Everyone should browse the [Egyptian Patent Office website|http://www.egypo.gov.eg/]. It is a goldmine.

In a few minutes I found out some extremely retarded entries. In an exceptionally bad site.

__Honey treats everything:__
;: HONEY KILLS THE BACTERIA THAT CAUSE CHOLERA TYPHOID BACILLARY DYSENTRY AND DIPHTHERIA AND THE FUNGUS WHICH CAUSE TINEA PEDIS AND CAN BE USED IN TREATMENT OF THESE DISEASES.
[link|http://www.egypo.gov.eg/inner/english/report3_E.asp?lang=2&code=15996]

__A multipurpose time machine:__

;: MULTI-PURPOSE TIME CONTROLE MACHINE.

[link|http://www.egypo.gov.eg/inner/english/report3_E.asp?lang=2&code=13018]

A patent for what seems to be a modified game of handball for the disabled. __Here is a copy and paste of the text, guess who is the retard:__

;: HANDBALL FOR BODY RETARD ON MOVABLE CHAIR DEPENDS ON AMENDED CHAIR BY TWO PILLOWS EVERY ONE HAD A SMALL BICYCLE ANGLE 30 HIGHERT 2,5 CM .UPON GROUND.THE WIDTH OF RANGE 2 METER,HIGERT 1/5 METER AND THE CIORCUMFERENCE OF THE BALLIS 54X56 CM. AND THE SPORTIVE CAHIR WHICH IS UN AMENDED PRACTICE ON IT BASKET BALL.THIS AMENDMENT PROTECT THE RETARD ON FROM FALLING BACK.ANY RATARD ONE HAD THE RIGHT TO PRACTICE THE GAME BECAUSE IT HAS NOT MEDICAL SPECIFICATION AND IT IS OPEN TO ALL AGES AND FOR BOTH MEN AND WOMEN BUT LAW HAS TWO TIMES FOR EVERY PART ONE TIME THE THROW OF THE SIDE PLAY WHEN THE CHAIR IS OUTSIDE THE COMPLETE PLAY GROUND THE RAGE GUARD HAD THE EIGHT TO DEFEND WITH HE MOVABLE CHAIR AND TH USE OF THE CHAIR TO HARM THE COMPETITIVE HAD TO BE GO AWAY FOR TTWO MINUTES....

Why would anyone pay [37.24 USD plus tax|http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/bpl/sore/1998/00000046/00000003/art00125] for a paper published in 1998 about four men chatting about the 'one-eyed trouser snake' and big boobs around several pints of beers. Here is a intriguing piece from the abstract:

;:... examining the reproduction of masculinities in the context of a group of four young men interacting under the influence of alcohol.

Reproduction of masculinities ?

Wait, it turns out that the full text of the paper is [available on the Internet|http://www.psy.dmu.ac.uk/brown/dmulib/lads.htm], all you have to do is google for the term "Reproduction of masculinities".

But the content of the article is beside the point. The main issue here is that Blackwell publishing is selling the full text of such an old paper, that probably has no scientific value and is probably a hoax, at such an OUTRAGEOUS price!!!

First, some of you already know what is ROC. [I wrote about it here|http://mostafa.foolab.org/roc]. In a few words it is a volunteer driven undergraduate medical research course that aims to help medical students learn proper scientific research skills and qualify as research assistants.

As we are in desperate need for proper funding. I think we need to come up with a sort of "business model". Although we don't aim any profits. We aim to be very valuable. So after surfing the wide web. The [network effect|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Network_effects_business_model] is probably the most appropriate. The wikipedia article heavily inspired what is written below to the extent that it could be considered a derivitave work.

The __network effect__ will cause ROC to have a value to a potential funding agency depending on the number of ROC graduates. The total value of ROC will be proportional to the number of ROC graduates and current students.

Finished phase IIIa of the [Research Orientation Course|http://mostafa.foolab.org/roc]. It was a fascinating experience as usual. This time we had Shawky Galal, Youmna Tareef El-Kholy presenting and discussing with us Thomas Kuhn and Karl Popper's philosophy of science. In an earlier session we watched [Ordinary Fascism by Mikhael Romm|http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0059529/] and discussed it with Mrs. Arab Lotfy. Those sessions made the course very special.

Other sessions were about scientific reasoning, data management, tabular and graphical presentation of data and statistical analysis. Unfortunately we were going to have sessions about critical appraisal of scientific papers and ethics in medical research but things did not go as scheduled. Those two sessions will be added to phase IIIb together with several sessions about management.

I found [this editorial on SciDev|http://www.scidev.net/gateways/index.cfm?fuseaction=readitem&rgwid=2&item=Editorials&itemid=160&language=1] about the state of science and research in Egypt. The first half of the article is a little bit optimistic but if you read on, this is probably one of the few articles that clearly outlines the obstacles facing science here. I took some notes and listed them:

* Lack of funds (poor equipment and diminished journal subscriptions)
* Low political priority
* Academic quarrels
* Research as a ladder for higher academic positions
* Bureaucracy
* Lack of science journalism
* Language

I would add Plagiarism and recycling papers to the list.

However the article dismisses any lack of brain power. I agree with that, but I would add that there would have been more brains. If education was any good.

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Last year I attended the first phase of an intensive training course called __Research Orientation Course (ROC)__. It provides training for medical students on scientific methods and research.

I learned a lot from this course.

I think we, medical students, are being taught in a negative way which is based on rote learning only. This results in conformist physicians who lack any understanding of the history and philosophy of medical science. And know nothing about why and how science works. Students are oblivious to the fact that what they have learned is not dogma, and medical sciences will be updated, changed and revised in the future, infinite number of times.

All of this results in graduates who will have to overcome lots of hard coded mental sets to be able to upgrade their knowledge and skills. ROC emphasizes on the importance of logic, inquiry, rationality, reasoning and scientific methods in our field.