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The Everyday Practices of Dialysis and Kidney Transplant in Egypt
No full textThis thesis is an autoethnography of the lived experiences of kidney disease and transplantation, through the lens of everyday life. I combine my own autoethnographic accounts of my experiences going through kidney disease, failure, dialysis, and eventually organ transplantation, with participant observation of other kidney patients and transplant recipients, as well as ethnographic research with a kidney donor. In doing so, and by employing an actor-network theoretical framework, this thesis moves away from seeing the kidney as simply a diseased organ or an object to medical intervention. Instead, it aims to unravel the multiplicity, contradictions and myriad of layers that comprise what we label kidney transplant. I connect my autoethnographic account to the cultural, the social, and the political fields within which kidney disease operates in Egypt and examine the way bodies carrying diseased organs are entangled with overindebted subjects, causing new possibilities to emerge – possibilities that sustain life. I place the social at the center of the analysis, and delve into questions of time, space, bodies, and the relationships between humans and non-humans. I move through these entanglements with a sensibility towards the messiness of the different fields through which diseased bodies operate, and with the aim of understanding how we can account for the messy worlds of diseased subjectivities
CASAR Public lecture: Women & STEM Education in Egypt & the US: Stepping into a Man\u27s World of Science & Technology
Get PDFIn celebration of International Women\u27s Day this Month, we held a public lecture titled: Women & STEM Education in Egypt & the US : Stepping into a Man\u27s World of Science & Technology on Thursday March 28th, 2024 from 12:15 pm to 1:15 pm (assembly hour) – Conference and Visitor Center, Mary Cross Hall AUC New Cairo Despite a plethora of advances made by women in the world we live in today, they are still woefully underrepresented in the realm of STEM education and the associated career paths. At this event, we uncovered the history, reasons & challenges women face in both countries as they embark on STEM education and career paths in both countries. Why is STEM still unpopular with women? Are there challenges? What are they? Are they the same in both countries? Do culture & gender roles relate to this topic? Is it a matter of incompetence or stamina? Should gender matter in these fields? Are STEM fields less feminine? These are the questions our fine panelists answered at the lecture via their inspiring journey in STEM education & career paths. We were honored to host the following esteemed speakers on the panel: Dr. Hanadi Salem, Professor and Chairperson, AUC’s Department of Mechanical Engineering, Chair of the University Senate Dr. Ana Lichtenberger, US Fulbright Scholar and AUC’s SSE Adjunct Professor Mrs. Mai Salama, CEO of ‘Mai the Mechanic’- A pioneer female mechanic in Egypt
The panel was moderated by Yasmeen El-Ghazaly, Adjunct Faculty & the Assistant to Director at the Prince Alwaleed Center for American Studies & Research (CASAR) This event was held in honor of International Women\u27s Day and was a collaboration between the Prince Alwaleed Center for American Studies and Research (CASAR), The Tomorrow\u27s Leaders Gender Scholars Program, the School of Science & Engineering at AUC, The Fulbright Commission in Egypt and the Public Diplomacy Section at the U.S. Embassy in Cairo For more info email: [email protected] Follow us for updates on our events & activities on: CASAR website: https://gapp.aucegypt.edu/centers/casar FB page: / casar.aucegypt.edu
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Native Speakerism in Egypt: The Perceptions of Non-Native English-Speaking Teachers (NNESTs) and their Employability
Get PDFDiscriminatory hiring practices toward non-native English-speaking teachers (NNESTs) have been researched, debated, and criticized globally. Yet, such recruitment practices are still prevalent in the TESOL field due to perceptions of the linguistic prowess of the native English-speaking teacher (NEST). Given the existence of such practices, this study aims to identify the criteria that employers look for when hiring English language teachers in Cairo, to examine how nativeness is ranked within these criteria, and to investigate if there is a connection between the perceptions of administrators, parents, and teachers regarding NNESTs and hiring practices. A mixed-methods research design was employed to gather data regarding the perceptions of Egyptian NNESTs in Cairo. First, a content analysis of six private, international institutions’ career web-pages was undertaken. Second, a correspondence testing treatment was used by sending CVs to the same six institutions used for the content analysis. Third, a questionnaire was distributed to parents of students enrolled at private, international institutions in Cairo. Lastly, interviews with four administrators, two parents and six Egyptian NNESTs were conducted. Results showed that the explicit perceptions towards NNESTs and NESTs expressed by administrators and parents were mostly neutral, with instances of native speaker biases with regards to accent preferences and cultural competence. NNESTs interviewed also narrated feelings of inferiority and disparate situations before and after employment when compared to their NEST colleagues. It has been illustrated by administrators and parents that there is a lack of understanding of what native speakerism is and how some of their explicit and implicit perceptions may perpetuate the native speaker fallacy. These findings indicate the need for awareness-raising content focusing on native speakerism in teacher training programs, TESOL programs, and other ESL/EFL workshops. Additionally, implementing intercultural learning projects both within Egyptian ELTE programs and within the language learning classroom can help dispel near-native ideals and anxieties while also exposing students to World Englishes, which is necessary to be able to communicate with other non-native English speakers such as most living in Egypt. These implications will ultimately yield an environment where embracing trans-speakerism is possible, emphasizing diversity, equity and inclusion for English language teachers and learners in Egypt
Investigating Language Ideologies and Attitudes Towards Dubbing Disney Movies into Arabic
Get PDFThis research delves into the analysis of online discussions surrounding the dubbing of Disney movies into two Arabic varieties: Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) and Egyptian Colloquial Arabic (ECA). The objective is to uncover the language ideologies and attitudes taken by Disney fans online. Dubbing Disney movies into these two varieties has sparked numerous debates on social media, particularly on Facebook. The study employed stance-taking to analyze the metalinguistic comments made by Facebook users about the use of these two Arabic varieties in the context of Disney. A Verbal Guise Technique (VGT) experiment was conducted on Disney excerpts to complement the results. The findings provided valuable insights into how Arab social media users’ stances are influenced by their ideologies and attitudes. Lastly, the VGT experiment provided another perspective on how Arabs evaluate MSA and ECA in the context of Disney movies and how they express their indirect language attitudes. The findings showed the differences in language attitudes between Maghreb, Mashreq, and Arab Peninsula countries. Mashreq and Peninsula countries revealed closer language attitudes than those of the Maghreb countries. Moreover, the ECA competes with MSA in prestige and pleasantness. MSA is seen as the thread that connects the Arab World and is adulated for its connection with the Arab heritage, religion, and education. However, it is less favored for its rigidity, unintelligibility, and unnaturalness. Finally, ECA is favored for its simplicity, humor, closeness, familiarity, intimacy, naturalness, and entertainment
Critical assessment of R410A alternatives for mini-split air conditioners in the Egyptian market
No full textRethinking Female Genital Cutting through Postcolonial lens
Get PDFDue to global instabilities, the resulting international displacement and rising inter- cultural tensions within Western societies have relocated gendered cultural practices at the center of contemporary debates on multiculturalism, social cohesion and migration. In this context, female genital cutting (FGC) has re-emerged as a symbol of savagery, portrayed as a symbol of “otherness”, a true global violation of women’s rights. While the increasing attention given to these practices is a testament to reinvigorated feminist activism, FGC has also been harnessed for the purposes of reproducing colonial discourses about the “Third World”, which have been integral to the revival of many policies and the creation of the “Fortress Europe”. This thesis aims to contribute to new knowledge by illuminating how cultural change and FGC-affected women’s experiences of trauma are shaped by state policies on asylum, migrant incorporation and cultural diversity. In locating inclusion, co-production and power as core issues in both anti-FGC activism and research in this area, I focused on an extensive literature review examining the different academic perspectives on conceptualizations of FGC, communities affected by it and the so called “strategies” for ending female genital cutting. This research focuses on reviewing the work of different authors as well as their theoretical contributions on FGC in the Global South, emphasizing the differences in between the cultural and structural perspectives, that define and divide the thinking from liberal feminists, black feminists and mainstream anti-FGC activism, postcolonial and socio-anthropological research. This thesis also looked into how these different debates continue to play out in approaches to FGC and other culturalized forms of gender-based violence in the Global North focusing also on illustrating the key gaps in relation to community perspectives on FGC prevention and the emergent positioning of the practice as an issue of migration and integration. By reflecting on the experiences behind migration, displacement and resettlement, this thesis focused on demonstrating the intersecting social, cultural, political and economic conditions which sustain women\u27s continuums of violence before and after migration. The conclusion illustrates how the collision of anti-FGC and anti-immigration discourse creates barriers for women to rebuild their lives after violence and displacement. I highlighted how these discourses materialize to perpetuate further trauma and to constrain women\u27s spaces for action to challenge FGC and other forms of gender- based violence within their communities
Study of Vortices Formation in Lateral Intakes of Pumping Stations
Get PDFThe inefficient design of pumping stations leads to undesirable flow characteristics and the formation of vortices in the sump. These undesirable flow features adversely affect the pumping unit performance and increase the operation and maintenance cost. The aim of this thesis is to assess the ability of the Realizable turbulence model to predict the formation of free-surface and submerged vortices within lateral pumping stations’ intakes. Additionally, the study aims to investigate the effect of the flow ratio and bottom clearance on the flow characteristics and the vortices formation in the sump. Finally, the study introduces an assessment of curtain walls and floor cones as anti-vortex devices in reducing the probability of vortices formation and enhancing the flow behavior in lateral intakes. The results proved the ability of the Realizable turbulence model to capture the complex flow features in the lateral intakes as compared to the experimental results from Anasar & Nakato (2001). Additionally, it was shown that although the design of the intake is in agreement with the requirements of the design codes, it did not prevent the formation of the free surface and floor-attached vortices. Investigating the bottom clearance while maintaining the water depth in the intake sump constant revealed that as the clearance increased, the vorticity magnitude was reported to decrease, even in the cases where the submergence depth above the inlet of the pipe was less than the recommended values. Which suggests that no free surface vortices were forming and extending to the suction pipe. Increasing the flow ratio between the flow in the sump and that in the main channel led to enhancing the flow uniformity in the intake; however, the values of vorticity at the inlet of the bell mouth were found to be increasing. Adding a curtain wall in the sump in general led to reducing the vorticity magnitude at the inlet of the suction pipe and improving the flow uniformity in the sump. However, it was found that locating the curtain wall near the inlet of the sump or near its center increased the vorticity magnitude at the inlet of the suction pipe. On the other hand, when it was located in between these two limits, a global minimum in the vorticity values was reported. Additionally, an enhancement in the flow uniformity was reported by using the curtain wall in the sump. However, the flow characteristics became more complicated, and new vortices were noticed forming in the sump. The reduction in the vorticity magnitude at the inlet of the bell mouth was due to the interaction between the new and old vortices formed in the sump, and the achieved reduction in vorticity was noticed to be not guaranteed. The curtain wall height did not have a significant effect on the area-weighted average vorticity magnitude; however, after a certain limit, the increase in the curtain wall height was reported to increase the maximum vorticity at the inlet of the bell mouth. Similarly, the effect of the height on the flow uniformity was found to be insignificant except for short curtain walls where the velocity uniformity was noticed to drop near the center of the sump. The use of a floor cone in lateral intakes was found to be not recommended as the results showed that adding a floor cone beneath the inlet of the bell-mouth led to increasing the vorticity magnitude at the inlet of the suction pipe and increasing its height had an adverse effect on the vorticity value by increasing it even more. Its effect on the velocity uniformity was noticed to be insignificant as noticed by the minor changes in the uniformity index distribution in the sump.
The inefficient design of pumping stations leads to undesirable flow characteristics and the formation of vortices in the sump. These undesirable flow features adversely affect the pumping unit performance and increase the operation and maintenance cost. The aim of this thesis is to assess the ability of the Realizable turbulence model to predict the formation of free-surface and submerged vortices within lateral pumping stations’ intakes. Additionally, the study aims to investigate the effect of the flow ratio and bottom clearance on the flow characteristics and the vortices formation in the sump. Finally, the study introduces an assessment of curtain walls and floor cones as anti-vortex devices in reducing the probability of vortices formation and enhancing the flow behavior in lateral intakes. The results proved the ability of the Realizable turbulence model to capture the complex flow features in the lateral intakes as compared to the experimental results from Anasar & Nakato (2001). Additionally, it was shown that although the design of the intake is in agreement with the requirements of the design codes, it did not prevent the formation of the free surface and floor-attached vortices. Investigating the bottom clearance while maintaining the water depth in the intake sump constant revealed that as the clearance increased, the vorticity magnitude was reported to decrease, even in the cases where the submergence depth above the inlet of the pipe was less than the recommended values. Which suggests that no free surface vortices were forming and extending to the suction pipe. Increasing the flow ratio between the flow in the sump and that in the main channel led to enhancing the flow uniformity in the intake; however, the values of vorticity at the inlet of the bell mouth were found to be increasing. Adding a curtain wall in the sump in general led to reducing the vorticity magnitude at the inlet of the suction pipe and improving the flow uniformity in the sump. However, it was found that locating the curtain wall near the inlet of the sump or near its center increased the vorticity magnitude at the inlet of the suction pipe. On the other hand, when it was located in between these two limits, a global minimum in the vorticity values was reported. Additionally, an enhancement in the flow uniformity was reported by using the curtain wall in the sump. However, the flow characteristics became more complicated, and new vortices were noticed forming in the sump. The reduction in the vorticity magnitude at the inlet of the bell mouth was due to the interaction between the new and old vortices formed in the sump, and the achieved reduction in vorticity was noticed to be not guaranteed. The curtain wall height did not have a significant effect on the area-weighted average vorticity magnitude; however, after a certain limit, the increase in the curtain wall height was reported to increase the maximum vorticity at the inlet of the bell mouth. Similarly, the effect of the height on the flow uniformity was found to be insignificant except for short curtain walls where the velocity uniformity was noticed to drop near the center of the sump. The use of a floor cone in lateral intakes was found to be not recommended as the results showed that adding a floor cone beneath the inlet of the bell-mouth led to increasing the vorticity magnitude at the inlet of the suction pipe and increasing its height had an adverse effect on the vorticity value by increasing it even more. Its effect on the velocity uniformity was noticed to be insignificant as noticed by the minor changes in the uniformity index distribution in the sump
Using Hybrid Machine learning Models for Stock Price Forecasting and Trading.
Get PDFTrading stocks of publicly traded companies in stock markets is a challenging topic since investors are researching what tools can be used to maximize their profits while minimizing risks, which encouraged all researchers to research and test different methods to reach such a goal. As a result, the use of both fundamental analysis and technical analysis started to evolve to support traders in buying and selling stocks. Recently, the focus increased on using Machine learning models to predict stock prices and algorithmic trading as currently there is a huge amount of data that can be processed and used to forecast and trade stocks.
The focus of this paper is to use four machine learning models to forecast next day stock prices and trade stocks accordingly. The models used are LSTM model, W-LSTM model in which Wavelet analysis is used to remove the noise of the time series data and provide new coefficients to the LSTM model, LSTM-ARO where ARO as an optimization algorism will select the best hyperparameters for the LSTM model and W-LSTM-ARO model. The model’s prediction accuracy is evaluated by MSE, MAE & R2, then the models are tested in terms of profit generation.
The companies studied in this paper are six companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE): Apple (APPL), Microsoft (MSFT), Exxon Mobile (XOM), General Electric (GE), AT&T (T) and Procter and Gamble (PG).
The study concludes that there is no correlation between models with high prediction accuracy and the ability of the model to generate profits. There is no best model that will fit in trading all stocks. Finally, the profits generated by W-LSTM & W-LSTM-ARO are higher the ones generated by LSTM & LSTM-ARO models. When the profits generated by W-LSTM & W-LSTM-ARO are compared with the buy & hold, RSI & EMA trading strategies it was concluded that W-LSTM & W-LSTM-ARO models are able to generate profits when the stock is in a downtrend
Civil War in Ancient Egypt? A Case Study of the First Intermediate Period (ca. 2120-1970 BC)
No full textThe First Intermediate Period (FIP – ca. 2120-1970 BCE) is often described by Egyptologists as a period of “civil war.” In the Egyptological literature, however, little attention is paid to defining this notion (which was first introduced only in the Late Roman Republic, almost 2,000 years later) and to explaining how it could be applicable to ancient Egyptian history.
This thesis contributes to this debate by analyzing the FIP through the lenses of contemporary approaches to civil war, drawn from political science and other cognate disciplines. It first discusses how if the events of the FIP comply with contemporary definitions of “civil war” and how other concepts, such as those of “state collapse” and “economics of war,” may be relevant for explaining Egypt’s political and social predicament during this period. It then applies a hermeneutical approach to the analysis of epigraphic, literary and visual sources from the FIP and Middle Kingdom in order to understand if ancient Egyptians made sense of this phase through interpretive and cognitive strategies comparable to those documented in Roman history.
The thesis concludes that the notion of “civil war” may be applicable to some phases of the FIP, but not to this period as a whole. In applying contemporary social science concepts to the FIP, it also suggests that the early phases of the FIP are best described as an instance of “state collapse” rather than as a “rebellion.” The sections of the thesis on the hermeneutics of civil war develop a model for unpacking such interpretive strategies, focused on the analysis of the language of warfare, the ethical dilemmas raised by internecine violence, and the memory of war. This analysis concludes that the ancient Egyptians did approach the events of the FIP differently from both foreign wars and internal rebellion, even if such difference was arguably articulated through the ethical and ontological concept of ma’at rather than through a notion comparable to the Roman idea of citizenship
Social Movements and Resistance: Extinction Rebellion Against Dominant Structures
Get PDFPublic dissent is the outcome of governments inaction regarding issues that populations deem as necessary. Social movements are groups that emerge due to dissatisfaction with the status quo that is presented by the current neoliberal world order. The new social movement that is studied in this thesis seeks emancipation, freedom, environmental justice and action, and the dismantlement of neoliberal capitalism as a system of production. This thesis examines the relevance of Gramscian analysis to the study of new social movements, with a focus on Gramscian hegemony and leaderless movements. The thesis uses Extinction Rebellion (XR), a UK-based movement that adopts nonviolent civil disobedience as its main case study to explore what can be uncovered through using Gramsci’s ideas when studying new social movements. The thesis concludes that Gramsci offers a useful lens to explore new social movements in a different angle than is done using other theories. The thesis\u27s main contribution to existing literature is its focus on areas of weakness and potential reasons for failure of movements fighting the current hegemonic order and how they could be perceived as tools of the neoliberal world order that they fight using Gramsci’s theory