988 research outputs found
Research on foreign direct investment and renewable electricity industry nexus in Africa / Ahmed Rashed Ahmed
No full textIn addition to three introductory chapters, this doctoral thesis incorporates a collection of five empirical research papers on Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and Renewable Electricity Industry (REI) in Africa. It suggests actionable recommendations on Africa's electricity insecurity issues. Those issues worsen daily, aggravating all facets of African life. In 2019, the International Energy Agency (IEA) estimated that 600 million Africans lived without electricity access and about 900 million lacked healthy cooking facilities in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), which particularly suffers from a clear shortage of published renewable energy data and studies. Africa's rapid population growth is another concern, coupled with a growing renewable energy financing gap. As a response to Africa's limitless renewable resources, the IEA recommends stimulating green FDI and renewable electricity production (REP). The first paper is entitled "Determinants of FDI in REI in Africa". A novel dataset of FDI corporations in the REI during 2003–2019 has been obtained. Using the FDI panel gravity fixed effects Poisson pseudo-maximum likelihood model, the uselessness of changes in fossil fuel subsidies in stimulating green FDI is revealed. However, a 1% growth in Africa's gross domestic product (GDP) expands FDI by almost 1.5%. Furthermore, increasing the number of educated African children and raising awareness of renewable energy contribute constructively to REI development. Besides, to understand the green FDI-REP relationship, the second paper, entitled "the nexus among FDI in the REI, REP, and GDP in Africa," is conducted to inspect the existence and nature of co-integration and causality nexuses among these variables in 32 African countries over 2003–2019. Applying the panel vector autoregression model based-Granger causality test and a static panel data approach, a unidirectional Granger causality/growth hypothesis between REP and GDP is found. Further, the neutrality hypothesis is confirmed among the remaining variables. Paying particular heed to SSA, as the third paper is titled "Causality analysis among FDI, renewable electricity output (REO), and GDP: Evidence from SSA". The paper uses the panel vector autoregression generalized method of moment model and found that REO predicts/causes GDP growth and vice versa. Thus, the feedback hypothesis is confirmed. Also, no causal effect was revealed between FDIREI-REO and FDIREI-GDP. To intensify research on Africa's green power, the fourth paper, "Determinants of Renewable Electricity Generation (REG) in Africa: A Focus on FDI", is introduced. To date, the impact of FDI on REG in Africa has yet to be investigated. By using the Prais- Winsten panel corrected standard errors model, the study finds compelling evidence that FDI inflows directly and indirectly limit, or even impede, the REG's development. The African population growth undermines REG. However, the encouraging result is that raising African awareness of renewable energy boosts REG. The fifth paper, "FDI and the Gap of Clean Power Finance: The Case of Africa", theoretically addresses the determinants of the clean energy financing gap and the Paris Agreement's impact on green FDI. The research found that the Paris Agreement attracts clean FDI. However, the gap is mainly attributed to corruption, underdeveloped policies, and the absence of accurate data. Moving forward, focused and diverse policy implications are outlined in the thesis
Fabrication and characterization of high surface area nickel-deposited graphite substrates
No full textThesis: S.B., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Mechanical Engineering, June 2015. First author.Thesis: S.B., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Mechanical Engineering, June 2014. Second author.Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.Includes bibliographical references (pages 61-63).In certain electrochemical battery cells, inefficiencies arise due to the formation of hydrogen from corrosion reactions at the anode. One way to reduce these inefficiencies is to operate the cell at high current densities, which is obtainable given a high cathode to anode surface area ratio; however, commercially available metal foams often do not provide sufficient surface area density (cm 2/g). Coating high-surface area materials in the appropriate metal is a premier alternative, but while methods to effectively coat two-dimensional substrates in metal through electrodeposition has been well documented, attempts to scale electrodeposition to three-dimensional coating to achieve high-surface area catalysts has encountered certain challenges. The formation of a pure metal crust on the outer surface area of the catalyst prevents the penetration of metal ions into the inner fibers of the material, resulting in a lower surface area density. This thesis describes simple, repeatable electrodeposition methods to increase the homogeneity of the nickel coating throughout highly porous graphite catalysts and prevent the formation of a metal crust. Parameters such as direct/pulsating current, ultrasonic vibration pretreatment, and varying electrodeposition solution concentrations were tested in order to optimize the electrodeposition procedure. Three techniques were used to characterize the post-synthesis surface condition including scanning electron microscopy, electron dispersive spectroscopy and cyclic voltammetry. The improved electrodeposition method led to nickel-coated graphite felt with a specific surface area of 620 cm2/cm 3 and a surface area density of 7500 cm2/g, achieving a 890% higher surface area and 4650% higher surface area density than commercially available nickel foams. The proposed electrodeposition method provides high-surface area, full-volume coating of highly porous catalysts, applicable not only to electrochemical batteries but to any battery chemistry with an electrolyte that contains fuels, particularly flow batteries. The proposed methods to obtain effective full-coated, high-surface area catalysts have the potential to optimize outputted battery power and thereby revolutionize battery electrode fabrication.by Rashed Al-Rashed [and] Marta Krason.S.B
<i>Persicaria lapathifolia</i> Essential Oil: Chemical Constituents, Antioxidant Activity, and Allelopathic Effect on the Weed <i>Echinochloa colona</i>
No full textThe exploration of new green, ecofriendly bioactive compounds has attracted the attention of researchers and scientists worldwide to avoid the harmful effects of chemically synthesized compounds. Persicaria lapathifolia has been reported to have various bioactive compounds, while its essential oil (EO) has not been determined yet. The current work dealt with the first description of the chemical composition of the EO from the aerial parts of P. lapathifolia, along with studying its free radical scavenging activity and herbicidal effect on the weed Echinochloa colona. Twenty-one volatile compounds were identified via GC–MS analysis. Nonterpenoids were the main components, with a relative concentration of 58.69%, in addition to terpenoids (37.86%) and carotenoid-derived compounds (1.75%). n-dodecanal (22.61%), α-humulene (11.29%), 2,4-dimethylicosane (8.97%), 2E-hexenoic acid (8.04%), γ-nonalactone (3.51%), and limonene (3.09%) were characterized as main compounds. The extracted EO exhibited substantial allelopathic activity against the germination, seedling root, and shoot growth of the weed E. colona in a dose-dependent manner, showing IC50 values of 77.27, 60.84, and 33.80 mg L−1, respectively. In addition, the P. lapathifolia EO showed substantial antioxidant activity compared to ascorbic acid as a standard antioxidant. The EO attained IC50 values of 159.69 and 230.43 mg L−1, for DPPH and ABTS, respectively, while ascorbic acid exhibited IC50 values 47.49 and 56.68 mg L−1, respectively. The present results showed that the emergent leafy stems of aquatic plants such as P. lapathifolia have considerably low content of the EO, which exhibited substantial activities such as antioxidant and allelopathic activities. Further study is recommended to evaluate the effects of various environmental and climatic conditions on the production and composition of the EOs of P. lapathifolia
Rethinking Progressivism and Modernism in Urdu Poetry: Faiz Ahmed Faiz and N. M. Rashed
No full textLiterary historians of modern Urdu poetry frequently divide twentieth-century writers into two camps--progressives and modernists. In such a reading, Faiz Ahmad Faiz (1911-84) is exemplary of the "art for life's sake" position associated with the Progressive Writers Association, and N. M. Rashed (1910-75) frequently represents the "art for art's sake" position of modernism. Through an assessment of these writers' understandings of each other and close readings of their poetry, this essay demonstrates that these familiar categories, first articulated in the late 1930s and early 1940s in progressive literary criticism, fail to capture the literary output of either poet. Instead of abandoning these categories, however, this essays suggests that they remain important to literary history as historical facts, as a part of literary discourse. This essay therefore considers the role of literary interpretation in literary production, and the way that these two prominent Urdu poets shaped their own work in accordance to the way it was received
Determination of Quality of Iced Freshwater Species Based on Total Volatile Base Nitrogen (TVB-N) and Microbial Contents Test
No full textThe following two types of freshwater fish species {tilapia hybrid Oreochromis niloticus x Oreochromis aureus and the Common Carp Cyprinus Carpio were purchased from aquaculture farm and assessed for quality changes during 13 days postmortem of ice storage. The total volatile basic nitrogen TVB N and microbial contents of iced freshwater fish species were assessed as indices of spoilage t 0, 3, 5, 7, 10 and 13 days postmortem. all fish species under investigation had pH value higher than 6.8. Tilapia fish had higher TVBN values than carp fish. Tilapia and carp reached their maximum TVBN content on the 7th and none of them reached the rejection limit 30 mg 100 g during the storage period. In this study TVBN of freshwater fish species ranged from 18.67 to 20.07 and from 19.13 to 23.80 mg 100g muscle during the storage period for carp and tilapia respectively. The total plate counts for microbial growth of freshwater fish species were similar for all fish species under investigation. Bacteria grew rapidly between day 1 and 10. However, Tilapi had the lowest initial TPC and the highest TPC at the end of the storage period 10 days . Bacteria grew progressively on freshwater fish species to reach a high count of 6.5, 5.7 and 6 log 10 CFU g fish for tilapia and carp respectively. None of freshwater fish species reached the maximum microbiological limit set by ICMSF 1978 . psychrotrophic counts increased rapidly and tended to reach their maximum counts at the end of the storage period, and were 2.6 and 3.3 log 10 CFU g fish for tilapia, and carp respectively. Total coliform counts were 1.3 and 2.3 log CFU g fish and increased with extended storage to reach their maximum values of 4.1and 3.5 log CFU g fish for tilapia and carp respectively..Proteolytic counts of all fish species increased with extended storage reaching their maximum count on the last day of storage period. The average proteolytic counts of freshwater species were 1.9 and 3.0 log CFU g reaching a maximum values of 3.9 and 4.8 log CFU g at the end of storage period for tilapia and carp respectively. Ahmed Rashed Al-Najada "Determination of Quality of Iced Freshwater Species Based on Total Volatile Base Nitrogen (TVB-N) and Microbial Contents Test" Published in International Journal of Trend in Scientific Research and Development (ijtsrd), ISSN: 2456-6470, Volume-4 | Issue-1 , December 2019, URL: https://www.ijtsrd.com/papers/ijtsrd29795.pd
Flexural Performance of RC Beams with Hybrid Combination of Conventional FRP and PET Laminates
No full textA Master of Science thesis in Civil Engineering by Ahmed Yousef Al Rashed entitled, “Flexural Performance of RC Beams with Hybrid Combination of Conventional FRP and PET Laminates”, submitted in March 2023. Thesis advisor is Dr. Rami A. Hawileh and thesis co-advisor is Dr. Jamal A. Abdallah. Soft copy is available (Thesis, Completion Certificate, Approval Signatures, and AUS Archives Consent Form).Externally bonded fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) composites are widely used to strengthen reinforced concrete (RC) beams. However, due to composites' brittleness, strengthened beams usually fail by premature brittle debonding of the FRP laminates. Delaying this failure mode enhances the beams’ flexural capacity and ductility. This work aims to study the effect of balancing traditional high-strength FRPs with polyethylene terephthalate (PET-FRP) laminates. Unlike conventional FRPs, PET-FRP has a bilinear stress-strain relationship and ruptures at large strains exceeding 7%. However, it has lower elastic modulus and tensile strength than conventional FRPs. To compensate for this drawback, the effect of hybridizing carbon-FRP (CFRP) and glass-FRP (GFRP) with PET-FRP laminates is examined. In addition, to enhance the effectiveness of the strengthening systems and delay FRP debonding, the effect of anchoring using end U-wraps is explored. Twenty-seven RC beams, strengthened with different combinations of layers and stacking sequences of hybrid CFRP, GFRP, and PET-FRP laminates and with and without end U-wrap anchors, were tested to failure. The results of the strengthened anchored beams were compared to the un-anchored strengthened beams and un-strengthened control beams. Results showed that hybrid combinations of PET, CFRP, and GFRP laminates provided enhanced flexural performance over CFRP and GFRP-strengthened specimens. The enhancement depended on the number of strengthening sheets, type of FRPs, stacking sequence, and presence of anchors. The enhancement in the load-carrying capacity and ductility ranged from 23% to 70% and -17% to 92%, respectively. Results proved that side anchors effectively prevented premature failure due to debonding or delamination. The highest load-carrying capacity and ductility enhancement were exhibited by the PGP anchored specimen. The load-carrying capacity of the strengthened beams was predicted using the ACI 440.2R-17 and CEB-FIB design guidelines. It can be concluded that combining PET with CFRP and GFRP laminates could provide a robust strengthening system that enhances both the strength and ductility of RC beams in flexure.College of EngineeringDepartment of Civil EngineeringMaster of Science in Civil Engineering (MSCE
Ecrire et réécrire l’histoire des sciences : 1900-2000
No full textColloque organisé par Karine Chemla et Roshdi Rashed du 5 au 11 septembre 2003 Participants Karine Chemla, Pascal Crozet, Michel Fichant, Enrico Giusti, Ahmed Hasnaoui, Christian Houzel, Jens Høyrup, Eberhard Knobloch, Hossein Masoumi, Régis Morelon, Ian Mueller, David Pingree, Roshdi Rashed, Chikara Sasaki, Edith Sylla, Heinrich von Staden Compte-rendu Introduction (Roshdi Rashed) Il y a quatre décennies, les moins jeunes d’entre nous ont assisté, parfois participé, à un débat célèbre sur le..
Demonstration scale treatment of drainage canal water in the Nile Delta through a combination of facultative lagoons and hybrid constructed wetlands
No full textAbstract
Drainage canal water (DCW), a mixture of Nile water, drainage water and municipal wastewater, is largely used for irrigation in the Nile Delta. Facultative lagoons (FL) and constructed wetlands (CWs) represent interesting options for DCW treatment before its agricultural re-use, but very few studies investigated their implementation in Egypt. This work aimed at developing at demonstration scale (250 m3 d−1) a FL + CW treatment train capable to turn DCW into an effluent reusable in agriculture. Three types of hybrid CWs were tested in parallel for 530 days. The combination of FL with a cascade hybrid CW, operated at a 200 L d−1 m−2 surface loading rate, led to medium-to-high removal efficiencies (suspended solids 90%, total nitrogen 84%, phosphate 80%, COD 67%, faecal coliforms 2.2 Log) and surface removal rates (COD 47.5 t y−1 ha−1, total nitrogen 10.9 t y−1 ha−1, faecal coliforms 1.5
1011 MPN y−1 ha−1). The effluent, compliant with class C of EU 2020/741 regulation, is potentially reusable to irrigate numerous Egyptian crops. The results show that the combination of FLs with cascade hybrid CWs has a great potential for the treatment of DCW and low-strength municipal wastewater, with near-zero energy consumption, null consumption of chemicals and a land requirement varying between 1.1% and 1.5% of the agricultural land irrigated with the treated DCW
MADFORWATER. WP4 Field pilots for the adaptation and integration of technologies. Task4.3 Operation and optimization of the field pilots. Wastewater treatment performances and Irrigation/treated wastewater reuse performances. Drainage canal water pilot
No full textIn the Nile Delta region in Egypt, agriculture represents a crucial economic activity, and all the agricultural surface is irrigated with freshwater ultimately provided by the Nile river through a complex network of canals. Surface irrigation is widely applied, and the excess irrigation water, contaminated with fertilizers and pesticides, is collected by means of an intricate network of drainage water canals. However, several villages in Egypt are still suffering from low sanitation coverage and poor sanitary technology. Therefore, small drainage canals are often used to dispose untreated municipal wastewater (MWW) and industrial wastewater. The contaminated drainage canal water (DCW) is typically discharged in main drains, which eventually discharge in the Mediterranean sea. The treatment of drainage canal water potentially represents an important option for the Nile Delta, with the double purpose to produce water that can be reused for irrigation or for aquaculture and to reduce the pollutant load discharged in the Mediterranean. Thus, simple, low-tech, low-energy water treatment technologies are needed to treat drainage water up to irrigation-quality water.
This dataset comprises the concentrations of key parameters measured in the inlet, outlet and in several intermediate sections of the NWRC pilot plant of drainage canal water treatment located near Lake Manzala, Egypt.
The NWRC constructed wetland pilot project (250 m3/d) consists of a 500 m3 capacity sedimentation pond and 3 vegetated free water surface wetlands (20*10*1 m and 100 m3 capacity each)
The 3 free water surface cells were designed to examine 3 new wetland types as follows:
1. Cascade Hybrid Constructed Wetland (CHCW): Consists of a 0.4-m deep FWS wetland on top of 0.4-m gravel bed subsurface wetland GBSW. A group of metal baffles were fixed at the entrance, exit and middle and inner parts to force water to flow through FWS and GBSW cells to create the maximum treatment paths. Reeds were transplanted at 25 stem/m2 density on top of the gravel surface.
2. Sequent Hybrid Constructed Wetland (SHCW): Consists of 2 0.8-m deep FWS wetland at the entrance and exit of the wetland cells which confines 2 GBSW 0.8-m cells deep between the entrance and the exit. A 0.10-m gravel layer was put above the 0.8-m GBCW cells to create the subsurface aeration conditions. Each treatment part is 5-m long and 10-m wide. A group of metal baffles were fixed at the entrance, exit and middle and inner parts to force water to flow through FWS and GBSW cells to create the maximum treatment paths. Reeds were transplanted at 25 stem/m2 density on top of FWS cells beds and the GBCW surface.
3. Floating beds Constructed Wetland (FBCW, control): A 20*10*0.8 m floating treatment wetland cell (FTW) will be used as a control; Baffles were installed as in the other 2 hybrid wetland cells in order to mimic water flow paths. Reeds plants were planted on recycled floating foam mats 1.0*0.5*0.05 m each. The rooted plants were grown in a shallower water depth for 2 months to enlarge the root length.
Prof. Ahmed Rashed of the National Water Research Council of Egypt is the idea owner, planner, designer and operator of the hybrid wetland pilot plant object of this dataset. The construction of the pilot plant was financed by the National Water Research Council of Egypt, whereas the operation of the pilot plant and the scientific elaboration of the monitoring data were conducted by the National Water Research Council of Egypt in cooperation with the partners of the MADFORWATER project
The investigation of the stability of ruthenium based photocatalysts using HPLC, NMR and UV visible techniques
No full textIn this thesis, the use of high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) for the analysis,
assessment and characterisation of photocatalytic behaviour. The Ru(II) compounds are
coordinated at peripheral ligands to create at Ru(II) centre, while bridging ligands are used to
connect the ruthenium centre to the Pt catalytic centres in order to create intramolecular
systems. The properties of these platinum-containing compounds were compared with the
mononuclear ruthenium precursor, without a platinum centre, in terms of photostability and
catalytic activity. These intramolecular platinum containing compounds are aimed at create
photocatalysts in combination with terminal halogen atoms (iodide or chloride). UV-vis
absorption and 1H-NMR analysis were carried out to provide further detailed qualitative and
structural information as a result of the photocatalytic experiments terminal, halogen atoms
(iodide or chloride) and range of techniques where discussed, to provide further detailed and
structural information. UV-vis absorption and 1H-NMR analysis were carried out to provide
further detailed information about the possible chemical changes taking place after
irradiation as a result of the photocatalytic experiments.
In Chapter 1, a number of relevant topics are discussed and the studies presented in this
thesis in order to explain our research targets and experimental techniques.
In Chapter 2, the introduction to HPLC, analytical HPLC, HPLC setup, mobile phases and
UV-Vis Spectroscopy used and 1H NMR spectroscopy are discussed and sample
preparation for photoanalysis with TEA and without TEA were explained.
In Chapter 3 stability towards visible light by the complexes [(bpy)2Ru(2,3dpp)]2+ (A-I),
[(bpy)2Ru(2,3dpp)PtCl2]
2+ (A-II), and [(bpy)2Ru(2,3dpp)PtI2]
2+ (A-III) were carried out.
Without TEA all three compounds the compounds are mostly photostable, but in the
presence of TEA decomposition of the compounds is observed. In Chapter 4, for the
compounds [(phen)2Ru(2,3dpp)]2+ (B-I), [(phen)2Ru(2,3dpp)PtCl2]
2+ (B-II), and
[(phen)2Ru(2,3dpp)PtI2]
2+
(B-III), compounds B-I and B-II are photostable and B-III is
partially photostable. In the presence of TEA, changes in the coordination of the bridging
ligands are observed. In Chapter 5 compounds [(dceb)2Ru(2,3dpp)]2+ (C-I),
[(dceb)2Ru(2,3dpp)PtCl2]
2+ (C-II), and [(dceb)2Ru(2,3dpp)PtI2]
2+ (C-III) are discussed. In the
presence of irradiation, compounds C-I and C-III are photoreactive while that compound C-II
is photostable. The stability of irradiation in the presence of TEA compounds C-I, C-II and CIII are degrading fast. In Chapter 6 a general overview of the work carried out is discussed
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