THE POLITICS OF LAND-USE CONVERSION IN THE PERI-URBAN AREAS OF THE EGYPTIAN CITIES

Linkages of rural-urban structures, in both degrees of intensity and typology, are ever changing and consequently changing the interface of the Egyptian urban setting. The dynamics of the rural-urban interrelationships constantly generate different types of powers that have been manipulating the pattern of urban growth as much as articulating distortion and imbalances of the entire urban system. The attributes of the system inputs, for example the nature of land-use policy and tools, determine to a far extent the quality of the outputs that could be epitomized in the accomplishment of the developmental national objectives. On the other hand, expanding the comprehension of the socially and economically-influencing attributes operating in the urban-rural setting, is pivotal in reformulating system inputs that may guarantee a better chance of quality outputs. The objective of this paper is to contribute to the understanding of those influencing attributes and powers operating on the Egyptian rural-urban setting. This attributes underpin the conversion of scarce agricultural-land into urban uses in the peri-urban areas of the Egyptian Metropolitans and large-and-intermediate-size cities. Towards achieving this objective, the research investigates the mechanism of conversion and the nature of the process\u27 stimulators. The employed methodology depended on triple-tire paths: a) repetitive site visits to the peri-urban areas of South-East Alexandria, namely Almadara-Alqebliya and Abeis spanned from January to August 2009. b) Interviews with stakeholders: local residents, local officials, and urban scholars took place in the same time period, and c) desktop review of multiple literatures addressing the subject under investigation. The paper poses and attempts to answer the question of whether there is a potential change in the pattern, pace, and intensity of the agro-land conversion to other uses with the current social, economic, and urban policy context. Answer to this question is meant to constitute a ground for research in the future

MANAGING DISTORTIONS IN THE EGYPTIAN SPATIAL SYSTEM: DOES THE CURRENT DEVELOPMENT POLICY PAY OFF?

This research reviews the recent trend of the Egyptian national development policy of which major objectives are alleviating the intensity of untamed urban growth - and - population concentration in urban cores, and better integration of the national economy subsets. Despite attempts to reconcile these objectives in one agenda, the paper concludes that main issues endemic to the national spatial development policy in Egypt remain dangerously undervalued. The paper poses the question of whether the current spatial development policy paradigm can contribute effectively to managing the Egyptian spatial system imbalances. An answer was sought through policy analysis, which included the utilization of a two-pronged approach of comparing the currently adopted policy development paradigm to the Event-Based Public Development model postulated by Gore & Nicholson (1985), and the examination of data extracted from the three consecutive statistic census\u27 results of years 1986, 1996, and 2006

Relationship between caries experience and mothers\u27dental care knowledge and attitude among Palestinian refugees in Lebanon

The aim of this study was to assess oral health care and use of dental services among preschool Palestinian refugee children aged 3 to 6 years old, as well as to evaluate oral health care knowledge of their mothers. Cross-sectional study was carried out through a survey about oral health care of 120 refugee children randomly selected from two nurseries inside a Palestinian camp for refugees in Beirut, Lebanon. Dental examination was performed and mothers were surveyed about their dental care knowledge and attitudes toward their children. The mean Decayed-Missing-Filled index (dmf) index was 6.5 ± 5.25. The main determinants presenting a significant associa- tion with dmf were frequency of sweet consumption, frequency of brushing, brushing starting age, and dental visit experience. Caries severity increased with age and was higher among boys. Adequate strategies should be targeted to cover the unmet den- tal needs of refugee’s society is needed

Results of arthroscopic treatment of femroacetabular impingement (FAI)

Introduction: Femoroacetabular impingement (FAI) has been suggested as an important etiology of pain in the groin region in young adults especially athletes and there are theories connecting it to early onset osteoarthritis.Aim: To assess the results of arthroscopic treatment of FAI.Patients: Forty patients had been managed arthroscopically for their FAI in both El-Hadra university hospital and William Harvey Hospital.Methods: Results of arthroscopic treatment of FAI in 40 consecutive patients had been evaluated using patients reported outcomes (modified Harris Hip Score and international Hip Outcome Tool-12) and clinical measures of improvement of range of motion in both flexion and internal rotation in 90o of hip flexion.Results: The average of the outcome scores showed statistically significant improvement following the arthroscopic intervention.Conclusion: Femroacetabular impingement is an important etiology of groin pain in young adults, nevertheless the athletes. Diagnosis of this condition is primarily a clinical one to be supported with relevant imaging. Hip arthroscopy is an effective approach to treat and correct the underlying bony abnormalities of FAI. Younger age of patients predicts better improvement in i-HOT-12 score.Keywords: Hip, Arthroscopy, FAI, Labral tear, Cam lesion, Labral repair, MR

Joule heating in single-walled carbon nanotubes

Articles you may be interested in Graphene and carbon nanotubes are materials with large potentials for applications in flexible electronics. Such devices require a high level of sustainable strain and an understanding of the materials electrical properties under strain. Using supercell theory in conjunction with a comprehensive molecular mechanics model, the full band phonon dispersion of carbon nanotubes under uniaxial strain is studied. The results suggest an overall phonon softening and open up the possibility of phonon quantization tuning with uniaxial strain. The change in phonon quantization and the resulting increase in electron-phonon and phonon-phonon scattering rates offer further explanation and theoretical basis to the experimental observation of electrical properties degradation for carbon nanotubes under uniaxial strain. V C 2014 AIP Publishing LLC

An accelerated algorithm for full band electron-phonon scattering rate computation

a b s t r a c t Computing scattering rates of electrons and phonons stands at the core of studies of electron transport properties. In the high field regime, the interactions between all electron bands with all phonon bands need to be considered. This full band interaction implies a huge computational burden in calculating scattering rates. In this study, a new accelerated algorithm is presented for this task, which speeds up the computation by two orders of magnitude (100 times) and dramatically simplifies the coding. At the same time, it visually demonstrates the physical process of scattering more clearly. Computer: All. Program summary Operating system: All. RAM: Depends on problem, ∼kB to MB Classification: 16.5. Nature of problem: Electron-phonon scattering is a fundamental problem in studying electron transport in condensed matters. There are situations where the scattering rates need to be updated frequently during a simulation, e.g. when hot phonon effects are considered. The speed of scattering calculation is very important in such cases. Solution method: In searching for possible scattering events, we propose here a band-by-band method, instead of the traditional point by point method. The whole calculation is parallelized in this sense and dramatically accelerated. Moreover, we proposed a representation method for all scattering mechanisms, which greatly simplified the coding task. Also, the additional animation part of this program demonstrates many insights into the scattering process. Restrictions: To use the code directly, electron band and phonon band should have the same mesh size. In other words, for each phonon band and electron band, they should have the same number of data points. ✩ This paper and its associated computer program are available via the Computer Physics Communication homepage on ScienceDirec

BM-MSCs alleviate diabetic nephropathy in male rats by regulating ER stress, oxidative stress, inflammation, and apoptotic pathways

Introduction: Diabetic nephropathy (DN), a chronic kidney disease, is a major cause of end-stage kidney disease worldwide. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have become a promising option to mitigate several diabetic complications.Methods: In this study, we evaluated the therapeutic potential of bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (BM-MSCs) in a rat model of STZ-induced DN. After the confirmation of diabetes, rats were treated with BM-MSCs and sacrificed at week 12 after treatment.Results: Our results showed that STZ-induced DN rats had extensive histopathological changes, significant upregulation in mRNA expression of renal apoptotic markers, ER stress markers, inflammatory markers, fibronectin, and intermediate filament proteins, and reduction of positive immunostaining of PCNA and elevated P53 in kidney tissue compared to the control group. BM-MSC therapy significantly improved renal histopathological changes, reduced renal apoptosis, ER stress, inflammation, and intermediate filament proteins, as well as increased positive immunostaining of PCNA and reduced P53 in renal tissue compared to the STZ-induced DN group.Conclusion: In conclusion, our study indicates that BM-MSCs may have therapeutic potential for the treatment of DN and provide important insights into their potential use as a novel therapeutic approach for DN

Impact of opioid-free analgesia on pain severity and patient satisfaction after discharge from surgery: multispecialty, prospective cohort study in 25 countries

Background: Balancing opioid stewardship and the need for adequate analgesia following discharge after surgery is challenging. This study aimed to compare the outcomes for patients discharged with opioid versus opioid-free analgesia after common surgical procedures.Methods: This international, multicentre, prospective cohort study collected data from patients undergoing common acute and elective general surgical, urological, gynaecological, and orthopaedic procedures. The primary outcomes were patient-reported time in severe pain measured on a numerical analogue scale from 0 to 100% and patient-reported satisfaction with pain relief during the first week following discharge. Data were collected by in-hospital chart review and patient telephone interview 1 week after discharge.Results: The study recruited 4273 patients from 144 centres in 25 countries; 1311 patients (30.7%) were prescribed opioid analgesia at discharge. Patients reported being in severe pain for 10 (i.q.r. 1-30)% of the first week after discharge and rated satisfaction with analgesia as 90 (i.q.r. 80-100) of 100. After adjustment for confounders, opioid analgesia on discharge was independently associated with increased pain severity (risk ratio 1.52, 95% c.i. 1.31 to 1.76; P < 0.001) and re-presentation to healthcare providers owing to side-effects of medication (OR 2.38, 95% c.i. 1.36 to 4.17; P = 0.004), but not with satisfaction with analgesia (beta coefficient 0.92, 95% c.i. -1.52 to 3.36; P = 0.468) compared with opioid-free analgesia. Although opioid prescribing varied greatly between high-income and low- and middle-income countries, patient-reported outcomes did not.Conclusion: Opioid analgesia prescription on surgical discharge is associated with a higher risk of re-presentation owing to side-effects of medication and increased patient-reported pain, but not with changes in patient-reported satisfaction. Opioid-free discharge analgesia should be adopted routinely

Mortality of emergency abdominal surgery in high-, middle- and low-income countries

Background: Surgical mortality data are collected routinely in high-income countries, yet virtually no low- or middle-income countries have outcome surveillance in place. The aim was prospectively to collect worldwide mortality data following emergency abdominal surgery, comparing findings across countries with a low, middle or high Human Development Index (HDI). Methods: This was a prospective, multicentre, cohort study. Self-selected hospitals performing emergency surgery submitted prespecified data for consecutive patients from at least one 2-week interval during July to December 2014. Postoperative mortality was analysed by hierarchical multivariable logistic regression. Results: Data were obtained for 10 745 patients from 357 centres in 58 countries; 6538 were from high-, 2889 from middle- and 1318 from low-HDI settings. The overall mortality rate was 1⋅6 per cent at 24 h (high 1⋅1 per cent, middle 1⋅9 per cent, low 3⋅4 per cent; P < 0⋅001), increasing to 5⋅4 per cent by 30 days (high 4⋅5 per cent, middle 6⋅0 per cent, low 8⋅6 per cent; P < 0⋅001). Of the 578 patients who died, 404 (69⋅9 per cent) did so between 24 h and 30 days following surgery (high 74⋅2 per cent, middle 68⋅8 per cent, low 60⋅5 per cent). After adjustment, 30-day mortality remained higher in middle-income (odds ratio (OR) 2⋅78, 95 per cent c.i. 1⋅84 to 4⋅20) and low-income (OR 2⋅97, 1⋅84 to 4⋅81) countries. Surgical safety checklist use was less frequent in low- and middle-income countries, but when used was associated with reduced mortality at 30 days. Conclusion: Mortality is three times higher in low- compared with high-HDI countries even when adjusted for prognostic factors. Patient safety factors may have an important role. Registration number: NCT02179112 (http://www.clinicaltrials.gov)