State capacity and rule of law: the case of Upper Egypt

Governability or social order is a multi-faceted phenomenon where different actors, state, society and ruling regime, interact on daily basis. Sometimes, it is the regime that is blamed for the weak intensity of governance. Sometimes, it is the cultural setting and social norms that are accused of being anti-state. Culture in Upper Egypt has always been blamed for the inability of the police force to penetrate society and uphold rule of law. This piece of research tackled the phenomenon of tha\u27r as part of a bigger phenomenon of informal means of conflict resolution and the weak state penetration in society. The essence of statenessâ is its ability to enforce rule of law. Resorting to informality is a regime strategy to weaken the state. The regime compromised the role of the when it, first, it gave more power to customary forms of conflict resolution despite Egypt\u27s long legal and constitutional heritage. Second, it weakened the police force from the inside in ways that affected its ability perform its duty. Third, it made the security institution assume a political role in service of the ruling regime instead of achieving security

High Strength E-Glass/CNF Fibers Nanocomposite

Glass fibers are among the most versatile industrial materials known today, where 4 billion pounds of glass are used every year. They are readily produced from raw materials, which are available in virtually unlimited supply. To compensate for its low tensile strength, glass is usually mixed with other materials such as nanofibers and nanospheres, to form what is called glass nanocomposites . Nevertheless, glass composites still suffer from different weaknesses such as: poor dispersion, poor alignment and orientation of reinforcing materials (due to their short lengths relative to the defect sizes in the composite matrices), in addition to the difficulties associated with handling randomly oriented nanofibers and nanotubes in an industrial setting. The aim of this work is to develop a novel method for utilizing carbon nanofibers to increase the strength of glass fibers by producing continuous hybrid glass fibers. The method makes use of the high aspect ratio of the CNFs along with the glass filament drawing process to imbed, disperse and align the CNFs in glass fibers. Short CNTs will bridge the small cracks in the glass fiber filaments, whereas, relatively long CNFs will take care of the larger defects. The novel hybrid glass fibers will have a wide range of applications particularly in aerospace and automotive industrie

Quality and Nutrient Contents of Fruits Produced Under Organic Conditions

Organic farming is an agricultural practice that raises plants especially vegetables and fruits without the use of synthetic pesticides, herbicides, fertilizers, or plant growth regulators. All over the world, the interest for organic farming has increased recently. Different greenhouse experiments were carried out in the northern Jordan Valley, to compare the effect of four fermented organic matter doses (1.5, 3.0, 4.5, and 6.0 kg m-2), or different organic matter sources (cattle, poultry, and sheep manure in addition to 1:1:1 mixture of the three organic matter sources) with that of the conventional fertilizer and control treatments on different fruit quality parameters

Effect of Cenosphere Fly Ash on the Thermal, Mechanical, and Morphological Properties of Rigid PVC Foam Composites

Cenosphere fly ash is a byproduct of coal combustion processes of power plants. It is composed of hollow, hard shelled, minute spheres, which are made up of silica, iron, and alumina. In this study, cenosphere fly ash is incorporated into rigid PVC foam to improve thermal and mechanical properties of their composites. Microstructural, physical, mechanical, and thermal properties of rigid PVC foam extruded with different loadings of cenosphere fly ash (6, 12, 18phr) are characterized. The measured density of the extruded PVC foam composites increased with cenosphere content, indicating a hindrance to the foaming process. Tensile and flexural mechanical properties improved at higher cenosphere content, while the impact strength decreased at initial loading of 6 phr of cenosphere particles and remained steady at higher loadings. Thermal characterization of the extruded samples showed that glass transition temperature remained almost unaffected, while TGA analysis revealed no change in the initial degradation temperature and significant improvement in the final degradation temperature. Thermo-mechanical properties measured by DMA revealed a remarkable improvement in the viscoelastic properties of the composites reinforced with cenosphere particles. SEM analysis of the composites microstructure confirmed that the cenosphere particles were mechanically interlocked with good interfacial interaction in the PVC matrix

Techno-economic Evaluation Methodology and Preliminary Comparison of an Amine-based and Advanced Solid Sorbent-based CO2 Capture Process for NGCC Power Plants

AbstractThe post combustion capture process using the traditional amine based solvent absorption process is a very mature technology that suffers from a high energy penalty being taken on the power plant and requires significant capital investment that causes us a high increase in the cost of electricity. An advanced solid-based adsorption is discussed in this work as well as a techno-economic evaluation methodology in order to compare the advantages of this novel process to the conventional process. Some indications of the expected technical and economic benefits of the process are also discussed

Promoting tertiary level students' critical thinking through the use of Socratic questioning on the blog

Over the past decade, much has been done to improve students' critical thinking in education. This study investigates if applying Socratic questioning on the blog can promote students' critical thinking. It applies a generic model, which associates with three fundamental components. Participants were an intact class of tertiary level students enrolled in an obligatory course. Students practiced Socratic questioning during face-to-face and online sessions. To serve this goal, they were asked to be attentive and share their ideas or questions with other students on the blog. Students' critical thinking ability was assessed using the Cornell Critical Thinking Test before and after they were trained in Socratic questioning. The results showed that the Socratic questioning training had a significant positive change on students' critical thinking ability. If students master the art of Socratic questioning, they can bring it into various courses they take. They can also use it in different discussions they engage in, and apply it not only in raising and asking questions about what is taught, but also in making questions concerning the issues in their daily life in a meaningful way

Oral health of cystic fibrosis patients at a north american center : a pilot study

The objective of this study was to describe the oral health status of Cystic Fibrosis (CF) children in a US facility. Twenty CF children ages 6-18 were recruited from Children?s Hospital of Wisconsin Pulmonary Clinic. Parents completed a health questionnaire. Clinical examinations checked dental caries using the dmft/DMFT index, dental hygiene using the Simplified Greene-Vermillion Index (DI-S), gingival inflammation using the Community Periodontal Index of Treatment Needs, and enamel defects using the modified Developmental Defects of Enamel Index. The majority (90%) brush twice a day, 65% consume sugary snacks, and 70% visit the dentist every 6 months. Clinically, they presented DMFT 0.25 and dmft 0.90, fair oral hygiene with DI-S 1.02, 75% had mild gingivitis and 50% had enamel defects. The more antibiotics they took, significantly more frequent (p=0.007) and more severe (p=0.017) enamel defects were noted. Similar trend was found between the number of surgeries and the presence of enamel defects (p=0.076) and dental caries (p=0.028). Within the limitations of this study, CF patients were found to be at oral health risk due to the high prevalence of dental enamel defects. Oral health for CF children should be part of the multidisciplinary care

Characterization of Functionalized Polyurethane Foam for Lead Ion Removal from Water

Polyurethane foams functionalized with sulfonic acid groups are used in this study to exchange lead (Pb2+) ions from aqueous solutions. Toluene-2, 4-diisocyanate, 2,6-diisocyanate (TDI) was reacted with Polypropylene glycol 1200 (PPG) in 2 : 1 molar ratio to form a linear prepolymer. The linear prepolymer was further polymerized using N,N-bis(2-hydroxyethyl)-2-aminoethanesulfonic acid (BES), which acts both as a chain extender and an ion-exchanger for Pb2+ ions. The functionalized polyurethane foam was characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), gel permeation chromatography (GPC), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX). The Pb2+ ion exchange capacity was determined using an Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometer (ICP-MS). The maximum Pb2+ ion exchange capacity of the foam was found to be 51 ppb/g from a 100 ppb Pb2+ solution over a period of two hours. In addition, pH analysis was carried out on the foam composition with the best Pb2+ ion removal capacity. The pH results based on two-hour exposures showed that the functionalized polyurethane foam performed better at lower pH levels

Innovative use of it applications for teaching entrepreneurship to youth: Uae case study

H.H. Sheikh Khalifa Al-Nihayan, President of the UAE, considers entrepreneurs to be of vital importance to improving the economy of the UAE, as they constitute an institutionalized and systematic panel of qualified consultants. There is a real need for entrepreneurship in the UAE, as indicated in Abu Dhabi\u27s Vision 2030 and Dubai\u27s Strategic Plan 2015. Studies have shown that 70% of high school students in the UAE would like to become entrepreneurs, and the skills they acquire will serve them well in many areas. They will become responsible, critical thinkers through their involvement in real life learning experiences. They will also be prepared to take risks, solve problems, manage results, and learn from their business outcomes. The main objectives of this research are to gain in-depth knowledge about entrepreneurship among the youth in the UAE and to run a pilot IT application for them about entrepreneurship, in order to study the effectiveness of using this technology in teaching entrepreneurial skills. The research can also serve as a road map for other researchers interested in this topic in this region, because it has gathered the related work and initiatives together in one publication. The surveys and interviews conducted examine the programs and applications that already exist, and a pilot application is developed and tested on some young people to help them to become successful entrepreneurs through mastering leadership skills, and through critical and innovative thinking