance of NOx sensor was finally examined and verified by using impedance spectroscopy (IS)

A standard for teaching technical competencies of physical education in Egypt according to ISTE (NETS-T) standards

Technology application and internet services are prominent developments in the field of global educational systems. These developments have imposed a change in the role and responsibilities of faculty members and the need to possess technical competencies. Faculty members must apply modern learning theories and organize their learning and evaluation plans based on interactive electronic resources. This study first aimed to suggest a standard of technical teaching competencies for faculty members in physical education under the standards of the International Society for Technology in Education for Teachers (NETS-T). Second, our purpose was to identify the degree to which faculty possess these competencies. The main study involved 812 participants. The exploratory study survey sample consisted of 200 faculty members. The data collection tool consisted of a questionnaire in the form of an opinion poll that included 90 items representing the proposed educational technology competencies within 20 fields representing 5 standards defined by the International Society for Technology in Education for Teachers (ISTE) (NETS-T), 2008. The data collection tool (questionnaire) was evaluated by experts. The exploratory and basic study were carried out using an electronic copy of the questionnaire prepared on Google Forms, and the participation link was sent via emails

The chemical composition and in vitro digestibility evaluation of almond tree (Prunus dulcis D. A. Webb syn. Prunus amygdalus; var. Shokoufeh) leaves versus hulls and green versus dry leaves as feed for ruminants

The current study aimed to evaluate the chemical composition and in vitro digestibility of almond tree (Prunus dulcis D. A. Webb syn. Prunus amygdalus; var. Shokoufeh) leaves versus hulls, and green versus dry leaves as feed for ruminants. The fresh green almond hulls (GAH) and leaves (GAL) were harvested and spread under a shade to dry. Dry almond leaves (DAL) were collected from under the trees where as dry almond hulls (DAH) were collected 4 weeks after harvesting the fresh samples. The chemical composition of substrates was determined using standard approaches and the metabolisable energy (ME), in vitro dry matter (DMD) and in vitro organic matter (OMD) digestibility were measured using the in vitro gas production (GP) technique. The GAL contained 81 g crude protein (CP) kg-1 DM while DAH contained 103 g CP kg-1 DM. The CP was higher (P = 0.0003) in dry (leaves and hulls) than in green (leaves and hulls) samples. The ash content ranged from 99.2 to 181.5 g kg-1 DM in DAH and DAL, respectively, (P = 0.0041). The ether extract content ranged from 27 for DAH to 65 g kg-1 for DAL (P = 0.0018). The acid detergent fibre and neutral detergent fibre content ranged from 185 to 304 and 444 to 620 g kg-1 DM (P = 0.04), for GAL and DAH, respectively. The DAH had the highest (P = 0.0001) GP24 and GP96. The DAH had the highest (P = 0.0001) potential GP (i.e., b), while the GP rate was highest for GAL and GAH (P = 0.034), ME was highest for DAH (P = 0.0001), and in vitro OMD was highest for DAH (P = 0.0001). The highest DMD (P = 0.0001) values were obtained with DAH followed by GAL, DAL and GAH, respectively. It can be concluded that almond hulls and leaves have a good nutritional potential to cover the maintenance nutrient requirements of small ruminants. Almond hulls and leaves can also be used as supplement to low quality mature pasture and/or crop residues. However, more studies are warranted to better characterize these feeds in in vivo animal feeding trials