Trend of Change in Cultivated Area and Water Budget for Major Crops in Egypt using GIS and Field Survey Technique

Agricultural survey, based on GIS scheme, using satellite images and topographic maps, field survey was carried out during 2008/2009 winter and 2009 summer seasons to determine the whole land cover of the Nile Delta and Valley. This was done using CLAC’s recent (2006) digital shape file data for different geographic layers (Roads, railways, irrigation channels, water bodies and cultivated areas), and SPOT 5 satellite images (2007). Data show that the cultivated area of wheat was about 2.9 million feddans (4200 m2) in 2008 depending on the ministry of agriculture and land reclamation (MALR) statistics, while the area of wheat in the same year according to GIS and field survey was about 2.5 million feddans. There was about 13% difference between the two concerned methods (GIS + field survey) and MALR’s conventional statistical method. However, the cultivated barley area in 2008 winter season was 148 thousand feddans according to GIS + field survey data, whilst the statistical data was 181 thousand feddans. &#x0D; The GIS + field survey data showed that the area of cotton were decreased sharply in the season of 2009 to 250 thousand feddans compared to 284 thousand feddans with the MALR’s statistical method. Water budget during winter survey for the whole crop pattern was increased from 11 billion cubic meters in 1980 to 24 billion cubic meters in 2013, while water budget during summer survey was increased from 20 billion cubic meters in 1980 to 25 billion cubic meters in 2012. The average water budget for the whole crop pattern in Nile Delta and Nile Valley was 49 billion cubic meters during 2012 /2013.</jats:p

Clinical and genetic assessment of pediatric patients with Gaucher’s disease in Upper Egypt

Background: Gaucher’s disease (GD) is an autosomal recessive genetic disorder that results from pathogenic mutations of GBA gene encoding the enzyme glucocerebrosidase (acid b-glucosidase). Of the approximately 300 mutations associated with GD, 4 accounts for the majority of mutations seen in GD patients: N370S, L444P, 84 GG and IVS2+1.Aim: Establishing and providing, clinical and molecular backgrounds of pediatric patients with GD in Upper Egypt.Subjects and methods: The present study is a cross sectional study, carried out on 26 pediatric patients with GD. They were recruited from the pediatric outpatient clinics and inpatients Pediatric departments of Assiut and Qena University hospitals, Upper Egypt. Clinical evaluation and mutation analysis using commercially available strip assay kit after PCR amplification of the target gene were done for all included GD patients.Results: Consanguinity between patients’ parents was present in 73.1% of the included patients. 76.9% of included patients were of type 1 GD, while 23.1% were of type 3 GD and none of our patients was classified as type 2 GD. The main frequent clinical presentations of GD in this study were hepatosplenomegaly (88.5%); pallor (76.9%); abdominal distension (61.5%) and musculoskeletal involvement (37.1%). Neurological abnormalities of type 3 GD included in this study were squint, seizures and delayed mental development. Five different genotypes were detected, homozygous for the mutation L444P, homozygous for the mutation N370S, heterozygous for the mutations N370S and rec Ncil, heterozygous for IVS2 +1 and rec NciI, heterozygous for L444P and IVS2 +1. Conclusions: Non-neuropathic type 1 and type 3 GD were the only clinical types found in the present study. The most common mutant alleles found in this study were L444P and N370S

The Psychological Science Accelerator’s COVID-19 rapid-response dataset

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Psychological Science Accelerator coordinated three large-scale psychological studies to examine the effects of loss-gain framing, cognitive reappraisals, and autonomy framing manipulations on behavioral intentions and affective measures. The data collected (April to October 2020) included specific measures for each experimental study, a general questionnaire examining health prevention behaviors and COVID-19 experience, geographical and cultural context characterization, and demographic information for each participant. Each participant started the study with the same general questions and then was randomized to complete either one longer experiment or two shorter experiments. Data were provided by 73,223 participants with varying completion rates. Participants completed the survey from 111 geopolitical regions in 44 unique languages/dialects. The anonymized dataset described here is provided in both raw and processed formats to facilitate re-use and further analyses. The dataset offers secondary analytic opportunities to explore coping, framing, and self-determination across a diverse, global sample obtained at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, which can be merged with other time-sampled or geographic data

The Psychological Science Accelerator’s COVID-19 rapid-response dataset

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Psychological Science Accelerator coordinated three large-scale psychological studies to examine the effects of loss-gain framing, cognitive reappraisals, and autonomy framing manipulations on behavioral intentions and affective measures. The data collected (April to October 2020) included specific measures for each experimental study, a general questionnaire examining health prevention behaviors and COVID-19 experience, geographical and cultural context characterization, and demographic information for each participant. Each participant started the study with the same general questions and then was randomized to complete either one longer experiment or two shorter experiments. Data were provided by 73,223 participants with varying completion rates. Participants completed the survey from 111 geopolitical regions in 44 unique languages/dialects. The anonymized dataset described here is provided in both raw and processed formats to facilitate re-use and further analyses. The dataset offers secondary analytic opportunities to explore coping, framing, and self-determination across a diverse, global sample obtained at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, which can be merged with other time-sampled or geographic data

Reducing the environmental impact of surgery on a global scale: systematic review and co-prioritization with healthcare workers in 132 countries

Background Healthcare cannot achieve net-zero carbon without addressing operating theatres. The aim of this study was to prioritize feasible interventions to reduce the environmental impact of operating theatres. Methods This study adopted a four-phase Delphi consensus co-prioritization methodology. In phase 1, a systematic review of published interventions and global consultation of perioperative healthcare professionals were used to longlist interventions. In phase 2, iterative thematic analysis consolidated comparable interventions into a shortlist. In phase 3, the shortlist was co-prioritized based on patient and clinician views on acceptability, feasibility, and safety. In phase 4, ranked lists of interventions were presented by their relevance to high-income countries and low–middle-income countries. Results In phase 1, 43 interventions were identified, which had low uptake in practice according to 3042 professionals globally. In phase 2, a shortlist of 15 intervention domains was generated. In phase 3, interventions were deemed acceptable for more than 90 per cent of patients except for reducing general anaesthesia (84 per cent) and re-sterilization of ‘single-use’ consumables (86 per cent). In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for high-income countries were: introducing recycling; reducing use of anaesthetic gases; and appropriate clinical waste processing. In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for low–middle-income countries were: introducing reusable surgical devices; reducing use of consumables; and reducing the use of general anaesthesia. Conclusion This is a step toward environmentally sustainable operating environments with actionable interventions applicable to both high– and low–middle–income countries

Real-time thermal self-energies: in the variational bases and spaces

In this work, we introduce a systematic study for studying the scalar propagator and tadpole self-energy by considering an arbitrary parameter σ that allows for a path integral description in real-time formalism (RTF). The closed time path formalism (CTP) and Thermofield Dynamics (TFD) are two popular choices for the parameter σ in the Feynman rules. We have constructed a scalar propagator and a tadpole self-energy in two different bases in the momentum space as well as the mixed space. The results show that the diagonal components of self-energy in both spaces for the 1/2 basis are the same in both approaches within RTF, whereas the other off-diagonal components of self-energy are different because they depend on the path parameter. On the other hand, the diagonal components of self-energy in both spaces for the new basis are not the same in both approaches within RTF, whereas the off-diagonal components of self-energy are vanishing. That means the new basis allows one to reduce the components for the quantities studied, like self-energy or other

Moving object detection and tracking in video surveillance system

Detecting and tracking objects in crowded areas is a challenging issue in the field of Video surveillance system. Nowadays the increase of digital video cameras, and the availability of video storage and high performance video processing hardware, opens up conceivable outcomes for tackling many video understanding problems. Developing a real-time video understanding technique which can process the large amounts of data becomes very important. The object detection first step used in surveillance applications aims to separation of foreground objects from the background. Many algorithms proposed to solve the problem of object detection, however, it still lack of tracking multiple objects in real time. Object tracking used to find a moving object detected in motion detection stage from one frame to another in an image sequence. This paper focuses on review of various techniques used in object detection and object tracking

Real-time thermal self-energies: In the variational bases and spaces

In this work, we introduce a systematic study for studying the scalar propagator and tadpole self-energy by considering an arbitrary parameter σ that allows for a path integral description in real-time formalism (RTF). The closed time path formalism (CTP) and Thermofield Dynamics (TFD) are two popular choices for the parameter σ in the Feynman rules. We have constructed a scalar propagator and a tadpole self-energy in two different bases in the momentum space as well as the mixed space. The results show that the diagonal components of self-energy in both spaces for the 1/2 basis are the same in both approaches within RTF, whereas the other off-diagonal components of self-energy are different because they depend on the path parameter. On the other hand, the diagonal components of self-energy in both spaces for the new basis are not the same in both approaches within RTF, whereas the off-diagonal components of self-energy are vanishing. That means the new basis allows one to reduce the components for the quantities studied, like self-energy or other

Potential application of microalgae in produced water treatment

The current study examines pollutant removal efficiency from the produced water of a local petroleum industry by five different local microalgae species. The five microalgae strains Monoraphidium, Chlorella, Neochloris, Scenedesmus, Dictyosphaerium, Chlorella and Dictyosphaerium species showed a significant amount of biomass generation within all different concentrations of produced water. Although the biomass yield of Neochloris strain was low, it was able to remove a higher amount of organic carbon than the other microalgae strains. Although biomass yield varied significantly among the microalgae strains, nitrogen removal efficiency was similar for all strains. Similar results were also obtained for most of the BTEX components. On an average, Dictyosphaerium sp. produced 0.5 g/L biomass density on different strength of produced water. Total nitrogen removal efficiency reached up to 63.76% when Scenedesmus sp. was grown in produced water. Only in case of phosphorus and various metals, removal efficiencies were better by Dictyosphaerium specie; reached up to 88.83%. Despite low biomass generation, Neochloris sp. removed 41.61% of total organic carbon from the different concentrations of produced water. Although benzene and ethylbenzene removal efficiency was 100% for all the different produced water, small amount of toluene and xylene remained in the produced water. Thus, the results indicate that microalgae strains can be used to remediate produced water effluents-derived from petroleum industries.Scopu