WATERFRONTS DEVELOPMENT POLICIESCASE STUDY: ALEXANDRIA & JEDDAH WATERFRONT DEVELOPMENT PROJECT

Other coastal cities like in the Arab & Gulf area troubles started when the cities started to grow in an unorganized way in the last two decades & private properties occupied most of the cities waterfronts. Planners had always trying to reclaim & develop waterfronts by public governmental effort or by private projects

Intellectual Capital Management and Reporting in Jordanian Universities

The purpose of this paper is to provide assistance and put initial step to Jordanian universities in the process of developing their ability to identify, measure, manage, value, and report their intangible assets. By taking a review of the most important intellectual capital management initiatives at European universities; this paper, tries to propose a model for an Intellectual Capital Report for Jordanian universities. It has been a valuable attempt to create a framework in order to make Jordanian universities aware of the importance of managing intellectual capital. Since the intellectual assets are specific to each university; there is no homogenous model. Rather, every university, according to its own strategic consideration should make the effort of selecting the best instruments for the measurement and management of its intangible assets. Keywords: Intellectual Capital, Knowledge Management, Reporting Intellectual Capital, Measuring Intellectual Capita

Mortality Prediction of Microalbuminuria in Septic Patients

BACKGROUND: Huge number of pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory markers is produced during the process of sepsis. Its mortality prediction value needs to be determined. AIM: To assess the prognostic value of Albumin creatinine ratio (ACR) in septic patients and its ability to predict mortality in comparison with Acute physiology and chronic health evaluation II score (APACHE II). METHODS: Seventy-five Septic patients were included within 24 hours of sepsis diagnosis and were admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU). ACR values were obtained within 6 hours of ICU admission for all patients. Prognostic scoring systems [APACHE II and Sequential organ failure assessment (SOFA) scores] were calculated. RESULTS: Twenty percent of enrolled patients died within 28 days of hospital admission. ACR was significantly higher in non-survivor in comparison to survivors (55.1 ± 20.5 versus 30.2 ± 35.7, p = 0.006). ACR ≥ 40 (mg/gm creatinine) was the cut-off point for predicting mortality with a sensitivity of 90.7% and specificity of 71.8% with total accuracy of 66% and AUC 0.75 (CI 0.62-0.88). Mean APACHE II score was significantly higher in non-survivors than survivor groups (21.4 versus 10.8, p < 0.001). ACR was positively correlated with highest SOFA score (r = 0.3, P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: ACR is a simple prognostic marker in septic patient and could be used as a mortality predictor, particularly in early (within 6 hours) septic patients

A PROPOSED MODIFIED ADOBE BRICK TO ENHANCE VERNACULAR CONSTRUCTION TECHNIQUES FOR ECOTOURISM IN EGYPT:CASE STUDY OF JABAL ELGEZERAH ELHAMRA, MARSA ALAM

Egypt, has high potential attractions for ecolodges. There are a wealth of natural beauty and natural materials, which have already been used in ancient and traditional vernacular architecture, where there was a coexistence and compatibility with the surrounding natural environment, and is achieved by the concept of thermal comfort inside the housing unit and the effective use of energy, thus achieving sustainable development. This paper aims concerned with introducing new adobe mixture that, could enhance the durability and compression characteristics of the building block. This mixture could be used in areas where eco-friendly building techniques are desired in order to achieve sustainability as well as aesthetic values of methods and natural building materials, specifically in Alqusyir and Marsa Alam Cities on the Red Sea Coast in Egypt. Due to the nature of the region and the abundance of materials used in the construction, which is based on Silt of stream segments , to product of adobe brick by natural materials, with the possibility of adding a natural binders, and treatment of these materials to be able to withstand the pressure and tensile strength and water permeability in order to be a sustainable brick. Through analytical and laboratory study for those materials such as Sugar Cane (Bagasse) from sugar industry waste and (Molasses) bagasse, without including Cement. This mix is environmentally and suitable for the climate nd local economy and social conditions. To ensure the durability of building materials and their cohesion in addition to protect the roofs and walls from rain , and it can be used efficiently in areas of development in Egypt and the ecolodge projects and in nature protected areas, which has the materials environmentally friendly and can be recycled. It will preserve the identity of the vernacular architecture in Egypt, which requires protecting and raising architectural and urban value in the comprehensive urban environment that integrates social and develop ecolodges

Uterine artery embolization versus surgical management in primary atonic postpartum hemorrhage: A randomized clinical trial

AbstractBackgroundPostpartum hemorrhage is the leading cause of severe maternal morbidity and death. A prompt management of uterine atony is life saving. Surgery can be needed in many cases. Uterine artery embolization (UAE) is a safe procedure and can be tried to be alternative to surgical approach.ObjectiveTo evaluate the clinical effectiveness and safety of uterine artery embolization (UAE) in comparison with stepwise devascularization and compression sutures in the treatment of postpartum hemorrhage (PPH).MethodsRandomized controlled parallel-group trial included twenty-three women with postpartum hemorrhage who were treated with either selective embolization of the uterine arteries or stepwise devascularization and compression sutures after failure of conservative measures.ResultsTechnical success was achieved in 9 patients (81.8%) of cases with complete cessation of the bleeding, while 2 cases (18.2%) suffered DIC and needed hysterectomy in the UAE group, while the other group (12 patients) had stepwise devascularization and compression sutures done after failure of the conservative measures, with 3 cases who needed hysterectomy after failure of these methods.ConclusionsUterine artery embolization is a safe, minimally invasive and effective method for treatment of postpartum hemorrhage and is alternative to surgical management

Layered structure of a supramolecular hybrid sulfate salts: thermal stability and magnetic behavior

International audienceThe incorporation of the aromatic diamine 2-methylimidazole as template in the synthesis of hybrid sulfate salts with transition metal was effected by the slow evaporation method. The resulting structure presents a lamellar character with a supramolecular network, which is uncommon in the family of sulfates and their derivates. The three synthesized compound with the general formula (C4H7N2)2[MII(H2O)6](SO4)2·2H2O (MII = Zn, Co and Mn) crystallize in the monoclinic symmetry, space group P21/c. According to the design shape of the protonated amine and its bonding relations between the supramolecular inorganic layers, building from hydrogen bond only, the interlamellar distance reached 11.6 Å. The π-stacking between aromatic moieties of amines have a relevant role in stabilizing the lamellar structure. The thermal study with in situ powder X-ray diffraction and thermogravimetry of the synthesized compounds showed that the dehydration stage of precursors lead to the formation of an anhydrous crystalline phase with a good thermal stability. Beyond this and under the decomposition stage, Co and Zn compound become amorphous whereas the Mn-based compound showed successive crystalline phases. The magnetic measurements performed for the cobalt based compound indicate a low interaction exchange within the material in agreement with a typical paramagnetic behavio

Towards a Decentralized Metaverse: Synchronized Orchestration of Digital Twins and Sub-Metaverses

Accommodating digital twins (DTs) in the metaverse is essential to achieving digital reality. This need for integrating DTs into the metaverse while operating them at the network edge has increased the demand for a decentralized edge-enabled metaverse. Hence, to consolidate the fusion between real and digital entities, it is necessary to harmonize the interoperability between DTs and the metaverse at the edge. In this paper, a novel decentralized metaverse framework that incorporates DT operations at the wireless edge is presented. In particular, a system of autonomous physical twins (PTs) operating in a massively-sensed zone is replicated as cyber twins (CTs) at the mobile edge computing (MEC) servers. To render the CTs' digital environment, this zone is partitioned and teleported as distributed sub-metaverses to the MEC servers. To guarantee seamless synchronization of the sub-metaverses and their associated CTs with the dynamics of the real world and PTs, respectively, this joint synchronization problem is posed as an optimization problem whose goal is to minimize the average sub-synchronization time between the real and digital worlds, while meeting the DT synchronization intensity requirements. To solve this problem, a novel iterative algorithm for joint sub-metaverse and DT association at the MEC servers is proposed. This algorithm exploits the rigorous framework of optimal transport theory so as to efficiently distribute the sub-metaverses and DTs, while considering the computing and communication resource allocations. Simulation results show that the proposed solution can orchestrate the interplay between DTs and sub-metaverses to achieve a 25.75 % reduction in the sub-synchronization time in comparison to the signal-to-noise ratio-based association scheme

ZERO CARBON CITY- MASDAR CITY CRITICAL ANALYSIS

Climate has a direct impact on the performance of buildings and their energy consumption especially in hot arid areas. In these areas, the lack of water and energy sources forces people to build their houses with several strategies, based on minimum energy consumption as using the environment natural climatic strategies for coping with harsh conditions as vernacular architecture. In order to apply and achieve sustainable building in hot and humid climates, efforts must be put into understanding the local climate, and integrating appropriate building technologies into the architectural and urban designs. Today, the continuous progress in technologies offered new means towards achieving comfortable climatic conditions and efficiency in building. But these technologies result in high building costs, maintenance and depletion of renewable resources. The paper aim is to investigate the feasibility of using new technologies as nanotechnology beside other passive design strategies in desert zones .In addition to, assessing their adaption towards the extreme and harsh climatic conditions of the hot arid zones and their efficiency. The paper will illustrate the advantages and disadvantages of applying new technologies and materials to achieve sustainability in hot arid zones through analyzing Masdar City in United Arab of Emirates. The paper suggests that Masdar City still didn’t achieve its goals and failed to be a model of urban environmental sustainability, to be replicated in other countries

Inorganic-organic hybrid double sulfates as catalysts of the diastereoselective nitroaldol reaction

International audienceBis(1-phenylethanaminium) disulfatotetraaquazincate(II) dihydrate (C8H12N)2[Zn(H2O)4(SO4)2]*2H2O (1), bis(1H-benzo[d]imidazolium) hexaaquazinc(II) bis(sulfate) tetrahydrate (C7H7N2)2[Zn(H2O)6](SO4)2*4H2O (2) and bis(2-methyl-1H-imidazolium) hexaaquazinc(II) bis(sulfate) dihydrate (C4H7N2)2[Zn(H2O)6](SO4)2*2H2O (3) have been synthesized and fully structurally characterized including single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis. 1-3 are organically templated hybrid layered materials comprising aquazinc(II) and aminium cations and sulfate anions. 1-3 are effective catalysts in the asymmetric Henry reaction; 1 being the most efficient one (yields up to 85% and threo/erythro diastereoselectivity up to 89:11)