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Burullus headland is located in the middle half of the Nile Delta Coast. It extends from Burullus inlet to the east to Kitchener drain outlet to the west. Burullus headland has several types of coastal protection structures, such as seawalls, groins, revetments, jetties, basalt riprap (rock wall), and detached breakwaters; these structures were constructed to mitigate coastal erosion. This study aims to compare rates of shoreline displacement prior to and after the construction of the aforementioned structures and to evaluate their efficiency in protecting Burullus headland from erosion during the period from 1973 to 2018. Multi-temporal satellite images and Digital Shoreline Analysis System software have been used to detect and quantify shoreline changes and to predict the shoreline position at 2030, depending on the resulted rates of shoreline displacement. The analysis showed that Burullus headland coast would be divided into four zones, according to the intensity of the erosion; these are: Zone A with accretion's rate of 0.67 m/year; Zone B, the most affected area by erosion with retreating rate of 4.32 m/year; Zone C, which includes 14 of detached breakwater, showed an accretion rate of 5.62 m/year; and finally, Zone D, which includes 9 groins, was characterized by retreating rate of 2.88 m/year. The results of this study show that some types of protection structures were not effective in mitigating coastal erosion in the case of Burullus headland. The predicted shoreline indicates continuous accretion in zone A and C and continuous erosion in zone B and D.

Emerging zoonotic diseases exert a significant burden on human health and have considerable socioeconomic impact worldwide. In Asia, live animals as well as animal products are commonly sold in informal markets. The interaction of humans, live domestic animals for sale, food products, and wild and scavenging animals, creates a risk for emerging infectious diseases. Such markets have been in the spotlight as sources of zoonotic viruses, for example, avian influenza viruses and coronaviruses, Here, we bring data together on the global impact of live and wet markets on the emergence of zoonotic diseases. We discuss how benefits can be maximized and risks minimized and conclude that current regulations should be implemented or revised, to mitigate the risk of new diseases emerging in the future.

The World Society for Virology (WSV) was founded and incorporated as a nonprofit organization in the United States in 2017. WSV seeks to strengthen and support both virological research and virologists who conduct research of viruses that affect humans, other animals, plants, and other organisms. One of the objectives of WSV is to connect virologists worldwide and support collaboration. Fulfilling this objective, virologists from fourteen countries in North America, Europe, Africa, Asia, and the Middle East met on 25-27th August 2019 in Stockholm, Sweden at the Karolinska University Hospital for the first Committee Meeting of WSV. This meeting included compelling keynote and honorary speeches and a series of 18 scientific talks were given encompassing a diverse array of subjects within virology. Followed by the scientific session, a business session was held where multiple aspects and next steps of the society were discussed and charted out.

Zinc oxide (ZnO) nanocrystallites with different weight ratios are incorporated into carbon nanotubes (ZnO/CNTs) or graphene oxide (ZnO/GO) nanohybrids using ultrasonication/hydrothermal approach. The produced nanohybrids were tested in heterogeneous photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue dye (MB) under visible light illumination and in-situ ultrasonication. The zinc oxide incorporated carbon nanotubes nanohybrid having about 70 wt% of ZnO (ZnO(70)/CNT) showed marked visible light photocatalytic activity enhancement for MB degradation (99%, 0.5 g/L catalyst, 0.015 min−1) compared to the rest of the nanohybrids. The performance of MB degradation using ZnO(70)/CNT nanohybrid was even enhanced during employing the dual sonophotocatalysis approach achieving a rate constant of 0.019 min−1. This arises from the structural advantages at the ZnO(70)/CNT interface by which an improvement in electronic conductivity, facile electron transfer, charge carriers separation and increased oxygen vacancies were thoroughly achieved. This was highly ascertained via the catalysts characterization performed via many physiochemical techniques including XRD, TEM-SAED, FTIR, UV–Vis diffuse reflectance, and electrical conductivity, IPCE, PL and EIS. The scavenger studies of the photocatalytic and sonophotocatalytic processes of the MB degradation using ZnO(70)/CNT illustrate the importance of OH (followed by an electron) and holes (followed by OH), respectively proposing the importance of direct and indirect production of OH; as a strong oxidizing moiety.

A novel sensor aluminum silicate was used as a cheaper modifier for the rapid and sensitive voltammetric determination of dothiepin HCl (DTP). Cyclic voltammetry, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), chronoamperometry (CA) and square-wave voltammetry techniques were used to characterize the properties of the sensor. The best results were obtained when the measurements are carried at pH 7 using a Britton-Robinson buffer. Under optimum conditions, the linearity range was 2 × 10−7–1 × 10−4 M with a correlation coefficient equal to 0.9998. LOD and LOQ were determined to be 4 × 10−8, 12.1 × 10−8, M respectively. The obtained results were compared successfully with respect to those obtained using the official method. Moreover, this sensor is sensitive for the determination of DTP in the presence of ascorbic acid (AA), uric acid (UA), dopamine (DA) and common interference molecules. The high sensitivity, good reproducibility, and wide linear range make the modified electrode suitable for determination of DTP in pharmaceutical preparation, human serum and urine sample with excellent recoveries. The possible electro-oxidation pathway and the number of transferred electrons were also investigated.

Nanocomposites of hexagonal ZnO nanorods incorporated into carbon nanotube-graphene (ZnO/CNT-GO) were prepared using a simple hydrothermal approach. The structure, light absorption, surface texturing, and morphology characterizations have established the strong interaction between ZnO, carbon nanotubes, and graphene oxide components because of the presence of well-dispersed ZnO nanorods with an aspect ratio of 3.4 (L × D = 75 × 22 nm). The assembled dye-sensitized solar cell of a ZnO/CNT-GO photoanode exhibited a superior performance, with a power conversion efficiency of 7.73%, surpassing those of its ZnO/CNT (5.07%) and ZnO/GO (3.96%) counterparts. Although CNT-GO exhibited a higher incident photon-to-current conversion efficiency (IPCE) and lower photoluminescence (PL) intensity than those of the ZnO/CNT-GO composite, it presented a lower conversion efficiency of 5.60%. This can be attributed to the presence of structural defects at the CNT/GO interface, which resulted in lower electronic conductivity (0.25 × 10−3 Ω−1 cm−1 vs. 0.8 × 10−3 Ω−1 cm−1 for ZnO/CNT-GO) and optical performance. The ZnO/CNT-GO composite showed a superior Isc value of 17.6 mA/cm2 but a lower Voc value of 0.63 V in comparison to those of its ZnO/GO analog (3.9 mA/cm2, 0.8 V); it also showed a manifested increase in surface area and pore radius values (227.5 m2/g, 58.9 A) toward the dye absorption. The electrochemical capacitance performance obtained via using charge-discharge and impedance spectroscopy revealed an excellent specific capacitance in the order of ZnO/CNT-G (290 F/g) > CNT-G (275 F/g) > ZnO/G (230 F/g) > ZnO/CNT (183 F/g) at 1.0 A g−1. This is attributed to the synergistic effect of ZnO within the CNT/GO nanocomposite and affirms its charge collection efficiency toward the improvement of dye-sensitized solar cells. The formation of a p/n junction between CNT/G and ZnO nanorods, as evidenced by the Mott-Schottky analysis, played a vital role in the improvement of solar cell devices based on the narrowing of the band gap (Eg = 2.64 eV), ease of electronic transfer, transient photocurrent density, as well as framework mesoporosity.

Immunosuppressive viral diseases have a great economic importance in the poultry industry due to the increased susceptibility to secondary infections. Chicken anaemia virus (CAV) is one of the major immunosuppressive diseases in chickens. In addition, low pathogenic avian influenza (LPAI) of subtype H9N2 and infectious bronchitis (IB) viruses are among the most frequently reported respiratory viral diseases in poultry worldwide. In the present study, specific pathogen free chickens were used to understand the impact of CAV on secondary infection with LPAI-H9N2 or IB viruses. Clinical outcomes, viral shedding dynamics, and cytokine levels wereassessed. The results exhibit that chickens previously infected with CAV produceconsiderablyhigher titresof LPAI-H9N2 or IB viruses in the oropharyngeal swabs (P

This work tries to study the effect of the cotton seed hydropriming on its metabolic status during germination. Two groups of cotton seed (primed with water and non-primed) were germinated for 7 days. Through this period; the antioxidant enzymes, H2O2, Malonyl dialdehyde, lipid hydrolysis, shikimic acid, aldolase, and the isocitrate lyase were determined at 1st, 4th and 7th day of sowing. The study ensured that the hydropriming improved the germination of the cotton seed. Improved germination of primed seed combined with the enhancement of the stored lipid metabolism through the activation of lipase, the lipoxygenase and isocitrate lyase activity increased. The significant decrease in the shikimic acid content ensured the active metabolic status of the primed seed. Also priming increased considerably the antioxidant enzymes activity. This helped in maintaining the balance in the reactive oxygen species inside the primed germinated seed cells. This is illustrated in reducing H2O2 content in the primed germinated seed than that in the non-primed germinated seed. The control of reactive oxygen species in content helped in minimizing the lipid peroxidation in the primed germinated seed than that in the non-primed seed.

Malaria remains a significant public health problem worldwide with an estimated annual global incidence of 200 million and an estimated 450,000 annual deaths. Among the five known human malarial species, Plasmodium falciparum is the deadliest and most resistant to antimalarials. Hence, there is a need for new antimalarial targets. The rational design of a drug is usually based on biochemical and physiological differences between pathogens and their hosts. In view of their high rate of replication, parasites require very active nucleic acid synthesis which necessitates large supplies of the indispensable pyrimidine nucleotides. Consequently, delineation of P. falciparum pyrimidine metabolic pathways may reveal potential targets for the chemotherapy of malaria. Previous studies reported the existence of pyrimidine de novo pathways in this organism. The present results demonstrate the presence of enzymes of the pyrimidine salvage pathways in P. falciparum and indicate that this parasite is capable of pyrimidine salvage. Furthermore, some of the pyrimidine salvage enzymes, e.g., dTMP kinase, phosphoribosyltransferase, and uridine phosphorylase could be excellent targets for chemotherapeutic intervention against this parasite.

Fire retardant composites have had a global concern; these composites are mainly composed of halogens/synthetic fibers fire retardant fillers with synthetic polymers. This work aims to utilize green recycled polyester (Rec PE) matrix, obtained from recycled polyethylene terephthalate and natural oleic acid, with high surface area eco-friendly and non-toxic halogen-free Mg(OH)2 nanoparticles to obtain novel environmental friendly Rec PE-Mg(OH)2 fire retardant nanocomposite with superior properties, for the first time. Mg(OH)2 nanoparticles ~75 nm were synthesized and characterized by XRD, DLS and SEM. Then Rec PE matrix was filled by 5, 10, 15 and 20 wt% nanofiller and finally cured via “in-situ polymerization” to have Rec PE-Mg(OH)2 nanocomposites. The improved ratio is 15% that achieved the most effective fire retardancy due to increase time to ignition and decrease peak heat release rate, specific extinction area, total smoke parameter and mass loss rate, as investigated by come calorimeter. Burning suppressing was confirmed by increasing limiting oxygen index till 34.1%. The prepared nanocomposites have advanced thermal stability regarding increasing thermal decomposition temperatures to higher values through all ignition zones, as detected by TGA. The 15% nanocomposite has improved hardness value by 10.6%; SEM confirmed obtaining of this advanced percentage as well-dispersed nanocomposite. Here, it is demonstrated that protection of our green polymeric matrix from fire diffusion, combustion heat, atmospheric oxygen, emitted gases, weight loss and thermal degradation is the key issue that makes Rec PE-Mg(OH)2 nanocomposite acts as an effective green fire retardant.

“Eco-friendly/green” materials, as alternatives for the normal petrochemicals, have become challenged target to diminish the global greenhouse emission and energy consumption. For this issue, the main goal of the paper is exploiting polyethylene terephthalate (PET) waste of drinking-water bottles and natural oleic acid to establish novel “eco-friendly” cheap recycled unsaturated polyester (Rec-UPE) for the first time. This was firstly performed by glycolysis PET with diethylene glycol; after the glycolysis, esterification process took place with oleic acid. The characterization sentence approved successful preparation of Rec-UPE with more amorphous segments, as noticed from its characteristic FTIR and XRD peaks. Also, photos of SEM support the morphological changing to smoother surface. The thermal behavior was investigated via TGA/DSC thermographs; they assured the conversion of simicrystalline PET to more amorphous Rec-UPE with some enhanced thermal stability. The generated polyester exhibited similar curing reactivity regarding gel-to-peak time, curing temperature and viscosity compared with commercial one, but with more gelling time that provides easier processing. Rec-UPE achieved enhanced hardness by 14.6% compared with PET, this due to formation of rigid 3-D crosslinked polyester-styrene system. With the best-obtained results of the “green” Rec-UPE, it can be utilized with all applications of the commercial polyester, however, as improved, cheap and recycled type that can share with global trails for minimizing and recycling the petrochemicals waste.

Recently, an increased incidence of outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5N8 in poultry linked to infected migratory birds has been reported from different European, Asian and African countries. In Egypt, incursion of HPAI H5N8 virus of clade 2.3.4.4b has been recently registered. Full genomic characterization of 3 virus isolates from wild birds and poultry (backyard and commercial farm sectors) showed high nucleotide similarity among the HA, NA, M, and NS gene segments of the three Egyptian HPAI H5N8 viruses, indicating that they are descendants of a common ancestral virus. However, the analyzed Egyptian H5N8 viruses revealed distinct genotypes involving different origins of the PB2, PB1, PA and/or NP segments. In genotype-1 represented by strain A/common-coot/Egypt/CA285/2016 the PB2 and NP segments showed closest relationship to H5N6 and H6N2 viruses, recently detected in Italy. The second is replacement of PB1 and NP genes A novel reassortant, represented by strain A/duck/Egypt/SS19/2017, showed an exchange of PB1 and NP genes which might have originated from H6N8 or H1N1 and H6N2 viruses. Finally, replacement of PA and NP genes characterized strain A/duck/Egypt/F446/2017. Bayesian phylogeographic analyses revealed that Egyptian H5N8 viruses are highly likely derived from Russian 2016 HPAI H5N8 virus (A/great_crested_grebe/Uvs-Nuur_Lake/341/2016 (H5N8)) and the reassortment likely occurred before incursion to Egypt.

Water is the secret of life. The earth is the only planet on which there is life because of water. Therefore water saving should be on the top of our priority. Industries contribute to water pollution hugely with various pollutants varied from large objectives to micro molecules such as heavy metals. Water pollution affects growing plants, animals, human health, and the whole environmental equilibrium thus minimizing water pollution is a critical issue around the world. In this work, we try to evaluate the effectiveness of the metallothionein protein (extracted from soybean debris) after its immobilization on nano-silica (extracted from rice straw) in the lead removal from battery industry wastewater. The prepared nano metallothionein showed the maximum adsorption capacity of about 325 mg/g at pH 3 and for a5 min, incubation time. The nano metallothionein showed high removal efficiency for lead ions from the real battery industry wastewater about 98%. The nano metallothionein not only efficiently removed the lead from the wastewater but also can improve its characters as it can reduce the BOD and COD of the treated water. Besides this high treatment efficiency the prepared nano metallothionein, it can save about 60% of its activity after 50 reuse cycles. The prepared nano metallothionein can be effective cheap adsorbent for lead ions removal from wastewater. A large-scale study for the use of the prepared nano metallothionein as a filter in the wastewater pipes of battery factories.

Fusarium oxysporum is one of the most common soil borne pathogens over the world. This work tried to introduce safe and efficient agent in controlling this pathogen infection in cucumber plants, beside that understanding the mechanism at which fabitine enables the cucumber plants to fight wilt disease. Also, this works introduce a molecular modeling for the direct interaction between fabatin and the Fusarium oxysporum. We evaluated the impact of defensin isolated from broad bean debris (fabatin) against the Fusarium wilt disease in the greenhouse, followed by the analysis of defense-related enzymes, including superoxide dismutase, polyphenol oxidase, soluble peroxidase, cell wall-bound peroxidase, catalase, lactate dehydrogenase, phenylalanine ammonia-lyase, chitinase, and glucanase. Moreover, the growth-regulating protein of the fungus (Snt2, a BAH/PHD) was docked with the fabatin. Fabatin reduced the disease severity from 18.52 to 0.0% by 100% disease reduction, 30 days after transplanting, and from 66.67 to 33.33% by 50.01% disease reduction after 60 days. Interestingly fabatin spray induced upregulation of the studied defense enzymes. The sprayed group showed significant continuous increase in defense related enzymes under infection. Furthermore, fabatin showed a high binding affinity to the Bromo-adjacent domain (BAH) of the Snt2 by - 214.42 kacl/mol and this can prevent the transcriptional regulation processes of the fungus. The present study proved that the exogenous spray fabatin is an effective way in controlling cucumber Fusarium wilt. This is achieved through the enhancement the defense related enzymes which regulate the resistance mechanism in the plants. Moreover, fabatin can directly influence the fungal growth.

Remote Sensing techniques with GIS were used to evaluate flash flood hazard in Wadi Qena. Wadi Qena represents a large, wide, dry and long valley slopes down from the south of the Galala height to the town of Qena. Its southern stretches considered as very promising land for the agriculture expansion. The surface area of Wadi Qena is about 15,588 km 2 . Flash flood hazard in Wadi Qena is evaluating by the integration of some quantitative geo-morphometric parameters and Tropical Rainfall Monitoring Mission (TRMM) satellite data of the last flashflood in 28th January 2013. Streams were automatically extracted from ASTER DEM data. Wadi Qena classified into 151 sub-basins. The various morphometric parameters of Wadi Qena sub-basins have been computed. flash flood hazard map of the most dangerous sub-basins was prepared by combining all the spatial layers of morphometric parameters for the sub-basins included in it by GIS analysis. the majority of the sub-basins range from low to medium hazard degree Except one sub-basin located at the eastern part of the wadi is classified as high hazard degree. This technique may help in evaluating the hydrographic basin and offers a base map delineating both recharge and flooding area. Flash flood has double-edged effects one is a destructive and life terminator, the second is a beneficent, if it can be controlled and directed for the development the community. This technique helps in diminishing the flood hazards and increases recharging the shallow aquifers.

Pituitary adenoma invasion into the orbit is a rare phenomenon with only 22 cases, including the present case, in the literature. Our case is a 31-year-old man who presented with biopsy-proven atypical pituitary adenoma invading the right orbit after a prior resection. We compare his clinical course with previous cases and discuss clinical features, radiological features, management considerations, histologic features, and prognosis. Cases are organized by specific pituitary tumor type to aid in determining appropriate management. Early surgical intervention is the key, especially in the setting of pathologic features indicating aggressive tumor behavior or worsening visual function but is generally not indicated in prolactin-secreting adenomas that may respond to medical therapy. The role of radiation therapy is not fully established; however, it should be strongly considered in conjunction with or after surgery, especially in cases where complete resection is not achieved or histological and molecular analyses indicate a high likelihood of recurrence. More uniform and comprehensive data about management and outcomes are needed to determine the optimal treatment approach for this rare entity.

Highlights • Development of molecular diagnostic tools for infectious bronchitis virus (IBV). • Segregation of the IBV Egyptian variant II into two phylogroups detected. • Frequent co-infections with IBV, avian influenza and Newcastle disease observed., In Egypt, currently two geographically restricted genotypes of the infectious bronchitis coronavirus (IBV) are circulating with detrimental effects for poultry industry. A sensitive real-time RT-PCR assay targeting the IBV nucleocapsid gene (N) was developed to screen clinical samples for presence of IBV. Conventional RT-PCRs amplifying hypervariable regions (HVRs 1–2 and 3) of the IBV S1 gene were developed and amplificates used for nucleotide sequence-based typing of IBV field strains in Egyptian chickens directly from clinical samples.

Medicinal plants have a great role in influencing health all over the world. There are few studies for the phytochemical investigations in medicinal plants were conducted in Saudi Arabia especially in Albaha region in south-western Saudi Arabia. Therefore this study focused on the detection of the phytochemical composition of the most dominant eighteen natural medicinal plant varieties found in Albaha region. Aqueous extracts of the dried aerial parts of these plants were prepared. The phytochemical composition of these extracts was investigated. Also, the antioxidants and anti-cancer activity of these plants' extracts were evaluated. The results revealed that phenols, flavonoids saponins and glycosides cyanides were the most abundant phytochemical components in the investigated plants. Dodonaea viscosa, Solanum incanum, Olea europaea subsp. cuspidata and Aerva javanica were the highest plants in their phytochemical components and their antioxidant capacity. Their antioxidant capacity recorded 38, 32, 22 and 14% increase more than that of the standard (Ascorbic acid) respectively. Also, these plants showed an interesting anticancer effect compared to the other studied plants. Their IC50 against studied cancer cell lines was lower than 20 μg/ml. This low IC50 is an evidence to be a promising anticancer agent for crude extracts. Thus the present study highlighted the importance of these detected plant varieties as a source of anticancer agents. More intensive studies are needed to verify the most effective chemical components in these investigated plants.

Silicon (Si) is an abundant macro-element in the soil that helps plants tolerate environmental stress conditions and can ameliorate soil conditions. In this work, we studied the effects of Si ions and silica nanoparticles (both extracted from rice straw) on the physiological and biochemical responses and the expression of the two silicon uptake genes LSi1 and LSi2 in rice under increasing NaCl salt concentrations (0, 100, 200, 400 and 800 mM). Results showed that silicon ions significantly attenuated the detrimental physiological and biochemical effects of NaCl on plants. This was due among other reasons to jasmonic acid (JA) signaling. Indeed, this phytohormone up-regulated the expression of the silicon uptake genes in salt-treated plants supplied with silica ions, activated their antioxidant defense systems and induced osmolyte production.

This paper reports a pilot study of beneficial CO2 use in the manufacture of steel slag building bricks. The effects of steel slag fineness, mix proportion and carbonation time on the CO2 uptake, compressive strength, volume stability and freeze–thaw resistance of steel slag bricks were systematically studied. The results showed that the CO2 cured bricks containing 25 wt% steel slag reached the highest CO2 uptake of 7.5% (kg/kg steel slag), and they presented the highest compressive strength of 27.7 MPa at 7 day, which meets the standard requirement of load bearing perforated brick. The steel slag brick after CO2 cured for 30 min exhibited good volume stability under the steam curing testing conditions at 3 MPa, and its freeze–thaw resistance was shown excellent as well. In composition, C2S, C3S, Ca(OH)2, f-CaO and MgO presented in steel slag reacted with CO2 and formed carbonates and silica gels; on the other hand, as expected, Ca2(Al,Fe)2O5 and FeO remained much more stable. The results of this study have demonstrated that the carbonation technology can effectively turn steel slag into cementitious material, and the utilization of CO2 has the feasibility of industrialization.

Nowadays there is an urgent need for using the natural resistance elicitors due to the numerous problems caused by the chemical ones and these natural elicitors can be used in organic agriculture. This study examines the ability of onion dry scale extract to enhance the resistance in eggplant against bacterial wilt. This evaluation was performed through studying the change in polyamines and antioxidant metabolism in two groups of eggplant seedling (the first treated with prepared onion dry scale extract and the other non-treated) are infected with Ralstonia solanacearum. The onion dry scales extract enhanced the polyamines content. In treated infected (TI) plants the polyamine oxidase (PAO) activity significantly increased only on the 7th day after infection. On the 14th day after infection, the PAO activity and H2O2 significantly decreased. In the TI group, the activity of the antioxidant enzymes significantly increased in the two stages, consequently, the lipid peroxidation decreased in the TI group, which appeared in decreasing the activity of lipoxygenase activity at the 14th day after infection and decreasing the content of malonyl dialdehyde. Moreover, exogenous application of onion dry scales extract completely suppressed the percentage of dead plants due to wilt disease 14 days after sowing in non-sprayed plants in comparison with the sprayed plants being 84.37%. The study confirmed that onion dry scales extract spray can be considered as an organic method for fighting bacterial wilt in eggplant through the improvement of polyamine metabolism and the antioxidant machinery.

An approach involving ultrasonic irradiation/hydrothermal route was employed for fabricating a series of ZnO nanospheres-carbon nanotubes (Z/CNT) and reduced graphene oxides (Z/GO) nanocomposites, at different weight % ratios of both. The synthesized catalysts were tested in heterogeneous photocatalytic degradation of 4-nitrophenol (4-NP, 10 ppm) via Fenton approach in the attendance of visible light irradiation (160 W, λ > 420), ultrasonic illumination (60 W, 20 kHz) and during coupling the latter irradiations (sonophotocatalysis). The experimental parameters for the Photo-Fenton degradation of 4-NP at the surface of the Z(70)/CNT(30) catalyst were 40 mM H2O2, pH 4, catalyst dosage of 1.75 g/L and at 25 °C. The rate constants of 4-NP degradation using the sonophotocatalytic approach (0.3 min-1); that takes 15 min to accomplish, exceeded those of sonocatalytic (0.15 min-1) and photocatalytic (0.06 min-1) systems, unveiling the synergistic performance of the former system. These values were lower when performing the reaction at the same conditions but at pH 11 to elucidate the importance of the slow releasing of ∙OH in the acid range. The sono- and photo- coupled irradiations induced a synergy percentage comprised of 30 to demonstrate the efficacy of the adopted approach and the catalyst in the degradation of 4-NP.

The main aim of this work is to fill unsaturated polyester resin with bagasse agricultural waste, as reinforcement, to prepare green wooden–polymer composites. Bagasse fibers were treated with 5% sodium hydroxide and then with dilute sulfuric acid. Bagasse–polyester composites were prepared by addition of 5, 10 and 15% of untreated and alkali treated bagasse fibers to polyester. The crosslinking reaction was performed using methyl ethyl ketone peroxide as a catalyst and cobalt octoate as an accelerator. The prepared composites were then exposed to post-curing at elevated temperature for completely crosslinking. The flexural behavior of the prepared composites was studied. An enhancement in the mechanical properties was achieved after chemical treatment. In addition, water absorption and chemical resistance were conducted showing that the produced bagasse–polyester composite with appreciable mechanical and physical properties is a new partner and cost effective material for many advanced industrial applications in addition to their environmental friendly behavior.

This study investigates the best radial positions for the monitoring detectors inside the reactor core, which provides close monitoring to enhance reactor safety. These positions depend on flux distortion due to reactivity change induced by accidental drop of a control rod into the core, as one of the causes of the reactivity change. Thermal neutron flux shape after each control rod group and rod cluster insertion is estimated to show the maximum distortion in neutron flux shape. The study aims to define the maximum distortion case by means of correlation coefficients corresponding to the data that were calculated using the three dimensional diffusion depletion code TRITON. Correlation coefficient and reactivity were determined for each rod cluster control (RCC) assembly. For each case, the change in shape of the thermal flux was determined in case of full insertion or accidental drop of one of the rod cluster control (RCC) assemblies in the reactor core at full power.

Background. Many scoring systems have been used in predicting the outcomes of liver transplantations. The aim of this study was to compare between 4 scoring systemsd Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA), Model for End-Stage Liver Disease, Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II, and Child Turcotte-Pugh damong patients who underwent living-donor liver transplantation (LDLT) seeking to evaluate the best system to correlate with post-operative outcomes. Methods. This study retrospectively reviewed the medical records of 53 patients who had received LDLT in a tertiary care hospital from January 2005 to December 2010. Demographic, clinical, and laboratory data were recorded. Each patient was assessed by use of 4 scoring systems before transplantation and on post-operative days 1 to 7 and at 3 months. Results. The overall 3-month survival rate was 64%. The pre-transplant SOFA score had the best discriminatory power; moreover, the SOFA score on post-operative day 7 had the best Youden index (.875). The survival rate at 3-month follow-up after liver transplantation differed significantly (P ¼ .00023, highest area under the receiver operator characteristic curve ¼ .952) between patients who had SOFA scores 8 on posteliver transplant day 7. This study also demonstrated that respiratory rate (P ¼ .017) and serum bilirubin level (P ¼ .048) and duration of intensive care unit stay (P ¼ .04) are significant risk factors related to early mortality after LDLT. Conclusions. The pre-transplant SOFA score was a statistically significant predictor of 3-month mortality; SOFA score on posteliver transplant day 7 had the best discriminative power for predicting 3-month mortality.

Background Deficiency of mannose-binding lectin (MBL) was claimed to increase susceptibility to and chronicity of microbial infections in different body systems. Tobacco smoking was also claimed to be associated with reduced blood levels of MBL in blood and defective efferocytosis in the airways. Both effects of smoking may be responsible for development of COPD in smokers and for frequent exacerbations in patients who get COPD. Aim The aim of this study was to evaluate MBL in blood of smokers with and without COPD. Methods The study included 70 subjects, classified into two groups; 35 smokers without COPD (group I: divided into 2 subgroups; 17 subjects mild to moderates smokers – group IA, and 18 heavy smoker subjects – group IB). 35 smokers with COPD (group II) also divided into 2 subgroups: 17 subjects with mild to moderate disease (group IIA) and 18 subjects severe to very severe disease (group IIB) according to GOLD (2013) [7] criteria. 20 healthy nonsmoker subjects were also included as a control group (group III). Blood levels of MBL (measured by ELISA) were recorded. Results Levels of MBL were significantly higher in nonsmoker than smoker groups and in smokers without COPD than in those with it. Also a significant inverse relation was found between smoking index and MBL levels and a direct relation between it and FEV1%. These results indicate that smoking reduces levels of MBL and its deficiency might contribute to development of COPD in smokers. Conclusion Levels of MBL decrease in smokers with and without COPD and this might play a role in the pathogenesis of lung inflammation in smokers with and without COPD.

Phenols are very dangerous contaminants found in wastewater. Discharge of these compounds without treatment is highly serious risks to living organisms. The present study offers new effective immobilized peroxidase for phenol removal from wastewater. Nano peroxidase particles were prepared through immobilization of peroxidase enzyme extracted from onion dry scales (one of the wastes in food industry) on Silica nano particles prepared from rice straw (one of the most spread agriculture wastes). Immobilization improved the physiochemical properties of the enzyme which allowed the immobilized enzyme to be more resistant and stable under various hard conditions such as high temperature, pH changes or presence of metal ions. The nano peroxidase retained about 77.8 % of its activity after incubation at 80 °C. The affinity between the nano peroxidase and its substrate increased about 2.3 fold more than that of the free one. Peroxidase nanoparticle retained 90 % of residual activity till 50th reuse cycle. Thus, the method applied in this study increased stability and reusability of peroxidase, and therefore, it can be used for efficient phenol removal from wastewater.

Detailed subsurface mapping and structural analysis of El-Gindi basin indicate the hydrocarbon potentiality of the Cretaceous reservoirs. El-Gindi basin is a Late Cretaceous-Eocene basin located at El-Fayium district, northeastern Western Desert of Egypt. The overwhelming impact of the Late Cretaceous wrench tectonics was evident during the inversion of the Jurassic-Early Cretaceous rift-related basins along the North Western Desert of Egypt and subsequent deposition of a thick succession of Eocene sediments (~6000 ft Apollonia Formation) within El-Gindi Basin. These tectonic events were developing the oil maturity and trapping through the Late Cretaceous reservoir sequences, Upper Bahariya Formation (Cenomanian) and the Abu Roash “G” Member (Turonian). The Gindi Fault, however, is a NW-trending basement feature breaching El-Gindi basin and bounding several deeper half grabens in the western half of El-Fayium district. It has been reactivated during the Cretaceous, Eocene and probably Oligocene-Early Miocene times, where extended northwestward to the Qarun Field at the footslopes of the Kattaniya inverted basin forming several oil traps along its strike. The Late Cretaceous dextral wrenching developed a regional system of ENE-oriented structural ridges such as Kattaniya and Silah (bounded El-Gindi basin to the north and south, respectively), associated with a series of NE-to ENE- oriented right-lateral strike-slip faults enclosing some structural closures in between. The development of such ridges causing regional subsidence and subsequent deposition of the Apollonia Formation creating several structural hydrocarbon traps. In addition, the structural closures formed between the ends of right-lateral strike-slip faults at Silah High became potential sites for hydrocarbon accumulation. The thermal maturity model of El-Gindi basin suggests a phase of hydrocarbon expulsion occurred during or immediately after deposition of the Apollonia Formation, where the Lower and Upper Cretaceous sediments passing the oil window. According to the analysis of well cores, E-logs and seismic data, shallow marine to deltaic environments have been assigned for the Cenomanian-Turonian reservoir sediments. Moreover, the deposition within channels, point-bars and estuarine environments for the hydrocarbon bearing sandstone reservoirs within El-Gindi Basin was identified.

In order to save energy and reduce greenhouse gas emission, a new type of clinker with a self-pulverization ability was successfully designed, which mainly consisted of rankinite (3CaO·2SiO2 or C3S2) and auxiliary γ-dicalcium silicate (γ-2CaO·SiO2 or γ-C2S). Furthermore, a pilot study was also carried out in a Φ 0.8 × 10 m rotary kiln. The cement was prepared by grinding the clinker to control the target particle size, and then it was hardened by carbonation. The suitable composition range of the clinker was 53–55% CaO, 38–41% SiO2 and 4–9% Al2O3. The optimum clinkerization temperature range was 1260–1320 °C. The powder clinker had a BET surface area of 365.3 m2/kg. After being carbonated with CO2 for 7 d, the flexural and compressive strengths of cement mortar reached 13.5 MPa and 57.4 MPa, respectively. The weight percentage of CO2 in the 3-day carbonated specimen could be as high as 18.9%. The overall results well demonstrate that the developed new-type clinker is both energy-saving and greenhouse gas reducing, thereby holding great promise for applications in construction industries.

The huge demand for multimedia services has exponentially grown in mobile networks and is expected to congest cellular traffic in the near future. Since network resources are limited, content caching may be considered a superior solution to offload data traffic during peak times. Content caching in mobile devices together with Device-to-Device (D2D) communications can improve the performance of cellular wireless networks. Predicting user demand and his mobility pattern allows the network to proceed proactive caching in order to relieve the network congestion and hence decreases the network load as well as its service cost. Moreover, performing an optimal caching policy is one of the important issues to maximize the offloading probability and as a result enhances the overall network performance. In this paper, we are introducing an incentive caching policy in which networks jointly considers the user preference and group mobility for the caching problem. Firstly, the cost optimal caching problem for the network is formulated. Then, the overall network cost is minimized due to the effect of user demand and group mobility using the Frequency Searching Adaptive Bat Algorithm (FSABA) by optimizing the cached portions of requested files. System performance analysis in terms of the overall network gain, average transmission delay and offloading probability are derived and evaluated according to the achieved optimal cached portions. Extended simulations are carried out to validate the beneficial of the presented optimal caching policy. Additionally, to verify the effectiveness of FSABA, the results are compared with those obtained using the Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) algorithm. The results show that the proposed caching scheme outperforms both the baseline scenario and the random mobility-based schemes. It is worth mentioning that the FSABA can achieve a superior convergence capability compared to the PSO.

The present work is developed within the frame of the IAEA Coordinated Research Program 1496, “Innovative methods in research reactor analysis: Benchmark against experimental data on neutronics and thermal-hydraulic computational methods and tools for operation and safety analysis of research reactors”. The objective of this work is to test the credibility of RELAP5 code in simulating the research reactor behavior during transients. Where, the code’s results were compared to the experimental measurements taken from Instrumented (thermocouple) Fuel Elements (IFE), installed at several positions in the core. The research reactor used in this study is the RSG-GAS reactor, located in the Serpong in Indonesia. Both the steady state and the transient simulation results performed using RELAP5 code for, are presented in this work. The calculated values for the coolant and clad surface temperature, at different locations in the core, showed an agreement with the experimental values with a difference less than 7% for the steady state, and with a difference less than 10% for transient conditions. However, RELAP5 was unable to predict the measured value of the coolant output temperature after the natural convection begins especially after stagnation occurred. In this case, the difference between the code results and experimental data was about 23%.

The resistance mechanism of plants against diseases includes many molecules. This work tries to study role of lipids in the resistance mechanism of eggplant against Fusarium wilt disease. Two eggplant cultivars, the first alabaster, which is susceptible to Fusarium wilt, the second is alabaster F1 which is resistant to Fusarium wilt, were grown under Fusarium infection and the lipids profiling in the leaves of the two cultivars was estimated using TLC. The results show a significant difference between the lipids profiling in the two cultivars. The total lipids in the resistant plants increased under infection and decreased in the susceptible plants. Sterols, monogalactosyl diacylglycerol (MGDG) and digalactosyl diacylglycerol (DGDG) increased in the resistant plants while decreased in the susceptible plants under infection. The sterol ester increased under infection in the susceptible plants and decreased in the resistant plants. The free fatty acids and phosphatidic acid increased continuously in the susceptible cultivar, while increased only at 10th day after infection in the resistant plants, and then decreased at the 20th day after infection to be non-significantly higher than non-infected plants.

This study aimed to utilize Pseudomonas fluorescens metabolites as biopriming agent for induction systemic resistance against Fusarium wilt in tomato plants. Two groups of tomato seeds were used, the first was kept dry and the second was primed with Pseudomonas fluorescens metabolites and planted under Fusarium infection conditions. The primed group can withstand the infection, while the non-primed plant cannot withstand the infection. The success of the primed group to fight the infection is attributed to induction of systemic resistance. This induction appeared in the increase in the signal transduction molecules. These signal molecules induced the activity of the defense enzymes.

Cancer immunotherapy has gradually changed the prognosis of cancer patients. Recently, much evidence including novel antibodies that can close T cell barriers has indicated that immunotherapy is successful in certain patients. A shortage of dietary amino acids decreases animals and humans immunity to diseases. Amino acids regulate (1) T lymphocytes, B lymphocytes, natural killer cells and macrophages activation; (2) the redox state of the cell and gene; and (3) antibodies, cytokines and other cytotoxic substances production. Some amino acids, such as arginine, histidine and tryptophan strength the immune system. These amino acids are found in some meals, such as soybean meal, peanut meal and cottonseed meal, and in some cereal grains, such as corn, wheat middling, rice bran, and rice mill feed. In this review, we summarize the role of three important amino acids (Arginine, Histidine and Tryptophan) in the enhancement of body immunity.

Trigonella foenum has a role in cancer treatment. This study tries to evaluate the effect of germination on the anticancer activity of fenugreek seeds. We prepared a dry and germinated aqueous extract from fenugreek seeds. We investigated the growth inhibitory effect of both extracts on MCF7 human breast and Pancreatic (AsPC-1) cells. Fenugreek extracts induced significant effect on cell viability, increased caspase-3 & 6 concentrations and LDH activity and caused nucleosomal DNA fragments. In summary, our results indicated that both dry and germinated extracts induced apoptosis in both cell lines. The effect of germinated extract was higher than that of the dry extract. This can be explained as germination increased the antioxidant characters of the extract. Germination also increased the phytochemical components (flavonoids, tannin, steroids, alkaloids, phytate, phenolics and trigonellin) of the extract which are believed to have anti-tumor activity.

In particle-size analysis by the hydrometer method, the velocity of particle sedimentation (defined as the effective distance of fall, h e travelled over time interval, t ) is determined by particle size, expressed as equivalent diameter d . The standard method uses the equation h e = − 0.164 R + 16.3 to calculate h e from hydrometer reading R . This approach involves two main problems: i) This equation is exclusive to the particular ASTM-H152 hydrometer used to derive it, and must be changed for any other ASTM-H152 hydrometer that has different dimensions; ii) Changing the equation to fit another ASTM-H152 hydrometer requires the determination of the bulb volume of every hydrometer to be used, in addition to its other dimensions, as well as the exact diameter of each sedimentation cylinder. Furthermore, the original equation is often applied, erroneously, to other ASTM-H152 type hydrometers without change, which could produce misleading results. In order to avoid these limitations and problems, a simplified approach is presented and evaluated. The approach simply bases the determination of h e directly on the geometric center (g.c.) of the hydrometer bulb rather than the center of buoyancy, and h e is measured as the distance from the reading mark on the hydrometer stem to that geometric center. Results showed that the error resulting from applying the standard equation to an ASTM-H152 hydrometer that has different dimensions ranged between 6.26% and 4.41% for the range of 0–40 g/L of hydrometer readings. Results also indicated that using the g.c. for determining h e resulted in particle-size distribution curves that were essentially similar to those determined based on the standard equation specific to the examined cases. Comparing the arrays of diameters determined based on the two methods at designated sampling times for 28 tested soils, no statistical differences were found ( P

A field experiment was carried out to study the effect of organic and bioorganic fertilizers on growth parameters, yield and the quality of two broccoli cultivars (Calabrese and Southern star). Bio-organic fertilizers gave better results for all vegetative growth parameters for Southern star cultivar compared to Calabrese cultivar. Total phenolic content (TPC), total flavonoid content (TFC) and total glucosinolates content (TGsC) were almost higher in Calabrese cultivar as a result of organic fertilizer treatment. The antioxidant activities of both cultivars were evaluated and Calabrese cultivar showed the higher1, 1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl DPPH . scavenging activity expressed as IC 50 (its concentrations for 50% inhibition) (16.56 μg/ml) compared to Southern star (19.42 μg/ml). In addition, Calabrese cultivar showed the higher chelating power (75.36 μg/ml) than Southern star (72.43 μg/ml) at (30 μg/ml) when the organic fertilizer was applied. The results indicated that there is a good margin for enhancing antioxidant compounds of broccoli for economic production using organic fertilization. This study indicated the potential application of broccoli as a potent natural source of antioxidants as nutraceuticals.

Toxoplasma gondii adenosine kinase (EC.2.7.1.20) is the major route of adenosine metabolism in this parasite. The enzyme is significantly more active than any other enzyme of the purine salvage in T. gondii and has been established as a potential chemotherapeutic target for the treatment of toxoplasmosis. Certain 6-benzylthioinosines act as subversive substrates of T. gondii, but not human, adenosine kinase. Therefore, these compounds are preferentially metabolized to their respective nucleotides and become selectively toxic against the parasites but not their host. Moreover, 7-deazaadenosine (tubercidin) was shown to be an excellent ligand of T. gondii adenosine kinase. Therefore, we synthesized 7-deaza-6-benzylthioinosine, and analogues with various substitutions at their phenyl ring, to increase the binding affinity of the 6-benzylthioinosines to T. gondii adenosine kinase. Indeed, the 7-deaza-6-benzylthioinosine analogues were better ligands of T. gondii adenosine kinase than the parent compounds, 6-benzylthioinosine and 7-deazainosine. Herein, we report the testing of the metabolism of these newly synthesized 7-deaza-6-benzylthioinosines, as well as their efficacy as anti-toxoplasmic agents in cell culture. All the 7-deaza-6-benzylthioinosine analogues were metabolized to their 5'-monophosphate derivatives, albeit to different degrees. These results indicate that these compounds are not only ligands but also substrates of T. gondii adenosine kinase. All the 7-deaza-6-benzylthioinosine analogues showed a selective antitoxoplasmic effect against wild type parasites, but not mutants lacking adenosine kinase. The efficacy of these compounds varied with the position and nature of the substitution on their phenyl ring. Moreover, none of these analogues exhibited host toxicity. The best compounds were 7-deaza-6-(p-methoxybenzylthio)inosine (IC(50)=4.6 microM), 7-deaza-6-(p-methoxycarbonylbenzylthio)inosine (IC(50)=5.0 microM), and 7-deaza-6-(p-cyanobenzylthio)inosine (IC(50)=5.3 microM). These results further confirm that T. gondii adenosine kinase is an excellent target for chemotherapy and that 7-deaza-6-benzylthioinosines are potential antitoxoplasmic agents.

A simulation model is developed to simulate the coupled kinetics and thermal-hydraulics of Material Testing Reactors (MTR) with simple means. The developed model is used to analyze the series of benchmark transients specified for IAEA 10 MW research reactor. The computed results for ramp positive reactivity insertion and loss of coolant flow transients with scram are presented and discussed. The model predictions are compared with the calculations conducted in various institutions using different codes. It is shown that the model can provide accurate predictions as long as the clad temperature remains below the onset of the nucleate boiling temperature. However, the results are very encouraging and the model is useful for the analysis of most research reactors encountered in practice.

Certain 6-benzylthioinosine analogues have been identified as potential chemotherapeutic agents against Toxoplasma gondii in cell culture and animal models. These compounds are selectively transported and metabolized by toxoplasma infected, but not uninfected, cells. In sharp contrast to mammalian nucleoside transporters, the toxoplasma adenosine/purine transporter (TgAT) allows the transport of these 6-benzylthioinosine analogues into infected cells. After entering the infected cell, these compounds act as subversive substrates for toxoplasma, but not the host, adenosine kinase (EC.2.7.1.20). Hence, 6-benzylthioinosine analogues become toxic to toxoplasma infected cells, but not uninfected host cells or animals. The basis for the lack of uptake of the anti-toxoplasmic 6-benzylthioinosines by uninfected host cells is currently unknown. These anti-toxoplasmic 6-benzylthioinosines may not be substrates for the mammalian nucleoside transporters or they may act as inhibitors of these transporters. Previous studies have shown that some 6-benzylthioinosines are inhibitors of the mammalian nucleoside transporter ENT1 ( es ). Therefore, we examined the efficacy of promising anti-toxoplasmic 6-benzylthioinosines as inhibitors of ENT1 ( es ) in an effort to elucidate the basis for the lack of uptake of anti-toxoplasmic 6-benzylthioinosines by uninfected host cells. The results showed that these compounds are inhibitors of ENT1 ( es ). In general, electron-withdrawing substituents at the ortho , meta or para positions of the benzyl ring improved binding. The most potent inhibitors identified were m - and p -nitro-6-benzylthioinosine, which had K i values in the subnanomolar range. Therefore, anti-toxoplasmic 6-benzylthioinosines are not only selectively toxic to parasites and parasite infected cells, they are also inhibitors of nucleoside transport in host cells. This inhibition of the host nucleoside transport is an added advantage for these 6-benzylthioinosine analogues as anti-toxoplasmic agents. Inhibitors of nucleoside transport in mammalian cells can selectively protect the host from the toxicity of toxic purine nucleosides that may be used in future combination therapy against toxoplasmosis or from metabolites of the 6-benzylthioinosine analogues that may be released by the destruction of infected cells. These findings further advance the rationale for developing 6-benzylthioinosine analogues as selective therapeutic agents for the treatment of toxoplasmosis.

Purpose This study was carried out in order to assess the results of reconstruction of a deficient extensor mechanism in the presence of a total knee replacement (TKR) using the Leeds–Keio Connective Tissue Prosthesis (L–K CTP). Methods and results The L–K CTP is available as flat tapes constructed from polyester in an open weave structure. It was used to reinforce and reconstruct the extensor mechanism, which was deficient in three patients who had undergone total knee replacement or were about to undergo total knee replacement. Two cases had extensor mechanism deficiency as a complication following total knee replacement while the third case had extensor mechanism deficiency at the time of the primary knee replacement. The average follow-up was 2 years (range of follow up was 12 to 48 months). All three cases showed good results with no extension lag and good range of movement at follow up. Conclusion The use of L–K CTP for reconstruction of the knee extensor mechanism offers a good option for the management of the uncommon but difficult problem of extensor mechanism deficiency in patients with a total knee replacement.

5-Phenylthioacyclouridine (PTAU or 1-[(2-hydroxyethoxy)methyl]-5-phenylthiouracil) was synthesized as a highly specific and potent inhibitor of uridine phosphorylase (UrdPase, EC 2.4.2.3). PTAU has inhibition constant ( K is ) values of 248 and 353 nM towards UrdPase from mouse and human livers, respectively. PTAU was neither an inhibitor nor a substrate for thymidine phosphorylase (EC 2.4.2.4), uridine–cytidine kinase (EC 2.7.1.48), thymidine kinase (EC 2.7.1.21), dihydrouracil dehydrogenase (EC 1.3.1.2), orotate phosphoribosyltransferase (EC 2.4.2.10), or orotidine 5′-monophosphate decarboxylase (EC 4.1.2.23), the enzymes that could utilize the substrate (uridine or thymidine) or products (uracil or thymine) of UrdPase. Different isomers of 5-tolylthiouracil also were synthesized and tested as inhibitors of UrdPase. The meta -substituted isomer was 3- to 4-fold more potent as an inhibitor of UrdPase than the para - or ortho- substituted isomers. These data indicate that the hydrophobic pocket in the active site of UrdPase adjacent to the 5-position of the pyrimidine ring can accommodate the meta -substituted 5-phenyluracils better than the other isomers, leading to improved inhibition. Therefore, it is anticipated that the potency of PTAU can be increased further by the addition of certain hydrophobic groups at the meta position of the phenyl ring. PTAU has potential usefulness in the therapy of cancer and AIDS as well as other pathological and physiological disorders that can be remedied by the administration of uridine.