32 research outputs found
Heritage in real life: between appreciation and contempt: why are modern Egyptians continuously losing their heritage?
No full textSince UNESCO adopted the task of preserving the world's tangible and intangible heritage, the term "cultural heritage" has become known worldwide. However, there seems to be a gap between cultural heritage as a construct made by academic scholars and adopted by UNESCO on one side, and the popular perception of heritage and its significance in daily life on the other side.
This phenomenon could not be seen clearer than in the case of Egypt: for while the UNESCO initiative is achieving positive results in Europe and the developed world, and while more heritage assets are being added to the world heritage list every year, Egypt is facing a continuous decline in its tangible cultural heritage (Hanna, 2013), as "less appreciated" or "undesired" historical sites are continually being demolished by the government or private owners to make way for other functions (Middle East Eye, 2023) & (Zakaria, 2019), and other heritage sites are looted in search of treasures to be sold on the black market (Hanna, 2013).
On the official level, the Egyptian authorities express their keen interest in the preservation of “monuments and antiquities”, and many projects are being implemented by the government in that direction (Ikram, 2010). Yet many heritage assets are being disregarded and lost, sometimes because of negligence, and sometimes because of intended destruction. This research is trying to investigate this case of double standards in dealing with heritage, assuming that it is caused by problems and misconceptions in the collective mindset of Egyptian society, specifically in the aspects of perception and understanding of the value and use of heritage and of history in general.
To achieve that goal, I have been researching literary and academic resources in the fields of Heritage studies and national identity for the roots of these misconceptions, and trying to connect them with the everyday life of society. Being a part of the community myself and through direct contact with the people, I detected and extracted aspects of the Egyptian mindset on the grassroots level that played a significant role in the problem of heritage
Learning structure in nested logit models
No full textThis electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.Thesis: S.M. in Transportation, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, 2019Thesis: S.M., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, 2019Cataloged from student-submitted PDF version of thesis.Includes bibliographical references (pages 67-68).This work is about developing an estimation procedure for nested logit models that optimizes over the nesting structure in addition to the model parameters. Current estimation practices require an a priori specification of a nesting structure. We formulate the problem of learning an optimal nesting structure as a mixed integer nonlinear programming (MINLP) optimization problem and solve it using a variant of the linear outer approximation algorithm. We demonstrate that it is indeed possible to recover the nesting structure directly from the data by applying our method to synthetic and real datasets.by Youssef Medhat Aboutaleb.S.M. in TransportationS.M.S.M.inTransportation Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Civil and Environmental EngineeringS.M. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Scienc
Predicting cost overrun of railroad bridge construction
No full textRailroad Bridge Construction Projects have frequently exceeded their cost and schedule resulting in major financial losses to the owners and to the contractors, severe interruption of the rail operation schedules and consequently significant inconvenience to the rail commuters. Currently, there are very few methods available to predict the completed construction cost. This research proposes cost estimating model that incorporates the “major uncertainty constraints” (MUC) which drive both the cost and schedule of Railroad bridge Construction. This approach is an advanced unique model that is proposed for calculation of adequate contingency in a portfolio of construction projects. It is used to update historical contingency values based on new railroad project data that becomes available as soon as construction projects are completed. A comprehensive literature search reveals that many researchers have developed models to predict cost overruns by considering only change orders as the main driver of construction cost overrun without considering the MUC impact. Owners and managers, who are in charge of estimating budget and construction duration in both public and private sectors, have limitations in predicting such tasks accurately. Data on completed projects are obtained from one of the nation largest Transit agency for 70 Railroad bridge construction projects. It examines the challenging environment of Railroad Bridge Construction Industry and describes the development of a predictive model of cost deviation in such high-risk projects. Based on an in-depth evaluation and analysis of completed railroad bridge construction projects, historical data was obtained on reasons behind cost overrun and underrun from 25 Railroad bridge projects which experienced cost overrun and underrun as study cases out of 70 completed general Railroad construction projects. This study contributes to a uniquely better understanding of the reasons for cost deviation in Railroad bridge construction projects and provides a decision support tool to quantify the extend of that deviation. Its results are expected to support the bridge owners and contractors who are in charge of estimating budget and construction duration in Railroad Bridge Construction sectors in accurately predicting the construction cost based on adequately calculated cost contingency at the business planning or early stage of a project.Ph.D.Includes bibliographical referencesby Medhat George Attar
Comparative study of tow buckling defect during preforming of structural composites based on vegetable fibers
No full textDuring the complex shape forming of composite fibrous reinforcement, the planar bending of roving tows results in an out-of-plane deflection, along with a rotation on its central axis. The need to accurately follow and quantify the mechanism of formation of such defect has led us to consider two 3D imaging techniques, of which, have been tested and compared in this work
The Impact of Blended Learning on Student Achievement
No full textThe current work had focused on the impact of blended learning on 8-12 grade students within the greater UAE area. Particularly, the author had focused on this matter as education delivery has come to shift from its traditional focus of classroom-only, instructor centric nature and toward a variety of different components, materials, and mediums being integrated into it. Specifically, the COVID-19 pandemic has made this shift in the educational paradigm immeasurably evident with student demographics around the world experiencing changes in terms of classroom size, medium of education, and quality of education. Particularly, much of the focus on the matter, through the lenses of academic discourse and investigation, has remained mainly focused on university students with very little focus on the K-12 range. To amend this as well as fill the literary gap when it comes to the impact of blended learning, the author had focused on 8-12 grade students for the purposes of analysis. For this purpose, a diverse survey questionnaire was utilized for the current purposes and distributed electronically to a total of ninety individual students in the 8-12 grade range. These individuals had offered important insight into the matter of how this range of students is impacted, academically, through blended learning. The current study was specifically conducted to answer two research questions which had entailed a focus on the mean grades of students in comparison to the instructional environments in which they took part and the impact that the environment of blended learning has on the academic achievement of students. Through their survey questionnaire, the author was able to find a considerable disparity and difference between their participants with regard to their academic achievement and the impact that blended learning has on them. Lastly, the author was able to offer a number of recommendations and insight for future academics with regard to the subject matter at hand
Simulation analysis of capacity and performance improvement in wastewater treatment plants: Case study of Alexandria eastern plant
No full textCETGI : an assessment tool for global concurrent engineering : executive summary
No full textIndustrial globalisation and the increased complexity of products promote new
product development (NPD) by distributed teams. These teams facilitate the transfer
of designs to manufacturing facilities, the adaptation of products to local markets and
the access to engineering design talents. However, there are many industrial
experiences of under performing distributed teams, such as the development of the
Ford Mondeo which ran a year late and cost £4 billion. This Engineering Doctorate
project CETGI (Concurrent Engineering and Teamwork across Global Industries)
aimed to investigate and advise companies on the enabling practices of global
concurrent engineering (GCE). An assessment tool for GCE was developed,
embedding its enabling practices in a knowledge base and providing structured advice
to manufacturing companies of electro-mechanical products.
Preliminary investigation was conducted towards the development of the CETGI tool:
literature review on GCE; a benchmark study of nine current concurrent engineering
assessment tools; a comparative analysis of NPD practices in the UK and the USA; a
survey of NPD practices of global companies developing products in the UK; and
thirteen case studies of GCE projects. The CETGI tool was then developed, consisting
of an assessment process involving multifunctional teams and executives. CETGI is
different to previous tools because of its knowledge base of GCE practices and its
three analytical algorithms: the first, aggregates the individual answers; the second,
provides a customised list of prioritised actions; and the third, generates maturity
charts, providing a performance perspective and supporting benchmarking. Another
novel feature of CETGI is the Internet enabled software application that supports its
assessment process. The latter software is a multi-participant decision-making support
system. The CETGI tool has been applied to three first tier supplier companies, two
from the automotive industry and one from the transport industry aimed at fine-tuning
and validating the tool. The work focused on evaluating the reliability of the
questionnaire (constructed on the knowledge base) and establishing the validity and
the industrial usefulness of the CETGI tool. On average, the NPD executives
considered 90% of the suggested actions appropriate, selected 70% of the actions for
implementation and implemented 51% of the selected actions (based on a post-assessment
review at one company). The actions were estimated to reduce time-to-market
and product-unit costs by the NPD executives and they rated CETGI highest
in terms of promoting global product development, followed by providing an overall
picture of the current product development process.
Further research opportunities have been identified such as using the CETGI tool to
assess other business areas apart from GCE. This would require investigating best
practices in these areas and embedding the results in specific knowledge bases. The
assessment method, the structure of the knowledge base and the analytical algorithms
would remain the same
A Proposed Laboratory Method to Evaluate Durability of Concrete Pavement Joints against Freezing in the Presence of Deicer Salts
No full textDeicer salts were found to cause deterioration to the concrete pavement, particularly at joints. This paper introduces a laboratory procedure that engineers and scientists can use to evaluate the durability of joints. Concrete samples were tested under different salt concentrations and exposure conditions, including freeze-thaw cycles, wet-dry cycles, and a combination thereof. The test sample comprises a square slab measuring 200x200x120 mm and a joint running in the middle at 40 mm depth. The results showed that the test method needs to include two salts with two exposure conditions for accelerated damage. The first exposure uses NaCl at 10% concentration with 50 cycles of freeze/thaw-wet/dry alternating every five consecutive cycles. The second exposure uses CaCl2 at 15% concentration with 50 cycles of wetting and drying at 5°C and 35 °C, respectively. Damage is assessed using two approaches: 1) strength loss under flexural loading and 2) visual damage.The presentation of the authors' names and (or) special characters in the title of the pdf file of the accepted manuscript may differ slightly from what is displayed on the item page. The information in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript reflects the original submission by the author
جماليات المكان ﻓﻲ مسرح صلاح عبد الصبور / The Poetics of Place in the Drama of Salāḥ \u27Abd al-Sabūr
No full text[Place in a dramatic work functions as a background to dramatic actions and events. It has psychological, social, historical and ideological dimensions. Therefore, the choice of given places by an author is significant. In poetic drama place is important both on the level of the play and the level of imagery. Place can be used as a symbol as well as a locale. Salāḥ \u27Abd al-Sabūr (1931-1981), a prominent Egyptian writer who excelled in poetic dramas as well as lyrical poetry, played on the connotations of place most effectively in dramatic works. The place of the action-- the public square, the prison, the courtroom, the private home, the hut, the palace, the cafe, or a railway carriage-- is an important ingredient of the drama in his various plays: The Passion of Al-Ḥallaj, Layla and Majnun, The Princess Waits, Night Traveller, and After the King Exits. One place that recurs in \u27Abd al-Sabūr\u27s plays is the \u27intimate home\u27, exemplified in a \u27boudoir\u27 or a \u27bedroom\u27 in a citizen\u27s house, a royal palace, or a railway carriage. This setting is always associated with physical or mystical love. The \u27prison\u27 is another spatial context in \u27Abd al-Sabur\u27s drama. It functions as an anti-home. It is associated with the police and leads to the \u27court\u27 which functions as complementary to \u27prison\u27. The associations of prison are manipulated to introduce the motif of waiting and salvation. \u27Abd al-Sabur also moves from the notion of a physical prison to a spiritual prison. The \u27prison\u27 is depicted through the imagery of darkness. At times, the imagery of darkness pervades the \u27hut\u27 or the \u27cavern\u27 which seem as cruel as the \u27prison\u27. But the hut may also possess intimate imagery of a home as in After the King Exists. Both home and prison are enclosing structures although diametrically opposed. The first is reassuring and the second is threatening. \u27Abd al-Sabur uses such binarism to dramatize the struggle between dream and repression. There is also an opposition between enclosed place (home, prison) on one hand and open place (square, forest) on the other. The movement from the enclosed place to the open place coincides in After the King Exists with liberation.
Hepatitis B virus DNA levels in Saudi patients with different stages of chronic HBV infection
No full textCorresponding Author:
Dr. M. El-Hazmi
Virology Unit, Pathology Department, College of Medicine and King Khalid University Hospital, King Saud University, P.O. Box 2925, Riyadh-11461, Saudi Arabia.
Phone: +9661-4671088 / 4671010 Fax:+9661-4679162
Email: [email protected] evaluation of patients with hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection has
evolved from serological to molecular diagnostic assays. Purpose of the study: This
was to determine HBV DNA levels in patients with different stages of chronic HBV
infection, and to correlate its clinical significance with the presence of serological
markers of HBV replication and biochemical changes. Study design: HBV DNA
levels in serum samples of 101 patients with different stages of chronic HBV
infection were quantified by PCR-based assay. Patients were divided mainly into
groups according to their HBeAg status, and then divided into further groups
according to their alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels. Main findings: Serum
HBV DNA was detected in 85.1% of patients. Positive HBeAg patients had
significantly higher serum transaminases and HBV DNA levels than anti-HBepositive
patients. All patients with positive HBeAg and high ALT; had positive PCR
results. There are a high percentage of HBeAg-positive cases with high viral load of
HBV DNA. 45.3% of patients with detectable HBV DNA were anti-HBe-positive
with normal ALT, that might be considered non-viremic by some clinicians
