Auger Spectra and Different Ionic Charges Following 3s, 3p and 3d Sub-Shells Photoionization of Kr Atoms

The decay of inner-shell vacancy in an atom through radiative and non-radiative transitions leads to final charged ions. The de-excitation decay of 3s, 3p and 3d vacancies in Kr atoms are calculated using Monte-Carlo simulation method. The vacancy cascade pathway resulted from the de-excitation decay of deep core hole in 3s subshell in Kr atoms is discussed. The generation of spectator vacancies during the vacancy cascade development gives rise to Auger satellite spectra. The last transitions of the de-excitation decay of 3s, 3p and 3d holes lead to specific charged ions. Dirac-Fock-Slater wave functions are adapted to calculate radiative and non-radiative transition probabilities. The intensity of Kr^{4+} ions are high for 3s hole state, whereas Kr^{3+} and Kr^{2+} ions have highest intensities for 3p and 3d hole states, respectively. The present results of ion charge state distributions agree well with the experimental data.Comment: Published in SIGMA (Symmetry, Integrability and Geometry: Methods and Applications) at http://www.emis.de/journals/SIGMA

Size distribution of heavy mineral grains in some modern Nile Delta coastal sands, Egypt

This study includes determination and discussion of the texture and heavy mineral compositions of some modem Nile Delta coastal sands (river, coastal dune, beach-face, and nearshore marine) in order to delineate the process and factors that regulate the size distribution of heavy mineral grains comprising these coastal sands. Textural analysis of unseparated bulk samples indicate that the examined four types of sands differ in their mean grain sizes and degree of sorting. However, analysis of size distribution curves of 10 heavy mineral species or group of species in the four environments having the same general shape and nearly similar in that general order of arrangement. However, these curves vary both in median sizes and sorting. The size distribution of a heavy mineral in the Nile Delta coastal sands appear to depend on: (1) range of grain size fractions in each sample, (2) relative availability of heavy mineral in each size grade of the sample, (3) specific gravity of minerals comprising these sands, and (4) some other unknown factor or factors. Results of size measurement of heavy minerals indicated that increasing specific gravity is accompanied by increasing fineness of the heavy minerals. This study may be useful in search for marine placers and understanding the processes of grain-sorting on the sea beaches

Use of remote sensing and GIS in mapping the environmental sensitivity areas for desertification of Egyptian territory

International audienceDesertification is defined in the first art of the convention to combat desertification as "land degradation in arid, semiarid and dry sub-humid areas resulting from climatic variations and human activities". Its consequence include a set of important processes which are active in arid and semi arid environment, where water is the main limiting factor of land use performance in such ecosystem . Desertification indicators or the groups of associated indicators should be focused on a single process. They should be based on available reliable information sources, including remotely sensed images, topographic data (maps or DEM'S), climate, soils and geological data. The current work aims to map the Environmental Sensitivity Areas (ESA's) to desertification in whole territory of Egypt at a scale of 1:1 000 000. ETM satellite images, geologic and soil maps were used as main sources for calculating the index of Environmental Sensitivity Areas (ESAI) for desertification. The algorism is adopted from MEDALLUS methodology as follows; ESAI = (SQI * CQI * VQI)1/3 Where SQI is the soil quality index, CQI is the climate quality index and VQI is the vegetation quality index. The SQI is based on rating the parent material, slope, soil texture, and soil depth. The VQI is computed on bases of rating three categories (i.e. erosion protection, drought resistance and plant cover). The CQI is based on the aridity index, derived from values of annual rainfall and potential evapotranspiration. Arc-GIS 9 software was used for the computation and sensitivity maps production. The results show that the soil of the Nile Valley are characterized by a moderate SQI, however the those in the interference zone are low soil quality indexed. The dense vegetation of the valley has raised its VQI to be good, however coastal areas are average and interference zones are low. The maps of ESA's for desertification show that 86.1% of Egyptian territory is classified as very sensitive areas, while 4.3% as Moderately sensitive, and 9.6% as sensitive. It can be concluded that implementing the maps of sensitivity to desertification is rather useful in the arid and semi arid areas as they give more likely quantitative trend for frequency of sensitive areas. The integration of different factors contributing to desertification sensitivity may lead to plan a successful combating. The usage of space data and GIS proved to be suitable tools to rely estimation and to fulfill the needed large computational requirements. They are also useful in visualizing the sensitivity situation of different desertification parameters

Dilemma of Vibrant City and Endless Urban Growth, Lessons from Alexandria, Egypt

Urban planners and visionary leaders always have dreams of designing and establishing new vibrant cities or making new history by regenerating old cities. When the city (new or revived) starts to be “vibrant”, it begun to attract more residents to work and live in it. The city will grow and expand as a natural result of that. This continuous urban growth may lead to dangerous environmental impacts. Some cities during growth may consume valuable cultivated lands to provide spaces for accelerated demands of urban development projects. This leads to “Urban desertification”. Moreover, future scenarios of these cities tell us that urban growth will continue and the city will expand consuming valuable resources. In this case, some important questions will arise; do we need this endless urban growth? Can we bear the consequences of this endless urban growth? Do we need to control this growth to keep the city vibrant? Or we just leave the city grow endlessly? This paper will try to address these questions on Alexandria of Egypt. Alexandria was a dream of Alexander III the Great. Alexander ordered that a city be designed and founded in his name at the mouth of river Nile, as trading and military Macedonian outpost, the first of many to come. He never lived to see it built, but Alexandria will become a major economic and cultural center in the Mediterranean world not only during the Macedonian rule in Egypt but centuries after. Alexandria witnessed a continuous urban growth from the beginning of the Mohammed Ali era (1805) up to the present time. In 1905, Alexandria's 370 thousand inhabitants lived in an area of about 4 km2 between the two harbors. Since that time the city has expanded rapidly, eastwards and westwards, beyond its medieval walls. It presently occupies a built-up area of about 300 km2 and has a ten-fold increase in population at 4 millions in 1996, and become 4.7 millions in 2014, with a density of 2,760 per km². The urban physical expansion and change were detected using Landsat satellite images of 1984 and 1993. The images were classified using a tailored classification scheme with accuracy of 93.82% and 95.27% for 1984 and 1993 images respectively. This high accuracy enabled detecting land use/cover changes with high confidence using a post-classification comparison method. One of the most important findings here is the loss of cultivated land in favour of urban expansion. If the current loss rates continued, 75% of green lands would be lost by year 2191. These hazardous rates call for an urban growth management policy that can preserve such valuable resources to achieve sustainable urban development. The starting point of any management programme will be based on the modelling of the future growth. Modelling techniques can help in defining the scenarios of urban growth in the future. In this study, the SLEUTH urban growth model was applied to predict future urban expansion in Alexandria until the year 2055. The application of this model in Alexandria of Egypt with its different environmental characteristics is the first application outside USA and Europe. The results revealed that future urban growth would continue in the edges of the current urban extent, which means the cultivated lands in the east and the southeast of the city will continue to lose more day by day from their area.To deal with such crisis, there is a serious need for a comprehensive urban growth management programme that can be based on the best practices in similar situations

Development of Statistical Model, Mixture Design, Fresh and Hardened Properties of Furnace Slag - Lightweight Self Consolidating Concrete (FS-LWSCC)

A response surface method was carried out to model the influence of key mixtureparameters on properties affecting the performance of Expended Furnace Slag - LightweightSelf Consolidating Concrete (FS-LWSCC). Three key parameters that have significantinfluence on mixture characteristics of LWSCC were selected to derive mathematical modelfor evaluating the concrete fresh and hardened properties. Experimental levels of the variables(maximum and minimum) water/binder ratio (0.30 to 0.40), HRWRA (SP) (0.3 to1.2% bytotal content of binder), and total binder content (410 to 550kg/m3) were used for the designof Furnace Slag-LWSCC mixtures. A total of 18 mixtures were designed and produced. Theresponses of the derived statistical model were slump flow, V-funnel flow time, J-Ring flow,J-Ring height difference, L- box, filling capacity, bleeding, air content, initial and final settingtime, sieve segregation test, fresh unit weight, 28 days air dry unit weight, 28 days oven dryunit weight, and 7 and 28 days compressive strengths. It was seen that the proposed mixdesign model is a useful tool to understand the interactions between mixture parametersaffecting important characteristics of Expanded Furnace Slag - LWSCC. This understandingmight be simplified the mix design process and the required testing, as the model identifiesthe relative significance of each parameter, therefore providing important informationrequired to optimize the mix design. Consequently, minimize the effort needed to optimizeLWSCC mixtures ensuring balance between parameters affecting fresh and hardenedproperties

Satu Kajian tentang Getaran Terusik ke atas Selaput Segi Empat Sarna dengan Menggunakan Teori Usikan.

Dengan menggunakan teori usikan, kajian ke atas getaran selaput segi empat sama dibuat. fa menunjukkan bahawa andainya taburan jisim selaput tersebut tidak sekata maka akan berlaku perubahan pada bentuk getm"an dan juga Jrequensi yang terhasil. Bentuk getaran dan Jrequensi yang terhasil tersebut dapat diperihalkan oleh teori usikan. Dengan menggunakan komputer bentuk perubahan getaran tersebut dapat dilihat dengan tepat

International effort toward a SSR-based linkage map for C. clementina : [P128]

Following the difficulties encountered for assembling a 1.2 x sequencing of the highly heterozygous sweet orange genome, the International Citrus Genomic Consortium (ICOC) decided to estab1ish the first reference sequence of a whole nuclear citrus genome from a haploid Clementine. A saturated genetic linkage map of Clementine based on sequence-characterized markers was considered by the ICGC as an important too1 for genome sequence assemb1y. In this framework, CIRAD proposed to use an interspecific population C. maxima x C. clementina to implement the reference Clementine genetic map. A population of 250 hybrids of Chandler pummelo x Clementine was established in Corsica and 190 hybrids were used in this first phase of mapping. Collaboration was established between two French organizations (CIRAD and INRA), two groups from United States (UF-CREC and UCR), one Spanish institute (IVIA), INRA Morocco and Cukurova University from Turkey. Forty markers were found heterozygous in Clementine among a previous set of 90 SSR markers developed by CIRAD from microsatellite-enriched genomic libraries. With the objective to integrate the physical and genetic maps of Clementine, CIRAD and IVIA have developed new SSR markers from microsatellite sequences identified in BAC End Sequences (BES) of diploid Clementine. On hundred and 10 of these new markers were found heterozygous for Clementine or Chandler pummelo and were used for genotyping. INRA France deve1oped 500 SSR markers from ESTs databases and found 170 markers heterozygous for Clementine. INRA Morocco contributed to the genotyping of 112 SSR markers developed from EST databases and genomic libraries, while 50 ESTs SSR were analysed by Cukurova University. SSR markers mainly developed from EST databases and already mapped for sweet orange were genotyped by UF-CREC (70 markers) and UCR (60 markers) to allow comparisons among the C. sinensis. C. maxima and C. c1ementina maps. lndeed, taking advantage of the important allelic differentiation between Clementine and Chandler, two parallel linkage maps can be developed from this population. As perspective, in the framework of the global haploid Clementine sequencing project, a collaboration between the French and Spanish groups plans: (i) to extend the population size to 380 hybrids between Clementine and pummelo. and (ii) to develop an array from SNPs identified in Clementine BES for High- Throughput Genotyping. All genotyping data will be stored in the online TropGene database (http://tropgenedb.cirad.fr/). Additional international groups are very welcome to join the project, using these progenies for genotyping their own markers. This should contribute to a very high density map of Clementine and to comparative mapping studies between citrus species. (Texte intégral

A Study of Islamic and Arab Markets\u27 Role in Revitalizing Urban Spaces

Market places have occupied a major role in most cities around the world, being a site for more than just economic interactions, but rather a cultivating agent for social and cultural growth. The Arab and Islamic cities have a proud history of market places, most of the times being the main core of the city, with urban development encompassing it, and till the present day market places are in the heart of most communities. The modern city brought with it a devaluing of the traditional market places, making it a tourist attraction as in the case of "khan el Khalil",or leaving it to rust like "bab el louq" market. Those markets while playing a big role historically, modern city planning moved the services and markets into other form, thus becoming less important, abandoned, or even demolished at cases.The issue at hand deals with how the contemporary urban planning affected market places, with emphasis on closed markets (Bab el-louk)which can be said to be the successor of the ancient Bazaar or Wekala. Bal el-Louk market was once in the heart of Cairo and vital part of its community life, but now the market after more than a 100 years, is in ruins, but hope is not yet all lost, since the market can still be revived and revitalized.To tackle this issue a combination of comparative and field studies must occur. On the one hand, comparative studies with markets in the US or closed markets in European cities such as Paris or Copenhagen would be done to find the necessary elements and goals that would make those markets vital, and the necessary steps to revitalize our own forgotten markets. The other study would have to deal with the current condition of bab el louk market in Cairo, finding out the reason behind its demise, the owners and users feedback on said market, and the opportunities for change.With the results of the studies, general recommendations would be made for the revitalization of the Egyptian marketplaces, using an urban framework that would lead to those markets be available for costumers again and back to playing their major cultural and social rule

Free Radicals and Gastric Cancer

Non