Amelioration Of Snap Bean Growth, Yield, Quantity And Nutritional Status Under Salinity Stress By Using Spirulina Algae Extract And Amino Acids

Salinity stress is a major abiotic stress that limits agricultural production and threatens global food security due to rapid climate change. Salt stress negatively affects the growth, yield and quality of crops.  Amino Acids and Spirulina Algae Extract are well-known biostimulants that have positive effects on plant growth and productivity and significantly reduce damage caused by abiotic stress. Therefore, this study investigated the effect of several treatments with spirulina extract and amino acids on snap bean plant growing under saline soil stress. Field experiment was carried out during the two successive summer seasons of 2021 and 2022 under saline soil at private farm in Faqus - Sharkia Governorate, to study the effect of spirulina algae and amino acid concentrations as foliar spray on growth, yield quantity and quality and nutritional status of snap bean cv, Bronco. The experiment was executed in split plot design, three rates of spirulina algae extracts (0, 1 and 2 cm3 L-1) were distributed on main plot and another three level of amino acids (0, 500 and 1000 mg L-1) were arranged on subplot. Finally, main and subplot were replicated three times. The results can be summarized as follows: Under saline soil condition, spraying snap bean plants with different concentrations of spirulina extract and amino acids three times led to an improvement in plant growth, crop quantity and quality as well as nutritional status, compared to the experimental treatment in which both were not used. The highest values of growth, yield and content of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium were obtained by spraying 2 cm3 L-1 of spirulina extract with 1000 mg L-1 of amino acids under two consecutive seasons. Thus, it can be said that Therefore, the spirulina algae extract and amino acids are considered one of the safe solutions to get rid of the effect of soil salinity on the  snap bean plant, and then obtain a high yield and also high quality

STUDY OF THE POSSIBLE ANTIHYPERTENSIVE AND HYPOLIPIDEMIC EFFECTS OF AN HERBAL MIXTURE ON L-NAME-INDUCED HYPERTENSIVE RATS

Objective: Hypertension is a chronic medical condition. Diet can improve blood pressure control and decrease the risk of health complication.Methods: In this study, four plants: Roselle, Marjoram, Chamomile, and Doum were extracted by water. Equal portions of them were mixed. Lethaldose 50% of the mixture was assayed; the dose which did not cause any mortality was 266.94 mg/100 g body weight. Animals were classified into fivegroups: Negative control group, positive control group where hypertension was induced by L-name, two groups treated with two doses of the mixture,and a group treated with prazosin as a standard treatment. Treatment of hypertensive rats continued for 4 successive weeks.Results: Treatment with the mixture showed a significant reduction in blood pressure of hypertensive rats, as well as serum cholesterol, low-densitylipoprotein-cholesterol, and urea levels when compared to positive control group.Conclusion: The results obtained suggest that the aqueous extract is efficient as an antihypertensive and hypolipidemic agent.Keywords: Rats, Aqueous extract, Hypertension, Hyperlipidemia, L-name

دراسة قياسية لسوق العمل فى مصر بإستخدام نموذج التوازن العام

Human labor input is considered the essential core in arising and increasing gross national product, so the equilibrium between supply and demand for labor, is one of the pivots of Egyptian strategy, the overcoming unemployment is the challenging for economic reform in Egypt, by creation productive true employment in all fields. There are many problems hinder motivation the economic development, so the main research problem of the study, can be summarized in the effectiveness of economic reform policies, in the shade of fiscal and monetary policies tools that affect the equilibrium of the structure of labor market. The objective of the study is to explore the effect and role of the economic variables on the behavior and equilibrium of the economic sectors relations through the general equilibrium model. To achieve the objective of the study, the dynamic Liverpool model, that is considered one of the general equilibrium models was estimated, by simultaneous equations system, according to Jerry Hausman method of non linear full information maximum likelihood (NL-FIML). The Liverpool model consists of 28 behavioral equations, and 9 identitiy equations, and included 34 endogenous variables, 28 lagged endogenous variables, and 16 exogenous variables. The study detected and remedied the econometric problems, i.e., autocorrelation, heteroscedasticity, non normality of the random error term, and multicollinearity among independents variables, by using Beach-Mackinnon, White’s generalized method of moments, Box-Tidwell, and Marquardt ridge algorithms, for the previous problems respectively. The study used time series data for analysis Liverpool model, that collected from different sources to cover the period (1980-2002), with respect to agriculture, commodities, and services sectors in Egypt. The results of Liverpool model were consistent with the economic theory, it is noticed that the agricultural sector came in the first order according to the effect of the demand for labor in increasing the agricultural domestic product, also the agricultural national product affects increasing the demand for labor, but the agricultural investment didn’t affect, also, there was substitution between technology and the demand for labor. On the other hand, the results showed the effectiveness of the fiscal policy and ineffectiveness of the monetary policy as a result of the inelastic investment with respect to interest rate in all sectors, also increasing taxes led to decreasing the consumption, as an indicator of the effectiveness of fiscal policy. The demand for money with respect to interest rate was inelastic, as an indicator of the effectiveness of monetary policy. Finally, the study recommended applying expanded monetary policy by encouragement investment, especially in the intensive labor projects, also applying expanded fiscal policy by reducing taxation and increasing government expenditure for increasing production, consumption, and employment rates, moreover, the joint among economic plans, education, and training for achieving the equilibrium labor market, and decreasing the quantitative and qualitative unemployment rates in the Egyptian sectors

Oxaliplatin, 5-fluorouracil/leucovorin and epirubicin as first-line treatment in advanced gastric carcinoma: a phase II study

The association between oxaliplatin and 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) has been extensively reported to improve prognosis of gastric cancer patients. The present study is aimed at evaluating response rate and the toxicity profile of the association with oxaliplatin, 5-FU/lecovorin and epirubicin in gastric cancer patients with locally advanced or metastatic disease. Thirty-six patients have been enrolled and 35 evaluated. The treatment schedule was oxaliplatin (100 mg m−2), 5-FU (400 mg m−2), leucovorin (40 mg m−2) and epirubicin (60 mg m−2) intravenously. administered every 3 weeks for 6 months, for a total of 185 therapy cycles . Response rate and toxicity were assessed according to the international WHO criteria. Every patient received a mean of 5.3 therapy cycles in a day-hospital setting. Sixteen of 35 patients (46%) showed an objective response, two complete response and 14 partial response. Median time to progression was 33 weeks with an overall median survival of 49 weeks. During the study, anaemia grade 3 and neutropenia grade 3 were observed in 9 and 11% of patients respectively. A grade 3 periferic sensorial neuropathy was observed in 6% of patients. No life threatening or cardiac toxicity was recorded. The regimen used showed anticancer activity against gastric carcinoma, a tolerable toxicity profile and excellent patient compliance

Second-line chemotherapy for patients with advanced gastric cancer: who may benefit?

No established second-line chemotherapy is available for patients with advanced gastric cancer failing to respond or progressing to first-line chemotherapy. However, 20–40% of these patients commonly receive second-line chemotherapy. We evaluated the influence of clinico-pathologic factors on the survival of 175 advanced gastric cancer patients, who received second-line chemotherapy at three oncology departments. Univariate and multivariate analyses found five factors which were independently associated with poor overall survival: performance status 2 (hazard ratio (HR), 1.79; 95% CI, 1.16–2.77; P=0.008), haemoglobin ⩽11.5 g l−1 (HR, 1.48; 95% CI, 1.06–2.05; P=0.019), CEA level >50 ng ml−1 (HR, 1.86; 95% CI, 1.21–2.88; P=0.004), the presence of greater than or equal to three metastatic sites of disease (HR, 1.72; 95% CI, 1.16–2.53; P=0.006), and time-to-progression under first-line chemotherapy ⩽6 months (HR, 1.97; 95% CI, 1.39–2.80; P<0.0001). A prognostic index was constructed dividing patients into low- (no risk factor), intermediate- (one to two risk factors), or high- (three to five risk factors) risk groups, and median survival times for each group were 12.7 months, 7.1 months, and 3.3 months, respectively (P<0.001). In the absence of data deriving from randomised trials, this analysis suggests that some easily available clinical factors may help to select patients with advanced gastric cancer who could derive more benefit from second-line chemotherapy

Multicenter phase II study of docetaxel plus oxaliplatin combination chemotherapy in patients with advanced gastric cancer: Daegu Gyeongbuk Oncology Group

The present study was conducted to evaluate the efficacy and safety of a combination regimen of docetaxel plus oxaliplatin in patients with advanced gastric cancer. Patients with previously untreated metastatic or recurrent, measurable gastric cancer received intravenous docetaxel 65 mg m−2 plus oxaliplatin 120 mg m−2 on day 1 based on a 3-week cycle. Forty-two patients were enrolled in the current study, among whom 39 were assessable for efficacy and all assessable for toxicity. One complete response and 18 partial responses were confirmed, giving an overall response rate of 45.2% (95% confidence interval (CI); 31.7–59.7%). At a median follow-up of 7.7 months, the median time to progression and median overall survival was 5.7 (95% CI; 4.3–7.2) months and 9.9 (95% CI; 7.8–12.0) months, respectively. Grade 3/4 neutropenia occurred in 11 patients (26.1%) and febrile neutropenia was observed in four patients (9.5%). The common non-haematologic toxicity was fatigue (grade 1/2, 61.9%) and nausea (grade 1/2, 47.7%). The combination of docetaxel and oxaliplatin was found to be well tolerated and effective in patients with advanced gastric cancer

Improved form navigation on mobile devices

In this paper a study was done regarding improving form control and navigation on mobile devices. An observational study of census counters for the Egyptian Agricultural Survey was conducted. This country-wide survey is currently conducted by professional counters using large (100×35 cm double sided) complex paper forms that require manual transcription. Computerization would be beneficial in terms of accuracy and duplication of effort. However there are considerable challenges in reducing the size of the forms to fit mobile devices. Furthermore counters typically have low technological experience. Based on our observations we developed two prototypes: one using traditional form tabs, the other pan-and-zooming. Results from initial user tests showed the pan-and-zoom interface was both faster and had a lower perceived effort

Enhancing KLM (Keystroke-Level Model) to fit touch screen mobile devices

This short paper introduces an enhancement to the Keystroke-Level Model (KLM) by extending it with three new operators to describe interactions on mobile touchscreen devices. Based on Fitts’s Law we modelled a performance measure estimate equation for each common touch screen interaction. Three prototypes were developed to serve as a test environment in which to validate Fitts’s equations and estimate the parameters for these interactions. A total of 3090 observations were made with a total of 51 users. While the studies confirmed each interaction fitted well to Fitts’s Law for most interactions, it was noticed that Fitts’s Law does not fit well for interactions with an Index of Difficulty exceeding 4 bits, highlighting a possible maximum comfortable stretch. Based on results, the following approximate movement times for KLM are suggested: 70ms for a short untargeted swipe, 200ms for a half-screen sized zoom, and 80ms for an icon pointing from a home position. These results could be used by developers of mobile phone and tablet applications to describe tasks as a sequence of the operators used and to predict user interaction times prior to creating prototypes