The Issue of Urban Character in the Suez Canal Region: A Proposed Matrix for Developing the Area’s Urban Character in Light of the Egyptian State’s Development Plans

Because of its environmental, social and humanitarian dimensions, the problem of urban character and absence of identity and authenticity is one of the issues of greatest concern in urban planning. There are thus several justifications for this research, including the importance of urban character for Suez Canal cities and the significance of place-identity and local character in Arab cities at large. This paper aims to observe and report on actual urban conditions in some of the districts in the Suez Canal governorates and to propose recommendations to support the process of development and urban conservation in an effort to ensure the continuity of the distinctive urban character of built-up areas of value. The methodology adopted in the first section of this paper to observe and assess existing urban conditions involves making use of earlier research and field studies dealing with the cities of Port Said, Ismailia and Suez where built-up areas developed in a natural, planned manner according to the needs and limitations of the cities. The Suez Canal Company traversed the Suez Canal water barrier and built the district of Port Fouad on the east bank of the Canal, thus dividing the city’s built-up area into two districts or quarters: the eastern quarter (Al Sharq) and the western quarter (Al Gharb). (1)This paper also sheds light on the stages of growth and development of urban masses at different periods and examines the three growth axes in the cities concerned as well as the different types of land use. (2)The type of urban fabric, the characteristic attributes and the visual aspects of cities in the Suez Canal region are explored towards the end of the paper. Mixed residential land use is widespread while touristic, commercial and touristic / residential uses are concentrated mainly along the Mediterranean coast and (mixed with commercial land uses) eastward along the banks of the Suez Canal. Land use along the main streets of the cities is primarily residential / commercial – an attribute that has a visual and functional impact on city planning and that must therefore be taken into consideration by development plans and by all the parties involved in the planning process. (3) Keywords: Suez Canal Region – Urban Character – Port Said – Suez – Ismailia – Al Arab Quarter – Western Quarter – Architectural Characte

Suitability of Egyptian Deserts for Sustainable Urban Development

Egypt has limited cultivable land, its water resources are limited and its population is growing, which in turn is destroying the cultivable land. If these issues are not dealt effectively, Egypt will have a large scale food crisis in its hands. This study aims to identify the resources provided by the uninhabited Egyptian deserts, their potential and how they can be utilized. Most of the research has been undertaken online, including in-depth study of the characteristics of Egyptian soil and how their composition changes over time. The country will require undergoing massive amounts of change, especially when it comes to conserving water, as this will be the main source of development. Underwater aquifers need to be found and dug up, and recycling and modern irrigation techniques will need to be adapted.  A number of developmental projects have been put forward and some were initiated as well, however, due to mismanagement, these projects either failed or were not initiated. The government must learn from its previous mistakes and undertake the development of the Egyptian desert in stages, with proper quality assurance criteria. Keywords: Urban Development, Egyptian Deserts, Urban Planning, Sustainable Development

The Study of Carbon Nano-particles (CNPs) & Film Thickness & Temperature Effect on the Electrical Properties of Poly (3-hexylthiophene-2,5-diyl)

A thin films of a neat and a doped of P3HT in (1%, 2%, 3%, 4%, 5%) CNPs concentrations were fabricated by a spin coating method in multi revolution speeds (1000, 1500, 2000, 2500, 3000)rpm on glass substrate for thin film thickness measurement, and other films were fabricated on aluminum interdigitated finger electrodes of ceramic substrates for I-V characteristics measurement. The film thickness of the fabricated thin films of neat and doped P3HT was found in direct proportional to CNPs concentration in every revolution speed, and in reciprocal proportional to the revolution speed for every CNPs concentration. I-V characteristics were measured at (303, 313, 323, 333, 343)ᴼK temperature for all thin films in the voltage range to equal or less than (10 V), which presents an ohmic behavior of all samples. The surface electrical conductivity (σs) of samples was calculated from a slope of ohmic lines, the results shows an electrical semiconductor behavior for all neat and doped P3HT deposited films. On the other hand, an increasing of a surface conductivity of samples with an increase of CNPs doping concentration from (0%) to (5%) in every temperature and revolution speed. Its observed from the results that the electrical conductivity was decreased with film thickness increasing for neat and doped P3HT films in any one of temperature range. An activation energy (Ea) of the fabricated thin films was calculated from the slope of linear relation between conductivity an inverse of temperature, its observed that the activation energy decreasing for doped case P3HT in comparison with neat polymer, and its decreasing with an increase of the CNPs doping ratio. Also its clear that activation energy, increasing with increasing film thickness of the neat and doped P3HT

Traditional Residential Architecture in Cairo from a Green Architecture Perspective

In Egypt, traditional residential architecture of Islamic eras accorded a great deal of importance and respect to the environment, the source of the construction materials that give form to architectural elements. It also contributes to creating architectural spaces that realize mental and physical comfort of users while complementing the surrounding environment. In this paper, various components and design patterns of the traditional residential architecture in Cairo (Cairene houses) were observed and analyzed from a green architecture perspective in order to determine best building techniques and elements of environmentally friendly design. First, the climatic system of Egypt is explained, second a description of the traditional residential architecture in Cairo is provided, third, green principles in the design patterns and elements of Cairene houses were observed and analyzed in detail in terms of: 1) solar heat energy, 2) solar light energy, 3) wind energy, 4) construction materials, and 5) sound insulation Keywords: Cairo, Cairene houses, green architecture, maq’ad, takhtabush, mashrabiyya, qa’a, shokhshekha, malqaf, solar heat, solar light, wind, construction materials, sound insulation

Green Architecture Assessment System in Egypt with an Application on Zeinab Khatoun House

This paper aims at introducing the green architecture assessment system and criteria in Egypt as well as exploring some elements and features of traditional Islamic architecture while assessing the application of the green architecture principles on a traditional Cairene house. First, it explores the global principles of green architecture such as energy conservation and climate adaptation, planning a sustainable building site, economizing water consumption, efficient use of construction materials, indoor environment quality, recycling solid waste, design and innovation and respect of users. Second, discusses the most common green architecture assessment systems and their criteria. The paper then explores the green architecture assessment systems in Egypt through introducing the Egyptian Green Building Council, the Green Pyramid Rating System (GPRS) and its assessment criteria. These are sustainable sites development, energy efficiency and environment, water saving, materials selection and construction system, indoor environmental quality, innovation and design process and recycling of solid waste. At the end, it attempts to apply the GPRS on a traditional Cairene residence, Zeinab Khatoun House, in order to investigate whether the green architecture principles were applied or not. It was found out that In the Zeinab Khatoun House, the use of Islamic architecture elements and features led to an average application rate of Green Pyramid Standards equals to 65%. The house may therefore be considered a historical building with green architecture attributes. Keywords: Green architecture assessment systems, Egypt, Traditional Cairene, Zeinab Khatoun house, Green Pyramid Rating System, GPRS

Evaluation patterns and algorithm for cancer identifications using dynamic clustering

The domain of knowledge discovery and deep data extraction is quite prominent and used in assorted domains including engineering, mathematics and even in medical diagnosis. A number of benchmark datasets are available in which huge research work is going on with the enormous aspects of genomics that is associated with the medical data analytics. In this research manuscript, the work presents the evaluation patterns and the approaches which are used for the cancer identification with the use of dynamic clustering and deep data analytics. The work is having the elements with the medical datasets and their key features by which the training of data in the data mining algorithm can be integrated and then the overall predictions can be done on assorted parameters

Pixel steganography method for grayscale image steganography on colour images

The process of hiding secret data within a host signal is known as steganography; its design parameters are imperceptibility, concealment capacity, and recovered data quality. A case of images, one of the existing methods based on modification of the host image pixels is called Block Pixel Hiding Method (BPHM), which has good imperceptibility and high-capacity concealment but does not guarantee the quality of the secret image recovered. This article proposes a method that improves results BPHM based on band selection and search algorithm global called Improved Pixel Hiding Method (IPHM). According to the simulations carried out, the results obtained with IPHM are better than those obtained with BPHM. They are similar to one of the more popular methods in imaging steganography known as Quantization Index Modulation (QIM). Steganography is the method of hiding hidden data within a host signal, with imperceptibility, concealment capacity, and retrieved data quality as design criteria. In the case of images, Block Pixel Hiding Method (BPHM) is one of the available methods based on modifying the host picture pixels, which has good imperceptibility and high-capacity concealment but does not guarantee the quality of the hidden picture recovered. Improved Pixel Hiding Method is a method proposed in this article that improves BPHM outcomes by using band selection and a global search algorithm (IPHM). The results obtained using IPHM are better than those achieved with BPHM, according to simulations. They're related to Quantization Index Modulation, which is one of the most widely used picture steganography techniques (QIM)