Impact of anthropogenic activities and natural inputs on oceanographic characteristics of water and geochemistry of surface sediments in different sites along the Egyptian Red Sea Coast

The surface sediments and sea water interactions were studied in five different sites along the Egyptian Red Sea coast. There are commutative and correlative relations between these constituents, therefore, any alterations occur in the sediments and sea water will be directly reflected on the marine environment. Sixty-five sediment samples were collected and also the oceanographic characteristics of surface sea water such as salinity, pH and total dissolved salts (TDS) were measured in situ for the same five localities (El-Hamrawein Harbour, Sharm el Bahari, Abu Dabab, Qola'an and Shalatein). The oceanographic properties of sea water show high salinity (42.55 and 42.59 psu) and total dissolved salts values (31.77 and 31.73 mg/L-1) in both Qola'an and Shalatein, also Abu Dabab and Qala'an areas shows high pH values (8.00 and 8.04) due to the presence of dense sea grass cover. The sediment types generally changes from sand to slightly gravelly sand or muddy sand, also the surface sediments are mainly medium sand, moderately to poorly sorted. Geochemically, the factor controlling the carbonate content of studies sediments includes material supply of biogenic and terrigenous components. Therefore, sediments of El-Hamrawein, Sharm el-Bahari, Abu Dabab and Shalatein areas are terrigenous sediments, while sediments of Qola'an area south Marsa Alam are highly carbonates. In general, organic matter (4.82%) is higher in the sediments relative to adjacent areas due to high contributions of terrestrial materials by wadis and anthropogenic factors.Key words: Grain size, geochemistry, oceanographic, sediments, seawater, Red Sea, Egypt

Automatic Face and Hijab Segmentation Using Convolutional Network

Taking pictures and Selfies are now very common and frequent between people. People are also interested in enhancing pictures using different image processing techniques and sharing them on social media. Accurate image segmentation plays an important role in portrait editing, face beautification, human identification, hairstyle identification, airport Surveillance system and many other computer vision problems. One specific functionality of interest is automatic face and veil segmentation as this allows processing each separately. Manual segmentation can be difficult and annoying especially on smartphones small screen. In this paper, the proposed model uses fully convolutional network (FCN) to make semantic segmentation into skin, veil and background. The proposed model achieved an outperforming result on the dataset which consists of 250 images with global accuracy 92% and mean accuracy 92.69

Sorption Profile of Low Specific Activity 99Mo on Nanoceria-Based Sorbents for the Development of 99mTc Generators: Kinetics, Equilibrium, and Thermodynamic Studies.

99Mo/99mTc generators play a significant role in supplying 99mTc for diagnostic interventions in nuclear medicine. However, the applicability of using low specific activity (LSA) 99Mo asks for sorbents with high sorption capacity. Herein, this study aims to evaluate the sorption behavior of LSA 99Mo towards several CeO2 nano-sorbents developed in our laboratory. These nanomaterials were prepared by wet chemical precipitation (CP) and hydrothermal (HT) approaches. Then, they were characterized using XRD, BET, FE-SEM, and zeta potential measurements. Additionally, we evaluated the sorption profile of carrier-added (CA) 99Mo onto each material under different experimental parameters. These parameters include pH, initial concentration of molybdate solution, contact time, and temperature. Furthermore, the maximum sorption capacities were evaluated. The results reveal that out of the synthesized CeO2 nanoparticles (NPs) materials, the sorption capacity of HT-1 and CP-2 reach 192 ± 10 and 184 ± 12 mg Mo·g-1, respectively. For both materials, the sorption kinetics and isotherm data agree with the Elovich and Freundlich models, respectively. Moreover, the diffusion study demonstrates that the sorption processes can be described by pore diffusion (for HT-synthesis route 1) and film diffusion (for CP-synthesis route 2). Furthermore, the thermodynamic parameters indicate that the Mo sorption onto both materials is a spontaneous and endothermic process. Consequently, it appears that HT-1 and CP-2 have favorable sorption profiles and high sorption capacities for CA-99Mo. Therefore, they are potential candidates for producing a 99Mo/99mTc radionuclide generator by using LSA 99Mo

Synthesis, structure characterization and biological evaluation of new 6,8-dichloro-2-methyl-4H-chromen-4-one derivatives

The typical active methyl functionality of 6,8-dichloro-2-methyl-4H-chromen-4-one is utilized to obtain 2-styrylchromones, pyruvate ester and phthalide via reactions with aromatic carboxaldehydes, diethyl oxalate and phthalic anhydride respectively. The phthalide provides illustrative example to convert a heterocyclic compound to an aliphatic one via the effect of alcoholic sodium methoxide. Bromination and cycloaddition reactions of 2-styrylchromones afford vicinal dibromide and adducts respectively. This work presents to the art a typical example of heterocyclic systems transformations through the conversion of the starting chromone to coumarin under the influence of thionyl chloride followed by aqueous potassium hydroxide. Some heterocyclic systems like pyrazole, isoxazol and quinolinone are obtained from the target chromone by treatment with hydrazines, hydroxylamine hydrochloride and ammonium acetate respectively. Thiation of starting chromone interestingly affords a dithiated product instead of the expected monothiated one. Antibacterial and antifungal activities of some synthesized compounds have been screened

The Ground Improvement Using Cement As A Stabilizer In Different Soil Conditions

Soil stabilization with cement is commonly used to improve the strength and hardness of natural soil formation by adding reinforcing aids such as cement, lime, gypsum and fly ash. It has many applications, such as foundation engineering, providing retaining walls for excavation, liquefaction mitigation, hydraulic retaining walls and environmental remediation. This paper presents a brief history and evaluation of soil stabilization using cement as an effective chemical stabilizer to improve the strength and durability requirements of sandy and sandy soils. lighting. In addition, several previous works regarding the strength of soils after mixing with cement in different ratios are considered, including analytical analysis, laboratory work and current tests. large school. This study will refer to 6 previous studies on cement stability on different soil conditions: sandy soil and clay soil. The study will analyze the results of unreinforced compressive strength for sandy and clayey soils at the hardening time of 28 days. The results indicate that cement as a stabilizer is effective in improving both soft and sandy clay soils, and based on the results of the unreinforced compression test, it is more effective on sandy soils than on clay soils

Synthesis and reactions of (Z)-2-imino-5-(3,4,5-trimethoxy benzylidene)thiazolidin-4(H)one

5-Arylmethylene-2-imino-4-oxo-2-thiazolidine 3 was obtained as the sole product from the reaction of α-cyano-3,4,5-trimethoxy cinnamonitrile and/or ethyl-α-cyano-3,4,5-trimethoxy cinnamate (1a,b) with 2-imino-4-oxo-2-thiazolidine 2. The reaction of 3 with benzyl amine gave the imidazolidin-4(H)one derivative 4 while with hydrazine hydrate afforded the dimeric product 5. Also, reaction of thiazolidinone derivative 3 with piperidine gave thiazol-4(5H)one derivative 6 which on treatment with Grignard reagent and active methylene compounds afforded thiazolidin-4-one derivatives 7-9, respectively. Compound 6 was converted to the potassium salt 10 which treated with acetic acid, ethyl chloroacetate and furoyl chloride to give the compounds 11-13, respectively. The structures of all new compounds were evidenced by microanalytical data and spectral data

Proposed Strategies to Improve Adult Asthma Management in Egypt: Expert Review and Recommendations

Background: Several challenges face asthma management in Egypt, including the high percentage of uncontrolled patients, inadequate compliance, and overuse of short-acting beta-agonists (SABAs) leading to increased asthma-related morbidity and mortality. In this regard, the recent Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA) recommendations included inhaled corticosteroids containing therapy for mild asthma. Local healthcare systems and healthcare professionals (HCPs) often experience practical challenges when implementing global guidelines. Objective: The present expert review aims to outline the development of local guidelines and health policies that integrate global advances in asthma management while addressing unmet needs and challenges in Egypt. Methods: A steering committee of health policymakers and respiratory experts from the principal healthcare sectors in Egypt came together in March 2021 to develop a consent and national guideline for local asthma management, codifying the current challenges and the required elements for adequate control. The recommendations were either evidence-based or consensus-based from the clinical expertise and perspectives of the committee. Results: The committee identified vital challenges facing all chronic airway diseases with initial focus on asthma management in Egypt in diagnosis, data collection, policymaking, patients’ awareness, and physicians’ attitudes. In general, the committee stated that globally adapted management protocols necessitate addressing from diverse perspectives through policymakers, HCPs, and patients. Accordingly, it is vital to provide relevant education for the patient and HCPs. The recommendations emphasize key elements concerning baseline assessment, diagnosis, treatment strategy with regular review of patient progress, and compliance toward the introduced reforms. Conclusions: Full integration of these recommendations into local practice allows physicians to sustain adequate management while reducing preventable exacerbations and unnecessary burdens. The proposed strategies outline efficient patient-centered management that approaches asthma as an inflflammatory condition, encouraging health promotion and patients’ compliance

Facile synthesis of new fused and non-fused heterocyclic systems from a γ-ketoacid

The chemical reactivity of 4-(2-tetryl)-4-oxobut-2-enoic acid towards carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, sulfur nucleophiles and binucleophiles namely o-phenylenediamine, o-aminophenol, and o-aminothiophenol has been studied. The investigated nucleophilic reactions result in the formation of heterocyclic compounds with fused and non-fused systems namely, pyridazinone, tetrhydroquinoline, quinoxalone, oxazinone, thiazole and benzocoumarin