Analysis of the D1S80 VNTR locus polymorphism in the Nubian population

D1S80 (1p35-p36), variable Number of tandem repeat (VNTR,) is a minisatellite molecular genetic marker. It is known by its high polymorphism that makes it a powerful marker in the forensic applications, paternity testing, and evolutionary studies. Hypervariable D1S80 locus has been applied to study the genetic structure of the Nubian population in Southern Egypt. PCR has been applied for repeats amplification and analyzed on 2% agarose gel. 75 genotypes and 36 alleles with their frequencies were detected for 105 unrelated individuals. Allele 27 has the highest frequency 0.119% followed by allele 26 with frequency 0.09%. Heterozygosity was calculated as 0.69%. P values of Chi2 and exact tests indicate departure from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium which points to the inbreeding within the population. Non-metric dimensional scaling and hierarchical cluster dedrograms were applied to determine the phylogenetic relationship between the Nubian population and other worldwide populations. Both plots indicated the proximity of the Nubian population to Modern Malay population as a result of dominance of 27 alleles in both populations

Reaction of Calcite and Dolomite with In-Situ Gelled Acids, Organic Acids, and Environmentally Friendly Chelating Agent (GLDA)

Well stimulation is the treatment remedy when oil/gas productivity decreases to unacceptable economical limits. Well stimulation can be carried out through either "Matrix Acidizing" or fracturing with both "Hydraulic Fracturing" and "Acid Fracturing" techniques. "Matrix Acidizing" and "Acid Fracturing" applications involve injecting an acid to react with the formation and dissolve some of the minerals present and recover or increase the permeability. The permeability enhancement is achieved by creating conductive channels "wormholes" in case of "Matrix Acidizing" or creating uneven etching pattern in case of "Acid Fracturing" treatments. In both cases, and to design a treatment successfully, it is necessary to determine the distance that the live acid will be able to penetrate inside the formation, which in turn, determines the volume of the acid needed to carry out the treatment. This distance can be obtained through lab experiments, if formation cores are available, or estimated by modeling the treatment. The successful model will depend on several chemical and physical processes that take place including: the acid transport to the surface of the rock, the speed of the reaction of the acid with the rock, which is often referred to as "Reaction Rate", and the acid leak-off. The parameters describing these processes such as acid diffusion coefficient and reaction kinetics have to be determined experimentally to ensure accurate and reliable modeling. Hydrochloric acid and simple organic acids such as acetic and citric acids have been used extensively for stimulation treatments. The diffusion and reaction kinetics of these acids, in a straight form, were investigated thoroughly in literature. However, solely these acids are used in a simple form in the field. Acid systems such as gelled, crosslinked gelled, surfactant-based, foam-based, or emulsified acids are used to either retard the reaction rate or to enhance acid diversion. Literature review shows that additional work is needed to understand the reaction and report the diffusion and kinetics of these systems with carbonate. In addition, a new chelating agent (GLDA) was recently introduced as a stand-alone stimulating fluid. The kinetics and the mass transfer properties of this acid were not studied before. Therefore, the objective of this work is to study the reaction of different acid systems with calcite and dolomite and report the mass transport and kinetic data experimentally. Lactic acid, a chelating agent (GLDA), and in-situ gelled HCl-formic acids were investigated in this study. In some cases, rheology measurements and core flood experiments were conducted. The data were combined with the reaction study to understand the behavior of these acids and examine their efficiency if injected in the formation

Lumped Parameter, State Variable Dynamic Models for U-tube Recirculation Type Nuclear Steam Generators

A number of lumped parameter dynamic models were developed for a vertical U-tube recirculation steam generator (UTSG) of the type used in most pressurized water reactor nuclear steam supply systems. The models ranged in complexity from a simplified model (Model A) with only three lumps to represent the primary fluid (reactor coolant), tube metal and the secondary fluid to a detailed model (Model D) with fourteen lumps and a moving boundary between the subcooled and boiling sections of the heat exchange region. The models are linear and are in the state variable form which is convenient for using standard general purpose computer codes for time or frequency domain analysis. The adequacy of the models was tested in several ways. The calculated response from the models was studied for physical plausibility. The adequacy of the analytical work was tested by comparing results from progressively more detailed models. The detailed model response was compared with the results of other UTSG dynamic models (6,32) and with test results obtained at the H. B. Robinson (739 MWe PWR) plant. (3,4,5) All of the checks on model validity demonstrated the adequacy of the lumped parameter approach for this simulation of the dynamic response of a UTSG for normal operating transients involving small deviations from the steady state conditions

The Role of Double Taxation Treaties on Attracting Foreign Direct Investment: A Review of Literature

Double taxation treaties are enacted to abolish incidents of double taxation. Moreover, it helps less developed countries in attracting foreign direct investment, discourage, and eradicate double taxation. Several studies have revealed that there is a positive impact of implementing DTTs on attracting foreign direct investment to developing countries. Implementing a double taxation treaty is not something that happens overnight. In fact less developed countries spent years efforts and other very scarce resources to discuss, implement and finalize these treaties with developed nations. In addition, less developed nations also forgo potential tax revenues. Most often these treaties favour residence-based over source-based taxation. The forgone tax incomes and the money invested in negations with developed nations in addition to other implementation cost can only make sense if the expected benefits in terms of FDI out-weight such costs. This paper critically reviews the literature on the impact of implementing double taxation treaties on attracting FDI inflows to developing nations. This review is further augmented with a synopsis of economic models used by policy makers to analyse potential tax impact on FDI decisions. Keywords: Emerging Economies, Double Taxation, Treaties, Foreign Direct Investment, Developing Nation

Impact of Libyan Economic Reforms and Expansion in Signed DTTs on FDI Flows

This paper reviews and analyses the impact of Libyan most recent Economic Reforms and Expansion in signed double taxation treaties on foreign direct investment flows. The analysis shows that these reforms have been successful in attracting approximately $4.7 billion from foreign capital in 2006 to Libya; these investments were directed to oil activities and other economic activities. In 2007, foreign capital jumped markedly to reach an excess$ 6.2 billion as result of increasing foreign investors’ confidence in investment conditions in Libya. Libya was rerated on country risk composite from low risk to very low risk; Indicator of country risk composite refers to political risks, economic risks and financial risk (Libyan foreign investment board, 2007). However, the amount of foreign capital plummeted in 2008 to reach $4.1 billion as a result of the global economic crisis, in 2009 foreign capital continued to decline to hit$ 2.7 billion (Libyan foreign investment board, 2009). In 2010 foreign capital have recorded highest number ever to hit $ 19 billion   have directed mostly to construction sector and oil sector, the major reason for increasing the level of foreign investment is signing Libya DTTs with Germany and England. This study revealed that the most recent economic reforms and expansion in double taxation treaties have led to a quantum leap in economic growth and FDI flows to the country. Keywords: Double Taxation Treaties, FDI, Foreign Capital, Bilateral Treatie

Self-advocacy among university students

The current research aims to know: Self-advocacy among university students. In order to achieve the objectives of the research, the two researchers chose the research sample from the students of the University of Babylon, according to the simple random method, five colleges, two humanities and three scientific colleges, and applied the Thomson equation to extract the sample size, and the result was that the research sample reached (378) male and female students were distributed according to the method of random stratification with a proportional distribution. The self-advocacy measurement tool and Harris definition (Harris, 2009) and its self-advocacy measurement tool, which consists of (48) items distributed over five domains, were applied to the research sample. On the research sample, and after conducting the statistical analysis and extracting the validity and reliability values of the scale, the research reached the following results: University students have self-advocacy. In light of this, the researchers reached a set of proposals and recommendations

Assessment of Urinary Kidney Injury Molecule-1 as an Indicator of Early Renal Insult in Children with Cystic Fibrosis

BACKGROUND: The risk of acute kidney injury in cystic fibrosis (CF) patients is due to renal tubular affection by CFTR gene. AIM: Our study aimed at early detection of renal impairment in CF patients, to enable careful monitoring and adjustment of nephrotoxic medications. METHODS: Fifty patients with CF were enrolled in our study; they were age- and sex-matched to 40 healthy control children. All subjects were screened by urine analysis, measurements of kidney function tests, fractional excretion of sodium, β2-microglobulin (beta-2-M) excretion, and renal ultrasound examination. Urinary kidney injury molecule-1 (KIM-1) was assayed using ELISA technique. RESULTS: Both urinary beta-2-M and KIM-1 concentrations were significantly higher in CF patients compared to the control group (p < 0.001). The duration of the disease was significantly positively correlated with the urinary beta-2-M and KIM-1 levels (r = 0.6 and 0.7, respectively; p < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Our results showed that urinary KIM-1 can be considered as a sensitive early indicator of acute renal injury

Nonlinear estimation of water network demands form limited measurement information

Access to clean drinking water is very important to the health and well-being of the population. Mathematical modeling, optimization, and online estimation are needed to solve challenging problems in water network applications such as the requirement to meet the new dynamic regulations in the Safe Drinking Water Act and the Clean Water Act. This includes providing sufficient capacity to satisfy uncertain and changing water demands, maintaining consistent water quality, and identifying and responding to abnormal events. In most of these applications, reliable knowledge of the water flow velocity is necessary. However, in practice, few measurements are usually available. This work uses a nonlinear optimization framework to estimate the unknown water demands and velocities from limited measurements. The problem is formulated as a constrained nonlinear least squares estimation problem. The constraints represent the basic governing mass and energy conservation laws as well as some operational constraints. Given the limited number of flow measurements, the estimation problem is ill-posed. Non-unique solutions may exist in which many demand profiles can match the limited number of measurements. Offline estimates of the demand patterns based on historical data are used to regularize the problem and force a unique solution. In the first phase of this project, a hydraulic model was developed for water distribution systems. This model showed very good agreement when it was validated against the simulator EPANET using 3 case studies. In the second phase, the estimation formulation was tested using the same 3 case studies with different sensor configurations. In each of the case studies, estimation results are reasonable with fewer sensors than the available degrees of freedom

Fabric-evoked prickle of fabrics made from single fibres using axial fibre-compression-bending analyzer

Fabrics made from cotton, cashmere, flax, hemp, ramie, jute, and wool fibres, have been used to investigate and analyze the prickle comfort properties of fabrics worn as garments. Physical properties include single-fibre critical load, compression and bending modules, which greatly affect the fabric physiological comfort. The fibres are tested using a ‘fibre axial compression-bending analyzer’. The behavior mechanisms of single-needle fibre are also analyzed, evaluated, and explained using fibres critical load, fineness, and protruding length. Physical and neuro-physiological basis for prickle sensation force from single-needle fibre depends on its bending modulus and axial compressive behavior. This experimental work shows that the bending modulus of ramie, jute, and wool fibre is significantly high as compared to other fibres. Thus, high prickle values of ramie, jute and wool fibres make them more uncomfortable due to the cross-section parameters and bending modulus of the single fibre needle. It is observed that the prickle feeling comes from the axial-compressive behavior and the number of effective fibre needles protruding from worn fabric surface. Therefore, prickle sensation aroused during skin–fabric contact is mostly related to the fibre and surface roughness characteristics of fabrics, and the effect of the fabric material on prickle is found to be more