1,735,092 research outputs found
COPTS IN EGYPT: BETWEEN MINORITY PROTECTION AND POWER LEVERAGING
No full textChristians of Egypt, mainly referred to as Copts, are the largest minority in the country. Their
estimated population is between 4.7 to 7.1 million, forming roughly 10-15% of the Egyptian
population that is estimated now around 98.5 million people.1 Copts of Egypt are considered
also the largest Christian community in the Middle East and one of the oldest Christian
communities around the world. Egyptian Copts consider themselves descendants of the ancient
Egyptians. Due to the historical changes of the Egyptian political system in the past centuries,
with Muslim and Arab rulers coming, Copts numbers drastically decreased throughout the
history of the country. In the modern history of Egypt, Copts have gone through different
phases of integration, freedom of practice, and equal treatment in Egyptian society. Since 1952,
the year on which Egypt became a republic, the church-state relations have been going through
fluctuating phases of uncertainty and disruption. The role of religion in the state has hardly
ever been rationalized in Egypt, the clearest example is the constitution which adopts a
religious biased language that gives Copts in Egypt a feeling of hostility. The article 2 of the
Egyptian constitution reads: “Islam is the religion of the state, Arabic its official language.
Islamic jurisprudence is the principal source of legislation.”
2 That atmosphere of hostility
translated into the Copts community ties and the sense of belonging in Egypt being strongly
influenced by the religious institution. Despite the existence of evangelical, catholic, and
Orthodox beliefs, “the Coptic Orthodox Church” acts as the institution officially representing
Christians in Egypt
CURRICULUM VITAE _ ABDEL RAHIM ELSAYED KARRAR
No full textCurriculum Vitae _ Abdel Rahim Elsayed KarrarCurriculum Vitae _ Abdel Rahim Elsayed Karra
Discovery of a new host plant of Pseudasphondylia tominagai Elsayed & Tokuda, 2019 (Diptera, Cecidomyiidae)
No full textBarely visible flower bud galls of Deutzia floribunda Nakai (Hydrangeaceae) were found in Kumamoto Prefecture, Kyushu, Japan. Morphological and molecular analyses indicated that the gall inducer is Pseudasphondylia tominagai Elsayed & Tokuda, 2019 (Diptera, Cecidomyiidae), previously known only to form galls on Eleutherococcus spinosus (L.f.) S.Y.Hu (Araliaceae) in Honshu, Japan. This study marks the first report of a species of Pseudasphondylia Monzen, 1955 on Hydrangeaceae, having host plants from different families and establishing D. floribunda as a new host record for P. tominagai
Primofavilla aegyptiaca Elsayed, new species
No full textPrimofavilla aegyptiaca Elsayed, new species Adult description. Color of freshly emerged females: head black, antennae brown, thorax dark brown, wings transparent, legs light brown, upper and lower parts of abdomen black, lateral parts red and covered with scales. Body length. 1.8 mm (n= 2) in female. Head (Fig. 19). Compound eyes with circular facets. Gap between eyes on vertex about 0-2 times as wide as facet. Palpi 2 -segmented, the second segment slender, elongated, slightly longer than the first. Antenna 2 + 10 - segmented; scape conical; pedicel rounded; flagellomeres barrel-shaped, each with two connected rings of circumfila, except the terminal flagellomere, with two sets of two connected rings of circumfila (Fig. 20). Thorax. Wing (Fig. 21) length about 1.5 mm (n= 2) in female; vein R 5 joining C at its mid-length; C broken beyond the junction point with R 5; M present; CuA simple. Tarsal claws (Fig. 22) curved and toothed. Empodia much shorter than claws, about as long as the small basal tooth. Female Abdomen. (Fig. 23): Tergites 1–7 rectangular, setulose, and with 1–2 posterior rows of strong setae; tergite 8 about 0.3 width of the tergite 7. Sternites 2–7 rectangular, setulose, with posterior row of hyaline setae. Ovipositor: segment 8 with lateral group of strong curved setae, the membranous part rugose with papillae surrounded with tiny spines. Lateral plate with ~ 26 strong, straight and thick setae. Aculeus curved and bare. Apical lamella oval, setose; the basal third of the dorsal margin covered with filiform short setae and the apical two thirds covered with short lanceolate setae. Holotype. Female, Egypt, Alexandria, El-Amria district (30 ° 59 '54.00"N, 29 ° 49 '7.00"E), 26.V. 2013, A. K. Elsayed, reared from leaf galls on leaves of Atriplex halimus. Paratypes. 1 female, 26.V. 2013, El-Amria district, Alexandria, reared by A. K. Elsayed from galls on leaves of Atriplex halimus. Distribution. Egypt, Alexandria, El-Amria district. Etymology. The name of that species is derived from Egypt. Biology. Larvae of P. aegyptiaca induce globular galls, 2-3 mm in diameter, on both surfaces of leaves (Fig. 8) of the salt marsh plant A. halimus. Each infested leaf has 2-6 galls, usually beyond the mid-rib. The galls were found in May and June 2013. The galls were collected and preserved in test tubes to rear the adult stage, but that method was not very successful, as only 2 females emerged and the pupation site was not determined. Another method was tested to rear the adults, the galls were collected and put in a plastic jar with soil at the bottom, but no adults emerged. Remarks. The three known species of Primofavilla, P. initialis Mamaev 1972, P. kaplini Fedotova 1991, and P. cystiphorae Fedotova 1991, are associated with Atriplex salina Siev., A. nana Parr-Sm., and A. tatarica L., respectively (Fedotova 1991 b, Gagné & Jaschhof 2014). The identification of Primofavilla species could be determined by the diagnostic morphological characters of the female ovipositor (Mamaev 1972, Fedotova 1991 b). The dorsal margin of the ovoid apical lobe of P. kaplini has only filiform setae, in contrast to P. aegyptiaca, P. cystiphorae and P. initialis, which have the filiform setae only on the basal third of the dorsal margin with the remaining setae either lanceolate (P. aegyptiaca and P. cystiphorae) or squamiform (P. initialis). Primofavilla aegyptiaca is closest to P. cystiphorae, but the former has dorsal and ventral sclerotized plates at the base of segment 9 of the female abdomen, while the latter does not. Primofavilla aegyptiaca also differs from P. cystiphorae in the distribution and number of strong setae on the lateral plate, which do not extend to the ventral side in P. aegyptiaca, unlike in P. cystiphorae. In addition to these differences, P. aegyptiaca has a bare saddle-like projection at the base of the aculeus. Therefore, P. aegyptiaca is considered to be a new species. Very similar galls were shown by De Stefani (1942) on the same host plant in Sicily, Italy, but the gall inducer was not identified, strongly suggesting the presence of P. aegyptiaca in Italy.Published as part of Elsayed, Ayman Khamis, Skuhravá, Marcela, Karam, Hedaya Hamza, Elminshawy, Abdelaziz & Al-Eryan, Mohamed Awad, 2015, New records and new species of gall midges (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae) developing on Chenopodiaceae in Egypt, pp. 105-115 in Zootaxa 3904 (1) on pages 111-112, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.3904.1.6, http://zenodo.org/record/23434
Stefaniella skuhravae Elsayed, new species
No full textStefaniella skuhravae Elsayed, new species Adult description. Color of freshly emerged individuals: head black, antennae light brown, thorax brown, wings transparent, legs light brown, upper and lower parts of abdomen light brown, lateral parts orange. Body length. 0.7 mm (n= 7) in males and 1.1 mm (n= 5) in females. Head (Fig. 24). Compound eyes with circular facets. Gap between eyes on vertex about 0.5-1.5 times as wide as facet. Palpi 2 –segmented, second segment elongated, nearly longer than the first. Antenna 2 + 9–10 flagellomeres; scape conical, pedicel rounded, flagellomeres barrel-shaped in both sexes; each with two connected rings of circumfila (Fig. 25); the apical two flagellomeres sometimes fused. Thorax.Wing (Fig. 26) length 0.6 mm (n= 7) in males and 1.0 mm (n= 5) in females. Vein R 5 joining C before its mid-length; C broken beyond the attachment point with R 5; M present; CuA simple. Tarsal claws (Fig. 27) toothed. Empodia as long as, or shorter than, claws. Abdomen, male. Tergites 1–7 rectangular, with a posterior row of strong, hyaline setae; tergites 2–7 with one pair of anterior, small, trichoid sensilla; tergite 8 very narrow, about 0.33 width of tergite 7, with median pair of trichoid sensilla. Sternites 1–7 with scattered setae, in addition to posterior row of strong hyaline setae; sternum 8 undifferentiated from the surrounding membranous tissue. Genitalia (Fig. 28): Gonocoxite slightly elongate, with setulose mediobasal lobe. Gonostylus 0.5 times as long as gonocoxite, arched, ending with a strong tooth. Cerci fused at base, forming one apically notched sclerite, setulose. Hypoproct entire, setulose, shorter than tips of cerci, with rounded tip. Parameres dorsally covered with dense tiny setae, and surrounding aedeagus. Aedeagus cylindrical, straight, slightly longer than parameres, with truncate tip. Female: (Fig. 29): Tergites 1–7 with 1–2 posterior rows of strong, hyaline, setae, and anterior trichoid sensilla; tergite 8 weakly sclerotized, about half width of tergite 7, divided into two sclerites. Sternites 2–7 with 1–2 posterior rows of hyaline setae. Ovipositor: segment 8 with lateral group of strong, curved, internally directed setae; membranous part rugose with papillae surrounded with tiny spines. Segment 9 (ovipositor trunk) with two sclerotized rods that widen posteriorly, forming weakly sclerotized triangular plate covered with tiny spines. Lateral plate bearing about 25 thick and strong setae. Aculeus straight, thick, tapered at apex, with two rows of tiny setae, every row consists of ~ 22 setae. Apical lamella rectangular and setose. Holotype. Female, Egypt, El-Amria district (30 ° 59 '54.00"N, 29 ° 49 '7.00"E), 4. VI. 2013, A. K. Elsayed reared from galls on male floral inflorescences of Atriplex halimus. Paratypes. All material from Egypt, El-Amria district, Alexandria, reared by A. K. Elsayed from galls on male floral inflorescences of A. halimus. 1 males, 12.VI. 2013; 1 male, 13.VI. 2013; 2 females, 14.VI. 2013; 2 females, 3 males, 16.VI. 2013; 4 males, 17.VI. 2013; 5 males, 2 females, 19.VI. 2013; 8 males, 20.VI. 2013; 1 female, 22.VI. 2013; 2 females, 24.VI. 2013. Distribution. Egypt (El-Amria district). Etymology. This species is named in honor of Mrs. Marcela Skuhravá, the Czech entomologist and expert on the family Cecidomyiidae (Diptera). Biology. Larvae of S. skuhravae induce small, slight swellings (Fig. 9 and 10) on male floral inflorescences of the salt marsh plant Atriplex halimus. The gall consists of a single chamber, and pupation takes place inside it. The pupal exuviae protrude from the emergence hole, and can be distinguished by their hyaline color. The galls were collected and the adults emerged from the end of May to October 2013. Remarks. The genus Stefaniella contains 9 species (Gagné & Jaschhof 2014). Dorchin & Freidberg (2008) revised all the species and found no significant differences between them in morphological characters. They concluded that study of the immature stages is needed, and molecular study will be useful to determine relationships between the species. They added that the currently the best characters for distinguishing species of Stefaniella are those of their galls. There are two known species of Stefaniella that induce galls on A. halimus: S. atriplicis Kieffer, 1898 and S. trinacriae De Stefani, 1900 (Dorchin & Freidberg 2008, Gagné & Jaschhof 2014). Stefaniella atriplicis induces small stem galls, each gall about 4–5 mm in diameter and multiple chambers (Skuhravá et al. 2007). Stefaniella trinacriae induces large galls on the stems, each gall about the size of a hazelnut and having multiple chambers. In contrast to the preceding species, S. skuhravae induces small galls on the male floral inflorescence, and each gall consists of only a single chamber. Therefore, we consider it to be a new species.Published as part of Elsayed, Ayman Khamis, Skuhravá, Marcela, Karam, Hedaya Hamza, Elminshawy, Abdelaziz & Al-Eryan, Mohamed Awad, 2015, New records and new species of gall midges (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae) developing on Chenopodiaceae in Egypt, pp. 105-115 in Zootaxa 3904 (1) on pages 112-114, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.3904.1.6, http://zenodo.org/record/23434
Macarangamyia Elsayed & Tokuda 2018, gen. nov.
No full textMacarangamyia Elsayed & Tokuda gen. nov. Type species: Macarangamyia itiokai Elsayed &Tokuda sp. nov. Diagnosis: Macarangamyia belongs to the tribe Asphondyliini because of the following synapomorphies: the female sternite VII is distinctly larger than preceding sternites, and the gonostyli are strongly sclerotized, dorsally situated, short and compact (Tokuda 2012). The tribe Asphondyliini is divided into two subtribes: Asphondyliina and Schizomyiina (Gagné & Jaschhof 2017). The new genus, Macarangamyia, belongs to the subtribe Schizomyiina because of the presence of unfused teeth of gonostyli (Tokuda 2012). Macarangamyia can be distinguished from other genera of Schizomyiina, such as the Oriental genera Asphoxenomyia Felt and Luzonomyia Felt, by the following combination of characters: palpi four-segmented; male flagellomeres with short necks; tarsal claws untoothed; ovipositor short, membranous, protrusible, with scattered strong setae ventrally and dorsally; female cerci fused, with some blunt-tipped setae; aedeagus cylindrical, with slit developed dorsally more than ventrally; larva with bidentate spatula; a pair of spiracles present on all thoracic and abdominal segments of larva, except the terminal segment. Description. Adult: Head (Fig. 2): Compound eyes with octagonal facets. Mouthparts: palpi four-segmented; labrum triangular; labella well-developed. Antenna: flagellomeres cylindrical, with short necks; first and second flagellomeres partially fused; female flagellomeres with two connected rings of circumfila, except the terminal flagellomere with network-like circumfila, distal female flagellomeres successively shorter (Fig. 3); male flagellomeres with sinuous circumfila (Fig. 4). Thorax: Wing (Fig. 5): R1 joining C before wing midlength, arculus present, R5 joining C slightly after wing apex, C broken after the conjunction with R5; M3+4 forked with Cu. Tarsomeres I simple (Fig. 6); tarsal claws (Fig. 7) curved, untoothed on all legs; empodia shorter than claws, covered with longer setulae apically than basally; pulvilli short. Female abdomen: Tergites I–VII rectangular, with one posterior row of setae and some lateral setae; tergite VIII bare, notched laterally, posterior margin with a pair of well-developed dorsal lobs; trichoid sensilla absent from all tergites. Sternites II–VI each with several scattered setae anteriorly, one posterior row of setae; sternite VII elongated, completely sclerotized; posterior two thirds covered with scattered setae; no discernible trichoid sensilla on all sternites. Ovipositor (Figs. 8–9): protrusible, unpigmented, without microtrichiae, with scattered strong setae ventrally and dorsally; cerci tiny, fused, each bearing pair of thick blunt-tipped setae and several finer setae. Male abdomen: Tergites I–VII as in female; tergite VIII bare, with median part longer and thicker than the lateral parts. Sternites II–VI as in female; sternite VII and VIII with several scattered setae (Fig. 10). Terminalia (Fig. 11–12): Gonocoxite massive, produced ventroapically. Gonostylus with unfused denticles. Cerci separated by V-shaped emargination. Hypoproct bilobed, with one seta at tip of each lobe. Parameres well-developed. Aedeagus cylindrical, with slit developed dorsally more than ventrally. Larva: Sternal spatula bidentate. One group of lateral papillae on each side of spatula, with two setose and one asetose papillae. Two setose sternal papillae, two setose dorsal papillae, and a pair of spiracles present on all thoracic segments and abdominal segments I–VIII. Abdominal terminal segment elongated and tapered. Pupa (Figs. 14–15): Exuviae not pigmented except the antennal and facial horns and prothoracic spiracle. Antennal and facial horns well-developed, each horn bidentate; two facial horns present, pointed. Prothoracic spiracle arched, pointed apically. Scutum medially without wrinkles surrounding the ecdysal line. Abdominal tergites without dorsal spines. Abdominal spiracles present on abdominal segments II–VI. Etymology: The generic name is derived from the host-plant generic name, Macaranga, and the Greek noun myia, meaning fly. The gender is feminine.Published as part of Elsayed, Ayman Khamis, Shimizu-Kaya, Usun, Itioka, Takao, Meleng, Paulus, Yukawa, Junichi & Tokuda, Makoto, 2018, A new genus and a new species of Schizomyiina (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae: Asphondyliini) inducing petiole galls on Macaranga bancana (Miq.) in Borneo, Malaysia, pp. 188-196 in Zootaxa 4482 (1) on pages 190-193, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4482.1.10, http://zenodo.org/record/144047
Elsayed Mohamed
No full textHyperdimensional Time Theory (HTT)
Abstract
The Hyperdimensional Time Theory (HTT) proposes that the flow of time is inversely proportional to the
number of spatial dimensions within a cosmic system. According to HTT, universes or regions with higher
dimensional frameworks allow for higher maximum achievable speeds, approaching or even reaching the
speed of light, while simultaneously experiencing a significant reduction in temporal flow. This model
suggests that the universal speed limit observed in our three-dimensional space is indirect evidence of hidden
dimensional constraints. Mathematical models are developed to describe this coupling between dimensions,
time, and speed. Moreover, a practical experimental framework is proposed, involving ultra-precise
measurements of light speed and time dilation variations across different gravitational environments, aiming to
detect the influence of higher dimensions on our observable universe
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