Foster care in Egypt: A study of policies, laws, and practice.

Foster care in Egypt is regulated by Ministry of Social Solidarity according to detailed procedures of the child law no 126 for the year 1996 and its amendments of the year 2008. The system combines features of western foster care as well as adoption with the guidelines of Islamic Kafalah system. Children who are deprived from parental care for any reason are eligible to enter the foster care system. This qualitative study analyses the child law against the UN guidelines on alternative care to identify legislative and procedural gaps. It also analyses the current field practices of how placement of children with foster families take place against what is actually mentioned in the child law to identify challenges and opportunities for the enhancement of the service. The study has shown significant discrepancies between practice and national and international legislation

Development and characterization of biodegradable biorenewable polymeric nanocomposites for food packaging applications

During the last 10 decades, plastic products have dominated humans’ lives with various applications in different fields, and particularly in food packaging industry. The fact that plastics do have numerous desirable characteristics does not conceal their detrimental effect on the environment and on human health. In order to overcome these problematic issues and to contribute to sustainable development in the future, other alternatives represented in employing biorenewable biodegradable polymers are implemented for plastics production. Poly (lactic acid) (PLA) is one of the most common employed biopolymer owing to its interesting characteristics. However, PLA exhibits poor mechanical and barrier properties. Natural plasticizers and nano-reinforcement are incorporated into PLA matrix in order to overcome its brittle nature and to improve its barrier properties, particularly for the purpose of food packaging applications. This research focused on two parts: (i) improving the toughness and flexibility of PLA by investigating the effect of addition of three different plasticizers, namely, polyethylene glycol (PEG), tri n-butyl citrate (TBC), and triacetin (TA) of different concentrations using cast solution method, and (ii) PLA/TA 10%, the best investigated combination among all in terms of mechanical properties, was then chosen as the base system to further investigate the effect of incorporating four different nano-reinforcements, namely, carbon nanotubes (CNT), COOH functionalized carbon nanotubes (CNTCOOH), graphene platelets (GNP), and COOH functionalized graphene nanoplatelets (GNPCOOH) of different concentrations for fabrication of PLA nanocomposites. The physical, chemical, and barrier properties of all prepared samples were investigated through the stress-relaxation measurements, DSC, TGA, Mercury Porosimetry, biodegradability, water absorption, oxygen permeability, and water vapour transmission. GNPCOOH nanocomposites exhibited the best mechanical behaviour among all samples, while TGA analysis revealed that it had no effect on the thermal stability. Results obtained by Hg porosimetry have shown that the total porosity has tremendously decreased by incorporation of the investigated nanofillers. The biodegradation of PLA nanocomposites in natural compost was investigated and it was observed that the incorporation of nanofillers had no specific effect on biodegradation of PLA nanocomposites. Water absorption test revealed that the functionalized nanofillers showed relative increase in water absorption as compared to pristine nanofillers. Oxygen permeability test showed that lower concentrations of GNPCOOH had higher oxygen diffusion, while higher concentrations revealed a remarkable decrease in oxygen permeability. Water vapour transmission test showed that the incorporation of nanofillers has considerably decreased the rate of water vapour transmission

Water splitting by defects: Insights into multinary transition metal oxides for solar water splitting

With the energy deficiency problem becoming more threatening, the need to find reliable and alternative energy resources is becoming inevitable. Hydrogen gas is considered a good and cleaner alternative due to its green combustion; and it is used in many applications. Accordingly, the use of solar energy in water splitting to produce hydrogen gas is attracting much attention. Finding the optimum semiconducting material that can efficiently absorb sun light and use it in charge carriers’ generation to split water into hydrogen and oxygen is a hot research topic; as many challenges exist in this regard. For instance, wide-bandgap semiconductors have enhanced stability, but absorption limited to the UV region. On the other hand, a lot of the narrow-bandgap semiconductors have poor stability in aqueous electrolytes. In this thesis we explore different effective pathways to overcome the wide band gap problem. In the first part, the fabrication of nanostructured Ti-Nb-Zr MPNTs via simple hard templating anodization method in an electrochemical bath using Formamide-based electrolyte is explained. The formation mechanism and growth model of the MPNTs is discussed using FESEM images. Optical properties are examined using UV-Vis as well as photoelectrochemical properties where the MPNTs have shown 9-fold enhancement in the photocurrent density over the compact counterpart. The MPNTs possess graded refractive index which was confirmed by ellipsometry measurement; and high light scattering owing to their large diameter. In the second part of the thesis, the MPNTs are annealed in three different gases Air, Oxygen and Hydrogen where a 26-fold enhancement was achieved in the H100 compared to Air and O100. XPS, XRD, and Raman scattering suggested the formation of a single mixed oxide under Air and Oxygen atmospheres, while Zr formed a second phase ZrTiO4 under the reducing atmosphere. XPS core spectra confirmed that Hydrogen annealing resulted in formation of valence band tail states and Ti3+ defects. A thorough discussion is presented on the defects present and their contribution to the water splitting process. Finally, CZTS is known to be a narrow-bandgap p-type semiconductor with absorption extending to the visible region. It was synthesized by a solvothermal method, and deposited by electrophoresis on the MPNTs annealed in Hydrogen. Despite of its instability in 1M KOH, a proof of concept was accomplished, as a great photocurrent enhancement was achieved

Spectral clustering for TRUS images

BACKGROUND: Identifying the location and the volume of the prostate is important for ultrasound-guided prostate brachytherapy. Prostate volume is also important for prostate cancer diagnosis. Manual outlining of the prostate border is able to determine the prostate volume accurately, however, it is time consuming and tedious. Therefore, a number of investigations have been devoted to designing algorithms that are suitable for segmenting the prostate boundary in ultrasound images. The most popular method is the deformable model (snakes), a method that involves designing an energy function and then optimizing this function. The snakes algorithm usually requires either an initial contour or some points on the prostate boundary to be estimated close enough to the original boundary which is considered a drawback to this powerful method. METHODS: The proposed spectral clustering segmentation algorithm is built on a totally different foundation that doesn't involve any function design or optimization. It also doesn't need any contour or any points on the boundary to be estimated. The proposed algorithm depends mainly on graph theory techniques. RESULTS: Spectral clustering is used in this paper for both prostate gland segmentation from the background and internal gland segmentation. The obtained segmented images were compared to the expert radiologist segmented images. The proposed algorithm obtained excellent gland segmentation results with 93% average overlap areas. It is also able to internally segment the gland where the segmentation showed consistency with the cancerous regions identified by the expert radiologist. CONCLUSION: The proposed spectral clustering segmentation algorithm obtained fast excellent estimates that can give rough prostate volume and location as well as internal gland segmentation without any user interaction

Design, synthesis, antimicrobial activity and anticancer screening of some new 1,3-thiazolidin-4-ones derivatives

A series of new thiazolidin-4-ones have been synthesized by the reaction of 3-acetylindole with thiourea to yield 2-amino-arylthiazole (1) which, reacted with 2-chloroacetyl chloride to produce 2-chloroacetamido-4-arylthiazoles (2). The later was treated with potassium thiocyanate to afford the related 2-amino-3-(4-arylthiazol-2-yl) thiazolidin-4-ones (3). Condensation of compounds 1 and 3 with different aromatic aldehydes give Schiff’s bases (4a-c) and (5a-c) reaction of compound 5a-c with thioglycollic acids furnishes the target thiazolidin-4-one molecules (6a-c). Further, condensation of compound 6a with benzaldehyde affords benzylidenethiazolo derivative (7) which on refluxing with malononitrile, acetylacetone afforded thiazolopyridine derivatives (8,9). Structure elucidation of the products has been accomplished on the basis of elemental analysis, IR, 1H NMR data. Compound 3exhibited the most potent antibacterial and anticancer activity

PREPARATION AND EVALUATION OF RAPIDLY DISSOLVING TABLETS OF RALOXIFENE HYDROCHLORIDE BY TERNARY SYSTEM FORMATION

Objectives: Enhancing the dissolution rate of raloxifene hydrochloride for the preparation of rapidly disintegrating tablets with subsequent rapid dissolution.Methods: Binary and ternary solid dispersions (SDs) with different carriers were prepared at various drug: carrier ratios including cremophor RH 40, polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP K30), poloxamer 407 and gelucire 44/14 as carriers and were evaluated by drug content, In-vitro dissolution studies, Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) analysis analysis. The most efficient solid dispersion was selected for preparation of rapidly dissolving tablets.Results: SDs showed enhanced dissolution rate compared to the unprocessed drug. Differential scanning calorimetry revealed that enhancement in drug dissolution was mainly due to a change in its crystalline structure. FTIR studies revealed no interaction between the drug and excipients. The dissolution pattern of the drug from the prepared tablet depended on the components of the tablets with those containing a combination of super-disintegrants (crospovidone and croscarmellose) in the presence of citric acid as channeling agent and pH modifier being the best.Conclusion: The study presented a system capable of increasing the dissolution rate of raloxifene with successful incorporation in rapidly disintegrating tablets with subsequent fast dissolution. 3

A facile synthesis of some biologically active disperse dyes derived from arylazonicotinates and their application on polyester fabrics

A series of 2-hydroxy- and 2-amino-6-substituted-5-arylazonicotinates monoazo disperse dyes 6 and 8a-d were prepared via condensation of 3-oxo-3-substituted-2-arylhydrazonals 1a-d with active methylene nitriles 2a,b. A high temperature dyeing method was employed to apply these disperse dyes for polyester fabrics. Fastness properties of the dyed samples were measured. Most of the dyed fabrics tested displayed very good fastness level to washing, perspiration and light. Finally, the biological activities of the prepared dyes against gram positive and gram negative bacteria were evaluated

Management accounting and supply chains: actions, concerns, and networks

What does this thesis do? This thesis uses Actor-Network Theory (ANT) to examine how a UK retailer’s organization and strategy, and, in turn, its form of management accounting was shaped by its supply chain. The thesis does this by reporting on four related themes in the form of four inter-connected essays. The first essay undertakes a state-of-the-art review of the literature. It examines how accounting issues within supply chains permeate ‘matters of concern’. In accordance with this idea of ANT, the essay illustrates how issues emerged, controversies developed, and matters evolved through an actor-network of accounting researchers within the supply chain domain. This leads on to the second essay, which exemplifies the nature of the UK’s retailing industry within which the supply chain case organization emerged and developed. The purposes of the essay are twofold: to introduce the contextual ramifications of the case organization; and to illustrate the emergence of a new market logic, which led to the creation of a global supply chain and a new form of management accounting therein. The third essay reports on a qualitative case study. It analyses the dualistic relation between ostensive and performative aspects of supply chain strategy, reveals how accounting numbers act as an obligatory passage point within this dualism, and makes a contribution to the ANT debate around the issue of whether and how a dualism between ostensive and performative aspects exists. The final essay reports on another case analysis of institutionalizing a heterarchical form of management accounting: a distributed form of intelligence that penetrates through lateral accountable relations. The analysis reveals a new form of management accounting characterised by ambiguity; it emphasizes the possibilities of compromises and negotiations, and it thus contributes to knowledge by combining an aspect of ANT with heterarchical tendencies in the world of contemporary organizations. Finally, the thesis concludes that it is the supply chain that organises today’s neoliberal capitalism; and it is management accounting that unites both human and non-human actors within such supply chains, despite that form of management accounting being ambiguous. The thesis comprises the introduction, these four essays, and the conclusion

Spectrophotometric Determination of Omeprazole Sodium and Ranitidine Hydrochloride Using 2, 4-dinitrofluorobenzene and 4- chloro-7-nitrobenzen-2-oxa-1, 3-diazole Accompanied with a Kinetic Study

Two accurate, simple and sensitive spectrophotometric methods were developed for determination of omeprazole sodium and ranitidine hydrochloride in bulk and pharmaceutical dosage forms. The first method was based on the reaction of these drugs with 2, 4- dinitrofluorobenzene producing yellow colored products measured at λmax 470 nm and 420 nm for omeprazole sodium and ranitidine HCl, respectively. Beer’s law was obeyed in the concentration range from (5-40 µg.ml-1) for omeprazole sodium and (30-180 µg.ml-1) for ranitidine HCl with molar absorpitivity 9.202 x 103 Lmol-1cm-1 and 1.778 x 103 Lmol-1cm-1, respectively. The second method was based on the reaction of omeprazole sodium and ranitidine HCl with 4- Chloro-7-nitrobenzen-2-oxa-1, 3-diazole producing yellow colored adducts measured at λmax 481 nm and 468 nm for omeprazole sodium and ranitidine HCl, respectively. This method was accompanied with a kinetic study for ranitidine HCl. The absorbance-concentration plots were rectilinear over concentration range (2-12 µg.ml-1) and (0.025-0.15 µg.ml-1) for omeprazole sodium and ranitidine HCl with molar absorpitivity 4.062 x 104 Lmol-1cm-1 and 2.802 x 106 Lmol-1cm-1, respectively. These methods hold their accuracy and precision well when applied to the determination of omeprazole sodium and ranitidine HCl in their dosage forms