Showing papers by "American University in Cairo published in 1998"
TL;DR: The results of the model indicate that the developed integer goal programming model seems to be an ideal technique that is applicable to the real-world fire-station location problem.
225 citations
Book•
01 Jan 1998TL;DR: For the ancient Egyptians, mummification and a full set of magical "machinery" including a tomb, a sarcophagus, masks, amulets and canopic jars was essential to secure eternal life.
Abstract: Mummies have gripped the popular imagination through highly publicized discoveries and macabre horror movies. But for the ancient Egyptians, mummification and a full set of magical "machinery" including a tomb, a sarcophagus, masks, amulets and canopic jars was essential to secure eternal life. This work comprises a survey of the entire panoply of Egyptian burial equipment over 3,000 years. Part 1 provides an overview of burial rites and tomb development, from the Giza pyramids to the Valley of the Kings and beyond. Great discoveries are documented, from Belzoni's early explorations to Tutankhamun's magnificent tomb and recent scientific detective-work using x-rays and CAT-scanners. Part 2 provides a detailed survey of changing burial practices during the pharonic era. The authors reveal the evolution of methods for treating the body. All important innovations are described, incorporating the latest research, some carried out by the authors themselves.
160 citations
TL;DR: Family/children and psychiatric workers are particularly satisfied with the amount of praise delivered by supervisors and are reportedly dissatisfied with salary levels and promotional opportunities, strongly associated with job satisfaction and burnout levels of both groups.
Abstract: Job satisfaction and burnout are important areas of study because of the financial and social effects of job satisfaction and the damaging physical/psychological impacts of burnout. Two hundred family/children and psychiatric workers of seven social service organizations were surveyed. Instruments used were the Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire, the Maslach Burnout Inventory, and the Staff Burnout Scale for Health Professionals. Reported levels of job satisfaction and burnout are within normal limits. Psychiatric and family/children workers report equal job satisfaction levels, but the latter group reports significantly higher burnout levels. Both groups are particularly satisfied with the amount of praise delivered by supervisors and are reportedly dissatisfied with salary levels and promotional opportunities. These three factors are strongly associated with job satisfaction and burnout levels of both groups. Findings have practical implications for social service administrators and practitioners. Correlates of satisfaction and burnout can be altered in order to maintain employee satisfaction and reduce burnout, absenteeism and turnover.
138 citations
TL;DR: This paper shows that approximating MAPs with a constant ratio bound is also NP-hard, and applies to networks with constrained in-degree and out-degree, applies to randomized approximation, and even applies if the ratio bound, instead of being constant, is allowed to be a polynomial function of various aspects of the network topology.
118 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors determined limit loads for pipe elbows subjected to in-plane bending moments that tend to close the elbow (i.e., decrease its radius of curvature), and the influence of internal pressure on the value of the limit load.
Abstract: The purpose of this study is to determine limit loads for pipe elbows subjected to in-plane bending moments that tend to close the elbow (i.e., decrease its radius of curvature), and the influence of internal pressure on the value of the limit load. Load-deflection curves were obtained, and from these curves plastic collapse or instability loads at various values of internal pressure were determined. This was done for different pipe bend factors (h = Rt/r 2 ) using the nonlinear finite element analysis code (ABAQUS) with its special elbow element. The limit load was found to increase and then decrease with increasing pressure for all the elbow geometries studied.
102 citations
TL;DR: A recent survey in rural lower Egypt was able to test the accuracy of mothers' reports for a subset of children whose cards were not seen at round 1 of the survey but were seen a year later at round 3, finding that these "card plus history" estimates slightly understate true coverage levels.
96 citations
TL;DR: In the early 1990s, the per-capita income in Iran was 660 in 1988, while in Egypt it was only 50 percent of the per capita income in 1988 as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: Why did Iran of the late 1970s with a thriving economy, wealthy middle class, repressive political system, massive military might, and powerful international allies go through an Islamic revolution, while Egypt of the early 1990s with similar international allies, but poorer economy, impoverished large middle classes, and a more liberal political system did not go beyond developing an Islamist movement?In 1978 the per-capita income in Iran was 660 in Egypt in 1988. During the 1970s, some 15 percent of Tehran's population lived in the squatter areas (and about 15 percent in slums), whereas this figure for Cairo in the early 1990s was 50 percent.
95 citations
TL;DR: A result of an extensive review of the literature and a large-scale survey of meeting participants in a University setting, it is believed that the most important problems in group interaction are identified.
60 citations
TL;DR: The preliminary results of the study indicated the complexity and dynamism of water use and water contact, which need to be considered in planning disease control strategies especially in changing settings, such as those associated with environmental interventions in the study area.
55 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, optical absorption spectra of doped ternary glasses were measured at cryogenic temperatures and compared with those of undoped glasses with similar composition to make sure that the dopant ions do not affect the bulk glass properties.
Abstract: Optical absorption spectra of glasses from the ternary system Na 2 O–B 2 O 3 –SiO 2 with 20, 40, and 60 mol% SiO 2 and varying modifier contents containing 1 mol% Nd 2 O 3 were measured at cryogenic temperatures. The glasses were obtained by quenching the liquids of appropriate composition between steel plates. For comparison doped glasses from the binary systems Na 2 O–B 2 O 3 and Na 2 O–SiO 2 were included. The molar volumes and packing ratios of the doped ternary glasses were compared with those of undoped glasses with similar composition to make sure that the dopant ions do not affect the bulk glass properties. The position of the 4 I 9/2 → 2 P 1/2 transition was used to monitor the nephelauxetic effect and the hypersensitive 4 I 9/2 → 4 G 5/2 , 2 G 7/2 transition to monitor changes in the rare-earth environment with the glass composition. The observed changes of the spectral features are consistent with structural changes in the host glasses as proposed by models of these glasses derived from NMR and IR investigations on undoped glasses. Hence the suitability of Nd 3+ absorption spectroscopy to probe the structure of these glasses is established.
54 citations
01 Oct 1998
TL;DR: In this paper, a noncontact technique to asses the differences in surface chracteristics of machined surfaces is presented based on a microcomputer vision system to analyse the pattern of scattered light from the surface to derive a roughness parameter during machining of the surface.
Abstract: A new noncontact technique to asses the differences in surface chracteristics of machined surfaces is presented The method suggested here is based on a microcomputer vision system to analyse the pattern of scattered light from the surface to derive a roughness parameter during machining of the surface. This suggests that the system can be succesfuly applied to a machining process with adaptive control.
TL;DR: This article used a flexible form production function fitted to data on Egypt's economy to generate Hicks elasticities of complementarity, own and cross-price elasticities, as well as simulate employment effects on adult labour as a result of changing the fixed quantity of labour in compliance with the international call to end child labour.
Abstract: Whether child labour displaces adult labour, giving rise to unemployment, is a matter of their substitutability in production. Using a flexible form production function fitted to data on Egypt's economy, we generate Hicks elasticities of complementarity, own and cross‐price elasticities, as well as simulate employment effects on adult labour as a result of changing the fixed quantity of labour in compliance with the international call to end child labour. Adult males appear to be complementary with, and adult females substitutes for child labour, although the employment effects of banning child labour are inconclusive.
TL;DR: In this paper, a computer-aided workability evaluation system was developed and coupled to an elasto-plastic large-strain finite-element package to check for ductile fracture at all locations in bulk formed workpieces, using different workability criteria.
TL;DR: In this paper, Markov models for transient analysis of reliability with and without repair for K-out-of-N:G systems subject to two failure modes are presented, and closed form solutions of the transient probabilities are used to obtain the reliability for nonrepairable systems.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors used optical and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) examinations for characterization of the material microstructure and fracture behavior and found that the fracture surface is dominated by the ductile fracture features, that is, dimples.
Abstract: Metal matrix composites (MMC) were manufactured using hot pressing followed by hot extrusion of aluminum (Al) powder reinforced by alumina (AI2O3) particles. Under tensile as well as compressive loads, a strength improvement of 64 to 100 % compared to the matrix material strength was obtained. The percent elongation to fracture ranged from 20 to 30%, which indicates good ductility as compared to the ductility of MMC manufactured by other techniques. Optical as well as scanning electron microscopy (SEM) examinations were used for characterization of the material microstructure and fracture behavior. Porosity retained in the microstructure was very limited in the case of pure aluminum billets. Microstructural examination revealed uniform distribution of Al2O3 particles in the Al-matrix. Under tensile loads, voids opened by decohesion between the matrix and reinforcement. Such behavior led to a decrease in strength properties of the MMC as a function of reinforcement volume fraction. The fracture surface is dominated by the ductile fracture features, that is, dimples. Voids were found to initiate at retained porosity sites at the AI/AI2O3 interface or in the matrix close to the interface due to stress concentration. The SEM revealed the formation of a complex fine subgrain structure. Such a polygonized structure is a major source of strengthening.
TL;DR: In this article, a finite element model for the bend was constructed and loaded taking geometric and material nonlinearities into account using (ABAQUS) nonlinear finite element code.
TL;DR: In this article, an incremental slab method is implemented to obtain the extrusion pressure of the hot forward rod extrusion process for arbitrarily-curved dies, and two different algorithms are developed to get the optimum curved die profile that minimizes extrusion load and stresses at the tool-workpiece interface.
TL;DR: A provablycorrect linear-time transformation is presented that allows algorithms and heuristic methods for cost-based abduction, such as Charniak and Shimony's best-first search method or Santos' integer linear programming approach, to be used for the maximuma-posteriori (MAP) assignment problem on Bayesian belief networks.
TL;DR: This paper applies HONEST to the classification into age-groups of abalone shellfish, a difficult bench-mark to which previous researchers have applied cascade correlation, standard backpropagation with a Multi-Layer Perceptron (MLP) network, Quinlan's C4.5, and the DYSTAL network.
Abstract: The HONEST neural network is a recently-developed generalisation of the well-known Sigma-Pi high order neural network. HONEST has previously been applied to diabetes forecasting and feature combination in an Othello evaluation function. In this paper, we apply HONEST to the classification into age-groups of abalone shellfish, a difficult bench-mark to which previous researchers have applied cascade correlation, standard backpropagation with a Multi-Layer Perceptron (MLP) network, Quinlan's C4.5, and the DYSTAL network. While the best reported test set performance by previous researchers is 65.61% correct classification, HONEST was able to achieve 72.89% correct test set classification. In addition, HONEST's transparent structure allows us to manually examine the network state and make observations about the solution the network has learned.
TL;DR: The neglect of this preventable disease and its belated recognition are analyzed within the context of changing priorities for health since the 1870s, especially the shift from the paradigm of Imperial Medicine to Primary Health Care.
06 Jan 1998
TL;DR: The paper covers the build-up of the information infrastructure of various sectors in the economy using state-of-the-art information technology while accommodating to newly emerging issues such as Internet, Intranet and the concept of the Information Highway.
Abstract: This paper demonstrates the experience of Egypt in introducing the concept of the Information Highway. It describes the role of information technology in terms of computing, information and communication in boosting socio-economic development planning and change in priority issues and sectors in the economy. The paper covers the build-up of the information infrastructure of various sectors in the economy using state-of-the-art information technology while accommodating to newly emerging issues such as Internet, Intranet and the concept of the information highway. The focus of the paper will be on a comprehensive government program that started in 1994 targeting the development of a national information highway putting Egypt on the front-end in terms of business and socio-economic development. The paper demonstrates how such an ambitious objective required massive build-up of a human, information and technological infrastructure. The paper, in that respect, covers the introduction and development of the concept of the information-based society while demonstrating its development phases, mission, objectives, framework, challenges and opportunities among others. Finally, the paper highlights some of the recommended areas for future research related to the development of information highways in developing countries capitalizing on the findings and the lessons learnt from the Egyptian experience.
TL;DR: The role that international relations theories play in the formulation and implementation of foreign policy is discussed in this article, where the authors argue that even a Henry Kissinger or Zbignew Brzeznski implemented a "theory" as they conducted foreign policy.
Abstract: Teachers have long struggled to explain the role that international relations theories play, both in the academy and in the policy-making world. Occasionally the links are direct; Henry Kissinger sought to put in place the realism of his theoretical writings on world politics. Yet, can we say that even a Henry Kissinger or Zbignew Brzeznski implemented a "theory" as they conducted foreign policy? And what of those theories that do not easily-or at all-lend themselves to real-world implementation, like neorealism or constructivism? Our students are often confused about the nature of the
TL;DR: The question of when guinea worm disease was last found in Egypt, and how written sources from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries which mention the disease should be evaluated, is addressed, relevant to the global eradication campaign now in progress, and the need for countries in which dracunculiasis was once present to prepare a certification of eradication.
TL;DR: The authors argue that the contemporary Egyptian nationalistic voice, championed by the urban middle classes, expresses an ambivalent attitude to both "the West" and "the Egyptian people" and that it necessarily involves the hiding and undermining of subordinate social groups.
Abstract: This paper addresses aspects of contemporary Egyptian nationalism by focusing on reactions within Egypt to a BBC‐produced documentary dealing with the life of a lower class Cairene woman. In particular, it explores how the notions of honor, shame and reputation are central to the construction and expression of this nationalistic voice, and how the concern over “Egypt's image” involves a contest over who is to represent the nation. This article argues that the contemporary nationalistic voice, championed by the urban middle classes, expresses an ambivalent attitude to both “the West” and “the Egyptian people”, and that it necessarily involves the hiding and undermining of subordinate social groups.
TL;DR: In this article, a strengthening of the concept of purity in the context of accessible categories is introduced, which is equivalent to the usual one in locally presentable categories, and used to obtain a characterization of injectivity classes.
TL;DR: The designing and testing of a revised screening procedure, which focuses on the collection of stool specimens to diagnose S. mansoni, is described, which is comprehensive and gender‐sensitive and included screening and health education into an integrated control strategy.
Abstract: In Egypt an important component of the national schistosomiasis control policy is the regular screening of school children through the rural health units. In the Nile delta, a major challenge for the programme is the increasing predominance of Schistosoma mansoni, as compared to Schistosoma haematobium over the past 20 years, and the need to adjust strategies to this new reality. The action research project, growing out of an in-depth study of schistosomiasis in two Nile delta villages, is intended to provide recommendations for schistosomiasis control to the Egyptian Ministry of Health and Population. This paper explores the practice of school-based screening. We then describe the designing and testing of a revised screening procedure, which focuses on the collection of stool specimens to diagnose S. mansoni and which is comprehensive and gender-sensitive. Opportunities for health education are discussed briefly, as this is necessary for an effective screening procedure and to prevent reinfection. In conclusion, we mention the need to incorporate screening and health education into an integrated control strategy
TL;DR: In a locally presentable category seen as a concrete category of structures, the subobjects generated by a subset are described first in terms of closure under certain types of implicit partial operations, and then in syntactic terms.
Abstract: In a locally presentable category seen as a concrete category of structures, we describe the subobjects (resp. the regular, strong subobjects) generated by a subset, first in terms of closure under certain types of implicit partial operations, and then in syntactic terms. This characterizes in particular the locally presentable categories in which various sorts of monos and epis coincide.
TL;DR: In this article, periodicity and intensity in the Afghan War are discussed. But the authors focus on the periodicity of the war and do not consider the intensity of the conflict.
Abstract: (1998). Periodicity and intensity in the Afghan War. Central Asian Survey: Vol. 17, No. 3, pp. 471-488.
04 May 1998
TL;DR: A method that combines Bayesian learning, a statistical technique, with the HONEST network, a high order neural network with the property that the mapping embodied by the network can always be described by a polynomial-like equation is presented.
Abstract: We present a method that combines Bayesian learning, a statistical technique, with the HONEST network, a high order neural network with the property that the mapping embodied by the network can always be described by a polynomial-like equation. In a classification task, the objective is to learn to classify feature vectors into classes. When the distribution of the features is known, statistical methods can often produce better performance than backward error propagation networks. However, if the feature distribution is not known for certain, then the performance of a statistical method will depend on how well the assumed distribution matches the actual distribution. In the method we present, we first use Bayesian learning, with an assumption of a multivariate normal distribution, to learn a quadratic polynomial mapping and then use the HONEST network to improve, or fine-tune, this mapping through backward error propagation. We apply this technique to the feature combination stage of a CONNECT-4 evaluation function.