Industrialization and underdevelopment: towards a heavy industrialization drive in Egypt

This thesis tries to answer twomain questions. The first is why a developing country like Egypt needs Heavy Industrialization? And the second is what are the best strategies to achieve such an industrialization drive? These two questions are being tackled through a theoritical analysis using the Structuralist, Neoclassical and Institutional perspectives. A special focus is put on specific heavy industrial sectors of potential or strategic value in Egypt namely: Steel, Aluminum, Petrochemicals and Machinery. Moreover, three different heavy industrialization experiences of three NICs are being analyzed, each of which had a different heavy industrialization strategy. These are namely: South Korea, Brazil and India. Then a final discussion is conducted on how a Heavy Industrialization drive could be achieved with the collaboration of the efforts of the government, private sector and MNCs

Prevalence of smoking among male secondary school students in Arar City, Saudi Arabia

Introduction: tobacco is one of the leading preventable cause of death worldwide. Tobacco consumption among teenagers is a major public health problem, especially in developing countries. Younger smokers are more liable to smoking complications. The objectives were to evaluate the prevalence of smoking among male secondary school students in the Northern Borders region, KSA. Methods: a cross-sectional study was conducted in Arar city. Four schools were chosen randomly from 21 secondary schools. A total of 240 students responded to the pre-designed questionnaire. The questionnaire included questions on demographic factors, smoking behavior and knowledge about smoking hazards. Results: prevalence of current smoking among male secondary school students is 40.8%. Cigarette smoking was the most common type (67.3%) followed by Shish smoking(22.4%). Few students (2.1%) reported other forms of smoking, example (Hashish). Of the studied group, 39.8% smoke on a daily basis with 29.6% of them smoke more than five cigarettes per day. Conclusion: smoking is a prevalent habit among teenagers. Special concern should be directed to smoking cessation campaigns with behavioral, legal and economic interventions

State-society relations and industrial sustainable growth:The case of post-Revolution Tunisia

This paper investigates the effect of state-society relations (SSR) in the industrial sector on the sustainable economic growth of post-Revolution Tunisia. The empirical part of the paper depends mainly on qualitative data collected from fieldwork interviews with the most important actors and publications of civil society organizations. The paper suggests the presence of state capture as the defining characteristic of SSR in post-Revolution Tunisia. The combination of having powerful tycoons, weaker state, and ineffectively organized social actors produced conditions that harmed sustainability. These settings allowed tycoons to violate environmental regulations and prevented Green innovation through the adoption of Green technologies. Yet, factors such as low value-added creation, increased labor-intensity, and low environmental awareness or prioritization all interact with state capture to lower sustainability. In those sectors where tycoons are active and dominant, competing social actors are incapable of effectively exploiting the presence of a freer political system, ultimately failing to successfully organize resisting coalitions, as evident in the textile sector. While higher resistance is witnessed where tycoons are not dominant as was the case in the phosphate sector, tycoons could still use the situation to their advantage.</p

Increasing culturability of plant microbiome towards core microbiome manipulation and engineering

This study aimed to optimize the use of plant-based culture media for exploration of the plant-associated microbiota and extend the culturability borders to isolate novel bacterial taxa and meticulously characterize the culture-dependent and culture-independent microbiomes in view of the developed plant-based culture media. Throughout the study, we could prove that plant-based culture media are able to support the recovery of previously uncultured plant-associated bacteria, and also support the enrichment of bacterial lineages that belong to the candidate phyla radiation (CPR)

Innovative Oral Treatments of Uterine Leiomyoma

Uterine fibroids (leiomyoma), the benign tumors of the uterine wall, are very common cause of morbidity in reproductive age women usually in the form of excessive vaginal bleeding, chronic pelvic pain, miscarriage and infertility. These tumors are the leading indication for hysterectomy in the United States. Uterine fibroids are about 4 times higher in blacks compared to whites and constitute a major health disparity challenge. The estimated cost of uterine fibroids is up to $34.4 billion annually. Additionally, women who suffer from this disease and desire to maintain their future fertility have very limited treatment choices. Currently, there is no effective long-term medicinal treatment for uterine fibroids. While surgery has traditionally been the gold standard for the treatment of uterine fibroids, there is growing interest towards orally administered medications for the management of leiomyoma-related symptoms. In this paper, we will discuss these promising innovative oral medical treatments in detail

Offshore Stone Columns Under Embankment With Embedded Pipes

A breakwater embankment was constructed as part of a settling basin for the intake of a thermal power plant in the north of Egypt. The 440-m long breakwater surrounds the intake basin which has an area of about 18000 m2. Sea water is supplied to the intake basin through 50 concrete pipes embedded in the breakwater. Subsurface soil conditions in the area indicated that the embankment would be founded on soft silty clay underlain by a layer of silty sand. Results from the settlement analysis showed that the embedded pipes could not tolerate the predicted differential settlement in the embankment. Accordingly, it was determined that the embankment could not be founded on natural soil and that this soil would require improvement using stone columns. Offshore stone columns were constructed using the blanket method utilizing two vibro flotation probes. The layout was designed such that the stone columns were arranged in a triangular pattern below the embedded pipes, and in a rectangular pattern elsewhere. This paper presents the design method using numerical modeling to show the amount of expected settlement with and without stone columns. The method of construction is discussed showing how the stone columns were constructed using the blanket method. The full-scale load test that was constructed offshore to validate the design is described. The results from the load test and post-construction settlement readings indicated that the stone columns proved to be an efficient and economical solution in reducing the differential settlement to tolerable limits for the embedded pipes

Light Confinement and Nonlinear Light-Matter Interaction in Semiconductor Photonic Crystal Cavities

The ability to control and manipulate light is a fundamental aspect that is at the very core of the development of integrated photonic circuits. It is desirable to achieve such control down to a scale that is comparable to or smaller than the wavelength of light, to enable highly efficient interaction with matter, which can eventually go down to single photon levels. Photonic crystals are particularly appealing in that respect, by providing optical bandgaps and facilitating dispersion shaping, through the precise patterning of layers. This is to be accomplished ideally in compact designs that are well-suited for fabrication with current technology and by utilizing material that has the capacity for integration. By exploiting existing light-matter interaction mechanisms, the available toolset for component design can be expanded, allowing to build optical chips with a wide range of functionality. In the current work, a platform for integrated III-nitride photonic components on silicon is designed and implemented. A refined fabrication process for III-nitride micro- and nanostructures is developed, leading to the realization of suspended optical devices with both high performance and structural stability. Thorough optical and material characterization of the semiconductor layers is conducted to identify potential limitations, particularly with epitaxial GaN on Si technology, with respect to current crystal growth techniques. AlN layers based on a sputter-deposition process are proposed as an alternative for passive optical devices. Two-dimensional photonic crystals are designed in gallium nitride and aluminum nitride, targeting operational wavelengths in the near-infrared telecom range. Optimized photonic crystal cavities are considered for maximizing light confinement in the semiconductor layers. By utilizing resonance enhancement, second and third harmonic generation are demonstrated in gallium nitride photonic crystal cavities featuring record-high quality factor values. This is achieved through a far-field coupling approach under low-power continuous-wave operation. High conversion efficiencies are attained in gallium nitride, exceeding previous demonstrations in the material. Propagation of the harmonic signals in the semiconductor layer is analyzed using finite-element time-domain modeling for the feasibility of an extraction mechanism. Moreover, slow light coupled cavity waveguides are developed in a silicon platform, relying on optimized cavity designs that feature wideband operation in the near-infrared telecom range. A record-high value for group-index bandwidth product is achieved in the devices through improved design implementation. An end-fire based Fourier-space imaging technique is applied for the characterization of the optical structures, through which spatially-selective reconstruction of dispersion maps enabled accurate extraction of slow light properties. The influence of finite-size effects on slow light behavior is elucidated by implementing extended cavity chains. Furthermore, light transport regimes across the dispersion band are identified including the transition towards diffusive light transport and subsequent localization. The performance of coupled-cavity waveguides in the presence of disorder is quantified, revealing constraints on slow light transport, considering state-of-the-art fabrication

The Integration of Information Technology Skills in Accounting Curriculum at Public Universities in Egypt

Professional and academic accountants have debated the issue of integration of information technology (IT) skills in accounting during the past three decades. However, the majority of prior studies are very descriptive in nature and lack a theoretical background. Most of these studies investigated the issue of Required IT skills and Integrated IT skills in different settings. Prior studies also investigated the issue separately, either from the perspective of professional or academic accountants. Based on information processing theory and task-technology fit, this study investigated the alignment (IT Alignment) between Required IT skills and Integrated IT skills in a single setting. It also examined factors that influence IT Alignment. Data were collected from 249 accounting lecturers in public universities in Egypt, who were also practicing accountants. Survey was mailed out in March 2011, and response rate was 69.02%. Descriptive statistics indicated that the top 5 Required IT were generalized audit software, embedded audit modules/real-time modules, word- processing, small business accounting software, and electronic spreadsheets, while the top 5 Integrated IT were word processing, electronic spreadsheets, electronic presentations, database search and retrieval, and test data. Using a matching approach, the top 5 most aligned variables were word-processing, electronic spreadsheets, electronic presentations, internal network configurations, and database search and retrieval. Thirty-five hypotheses were then tested to examine factors that influenced IT Alignment. Results of multiple regressions suggested that market need played a major role in influencing the IT alignment. Other factors included financial resources, university/faculty support, interest and attitude toward the IT integration. This study has deepened current understanding of IT integration into accounting and has provided useful insights for Deans of Faculty of Accountancy in planning their IT integration. More importantly, the study also opens up possibilities for further study of IT integration, both in Egypt and around the globe