Digital Commons Network^™

Multimodal Image Retrieval Combining Image And Text, Md Imran Sarker

Theses and Dissertations

Retrieving visual or textual similarities from an image query and vice versa has drawn much interest in computer vision. With the growth of the E-commerce marketplace, image retrieval provides excellent competitive opportunities for vendors and customers through a robust recommendation system. Feature integration has always been an essential task for multimodal-based image retrieval approaches. However, different existing matching techniques have been used separately for visual and text similarity. Still, researchers are looking for new methods when it comes to multimodal Image Retrieval. In this paper, I study the image retrieval task, where the input query is an image plus text …

Safety Behind The Computer Screen: Gauging Public Perceptions About Teacher Student Sexual Abuse, Kilby E. Raptopoulos

Theses and Dissertations

Female sex offenders are often portrayed in the media more leniently than male sex offenders, which could influence the way the public perceives these offenders. Further, the media is not always accurate in how they portray sex crimes either which can translate to misconceptions among the public specifically regarding sex offenders. The purpose of this research was to explore media coverage of teacher student sexual abuse in relation to the public’s reaction to these news stories. The current study utilized news stories to analyze reader comments on a news website to understand 1) how teacher sex offenders are portrayed, 2) …

U.S. Department Of The Interior: Sharing Fair Data Fairly, Jason Earl Duke

Theses and Dissertations

Thousands of scientists, researchers, students, and organizations consume government-produced data daily that are often difficult to locate because they are collected and stored in multiples at varying levels of quality, inhibiting their usefulness for data science investigations and analysis. To address these challenges, United States Government agencies and bureaus have been implementing Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable (FAIR) Data Principles into their data-sharing strategies since 2016. However, differing interpretations of the FAIR Data Principles lead to data that must be documented uniformly and adequately integrated for reuse. Select datasets have been analyzed with peer-reviewed FAIR assessment tools to establish a …

A Structural Examination Of Organizational Justice, Self-Legitimacy, Employee Engagement, And Civic Engagement In Police, Mary Isis Wuestewald

Theses and Dissertations

Recently, the concept of police self-legitimacy has spurred research interest. Several studies have demonstrated beneficial outcomes associated with officers who are confident in their own authority. The current dissertation builds on this emerging area of study by examining the influence of organizational justice on police self-legitimacy, as well as self-legitimacy’s impact on employee engagement and civic engagement in police officers. Survey data were gathered from a sample of 1,391 officers from variously sized agencies across seven regions of the United States. Structural equation modeling was used to test the hypotheses. The results indicate that organizational justice is a key component …

The Impact Of Natural Resources And Foreign Aid On Governance: Evidence From The Mena Countries, Dalia Moharram

Theses and Dissertations

Theoretical and empirical literature points out the “Curse of Natural Resources” where the abundance of resources in certain countries may hamper economic growth through several channels. The paper extends the previous research and investigates whether higher revenues- not only from natural resources’ rent but also from foreign aid- exhibit another type of curse in MENA countries. That is, do higher natural resources rent, and foreign aid erode the quality of institutions as measured by governance indicators in the MENA countries? This research utilizes a panel data fixed-effect model to investigate the abovementioned relationship during the period 2000-2020. The countries are …

Trauma Presentation Among Latinx/Hispanic Subgroups, Ana Paula Leao De Camargo

Theses and Dissertations

Hispanics/Latinos are the fastest-growing minority group in the United States and are estimated to compose half of the American population by 2060 if growing trends follow current levels. It has been suggested that Latinx/Hispanics perceive and react to adverse experiences with somatization, which is highly comorbid with Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) symptoms (van der Kolk, et al 1996). This study surveyed 451 participants from which 88% identified as being Hispanic or Latinas, 2.7% identified as being Black Hispanic/Black Latina, and 9.3% identified as having mixed ethnicities including Hispanic/Latina. Regarding place of birth, 431 respondents (95.6%) identified being born in Continental …

Terfezia Boudieri And Terfezia Claveryi Inhibit The Lps/Ifn-Γ-Mediated Inflammation In Raw 264.7 Macrophages Through An Nrf2-Independent Mechanism, Abdelhameed Dawood

Theses and Dissertations

Desert truffles have been used as traditional treatments for a variety of inflammatory disorders. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying their anti-inflammatory effects in RAW 264.7 macrophages have remained to be fully elucidated. Therefore, the present study investigated the anti-inflammatory activities of two main desert truffles, Terfezia boudieri and Terfezia claveryi and the underlying mechanisms associated with their anti-inflammatory activities in RAW 264.7 macrophages stimulated with lipopolysaccharide/interferon-gamma (LPS/IFN-γ) in order to develop innovative therapeutics for the treatment of inflammation.

To address this objective, RAW 264.7 cells were treated with increasing concentrations of T. boudieri and T. claveryi extracts in the presence …

Lignin Nanoparticles Comparative Study For Their Emulsifying, Antibacterial And Antioxidant Properties, Matta Asaad Mesak Ebaid

Theses and Dissertations

Converting lignin, the second most natural abundant polymer on earth, into lignin nanoparticles (LNPs) form has potential applications. LNPs’ emulsifying, antibacterial and antioxidant properties of three different lignins, softwood kraft lignoboost (LB), hardwood birch (BB) and alkali protobind 1000 (PB) were evaluated in a comparative study at different pH and concentrations. Lower ionic strength of 5 millimole (mM) citric acid (CA) and pH of 7 were found to be the most optimum conditions for emulsion formation. Comparison among the two homogenization techniques revealed that microfluidizer is favored in case of BB- and PB-LNPs based emulsions, while ultrasonication is optimum in …

The Rise Of Irregular Domestic Work Amongst Female Migrants In Italy, Elena Romeo

Theses and Dissertations

In today’s globalized world, hardship and geopolitical and economic crises have led to the lack of decent work, and this resulted in new, migratory movements. Women have joined these migration flows in growing numbers, which has important consequences for gender equality in both countries of origin and destination (ILO,2015). Hence, migration has a new character, and it includes many women who emigrate from their country because of a lack of access and choices to jobs, exploitation, and lower wages compared to men in Europe. In this context, one can affirm that today irregular migration is on the rise, especially in …

Students’ And Teachers’ Perceptions Of Using Memes In Esl Classrooms, Fadwa Youssef

Theses and Dissertations

Using humor in the language classroom has proven to be an effective pedagogical teaching tool that builds rapport between students and teachers. It also reduces anxiety and affective filter as well as increases students’ performance and willingness to communicate in class using their L2 (Azizinezhad & Hashemi, 2011; Banks, 2014; Soares, 2015). Previous studies used humor broadly starting from humorous comments in class to funny TV shows, movies, or songs. Some studies went further using funny memes in class and fewer studies went all the way making students create memes as part of their class requirements (Purnama, 2017). Results of …

Impact Of Social Media  On Public Perception Of Government Covid-19 Response Efforts, Taher Taher

Theses and Dissertations

This research aims to understand this phenomenon to provide insights into how governments can perform better in times of crisis regarding social media and its impact on public opinion. This research aims to understand how social media impacts public perception of government COVID-19 response efforts by studying Facebook comments, likes, and reactions (emoticons).

The study was based on data gathered from Facebook comments on the daily infographic COVID-19 statistics from the official site of the Ministry of Health and Population. The sampling frame is the 52 weeks of 2020, January to December, through random sampling resulting in 546 comments. The …

Price Prediction Models Of Metals Considering International Crises, Haidy Ghali

Theses and Dissertations

Steel, copper, and aluminum are essential raw materials in the construction industry and are used in any construction project whether commercial, industrial, or mega projects. During normal market conditions, the prices of these metals normally fluctuate due to general inflation in the economy; however, during crises, the prices of these metals significantly fluctuate exposing both contractors and suppliers to an unexpected financial risk. Various researchers have developed metal prediction models for normal market condition and did not consider testing it on the crises time; also, the developed models are devised using past metal prices or macroeconomic indicators of trading countries …

Measuring Citizens’ Acceptance And Usage Of E-Government Services: Applying The Technology Acceptance Model (Tam) In Egypt, Rana Khamis

Theses and Dissertations

The significance of public services delivery has been realized by all governments worldwide. An overarching tool to enhance government productivity and enabling citizen-centric public services, especially in developed countries, has proven to be the electronic government (e-Government).

While many scholars focused on the supply side of e-government, few researches studied e-government adoption from the citizens’ perspective. To contribute to filling this research gap, this study aimed at measuring the perceptions of citizens towards the adoption of e-government services in Egypt. Using Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), the main objective of this research was gaining a better understanding of the factors affecting …

Electrochemical Sensors And Biosensors Of Biomarkers And Therapeutic Agents Detection, Mahmoud Abdelhakem

Theses and Dissertations

Electrochemical sensing is a pioneering tool amongst all other sensing techniques even though it had been started in the early 20th century. Due to their cost efficacy, accuracy, and real-time measurement, electrochemical sensing has been utilized in a vast of biomedical applications in therapeutic drug monitoring and biomarker detection. This thesis work concerned the monitoring of three therapeutic agents in spiked plasma, urine, dosage form, and interstitial skin fluid with high specificity and accuracy. Two of our sensing platforms utilized nanomaterials for sensing (sensors) of Cilostazol and Velpatasvir utilizing α-MnO2-V2O5 (metal oxide nanorods) and NH2- MIL-53 (Aluminum-based metal organic frameworks), …

How Do The Environmental Aspects Affect The Oil Drilling And Extraction Sector? Evidence From Firm-Level Data, Nadine Amr Hosny

Theses and Dissertations

There will and always be a tradeoff between achieving profitability and maintaining sustainability. This complex problem is especially portrayed in the Oil sector. MENA region countries dominate more than half of the Oil reserves globally. Therefore and due to their dominance, such oil firms may suffer from several adverse consequences from their oil drilling and extraction activities. Accordingly, the main objective of the thesis is to examine the impact of the changes in environmental conditions on the financial performance of selected oil drilling and extraction firms. The selected countries that were chosen are: Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia & Gabon. The results …

Urban Resettlement Policies In Cairo: A Case Study Of Manshaiat Nasser And Asmarat City, Roshan Abouzied

Theses and Dissertations

Egypt has a long history of urban development efforts. These efforts have provided substantial solutions in providing the urban population with adequate housing opportunities, especially those living in slum areas. However, these policies have not offered optimal solutions for all residents of informal areas, and recently governments have resorted to evictions and resettlement as one of the main strategies for removing unsafe informal areas. These strategies have had a diversity of consequences on the urban planning of cities like Cairo and repercussions on community dynamics and community social fabric. Accordingly, this thesis demonstrates the impact and reflects the consequences of …

An Epileptic Seizure Detection Method From Eeg Signals Based On A Classifier-Driven Feature Reduction Technique, Raymond N. Kamel

Theses and Dissertations

Epileptic seizure detection can improve the quality of life of epileptic patients, allow for more accurate medication, and minimize the risk of sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP). This thesis work aims to develop a robust and stable algorithm for epileptic seizure detection through the classification of EEG signals. To achieve this aim, a methodology is proposed to develop a classifier that can differentiate between the healthy (normal), interictal, and ictal states of EEG signals, while maximizing the classification accuracy and minimizing the computational redundancy. The main pillar upon which this methodology is designed is using a problem-specific classifier-driven feature …

Exploring The Implementation Challenges And Achievements Of The 2016 Civil Service Law In Egypt: A Study, Nahla Tarek

Theses and Dissertations

The American University in Cairo

School of Global Affairs and Public Policy

Department of Public Policy and Administration

Abstract

This study aims to understand the implementation challenges and achievements of the Egyptian Civil Service Law (CSL), particularly in the areas of appointments, organizational structure, creation of the new position “permanent secretary” in government institutions, and the provision of incentives arrangement. In order to achieve the research aim, the study employed the qualitative methodology to gather data by performing semi-structured interviews with civil servants of different grades and positions. The interviewees collectively painted a holistic picture of how the CSL is …

The Organization Of Islamic Cooperation (Oic): Opportunities And Challenges For Practicing Culturally-Sensitive Mediation In Intra-Muslim Conflicts, Nirvana Ahmad

Theses and Dissertations

Established in 1969, the OIC sat a unique paradigm in the international order as an intergovernmental organization that claims a religious identity and mandate: working for Muslim unity and interests. In that pursuit, it has assumed the function of the peaceful settlement of disputes as one of its primary roles. Over half a century of its existence, not only did the OIC drift away from its founding principles and commitments; it is now condemned for turning into an arena for polarization among Muslims, where unchecked geopolitical competition has aroused rampant violence of all sorts.
The literature on the OIC extensively …

Waste-Derived Hybrid Nanocomposite For The Simultaneous Removal Of Antibiotics And Dyes From Water Bodies, Abdelkader Ahmed

Theses and Dissertations

A novel eco-friendly approach was used to synthesize a hydroxyapatite-carbon nanocomposite (HAP-C) by utilizing the industrial waste of cement kiln dust (CKD) as a source of calcium for the synthesis. Citric acid was first used to chelate the calcium from CKD, then the chelate was converted into a mixture of calcium carbonate and carbon by calcination at 450°C for 1 h. The mixture was used as a precursor for the synthesis of HAP-C by reacting it with ortho-phosphoric acid via a precipitation method. HAP-C was then calcined at different temperatures of 400, 500, and 700°C under inert atmosphere, with a …

Tiktok Battlefield: Comparative Analysis Of English And Arabic Language Representations Of The 2022 Russian Ukrainian Conflict On Tiktok, Dina Magdeldin Mahmoud Elhawary

Theses and Dissertations

This study extends the growing political communication research on TikTok platform through studying the representation of a major political conflict in modern history; the 2022 Russian Ukrainian conflict. The study is providing a cross cultural comparison by studying the perspectives of English and Arabic speakers about the conflict. The study is based on the analysis of the 500 most liked TikTok videos - in one month duration that starts with the day of the Russian invasion - with top hashtags about the conflict in order to find the common message themes. The study uses a multi-dimensional analysis approach of connective …

A Review Of Covid-19 Lockdown Across Different Countries During 2020: Characterization Of Risk Factors And Severity Of Covid-19 In Egyptian Patients, Hanya Mohamed

Theses and Dissertations

On March 12, 2020, The World Health Organization (WHO) announced the new coronavirus 2019 as a global pandemic. In January 2022, the number of COVID-19 cases reached 300 million confirmed cases with a total death count of 5.5 million cases. Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) was identified in a seafood wholesale market in Wuhan, China. At the time of the outbreak, there was no effective treatment to protect from the novel coronavirus; the only way to control the pandemic was through reducing person-to-person contact and taking preventive measures based on the severity of the disease among the population. The …

Security Governance Strategies: Comparing Rebel Groups In Lebanon And Syria, Nourhan Samir Ibrahim

Theses and Dissertations

The prevalence of civil wars especially after the end of the Cold War led to the rise of rebels who control parts of national states in the absence or weakness of the central government. Therefore, scholars who are interested in studying civil wars started to give more attention to how these rebels function after controlling a territory. It is substantial to study rebels who govern since they influence the post conflict peace-building. This study aimed at exploring the different factors that contribute to the sustainability of rebel governance during civil wars, and how this sustainability might lead to inclusion in …

Poverty Depiction In Egyptian Films Across The Decades: A Comparative Content Analysis Of Framing Poor Characters In Egyptian Cinema Between 1955 And 2010, Moustafa Abdelfadil Daly

Theses and Dissertations

This research examines the framing of poverty in Egyptian film productions during a 55-year period from 1955 to 2010. It uses a qualitative analysis to identify and analyze main characters depicted to be poor in films produced under three political eras; Gamal Abdel-Nasser, Anwar El Sadat, and Hosny Mubarak. It analyzes the frequency of featuring poor characters and whether the depiction of poor people was favorable or unfavorable based on three constructs; accountability of poverty, heroism, and honesty. Out of 41 main characters studied, 22 were found to be poor, with Nasser's era witnessing the highest representation of poverty. Most …

Effectiveness Of Trainings Funded By Development Partners In Egyptian Government Organizations, Mariam Walid

Theses and Dissertations

The thesis explores the effectiveness of trainings provided through development partner funding to the Egyptian government. Egypt is receiving a moderate amount of funding from development partner, as an emerging economy . The development assistance reached 1.56 billion US dollars where a good amount of it is directed towards capacity development and training. In light of the current public administration reform, specifically the efforts in public administration reform, Egypt needs skillful employees to enhance the governmental performance and help it achieve its strategic 2030 vision. Accordingly, it is very important to understand the effectiveness of the trainings provided by development …

The Causal Effect Of Firm Productivity On Climate Change: Evidence From The Mena Region, Shahd El Azhary

Theses and Dissertations

The relationship between firm productivity and climate change matters importantly to sustainable growth goals. The MENA region is very vulnerable to desertification because of an increase in temperature. The purpose of this study is to assess the productivity of firms, by sector, on climate change through a panel VAR (PVAR) model to investigate firms’ total factor productivity (TFP) on temperature increases on the region. The positive relationship between both variables for most sectors, except for the financial and basic materials sectors, demonstrates the need for policy makers to formulate harsher regulations against climate change.

Estimating Solar Energy Production In Urban Areas For Electric Vehicles, Shaimaa Ahmed

Theses and Dissertations

Cities have a high potential for solar energy from PVs installed on buildings' rooftops. There is an increased demand for solar energy in cities to reduce the negative effect of climate change. The thesis investigates solar energy potential in urban areas. It tries to determine how to detect and identify available rooftop areas, how to calculate suitable ones after excluding the effects of the shade, and the estimated energy generated from PVs. Geographic Information Sciences (GIS) and Remote Sensing (RS) are used in solar city planning. The goal of this research is to assess available and suitable rooftops areas using …

Alternative Child Care Governance: The Kafala Family-Based Care Arrangement In Egypt, Heba El Azzazy

Theses and Dissertations

Over the past decade, Egypt has witnessed several changes in relation to its alternative care system for orphans and children without parental care. Starting 2014, the Egypt government along with Civil Society actors started to adopt the UN General Assembly guidelines on Alternative Care; which call on States to take solid actions to develop their respective deinstitutionalization strategy that aims towards the progressive elimination of institutional cares and prompting family-based care approaches for children deprived of parental care. According to the current situation, kafala is the main alternative family- based care option practiced in Egypt. Generally, there is very limited …

Binge-Watching Effect On Egyptian Youth Perceptions: The Case Of Netflix, Layla Umara

Theses and Dissertations

With the emergence of VOD content worldwide, and its increasing popularity in the Middle East and Egypt, this paper examines the effect of binge-watching the subscription video on demand streaming service “Netflix” on Egyptian Youths’ perceptions and how they perceive the real world. The Study tests both the number of hours spent watching Netflix and the frequency of binge-watching on the impact on perceived reality of societal values, third person effect and the acceptance of controversial societal values in Egypt. It also studies whether the influence of the cumulative long-hours of exposure to Netflix may give a new dimension to …

The Egyptian National Action Plan Of Antimicrobial Resistance: Governance Mechanism And Public Awareness, Aalaa Afdal Mogheith

Theses and Dissertations

This research aimed primarily to understand the governance mechanism adopted for improving the public awareness on Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) as the first goal of the Egyptian National Action Plan (NAP) for curbing AMR. The secondary purpose was to assess the public awareness, and to identify areas for improvement on raising awareness on AMR. A mixed approach was adopted; firstly, eight in-depth interviews with different stakeholders` representatives involved in the NAP development were held to understand the governance of the NAP. Secondly, a public awareness survey was conducted on 565 respondents to assess their knowledge and awareness on AMR and antibiotic …