Parallel Processing For Schema Evolution in Database Systems

A thesis submitted to the University of London in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of Doctor of Philosoph

Towards the characterization of a novel thermohalophilic antioxidant Thioredoxin from the metagenome of the Red Sea; LCL of Atlantis II Brine pool

Due to the crucial antioxidant role of Thioredoxin (Trx) system in various vital cellular processes; DNA synthesis, oxidative stress defense, protein folding, apoptosis and cell growth, this fundamental system is widely expressed in mostly all life\u27s kingdoms. Thus using metagenomic approaches to characterize novel Trx system in unexplored harsh environment will open the window for understanding the evolution of Trx system and its unique adaptation in extreme habitations. One of the unexplored unique ecosystems is the Red Sea\u27s Atalntis II brine pool, specifically, the lower convective layer (LCL). The exceptional harsh conditions of the LCL; anoxic condition, high temperature around 70°C, high salinity (26%), and high metal content, have a significant contribution for being a unique infrequent ecosystem. The objective of this study is to characterize a novel Trx isolated from the LCL. Successfully, in the experimental part, Trx was expressed in E. coli and purified, where the purified Trx has shown a clear antioxidant activity with a unique thermohalophilicity. In conclusion, we have characterized a unique antioxidant Trx protein

Lightweight Mutual Authentication Protocol for Low Cost RFID Tags

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology one of the most promising technologies in the field of ubiquitous computing. Indeed, RFID technology may well replace barcode technology. Although it offers many advantages over other identification systems, there are also associated security risks that are not easy to be addressed. When designing a real lightweight authentication protocol for low cost RFID tags, a number of challenges arise due to the extremely limited computational, storage and communication abilities of Low-cost RFID tags. This paper proposes a real mutual authentication protocol for low cost RFID tags. The proposed protocol prevents passive attacks as active attacks are discounted when designing a protocol to meet the requirements of low cost RFID tags. However the implementation of the protocol meets the limited abilities of low cost RFID tags.Comment: 11 Pages, IJNS

The abject dream of neo-capital: Capitalist urbanism, architecture and endangered liveability of the Middle East’s modern cities

This article interrogates the notion of “New Capital” in the context of the hegemony of neoliberal urbanism in the Arab cities in the Middle East from historical, socio-economic and spatial perspectives. It reviews the historical narratives of new centres and districts in Cairo, Beirut and evolving capitalist urbanism and architecture in the Arabian Peninsula in search of elitist dream of neo-liberal urbanism. It offers a comprehensive analysis to the notions of neoLiberal ideology and urban policies, neoCapital city as catalyst for nation-building and neoCapitalist architecture as reproduction of clone structures of western models. The paper focuses its critical analysis on the aspects of liveability in the contemporary Arab City and its socio-spatial structures and everyday urban reality. It reports on urban narratives based on archival records, urban projects and investigation of governmental accounts to determine aspects of success and failure in projects of new capital cities and districts. It argues that cities are essentially social-spatial system in which hierarchy is a fundamental element, the lack of which determines abject failure of their anticipated vision

WIRELESS OFFSHORE PLATFORM STRUCTURAL HEALTH MONITORING

Oil platforms are known for their operation in dangerous environments. The most recent technology adapted is the unmanned platform which is a remotely operated platform without any workers on the platform during the operation to lessen the losses occurs in the platforms. To ensure the safety and the reliability of the new platforms a safety monitoring system is required to be developed. In this report, a new structural health and safety monitoring system for unmanned platforms is proposed and developed. The objectives of the project are to develop a system which processes electrical signals to represent structural parameters, develop the proper communication between different parts of the system and test the feasibility of the system. The new system integrates microprocessor technologies and communication technologies to meet the objectives of the proposed system. The project focused on testing the proper connection between the microprocessor and the measuring devices, and studying and simulating the wireless and underwater communication. The system was tested using strain gages to measure strain and half-cell to measure corrosion. The readings obtained were validated against commercial acquisition systems. The results show the efficiency of the system in different applications to measure different structural parameters. The underwater transmission was simulated using OMNET++. The simulation results show low efficiency of acoustic communication which requires further study and investigation

The modern ordinary: Changing culture of living in Egypt’s traditional quarters at the turn of the twentieth Century

Having experienced social and political structures of the nineteenth century Europe, western-educated Egyptian elite used public institutions to force new legislative structures and procedures that ruled out traditional housing forms and spatial systems. This essay detects direct and indirect impact of these changes that informed the spatial change of modern living in Egypt in the first quarter of the twentieth century. It offers analysis of socio-spatial practices and change in ordinary Cairenes’ modes of everyday living, using social routine and interaction to explain spatial systems and changing house forms during the first quarter of the twentieth century. In doing so, the essay utilized archival documents, accounts, formal decrees and novels of the time as well as conducting survey of house forms and spatial organizations in Old Cairo

Experimental and Numerical Investigation of Emulative Connections in Precast Concrete Walls

Grouted connections are widely used in the precast concrete construction. For instance, in precast concrete walls, they are used to connect assemblies of vertically stacked panels. The connection is comprised of a grout cylinder bound by a corrugated metallic duct, which is used to house a large diameter reinforcing bar bridging the horizontal gap of stacked panels. The connection is used to provide vertical continuity to the assembly, and to help resist tensile demands from in-plane bending. Current design guidelines consider such connections through a bar-in-concrete treatment, disregarding its composite nature and the confinement effect of the duct. This has resulted in excessively long connections that could induce planes of reduced stiffness in precast wall panels. In this thesis, a research program was tailored to investigate the disparity between the real behaviour of grouted connections and their current design code idealization to offer alternative more realistic design provisions. The experimental program was divided into three phases. First, an exploratory study of the bond behaviour of grouted connections under monotonic loads was conducted. Second, the behaviour of grouted connections was compared to bar-in-concrete specimens under monotonic loading. Third, the cyclic behaviour of the connections at various embedment lengths was examined under quasi-static loading. Knowledge gained in the experimental program was used in analytical treatments to develop a novel model that can accurately depict the behaviour of these connections. Results from the various experimental phases reveal that the bond failures developed in grouted connections are not characterized by brittle tensile splitting modes, irrespective of the level of bond stress along the assembly at different embedded lengths. It was observed that the presence of the corrugated duct offers a continuous restraining field against radial expansion of the grout, causing the bars to be mobilized in much shorter anchored lengths than those suggested by current standards. A numerical model was developed to reproduce the behavior of grouted connections with reasonable accuracy. Its accuracy and computational efficiency should allow modelling full-scale precast wall assemblies. In this thesis, a research program was tailored to investigate the disparity between the real behaviour of grouted connections and their current design code idealization to offer alternative more realistic design provisions. The experimental program was divided into three phases. First, an exploratory study of the bond behaviour of grouted connections under monotonic loads was conducted. Second, the behaviour of grouted connections was compared to bar-in-concrete specimens under monotonic loading. Third, the cyclic behaviour of the connections at various embedment lengths was examined under quasi-static loading. Knowledge gained in the experimental program was used in analytical treatments to develop a novel model that can accurately depict the behaviour of these connections. Results from the various experimental phases reveal that the bond failures developed in grouted connections are not characterized by brittle tensile splitting modes, irrespective of the level of bond stress along the assembly at different embedded lengths. It was observed that the presence of the corrugated duct offers a continuous restraining field against radial expansion of the grout, causing the bars to be mobilized in much shorter anchored lengths than those suggested by current standards. A numerical model was developed to reproduce the behaviour of grouted connections with reasonable accuracy. Its accuracy and computational efficiency should allow modelling full-scale precast wall assemblies