A critical evaluation of teaching practice in geography in Egypt

The central problem of this research is 'How the supervision and assessment process for the geography student-teachers in Egypt can he improved?’. This problem is of high significance for a number of reasons : First there is a lack of clear criteria for the assessment of the geography students. Secondly, college students themselves have no handbook to guide their performance. Thirdly, the problem becomes more acute when the number of students reaches several thousands, while the number of experienced supervisors does not increase accordingly. The research is sub-divided into several areas : a) a review of the related literature; b) an assessment of the range of influences which have shaped the development of teacher education in Egypt and the emergence of a system of teaching practice as an integral component of that educational process; c) an evaluation of the de facto status of teaching practice in the El Sharkia Governorate as a case study; d) an assessment of current practices of supervision and assessment of geography students in England and Wales; e) the formulation of a more appropriate framework for supervision and schedule for assessment for use in the Egyptian context and f) an improvement in the entire system by which student-teachers of geography are supervised and assessed in teaching, practice and making recommendations for further lines of research. The results of this research will contribute to the development of the geography teacher preparation and training in particular and to the education of Egypt in general

Blockchain Risk Evaluation on Enterprise Systems using an Intelligent MCDM based model

Blockchain technology (BT) has become popular in the firms in the present time, however, implementation of BT includes several risk factors from various points of view. Some of these risks can be serious for the processes of firms. These risks should be cautiously recognized and analyzed to reduce the negative impacts of them. Assessment of the risks can be recognized as a multi-criteria decision making (MCDM) problem. In this work, the risks that will occur when implementing BT are assessed by using MCDM methodology built on Single Valued Neutrosophic Sets (SVNSs), Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), and Decision Making and Trial Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL) methods. The main and sub criteria risks are collected via a company in the smart village in Egypt and from previous research, hence, the hierarchical form of the problem is built. AHP is used to show the importance of risk factors and the relationships between risk factors obtained by using the DEMATEL method. The main goal of this study is to aid the firms mainly and the firm in Egypt especially to determine which risks are more serious and to which of them causing effect and are being affected. In this study 8 main criterion and 28 sub-criteria, risks are used. As result, the security risk is important in the main risks but energy costs and data leaks are important in sub risks

Conductometric determination of the two angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors, Ramipril and Enalapril maleate in pure form and in tablets using phosphotungestic acid

Simple and sensitive conductometric method has been developed for the determination of Ramipril and Enalapril maleate using phosphotungestic acid in pure form and in tablets. The proposed method  is based on the conductometric determination of 5-20 mg and 7-20 mg of Ramipril and Enalapril maleate by titration with phosphotungstic acid (PTA) in aqueous solution. All the reaction conditions for the proposed methods have been studied. The proposed methods were applied successfully for the determination of Ramipril and Enalapril maleate  in tablets, the RSD values were not exceeding 2 for both drugs. The results obtained were compared statistically with those obtained by the reference method and showed no significant differences regarding accuracy and precision

A Security-by-Design Decision-Making Model for Risk Management in Autonomous Vehicles

Autonomous/self-driving vehicles have gained significant attention these days, as one of the intelligent transportation systems. However, those vehicles have risks related to their physical implementation and security against cyber threats. Therefore, this study proposes a new security-by-design model for estimating the uncertainty of autonomous vehicles and measuring cyber risks; thus it assists decision-makers in addressing the risks of the physical design and their attack surfaces. The proposed model is developed using neutrosophic sets that efficiently tackle multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) problems with extensive conflicting criteria and alternatives. The proposed model integrates MCDM, Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), Multi-Attributive Border Approximation Area Comparison (MABAC), and Preference Ranking Organization Method for Enrichment Evaluations II (PROMETHEE II), along with single-valued neutrosophic sets (SVNSs). An illustrative case considering ten risks in self-driving vehicles is used to validate the feasibility of the proposed model. Compared to the state-of-the-art methods, the proposed model is considered consistent and reliable to deal with and represent uncertainty and incomplete risk information using neutrosophic sets

Homocysteine and hematological indices in hemodialysis patients

Objectives: To explore the relationship between homocysteine and various hematological indices in hemodialysis patients. Patients and Methods: This case-control study comprised 60 hemodialysis patients and 60 healthy controls matched for gender and age. Hemodialysis duration was 3.2±2.9 year at frequency of 2.6±0.6/week. Hypertension and diabetes were the most common self-reported disorders among the hemodialysis patients. Results: Serum homocysteine was significantly higher in hemodialysis patients than in controls (50.8±9.7 vs. 13.1±3.7 μmol/l, P= 0.000). White blood cell (WBC) and platelet (PLT) counts were significantly higher in hemodialysis patients than in controls [(7.18±2.37 x109/L and 266.3±111.9 x109/L vs 5.95±1.37 x109/L and 222.0±54.1 x109/L) with P= 0.017 and P= 0.045, respectively]. In contrast, red blood cell (RBC), hemoglobin, and hematocrit were significantly lower in hemodialysis patients (3.1±0.5 x1012/L, 8.9±1.5 gm/dl and 26.3±4.6%) than in controls (4.0±0.4 x1012/L, 12.8±1.6 gm/dl and 45.0±4.6%) with P= 0.000. Prothrombin time (PT) and international normalized ratio (INR) were significantly higher in hemodialysis patients compared to controls (16±3 sec and 1±0 vs. 14±0 sec and 1.0±0.1, P= 0.000), whereas activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT) was significantly decreased in hemodialysis patients (25±5 vs 33±2 sec, P= 0.000). Homocysteine correlated directly with WBC count (r= 0.338, P= 0.008) and PLT count (r= 0.369, P= 0.000) whereas inverse correlations were found between homocysteine and RBC count (r=-0.648, P= 0.000), hemoglobin (r=-0.733, P= 0.000) and hematocrit (r=-0.836

Choice of suitable referral hospital to improve the financial result of hospital operations and quality of patient care under a Neutrosophic Environment

The referral cooperation hospital choice has been studied to better rationalize the allocation of healthcare assets and enhance the efficacy of resource utilization. Choosing hospitals to work within a collaborative referral arrangement is a crucial step in the patient-referral process. A referral cooperative hospital is chosen after careful consideration of these aspects to guarantee that patients will get the kind of detailed treatment that is appropriate for their condition. The concept of multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) is used due to various criteria. The VIKOR method is the MCDM method used in this paper to rank the referral cooperation hospitals. The VIKOR method is integrated with the single-valued neutrosophic set to overcome uncertain information. The single-valued neutrosophic VIKOR method is applied to a case study in Egypt. We achieved quality of care as the best criterion from the eleven criteria used

Spectral resolution and simultaneous determination of oxymetazoline hydrochloride and sodium cromoglycate by derivative and ratio-based spectrophotometric methods

Sodium cromoglycate (SCG) and oxymetazoline hydrochloride (OXMT) are administered in combination for effective treatment of nasal congestion and allergy. In this work, SCG was determined using direct spectrophotometry by measuring its zero order absorption spectra at its λmax 320.6 nm where OXMT showed zero absorbance. On the other hand, four simple, sensitive and precise spectrophotometric methods were developed and validated for the determination of OXMT in the presence of SCG in their laboratory prepared mixtures and pharmaceutical formulation, without preliminary separation; Method A: first derivative spectrophotometric method [1D], Method B: first derivative of ratio spectra method [1DD], Method C: ratio difference spectrophotometric method [RDSM] and Method D: ratio subtraction method [RSM]. Ratio manipulating methods (Method B, C and D) were done using divisor of 10.00 µg/mL SCG. Linear correlation was obtained in range 4-22 µg/mL for OXMT by methods A, B and D and 6-22 µg/mL for method C. All methods were validated in compliance with the International Conference on Harmonization (ICH) guidelines and satisfactory results were obtained. No significant difference was noted between the developed methods and the official one with respect to accuracy and precision

A prospective study correlating fluid balance and outcome in critically ill patients

Background: Fluid administration can be lifesaving as fluid accumulation after initial resuscitation and stabilization of hemodynamics can lead to avoidable adverse effects and less favorable outcomes.Objective: The aim of the work was to evaluate whether even fluid balance in comparison to negative or even fluid status is correlated with increased morbidity and mortality rates in critically ill patients.Patients and Methods: An observational prospective study was done on 145 patients older than eighteen years, admitted to the general intensive care (Medical & Surgical ICU) units in Helwan University Hospitals and Ain Shams University Hospitals during the period from November 2020 till May 2021.Results: One hundred twenty-four patients (85.5%) who survived, having the median cumulative fluid balance of -110ml (IQR-2.1 – 2.2L) after four days following randomization while the median cumulative fluid balance of the 21 patients (14.5%) who didn’t survive was 3800 ml (IQR 1.7-5.2L), after four days of ICU admission. Fluid balance more than 1.2 liters per day in our study had higher ICU complications: Increased risk of AKI, longer ICU and hospital stays, mechanical ventilation and fluid balance was an independent factor associated with increased mortality.Conclusion: It could be concluded that negative fluid balance for 4 days in critically ill patients was associated with less length of stay in the general ICU, and less mechanical ventilation duration, while positive fluid balance, leads to higher mechanical ventilation duration, vasopressors requirements, and significantly associated with higher mortality