Syllinae (Syllidae: polychaeta) from the Mediterranean coast of Egypt with the description of two new species

This is the second paper dealing with the Syllidae collected on soft and hard bottom from the north-western coast of Egypt (Mediterranean Sea) and southern part of the Suez Canal. Eleven species were reported, two of them seem to be new to science, (Syllis sp.1 and Syllissp.2), but need further examination. Six species namely Opisthosyllis brunnea, Syllis columbretensis, Syllis gerlachi, Syllis ergeni, Syllis pulvinata andTrypanosyllis coeliaca were recorded as new for Egyptian waters

A Novel Algorithmic Approach using Little Theorem of Fermat For Generating Primes and Poulet Numbers in Order

Computer encryption are based mostly on primes, which are also vital for communications. The aim of this paper is to present a new explicit strategy for creating all primes and Poulet numbers in order up to a certain number by using the Fermats little theorem. For this purpose, we construct a set C of odd composite numbers and transform Fermats little theorem from primality test of a number to a generating set Q of odd primes and Poulet numbers. The set Q is sieved to separate the odd primes and the Poulet numbers. By this method, we can obtain all primes and Poulet numbers in order up to a certain number. Also, we obtain a closed form expression which precisely gives the number of primes up to a specific number. The pseudo-code of the proposed method is presented

Safety and complications of diagnostic medical thoracoscopy: A 3-year experience of a single centre

Background: Medical thoracoscopy (MT) is one of the oldest invasive interventional techniques in the recent history of respiratory medicine. Its role in clinical practice was emphasized in the last few years, and it almost replaced the traditional closed pleural biopsy method.Aim of the Study: To evaluate the safety and the rate of possible complications during and after medical thoracoscopy performed for diagnostic purposes at a single centre in Cairo, Egypt.Patients and Methods: This is a retrospective analytical study of data collected from the medical records of all patients (226 patients) that underwent diagnostic medical thoracoscopy at our center in successive three years.Results: The mean age of the study patients was 55.37 ± 13.69 years, 125 (55.3%) of them were males, while 101 (44.7%) were females and 137 patients (60.62%) had a risk of asbestos exposure. Persistent air-leak ≥7 days was the most frequent major thoracoscopic complication, detected in 10 patients (4.42%), followed by hypoxemia in 9 patients (3.98%), then post-procedure pneumonia and arrhythmia in 5 patients (2.21%) for each. The most common minor thoracoscopic complication was post-procedure pain in 74 patients (32.74%), followed by transient air-leak <7 days in 25 patients (11.61%) then post-procedure unexplained fever in 23 patients (10.17%) and subcutaneous emphysema in 19 patients (8.4%).Conclusion: Medical thoracoscopy is a simple, valuable and safe diagnostic procedure, which carries a limited possibility of complications, most of them are not serious and easy to be controlled

Cadmium resisting bacteria in Alexandria Eastern Harbor (Egypt) and optimization of cadmium bioaccumulation by Vibrio harveyi

Cadmium resisting bacteria (CRB) were present in all water and sediments (samples) collected from Alexandria Eastern Harbor, Egypt. The occurrences of CRB in sediments samples were higher than in water samples and reached up to 77.22% of total counts. Five isolates were selected to be the most resistant to cadmium with minimal inhibitory concentration of 60 ppm. The most potent isolate that accumulates a maximum Cd2+ concentration of 23.3 mg Cd2+/ g dry cells was identified as Vibrio harveyi. Medium components affecting metal removal by V. harveyi were explored based on the application of Plackett-Burman design. The growth of V. harveyi in the optimized culture conditions, recorded cadmium biosorption of 1.52 fold increase. Immobilized living cells of V. harveyi on hazelnut shells increased the uptake of cadmium to 49.35 mg Cd2+/g dry cells and removal efficiency up to 84%. Transmission electron microscope study confirmed the accumulation of Cd2+ by V. harveyi cells.Key words: Cadmium resisting bacteria, Vibrio harveyi, bioaccumulation, Plackett-Burman design

Contactless Heart Rate Detection Using MM-Wave Radar Systems Advancements

In recent years, there has been a significant surge in the development of non-contact methods for detecting heart and breathing rates. Various Millimeter-wave (MM-wave) radar systems, operating at different frequency bands like 10 GHz, 24 GHz, 77 GHz, and 122 GHz, have been effectively deployed for this purpose. This paper explores the vital application of contactless systems in the medical field, particularly during disasters and epidemics. These systems are crucial for detecting the heart and breathing rates of individuals trapped under debris, in military operations, long-term vital sign monitoring in hospitals, and aiding the elderly in public spaces. Consequently, our focus is on heart and breathing rate detection using radar systems. This paper highlights the significance of capturing the electrical representation of the heart signal. This approach is known for its trustworthiness and accuracy in identifying various medical conditions. Furthermore, a traditional method based on Fourier transform is presented for heart and respiration rate estimation. This method leverages the direct proportionality between heart and breathing rates and the frequencies of raw radar signals. To estimate the breathing rate, it identifies the maximum peak within the frequency range of 0.15 to 0.4 Hz in the frequency domain and multiplies the corresponding frequency by 60 to obtain the rate per minute. For heart rate estimation, it detects the maximum peak within the frequency range of 0.8 to 2 Hz and calculates the rate per minute accordingly

BETAMETHASONE DIPROPIONATE GEL FOR TREATMENT OF LOCALIZED PLAQUE PSORIASIS

Objective: The main aim of this study was to design and characterise betamethasone di-propionate loaded transfersomes (BD-T); as a topical formulation for the treatment of localized plaque psoriasis.Methods: A full factorial design (23) was applied to study the effects of three independent variables: drug content, type of surfactants and surfactant contents on particle size (PS), entrapment efficiency (EE %), zeta potential (ZP), polydispersity index (PI) and drug release profiles. The optimized BD-T was formulated as a hydrogel using 5% sodium carboxymethyl cellulose. The gel was characterized for viscosity, drug content, in vitro drug release and stability. A comparative clinical study was performed on 20 patients with psoriasis to investigate the effect of BD-T gel and the marketed betamethasone dipropionate (BD) cream.Results: The optimized BD-T formulation containing 50 mg betamethasone dipropionate (BD) and 5 mg tween 80 showed spherical unilamellar vesicles with an average particle size of 242.80, % EE of 90.19%, ZP of-15.00 mV, PI of 0.407 and K0 of 4.290 mg/hr. The formulation showed good stability at 4 °C and 25 °C for 6 mo. The results revealed significant clinical improvement and a significant increase in safety and tolerability with BD-T gel compared with BD cream.Conclusion: As a conclusion, BD-T was found to be more effective, safe and tolerable for the treatment of psoriasis compared with the marketed product

Efficiency of different particle sizes of dried Salvinia natans in the removing of Cu(II) and oil pollutions from water

Aquatic plants can be useful in removing various contaminants from contaminated waters, since they can sorb large amounts of heavy metals and oil spill. To investigate the effects of different particle sizes of biosorbent on the metal biosorption and oil spill capacities, dried biomass of Salvinia natans selected as aquatic plant which found a lot in astrakhan city. From the results we concluded that, the metal biosorption capacity increased with decreasing of particle size, while in the case oil spill, capacities of removing of spill increase with increasing particle sizes

Contactless Heart Rate Detection Using MM-Wave Radar Systems Advancements

In recent years, there has been a significant surge in the development of non-contact methods for detecting heart and breathing rates. Various Millimeter-wave (MM-wave) radar systems, operating at different frequency bands like 10 GHz, 24 GHz, 77 GHz, and 122 GHz, have been effectively deployed for this purpose. This paper explores the vital application of contactless systems in the medical field, particularly during disasters and epidemics. These systems are crucial for detecting the heart and breathing rates of individuals trapped under debris, in military operations, long-term vital sign monitoring in hospitals, and aiding the elderly in public spaces. Consequently, our focus is on heart and breathing rate detection using radar systems. This paper highlights the significance of capturing the electrical representation of the heart signal. This approach is known for its trustworthiness and accuracy in identifying various medical conditions. Furthermore, a traditional method based on Fourier transform is presented for heart and respiration rate estimation. This method leverages the direct proportionality between heart and breathing rates and the frequencies of raw radar signals. To estimate the breathing rate, it identifies the maximum peak within the frequency range of 0.15 to 0.4 Hz in the frequency domain and multiplies the corresponding frequency by 60 to obtain the rate per minute. For heart rate estimation, it detects the maximum peak within the frequency range of 0.8 to 2 Hz and calculates the rate per minute accordingly

SOLAR ENERGY FOR SEAWATER DESALINATION: REVIEW OF ECONOMICS

Major desalination processes consume a large amount of energy derived from oil and natural gas as heat and electricity, while emitting harmful CO2. Solar desalination has emerged as a promising solar energy-powered technology for producing fresh water. This paper will provide an overview of the economics of solar desalination with an emphasis on the Saudi fact in order to estimate the economic benefits of it in comparison with other desalination systems

Alkaline protease production by alkaliphilic marine bacteria isolated from Marsa-Matrouh (Egypt) with special emphasis on Bacillus cereus purified protease

Among the eighteen (18) alkaliphilic marine bacterial isolates studied in ten sampling sites in Marsa-Matrouh beaches, the highest alkaliphilic and proteolytic activities were detected in Bacillus cereus. Alkaline protease from B. cereus was purified by ammonium sulfate precipitation and Sephadex G-200. The molecular mass determined using SDS-PAGE, was nearly 31.0 39 kDa. Some fundamental properties like effects of different temperatures, pH, metal ions (Ca2+, Mg2+, Cu2+, Pb3+, Mn2+ and Cd2+) and ethylene diamine tetraacetic acid (EDTA) on protease activity were also studied. Maximum activities were obtained at pH 10, 50°C and only Cu2+ ions enhanced the relative enzyme activity up to 112%. The application of alkaline protease for the removal of blood stains from cotton cloth indicates its potential use in detergent formulations. B. cereus protease showed excellent stability in the presence of locally available detergents and retained about 60% of its activity with most of them even after 3 h of incubation at temperature of 50°C.Key words: Protease producing bacteria, detergents, Bacillus cereus, purification, enzyme stability and activity