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Water demands have increased even more in recent decades because of the high population density. Surface and groundwater resources are insufficient to meet these demands. As a result, governments have turned to the treatment of sewage water. Sewage water contains multiple types of contamination, creating a major health risk. In the research region, 48 water samples were obtained, including 18 samples of surface water and 30 samples of groundwater. The Canadian Council Water Quality Index (CCWQI) program calculates the water quality index to evaluate the water quality for drinking and human use. The World Health Organization (WHO) and the Egyptian Ministry of Health (EMH) determined regulatory limits for drinking water and each value of the investigated parameter connected with them. According to the findings, 79% of the tested water samples are safe to drink and are excellent for human and wildlife use. Due to infiltration or recharging of groundwater with drainage water, as well as the involvement of dissolution, leaching processes, and anthropogenic activities that damage human health, animals, and some plants, these samples are unfit for drinking and domestic consumption. The heavy metal level of Cd and Pb in the examined water samples was found to be above WHO and EMH acceptable limits. Furthermore, due to oral exposures, the examined water samples may cause complex health concerns such as non-carcinogenic and carcinogenic influences for children over adults due to a reduction in children's immunity. As a result, water treatment should be carried out in the examined region to protect the health of the residents. Validerad;2023;Nivå 2;2023-04-13 (johcin);Funder: Abdullah Alrushaid Chair for Earth Science Remote Sensing Research

Soils along the Egyptian coast are vulnerable to environmental degradation and soil salinity problems. The main objective of this study is to identify and rapidly predict salt affected soils using remote sensing data and multivariate statistical analysis. To achieve this objective, the Operational Land Imager 8 (OLI) of Landsat imagery acquired in March 2022 was processed through the Maximum Likelihood classifier to assess Landscape features and to produce Normalized difference salinity index (NDSI) and normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI). Water and soil samples were collected from 13 field sites as ground truth data and to investigate representative physical and chemical properties. Linear regression model was used to predict soil salinity while soil parameters were mapped using Inverse Distance Weight (IDW) in ArcGIS 10.5. In order to explore the soil salinity content using VNIR-SWIR spectra, this work investigated the potential of Partial least squares regression (PLS regression) and SVM (Support vector machine). For simulating salinity in the investigated area, a total number of 65 different sites were identified considering that almost 75 % (50 sites) were used to develop the model and 25 % (15 sites) for validation of the established model. The results indicated that EC levels of water samples are not suitable for irrigation (3 mS/cm). Majority of the collected soil samples represent saline-alkaline soils. NDSI ranged from -0.83 to 0.57 with mean of -0.25. Based on the variance of components, 90 % of data were obtained from the first three PCA. The PLS model's R

The present study was conducted in the Wadi Fatima catchment in western Saudi Arabia with the primary objective of finding the major hydrochemical differences among geothermal and non-geothermal groundwater samples. Based on the dissolved-silica content of 124 groundwater samples, the chalcedony geothermometer with no steam loss was used to classify them as geothermal or non-geothermal. The mean total dissolved solids (TDS) of the non-geothermal and geothermal samples were 1254 mg/L and 4389 mg/L, respectively. The high TDS of the geothermal samples can be attributed to the higher temperature of circulation leading to a greater degree of mineral dissolution, as well as the mixing of fresh, shallow groundwater with deeper saline water, as can be seen on Piper and Durov plots. Silicate weathering is the primary hydrochemical process active in the area. Based on the saturation indices of commonly dissolved mineral phases, the geothermal water samples showed higher saturation. Using chalcedony geothermometer can be an effective tool for classifying groundwater from low-temperature reservoirs as geothermal and non-geothermal. Further groundwater facies analysis, ionic relationships, and saturation indices can be employed to determine hydrochemical characteristics of these two different types of waters.

To evaluate the heavy metal contamination and groundwater quality in southern Saudi Arabia, 105 groundwater samples were analyzed for EC, pH, TDS, major ions (NO3−, Cl−, HCO3−, SO42−, F−, Ca2+, Mg2+, Na+, and K+), and heavy metals (Fe, Li, As, B, Al, Cr, Cu, Mo, Ni, Se, Sr, V, Zn, and Mn). Groundwater quality index (GWQI), degree of contamination (Cd), heavy metal pollution index (HPI), ecological risks of heavy metals (ERI), salinity hazard (EC), sodium adsorption ratio (SAR), sodium percentage (Na%), and Kelly's ratio (KR) were calculated and compared, and multivariate statistical techniques were applied. The results revealed that the major cations and anions followed the orders of Na+ > Ca2+ > Mg2+ > K+ and Cl− > SO42− > HCO3− > NO3− > F−, respectively. The maximum values of As, Mn, Cr, Ni, Se, and Zn were above the permissible limits for drinking water purposes. Pollution indices indicated that 20 to 52% of the groundwater samples were suitable for agricultural and domestic purposes. The unsuitable samples were distributed mostly in the western part along the Red Sea coast. Multivariate statistical analyses revealed that the dissolution of halite and gypsum (in sabkha deposits), carbonates, and the agricultural activities were the possible sources of the major cations and anions, and heavy metals in the study area.

Objectives: The aim of this convenient sample study was to assess the knowledge and attitude of Saudi individuals toward self-perceived halitosis. Materials and methods: A cross-sectional survey of Saudi adults using an 18-point self-administered questionnaire on self-perception of halitosis was performed. The questionnaire assesses subjects’ awareness and knowledge about possible causes and available treatments of oral malodor. In addition, the influence of halitosis on social relations and level of confidence was also evaluated through this questionnaire. Significant associations between self-perceived oral malodor and various variables using Chi-square test were evaluated. Results: A total of 130 subjects participated (response rate = 72%). The prevalence of self-perceived halitosis was 68.5%. There was a significant association between knowledge about treatment and self-perceived malodor ( p = 0.025), among oral hygiene measures teeth brushing was the only measure to show significant association with self-perceived halitosis ( p = 0.042). There were significant associations between self-perceived halitosis and subject’s hesitation to talk to other people ( p = 0.018), their “uneasy feeling” when someone is nearby ( p = 0.002), their avoidance to meet other people ( p = 0.032), or their feeling that other people might avoid socializing with them because of their oral malodor ( p = 0.01). Conclusions: Improving the patients’ knowledge about causes of oral malodor might reduce their complaints of halitosis. Patients’ complaint from oral malodor can significantly affect their self-confidence and social interaction with others.

Schwannoma is a slow growing painless, benign neoplasm originating from schwanian cells of peripheral nerve sheath. A 67 years old female patient was admitted to Taif armed forces hospital complaining of left lower limb pain and swelling. The patient was provisionally diagnosed to have left lower limb deep venous thrombosis. Doppler lower limb ultrasound revealed an intra-abdominal mass of ovarian origin. Magnetic Resonant Image (MRI) of the pelvis was performed and showed a retroperitoneal large pelvic mass measuring 17 × 13 cm in the largest diameter which was well marginated.