Art and Cultural Identity

This paper analyzes aspects of Egyptian history, including unique qualities that influenced the Egyptian culture and gave it its identity that has developed throughout the years until today. It will also discuss Egyptian visual arts and its critical role throughout history, including how arts have appeared and developed over Egypt’s lifetime and influenced the Egyptian citizen. Furthermore, this research sheds light on the effects of every political change that took place in Egypt, and how that could be a mirror of the Egyptian civilization, its development and its decline while considering the role of visual arts throughout and after the revolution of 2011. Analyzing Egyptian culture, education, technology, internet and multimedia after the revolution can be imperative to understand the cultural identity and the role of visual arts in Egypt. Thus the mutual relationship between arts and the Egyptian cultural identity will be questioned, along with the way that they impact each other, and finally, how both of them could play a key role in developing Egypt after the 25th of January, 2011 revolution

Anti-spoofing using challenge-response user interaction

2D facial identification has attracted a great amount of attention over the past years, due to its several advantages including practicality and simple requirements. However, without its capability to recognize a real user from an impersonator, face identification system becomes ineffective and vulnerable to spoof attacks. With the great evolution of smart portable devices, more advanced sorts of attacks have been developed, especially the replayed videos spoofing attempts that are becoming more difficult to recognize. Consequently, several studies have investigated the types of vulnerabilities a face biometric system might encounter and proposed various successful anti-spoofing algorithms. Unlike spoofing detection for passive or motionless authentication methods that were profoundly studied, anti-spoofing systems applied on interactive user verification methods were broadly examined as a potential robust spoofing prevention approach. This study aims first at comparing the performance of the existing spoofing detection techniques on passive and interactive authentication methods using a more balanced collected dataset and second proposes a fusion scheme that combines both texture analysis with interaction in order to enhance the accuracy of spoofing detection

Improving the Characteristics of Water-Based Drilling Fluids Using Nanoparticles

The capabilities of different types of nanoparticles (NPs) had been exploited to develop a water-based drilling fluid having better characteristics for harsh drilling conditions. More specifically, the objectives of this work are to: 1) investigate the effectiveness of using different oxide NPs: ferric oxide (of sizes< 50 nm), magnetic iron oxide (of average particle size 50 –100 nm), silica NPs (size =12 nm), and zinc oxide NPs (of sizes < 100 nm) on the rheological properties and filter cake characteristics of Ca-bentonite-based drilling fluid at downhole conditions, 2) conduct a sensitivity analysis of the rheological properties of these drilling fluids and investigate the effect of charge potential, 3) determine the optimum concentration of NPs, and 4) evaluate the effect of different drilling fluid additives on the performance of NPs/Ca-bentonite fluids by formulating and testing a complete bentonite-based drilling fluid formula. A reduction of 43% in the fluid loss volume was achieved when using 0.5 wt% of ferric oxide NPs with 7 wt% Ca-bentonite suspension compared to that without NPs. However, using silica or zinc oxide NPs at different concentrations resulted in an increase in the fluid loss volume and filter cake thickness. The inductively coupled plasma (ICP) analysis of the filtrate fluids and the scanning electron microscopy-energy dispersive spectroscopy (SEM-EDS) of the filter cakes revealed the replacement of the cations dissociated from the Ca-bentonite by ferric oxide NPs at the investigated conditions, which promoted the formation of rigid clay platelet structure. Furthermore, using 0.5 wt% of NPs provided less agglomeration, as shown by the SEM images, and less filter cake permeability. Moreover, the produced filter cake consisted of two layers, as indicated by the computed-tomography (CT) scan. Increasing the concentration of NPs resulted in an increase in the fluid loss and filter cake thickness. At high NP concentration (2.5 wt%), a new layer of the agglomerated NPs generated in the filter cake close to the surface of formation, which adversely affected the cake characteristics. The ferric oxide and magnetic iron oxide NPs/Ca-bentonite fluids were found to have stable rheological properties at different NP concentrations and temperatures (up to 200°F). Additionally, thermally aging these fluids at 350°F for 16 hours showed minor changes in their rheological properties, which confirmed their applicability in drilling downhole environments. The ferric oxide NPs improved the filter cake and filtration properties of Ca-bentonite-based drilling fluids in the presence of polymer and other additives under both static and dynamic filtration (at 100 rpm). The best filter cake characteristics were obtained when using a NP concentration of 0.3-0.5 wt%. Furthermore, the formulated NPs/Ca-bentonite-based drilling fluids could withstand downhole conditions up to 500 psi and 350°F and produced a filter cake that has 0.151-in. thickness, 6.9 ml filtrate loss volume, and 0.428 µd permeability at this conditions. Moreover, it was noticed that the ultrasonication for at least one hour and bentonite hydration for 16 hours are recommended for better preparation of the formulated ferric oxide NPs/Ca-bentonite-based drilling fluid

Female subjectivity in times of constraint: a study of Naguib Mahfouz and Gabriel García Márquez

This study aims at examining the depiction of female characters in two postcolonial novels set in the mid-twentieth century, namely, Naguib Mahfouz’s The Beginning and the End and Gabriel García Márquez’s Chronicle of a Death Foretold. Critic Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak’s theory of the silent female subaltern poses a challenge to reading the (hi)story of any female character when the narrator assumes a dominant role in the literary narrative. Research in this thesis extends Spivak’s dichotomy of silence and speech to accommodate a middle ground that allows us read the characters’ presence as speaking voices of their (hi)stories. While Spivak is interested in how Western feminists approach to third-world woman, this work offers a variation on this inquiry, asking whether it is possible for third-world women in their fictional writings to retain limited autonomy, while constraints are nonetheless imposed on them by male narrators. Specifically, I ask if it is possible for Mahfouz and Márquez to represent the female subaltern without fully sustaining a patriarchal perspective in both literary works. This examination concludes that both male authors succeed at providing Nefisa and Angela, main female figures, with a limited subjectivity that gives voice to the often marginalized in the history of postcolonial worlds, and reflects the limitations of their societies’ convictions towards woman

Generalized Born radii computation using linear models and neural networks.

Abstract Motivation Implicit solvent models play an important role in describing the thermodynamics and the dynamics of biomolecular systems. Key to an efficient use of these models is the computation of generalized Born (GB) radii, which is accomplished by algorithms based on the electrostatics of inhomogeneous dielectric media. The speed and accuracy of such computations are still an issue especially for their intensive use in classical molecular dynamics. Here, we propose an alternative approach that encodes the physics of the phenomena and the chemical structure of the molecules in model parameters which are learned from examples. Results GB radii have been computed using (i) a linear model and (ii) a neural network. The input is the element, the histogram of counts of neighbouring atoms, divided by atom element, within 16 Å. Linear models are ca. 8 times faster than the most widely used reference method and the accuracy is higher with correlation coefficient with the inverse of 'perfect' GB radii of 0.94 versus 0.80 of the reference method. Neural networks further improve the accuracy of the predictions with correlation coefficient with 'perfect' GB radii of 0.97 and ca. 20% smaller root mean square error. Availability and implementation We provide a C program implementing the computation using the linear model, including the coefficients appropriate for the set of Bondi radii, as Supplementary Material. We also provide a Python implementation of the neural network model with parameter and example files in the Supplementary Material as well. Supplementary information Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online

Mechanisms of Growth Hormone Enhancement of Excitatory Synaptic Transmission in Hippocampus

Growth hormone (GH) deficiency is associated with impaired learning and memory. One possible target for GH effects on memory is the hippocampus, a brain region containing GH receptors (GHRs). To determine if GH acutely alters hippocampal function, recombinant human GH (rhGH) was applied to in vitro rat hippocampal brain slices. Extracellular recordings were used to assess effects of GH on the field EPSP (fEPSP) and long-term potentiation (LTP) of the fEPSP. GHR expression was measured in GH-treated and control rat hippocampal slices using RT-PCR. The GH signaling pathway was investigated by studying the effect of GH on the fEPSP after block of Janus kinase (JAK) by tyrphostin AG 490, phosphoinositide-3-kinase (PI3-kinase) by wortmanin, and mitogen- activated/extracellular response protein kinase kinase (MEK) by U0126. To determine if protein synthesis is required, hippocampal slices were perfused with cycloheximide, a protein synthesis inhibitor. I examined the effects of GH on pharmacologically isolated N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR)-and α- amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionate receptor (AMPAR)-mediated fEPSPs. Using western blotting, total and phosphorylated STAT5A/B, and NMDAR subunits NR1, NR2A, and NR2B were measured in GH-treated and control slices. GH caused a gradual (2 hr) increase in fEPSP amplitude during application that was maintained for more than 4 hours. Prior GH treatment (3hr) prevented additional potentiation by tetanus (100Hz, 1s), indicating that similar mechanisms contribute to both. GH caused equivalent enhancement of isolated NMDAR-fEPSPs and dual component fEPSP, indicating that GH effects are mediated in part by NMDARs. GH enhancement of fEPSPs was blocked by inhibitors of protein synthesis, JAK, PI3-kinase, and MEK, implicating all of these signaling mechanisms in GH enhancement of synaptic transmission. In vitro GH treatment of hippocampal brain slices for 15-30 min failed to alter either total or phosphorylated STAT 5a/b. In vitro GH treatment of hippocampal brain slices (3 hr) increased GHR mRNA, decreased NR2B protein, and increased NR2A/NR2B ratio. My results clearly demonstrate a previously unknown role for GH as a short-term modulator of hippocampal synaptic function

RESIDUAL ALVEOLAR RIDGE RESORPTION IN COMPLETELY EDENTULOUS PATIENTS INFLUENCED BY PATHOPHYSIOLOGIC FACTORS: RESORPSI TINGGI TULANG ALVEOLAR PADA PASIEN TIDAK BERGIGI YANG DIPENGARUHI OLEH FAKTOR PATOFISIOLOGI

Residual ridge resorption and remodeling directly affect the function of removable prostheses which relies greatly onthe quantity and architecture of jaw bones. The purpose of this study was to assess the remaining bone height level inrelation to some pathophysiologic factors that may affect on the resorption process. The factors involved in this studywere Diabetes mellitus, periodontitis, menopause, and edentulousness time (more than 10 years). Maxillary andmandibular bone height on 115 dental panoramic radiographs belonged to full edentulous patients were measured andcompared to 35 controls using MB Ruler software. The soft images were collected using the radiographic machines inthe faculty of dentistry. The measurements included maxillary middle anterior and lateral bone heights, middlemandibular dimension, right and left mental bone heights. The results showed that women with completely edentulousarches showed relatively higher rate of bone resorption than men, and control group. Indian patients also demonstratedhigher bone resorption rate, particularly on the mandible, followed by Chinese and Malay. In regard to different healthconditions, edentulousness time for more than 10 years showed the minimal bone height reduction that affected mainlythe mandible sides compared to other conditions and the control group. On the sides of maxilla, periodontitis exhibitedhigher effect on the residual ridge resorption rather than other studied conditions. However, on the middle of maxilla,menopause was associated with maximum bone resorption compared to the others. As conclusions, residual ridgeresorption in completely edentulous patients may be influenced by gender, race and patient’s health conditions

Estimation of Kumaraswamy Distribution Parameters Using the Principle of Maximum Entropy

This paper proposes using maximum entropy approach to estimate the parameters of the Kumaraswamy distribution subject to moment constraints. Kumaraswamy [7] introduced the double pounded probability density function which was originally used to model hydrological phenomena. It was mentioned that this probability density function is applicable to bounded natural phenomena which have values on two sides. The distribution share several properties with the beta distribution and it has the extra advantages that is possesses a closed form distribution function, but it remained unknown to most statisticians until it was developed by Jones [6] as a beta-type distribution with some tractability advantages in particular as it has fairly simple quantile function and it has explicit formula for L-Moment. Using the principle of maximum entropy to propose new estimators for the Kumaraswamy parameters and compared with maximum likelihood and Bayesian estimation methods. A simulation study is performed to investigate the performance of the estimators in terms of their mean square errors and their efficiency