Design an Optimum Highway Route using Remote Sensing Data and GIS-Based Least Cost Path Model, Case of Minya-Ras Ghareb and Minya-Wahat-Bawiti Highway Routes, Egypt

The traditional method of aligning highways is a tedious, time-consuming process, and needs a lot of manual work, expensive consuming and complicated process, where numerous environmental issues need to be addressed. The problem is exacerbated where the alignment is influenced by the location of services, existing roads, and buildings. Therefore, there is a great need to adopt new technologies that save time and money in designing and assessment of highway paths. Remote Sensing and GIS make the highway alignment most appropriate avoiding vulnerable high-risk zones such as sand dunes, stream crossing, fault zones, etc….in addition to considering environmental protection constraints and cost savings. It needs less manpower, less time consuming and less cost. In this context, a survey was conducted to determine the factors that affect the process of choosing the path of roads through the previous literature and a panel of experts. Minya Ras-Gharib road in the Eastern Desert of Egypt and Minya Wahat Bawiti road in the Western Desert of Egypt as a case study. Remotely sensing techniques, Landsat 8 and digital elevation models were used to produce land use maps, sand dunes, existing roads, slopes, and flood sites. In addition, thematic maps such as rock type, faults, protectorates. Cost factors were determined and cost surface for each factor was established, standardized, weighed and aggregated based on previous literature. A pairwise comparison is used to determine the weight of factors. These weighted factors /criteria maps were combined to create the least cost surface map. Four visions were modeled: an economic vision, an environmental vision, an equal vision, and economy only vision. A comparison was made between the four-route using the DEFINITE software.The equal-weights route was the best route. A comparison was made between the equal-weight route and the existing route.The results of the comparison show that the recommended route save about 48% for the road of Minya Ras Gharib and save about 33 % for the road of Minya Wahat Bawiti compared to the existing road, in addition to saving the time, effort and cost

The Effectiveness of Intraocular Methotrexate in the Treatment of Posterior Uveitis in Behçet’s Disease Patients Compared to Retrobulbar Steroids Injection

Aim of Work. To evaluate the efficacy of intravitreal methotrexate (MTX) compared to retrobulbar triamcinolone acetonide (TAA), in controlling posterior segment involvement and inducing remissions among Behçet’s disease (BD) patients. Study Design. This is a cross-sectional nonrandomized comparative study. Patients and Methods. 31 adult BD male patients with a mean disease duration of 5.45 years who presented with bilateral posterior segment involvement were included. Each patient received intravitreal injection of 400 μg/0.1 mL (MTX) for the right eye (Group A) and 1 mL of retrobulbar 40 mg/mL TAA for the left eye (Group B). Results. 90% of eyes showed complete improvement of anterior chamber reaction, whereas an improvement in vitreous activity in 77% with no significant differences between both groups (p≤0.1). BCVA improved in 77.4% eyes (Group A) compared to 87.1% (Group B) (p≤0.4). Relapses were noted in 11 eyes (35.5%), in group A, with the mean duration of remission being 19.1 weeks ± 2.13 compared to 7.35±2.8 in 20 eyes (64.5%) in group B (p≤0.1). Conclusion. No statistical differences were found between both treatment modalities; however, based on clinical observations, intravitreal MTX may ensure better control of inflammatory reaction and may encourage longer remission as compared to retrobulbar TAA in BD patients

Designing and evaluation of three alternatives highway routes using the Analytical Hierarchy Process and the least-cost path analysis, application in Sinai Peninsula, Egypt

Land use planning in a remote desert zone is usually dependent on an efficient corridor and main road network system. In this paper, Geographic Information System (GIS) tools were used to develop a least-cost path for a corridor to link three cities in Sinai Peninsula desert environment. It is supposed to create a backbone for developing the middle part of peninsula by facilitating the transport of mineral resources and accessibility to such region and encourage populating the remote desert city of Nekhel and the coastal cities of Taba and El Shatt. Therefore, such a route should have the least cost and should be protected from the negative impacts that may be caused by the surrounding environment. Environmental and economical factors were integrated through a spatial multicriteria model using the Analytical Hierarchy Process. Cost factors were identified and a cost surface was created for each factor, standardized, weighed and aggregated. Three visions were modelled: an engineering vision, an environmental vision and a hybrid vision. A multicriteria evaluation was used to compare the three routes. The hybrid route was finally recommended

Mapping potential landfill sites for North Sinai cities using spatial multicriteria evaluation

The exponential rise in the urban population of the developing countries during the past decades accelerated the urbanization phenomenon and the great need for solid waste management. This fact brought awareness of the necessity to develop efficient solid waste management systems in land use planning. Due to insufficient funds, poor planning and growing needs for solid waste management systems, many Egyptian cities dispose their solid wastes in open sites. In Sinai Peninsula, cities are located either on the coastal zones or in deserts. Motivated by the Government objective in developing the cities of Sinai, this paper tries to participate in finding a solution using a spatial multi-criteria decision support system for locating potential landfill sites for North Sinai cities. Criteria concerning three themes were combined to produce three scenarios. Environmental theme related to soil characteristics; permeability and groundwater as well as vulnerable land cover units, faults and streams. Economic theme includes slope, road network, and power lines. Social theme includes distance from airports, archaeology sites and land aspect. Prioritizing the weight of a specific theme or giving an equal weight to the three themes produced different scenarios. A suitability index map was produced for each case. Comparing the three suitability indexes; zones with the highest values were selected resulting in a set of candidate sites for each city in the investigated region. According to the characteristic of a location, a scenario could be preferred. More than an option resulted and are available to the decision makers according to their strategies and objectives

Environmental sensitivity to mosquito transmitted diseases in El-Fayoum using spatial analyses

El-Fayoum governorate has unique characteristics which induces mosquito proliferation and thus increased the risk arisen from diseases transmission. Present study explores the role of remote sensing and GIS modeling integrated with field survey for mapping mosquito breeding sites and the areas under risk of diseases transmission in El-Fayoum governorate. Entomological surveys were conducted for a total number of 40 accessible breeding sites during the period 12-16 November 2017. A calibrated Landsat OLI image, synchronized with the field trip, was processed to produce Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Normalized Difference Moisture Index (NDMI), and Land Surface Temperature (LST). A cartographic GIS model was generated to predict breeding sites in the whole governorate and to assess the potential risk. The main filarial disease vector (Culex pipiens) was abundant at Atsa district, while Malaria vectors (Anopheles sergentii and Anopheles multicolor) were mainly distributed in El-Fayoum and Youssef El-Seddiq districts. Means levels of NDVI, NDMI and LST at breeding habitats were recorded; 0.18, 0.08 and 21.75° C, respectively. Results of the model showed that the highest predicted risk area was reported at Atsa district (94.4 km2) and Yousef El-Sediq (81.8 km2) while the lowest prediction was observed at Abshawai district (35.9 km2). It can be concluded that Atsa, Yousef El-Sedik and El-Fayoum districts are more vulnerable to Malaria and Filaria diseases outbreaks, thus precaution and pest control methods must be applied to mitigate the possible risks

Detection and mapping of land use land cover with Support vector machines SVM-based change monitoring using Landsat and Sentinel-2 data. The case of Quseir, Red Sea

Land use land cover (LULC) mapping and spatial change monitoring are essential to manage the coastal cities and its resources. This study aims to investigate LULC changes of Quseir, a typical small Red Sea coastal city for a long period from 1984 to 2021. Support vector machines (SVMs) classifier and Post classification comparison (PCC) change detection technique were used to analyse two Thematic Mappers (TM), an Enhanced Thematic Mapper plus (ETM+), an Operational Land Imager (OLI) Landsat imagery in addition to a Multi-Spectral Instrument (MSI) Sentinel-2 image cover the study period. Twelve LULC classes have been identified for this study. Accuracy of the classified images and the LULC change were analysed. Along the thirty seven years, Quseir's urban has increased by nine folds and the green area was increased from nil to 6.10 m2 per person. SVM achieved high accuracy classification results for all the studied images of all sensors, while the MSI, 2021, was the highest accuracy. Through data-resampling, combining Landsat and Sentinel-2 satellite datasets for long-term monitoring studies using PCC resulted in more reliable and accurate outputs. Results obtained from this study will fill the gap of rare LULC maps and spatial change information of Quseir during the past four decades

Clinical and molecular findings in eight Egyptian patients with suspected mitochondrial disorders and optic atrophy

AbstractMitochondrial respiratory chain disorders (RCD) are a group of genetically and clinically heterogeneous diseases, caused due to defects of the respiratory chain. This study aimed to investigate the presence of common mtDNA point mutations in tRNALeu (UUR), tRNALys, MT-ATPase 6, MT-ND4, MT-ND1, MT-ND6 genes in eight Egyptian patients suspected to have mtDNA disease and optic atrophy.PCR-RFLP analysis was done for the detection of 3243A>G, 3271T>C, 8344A>G, and 8993T>G/C mtDNA point mutations. DNA direct sequencing was pursued for the detection of 11778G>A, 3460G>A and 14484T>C mtDNA point mutations. No point mutation of 3243A>G, 3271T>C, 8344A>G, and 8993T>G/C was detected in our group of patients. Four mtDNA polymorphisms in MT-ND1 and MT-ND4 genes (11467A>G, 11719G>A, 3348A>G and 3357G>A) were detected in three patients.Mitochondrial disorders are caused by a variety of genetic and racial factors, which differ among populations. The negative results of this study indicate that the chosen mutations might not be specific in Egyptians. Another explanation might be due to the low heteroplasmic levels of the mtDNA mutation. A registry for the different mtDNA mutations in Egyptian patients is highly recommended

The Effectiveness of Pre- and Postoperative Infliximab in Controlling Behçet’s Disease Posterior Uveitis in Patients Undergoing Vitrectomy: A Preliminary Study

Purpose. To evaluate the short-term effectiveness of infliximab in controlling ocular manifestations in Behçet’s Disease (BD) patients candidate for pars plana vitrectomy, if given in a regimen before and after the planned procedure. Patients and Methods. 30 eyes of 27 adult male BD patients with a mean age of 35.56 yrs presented with refractory posterior uveitis not responding to immunosuppressive drugs and candidate for vitrectomy were included. Infliximab was given in a dose of 5 mg/kg intravenous infusion once every two weeks for 3 treatment sessions before the intended vitrectomy followed by 3 treatment sessions at two-week intervals, after vitrectomy. Results. Improvement of ocular manifestations was noted in all eyes, with complete resolution in 26 eyes (87%). Visual acuity improved from 0.23 ± 0.11 to 0.38 ± 0.17 (p≤0.2), ESR decreased from 65.92 mm/hr ± 17.32 SD to 24.93 mm/hr ± 5.28 SD at the last treatment cycle (p≤0.1). The mean daily dose of systemic corticosteroids was tapered from 44.54 mg/d ± 2.89 to 8.48 mg/d ± 6.38 (p≤0.2), and no relapses were noted during the follow-up period. Conclusion. Infliximab may be safe and effective in controlling posterior uveitis and inducing remissions if given in a regimen before and after vitrecomy in BD patients