Search

Antioxidants play a very crucial naturally role in our bodies. Still, unfortunately, that is not enough. We need to compensate for the shortage we face by increasing the dietary antioxidants as exogenous sources, especially when there is an exogenous factor-induced oxidative stress as with the medical radiology staff because how much ionizing radiation they are exposed to exceeds the primitive dose limit by the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP). Thus, a suitable uptake of minerals, vitamins, and Combinations of dietary antioxidants through the daily diet and balanced it remains the promising approach without exceeding the uptakes doses that could reverse the positive effects of this approach. This review focuses on the present knowledge about dietary antioxidant sources, mechanisms, effects of the cell components. It critically investigates studies examining the effects of dietary antioxidant supplementation and its role among medical radiology workers.

Background: Polymorphisms of genes encoding the pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory cytokines can affect the clinical presentation of the infection. We aimed to assess the role of EGF gene single-nucleotide polymorphism in the outcome of chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection in children. Methods: One hundred HBV-infected children and 75 healthy matched controls were enrolled in this prospective study. Patients included 18 chronic inactive and 82 chronic active carriers. EGF rs4444903 A>G genotypes were determined using allele-specific amplification. Results: Significant differences regarding EGF genotypic frequency (p=0.001) in patients compared to controls (p=0.001). Eighteen percent were inactive, and 82% were active carriers. AA, AG and GG genotypic frequency were 66.7%, 33.3%, 0% and were 3.7%, 37.8% and 58.5% in the inactive and active carriers, respectively, with significant differences regarding AA, AG, GG genotypic frequency (p=0.001 for all). EGF AA, AG, GG genotypes frequency were 1.9%, 33.3%, and 64.8%, respectively, with significant differences between cirrhotic and non-cirrhotic patients regarding AA, AG, GG genotypic frequency (p=0.001 for all). Conclusion: Increased G allele frequency in EGF rs4444903 A > G polymorphism in HBV- Egyptian children is associated with worse outcomes.

Nanorobots were proposed to deliver drugs directly into cancer cells to destroy only these cells without harming the surrounding cells. During their journey, the nanorobots may encounter some obstacles such as blood cells which may be resistant to their movement. So, it is necessary to avoid collisions with these obstacles to achieve their goal. This study proposes a new strategy for controlling the nanorobots movement in human body to reach cancer cells. This proposed strategy uses an efficient algorithm based on fuzzy logic for dynamic obstacle avoidance. Also, this proposed strategy uses the directed particle swarm optimization (DPSO) algorithm for delivering nanorobots to cancer cells. Simulation experiments have proved that the proposed control strategy can efficiently deliver nanorobots to their target and also avoid collisions with dynamic obstacles which move in the same direction of the nanorobots or across their direction.

In the past three decades successive “Irrigation Improvement Projects” (IIP) have been implemented in the Nile Valley and Delta of Egypt. They have consisted in replacing scattered individual pumps by collective pumps serving distribution networks at the tertiary level, while ensuring a continuous flow in secondary canals, in lieu of the rotational system. This intervention has been praised as “a state-of-the-art project” spearheading the ‘modernization’ of irrigation in Egypt. Given their ambitious objectives and the massive investment of capital planned - the 1986 policy’s target was to ‘improve’ one million ha by the year 2000 - these modernization efforts warrant thorough independent evaluation. This article attempts to revisit the achievements of the project after 30 years of implementation by presenting findings derived from fieldwork surveys carried out in the central part of the Delta. We document how these socio-technical innovations perform on the ground, how they change water distribution and how, in turn, they are adopted and reshaped by farmers. Understanding the contexts in which improvement projects are most beneficial, and the conditions under which such investments may be at risk, leads us to make recommendations as to how the design and implementation of these projects can be improved but also to ask whether such investment is essential for the country.

In the last few years, it was proposed to deliver drugs using Nano-robots for treating cancer. This paper compares between two recent and efficient algorithms for delivering Nano-robots to cancer area. These algorithms are Jaya algorithm and Directed Particle Swarm Optimization (DPSO) algorithm. In this paper, we also propose a new hybrid algorithm that combines Jaya and DPSO to speed up the process of Nano-robots delivery. The proposed algorithm is called Directed Jaya (DJaya) algorithm. Experiments have proved that the efficiency of DJaya is higher than both Jaya and DPSO. We show experimentally that DJaya starts delivering Nano-robots earlier than DPSO to facilitate the initiation of the drug release. Also, DJaya finishes delivering Nano-robots earlier than Jaya to complete the drug dose. In addition to this, DJaya groups the Nano-robots together in the target area like DPSO to speed up the drug release process. We finally propose a new strategy for destroying cancer cells efficiently with relatively small number of Nano-robots. This strategy can save 40% of Nano-robots.

Egypt has valuable experience with water user associations in irrigated agriculture. Internationally funded irrigation improvement projects aiming to increase irrigation efficiency have introduced water user associations at the branch-canal level alongside improvements to the infrastructure in the Central Delta of Egypt. In this article we review those water management practices in which these associations are expected to participate. Our main finding is that their role in these areas is minimal and that they are generally weak organizations. Either such organizations should be genuinely strengthened legally and politically, and given real responsibilities and resources, or the entire idea of participation should be abandoned.

The Nile Delta and its 2.27 million ha of irrigated land makes up two thirds of Egypt's agricultural land. It is also the terminal part of a river basin that spans and feeds 11 countries. Increases in dam and irrigation development in upstream parts of the basin is poised to conflict with agricultural expansion and population growth in Egypt. Understanding where and how waters comes into and leaves the delta is therefore a crucial question for the future of the country. This paper revisits the surface and groundwater balances of the delta, emphasizes the additional relevance of drainage water reuse and of the salt balance, and evidences a relative stability of the outflow to the sea over the past 30 years. Various reasons for such a phenomenon and the scope for saving water are explored and discussed. The confusion between plot-level and delta-level efficiency and the relatively limited gains possible are emphasized. Beyond the overall water balance and quantitative issues, water management in the delta remains a complex task of spatially distributing the resource over a complex ramified network. Finally, limitations in the analysis related to data availability and accuracy are emphasized.

The Nile Delta of Egypt is known for its large irrigated area supplied with water diverted from the Nile River, with a limited use of groundwater, largely for domestic and industrial use. Official statistics for the whole delta indicate that there are a few thousand individual wells used for agriculture by a population of over 2 million farmers. This study, however, shows that a phenomenon of groundwater development for irrigation has been unfolding over the last few years, largely below the radar of managers and researchers. A survey was carried out in the central part of the delta with the objective of (1) uncovering the actual situation of groundwater use in this part of the delta and (2) speculating on its implications. The results of the survey pointed to a recent and booming tube-well drilling industry, with well densities in some parts reaching one well every 2 ha. The development of groundwater abstraction in the central delta is strongly linked to inadequate and/or untimely availability of surface water in the canals. A technical, economic, and management characterization of wells complements the study, showing a continuum between purely private/individual ownership of wells and collective investments and management. Lastly, the article explores the implications of unchecked abstraction at the farm, local and delta scales.

Improving water management depends on understanding the functioning of irrigation and drainage systems across different environmental scales. For this purpose, this study in the Nile Delta of Egypt particularly examines the spatial and temporal variation of drainage water salinity from the system to the plot level. A better understanding of this variation across nested scales is crucial to refine the government’s drainage reuse strategy and reduce the adverse effects on agricultural productivity, lagoon ecology, and human health. The study investigates the drainage system of the Meet Yazid study area (82,740 ha) located in the upper central part of the Nile Delta. The parameters measured were electrical conductivity (EC), dissolved oxygen (DO), pH, and temperature. Results showed that salinity and quality of drainage water in the Nile Delta vary highly with space and time. The secondary drains exhibited the highest variability of salinity compared with main drains and subsurface drainage collectors because they accumulate salts from deeper soil layers and seepage of saline groundwater at the time of low flow discharge. In secondary drains, the salinity increased up to four times that of drainage water coming from the collectors. Moreover, DO values were most of the time not meeting standards for reuse in irrigation, especially at main drains that collect not only agricultural drainage but also untreated household sewage water.

Cancer is one of the most killing diseases in this century. The available cancer treatment now is by radio-therapy and chemo-therapy. Both of them cause very harmful side effects on healthy tissues. These side effects lead to decreasing the drug dose and delaying the therapy. Nano-robots can be used to deliver the drug to only tumor cells without harming the healthy tissues. In this paper, a new modification in PSO algorithm is proposed to facilitate Nano-robots delivery to the cancer area. The modified algorithm is Directed PSO (DPSO). It can efficiently deliver all Nano-robots to the target area in a very short time.