Doctor of Philosophy

dissertationA class of Modern Standard Arabic complementizers known as ‘ʔinna and its sisters' demonstrate unique case and word order restrictions. While CPs in Arabic allow both Subject‐Verb (SV) and Verb‐Subject (VS) word order and their subjects show nominative morphology, CPs introduced by ʔinna ban a verb from directly following the complementizer. Preverbal subjects in ʔinna clauses show accusative case marking, while postverbal subjects show nominative morphology. Previous research explains these restrictions as default case or Multiple Case Assignment, both problematic for Case Theory as they violate the Activation Principle. This dissertation explains word order and case effects of ʔinna within the framework of Phase Theory and Feature Inheritance (FI). Morphological, historical, and usage evidence point out that ʔinna‐type complementizers have verbal properties similar to illocutionary verbs. Taking Case to be a reflection of phi features that T heads receive from higher heads (e.g. Complementizers) via Feature Inheritance, the nominative‐accusative alternation on preverbal subjects can be attributed to the selection of C heads: phi features on null complementizers and conditionals reflect as NOM, while phi features on Verbal Complementizers (VCs) reflect as ACC. VCs show similar Case behavior to the English Prepositional Complementizer for. They differ in distribution; while for only introduces a subordinate clause, and takes infinitival TP complements, VCs introduce a matrix clause and require finite TP complements, lending stronger support to Feature Inheritance theory than English for. Nominative postverbal subjects in ʔinna clauses are explained as an effect of antiagreement at Spell‐Out. Postverbal subjects and the Case probe on T are PF local, allowing for impoverished case agreement. Preverbal subjects and the Case licenser belong to different Phonological Phrases. To satisfy the Recoverability Condition, full case agreement is required between T and the subject, resulting in accusative morphology on the subject. Finally, the requirement that ʔinna‐clauses have an intervener between ʔinna and the verb is explained by associating the full phi features of ʔinna with the EPP. As the phi set is inherited from ʔinna to T, the EPP property is satisfied by the preverbal subject or by adverbial intervening between ʔinna and the verb

RENEWABLE ENERGY FED INTER-LINE DVR FOR VOLTAGE SAG MITIGATION IN DISTRIBUTION GRIDS

ABSTRACT Two-line Interline Dynamic Voltage Restorer (IDVR) consists of two back-to-back Dynami

Arm current reversal-based modular multilevel DC-DC converter

Nowadays, most of the converters used in high-power high-voltage (HV) applications are the conventional modular multilevel converters (MMC). However, in the case of DC-DC conversion, an imbalance of the capacitor voltages occurs and the conventional MMC fails to operate correctly. This paper introduces an arm current reversal-based modular multilevel DC-DC converter, which successfully provides balance among the capacitor voltages while operating in DC-DC conversion. The proposed configuration is used in medium voltage DC grids to feed DC loads or to interconnect between two DC grids of different voltage levels. The proposed converter is a two-stage DC-DC modular converter, which consists of a single-phase half-bridge MMC with half-bridge submodules (HBMMC) followed by a single-phase H-bridge MMC with half-bridge submodules (SMs). The operational concept of the proposed converter is based on reversing the arm current direction and reversing the output terminals with the help of the H-bridge MMC stage, which ensures the same direction of the voltage at the load terminals. The proposed converter provides a high conversion ratio, bidirectional power flow, simple architecture, and a simple control scheme. Detailed illustrations, analysis, and design of the proposed converter are presented. Besides, MATLAB-based and Opal RT-based simulation results and experimental results are presented to validate the proposed configuration claims

Optimal PMUs Placement Due to Several Stages for Achieving Full System Observability

The new measurement devices such as phasor measurement units (PMUs), is considered to be an essential component in implementing future power network systems. The problem of optimal placement of PMUs (OPP) requires finding a minimum numbers of PMUs that must be installed to provide full system observability. Due to the large number of the PMUs required and their relatively high cost, it is important to partition the installation of PMUs placement into several stages to overcome this problem. A new proposal depends on limiting the number of installed PMUs at each stage and maximizing system observability will be illustrated in this paper. The proposed method will be implemented on IEEE-14 bus system and IEEE-30 bus system.</p

Combined trans-arterial chemoembolization with microwave ablation for single large hepatocellular carcinoma

Background: Hepato-cellular carcinoma (HCC) is considered to be one of the most common malignancies worldwide. In Egypt a high incidence rate of HCC has been reported with a strong association between chronic HCV infection, cirrhosis and HCC. Therapeutic strategies in HCC should concentrate on early detection and screening in individuals at risk. There are multiple strategies in the treatment of HCC including: transplantation, resection, ablation, and embolization. Objective: This study aimed to use combined trans-arterial chemoembolization (TACE) and microwave ablation (MWA) in the management of large HCC for better outcome.Patients and Methods: In our study, we used TACE combined with MWA for group of patients having single large HCC more than 5 cm. TACE was done first followed by MWA after one month then doing Triphasic CT to evaluate the effect of treatment and assessment of the response according to mRECIST criteria.Results: TACE combined with MWA had good effect in managing large HCC and reduced recurrence rate and thus reduced the need for multiple sessions of TACE. Conclusion: Combined TACE/MWA technique is a simple, effective, and less expensive with a low morbidity rate compared to surgical or other combined treatments

Evaluating the effectiveness of pneumococcal vaccines against hospitalization and intensive care unit admission in adults.

Objective: To evaluate the efficacy of pneumococcal vaccines concerning hospital or intensive care unit (ICU) admissions due to pneumonia after vaccination. Setting: Inpatient and ICUs at Hamad General Hospital. Methods: The retrospective study included adults who were vaccinated between June 2012 and June 2013. Patient records were reviewed for hospital or ICU admissions due to pneumonia 2 years before and after vaccination. Main outcomes measures: The primary outcome was to compare the rates of hospital and ICU admissions for pneumonia 2 years before and after vaccination. The secondary outcome was to evaluate the efficacy of pneumococcal vaccines against different comorbidities. Key findings: One hundred sixty-one patients were included with a dominant age group of 64–85 (52%) years old. Comorbidities reported were hypertension (HTN), diabetes mellitus (DM), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and asthma. The rate of hospital admission due to pneumonia was significantly reduced within 2 years after vaccination, 71–39% (P 0.72). In diabetic, hypertensive and COPD/Asthma patients, there was a statistically significant reduction in hospitalization. Although there was a reduction in ICU admission for both commodities, the results did not achieve statistical significance. Conclusion: Adults who received pneumococcal vaccines experienced reduced rates of hospital versus ICU admissions due to pneumonia infection

Machine Learning Techniques for Credit Card Fraud Detection

The term “fraud”, it always concerned about credit card fraud in our minds. And after the significant increase in the transactions of credit card, the fraud of credit card increased extremely in last years. So the fraud detection should include surveillance of the spending attitude for the person/customer to the determination, avoidance, and detection of unwanted behavior. Because the credit card is the most payment predominant way for the online and regular purchasing, the credit card fraud raises highly. The Fraud detection is not only concerned with capturing of the fraudulent practices, but also, discover it as fast as they can, because the fraud costs millions of dollar business loss and it is rising over time, and that affects greatly the worldwide economy. . In this paper we introduce 14 different techniques of how data mining techniques can be successfully combined to obtain a high fraud coverage with a high or low false rate, the Advantage and The Disadvantages of every technique, and The Data Sets used in the researches by researcher

Medial sural artery perforator flap in reconstruction of soft tissue defect in upper and lower extremities: a clinical study

Background: The quality of soft tissue reconstruction in upper and lower extremities caused by trauma, infection, burns, and tumor resection affects the patient function and esthetic outcome. Many flaps have been described in the literature to reconstruct such defects. Medial sural artery perforator flap is one of the options for reconstruction of upper and lower extremities. Patients and methods: Starting from July 2019 through August 2020, 20 pedicled and free MSAP flaps were used for reconstruction of upper and lower limbs soft tissue defects. Results: total flap loss occurred in two cases, partial flap loss occurred in two cases and the flap was abandoned in two cases. Otherwise, all flaps survived well. Conclusion: MSAP flap is an excellent option in the reconstruction of soft tissue defects in upper and lower extremities

Efficacy of Naltrexone/Bupropion in Treatment of Binge Eating: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Background: As the most widespread eating disorder in the world now, binge eating disorder (BED) is a mental condition characterized by recurrent periods of excessive food consumption and an inability to regulate one’s portion sizes. The utilization of a bupropion–naltrexone (NB) combination has been suggested as a potential therapeutic approach for BED. Assessing the effectiveness of NB in the treatment of BED and its accompanying obesity is the purpose of this research. Methods: A comprehensive search was conducted in order to obtain any pertinent articles. PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and Cochrane Clinical Trials were consulted against in the databases that were searched. In our final meta-analysis, we incorporated interventional or observational studies that documented the effects of NB therapy for binge eating in adults. We also examined the difference in the mean change between the NB and placebo groups, as well as the disparity in outcomes before and after treatment. Results: This study shows that the use of an NB combination is associated with a statistically significant reduction in the weight, BMI, and Binge Eating Scale (BES) of the patients compared to their weight before treatment with MD: −8.52 (95% CI: −10.01–−6.94, p &lt; 0.00001), MD: −4.95 (95%CI: −9.72–−0.17, p = 0.04), and MD: −7.66 (95%CI: −14.36–0.96, p = 0.02), respectively. The absolute mean change was statistically significantly higher in the drug combination group compared to the placebo group. Conclusions: NB showed efficacy in the improvement of the weight and psychiatric symptoms associated with BED and this provides a promising treatment option