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This study uses the MEDALUS model, which was developed by the European Union, to estimate the degree of desertification within the European Mediterranean countries, which is based on classifying the environmental sensitivity to desertification (ESD) to five degrees, based on a set of different criteria, including those related to soil, as well as the vegetation cover and climatic conditions. The study area was chosen very carefully, as it is located in the eastern margin of the Nile River Delta in the overlapping area between the Nile silt and delta sediments and between the sands of the eastern desert and its various formations. the area includes different land use between ancient agricultural lands, agricultural reclamation and vacant lands that can be used in future agricultural and urban expansions. By implementation this model, it was clearly found that about 76.4% of the area has an average soil quality index and 23.6% has a low soil quality index, as well as about 23.9% of the area has a good vegetation cover index and 29.1% is average quality, while 47% of its area has a low vegetation cover quality index. The study also showed that 65.1% of the area has an average climate quality index while 34.9% of its area has a low climate quality index. The study concluded that 2.4% of the area has very high environmental sensitivity index to desertification, 61.2% is environmentally sensitive, while 22.8% of its area is medium sensitive and 13.6% is low (ESD).

One of the primary challenges for sustainable development in semi-arid regions like Egypt, is the scarcity of freshwater, making it critical to assess groundwater potential. The purpose of the current study is to predict spatially potential groundwater zones in Suez Governorate (SG), Egypt using (relative frequency prediction rate) integration and Shannon entropy (SE) bivariate statistical models. Sixteen causal factors affecting groundwater instances were assessed in terms of geo-environmental. The results obtained from the current study revealed that these two models can be effectively working for spatial prediction modeling. Furthermore, the RF-PR model results have shown that most paramount factors in groundwater instances in study region were observed in soil units, depth to water table, LU/LC and drainage density whereas SE model reflects LU/LC, lithology, Distance to stream, soil units, and depth to water table respectively. Following by validation analysis of AUCs for both relative frequency-prediction rate and Shannon's models are 0.749 and 0.745, correspondingly, representing that RF-PR outperforms the Shannon's. Finally, groundwater potential zones prediction maps (GPZPm) obtained from both models were categorized into five classes. Current research results are useful for multi-criteria decision makers such as water resources authorities and decision architects to broadly assess the groundwater investigation for future planning

The objectives of the current study are to define how many and what kind of nosocomial infections are occurring, what are the causative microbes and what kind of drugs can be used in treatment of infection at Al-Hada Armed Forces Hospital, Taif, Saudi Arabia during the year 2004. A prospective study was implemented for all cases admitted at Al-Hada Armed Forces Hospital during the period 1st January, 2004 till 31st December, 2004 and which developed infection. Determination of nosocomial infections was performed using standardized CDC criteria. A total of 1382 patients had developed infection during hospital admission and were included in the study. Of them, 668 (48.3%) had nosocomial infection and 714 (51.7%) had community-acquired infection. Among those who developed nosocomial infections, 216 (32.3%), 172 (25.7%) and 124 (18.6%) had respiratory tract (RTI), urinary tract (UTI) and blood stream infections (BSI) respectively. Surgical site infection (SSI) was reported in 86 cases (12.9%). The overall nosocomial infection rate along the study period was 4.98 per 100 discharged patients. Gram-positive organisms were reported in 31.8%. MRSA (Methicillin-resistant S. aureus) was the commonest (10.2%), followed by coagulase negative staphylococci (8.5%) and MSSA (Methicillin-susceptible S. aureus, 7.4%). While Gram-negative organisms were reported in 66.2%, E. coli was the commonest (22.3%), followed by Pseudomonas aeruginosa (17.6%) and Klebsiella pneumoniae (9.9%). Acinetobacter spp. and MRSA were highly sensitive to Imipenem (88.6%) and Vancomycin (98.5%) respectively. E. coli were highly sensitive to most of the antimicrobial agents except ampicillin (26.6%). Conclusions: Pneumonia, urinary tract infections, and blood stream infections made up the great majority of nosocomial infections. There is a need for further risk assessment associated with main types of infection.