Seismic hazard studies in Egypt

Abstract The study of earthquake activity and seismic hazard assessment of Egypt is very important due to the great and rapid spreading of large investments in national projects, especially the nuclear power plant that will be held in the northern part of Egypt. Although Egypt is characterized by low seismicity, it has experienced occurring of damaging earthquake effect through its history. The seismotectonic sitting of Egypt suggests that large earthquakes are possible particularly along the Gulf of Aqaba–Dead Sea transform, the Subduction zone along the Hellenic and Cyprean Arcs, and the Northern Red Sea triple junction point. In addition some inland significant sources at Aswan, Dahshour, and Cairo-Suez District should be considered. The seismic hazard for Egypt is calculated utilizing a probabilistic approach (for a grid of 0.5° × 0.5°) within a logic-tree framework. Alternative seismogenic models and ground motion scaling relationships are selected to account for the epistemic uncertainty. Seismic hazard values on rock were calculated to create contour maps for four ground motion spectral periods and for different return periods. In addition, the uniform hazard spectra for rock sites for different 25 periods, and the probabilistic hazard curves for Cairo, and Alexandria cities are graphed. The peak ground acceleration (PGA) values were found close to the Gulf of Aqaba and it was about 220 gal for 475 year return period. While the lowest (PGA) values were detected in the western part of the western desert and it is less than 25 gal

Structural and Functional Abnormalities in the Caudate Nucleus of Schizophrenic Patients with and without Obsessive Symptoms

Background: Obsessive\u2013compulsive symptoms (OCS) have been frequently described in schizophrenic populations. There is a controversy on whether this co-occurrence is more than just comorbidity or represents a distinct subgroup in schizophrenia. Aim: The aim of this study was to investigate whether there are possible underlying structural and functional differences between schizophrenic patients with and those without OCS. Patients and methods: Participants in this study were divided into three groups: 20 patients having schizophrenia with OCS; 20 patients having schizophrenia without OCS (both were diagnosed according to DSM-IV-TR); and 20 matching controls. All participants underwent an MRI for volumetric measurement of the caudate nucleus and a magnetic resonance spectroscopy to measure choline (Cho), creatine, and N-acetyl aspartate (NAA) in the caudate nucleus. Results: Caudate volume was found to be reduced in schizophrenic patients with or without OCS (P 640.05). Magnetic resonance spectroscopy findings showed that schizophrenic patients without OCS had significant increase in Cho concentration (P 640.05), but average NAA concentration. In contrast, schizophrenic patients with OCS had significant reduction in NAA concentration (P 640.05) with average Cho concentration. Conclusion: Schizophrenic patients with OCS may have an atypical set of neuroradiological characteristics that would specifically categorize it within the schizophrenia spectrum

Impact of severity, duration, and etiology of hyperthyroidism on bone turnover markers and bone mineral density in men

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Hyperthyroidism is accompanied by osteoporosis with higher incidence of fracture rates. The present work aimed to study bone status in hyperthyroidism and to elucidate the impact of severity, duration, and etiology of hyperthyroidism on biochemical markers of bone turnover and bone mineral density (BMD).</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Fifty-two male patients with hyperthyroidism, 31 with Graves' disease (GD) and 21 with toxic multinodular goiter (TNG), with an age ranging from 23 to 65 years were included, together with 25 healthy euthyroid men with matched age as a control group. In addition to full clinical examination, patients and controls were subjected to measurement of BMD using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometery scanning of the lower half of the left radius. Also, some biochemical markers of bone turnover were done for all patients and controls.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Biochemical markers of bone turnover: included serum bone specific alkaline phosphatase, osteocalcin, carboxy terminal telopeptide of type l collagen also, urinary deoxypyridinoline cross-links (DXP), urinary DXP/urinary creatinine ratio and urinary calcium/urinary creatinine ratio were significantly higher in patients with GD and TNG compared to controls (P < 0.01). However, there was non-significant difference in these parameters between GD and TNG patients (P > 0.05). BMD was significantly lower in GD and TNG compared to controls, but the Z-score of BMD at the lower half of the left radius in patients with GD (-1.7 ± 0.5 SD) was not significantly different from those with TNG (-1.6 ± 0.6 SD) (>0.05). There was significant positive correlation between free T3 and free T4 with biochemical markers of bone turnover, but negative correlation between TSH and those biochemical markers of bone turnover. The duration of the thyrotoxic state positively correlated with the assessed bone turnover markers, but it is negatively correlated with the Z-score of BMD in the studied hyperthyroid patients (r = -0.68, P < 0.0001).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Men with hyperthyroidism have significant bone loss with higher biochemical markers of bone turnover. The severity and the duration of the thyrotoxic state are directly related to the derangement of biochemical markers of bone turnover and bone loss.</p

Internal truncated distributions: applications to Wiener process range distribution when deleting a minimum stochastic volatility interval from its domain

In this paper, we apply a new definition of truncated distribution “Internal Truncated Distribution” on the Wiener process range distribution to delete a few stochastic volatility intervals from its domain. A comprehensive treatment of the statistical properties of this distribution is presented. The usefulness of the proposed distribution is illustrated with the help of a real data set

Shear Behaviour of Continuous Tapered Steel Plate Girders with Corrugated Webs

During previous years, so many attempts have been made to reduce the own weight of the steel members used in bridges, as well as reducing the cost of construction. One of these attempts is to use tapered (i.e. non-prismatic with varying depth) steel plate girders with corrugated webs (TPGCWS). The corrugated steel plates are widely used as structural elements in many structural applications because of their numerous favourable properties compared with traditional flat plates. Moreover, they have been used due to their aesthetical appearance, especially in the case of TPGCWs. So many researches have been made to investigate the shear behaviour of TPGCWS for the case of simple girder, to the author’s knowledge, no one has investigated the shear behaviour of TPGCWS for the case of continuous girder. So, the aim of this paper is to investigate the shear behaviour of TPGCWS for the case of continuous girder. Two experimental models have been tested to verify the finite element (FE) analysis and compare the experimental results with FE results and the existing design equations

Helicobacter Pylori Infection and Vascular Complications in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus “Arabic Abstracts”

AbstractObjectivesThe present work was designed to study H. pylori infection in type 2 DM, its relation to some clinical; metabolic and radiological markers of atherosclerosis and vascular complications in type 2 DM.MethodsThe study included sixty type 2 diabetic patients and fifteen healthy controls matched with age and sex. Both patients and controls were subjected to full history taking, clinical examination, estimation of BMI, resting ECG. laboratory tests including HbA1C, FBG, Serum creatinine; Lipid profile; fibrinogen assay, ESR; CRP; TNF α; IL-6; IL-1B; H. pylori IgG. 24 hours and urine collection for urinary albumin excretion. Radiological investigations include aabdominal ultrasound. Ultrasound on the carotid arteries used in measuring the intima-medial thickness (IMT).ResultsThe present study found non significant increase in prevalence of H. pylori infection in type 2 diabetic patients in relation to controls. H. pylori infection had no relation to sex, age of the patients, duration of diabetes, BMI, type of therapy or the degree of diabetic retinopathy. H. pylori infection did not affect levels of FBG, HbA1c and microalbuminuria and caused a significant increase in the level of triglycerides, TNFα, IL-1B, CRP and fibrinogen, decrease in the level of HDL and non significant effect on WBCs count, the levels of total cholesterol, LDL, ESR and IL-6 in type 2 diabetic patients. H. pylori infection does not affect IMT of both Right and Left common carotid arteries. No significant increase of the prevalence of H. pylori infection among diabetic patients with diabetic vascular complications.ConclusionThere is no significant increase in prevalence of H. pylori infection among type 2 diabetic patients. H. pylori infection is not related to patient age, degree of glycaemic control, IMT or diabetic vascular complications among type 2 diabetic patients. However, H. pylori infection could affect atherosclerotic process through its effects on lipid profile (increase in TG and decrease HDL levels), increase levels of inflammatory cytokines (TNF-alpha and IL-1B) and acute phase reactants (CRP and Fibrinogen)