Analytical Characterization of Rococo Paintings in Egypt: Preliminary Results from El-Gawhara Palace at Cairo

El-Gawhara palace (1813–1814 AD) is situated south of the Mosque of Muhammad Ali in the Cairo Citadel. This palace is an important example of the best early 19th century rococo decorations in Egypt. The present study reports some of the results obtained from the application of different analytical techniques to characterize some rococo paintings at El-Gawhara palace at Cairo, Egypt. The characterization of the studied paintings was carried out by means of optical microscopy (OM), scanning electron microscopy equipped with an energy dispersive X-ray detector (EDS) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT−IR). The obtained results allowed the identification of the chemical composition, structure and the painting technique employed in these paintings. This methodology reveals some useful information on some rococo paintings dating back to the 19th century in Egypt

Do Adverse Pregnancy Outcomes Predict Under-Five Mortality in Nigeria?

Nigerian children under 5 years of age are over 15 times more at risk of death than their counterparts in developed regions of the world; the prevalence of miscarriage, an adverse pregnancy outcome (APO), was estimated at 49%. In the present study, the relationship between APO and under-5 mortality (U5M) in Nigeria was examined to determine if APO could be used as a reliable early warning indicator for U5M. We used a cross-sectional secondary data analysis of datasets from three Nigeria demographic and health surveys: 2003, 2008, and 2013. The study population was women of reproductive age (15–49). Cochran–Mantel–Haenzel chi-square statistics and multiple logistic regression were performed to determine the association, based on maternal socioeconomic factors and access to prenatal healthcare. Results indicated a significant inverse association between APO and U5M. The children of women who have experienced any form of APO may be at lower risk of U5M than children of women who have never had any APO. The implication is that history of APO may not be a reliable early warning indicator for determining higher risk of U5M. These findings suggest further studies to explore the pathway of this association

Extensions of Weak PS-Rings

In this paper, we prove that, under mild conditions, if R is a right weak PS-ring, then so does the skew inverse power series ring R[[x−1;α,δ]], the skew generalized power series ring R[[S,ω]], and the differential inverse power series ring R[[x−1;δ]]

Instagram Your Life: Why Do Female Kuwait University Students Use Instagram?

This paper examines different reasons why female students at Kuwait University use Instagram. It also explores the different gratifications that students receive through using Instagram. The current survey targeted eight hundred and six randomly chosen female undergraduate students. Results found that acceptance from others, a desire to stay informed, meeting new friends, passing time, and escapism from reality are possible reasons to use Instagram. The study shows that many of these variables are considered as strong reasons for using this platform. Sharing photos with friends was the dominant gratification recognized from using Instagram

A novel optimized neutrosophic k-means using genetic algorithm for skin lesion detection in dermoscopy images

This paper implemented a new skin lesion detection method based on the genetic algorithm (GA) for optimizing the neutrosophic set (NS) operation to reduce the indeterminacy on the dermoscopy images. Then, k-means clustering is applied to segment the skin lesion regions

Calculations of the Temperature and Alloy Composition Effects on the Optical Properties of Alx Ga1-x Asy Sb1-y and Gax In1-x Asy Sb1-y in the Spectral Range 0.5-6 eV

A detailed analysis is presented on the temperature and alloy composition dependence of the optical properties of III-V alloys Alx Ga1-x Asy Sb1-y and Gax In1-x Asy Sb1-y in the energy range 0.5-6 eV. Expressions for the complex dielectric function are based on a semiempirical phenomenological model, which takes under consideration indirect and direct transitions below and above the fundamental absorption edge. Dielectric function and absorption coefficient calculations are in satisfactory agreement with available experimental data. Other dielectric related optical data, such as the refractive index, extinction, and reflection coefficients, can also be obtained from the model. © 2007 American Institute of Physics. (DOI: 10.1063/1.2751406

Influence of Mint and Peppermint on Tetranychus urticae and Some Predacious Mites of the Family Phytoseiidae (Acari: Tetranychidae: Phytoseiidae)

The deterrent and toxicity effects of mint, Mentha virdis L. and peppermint, Mentha piperita L. on Tetranychus urticae Koch were studied under laboratory conditions. M. virdis was more potent for T. urticae than M. piperita, with a significant increase in repellency. Leaf discs treated with increasing concentrations of both materials showed reduction in the total numbers of eggs laid. A high percentage of T. urticae mortality was recorded in case of M. virdis. The direct toxicity of both essential oils to the female of the predacious mites namely Typhlodromus athiase Porath and Swirski Phytoseius finitimus Ribaga, Amblyseius barkeri (Hughes), Amblyseius zaheri Yousef and El-Borolossy, Amblyseius yousefi Zaher and El-Borolossy and Amblyseius deleoni (Muma and Denmark) were tested. At LC 50 level, M. virdis was the most toxic to females A. yousefi and the least to females T. athiasae. With the exception of A. zaheri, M. piperita proved to be more toxic to the predacious mites tested than M. virdis. The results obtained chemically and biologically, may suggest that the higher percentage of the hydrocarbons of M. virdis were responsible for the toxic effect