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Developing earth-abundant, cost-effective, and active bifunctional electrocatalysts for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is key to boosting sustainable energy systems such as electrolyzers and lithium-air batteries. However, the performance of promising cobalt-based materials is impaired by the external effects of binders and carbon additives as well as inhomogeneous electrode fabrication. In this work, binder- and carbon-free flower-like Co-decorated Ag catalytic nanosheets were in situ-synthesized via a simple electrodeposition approach. The morphology, composition, and structure of Co/Ag before and after OER were characterized using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and X-ray diffraction (XRD). Co/Ag thin film electrodes with various Co contents exhibited a bifunctional activity toward ORR and OER due to a synergistic effect. XPS analysis suggested the formation of Co

This study intended to optimize apigenin (APG) nanoparticle formulation prepared by planetary ball milling to enhance its dissolution rate and bioavailability using a design of experiment (DoE). In this study, polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP K30) was used as a nanoparticle stabilizer. The independent parameters of milling speed, milling ball size, and drug to solvent ratio were evaluated for their impacts on APG nanoparticles concerning the nanoparticle size (Y1), zeta potential (Y2), and drug dissolution efficiency after 60 min, notated as % DE60 (Y3). The milling ball size showed a significant antagonistic effect (P = 0.0210) on the size of APG nanoparticles, while milling speed had an agonistic effect on the zeta potential values of drug nanoparticles, ranging from low to medium speed levels. In addition, ANOVA analysis indicated that the effect of the drug-to-solvent ratio on the % DE60 of APG from the nanoparticle formulations was antagonistically significant (P = 0.015), and the quadratic effect of milling speed (AA) also had a significant antagonistic effect (P = 0.025) on the % DE60. Risk assessment analytical tools revealed that milling ball size and milling speed significantly affect the nanoparticle size. The drug/solvent ratio exerted a strong impact on % DE60. Furthermore, the maximum plasma concentration (C max) of the optimized APG nanoparticle formula increased by four folds. In addition, AUC0–t (ng·mL−1·h−1) for APG nanoparticle (353.7 ± 185.3 ng·mL−1·h−1) was higher than that noticed in the case of the untreated drug (149 ± 137.5 ng·mL−1·h−1) by more than two folds.

Specific perforator-based flaps are a new era in plastic reconstruction. They have replaced many of the traditional paradigms in plastic surgery. The anteromedial thigh flap is a versatile flap that can be used as a primary choice for many reconstructive purposes or as a secondary choice for the anterolateral thigh flap. Mapping the vascular territory of anteromedial thigh is essential for the proper design of the flap.The aim of this work was to study the cutaneous perforators of the anteromedial thigh and explain their significance in flap design.The material of this study included 30 fresh cadaveric lower limbs. The external iliac artery was injected with colored latex. Superficial and deep dissections were undertaken under a magnifying lens to locate the perforators and identify their type. The length and diameter of the perforators were measured.Anteromedial thigh skin was divided into 6 squares. Squares 1 and 4 are the upper squares and comprise the skin over the upper medial thigh. It is primarily based on the superficial external pudendal artery, deep external pudendal artery, and superficial circumflex femoral artery. Squares 2 and 5 are the middle squares and were mainly supplied by perforators of the superficial femoral artery. Squares 3 and 6 are the lower squares and were mainly supplied by the saphenous artery and superficial femoral artery. The possible flap designs are then discussed.The anteromedial thigh skin is richly supplied by a mixture of perforators from multiple sources. The segmental nature of the perforators arising from the superficial external pudendal artery, deep external pudendal artery, superficial femoral artery, and saphenous artery together with the long course and large diameter of perforators grant the anteromedial thigh flap its versatility.

Horses are used mainly for sports and leisure activities and are predominantly kept in closed individual straw-bedded stalls for a long time during the day, especially in cold weather. Horses are may therefore be exposed to high concentrations of particulate matter and microorganisms from the bedding and fodder material. The dangers posed by exposure the horses to high pollutant concentrations for a long period are respiratory diseases. Thus, the aim of the present research was to detect the potential PM and mold emitting sources in typical horse stables and to identify the concentrations of the particles in the stable air on the basis of quantitative and qualitative studies for the PM and mold concentrations. Long-term measurements of particles and molds were conducted in two horse stables located in Rottgen city, Germany. Collected data from two stables were checked for possible correlations between particulate matter and mold spores. Simulation experiments for the emitted particulates during feeding hay were conducted with a particulate chamber. High diurnal fluctuations in concentrations were observed due to the daily activities in the stables. Fine particles were dominant in the air, especially with a size 0.3–0.4 μm. Mold concentrations in the stables ranged from 3.9 to 5.9 × 105 CFU/m3. The most common mold genera were Eurotium, Wallemia, and Cladosporium. The latter two were found in the straw and hay. A limited prognosis occurred of the mold fungus concentration in horse stables on the basis of airborne particle concentration.

Livestock production is associated with several gaseous pollutant emissions to the environment. These emissions can degrade local and regional air quality, contribute to surface water eutrophication and acid rain, and contribute to the greenhouse gas footprint of the production sector. Modern production systems must balance animal welfare and environmental pollution potential with economic reality, which is a great challenge to maintain as global demand for animal protein increases. Accordingly, gaseous emission technologies were the main target for this research, in which mitigating gas emissions of ammonia, nitrous oxide, and methane from pig production facilities via slurry aeration system was tested. Five treatments with different airflow rates in the test room were examined continuously over a period of 6 weeks and the results were compared with the control room. Test results indicate that the highest mitigation potentials were 12, 57.6, and 10.4% for nitrous oxide, methane, and ammonia, respectively. Subsequently directing exhaust air into a sulfuric acid air scrubber at 3.0 pH further reduced total ammonia emissions by 80 to 87%.

The brachial plexus is so variable that most of dissected cases will show some form of anatomical variations. In the same person, the right and left sides are not the same. This study was done to identify the variations of the brachial plexus and highlight their clinical significance. The materials of this study included 10 cadavers dissected on both sides to find out the variations of the different parts of the plexus. Variations were found in 85% of cases. Variations included all stages of the plexus. Phrenic nerve took origin from the upper trunk in 10%, while the lateral pectoral nerve took origin by 2 roots from the upper and middle trunks or from the lateral and medial cords in 40%. Abnormal communications were found between the trunks, cords, or branches. Abnormal relations were found between the trunks, cords, or branches and the subclavian or axillary arteries. It is essential to know the exact anatomy of the brachial plexus prior to surgical repair of brachial plexus injuries or prior to supra or infraclavicular plexus block. Variations of brachial plexus are so common. Researchers have been trying for so long to assign specific patternsfor brachial plexus. Their efforts were inutile and now is the time to acknowledge anatomical variations of brachial plexus as the rule.

Anatomical variations of the brachial plexus are so common, it is crucial to look for them before surgical correction of the different injuries of the plexus and prior to supra or infraclavicular plexus block. This study was done to identify the variations of the brachial plexus and highlight their clinical significance. The materials of this study included 20 cadaveric specimens obtained from the Faculty of medicine, University of Alexandria which were dissected to find the variations of the different parts of the plexus. Variations were found in 90% of cases and involved all the stages of the plexus, prefixed pattern was found in 40% of cases, postfixed in 15% and both prefixed and postfixed in 5%. Anomalous formation of the trunks or cords as well as abnormal origin of the branches were detected. Communicating branches existed between the different parts of the plexus. The brachial plexus is very variable, even in the same person the right and left sides may not be similar. Disagreement exists between different studies as regards the location and description of the variations. The anatomical basis of brachial plexus variations should be kept in mind, especially when interpreting clinical symptoms following trauma or tumor events. The presence of variations can affect the decision and type of repair for brachial plexus injury.

This study aimed to investigate an integrated system that can deal with different pharmaceutical wastewater. Pharmaceutical wastewater was subjected to biological, chemical, and advanced oxidation according to its pollutant’s nature. Wastewater with high Total Suspended Solids (TSS 480 mg/l) was subjected to a conventional chemical treatment process utilizing different coagulants. The best results obtained by using Calcium Oxide and Alum aided with Calcium Oxide where, the removal efficiency of COD was 46.8% and 51 %. Highly loaded pharmaceutical wastewater (COD 9700 mg/l, BOD/COD 0.16) had been subjected to Fenton oxidation, removal of COD reached 80.4%, and the ratio of BOD/COD is enhanced to 0.6. Photocatalysis by using different nanomaterials was applied to pharmaceutical wastewater containing 10 mg/l of phenols. Phenol is completely removed by using Mesoporous TiO2 after 90 min irradiation and after 120 min in the case of TiO2/P25 and TiO2/UV 100 nanocomposites while it is removed by 40% in case of using Mesoporous TiO2/Ta2O5. Effluent treated water from previous routes was subjected to biological treatment and followed with disinfection by using UV as post-treatment. Final COD was 40 and it matches with Egyptian practice code for water reuse in agriculture. Results showed also using treated wastewater in irrigation of Barley and Bean seeds achieved germination ratio up to 71% in Barely and 70% in Bean compared with that irrigated with Nile water which reached 70% and 75%, while it was about 16.6% and 30% in case of irrigation with untreated wastewater.

Background: Neuropsychological study of new-onset idiopathic epilepsy is considered an exciting opportunity to document cognitive effects of epilepsy before initiation of antiepileptic drugs. Recent studies revealed significant affection of executive functions in new onset seizure without medication. Aim of the Work: To evaluate cognitive functions including (IQ, visual memory and executive functions) in patients with idiopathic epilepsy at onset of disorder before drug treatment or within one week of treatment. Patients and Methods: An observational case -control study was conducted on 30 patients with new onset idiopathic epilepsy recruited from the outpatient clinic of the department of neurology (Ain ShamsUniversity) and 30 healthy cross matched control in the period from June 2016 to June 2018. Both patients and control were subjected to cognitive assessments (Wechsler IQ, Benton visual retention test and Wisconsin card sorting test).Results:In our study we found significant poor performance of patient group before treatment compared to control group in all domains of intellectual abilities measured by Wechsler IQ test (verbal IQ, performance IQ and total IQ), visual memory measured by Benton visual retention test (obtained correct score, expected error scores and difference between them, obtained error score and expected error score and difference between them) and executive functions measuredby Wisconsin card sorting test (conceptual level, category completed, perseverative errors and non-perseverative errors).Conclusion: cognitive functions impairment including (intellectual level, visual memory and executive functions) were found in patients with idiopathic epilepsy at onset of epilepsy and before treatment.

Manure management is considered to be a main key for mitigating gas emissions from livestock buildings. Since there are a number of limitations that make it difficult to identify these conditions in farm-scale experiments, these experiments should be conducted on a laboratory scale. Therefore, the aim of this study was to develop pilot reactors for simulating the operation conditions to be used later in a farm-scale experiment. The developed reactors were made from polyvinylchloride with 1.5 m height and 0.16 m diameter to be filled with 0.19 L slurry. The generated concentrations of NH3, N2O and CH4 from the slurry were continuously analysed at 800 mL min−1 air flow rate using three different sampling methods. The concentration gradient was also analysed within gas chamber height above the slurry. No differences were apparent neither between the various sampling methods nor concentrations gradient in the gas chamber. Acid pilot reactor was developed to determine the required acid concentration and quantity. Influences of pH slurry and air flow rates on gases concentrations were investigated. At 0.32 $${\text{m}}_{\text{air}}^{3} \;{\text{m}}_{\text{slurry}}^{ - 3} \;{\text{h}}^{ - 1}$$ flow rate, the reproducible value of the emissions was minimized. The emissions of NH3, N2O and CH4 were 3.2, 2.3 and 38 $${\text{mg}}\;{\text{m}}_{\text{slurry}}^{ - 3} \;{\text{h}}^{ - 1}$$ , respectively. In order to achieve minimum gas emissions under aerobic conditions, slurry pH should be kept in the neutral range. A comparison of gas emissions under aerobic and anaerobic conditions was conducted. Approximately 70% less NH3 and 130% more N2O were produced under aerobic than with anaerobic conditions.

Chlorination is one of the most widely used disinfection and water treatment technologies. Electrochlorination has proved to be one of the most reliable applications of electrochemistry in water treatment with improved performance in comparison to conventional chlorination. Several research efforts have been devoted to the development of these technologies; however these studies barely considered the release of chlorine volatile species (Cl2, ClO2 and Cl2O). Here, a semi-quantitative analysis of various volatile species produced during the electrolysis of highly saline water (0.6 M NaCl) at BDD electrode has been conducted by differential electrochemical mass spectrometry (DEMS) using the dual thin layer flow through cell. The effect of solution pH and electrolyte flow rates on the release of volatile species has been considered. Electrolysis of 0.6 M NaClO4 evidenced the competition between O2 and Cl2 evolution towards the electrogenerated OH radicals during electrolysis in presence of chloride. Evolution of Cl2 was favored at acidic pH, whereas its evolution is inhibited at alkaline pH. The quantification of released species highlighted that the evolution of chlorine corresponds to a ca. 80% of the current efficiency, which is a significant contribution to the overall electrochlorination process.

The electrochemical deposition and dissolution of Cu from chloride-based electrolyte was studied employing the electrochemical quartz crystal microbalance (EQCM)-coupled ultrasound technique. The ultrasound was generated using an ultrasonic horn probe, which was positioned in the face-on configuration at a different distance (8, 15, and 22 mm) from the quartz. Small intensities of ultrasound (up to ca. 11–13 W cm−2) caused a significant enhancement of anodic, cathodic currents, as well as the amount of deposited Cu paralleled by an increase in the current efficiencies due to the enhanced mass transport caused by ultrasound acoustic streaming. A further increase in the ultrasonic intensity continuously decreased the amount of Cu deposited as well as the calculated current efficiencies where the ultrasound acoustic cavitation (favor ablation) becomes more important and overtakes the effect of acoustic streaming. The peculiarities in sonoelectrochemistry at intermediate intensities (ca. 25 W cm−2) could be explained by a competition between the two effects. In agreement with the literature, the Cu corrosion reaction is occurring in parallel to its anodic dissolution with a corrosion rate increasing with increasing the ultrasound intensity. At the horn-quartz distance of 8 mm and intensity of 76 W cm−2 limits of the EQCM application (in the ultrasound field) were reached and the Cu deposition could not take place.

Advanced oxidation processes emerged as highly promising water treatment technologies for the abatement of organic pollutants in waters. The treatment of N-containing aromatic pollutants such as amines and nitro-derivatives is of great relevance due to their carcinogenicity. However, one of the major questions is the possible release of NOx species from the oxidation of these pollutants by OH. The evolution of these hazardous NOx during the water treatments by OH has been suggested to explain the loss of nitrogen during the mass balances, but unfortunately this hypothesis has not been demonstrated experimentally. In this work, the release of NOx has been ascertained and the overall current efficiency of conversion of N-containing pollutants to CO2 and NOx was estimated semi-quantitatively using differential electrochemistry mass spectroscopy (DEMS) during electrochemical advanced oxidation process with boron-doped diamond (BDD) anodes. Moreover, the relationship between the distributions of N-volatile species with the nitrogenized functional group of each pollutant has been highlighted.

Animal agricultural activities can be a significant source of pollutants affecting the health of farmers and neighboring communities. The main objective of this research was to improve the air quality by reducing the interior concentrations of emitting pollutants such as particulate matter (PM) and ammonia (NH3) within forced-ventilated fattening pig barns in order to improve the working conditions for human and the living conditions for animals as well as to have less impact on the surrounding environment. The mitigation techniques were a recirculating air scrubber and spraying of a water–oil mixture. The reduction efficiencies of the two mitigation techniques for PM and NH3 concentrations inside the barns were investigated. Two air scrubbers were mounted in a barn occupied with 515 pigs. A water–oil mixture spraying system with two different nozzles geometries was installed in a barn with 680 pigs. The data obtained from the mitigation system was compared with that obtained from a control barn with the same animal capacity and conditions. The results indicated that the average reduction efficiencies were 63% for total PM, 61% for PM10 and 32% for NH3. The results indicated that the average reduction efficiencies of the spraying system for the whole periods were 74% for total PM, 72% for PM10 and 19.5% for NH3 when using small nozzles and 44% for total PM, 39% for PM10 and 16% for NH3 when using large nozzles. The spraying system reduced the germs and fungal spore concentrations by 14 and 58%, respectively.

Background Cirrhotic patients have been known to be more affected with gallstones than their non-cirrhotic counterparts; since laparoscopy was introduced, it has been generally approved as the standard approach for cholecystectomies with the exception of end-stage cirrhosis. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the safety and efficacy of clipless laparoscopic cholecystectomy using the harmonic scalpel in complicated cholelithiasis in cirrhotic patients. Methods This prospective study was conducted on 62 cirrhotic patients presenting to the Gastrointestinal Surgery Unit in Alexandria Main University Hospital with complicated gallstones between March 2013 and March 2016. Both intraoperative time and blood loss were calculated in addition to rates of conversion to open cholecystectomy, morbidity and mortality. Results Most of our cases were females with a ratio of 1.7:1, with a mean age of 45.21 years, ranging from 25 to 65 years. The most common cause of cirrhotic liver was hepatitis C in 45.1% of patients. Among the 62 patients included in the study, 56 patients (90.3%) were presenting with acute cholecystitis and six patients were operated at the onset of acute biliary pancreatitis. The mean operative time was 72.9 min with mean blood loss 45.45 mL. Conclusion The study concluded safety of total clipless laparoscopic cholecystectomy using a harmonic scalpel in Child A and B type cirrhotic patients, who presented with complicated gallstones.