Agricultural land expansion is a solution to address global food security challenges in the context of climate change. However, the sustainability of expansion in arid countries is difficult because of scarce surface water resources, groundwater salinity, and the health of salt-affected soil. Developing expansion and sustainability plans for agriculture requires systems thinking, considering the complex feedback interactions between saline groundwater, salt-affected soil, plant growth, freshwater mixing with saline groundwater, irrigation systems, and the application of soil amendments to

Diabetes is a common chronic metabolic disease with a wide range of clinical symptoms and consequences and one of the main causes of death. For the management of diabetes, painless and continuous interstitial fluid (ISF) glucose monitoring is ideal. Here, we demonstrate continuous diabetes monitoring using an integrated microneedle (MN) biosensor with an emergency alert system. MNs are a novel technique in the field of biomedical engineering because of their ability to analyze bioinformation with minimal invasion. In this work we developed a poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) based MN glucose

The original article contains an error. Abstract has been removed during processing. This is now added here. Background Tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinases (TIMPs) are essential for controlling the dynamics of the extracellular matrix. Although their role in vascular diseases like as atherosclerosis and plaque development has been widely researched, the specific patterns of their expression and their functional significance inside Randall plaque tissues, a distinct vascular pathology linked to nephrolithiasis, have not been well investigated. Objectives The objective of this work was to

Multi-slice short-axis acquisitions of the left ventricle are fundamental for estimating the volume and mass of the left ventricle in cardiac MRI scans. Manual segmentation of the myocardium in all time frames per each cross-section is a cumbersome task. Therefore, automatic myocardium segmentation methods are essential for cardiac functional analysis. Region growing has been proposed to segment the myocardium. Although the technique is simple and fast, non uniform intensity and low-contrast interfaces of the myocardium are major challenges of the technique that limit its use in myocardial

The return-risk trade-off of the 100 stocks contained in the Egyptian EGX100 index is examined. The Egyptian stock market has an average free float of only 45%. It is estimated that 50% of trading in the free float stocks is dominated by large investors, and local and international fund managers. The market suffers from low turnovers and more recently long periods of trade suspension after the political unrest of January 25th, 2011. The study finds that a serial correlated returns model is more suitable to estimate returns for low free float stocks in Egypt. However, it is unlikely that this

The use of biodegradable materials for shopping bag production, and other products made from plastics, has recently been an object of intense research-with the aim of reducing the environmental burdens given by conventional materials. Chitosan is a potential material because of its biocompatibility, degradability, and non-toxicity. It is a semi-natural biopolymeric material produced by the deacetylation of chitin, which is the second most abundant natural biopolymer (after cellulose). Chitin is found in the exoskeleton of insects, marine crustaceans, and the cell walls of certain fungi and

With recently increasing the environmental problems and expected energy crisis, it is necessary to synthesis a low-cost, efficient, and UV-light responsive photocatalyst for contaminants’ degradation. The nanostructured spinel ferrite Mn0.5Zn0.5-xMgxFe2O4 NPs (x = 0.0, 0.125, 0.25, 0.375 and 0.50) were synthesized via the sol-gel method. The crystallite size was lied in nano regime ranging from 21.8 to 36.5 nm. The surface chemical composition of the Mn0.5Zn0.5-xMgxFe2O4 NPs was investigated via XPS analysis. Mossbauer spectra showed that the peaks were shifted to higher values of the maximum

The problem of hazardous wastewater remediation is a complicated issue and a global challenge. Herein, a layered Co0.5Ni0.5Fe2O4/SiO2/TiO2 composite matrix was prepared and incorporated with three carbon nanomaterials having different dimensionalities, carbon dots (C-dots, 0D), single-walled carbon nanotubes (1D), and reduced graphene oxide (2D), in an effort to create effective photocatalytic nanocomposites for chloramine-T removal from water. Microstructural analyses confirmed the formation of nanocomposites and revealed their chemistry and structure. Elemental mapping revealed a uniform

Once the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the COVID-19 outbreak to be pandemic, massive efforts have been launched by researchers around the globe to combat this emerging infectious disease. Here we review the most recent data on the novel SARS-CoV-2 pathogen. We analyzed its etiology, pathogenesis, diagnosis, prevention, and current medications. After that, we summarized the promising drug delivery application of nanomaterial-based systems. Their preparation routes, unique advantages over the traditional drug delivery routes and their toxicity though risk analysis were also covered

Agriculture systems in developing countries have been characterized by a low technology level. The principal reasons are the high cost of technologies and the difficulties to integrate the systems with the dynamics of the current business world. However, these kinds of systems have been gaining importance, mainly, for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. This sector is relevant mainly in three specific goals: Zero hunger (goal 2), Clean water and sanitation (Goal 6) and Life on land (Goal 15). An alternative to advance this purpose is the implementation of Logistics 4.0 technologies