Although the events of September 2001 marked the United States' employment of solid forces in its direct comprehensive strategy to counter terrorist organizations and any other challenges to US national security, the United States did not lose sight of the importance of the cultural variable. The cultural variable is the United States' most important instrument of soft power in ensuring its dominance of the international system and promoting its global project. France viewed US soft power as a threat to its own civilizational pattern. Therefore, France considers culture to be an inherent component of its national personality and a cornerstone of its international standing as a major force. Additionally, the US-French political and economic rivalry in Africa, regarded by France as its most important region of national security, has escalated. The developments have contributed to years-long historical rivalry and tension between France and the United States since the 1960s over many contentious issues, including the US position on the political rights of the French-controlled Indochinese and African peoples.As Charles de Gaulle assumed power in France in the early 1950s, France moved to take steps against NATO. De Gaulle demanded in 1958 that France be given more autonomy and freedom than the other members, especially in nuclear armament, and powers similar to those of the UK and the US with regard to NATO-managing strategies. These claims and invitations prompted the US reservation in the late 1950s. Therefore, this study aims to define comprehensive strategy and soft power, identify the manifestations of US soft power towards France, investigate the US practices on the French perception of soft power and cultural variables, and examine the effects of the said US strategies and powers on France's international interests and its strategic action in the world order and NATO.
Diabetic nephropathy (DN) is the most common microvascular complication that may lead to chronic renal failure in diabetic patients. Till now microalbuminuria, with its restrictions, is the early marker of DN, appeared after the disease exacerbation. Thus, new biomarkers are required to predict the early onset of DN before the appearance of microalbuminuria. The aim of this study is to investigate the possible use of uVDBP in the early prediction of DN. Fifty diabetic patients with DN and 40 diabetic patients without DN for both types of diabetes were enrolled in this study. All patients were tested for uACR, uVDBP (measured by ELISA), and blood HbA1c. The results demonstrated a highly significant elevation of uAC
... Show More
Two tetradentate ligands type (N2O2) and their complexes with CoII, NiII and ZnII ions were synthesized via two steps; in the first, the precursors W1 and W2 were synthesized from the reaction of 2,6-diamine pyridine or 2,4-diamine tolylene with 2,5-hexanedione respectively in a 2:1 mole ratio. In the second step the ligands [H2L1] and [H2L2] were prepared from the reaction of the two precursor’s with 2-hydroxy-1-naphthaldehyde in 1:2 mole ratio. Metal complexes were synthesized by the reaction of the ligands with equivalent amounts of the metal chloride. The prepared compounds were characterized with the
... Show More
(1)
Date stones were used as precursor for the preparation of activated carbons by chemical
activation with ferric chloride and zinc chloride. The effects of operating conditions represented
by the activation time, activation temperature, and impregnation ratio on the yield and adsorption
capacity towards methylene blue (MB) of prepared activated carbon by ferric chloride activation
(FAC) and zinc chloride activation (ZAC) were studied. For FAC, an optimum conditions of 1.25
h activation time, 700 °C activation temperature, and 1.5 impregnation ratio gave 185.15 mg/g
MB uptake and 47.08 % yield, while for ZAC, 240.77 mg/g MB uptake and 40.46 % yield were
obtained at the optimum conditions of 1.25 h activation time, 500
(6)
Solvent- free thermal heating, one-pot condensation of acetophenone, ethyl cyanoacetate or malononitrle and substituted Aromatic aldehyde, ammonium acetate give, 2oxo-3-cyano-4-substituted Aryl-6-phenyl pyridine [I]a-h , or 2-amino-3-cyano-4-substituted Aryl-6-phenyl pyridine derivatives[II]a-f , respectively. Treatment of compounds 2-oxo-3-cyano-4-substituted Aryl-6-phenyl pyridine with phosphorous penta sulphide (P2S5), give 2-thioxo-3-cyano-4-substituted Aryl-6-phenyl pyridine derivatives[III]a-c . All prepared compounds
... Show MoreDenture bases are fabricated routinely using Poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) acrylic resin. Yet, it is commonly known for its major drawbacks such as insufficient strength and ductility. The purpose of this study was to improve the performance of PMMA acrylic resin as a denture base material by reinforcement with surface treated lithium disilicate glass ceramic powder. The ceramic powder was prepared by grinding and sieving IPS e.max CAD MT blocks. Then, the powder was surface treated with an organosilane coupling agent (TMSPM) and added to PMMA in amount of 1%, 3%, 5% and 7% by weight. Characterizations of the powder was done by particle size analysis, XRD and FTIR. Transverse strength, Impact strength, Shore D hardness and surface roughn
... Show More
(2)
(2)
This paper presents the implementation of a complex fractional order proportional integral derivative (CPID) and a real fractional order PID (RPID) controllers. The analysis and design of both controllers were carried out in a previous work done by the author, where the design specifications were classified into easy (case 1) and hard (case 2) design specifications. The main contribution of this paper is combining CRONE approximation and linear phase CRONE approximation to implement the CPID controller. The designed controllers-RPID and CPID-are implemented to control flowing water with low pressure circuit, which is a first order plus dead time system. Simulation results demonstrate that while the implemented RPID controller fails to stabi
... Show MoreIn the last few decades, growing interest has been shown in the development of new solar selective coatings based on transition metal nitride and/or oxinitride for solar absorbing applications. Solar thermal collectors are well thought out to be the most effective process of converting and harvesting solar radiation. In this investigation, Cu/TiON/CrO2 multilayered solar selective absorber coatings have been coated onto Al substrates using the dip-coating process followed by an annealing process at (400, 450, 500, 550, and 600 °C. The XRD analysis showed excellent crystalline quality for the prepared thin films along with enhanced surface features as proved by FESEM images, and the grains are in the range of (27–81) nm. The optical in
... Show More
(34)
(30)
This research is carried out to investigate the behavior of self-compacting concrete (SCC) two-way slabs with central square opening under uniformly distributed loads. The experimental part of this research is based on casting and testing six SCC simply supported square slabs having the same dimentions and reinforcement. One of these slabs was cast without opening as a control slab. While, the other five slabs having opening ratios (OR) of 2.78%, 6.25%, 11.11%, 17.36% and 25.00%. From the experimental results it is found that the maximum percentage decrease in cracking and ultimate uniform loads were 31.82% and 12.17% compared to control slab for opening ratios (OR
... Show MoreThe adsorption of cephalexin.H2O from aqueous solution on attapulgite, bentonite and kaolin has been studied at the human body temperature (37.5ËšC) and at 5, 27, 47ËšC in 0.1M hydrochloric acid (pH 1.2). The value of pH 1.2 has been chosen to simulate the pH of stomach fluid. The clays show the following order: Bentonite > attapulgite > kaolin, for their activity to adsorb cephalexin.H2O. The charged clay particles can attract molecules either by electrostatic forces, for the molecules of oppositely charged, or by inducing dipole formation in the neutral molecule. The L-shaped adsorption isotherm indicated that drug molecules arrangement in a flat geometry on the clay surface. The
... Show More
(1)