Basic Science Sector

We are interested in rainfall events prediction by applying rule-based reasoning and fuzzy logic. Five parameters: relative humidity, total cloud cover, wind direction, temperature and surface pressure are the input variables for our model, each has three membership functions. The data used is twenty years METAR data for Cairo airport station (HECA) [1972–1992] 30° 3′ 29″ N, 31° 13′ 44″ E. and five years METAR data for Mersa Matruh station (HEMM) 31° 20′ 0″ N, 27° 13′ 0″ E. Different models for each station were constructed depending on the available data sets. Among the overall 243 possibilities we have based our models on one hundred eighteen fuzzy IF–THEN rules and fuzzy reasoning. The output variable which has four membership functions, takes values from zero to one hundred corresponding to the percentage for rainfall events given for every hourly data. We used two skill scores to verify our results, the Brier score and the Friction score. The results are in high agreements with the recorded data for the stations with increasing in output values towards the real time rain events. All implementation are done with MATLAB 7.9.

The present paper investigates the relationship between geopotential height anomalies at level of 500 hpa over North America and Europe, and the USA landfall Atlantic hurricanes activity. The decadal data of the number of hurricanes by category which stroked the mainland USA for each decade through the period (1851-2006) are used through the present study. The daily NCEP/NCAR reanalysis data composites for geopotential height at 500 hpa level over North America and Europe for the period of (1949-2006) are used too. Hurricane datasets and anomalies in geopotential height are analyzed and correlated together. The results revealed that there are significant positive correlations between the anomalies in geopotential height over North America and East Europe simultaneously, and existence of Atlantic hurricanes of category 3 that strike USA. In addition to that, significant positive correlations between the anomalies in geopotential height over North America and existence of major hurricanes (category 3, 4 and5) that landfall USA is found too. However, significant negative correlations between the anomalies in geopotential height over North Atlantic and existence of all USA Landfall Atlantic Hurricane categories are existed else category 1. In general one can conclude that anomalies in geopotential height at 500 hpa level over North America and Europe are control the USA landfall Atlantic hurricanes activity.[Yehia Hafez. Relationship Between Geopotential Height Anomalies Over North America and Europe and The USA Landfall Atlantic Hurricanes Activity.

Gold nanoparticles (GNPs) have found themselves useful for diagnostic, drug delivery and biomedicine applications, but one of the important concerns is about their safety in clinical applications. Nanoparticle size has been shown to be an extremely important parameter affecting the nanoparticle uptake and cellular internalization.
The rheological properties assume to be very important as it affects the pressure drop and hence the pumping power when nano-fluids are circulated in a closed loop. The rheological and dielectric properties have not been documented and identified before. The aim of the present study was to investigate the rheology and the dielectric properties of different GNPs sizes in aqueous solution.
Methods: 10, 20 and 50 nm GNPs (Product MKN-Au, CANADA) was used in this study. The rheological parameters were viscosity, torque, shear stress, shear rate, plastic viscosity, yield stress, consistency index, and activation energy. These rheological parameters were measured using Brookfield LVDV-III Programmable rheometer supplied with temperature bath and controlled by a computer.
The shear stress and shear rate of GNPs have shown a linear relationship and GNPs exhibited Newtonian behaviour. The GNPs with larger particle size (50 nm) exhibited more viscosity than those with smaller particle sizes (10 and 20 nm). Viscosity decreased with increasing the temperature for all the examined GNP sizes. The flow behaviour index (n) values were nearly ≤ 1 for all examined GNP sizes.
Dielectric data indicated that the GNPs have strong dielectric dispersion in the frequency range of 20-100 kHz. The conductivity and relaxation time decreased with increasing the GNP size. This study indicates that the GNP size has considerable influence on the viscosity of GNPs. The strong dielectric dispersion was GNP size dependent.
The decrease in relaxation time might be attributed to increase in the localized charges distribution within the medium confirmed by the conductivity data. This study suggests that further experiments are required to be done after the administration of GNPs through different routes in rats in vivo.
Keywords: Gold nanoparticles; Rheological parameters; Size; Temperature; Dielectric; Conductivity.

A case-control study aimed to determine the prevalence of C282Y, H63D and S65C mutations of the HFE gene in beta-thalassaemia carriers and investigate their influence on iron absorption. A total of 41 beta-thalassaemia carriers and 40 control subjects without haemoglobinopathies were screened for the C282Y, H63D and S65C mutations by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment-length polymorphism. The iron status in these subjects was studied and correlated with the HFE gene mutations. H63D, S65C and C282Y allele frequencies were 30.5%, 13.4% and 7.3% respectively in beta-thalassaemia carriers and 10.0%, 2.5% and 0.0% respectively in the control group. Compound heterozygosis was found in 10 carriers (24.4%). The transferrin saturation level was high in compound heterozygote cases. Our study has shown that the HFEgene mutations are common in Egypt among beta-thalassaemia carriers compared with normal controls.

Water buffaloes (Bubalus bubalis) are intermediate hosts for 4 species of Sarcocystis, i.e., Sarcocystis fusiformis and Sarcocystis buffalonis with cats as definitive hosts; Sarcocystis levinei with dogs as definitive hosts; and Sarcocystis dubeyi with an unknown definitive host but thought to be zoonotic. Currently, the latter species has been identified with certainty only from Vietnam. In the present study, sarcocysts of S. dubeyi are reported in 11 (30%) of 35 Egyptian water buffaloes from which the esophageal muscles were examined histologically. Sarcocysts were microscopic, measuring 180-250 X 70-110 urn in size. Ultrastructurally, the sarcocyst wall was 3.5-6.5 urn thick and had palisade-like villar protrusions which give it a striated appearance. The villar protrusions contained micro tubules that were distributed along the whole villus. This is the first report of S. dubeyi from water buffaloes in Egypt.

The biological activity of the natural antioxidant vitamin C can be enhanced by the presence of some other active natural antioxidants, such as gallic and tannic acid. Since many of these natural antioxidants are consumed sometimes together in foods, the potency for synergistic interactions is high in the human diet.

The biological activity of the natural antioxidant vitamin C can be enhanced by the presence of some other active natural antioxidants, such as gallic and tannic acid. Since many of these natural antioxidants are consumed together in foods, the potency for synergistic interactions is high in the human diet. In the current study, the hepatoprotective activity of the natural antioxidants against CCl4- induced acute hepatic injury by using rats (male albino) was investigated.

In a screening program to study the antimicrobial activities of desert actinomycetes as potential producers of active metabolites, 75 actinomycete strains were isolated from the Egyptian desert habitats , and tested. Out of the isolated 75 organisms, 32 (42.67%) showed activity against the used test organisms. The antimicrobial activities of the active desert actinomycete strains were classified into four groups according to their spectrum of activity on different groups of test organisms and it was found that 43.75% of the active isolates have activity against Gram-positive bacteria only, 28.13% have activity against both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria, 15.63% have activity against Gram-positive bacteria and yeast, 12.50% have activity against Gram-positive, Gram-negative bacteria and yeast. The most potent actinomycete strain, designated D332, was selected for further studies including its identification and isolation of its active compound. Strain D332 was identified by studying its morphology, chemotaxonomy, biochemical characteristics and phylogenetic analysis of the 16S rRNA gene sequence. All phenotypic and genotypic characteristics were consistent with the classification of strain D332 to genus Streptomyces where it formed a distinct phyletic line in the Streptomyces 16S rRNA gene tree. On the other hand, the culture broth of strain D332 was extracted with ethyl acetate after fermentation for the production of the active compound then, the crude extract was partially purified by thin layer chromatography using a solvent system composed of heptane: ethyl acetate (3:2). The results revealed that strain D332 produced one major compound active against Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria and yeasts.

A search for three-jet hadronic resonance production in pp collisions at a center-of-mass energy of7 TeV has been conducted by the CMS Collaboration at the LHC, using a data sample corresponding to anintegrated luminosity of 35 pb_1. Events with high jet multiplicity and a large scalar sum of jet transversemomenta are analyzed using a signature-based approach. The number of expected standard modelbackground events is found to be in good agreement with the observed events. Limits on the crosssection times branching ratio are set in a model of gluino pair production with an R-parity-violating decayto three quarks, and the data rule out such particles within the mass range of 200 to 280 GeV=c2.

This experiment was conducted during the four seasons: Spring, summer, autumn and winter of two successive annual cycles; 2008/2009 and 2009/2010 (starting from May 2008). Four Eucalyptus species were under investigation; Eucalyptus camaldulensis Dehnh., Eucalyptus cinerea F. Muell. ex Bentham, Eucalyptus citriodora Hook. and Eucalyptus globulus Labill. Seasonal variations in the amount of fixed and volatile oils in Eucalyptus spp. matured leaves were investigated.

In this article, the homotopy analysis method (HAM) for obtaining semi analytical solutions of biharmonicequations is introduced. Series solutions of the problem under consideration are developed by meansof HAM and the recurrence relations are given explicitly. The initial approximation can be freely chosen withpossible unknown constants which can be determined by imposing the boundary and initial conditions. Thenumerical examples show the rapid convergence of the series constructed by this method to the exact solution.Moreover, this technique does not require any discretization, linearization or small perturbations. Test problemshave been considered to ensure that HAM is accurate and efficient compared with the variational iterationmethod (VIM).

Background: The statins (or HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors) formed a class of hypolipidemic drugs used to lower cholesterol levels in people with or at risk of cardiovascular disease. They lower cholesterol by inhibiting the enzyme HMG-CoA reductase, which is the rate-limiting enzyme of the mevalonate pathway of chloestrol synethesis. The context and purpose: Simple, sensitive and rapid extractive spectrophotometric method has been developed for the assay of statin drugs, simvastatin, pravastatin sodium and atorvastatin calcium, in pure form and in tablets. The method involves the formation of coloured ion-pairs between the drugs and the Mo(V)-thiocyanate

Toxoplasma gondii and Bartonella spp. are zoonotic pathogens of cats. Feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) and feline leukemia virus (Fel.v) are related to human immunodeficiency virus and human leukemia virus, respectively, and these viruses are immunosuppressive. In the present study, the prevalence of antibodies to T. gondii, Bartonella spp., FIV, as well as Fel,v and Dirofilaria immitis antigens was determined in sera from feral cats tFelis catusi from Cairo, Egypt. Using a modified agglutination test, antibodies to T. gondii were found in 172 (95.5%) of the 180 cats with titers of]:5 in 9, 1:10 in 9, I :20 in 3, 1:40 in 5, ]:80 in 5, I: 160 in 15, I :320 in 22, and] :640 or higher in 104. Thus, 57.4% had high T. gondii titers. Antibodies to Bartonella spp. were found in 105 (59.6%) of 178, with titers of 1:64 in 45, 1:128 in 39,1:256 in 13, 1:512 in 3,1:1,024 in 4, and 1:2,048 in I cat. Antibodies to FIV were detected in 59 (33.9%) of 174 cats. Of 174 cats tested, antigens to FeLv, and D. immitis were detected in 8 (4.6%) and 6 (3.4%) cats, respectively. The results indicate a high prevalence of T. gondii, Bartonella spp .. and FlV infections in cats from Cairo, Egypt. This is the first report or Bartonella spp., and D. immitis infection in cats in Egypt.

Serum taurine levels were measured in fifty women selected from a wide number of patients presented with irregular uterine bleeding (IUB) to the outpatient clinic of the Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital, Ain Shams University. No significant differences in age and menopausal status were found. The control group comprised ten healthy women that enrolled as volunteers. According to the findings observed after full clinical examination, ultrasonography, endometrial biopsy or fractional uterine curetting and tumor marker (CA-125) determination, 15 women were diagnosed with endometrial cancer (EC), 10 with cystic endometrial hyperplasia (CEH), 15 with fibromyoma, and 10 women were diagnosed as dysfunctional uterine bleeding (DUB). The results showed non-significant (P > 0.05) changes in the levels of CA-125 in all patients except in the cancer group where it exhibited a value nearly double that of normal (P < 0.01). Serum taurine levels exhibited values lower than control with 8 %, 14 %, 32 % and 56 % in the serum of patients diagnosed as DUB (P > 0.05), fibromyoma (P > 0.05), CEH (P < 0.01) and EC (P < 0.01) respectively.

The volume of shale calculation based on naturally occurring gamma ray frequently overestimates shale volume when radioactive material other than shale is present, for example where sand appears to be shale. In this situation, shale volume calculations from other methods are highly recommended in order to avoid overestimation or underestimation of shale volume.

Chitosan with different molecular masses was reacted with sodium tripolyphosphate (STPP) to prepare different size nanoparticles, in which vitamin C was encapsulated. The effect of molecular weight (Mw) on nanoparticles efficiency, nanoparticles yield, size, and zeta potential was investigated in detail.

Ethyl2-amino-4,5,6,7-tetrahydrobenzo [b] thiophene-3 carboxylate 1 was used as a starting material to synthesize 2a-c via coupling with acetyl acetone, ethylcyanoacetate or malononitrile,respectively.Heating under reflux in sodium ethoxide solution 2a-c gave 3a-c. When compounds 3a-c were heated under reflux in ethanol with hydrazine hydrate, thiourea or 1,2-diaminoethane and a catalytic amount of piperidine to produce the spiro compounds 4a-c, 5a-c and 6,respectively.

An improved green Knoevenagel condensation of various aromatic aldehydes with 4-thiazolidinones in thepresence of anhydrous ammonium acetate can be achieved by grinding at room temperature in the absence of solvents. This process is simple, efficient, economical, and environmentally benign compared to classicalreactions.

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In a continuation of our earlier work, a multiresidual analytical method using 48 frequently used neutral pesticides in a water matrix was developed and validated in this study. The samples were extracted with dichloromethane and the pesticides were analyzed via GC-NPD followed by confirmation with GC-MS. Good linearity was detected over a concentration range of 0.01-1.0 microg/mL with correlation coefficients (r(2) ) in excess of 0.982. The recoveries were measured between 70.7 and 111.4% for the majority of the targeted pesticides with relative standard deviations (RSDs) of less than 20%. The LODs and LOQs were in ranges of 0.1-2 and 0.33-6.6 microg/L, respectively. A total of 66 water samples were collected from different locations in Yeongsan and the Sumjin River, Republic of Korea, and were analyzed in accordance with the developed method. None of the water samples were determined to contain any of the targeted pesticides. The method has been shown to be simpler, faster, and more cost-effective than the method established by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).