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Integrative Genomic Insights into Coral Resilience: Adaptive and Acclimatory Responses to Seasonal Environmental Shifts
Get PDFCoral reefs, critical to marine biodiversity and coastal protection, face escalating threats from climate change-related phenomena such as ocean warming. This warming is leading to widespread thermal stress that contributes to coral bleaching and infectious disease in corals, leading to the disruption of marine ecosystems and the economies that depend on them. Focusing on the brain coral Platygyra daedalea, known for its thermal resilience in the Persian Arabian Gulf—a region that exemplifies the extreme stressors of climate change—our study aims to dissect the genetic, transcriptomic, and microbiological underpinnings of coral survival in high-temperature environments predicted for the end of the century. We examined population-specific genetic resilience, finding variations in adaptability across different coral cohorts. The study uncovered distinct gene expression profiles and essential genetic diversity patterns linked to the coral\u27s ability to withstand environmental stress, shedding light on the genetic and bacterial microbiome-driven adaptive mechanisms of P. daedalea. These findings highlight the significance of genetic variations and symbiotic microbial interactions in coral resilience, providing crucial insights into adaptation and acclimation strategies
Policy Frameworks and Citizens’ Use of Fintech Solutions: The Pros and Cons in Egypt
Get PDFThis thesis provides a comprehensive analysis of the significant influence of financial technology (FinTech) on the banking industry, consumer finance, and economic growth. It specifically concentrates on the swiftly changing FinTech environment in Egypt. The study investigates the impact of incorporating advanced technologies on worldwide financial practices, which has significantly transformed traditional banking models and facilitated the emergence of inventive financial services. The transition is clearly apparent in Egypt, where the expansion of FinTech has been driven by advances in regulations, adaptation to technology, and a population that is becoming more comfortable with digital solutions.
Using a combination of quantitative surveys and qualitative insights, this study examines customer habits, preferences, and perceptions towards FinTech in comparison to traditional banking systems during the past five years. The study reveals several significant findings. First, it highlights a notable change in consumer preferences towards FinTech solutions, which can be attributed to their improved accessibility, efficiency, and user-centric design. Additionally, the study highlights the impact of FinTech on the financial services industry. It acknowledges the positive aspects of innovative and flexible financial services, but also raises concerns about the potential rise in consumer debt-burden ratios. This emphasizes the importance of promoting financial literacy and responsible borrowing practices.
The analysis addresses the regulatory environment and examines how current policies and frameworks impact the operation and expansion of FinTech companies in Egypt. The findings underscore the importance of maintaining an equilibrium between promoting innovation and safeguarding consumer interests. This underscores the need for regulatory practices that are flexible and forward-thinking, in order to facilitate the sustainable development of the FinTech industry
Gender Inequality is not a Women Only Issue: A Case Study of Egyptian Private News Media
Get PDFDiscrimination in the workplace among different genders is a significant issue in the news media sector globally. This study aims to determine and measure gender inequality in the Egyptian private news media sector through different indicators, including job payments, workload, promotions, media roles, work safety, and work flexibility, especially post-COVID. A mixed approach was used by conducting sixteen interviews and then a survey of 304 private news media sector participants. As inequalities can be a double-faced case, men\u27s and women\u27s perspectives have been considered in the study sample. Through descriptive and statistical analysis, the research findings revealed new insights to formulate new workplace policies that protect female and male private news media employees\u27 rights. Parental leave and flexible work policies are the top priorities to achieve gender equality. Female journalists were more likely to feel that they were treated unequally. Also, there were highly significant statistical differences indicating that male journalists reported greater workload compared to female journalists (p\u3c 0.001). Thus, gender issues need to be further studied post-Covid new work arrangements. In order to advance gender equality, comprehensive legislation that provides men with sufficient paid parental leave and women with fair promotions is essential, and cultural beliefs should be changed
Performance of Insulating Honeycomb Paperboard Blocks
No full textIn a world of increasing levels of CO2 emissions and environmental degradation, brick kilns used in the making of construction blocks are considered to have a high impact on the environment due to the growth in population and urbanization. Land pollution is also a main concern where the food quality of agricultural land is damaged by the copious quantities of waste materials made from brick kilns. Simultaneously, land cutting causes soil erosion because good quality soil is used in the making of high-quality blocks. The health of the workers, who make up an integral part of the industry’s manpower resources, is regarded as the most crucial concern. Aiming to shed light on climate change, saving waste, and green construction, the incorporation of honeycomb and corrugated sheets produced from flute cardboard with less cement, aggregates, sand, and water to produce a building block is the central focus of the work. The integration of flute cardboard into the production blocks has minimal environmental impact as its manufacture means a reduction of 60% in CO2 and oil emissions (Abou-zeid et al, A proposed use of sound insulation systems (2019) [1]). Additionally, it is recyclable, biodegradable and saves prominent levels of energy. The study aims to produce more environmentally friendly building blocks by reducing Portland cement and replacing it with eco-friendly honeycomb paperboard. Experimental testing is implemented to compare the properties of honeycomb paperboard blocks to both solid and hollow blocks while ensuring better thermal and sound insulation and maintaining a suitable compressive strength. The tests that will be implemented include compressive strength, thermal and sound insulation, and water absorption. Hence, three mix ratios of different honeycomb thicknesses are prepared to achieve an adequate mix ratio between the honeycomb and concrete mix design. Upon choosing the most adequate mix ratio, two walls are conducted: one using market solid blocks and the other using the honeycomb paperboard blocks selected, and load-bearing test is conducted testing the load distribution and capacity the blocks can withstand
Sequential Generative-Supervised Strategies for Improved Multi-Step Oil Well Production Forecasting
No full textGenerative Adversarial Networks (GANs) exhibit great potential in many areas. In this paper, we explore their potential in multi-step time series forecasting. To the extent of our knowledge, this task has not been extensively researched yet, possibly due to its unique challenges when trying to model the original temporal behavior of the data. We propose a model for concrete multi-step forecasting where we mix the generative power of the unsupervised GAN loss with the deterministic prediction capabilities of supervised losses. We do this in a rather simple, sequential manner that proves to be helpful for both components of the architecture. The unsupervised component does its job by offering multiple generated predictions that follow the temporal dynamics of the time series, while the supervised component acts as a prediction selector that inspects the provided outputs and creates the most accurate one. We apply this approach in the energy sector, particularly using real industry data on oil well production, as provided to us by Raisa Energy. This learning approach leverages the generative component to provide superior results to those of the supervised counterpart. The approach also stabilizes the overall training, thereby improving the results and providing a more reliable training process
SWEL-V: A low-cost salt-water electrolyzer. Comparative analyses with the proton exchange membrane, PEM, electrolyzer
No full textSeawater is the largest resource on earth which makes the hydrogen production directly from seawater an economically attractive solution if the corrosion problems are solved. Traditionally in the electrolysis analysis, both electrodes are made of metals. The produced oxygen and chlorine in the electrolysis process cause high rates of corrosion resulting in using expensive alloys to slow down the corrosion process. A novel solution to the corrosion problem is introduced, tested, and experimentally proved. The novelty of the solution relies on replacing the classic high-cost positive electrodes with a non-metallic, low cost, one [1,2]. The non-metallic electrode is made of surface rock portions with high pore volume and high pores connectivity and saturated with saline water. The experimental results are compared to the freshwater Proton Exchange Membrane PEM electrolyzers. The comparison proved that the novel solution solved the corrosion challenges of the metallic electrodes with excellent efficiency and hydrogen purity
The Emerging Role of Environmental Cadmium Exposure in Prostate Cancer Progression
No full textCadmium (Cd) is a widespread environmental pollutant with several adverse effects on the general population. While Cd is a well-established risk factor for some cancers, such as lung cancer, its impact on prostate cancer (PCa) is not well understood. PCa mortality is associated with its progression to metastatic spread. This underscores the importance of studying the environmental/or molecular factors that govern the progression from organ-confined tumors to widely metastatic disease. To date, most studies addressing the effects of Cd on PCa are focused on the incidence rather than the progression/outcome. Furthermore, most of these epidemiological studies are limited by the small number of samples and the fact that most of these studies measured Cd levels in the air, blood, or urine, which is less applicable for addressing associations in environmental exposure than the measurement of Cd concentrations in the prostate microenvironment. It is still unknown whether Cd is a driver or a consequence of PCa aggressiveness. Addressing the plausibility of causality requires using proper in vitro and in vivo models for sub-micromolar Cd doses that mimic environmental exposure. Most in vitro studies addressing the functional and molecular effects of Cd are limited by the exclusive use of aggressive PCa cell models and very high micromolar unbound Cd concentrations, which are irrelevant for environmental exposure. Significantly, few studies have addressed the effects of sub-micromolar Cd concentrations. Hence, we suggest using nanomolar concentration that resembles real-life exposure, using less aggressive in vitro models such as RWPE-2, employing 3D organoid culture systems, and adopting high throughput-omics techniques, including metallomics, and using transgenic animal models might represent a more effective model. Here, we focus on reports on the impact of Cd on the progression and aggressiveness of already-established PCa instead of on the initial steps of carcinogenesis. We suggest potential future directions for substantiating the plausible link between Cd exposure and PCa aggressiveness
Adjoint Variable Method Unleashed: A Journey into Rapid Inverse Design Strategies
No full textThis paper explores the transformative role of the Adjoint Variable Method (AVM) in rapid inverse design strategies, particularly in the context of metasurfaces. The AVM, a gradient-based optimization technique, efficiently acquires sensitivity information for design optimization. Recent applications of the AVM in metasurface engineering are highlighted, showcasing its versatility and efficiency in addressing design challenges
How brand CSR responses to the pandemic impact brand value, growth, and rank
No full textThe top 100 brands globally in 2020 have responded to the coronavirus pandemic by donating cash, donating in kind, providing special services to their customers, and supporting their employees. The research investigates if their actions reflected on the brand value, brand growth, or brand rank change and which of the four actions, if any, significantly impacted brand performance indicators. The research showed that donations in kind and customer service responses affected brand growth. Both brand value and rank are more long-term and cannot be changed significantly by short-term responses in one year. The authors conclude with a discussion of the insights, research limitations, theoretical and managerial implications, and directions for future research
Ab initio prediction of charged species distribution at grain boundaries: Effects of structure and dopants
No full textUnderstanding charged species transport in polycrystalline material is important in a wide range of applications. Due to defect segregation and space charge layer formation, the transport properties in the vicinity of the grain boundary are often drastically different from their bulk counterpart. In this work, we predict concentration profiles of charged species at Σ3 (100) twin boundary, Σ5 (210) [001] grain boundary, and Σ5 (310) [001] grain boundary of monoclinic ZrO2 by combining defect energetics from first-principles calculation and continuum level modeling. We show that at the close-packed Σ3 grain boundary, the space charge effect is negligible. The two Σ5 grain boundaries induce a positive space charge potential due to the segregation of oxygen vacancies. In the extended space charge layer, oxygen interstitials and electrons accumulate, leading to enhancement in oxygen diffusivity and n-type electronic conductivity. We survey doped ZrO2 and show that aliovalent dopants strongly change the magnitude of the space charge potential. In Cr- and Fe-doped ZrO2, we observe up to ten orders of magnitude increase in oxygen diffusion coefficient, and five orders of magnitude increase in electronic conductivity. These results show that defect redistribution at grain boundaries is one of the governing factors in determining transport properties in polycrystalline ZrO2, and that by such predictive modeling, a detailed understanding of point defect redistribution at extended defects is achievable