Socio-Economic and Environmental Impacts Assessment of Using Different Rainwater Harvesting Techniques in Sarida Catchment, West Bank, Palestine

A statistically representative questionnaire targeted people using rainwater harvesting (RWH) techniques in rural communities of Sarida catchment,West Bank, Palestine was distributed and analyzed. The main objective of this study is to assess the social, economic, and environmental impacts of adopting RWH techniques (e.g. cisterns, concrete and clay ponds, Wadi ponds, earth dams, and stone terraces) in different uses to increase water availability. The results showed a simple sharing of the female component among beneficiaries, while concrete ponds and cisterns were the most used techniques. Actually, social impacts were noticeable by sharing the same RWH structure and reflected to responsibility skills and role exchange increases. On the other hand, RWH techniques showed a significant economic impact for end users represented by enhancing domestic, agricultural,and recreational activities leading to good profit increase. In addition to food security as output, the most important environmental impact was water wasting prevention, which in turn could be linked to sustainable water management and considered as universal challenge for future generations

Biological treatment of hydrocarbons contaminated soil by Serratia ficaria

Petroleum is one of the most important substances consumed by man at present times, a major energy source in this century, petroleum oils can cause environmental pollution during various stages of production, transportation, refining and use, petroleum hydrocarbons pollutions ranging from soil, ground water to marine environment, become an inevitable problem in the modern life, current study focused on bioremediation process of hydrocarbons contaminants that remaining in the bottom of gas cylinders and discharged to the soil. Twenty-four bacterial isolates were isolated from contaminated soils all of them gram negative bacteria, bacterial isolates screening to investigate the ability of biodegradation of hydrocarbons, these isolates inoculated  with modified mineral salt media containing 1% hydrocarbons for five days in shaking incubator 150 rpm at 30oC. Then measured optical density by a spectrophotometer (UV–9200) at waves length 540nm, biomass, where three isolates appeared highest ability to growth than others isolates. These three bacterial isolates were diagnosed by morphological features, gram stain, microscopically examination, biochemical tests, as well as by using VITEK 2 Compact device. One of three isolates was selected and result of identification of this bacterium showed that belonged to Serretia ficaria

Bioremediation of contaminated soil with hydrocarbons discharged from liquid petroleum gas filling refineries by Burkholdaria cepatia

Commercial, industrial, and military activity, largely in the 19th and 20th centuries, have led to  environmental pollution that can threaten human health and ecosystem function, liquid gas petroleum (LPG) products are the major sources of energy for industry and daily life that cause environmental contamination during various stages of production, transportation, refining and use. Screening of bacterial isolate by using clear zone techniques and biomass and optical density. Results revealed that isolate Burkholdaria cepatia showed a high ability for hydrocarbons biodegradation and this isolate identified depending on morphological cultural, gram stain, microscopic features, biochemical tests, and VITEK2 compact.   In this study, Burkholdaria cepatia had been examined to degrade hydrocarbons in soil. Such strain which is isolated from petroleum hydrocarbon contaminated soil has the ability to utilize a variety of hydrocarbons substrates. Optimal conditions that include (time, temperature & pH) were studied for hydrocarbons biodegradation by Burkholdaria cepatia, results showed with high growth and hydrocarbons biodegredation. Biodegradation Experiments were carried out in lab scale and the growth of microorganisms was investigated directly and indirectly. Results showed an extent of biodegradation more than 80% can be achieved within 10 days using

Phenotypic and Genetic Characterization of a Cohort of Pediatric Wilson Disease Patients

Abstract Background In Egypt, Wilson disease seems to be under diagnosed and clinical data on large cohorts are limited. The aim of this study is to highlight the clinical, laboratory and genetic characteristics of this disease in our pediatric population as well as to report our experience with both treatment options and outcome. Methods The study included 77 patients from 50 unrelated families (62 were followed up for a mean period of 58.9 ± 6.4 months and 27 were asymptomatic siblings). Data were collected retrospectively by record analysis and patient interviews. Diagnosis was confirmed by sequencing of the ATP7B gene in 64 patients Results Our patients had unique characteristics compared to other populations. They had a younger age of onset (median: 10 years), higher prevalence of Kayser-Fleischer rings (97.6% in the symptomatic patients), low ceruloplasmin (93.5%), high rate of parental consanguinity (78.9%) as well as a more severe course. 71.42% of those on long term D-penicillamine improved or were stable during the follow up with severe side effects occurring in only 11.5%. Preemptive treatment with zinc monotherapy was an effective non-toxic alternative to D-penicillamine. Homozygous mutations were found in 85.7%, yet limited by the large number of mutations detected, it was difficult to find genotype-phenotype correlations. Missense mutations were the most common while protein-truncating mutations resulted in a more severe course with higher incidence of acute liver failure and neurological symptoms. Conclusions Egyptian children with Wilson disease present with early Kayser-Fleischer rings and early onset of liver and neurological disease. The mutational spectrum identified differs from that observed in other countries. The high rate of homozygous mutations (reflecting the high rate of consanguinity) may potentially offer further insights on genotype-phenotype correlation</p

Preparation and Characterization of a Novel Mucoadhesive Carvedilol Nanosponge: A Promising Platform for Buccal Anti-Hypertensive Delivery

Carvedilol (CRV) is a non-selective third generation beta-blocker used to treat hypertension, congestive heart failure and angina pectoris. Oral administration of CRV showed poor bioavailability (25%), which might be ascribed to its extensive first-pass metabolism. Buccal delivery is known to boost drugs bioavailability. The aim of this study is to investigate the efficacy of bilosomes-based mucoadhesive carvedilol nanosponge for enhancing the oral bioavailability of CRV. The bilosomes were prepared, optimized and characterized for particle size, surface morphology, encapsulation efficiency and ex-vivo permeation studies. Then, the optimized formula was incorporated into a carboxymethyl cellulose/hydroxypropyl cellulose (CMC/HPC) composite mixture to obtain buccal nanosponge enriched with CRV bilosomes. The optimized bilosome formula (BLS9), showing minimum vesicle size, maximum entrapment, and highest cumulative in vitro release, exhibited a spherical shape with 217.2 nm in diameter, 87.13% entrapment efficiency, and sustained drug release for up to 24 h. In addition, ex-vivo drug permeation across sheep buccal mucosa revealed enhanced drug permeation with bilosomal formulations, compared to aqueous drug suspension. Consecutively, BLS9 was incorporated in a CMC/HPC gel and lyophilized for 24 h to obtain bilosomal nanosponge to enhance CRV buccal delivery. Morphological analysis of the prepared nanosponge revealed improved swelling with a porosity of 67.58%. The in vivo assessment of rats indicated that CRV-loaded nanosponge efficiently enhanced systolic/diastolic blood pressure, decreased elevated oxidative stress, improved lipid profile and exhibited a potent cardio-protective effect. Collectively, bilosomal nanosponge might represent a plausible nanovehicle for buccal delivery of CRV for effective management of hypertension