Search results for: Ahmed Shaban Abdel Hay Gabr
Commenced in January 2007
Frequency: Monthly
Edition: International
Paper Count: 1765

Search results for: Ahmed Shaban Abdel Hay Gabr

1105 Strategic Orientation of Islamic Banks: A Review of Strategy Language

Authors: Imam Uddin, Imtiaz Ahmed Memon

Abstract:

This paper analyzes the ideological contextuality of market oriented strategy language used by Industry leaders to envision the future of Islamic financial Institutions (IFIs) in the light of Wittgenstein language-games and Foucault’s power-discourse framework. The analysis infers that the explicit market orientation of strategy language and modern knowledge of finance now defines various concepts related of Islamic finance, let alone Islamic finance theory itself. Theorizing and practicing Islamic finance therefore under the dominant influence of modern strategy discourse and modern knowledge of finance has significant implications for developing an ethical and spiritual orientation of Islamic banks. The concerned academia and scholarship therefore need to review such trends and work around the possible degradation to the public image of IFIs and resulting disappointments of religiously inspired customers.

Keywords: Islamic finance discourse, strategy discourse, language games, strategic intent, productive misunderstanding

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1104 A Study on Genus Carolia Cantraine, 1838: A Case Study in Egypt with Special Emphasis on Paleobiogeographic, and Biometric Context

Authors: Soheir El-Shazly, Gouda Abdel-Gawad, Yasser Salama, Dina Sayed

Abstract:

Twelve species belonging to genus Carolia Cantraine, 1838 were recorded from nine localities in the Tertiary rocks of the Tethys, Atlantic and Eastern Pacific Provinces. During The Eocene two species were collected from Indian-Pakistani region, two from North Africa (Libya, Tunis and Algeria), one from Jamaica and two from Peru. The Oligocene shows its appearance in North America (Florida) and Argentina. The genus showed its last occurrence in the Miocene rocks of North America (Florida) before its extinction. In Egypt, the genus was diversified in the Eocene rocks and was represented by four species and two subspecies. The paleobiogeographic distribution of Genus Carolia Cantraine, 1838 indicates that it appeared in the Lower Eocene of West Indian Ocean and migrated westward flowing circumtropical Tethys Current to the central Tethyan province, where it appeared in North Africa and continued its dispersal westward to the Atlantic Ocean and arrived Jamaica in the Middle Eocene. It persisted in the Caribbean Sea and appeared later in the Oligocene and Miocene rocks of North America (Florida). Crossing Panama corridor, the genus migrated to the south Eastern Pacific Ocean and was collected from the Middle Eocene of Peru. The appearance of the genus in the Oligocene of the South Atlantic Coast of Argentina may be via South America Seaway or its southward migration from Central America to Austral Basin. The thickening of the upper valve of the genus, after the loss of its byssus to withstand the current action, caused inability of the animal to carry on its vital activity and caused its extinction. The biometric study of Carolia placunoides Cantraine, 1938 from thhe Eocene of Egypt, indicates that the distance between the muscle scars in the upper valve increases with the closure of the byssal notch.

Keywords: Atlantic, carolia, paleobiogeography, tethys

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1103 Knowledge Transfer and the Translation of Technical Texts

Authors: Ahmed Alaoui

Abstract:

This paper contributes to the ongoing debate as to the relevance of translation studies to professional practitioners. It exposes the various misconceptions permeating the links between theory and practice in the translation landscape in the Arab World. It is a thesis of this paper that specialization in translation should be redefined; taking account of the fact, that specialized knowledge alone is neither crucial nor sufficient in technical translation. It should be tested against the readability of the translated text, the appropriateness of its style and the usability of its content by end-users to carry out their intended tasks. The paper also proposes a preliminary model to establish a working link between theory and practice from the perspective of professional trainers and practitioners, calling for the latter to participate in the production of knowledge in a systematic fashion. While this proposal is driven by a rather intuitive conviction, a research line is needed to specify the methodological moves to establish the mediation strategies that would relate the components in the model of knowledge transfer proposed in this paper.

Keywords: knowledge transfer, misconceptions, specialized texts, translation theory, translation practice

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1102 Study of Rheological, Physic-Mechanical and Morphological Properties of Nitrile Butadiene Rubber Loaded with Organo-Bentonite

Authors: Doaa S. Mahmoud, Nivin M. Ahmed, Salwa H. El-Sabbagh

Abstract:

The rheometric characteristics and physicomechanical properties of bentonite / acrylonitrile-butadiene rubber (NBR) were investigated. The influences of adding bentonite (Bt) and / or modified bentonite (organo-Bt) to the rubber were observed. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) showed that the rubber chains may be confined within the interparticle space and the Bt particles presented a physical dispersion in NBR matrix. Bentonite (Bt) was modified with tetra butyl phosphonium bromide (TBP) in order to produce organo-Bt. The modification was carried out at 0.5, 1 and 2 cation exchange capacity (CEC) of bentonite. Results showed that the maximum torque of organo-Bt / NBR composite increases at high bentonite loading. The scorch time (tS2) and cure time (tC90) of the organo-Bt / NBR composites decreased simultaneously relative to those of the neat NBR. The prepared composite exhibited significant improvement in mechanical compared with that of neat NBR.

Keywords: acrylonitrile-butadiene rubber, bentonite, composites, physico-mechanical properties

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1101 Calendar Anomalies in Islamic Frontier Markets

Authors: Aslam Faheem, Hunjra Ahmed Imran, Tayachi Tahar, Verhoeven Peter, Tariq Yasir

Abstract:

We investigate the evidence of three risk-adjusted calendar anomalies in eight frontier markets. Our sample consists of the daily closing prices of their stock indices for the period of January 2006 to September 2019. We categorize the data with respect to day-of-the-week, Lunar calendar and Islamic calendar. Using Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) eight Markets Index as our proxy of the market portfolio, most of the frontier markets tested exhibit calendar seasonality. We confirm that systematic risk varies with respect to day-of-the-week, Lunar months and Islamic months. After consideration of time-varying risk and applying Bonferroni correction, few frontier markets exhibit profitable investment opportunities from calendar return anomalies for active investment managers.

Keywords: asset pricing, frontier markets, market efficiency, Islamic calendar effects, Islamic stock markets

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1100 Forecasting Direct Normal Irradiation at Djibouti Using Artificial Neural Network

Authors: Ahmed Kayad Abdourazak, Abderafi Souad, Zejli Driss, Idriss Abdoulkader Ibrahim

Abstract:

In this paper Artificial Neural Network (ANN) is used to predict the solar irradiation in Djibouti for the first Time that is useful to the integration of Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) and sites selections for new or future solar plants as part of solar energy development. An ANN algorithm was developed to establish a forward/reverse correspondence between the latitude, longitude, altitude and monthly solar irradiation. For this purpose the German Aerospace Centre (DLR) data of eight Djibouti sites were used as training and testing in a standard three layers network with the back propagation algorithm of Lavenber-Marquardt. Results have shown a very good agreement for the solar irradiation prediction in Djibouti and proves that the proposed approach can be well used as an efficient tool for prediction of solar irradiation by providing so helpful information concerning sites selection, design and planning of solar plants.

Keywords: artificial neural network, solar irradiation, concentrated solar power, Lavenberg-Marquardt

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1099 Neuroprotective Effect of Vildagliptin against Cerebral Ischemia in Rats

Authors: Salma A. El-Marasy, Rehab F. Abdel-Rahman, Reham M. Abd-Elsalam

Abstract:

The burden of stroke is intensely increasing worldwide. Brain injury following transient or permanent focal cerebral ischemia develops ischemic stroke as a consequence of a complex series of pathophysiological events. The aim of this study is to evaluate the possible neuroprotective effect of a dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitor, vildagliptin, independent on its insulinotropic properties in non-diabetic rats subjected to cerebral ischemia. Anaesthetized Wistar rats were subjected to either left middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) or sham operation followed by reperfusion after 30 min of MCAO. The other three groups were orally administered vildagliptin at 3 dose levels (2.5, 5, 10 mg/kg) for 3 successive weeks before subjected to left focal cerebral ischemia/reperfusion and till the end of the study. Neurological deficit scores and motor activity were assessed 24h following reperfusion. 48h following reperfusion, rats were euthanized and their left brain hemispheres were harvested and used in the biochemical, histopathological, and immunohistochemical investigations. Vildagliptin pretreatment improved neurological score deficit, locomotor activity and motor coordination in MCAO rats. Moreover, vildagliptin reduced malondialdehyde (MDA), elevated reduced glutathione (GSH), phosphotylinosital 3 kinase (PI3K), phosphorylated of protein kinase B (p-AKT), and mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR) brain contents in addition to reducing protein expression of caspase-3. Also, vildagliptin showed a dose-dependent attenuation in neuronal cell loss and histopathological alterations in MCAO rats. This study proves that vildagliptin exerted the neuroprotective effect in a dose-dependent manner as shown in amelioration of neuronal cell loss and histopathological damage in MCAO rats, which may be mediated by attenuating neuronal and motor deficits, it’s anti-oxidant property, activation of PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway and its anti-apoptotic effect.

Keywords: caspase-3, cerebral ischemia, dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitor, oxidative stress, PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway, rats, vildagliptin

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1098 Neutral Heavy Scalar Searches via Standard Model Gauge Boson Decays at the Large Hadron Electron Collider with Multivariate Techniques

Authors: Luigi Delle Rose, Oliver Fischer, Ahmed Hammad

Abstract:

In this article, we study the prospects of the proposed Large Hadron electron Collider (LHeC) in the search for heavy neutral scalar particles. We consider a minimal model with one additional complex scalar singlet that interacts with the Standard Model (SM) via mixing with the Higgs doublet, giving rise to an SM-like Higgs boson and a heavy scalar particle. Both scalar particles are produced via vector boson fusion and can be tested via their decays into pairs of SM particles, analogously to the SM Higgs boson. Using multivariate techniques, we show that the LHeC is sensitive to heavy scalars with masses between 200 and 800 GeV down to scalar mixing of order 0.01.

Keywords: beyond the standard model, large hadron electron collider, multivariate analysis, scalar singlet

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1097 Comparative Methods for Speech Enhancement and the Effects on Text-Independent Speaker Identification Performance

Authors: R. Ajgou, S. Sbaa, S. Ghendir, A. Chemsa, A. Taleb-Ahmed

Abstract:

The speech enhancement algorithm is to improve speech quality. In this paper, we review some speech enhancement methods and we evaluated their performance based on Perceptual Evaluation of Speech Quality scores (PESQ, ITU-T P.862). All method was evaluated in presence of different kind of noise using TIMIT database and NOIZEUS noisy speech corpus.. The noise was taken from the AURORA database and includes suburban train noise, babble, car, exhibition hall, restaurant, street, airport and train station noise. Simulation results showed improved performance of speech enhancement for Tracking of non-stationary noise approach in comparison with various methods in terms of PESQ measure. Moreover, we have evaluated the effects of the speech enhancement technique on Speaker Identification system based on autoregressive (AR) model and Mel-frequency Cepstral coefficients (MFCC).

Keywords: speech enhancement, pesq, speaker recognition, MFCC

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1096 Exoskeleton for Hemiplegic Patients: Mechatronic Approach to Move One Disabled Lower Limb

Authors: Alaoui Hamza, Moutacalli Mohamed Tarik, Chebak Ahmed

Abstract:

The number of people suffering from hemiplegia is growing each year. This lower limb disability affects all the aspects of their lives by taking away their autonomy. This implicates their close relatives, as well as the health system to provide the necessary care they need. The integration of exoskeletons in the medical field became a promising solution to resolve this issue. This paper presents an exoskeleton designed to help hemiplegic people get back the sensation and ability of normal walking. For this purpose, three step models have been created. The first step allows a simple forward movement of the leg. The second method is designed to overcome some obstacles in the patient path, and finally the third step model gives the patient total control over the device. Each of the control methods was designed to offer a solution to the challenges that the patients may face during the walking process.

Keywords: ability of normal walking, exoskeleton, hemiplegic patients, lower limb motion- mechatronics

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1095 The Use of Ultrasound as a Safe and Cost-Efficient Technique to Assess Visceral Fat in Children with Obesity

Authors: Bassma A. Abdel Haleem, Ehab K. Emam, George E. Yacoub, Ashraf M. Salem

Abstract:

Background: Obesity is an increasingly common problem in childhood. Childhood obesity is considered the main risk factor for the development of metabolic syndrome (MetS) (diabetes type 2, dyslipidemia, and hypertension). Recent studies estimated that among children with obesity 30-60% will develop MetS. Visceral fat thickness is a valuable predictor of the development of MetS. Computed tomography and dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry are the main techniques to assess visceral fat. However, they carry the risk of radiation exposure and are expensive procedures. Consequently, they are seldom used in the assessment of visceral fat in children. Some studies explored the potential of ultrasound as a substitute to assess visceral fat in the elderly and found promising results. Given the vulnerability of children to radiation exposure, we sought to evaluate ultrasound as a safer and more cost-efficient alternative for measuring visceral fat in obese children. Additionally, we assessed the correlation between visceral fat and obesity indicators such as insulin resistance. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on 46 children with obesity (aged 6–16 years). Their visceral fat was evaluated by ultrasound. Subcutaneous fat thickness (SFT), i.e., the measurement from the skin-fat interface to the linea alba, and visceral fat thickness (VFT), i.e., the thickness from the linea alba to the aorta, were measured and correlated with anthropometric measures, fasting lipid profile, homeostatic model assessment for insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) and liver enzymes (ALT). Results: VFT assessed via ultrasound was found to strongly correlate with the BMI, HOMA-IR with AUC for VFT as a predictor of insulin resistance of 0.858 and cut off point of >2.98. VFT also correlates positively with serum triglycerides and serum ALT. VFT correlates negatively with HDL. Conclusions: Ultrasound, a safe and cost-efficient technique, could be a useful tool for measuring the abdominal fat thickness in children with obesity. Ultrasound-measured VFT could be an appropriate prognostic factor for insulin resistance, hypertriglyceridemia, and elevated liver enzymes in obese children.

Keywords: metabolic syndrome, pediatric obesity, sonography, visceral fat

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1094 Synthesis of Cationic Bleach Activator for Textile Industry

Authors: Pelin Altay, Ahmed El-Shafei, Peter J. Hauser, Nevin Cigdem Gursoy

Abstract:

Exceedingly high temperatures are used (around 95 °C) to perform hydrogen peroxide bleaching of cotton fabrics in textile industry, which results in high energy consumption and also gives rise to significant fiber damage. Activated bleach systems have the potential to produce more efficient bleaching through increased oxidation rates with reducing energy cost, saving time and causing less fiber damage as compared to conventional hot peroxide bleaching. In this study, a cationic bleach activator was synthesized using caprolactam as a leaving group and triethylamine as a cationic group to establish an activated peroxide system for low temperature bleaching. Cationic bleach activator was characterized by FTIR, 1H NMR and mass spectrometry. The bleaching performance of the prototype cationic bleach activator was evaluated and optimizing the bleach recipe was performed.

Keywords: bleach activator, cotton bleaching, hydrogen peroxide bleaching, low temperature bleaching

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1093 A Framework for Evaluating the QoS and Cost of Web Services Based on Its Functional Performance

Authors: M. Mohemmed Sha, T. Manesh, A. Ahmed Mohamed Mustaq

Abstract:

In this corporate world, the technology of Web services has grown rapidly and its significance for the development of web based applications gradually rises over time. The success of Business to Business integration rely on finding novel partners and their services in a global business environment. But the selection of the most suitable Web service from the list of services with the identical functionality is more vital. The satisfaction level of the customer and the provider’s reputation of the Web service are primarily depending on the range it reaches the customer’s requirements. In most cases the customer of the Web service feels that he is spending for the service which is undelivered. This is because the customer always thinks that the real functionality of the web service is not reached. This will lead to change of the service frequently. In this paper, a framework is proposed to evaluate the Quality of Service (QoS) and its cost that makes the optimal correlation between each other. Also this research work proposes some management decision against the functional deviancy of the web service that are guaranteed at time of selection.

Keywords: web service, service level agreement, quality of a service, cost of a service, QoS, CoS, SOA, WSLA, WsRF

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1092 Direct Blind Separation Methods for Convolutive Images Mixtures

Authors: Ahmed Hammed, Wady Naanaa

Abstract:

In this paper, we propose a general approach to deal with the problem of a convolutive mixture of images. We use a direct blind source separation method by adding only one non-statistical justified constraint describing the relationships between different mixing matrix at the aim to make its resolution easy. This method can be applied, provided that this constraint is known, to degraded document affected by the overlapping of text-patterns and images. This is due to chemical and physical reactions of the materials (paper, inks,...) occurring during the documents aging, and other unpredictable causes such as humidity, microorganism infestation, human handling, etc. We will demonstrate that this problem corresponds to a convolutive mixture of images. Subsequently, we will show how the validation of our method through numerical examples. We can so obtain clear images from unreadable ones which can be caused by pages superposition, a phenomenon similar to that we find every often in archival documents.

Keywords: blind source separation, convoluted mixture, degraded documents, text-patterns overlapping

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1091 Four-Electron Auger Process for Hollow Ions

Authors: Shahin A. Abdel-Naby, James P. Colgan, Michael S. Pindzola

Abstract:

A time-dependent close-coupling method is developed to calculate a total, double and triple autoionization rates for hollow atomic ions of four-electron systems. This work was motivated by recent observations of the four-electron Auger process in near K-edge photoionization of C+ ions. The time-dependent close-coupled equations are solved using lattice techniques to obtain a discrete representation of radial wave functions and all operators on a four-dimensional grid with uniform spacing. Initial excited states are obtained by relaxation of the Schrodinger equation in imaginary time using a Schmidt orthogonalization method involving interior subshells. The radial wave function grids are partitioned over the cores on a massively parallel computer, which is essential due to the large memory requirements needed to store the coupled-wave functions and the long run times needed to reach the convergence of the ionization process. Total, double, and triple autoionization rates are obtained by the propagation of the time-dependent close-coupled equations in real-time using integration over bound and continuum single-particle states. These states are generated by matrix diagonalization of one-electron Hamiltonians. The total autoionization rates for each L excited state is found to be slightly above the single autoionization rate for the excited configuration using configuration-average distorted-wave theory. As expected, we find the double and triple autoionization rates to be much smaller than the total autoionization rates. Future work can be extended to study electron-impact triple ionization of atoms or ions. The work was supported in part by grants from the American University of Sharjah and the US Department of Energy. Computational work was carried out at the National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center (NERSC) in Berkeley, California, USA.

Keywords: hollow atoms, autoionization, auger rates, time-dependent close-coupling method

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1090 Innovation Management: A Comparative Analysis among Organizations from United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Brazil and China

Authors: Asmaa Abazaid, Maram Al-Ostah, Nadeen Abu-Zahra, Ruba Bawab, Refaat Abdel-Razek

Abstract:

Innovation audit is defined as a tool that can be used to reflect on how the innovation is managed in an organization. The aim of this study is to audit innovation in the second top Engineering Firms in the world, and one of the Small Medium Enterprises (SMEs) companies that are working in United Arab Emirates (UAE). The obtained results are then compared with four international companies from China and Brazil. The Diamond model has been used for auditing innovation in the two companies in UAE to evaluate their innovation management and to identify each company’s strengths and weaknesses from an innovation perspective. The results of the comparison between the two companies (Jacobs and Hyper General Contracting) revealed that Jacobs has support for innovation, its innovation processes are well managed, the company is committed to the development of its employees worldwide and the innovation system is flexible. Jacobs was doing best in all innovation management dimensions: strategy, process, organization, linkages and learning, while Hyper General Contracting did not score as Jacobs in any of the innovation dimensions. Furthermore, the audit results of both companies were compared with international companies to examine how well the two construction companies in UAE manage innovation relative to SABIC (Saudi company), Poly Easy and Arnious (Brazilian companies), Huagong tools and Guizohou Yibai (Chinese companies). The results revealed that Jacobs is doing best in learning and organization dimensions, while PolyEasy and Jacobs are equal in the linkage dimension. Huagong Tools scored the highest score in process dimension among all the compared companies. However, the highest score of strategy dimension was given to PolyEasy. On the other hand, Hyper General Contracting scored the lowest in all of the innovation management dimensions. It needs to improve its management of all the innovation management dimensions with special attention to be given to strategy, process, and linkage as they got scores below 4 out of 7 comparing with other dimensions. Jacobs scored the highest in three innovation management dimensions related to the six companies. However, the strategy dimension is considered low, and special attention is needed in this dimension.

Keywords: Brazil, China, innovation audit, innovation evaluation, innovation management, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates

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1089 Mass Media "Al-Manar TV"

Authors: Ahmed Haddad

Abstract:

After having drawn the conclusion of this study’s finding. We discuss the potential contributions of a cultural studies perspective to media critique and literacy. In recent years, cultural studies has emerged as a set of approaches to the study of culture and society. the Birmingham group came to focus on the interplay of epresentations and ideologies of class, gender, race, ethnicity, and nationality in cultural texts, including media culture. They were among the first to study the effects of newspapers, radio, television, film, and other popular cultural forms on audiences. They also focused on how various audiences interpreted and used media culture differently, analyzing the factors that made different audiences respond in contrasting ways to various media texts. We are found that there is strong relation ship between Al-Mana TV. The religious power of hizbullah thinks to finational support of hizbuallah Al-Manar TV use as wean,we saw that the program broadcasted include hatred and againy the lexical choicing used by Al-Manar TV IS a concre of a such hostility against Israil – good example lesxical.

Keywords: cultural studies, newspapers, religious, lesxical, media texts

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1088 Comparison of the Effectiveness of Communication between the Traditional Lecture and IELS

Authors: Ahmed R. Althobaiti, Malcolm Munro

Abstract:

Communication and effective information exchange within technology has become a crucial part of delivering knowledge to students during the learning process. It enables better understanding, builds trust, respect and increase the knowledge between students. This paper examines the communication between undergraduate students and their lecturers during the Traditional lecture and in using the Interactive Electronic Lecture System (IELS). The IELS is an application that offers a set of components, which support the effective communication between students, themselves and their lecturers. Moreover, this paper highlights the communication skills such as sender, receiver, channel and feedback. It will show how the IELS creates a rich communication environment between its users and how they communicate effectively. To examine and check the effectiveness of communication an experiment has been conducted for groups of users; students and lecturers. The first group communicated during the Traditional lecture while the second group communicated by the IELS application. The result showed that there was an effective communication between the second group more than the first group.

Keywords: communication, effective information exchange, lecture, student

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1087 [Keynote Speaker]: Enhancing the Performance of a Photovoltaic Module Using Different Cooling Methods

Authors: Ahmed Amine Hachicha

Abstract:

Temperature effect on the performance of a photovoltaic module is one of the main concern that face this renewable energy, especially in the hot arid region, e.g United Arab Emirates. Overheating of the PV modules reduces the open circuit voltage and the efficiency of the modules dramatically. In this work, water cooling is developed to enhance the performance of PV modules. Different scenarios are tested under UAE weather conditions: front, back and double cooling. A spraying system is used for the front cooling whether a direct contact water system is used for the back cooling. The experimental results are compared to a non-cooling module and the performance of the PV module is determined for different situations. A mathematical model is presented to estimate the theoretical performance and validate the experimental results with and without cooling. The experimental results show that the front cooling is more effective than the back cooling and may decrease the temperature of the PV module significantly.

Keywords: PV cooling, solar energy, cooling methods, electrical efficiency, temperature effect

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1086 IT and Security Experts' Innovation and Investment Front for IT-Entrepreneurship in Pakistan

Authors: Ahmed Mateen, Zhu Qingsheng, Muhammad Awais, Muhammad Yahya Saeed

Abstract:

This paper targets the rising factor of entrepreneurship innovation, which lacks in Pakistan as compared to the other countries or the regions like China, India, and Malaysia, etc. This is an exploratory and explanatory study. Major aspects have identified as the direction for the policymakers while highlighting the issues in true spirit. IT needs to be considered not only as a technology but also as itself growing as a new community. IT management processes are complex and broad, so generally requires extensive attention to the collective aspects of human variables, capital and technology. In addition, projects tend to have a special set of critical success factors, and if these are processed and given attention, it will improve the chances of successful implementation. This is only possible with state of the art intelligent decision support systems and accumulating IT staff to some extent in decision processes. This paper explores this issue carefully and discusses six issues to observe the implemented strength and possible enhancement.

Keywords: security and defense forces, IT-incentives, big IT-players, IT-entrepreneurial-culture

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1085 Cr Induced Magnetization in Zinc-Blende ZnO-Based Diluted Magnetic Semiconductors

Authors: Bakhtiar Ul Haq, R. Ahmed, A. Shaari, Mazmira Binti Mohamed, Nisar Ali

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The capability of exploiting the electronic charge and spin properties simultaneously in a single material has made diluted magnetic semiconductors (DMS) remarkable in the field of spintronics. We report the designing of DMS based on zinc-blend ZnO doped with Cr impurity. The full potential linearized augmented plane wave plus local orbital FP-L(APW+lo) method in density functional theory (DFT) has been adapted to carry out these investigations. For treatment of exchange and correlation energy, generalized gradient approximations have been used. Introducing Cr atoms in the matrix of ZnO has induced strong magnetic moment with ferromagnetic ordering at stable ground state. Cr:ZnO was found to favor the short range magnetic interaction that reflect the tendency of Cr clustering. The electronic structure of ZnO is strongly influenced in the presence of Cr impurity atoms where impurity bands appear in the band gap.

Keywords: ZnO, density functional theory, diluted agnetic semiconductors, ferromagnetic materials, FP-L(APW+lo)

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1084 The Influence of Islamic Arts in Omani Weaving Motifs

Authors: Zahra Ahmed Al-zadjali

Abstract:

The influence of Islam on arts can be found primarily in calligraphy, arabesque designs and architecture. Also, geometric designs were used quite extensively. Muslim craftsmen produced stunning designs based on simple geometric principles and traditional motifs which were used to decorate many surfaces. The idea of interlacing simple rectilinear lines to form the patterns impressed Arabs. Nomads of Persia, Turks and Mongols were equally impressed with the designs so they begin to use them in their homes in carpet weaving. Islamic designs, motifs and colours which were used became common place and served to influence people’s tastes. Modern life style and contemporary products have changed the style of people’s daily lives, however, people still long for the nomadic way of life. This is clearly reflected in people’s homes. In a great many Muslim homes, Islamic decorative motifs can be seen along with traditional ‘Bedouin’ style furnishing, especially in homes of the Arabian Peninsula.

Keywords: art, craft, design, Oman, weaving

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1083 Solvent extraction of molybdenum (VI) with two organophosphorus reagents TBP and D2EHPA under microwave irradiations

Authors: Ahmed Boucherit, Hussein Khalaf, Eduardo Paredes, José Luis Todolí

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Solvent extraction studies of molybdenum (VI) with two organophosphorus reagents namely TBP and D2EHPA have been carried out from aqueous acidic solutions of HCl, H2SO4 and H3PO4 under microwave irradiations. The extraction efficiencies of the investigated extractants in the extraction of molybdenum (Vl) were compared. Extraction yield was found unchanged when microwave power varied in the range 20-100 Watts from H2SO4 or H3PO4 but it decreases in the range 20-60 Watts and increases in the range 60-100 Watts when TBP is used for extraction of molybdenum (VI) from 1 M HCl solutions. Extraction yield of molybdenum (VI) was found higher with TBP for HCl molarities greater than 1 M than with D2EHPA for H3PO4 molarities lower than 1 M. Extraction yield increases with HCl molarities in the range 0.50 - 1.80 M but it decreases with the increase in H2SO4 and H3PO4 molarities in the range of 0.05 - 1 M and 0.50 - 1 M, respectively.

Keywords: extraction, molybdenum, microwave, solvent

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1082 Islamic Equity Markets Response to Volatility of Bitcoin

Authors: Zakaria S. G. Hegazy, Walid M. A. Ahmed

Abstract:

This paper examines the dependence structure of Islamic stock markets on Bitcoin’s realized volatility components in bear, normal, and bull market periods. A quantile regression approach is employed, after adjusting raw returns with respect to a broad set of relevant global factors and accounting for structural breaks in the data. The results reveal that upside volatility tends to exert negative influences on Islamic developed-market returns more in bear than in bull market conditions, while downside volatility positively affects returns during bear and bull conditions. For emerging markets, we find that the upside (downside) component exerts lagged negative (positive) effects on returns in bear (all) market regimes. By and large, the dependence structures turn out to be asymmetric. Our evidence provides essential implications for investors.

Keywords: cryptocurrency markets, bitcoin, realized volatility measures, asymmetry, quantile regression

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1081 Modeling of Compaction Curves for CCA-Cement Stabilized Lateritic Soils

Authors: O. Ahmed Apampa, Yinusa, A. Jimoh

Abstract:

The aim of this study was to develop an appropriate model for predicting the compaction behavior of lateritic soils and corn cob ash (CCA) stabilized lateritic soils. This was done by first adopting an equation earlier developed for fine-grained soils and subsequent adaptation by others and extending it to modified lateritic soil through the introduction of alpha and beta parameters which are polynomial functions of the CCA binder input. The polynomial equations were determined with MATLAB R2011 curve fitting tool, while the alpha and beta parameters were determined by standard linear programming techniques using the Solver function of Microsoft Excel 2010. The model so developed was a good fit with a correlation coefficient R2 value of 0.86. The paper concludes that it is possible to determine the optimum moisture content and the maximum dry density of CCA stabilized soils from the compaction test of the unmodified soil, and recommends that this procedure is extended to other binder stabilized lateritic soils to facilitate quick decision making in roadworks.

Keywords: compaction, corn cob ash, lateritic soil, stabilization

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1080 Improvement on a CNC Gantry Machine Structure Design for Higher Machining Speed Capability

Authors: Ahmed A. D. Sarhan, S. R. Besharaty, Javad Akbaria, M. Hamdi

Abstract:

The capability of CNC gantry milling machines in manufacturing long components has caused the expanded use of such machines. On the other hand, the machines’ gantry rigidity can reduce under severe loads or vibration during operation. Indeed, the quality of machining is dependent on the machine’s dynamic behavior throughout the operating process. For this reason, this type of machines has always been used prudently and are non efficient. Therefore, they can usually be employed for rough machining and may not produce adequate surface finishing. In this paper, a CNC gantry milling machine with the potential to produce good surface finish has been designed and analyzed. The lowest natural frequency of this machine is 202 Hz at all motion amplitudes with a full range of suitable frequency responses. Meanwhile, the maximum deformation under dead loads for the gantry machine is 0.565µm, indicating that this machine tool is capable of producing higher product quality.

Keywords: frequency response, finite element, gantry machine, gantry design, static and dynamic analysis

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1079 Sliding Mode Controller for Active Suspension System on a Passenger Car Model

Authors: Nouby M. Ghazaly, Ahmed O. Moaaz, Mostafa Makrahy

Abstract:

The main purpose of a car suspension system is to reduce the vibrations resulting from road roughness. The main objective of this research paper is to decrease vibration and improve passenger comfort through controlling car suspension system using sliding mode control techniques. The mathematical model for passive and active suspensions systems for quarter car model which subject to excitation from different road profiles is obtained. The active suspension system is synthesized based on sliding mode control for a quarter car model. The performance of the sliding mode control is determined through computer simulations using MATLAB and SIMULINK toolbox. The simulated results plotted in time domain, and root mean square values. It is found that active suspension system using sliding mode control improves the ride comfort and decrease vibration.

Keywords: quarter car model, active suspension system, sliding mode control, road profile

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1078 Mechanism for Network Security via Routing Protocols Estimated with Network Simulator 2 (NS-2)

Authors: Rashid Mahmood, Muhammad Sufyan, Nasir Ahmed

Abstract:

The MANETs have lessened transportation and decentralized network. There are numerous basis of routing protocols. We derived the MANETs protocol into three major categories like Reactive, Proactive and hybrid. In these protocols, we discussed only some protocols like Distance Sequenced Distance Vector (DSDV), Ad hoc on Demand Distance Vector (AODV) and Dynamic Source Routing (DSR). The AODV and DSR are both reactive type of protocols. On the other hand, DSDV is proactive type protocol here. We compare these routing protocols for network security estimated by network simulator (NS-2). In this dissertation some parameters discussed such as simulation time, packet size, number of node, packet delivery fraction, push time and speed etc. We will construct all these parameters on routing protocols under suitable conditions for network security measures.

Keywords: DSDV, AODV, DSR NS-2, PDF, push time

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1077 A Hybrid Recommendation System Based on Association Rules

Authors: Ahmed Mohammed Alsalama

Abstract:

Recommendation systems are widely used in e-commerce applications. The engine of a current recommendation system recommends items to a particular user based on user preferences and previous high ratings. Various recommendation schemes such as collaborative filtering and content-based approaches are used to build a recommendation system. Most of the current recommendation systems were developed to fit a certain domain such as books, articles, and movies. We propose a hybrid framework recommendation system to be applied on two-dimensional spaces (User x Item) with a large number of Users and a small number of Items. Moreover, our proposed framework makes use of both favorite and non-favorite items of a particular user. The proposed framework is built upon the integration of association rules mining and the content-based approach. The results of experiments show that our proposed framework can provide accurate recommendations to users.

Keywords: data mining, association rules, recommendation systems, hybrid systems

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1076 Novel Steviosides Analogs Induced Apoptosis in Breast Cancers

Authors: Ahmed Malki

Abstract:

Breast cancer has been identified as the most lethal form of cancer today. In our study, we designed and screened 16 steviosides derivatives for their cytotoxic activities in MCF-7human breast cancer cells and normal MCF-12a cells. Our data indicated that steviosides derivatives 9 and 15 decreased cell proliferation and induced apoptosis in MCF-7 breast cancer cells more thannormal breast cells epithelial cells. Flow cytometric analysis showed that both steviosides, derivatives 9 and 15 arrested the MCF-7 cells in G1 phase, which is further confirmed by the increased expression level of p21. Moreover, both steviosides derivatives increased caspase-9 activity, and the induction of apoptosis was significantly reduced after treating cells with caspase-9 inhibitor LEHD-CHO. Both steviosides derivatives increased Caspase 3 activities and induced Parp-1 cleavage in H1299 cells. Based on previous results, we have identified two novel steviosides derivatives which provoked apoptosis in breast cancer cells by arresting cells in G1 phase and increasing caspase-9 and caspase-3 activities which merits further development and investigations.

Keywords: steviosides, breast cancer, p53, cell cycle

Procedia PDF Downloads 105