Impact of SLR on Beach-Tourism Resort Revenue at Sahl Hasheesh and Makadi Bay, Red Sea, Egypt; A Hedonic Pricing Approach

Coastal erosion and inundation represent the main impacts of climate change and the consequential sea level rise (SLR) on beaches. The resultant deterioration of coastal habitats and decline in beach tourism revenue has been a primary concern for coastal managers and researchers. Nevertheless, the extent of SLR on beach tourism in Egypt remains relatively unknown. Therefore, this study investigates the relationship between beach width shrinkage due to SLR and the loss in tourist resort revenue. We use the hedonic pricing approach, which combines economic and environmental variables, to determine the environmental impact on beach tourism along 14 km of the coast of Sahl Hasheesh and Makadi Bay, Hurghada, Egypt. The resort revenue depends on the cumulative benefits from the market price of the resort rooms, which is a function of morphological variables and tourism variables. Three regression models (semi-log, double-log, and custom-log) were used to select the most appropriate functional hedonic model. Three coastal slopes were considered (0.03, 0.06, and 0.12) to address the uncertainty in beach width. When 0.06 coastal slope is used, the expected losses in revenue are 84,000, 220,000, and 546,000 USD/day period (representing 3%, 7%, and 18%) for 2030, 2050, and 2100, respectively, considering the lowest scenario representative concentration pathway (RCP2.6); for the worst case (RCP8.5 SLR), the expected losses are 142,000, 369,000, and 897,000 USD/day period (representing 5%, 12%, and 30%) for 2030, 2050, and 2100, respectively

Recycling of Egyptian Shammi Corn Stalks for Maintaining Sustainable Cement Industry: Scoring on Sustainable Development Goals

This study focuses on recycling Shammi corn stalks in the cement industries, further avoiding air and soil pollution caused by their improper disposal. This crop residue was thermally treated at 700 °C for 2 h under an oxygen-rich environment to produce Shammi corn stalk ash (SCSA). This SCSA was used as a cement replacement material (2–10%, w/w), whereas the control sample included only cement. The compressive strength values for the 4% (w/w) replacement ratio at 2-, 7-, and 28-day ages were greater than those for the control by 26.5%, 15.8%, and 11.4%, respectively. This 4% (w/w) also maintained a better flexural strength than other mixtures, with proper initial and final setting times (135 and 190 min), workability (18.5 cm), and water consistency (27.5%). These mechanical/physical properties were integrated with socio-enviro-economic data collected from experts through a pairwise comparison questionnaire, forming the inputs of a multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) model. Recycling SCSA in the cement-manufacturing process attained positive scores in the achievement of the three pillars of sustainable development, revealing an overall score greater than the control. Hence, the study outcomes could be essential in developing green concrete, cement blocks, and mortar, based on the sustainable development goals (SDGs) agenda

The Effect of Applying Exogenous Salicylic Acid on Aphid Infection and its Influence on Histo-Physiological Traits and Thermal Imaging of Canola

Insect damage in canola adversely affects its productivity and quality and is considered one of the most important degrading factors in Egypt. The effect of foliar application of salicylic acid (SA) on aphid populations, growth and yield of canola (Brassica napus, L.) cv. serw 4 was the major goal of this study. Two experiments were conducted at the farm of Faculty of Agriculture, Suez Canal University, Ismailia, Egypt, during 2014 and 2015 seasons, to achieve this target. Each experiment included four levels of SA (0, 50, 100, 200 mg l-1). The experimental results revealed that SA, at low concentration (50 mg l-1), was an effective treatment for reduction the number of aphid populations and colony depth on the main inflorescence, contributed with reducing the thickness of secretory tissue of flower pedicel. The level of 50 mg l-1 of SA-treated canola had the highest number of stomata cm-2, along with the lowest width of both stoma and its aperture. Thickness of xylem tissue and the number of xylem vessels bundle-1 in leaf midrib, reducing sugars and free amino acids was increased at 50 mg l-1 SA, but free phenolics content did not affected significantly. Under controlled conditions, changes in temperature of infected leaves allowed the discrimination between healthy and infected areas in thermo-image, even before visible symptoms of aphid infestation appeared. The detection of modifications in plants or canopies, associated with low insect severity in the early stages of infestation, was crucial for the targeted, site-specific or on demand application of integrated aphid control. Canola, which was treated with 50 mg l-1 of SA, gave 30.5 and 27.9 kg of oil ha-1 over the control. It was concluded that spraying of SA at 50 mg l-1 was an effective elicitor to diminish the aphid numbers on canola inflorescence and improve its yield

Pancreatic surgery outcomes: multicentre prospective snapshot study in 67 countries

Background: Pancreatic surgery remains associated with high morbidity rates. Although postoperative mortality appears to have improved with specialization, the outcomes reported in the literature reflect the activity of highly specialized centres. The aim of this study was to evaluate the outcomes following pancreatic surgery worldwide.Methods: This was an international, prospective, multicentre, cross-sectional snapshot study of consecutive patients undergoing pancreatic operations worldwide in a 3-month interval in 2021. The primary outcome was postoperative mortality within 90 days of surgery. Multivariable logistic regression was used to explore relationships with Human Development Index (HDI) and other parameters.Results: A total of 4223 patients from 67 countries were analysed. A complication of any severity was detected in 68.7 percent of patients (2901 of 4223). Major complication rates (Clavien-Dindo grade at least IIIa) were 24, 18, and 27 percent, and mortality rates were 10, 5, and 5 per cent in low-to-middle-, high-, and very high-HDI countries respectively. The 90-day postoperative mortality rate was 5.4 per cent (229 of 4223) overall, but was significantly higher in the low-to-middle-HDI group (adjusted OR 2.88, 95 per cent c.i. 1.80 to 4.48). The overall failure-to-rescue rate was 21 percent; however, it was 41 per cent in low-to-middle-compared with 19 per cent in very high-HDI countries.Conclusion: Excess mortality in low-to-middle-HDI countries could be attributable to failure to rescue of patients from severe complications. The authors call for a collaborative response from international and regional associations of pancreatic surgeons to address management related to death from postoperative complications to tackle the global disparities in the outcomes of pancreatic surgery (NCT04652271; ISRCTN95140761)