The influences of user generated ‘Big data’ on urban development

Cities are the nucleus for creativity and ideas, as it has all the potentials for people to work, explore and live. People always come to cities because they want to be part of something, this magnet in the cities created the problem of population (Ericsson: Thinking Cities in the Networked Society, 2012). Approximately 50% of world’s population lives in urban areas, a number which is expected to increase to nearly 60% by 2030. (Mutizwa-Mangiza ND, Arimah B C, Jensen I, Yemeru EA, Kinyanjui MK, 2011). According to the rapid change in cities’ population there exists a need to utilize intelligent prediction tools to deliver a better way of living. Smart cities provide an opportunity to connect people and places using innovative technologies that help in better city planning and management ( Khan, Anjum, Soomro, & Tahir, 2015). Data is never a new thing, but data sources are always in change. The internet made everything easier and more reachable. This wide range of technologies such as IOT (internet of things) and M2M (machine to machine) (Gartner, 2015), is believed to offer a new potential to deliver an analytical framework for urban optimization. The real value of such data is gained by new knowledge acquired by performing data analytics using various data mining, machine learning or statistical methods. According to this technologically mutated, data comes from weather channels, street security cameras, Facebook, Twitter, sensor networks, in-car devices, location-based smartphone apps, RFID tags, smart meters, among other sources (Hinssen, 2012). This massive amount of information that comes from real-time based tools, made the world in front of a new era of data called ‘Big Data’. However, turning an ocean of messy data into knowledge and wisdom is an extremely challenging task. The proposed paper will discuss the IOT developed frameworks which are used to improve cities infrastructure and their vital systems. Analyzing these frameworks will help developing a conceptual proposal of data visualizing software; with the aim of helping urban planners get a better and easier way to comprehend the usage of multi-data sources for city planning and management. The full control of data is an open challenge, however proposing the fundamental bases of framework with the ability to extend and having an application layer above would be very helpful for urban process shifting. The Egyptian case is our main scope to have a smarter city that provides an opportunity to connect people and places using innovative technologies

DEVELOPMENT OF PIEZOELECTRIC ENERGY HARVESTING SYSTEM FOR LOW-FREQUENCY VIBRATIONS

Harvesting energy from vibration sources has attracted the interest of researchers for the past three decades. Researchers have been working on the potential of achieving self-powered MEMS scale devices. Piezoelectric cantilever harvesters have caught the attention in this field because of the excellent combination of high-power density and compact structure. The main objective of this thesis is to develop a novel and optimum piezoelectric harvester system using lumped parameter model (LPM) for given vibration sources. The finite element model (FEM) is used in this work as an original approach to be utilized for optimal design optimization. Three types of validations are accomplished to solidify the use of FEM in mimicking the distributed parameter model (DPM) for linearly tapered piezoelectric cantilevers. The first two validations are accomplished using beam deflection and relative transmissibility functions. Comparisons between the FEM and the DPM developed by the literature are performed. The third validation is carried for an electromechanical piezoelectric cantilever in FEM. Results confirmed the effectiveness of the developed FEM. A number of significant contributions are achieved while fulfilling the aim of this work. First, a dimensionless parameter, Power Factor (PF), is derived and used to understand the impact of the geometry on the piezoelectric harvester performance. The PF showed an optimum performance at a taper ratio of 0, taking the full length of the cantilever and thickness ratio of 0.7. Second, the accuracy of the LPM for linearly tapered piezoelectric harvesters and optimal design are investigated. Results indicated that the percentage of the deflection error between the LPM and the FEM reaches 9% when the taper ratio is zero. However, when tip-mass to cantilever ratios are larger than 2, the error decreases to less than 0.5% leading to more accurate results in the vibrational response of the beam. Further studies on the accuracy are accomplished using the relative transmissibility function. Results showed that as the taper ratio decreases towards zero, the percentage error of using the LPM to predict the vibration response increases significantly to 55%. These results lay the foundation for the third contribution of developing correction factors for tapered and optimal piezoelectric cantilever harvesters using FEM. Comparisons of the corrected LPM and FEM for different configurations are examined. Results indicated that as the taper ratio decreases, the surface power density increases. However, the developed optimal design exhibits the highest surface power density of 1.40×104 [(mW/g2)/ m2] which is 16.4% more than the best following shape of a taper ratio 0.2 and 58% more than the taper ratio 1. Furthermore, a parametric study of the optimal design is performed to scrutinize the effect of various parameters on the harvester performance. Finally, detailed criteria for designing the optimal piezoelectric harvester for different conditions are structured

Synthesis, spectroscopic and thermal characterization of Fe(III)-mixed ligand complexes and spectrophotometric determination of Fe(III) in various samples

The aim of the present study is to find a non time consuming, economical and reliable spectrophotometric procedures using commercially available spectrophotometric reagents for the determination of Fe(III) ions. The methods are based on the formation of colored ternary complexes using, 1,10-phenanthroline and eriochrome black T or tartrazine mixed reagents and improved using a cationic surfactant, cetyltrimethyl ammonium bromide. This surfactant interacts with the complex to build up true ternary complex. The most suitable conditions for determination of Fe(III) ions and the parameters affecting the reactions including pH, time, temperature, stoichiometric ratios and reagents concentrations are optimized. The effect of different interfering ions is studied together with the suitable masking agents. The developed methods are used for the determination of Fe(III) ions in the presence of cetyltrimethyl ammonium bromide in different types of water (polluted industrial waste, ground, river Nile and drinking water). The synthesis and spectroscopy studies of two Fe complexes were reported. Thermal analysis was carried out in order to give an idea about the thermal stability of the complexes

Application of π receptors to the spectrophotometric determination of naftidrofuryl oxalate in pure form and its pharmaceutical preparation

Three different spectrophotometric methods are developed for the determination of naftidrofuryl oxalate (NAF) in pure form and its pharmaceutical preparation. The methods are based on charge transfer complexation reactions of NAF as n-electron donor with either p-chloranilic acid (PCA) or 2,3-dichloro-5,6-dicyano-1,4-benzoquinone (DDQ) or tetracyano ethylene (TCNE) as π-receptors to give highly colored anion radicals species. The colored products were quantified spectrophotometrically at 515, 588 and 396 nm in PCA, DDQ and TCNE methods, respectively. Under the optimized experimental conditions, Beer's law is obeyed over the concentration ranges of 75.0-300.0, 25.0-150.0 and 15.0- 50.0 μg/mL NAF for PCA, DDQ and TCNE methods, respectively. The proposed methods were applied successfully to the determination of NAF in pure form and its commercial tablets with good accuracy and precision. Statistical comparison of the results was performed using Student's t-test and F-ratio at 95% confidence level, showing that there is no significant difference between the reference and the proposed methods with regard to accuracy and precision. Further, the validity of the proposed methods was confirmed by standard addition technique

Investigation on Effects of Avocado Extract as Eco-friendly Inhibitor for 201 Stainless Steel corrosion in Acidic Environment

The inhibitory effect of using avocado extract (AE) on the corrosion of stainless steel type 201 (201SS) in 1M hydrochloric acid has been studied. Chemical tests such as mass loss test (ML) and electrochemical such as electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and potentiodynamic polarization (PP) were used in this investigation. The results of these approaches showed that as the concentration of AE extract increase, their adsorption on the 201SS surface increases, and therefore the corrosion process lower. The Langmiur isotherm was observed to represent the adsorption of this extract on the surface of 201-SS. The inhibitory efficiency percent (%IE) and activation energy (Ea) were calculated in the presence and absence of AE. The corrosion rate was calculated and revealed that AE has good inhibition effect on 201-SS alloy surface inspection methods such as SEM, AFM, and FT-IR have also been used. It was found that all of these used methods are in agreement with each other

Oral contraceptive pills use and adverse effects

Background: Egyptian women value contraceptive methods for their effectiveness against pregnancy. Objective: This study aimed to determine the usage and side effects of oral contraceptive pills among the target group.Patients and methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out on 350 women from family health centers and units in Abo Hammad District, Sharkia Governorate. Data were collected through a questionnaireResults: Majority (81.1%) of the studied group used combined pills The most frequent side effects found among them were depression, breast pain & inflammation, weight gain and abnormal vaginal secretions (63.7%, 57.7%, 56.6% & 56.3% respectively).Conclusion The present study revealed that prevalence of pills usage among 350 studied females in Abo Hammad District, Sharkia Governorate was 62.9%. The prevalence of combined pills was 81.1% and Mini pills was 18.9%

Neurofibromatosis type 1 and multiple sclerosis: Genetically related diseases

Neurofibromatosis type I (NF1) is an autosomal dominant disorder with involvement of both the cutaneous and nervous systems. Patients are susceptible to neurological complication in the form of tumors of the brain and spinal cord. Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic autoimmune disease that affects the myelinated axons in the central nervous system. Unlike MS, none of the neurological complications of NF1 is demyelinating. The association of these two diseases in the same patient is rare and could be genetically related. Early detection of the presence of MS in patients with NF1 is of utmost importance as treatment will certainly decrease further neurological disability. Here we report the first Egyptian lady with this association

Molecular genetic analysis of some North African barley germplasms

Isozyme and RAPD markers were used to characterize 29 barley accessions, which were collected from North Africa. In addition, resistance gene sequences were employed to develop molecular markers using RT-PCR approach. High level of polymorphism was found with both RAPD and isozyme markers, where RAPD showed that 60 % of amplified bands were polymorphic. Peroxidase showed three polymorphic loci (7 allelic bands). Isozymes cluster analysis successfully separated the barley accessions into three geographically distinct groups. RAPD investigation demonstrated that Egyptian accessions were grouped into two obvious groups. Moreover, the Tunisian accessions showed no distinct clustering, while high dissimilarities were revealed by the Algerian accessions. In the RT-PCR, from six primer pairs selected, primer pair AF092524P1P2 successfully amplified two specific amplicons of approximately (340 &amp; 220 bp) and (360 &amp; 270 bp), respectively in two Egyptian barley genotypes (El-Awamah and Awlad-Ali). One primer pair DN988165P1P2 gave only one specific amplicon in both barley genotypes of 250 and 270 bp, respectively. The markers developed could be used in improving barley crop by assisting in breeding selection of resistance genotypes.</p

Assessment of Antibody Titer to Pneumococcal Vaccine in Nephrotic Syndrome Children post Vaccination

Background: The most common glomerular condition in children is idiopathic nephrotic syndrome (INS). Pneumococcal infections are one of the most serious consequences for children with nephrotic syndrome. Objective: Assessment of antibody titer in children with renal impairment 1- and 3-months after immunization with pneumococcal conjugate vaccine 13 (PCV13). Patients and Methods: Cross-sectional research including 24 nephrotic children was carried out at Pediatric Nephrology Unit and Outpatient Nephrology Clinics of Children Hospital at Zagazig University over a period of one year from April 2020 to March 2021. Results: At 1- and 3-months following vaccination, level of antibody titer was significantly higher among patients within group II. There was statistically significant difference between the studied groups regarding trend of antibody at three months. Steroid dosage at time of immunization was strongly associated with antibody titer one month (M) after vaccination in both groups. While there was statistically significant negative correlation between steroid dose at time and 3 months after vaccination with antibody titer at 3 months post vaccination in both groups. Conclusion: Nephrotic children in both groups can mount adequate antibody production to pneumococcal vaccine post vaccination, which is equal or higher than 0.35 μg/ml. On low doses of oral steroids and immunosuppressive medications, PCV-infected nephrotic youngsters developed strong protective antibody titers