From Powerlessness to Control: Psychosis, Spirit Possession and Recovery in the Western Desert of Egypt

This article explores an aspect of the cultural modulation of recovery in psychosis. It begins with the idea that recovery hinges on the ability of subjects to relate to their distressing experiences in ways that expand rather than diminish agency.  Based on fieldwork in the Dakhla oasis of Egypt and subsequent analysis, it is argued that interpretations of psychosis as spirit possession offer a broader range of intentionality than biomedical interpretations and therefore broader possibilities of relating to psychotic states. Modes of relating to spirits may take active or passive forms, the former consistent with the recovery goal of symptom control. Factors constitutive of the active, agency-expanding mode of relating include: the nature of spirits; the values and beliefs of the subject; the broader cultural/religious discourses which may make it either more or less likely for the subject to achieve the desired state of control over symptoms

Effective vibrating barriers design for the Zoser pyramid using artificial neural network

Vibrating Barrier (ViBa) is a non-invasive strategy used to protect buildings, especially ancient and historic structures, from seismic wave vibrations. The ViBa is a spring-mass device installed at a separate location beneath the ground surrounding the structure in concern, for the purpose of reducing ground motion energy, without any intervention with the structure itself. The step pyramid of Zoser was one of the archeological monuments affected by the 1992 Earthquake in Egypt. In this work, a new approach of ViBa design is proposed to protect the step pyramid of Zoser using Artificial Neural Network (ANN). A numerical model was developed to test the predicted pyramid seismic behavior using the ANN-derived ViBa parameters. The ANN optimization approach shows a reduction in the peak step pyramid acceleration by 46 %. This reduction was obtained using tuning and optimization of the developed ANN

Experimental characterization of the inner surface in micro-drilling of spray holes: A comparison between ultrashort pulsed laser and EDM

In this research, the inner surface characteristics of micro-drilled holes of fuel injector nozzles were analyzed by Shear Force Microscopy (SHFM). The surface texture was characterized by maximum peak-to-valley distance and periodicity whose dimensions were related to the adopted energy. 180 μm diameter holes were drilled using ultrashort pulsed laser process using pulse energies within the range of 10-50 μJ. Laser ablated surfaces in the tested energy range offer a smooth texture with a peculiar periodic structure with a variation in height between 60 and 90 nm and almost constant periodicity. The Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) photograph of the Laser Induced Periodic Surface Structure (LIPSS) showed the co-existence of Low Spatial Frequency LIPSS (LSFL) and High Spatial Frequency LIPSS (HSFL). A comparative analysis was carried out between the highest laser pulse energy in the tested range energy laser drilling which enables the shortest machining time and micro-Electrical Discharge Machining (μ-EDM). On the contrary, results showed that surfaces obtained by electro-erosion are characterized by a random distribution of craters with a total excursion up to 1.5 μm with a periodicity of 10 μm. The mean-squared surface roughness (Rq) derived from the scanned maps ranges between 220 and 560 nm for μ-EDM, and between 50 and 100 nm for fs-pulses laser drilling

Line and Continuum Variability in Active Galaxies

We compared optical spectroscopic and photometric data for 18 AGN galaxies over 2 to 3 epochs, with time intervals of typically 5 to 10 years. We used the Multi-Object Double Spectrograph (MODS) at the Large Binocular Telescope (LBT) and compared the spectra to data taken from the SDSS database and the literature. We find variations in the forbidden oxygen lines as well as in the hydrogen recombination lines of these sources. For 4 of the sources we find that, within the calibration uncertainties, the variations in continuum and line spectra of the sources are very small. We argue that it is mainly the difference in black hole mass between the samples that is responsible for the different degree of continuum variability. In addition we find that for an otherwise constant accretion rate the total line variability (dominated by the narrow line contributions) reverberates the continuum variability with a dependency $\Delta L_{line} \propto (\Delta L_{cont.})^{\frac{3}{2}}$. Since this dependency is prominently expressed in the narrow line emission it implies that the luminosity dominating part of the narrow line region must be very compact with a size of the order of at least 10 light years. A comparison to literature data shows that these findings describe the variability characteristics of a total of 61 broad and narrow line sources.Comment: 30 pages including the appendix, 18 figures including the appendix. Accepted 2015 September 3. Received 2015 August 24; in original form 2015 July 3 in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Societ

THE CHALLENGES OF SUSTAINABLE HISTORICAL CENTERS: THE CASE OF ROSETTE, EGYPT

Historical centers of many Egyptian cities managed to survive as living cities in spite of physical decline and economic depression. Their fabric carries out the spiritual and cultural messages that communicate with their present citizens. The heritage of these historic city centers are not only Material character, but much more. Generally, the conservation of historic centers is fundamentally different from conservation of single monument. While a single monument can be kept on a chosen state of evolution, the historic centers cannot be preserved in particular state \u201cwith exception of the small areas conserved for tourist purposes\u201d. The historic centers, as living cities must meet the varying needs of citizens with sustainable transformations. The challenge is not how to preserve, but how to create dynamic living spaces and places that produce rich in cultural traditions that lead organically from the past to the future. The research will study and analyze the historical center of \u201cRosetta\u201d, which is one of the intermediate cities in northern Egypt that has a particular architectural heritage and many urban problems. The city of Rosetta (Rashid in Arabic) is located on the west bank of the Rosetta branch of the Nile, approximately 65km east of Alexandria on the Mediterranean coast. Today it is best known for the Rosetta stone, which was discovered in the Qayitbay castle in 1799. The city history passed over many periods of increase and decrease in its importance due to economical and political reasons. Its architectural heritage reveals the influence of various ages, but the most unique are merchant houses and mosques from the ottoman period. The city also has a particular suburban landscape of agricultural land and palm groves that are of great importance. Although Rosetta is no longer a leading commercial center, its citizens are employed in various typical activities, which are mainly agriculture, stocking and processing rice from the Delta, fishing and building ships and yachts. The main problem that faces the historic buildings of Rosetta is moisture from the soil, caused by an excess of underground salt water. The historic merchant houses have been the subject of many restoration projects over the past 20 years, but many of them have regularly been re-damaged by water and humidity and are currently under re-restoration. Unfortunately, some have even collapsed or were demolished. However, there are a number of activities that may take place in the historic buildings no longer used, maintaining the characteristics, such as crafts centers, libraries and cultural places that serve the local communities. Rosetta's historic center future must include renovation and modernization of basic infrastructure and development of traditional production sectors, based on the exploitation of this natural and cultural heritage to promote tourism locally and internationally. Physical restoration of the buildings is not enough to keep the historic center of the city alive, but a project for rehabilitation based on sustainability should be initiated. Not only to preserve and restore the outer shell, but inside the shell should insert some activities, social and economic dynamics that can make best use of resources and potential. The revitalization of Rosetta provides a mix of cultural, social, economic, technical and institutional that needs coordinated investments by the government. Must involve residents, landowners and all those have interest to ensure the careful maintenance and replacement of the elements of the built environment. This does not only depend on the availability of funding but also the specific technical and social skills that make up the traditional know-how. Unfortunately, many historical cities, especially the intermediate cities in Egypt suffer from lack of funds and local expertise. But the main problem is the lack of cooperation between the authorities who make the decisions

Performance Evaluation of IFAS System Using Honeycomb PVC Media

Recently, Egypt is facing serious problems caused by the deterioration of effluent quality of many wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) especially in rural areas. Unexpected rapid increase in population associated with the increase of organic loading are the main factors causing the failure in operation for many WWTPs. Absence of periodic maintenance and lack of operators’ experience in these rural areas make the situation worse. Many WWTP are recently under rehabilitation and upgrading for the above reasons, however decision makers are facing a real challenge due to the space-limit in many cases. The integrated fixed film activated sludge (IFAS) system has recently proved to be an effective choice to expand the WWTP capacity for growing communities, enhance nitrogen removal and comply with more stringent effluent limits with small footprint. In this research, an IFAS pilot-scale reactor is constructed to optimize its application in upgrading conventional activated sludge (CAS) plants. The effect of carrier position, hydraulic retention time (HRT) and organic loading rate (OLR) on the biological treatment efficiency and nutrient removal compared to CAS process are studied. IFAS configurations with no media, vertical position and cross flow media position are tested with 4, 8 and 12 hours retention times and organic loading rates of 0.84 and 1.44 Kg COD/m3.day. Keywords: Integrated fixed film IFAS, biological nitrogen removal, honeycomb PVC media DOI: 10.7176/CER/11-2-06 Publication date:March 31st 2019

Efecto de la radiación gamma sobre el perfil lipídico de los aceites de semillas de soja, cacahuete y sésamo

Seeds of soybean, peanut, and sesame were exposed to various doses of gamma irradiation (0.0, 0.5, 1.0, 2.0, 3.0, 5.0 and 7.5 kGy). Fatty acid and unsaponifiable profiles of the extracted oils were separated by gas chromatography mass spectroscopy. The results demonstrated that the ratios of unsaturated to saturated total fatty acids (TU/TS) and total hydrocarbons to sterols (TH/TSt) were significantly altered upon irradiation. These changes were clearly observed in the oil extracted from irradiated sesame seeds compared with the oils from irradiated peanuts and soybean. The major change in fatty acid composition was the decrease in the quantity of unsaturated fatty acids (C18:1 and C18:2) in all cases. In contrast, the sterol fractions such as cholesterol, campesterol, stigmasterol and β-sitosterol levels of irradiated seeds were generally lower than that of the un-irradiated seeds.Semillas de soja, cacahuete y de sésamo se expusieron a diferentes dosis de radiación gamma (0,0, 0,5, 1,0, 2,0, 3,0, 5,0 y 7,5 kGy). Se determinaron los perfiles de ácidos grasos y el insaponificable de los aceites mediante cromatografía de gases y espectrometría de masas. Los resultados demostraron que las relaciones de ácidos insaturados a ácidos grasos totales saturados (TU/TS) e hidrocarburos totales a esteroles (TH/TSt) se alteró significativamente tras la irradiación. Estos cambios se observaron claramente en el aceite extraído de las semillas de sésamo irradiados, en comparación con los aceites de soja y cacahuetes irradiados. El mayor cambio en la composición de ácidos grasos fue la disminución de la cantidad de ácidos grasos insaturados (C18:1 y C18:2) en todos los casos. En contraste, los niveles de las fracciones de esteroles como colesterol, campesterol, estigmasterol y β-sitosterol de las semillas irradiadas fueron en general más bajo que el de las semillas sin irradiados

In Vitro Selection of Calli for Salt Tolerance in Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.)

Soil salinity is one of the most important abiotic stresses that limit crop production. Responses of six breeding lines (BD-7755, BD-7757, BD-9008, BD-9011, BD-10122, BD-10123 which were named as G1, G2, G3, G4, G5 and G6 respectively) of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L) to NaCl stress were studied in callus induction. Hypocotyl and cotyledon segments were chosen as explants for callus induction in vitro. The six investigated tomato genotypes differed in their callus growth. Tomato seeds were cultured for callus formation and that callus were treated with 0 mM (control), 50 mM, 100 mM, 150 mM and 200 mM NaCl in nutrient solutions. The effect of the stress applied on the callus was evaluated in 10 DAT (Days After Treatment) and 17 DAT. Different concentrations of NaCl in the medium significantly affected the biomass callus size and callus weight of tomato. G2 and G6 showed excellent performance of tolerance up to 50 mM of NaCl. G6 showed better performance under high salt concentrations i.e., at 100 mM and 200 mM but not at low salt stress. It indicates the expression of functional gene occurs at high salt stress. However it is possible to select callus line tolerant to elevated levels of NaCl stress by sudden exposure to high of NaCl, accordingly a NaCl tolerant cell line was selected from hypocotyls and cotyledon derived callus of tomato which proved to be a true cell line variant. The interaction effect of variety and treatmentrevealed that genotype G6 and G1 were the highest and lowest performer respectively. These findings indicated some salt tolerant tomato genotypes which will be promising for regeneration and for future breeding program. It is quiet necessary to asses accumulation of proline and the anti-oxidant enzymes like Super Oxide Dismutase, Ascorbate Peroxidase and Catalase from the control and stressed callus as they are the indicator of salt tolerance. It is evident that tissue culture technique was able to evaluate several genotypes for salt tolerance into cell level under controlled environment with relatively little space and less time required comparing with such process studies at the whole plant level