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Phosphomolybdic Acid-Doped Zeolitic Imidazolate Framework-8 Hybrid: Nanostructured Material with Synergistic Antibacterial Effect
Get PDFBacterial infections represent a major global health concern, causing millions of deaths and significant economic burdens. The development of nanostructured surfaces with antibacterial activity can revolutionize infection control practices. In this study, a hybrid material of Zeolitic imidazolate framework-8 (ZIF-8) doped with phosphomolybdic acid (PMA) was synthesized and characterized by FESEM, EDS, XRD, FTIR, and N2 sorption isotherm. The antibacterial activity against Escherichia coli as a model organism was tested by colony forming unit (CFU) reduction assay, minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC), and time-kill curve. PMA@ZIF-8 performance as an antibacterial agent was superior to its individual constituents, suggesting synergistic effect of PMA and ZIF-8. The incorporation of PMA into the ZIF-8 significantly enhanced its antibacterial efficacy, as evidenced by a twofold reduction in MIC (375 μg/mL vs. 750 μg/mL) and a 4.35 times increase in bactericidal kinetics rate constant. The time-kill curve experiment revealed that PMA@ZIF-8 achieved a 3-log reduction within 7 hours, whereas ZIF-8 required 24 hours to reach the same level of reduction. Density functional theory (DFT) was employed to conduct a quantum mechanical simulation. The density of states and bandgaps of ZIF-8 and PMA@ZIF-8 revealed a significant decrease in the bandgap in the hybrid, and powerful reactive oxygen species generation with subsequent bacterial death. Accordingly, PMA@ZIF-8 can be computationally featured as an oxidative nanozyme. PMA@ZIF-8’s surface topology revealed nanorods protrusions, suggesting potential mechano-bactericidal effect. This study highlights the potential of PMA@ZIF-8 hybrid as a highly effective antibacterial agent, demonstrating its superior performance compared to its individual constituents and suggesting synergistic effects. The nanostructured surfaces with enhanced antibacterial activity hold promise for creating multifunctional antibacterial surfaces
Is ESG a Determinant of Banks’ resilience and Growth Everywhere? A Response from an AI-Aided Approach
Get PDFThere are many calls for banks to expand their contribution to the transition towards a sustainable world by sponsoring initiatives that promote the United National Sustainable Development Goals. This role is more materialized in developing countries as banks are the key source of funding; thus, they have the power of money to mutate the DNA of businesses to operate responsibly with respect to the surrounding environment and society. Various studies consider the reflection of adopting sustainable approaches by banks, though focusing on developed countries who took the initiative to lead this change. As the banks in developing countries try to catch this up, there is a question about how this endeavor reflects on their return and risk profiles. This study empirically shows that unlike banks in Europe, North America, and Asia, banks in other less-developed areas may exhibit lower returns as they expand their focus on the transition to sustainability rather than asset growth. On the other hand, the study also reveals for those banks in less-developed contexts, there is no significant relationship between banks’ sustainable performance and their resilience to distress. These results help to portray an inclusive view of the sustainability-focused strategies in various frameworks where high-income nations are expected to expand their support for poorer countries in order to alleviate their cost of transition especially as the climate change and resources depletion’s responsibility is not evenly shared. Also, the study helps policy makers to consider the importance of the prudential supervisory framework to promote sustainability though in relevance to the country’s economic and regulatory maturity. From another perspective, the results are useful for banks drawing their strategies to consider the reflection of their engagement in the environmental and social preservation practices within various economic contexts
An Examination of The Impacts of Macroeconomic Indicators on Conventional and Islamic Equity Fund Returns: Perspectives From The Mena Region
Get PDFThis study examines the performance of conventional and Islamic equity mutual funds in the MENA region, and the influence of major macroeconomic determinants on the two types, by analyzing 503 conventional and 128 Shariah-compliant funds. It incorporates three major macroeconomic variables using Generalized Linear Models (GLM). The findings indicate no significant superiority of Islamic funds over conventional ones. The study also notes that while market performance and foreign exchange rates positively affect both fund types, GDP growth and inflation have a negative impact. Islamic funds are less influenced by excess market returns, GDP growth, and inflation compared to conventional funds, showing a distinct response to economic variables
Preliminary Investigation of Urban Quality of Life: Towards Effective Measurements of Wellbeing in New Urban Communities in Cairo.
Get PDFThis study focuses on investigating Urban Quality of Life (UQoL) in New Cairo as a case study for New Urban Communities (NUCs) in the Greater Cairo Region. The objective of this thesis is to get an accurate description of urban life in NUCs as a distinct mode of urbanization. The study investigates residents’ Subjective Well Being (SWB) and life satisfaction within a wide range of urban life domains, grouped in a conceptual framework of seven sections: Housing & Neighbourhood Quality, Transport & Mobility, Health & Wellness, Education & Employment, Culture & Recreation, Social & Community Support, and Governance & Neighbourhood Management. The research follows a qualitative approach to capture residents’ perceptions on the suitability and availability of hard infrastructure, certain amenities and services, and the relational quality between the built environment and residents. The study applies two research methods, face to face interviews with residents, urban studies academics, and one policymaker, and a Likert based survey for residents (which garnered 75 responses). Overall, in testing the survey’s universality and effectiveness in capturing UQoL, survey results showed that residents are ‘unsatisfied’ with Urban Quality of Life in New Cairo. This was further corroborated through face-to-face interviews where several interrelated themes emerged regarding expectations and realities of migrating to New Cairo, movement and accessibility, social disintegration, and the divergent nature of how NUCs are perceived by urban experts and government officials
Clean Drinking Water Access In Egypt’s Marginalized Areas: A Case study of Life From Water Foundation
No full textEgypt currently suffers from marked water scarcity due to its vulnerability to climate change, uneven water distribution, degradation of water quality, and misuse of water resources in rural and peri-urban areas, leading to health risks and poor hygiene. It is worth noting that Egypt is at a turning point in facing the impacts of climate change action and continuing its national development of water resources to ensure access to safe drinking water and sanitation services to cover the rapid demands of all beneficiaries. However, there is a vulnerability in many marginalized rural and peri-urban areas as they still face a lack of adequate water infrastructure and high levels of poverty with significant leakage, inefficient pumping, and degraded water quality. This study aims to bridge possible disconnects between the government\u27s macro policy aims and NGOs in finding solutions for a comprehensive regulatory framework integrating the environmental and development needs of clean water and sanitation services. Based on a qualitative approach, this study used semi-structured interviews and fieldwork observation to collect the perceptions of various policymakers, practitioners, and beneficiaries to understand the underlying structures of the opportunities, challenges, and perspectives on policy implementation for clean water provision with engaging stakeholders harmonizing water supply and demand by using water efficiently. So, this study would be the conceptual framework of the integrated water management approach, including the ability to develop further action to achieve adequate water supply services with proper quality and quantity for rural and peri-urban areas. In this study, this conceptual framework was aligned with the implementation of Donald Van Meter and Carl Van Horn model for specificizing the relationships of bringing civil society participation in rural areas into dialogue to combine policy dialogue and technicality with considering the intervention of the social, economic, political, and environmental aspects. Accordingly, the interviews` feedback identified that the NGOs partially work as mediators with the government in implementing their water development plan to install water tap connections inside households for deserving families. However, there are deep-rooted challenges in delivering water governmental services in the presence of institutional constraints in having the three-way relationship between the state, NGOs (water providers), and citizens due to centralization, overlapping mandates, and limited state capacities in water and sanitation service delivery. The study recommends the implementation of a holistic legislative framework for the inter-relationships between the different levels of the actors to consider cross-sector strategic engagement for sustainable water infrastructure projects. Additionally, the study recommends ensuring water quality management, increasing the investment in capacity building, and raising awareness.
KEYWORDS: Water scarcity, water infrastructure, multi-stakeholder governance water quality
Properties of Portland Cement Concrete Incorporating Basalt-Based Pozzolanic Cement
Get PDFOver the last decade, the world\u27s population has increased dramatically. Due to this growth, the demand for concrete and Portland cement, in return, have increased. Manufacturing of Portland cement is an energy-intensive process that, alone, contributes to about 8% of global CO2. For decades, efforts have been exerted to reduce the harmful environmental impacts of Portland cement by reducing its use in concrete as well as considering alternate binders that may fully or partially replace it. This study aims to assess the properties of concrete incorporating a novel basalt-based pozzolanic cement. To meet this objective, four sets of concrete mixtures were prepared; each with mixtures of w/c of 0.35, 0.45, and 0.55. The first set had CEM I normal ordinary Portland cement (OPC), the second set was made with a newly produced basalt-based pozzolanic cement CEM II (PPC). The third and fourth sets were prepared to gauge the performance of this cement against commonly known pozzolanic mineral admixtures. Hence, the third set had silica fume (10%), while the fourth set had blast furnace slag (25%) as partial replacement of Portland cement. The experimental program involved fresh and hardened concrete testing as well as durability-related tests. The Fouriar Transform Infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) analysis showed that PPC contains silica, thus, has a pozzolanic potential. Compressive strength test results yielded the highest value for silica mixtures and a lower value for the PPC mixes yet adequate for use in several construction applications. For the durability of concrete, the PPC concrete shows a good resistance for chemical as well as good performance for the Rapid Chloride Permeability Test (RCPT) and water permeability tests when compared with the OPC mixtures. This study is not but a step toward a greener and more sustainable one, without compromising the structural properties
Tactical Compromises: Authoritarian Survival Mechanisms of Sudan’s Inqaz Regime (1989-2019)
Get PDFHow did the Inqaz regime survive a civil war, economic crises, mass upheavals, and political stagnation for thirty years? This question guides the study’s analysis of the survival of one of the MENA’s most resilient authoritarian regimes. Authoritarian durability is an adaptive risk-taking process of implementing politically costly plans to survive in power. This research investigates authoritarian survival through power-sharing reforms and coup-proofing tactics. The study highlights the role of the autocratic ruling coalition in maintaining regime durability and argues that intra-elite dynamics are key to understanding an autocrat’s exit without a clear successor. To this end, I investigate the changes in the ruling coalition\u27s composition under the Inqaz regime across several periods punctuated by critical junctures and question the role of these changes in prolonging the regime\u27s life. The guiding lens through which I tackle the regime’s resilience is the theory of coup-proofing. I complement the analysis with the political marketplace approach to better understand the last phases of the regime\u27s cycle. The primary method of analysis is process tracing, connecting path-dependent events and finding their plausible causes, as adaptability-to-survive is a central focus. The study relies on secondary sources and over a dozen semi-structured interviews with Sudanese and non-Sudanese scholars and journalists. The study finds that the Inqaz regime survived in power through a series of elite reconfigurations and fell when its coup-proofing tactics backfired. In the end, the security elite triad came to the improbable yet tactical agreement that their survival hinges on the autocrat’s removal
The Effect of Fiscal and Monetary Policy on Public Debt in Egypt
Get PDFThe thesis aims to examine the effect of monetary policies and fiscal policies on public debt in Egypt during the period from 2006 until 2021. Egypt is witnessing aggravated levels of debt, with limited fiscal and monetary space. Therefore, the objective of the paper is to analyze the effect of discount rates, inflation rates, subsidies, taxes and economic growth on debt-to-GDP in Egypt using a VAR model with an extended test of Impulse Response Function. The results suggest that a positive shock in government expenditures initially decreases public debt but leads to a fluctuating increase in the debt-to-GDP ratio in the long run. Tax increases initially reduce the debt to GDP ratio. A positive shock in inflation rates increases the debt to GDP ratio initially but shows a negative effect in the longer term. Additionally, a positive shock in discount rates leads to a higher debt to GDP ratio in the long run due to higher cost of debt service. The findings conclude that the interactions between fiscal and monetary policies are quite complex and interrelated, and require policy makers to consider their effect on the long and short run. The thesis also highlights the significant risk for Egypt to fall in a debt-inflation trap
Aquatic Allegro
Get PDFStudents in JRMC 4460 Audio Production at The American University in Cairo (AUC) in Cairo, Egypt, produced audio diaries for the AUC Diaries Project to document their life on and off campus in Fall 2024
Al Massrieen: From Legacy to Resurgence
Get PDFThis is an audio documentary about Al Massrieen, a band founded by famous Egyptian music composer Hany Shenouda which gained huge fame in the 1980s for its unique lyrics and rhythms.
What’s interesting about it is that, despite fading from public view over the years, the band has recently experienced a resurgence in popularity among younger audiences through its inclusion in the new series called Hala Khasa leading to a renewed appreciation for Egyptian music history