Ashraf Abu-Seida

Flunitrazepam is one of the frequently used hypnotic drugs to incapacitate victims for sexual assault. Appropriate diagnostic tools should be available to victims regarding the growing concern about “date-rape drugs” and their adverse impact on society. Miniaturized screen-printed potentiometric sensors offer crucial point-of-care devices that alleviate this serious problem. In this study, all solid-state screen-printed potentiometric flunitrazepam sensors have been designed. The paper device was printed with silver and carbon ink. Formation of an aqueous layer in the interface between carbon-conducting material and ion-sensing membrane nevertheless poses low reproducibility in the solid-contact electrodes. Accordingly, poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDT) nano-dispersion was applied as a conducting hydrophobic polymer on the electrode surface to curb water accumulation. Conditioning of ion-sensing membrane in the vicinity of reference membrane has been considered carefully using special protocol. Electrochemical characteristics of the proposed PEDT-based sensor were calculated and compared favorably to PEDT-free one. The miniaturized device was successfully used for the determination of flunitrazepam in carbonated soft drinks, energy drink, and malt beverage. Statistical comparison between the proposed sensor and official method revealed no significant difference. Nevertheless, the proposed sensor provides simple and user-friendly diagnostic tool with less equipment for on-site determination of flunitrazepam.

Abstract Objective The objective of this randomized controlled trial was to evaluate the radiographic changes and histologic healing following alveolar ridge preservation (ARP) using autogenous whole tooth (AWTG), test group versus demineralised dentin (ADDG), control group. Material and methods 20 non-molar teeth indicated for extraction were randomized into two groups (n=10/group). Extracted teeth were prepared into AWTG or ADDG (0.6N HCl; 30 minutes), inserted into extraction sockets and covered by collagen membranes. Cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) scans at baseline and six months were compared to assess ridge dimensional changes. At six months, bone biopsies of engrafted sites were harvested and analyzed histomorphometrically. Results All sites healed uneventfully. Reduction was 0.85±0.38mm and 1.02±0.45mm in ridge width, 0.61±0.20mm and 0.72±0.27mm in buccal and 0.66±0.31mm and 0.56±0.24mm in lingual ridge height for the AWTG- and ADDG-group respectively (p>0.05). Histologically, no inflammatory reactions were noticeable and all samples showed new bone formation. Qualitatively, graft-bone amalgamations were more pronounced in ADDG samples. Histomorphometrically, new bone, graft remnants and soft tissue occupied 37.55±8.94%, 17.05±5.58% and 45.4±4.06% of the areas in the AWTG-group, and 48.4±11.56%, 11.45±4.13% and 40.15±7.73% in the ADDG-group of the examined areas respectively (p>0.05). Conclusions ATWG and ADDG are similarly effective in ARP. Yet, histologically ADDG seems to demonstrate better graft remodeling, integration and osteoinductive properties.

Drought stress is seriously affecting maize production. To investigate the influence of calcium (Ca) foliar application on maize production and chemical composition of grains under drought stress, two experiments were carried out at Cairo University Research Station, Giza, Egypt, during the summer seasons of 2018 and 2019. The experimental design was split-split plot design with a completely randomized blocks arrangement with three replications. Water regimes were assigned to the main plots [100 (control), 75, and 50% of estimated evapotranspiration]. Calcium levels (zero and 50 mg/L) were assigned to the sub plots. Maize cultivars (SC-P3444, Sammaz-35 and EVDT) were assigned to the sub-sub plots. Three maize cultivars were sprayed with Ca solution concentration (50 mg/L) under normal and drought conditions. The control treatment (0 mg/L) was sprayed with an equal amount of distilled water for comparison. Results indicated a significant decrease in total yield and grain characteristics [protein, ash, total sugars, nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), potassium (K), and iron (Fe) contents] as a response of drought. Calcium foliar application significantly increased maize yield, protein, ash, carbohydrates, starch, total sugars, and ionic contents of grains, except for manganese (Mn), under all irrigation levels. Based on the drought tolerance index (DTI), only cultivar SC-P3444 showed drought tolerance while cultivars Sammaz-35 and EVDT were sensitive to drought stress. Foliar application of Ca on SC-P3444 cultivar achieved the highest grain yield per hectare (8061 kg) under the water regime of 100% of the total evapotranspiration, followed by Sammaz-35 (7570 kg), and EVDT (7191 kg) cultivars. At the water regime of 75% of estimated evapotranspiration (75% irrigation), Ca foliar application increased grain yield by 16, 13 and 14% in SC-P3444, Sammaz-35, and EVDT, respectively. At the water regime of 50% of the estimated evapotranspiration (50% irrigation), Ca foliar application increased grain yield by 17, 16, and 13% in SC-P3444, Sammaz-35, and EVDT, respectively. In brief, Ca had a clear impact on productivity and grain quality with important implications for maize yield under normal and water stress conditions. Our findings demonstrate that foliar application of Ca enabled drought stressed maize plants to survive better under stress. The most water stress tolerant cultivar was SC-P3444 followed by Sammaz-35 and EVDT under drought stress.

Background:This study aims at describing the therapeutic outcome of patients carrying the R92Q variant in the TNFRSF1A gene treated with anakinra (ANA) or canakinumab (CAN) and identifying any factors predictive of complete response to IL-1 inhibition.Methods:Clinical data of patients treated with ANA or CAN for recurrent inflammatory attacks due to the presence of the R92Q variant were retrospectively collected and analysed.Results:Data about 20 treatment courses with IL-1 inhibitors (16 with ANA and 4 with CAN) from 19 patients were collected. Mean age at disease onset was 20.2?±?14.8 years. In 5 cases (26%) the R92Q variant was found in a family member affected by recurrent fever. The therapeutic response was complete in 13(68%) and partial in 2 patients (11%); treatment failure was observed in 4 cases (21%). Median AIDAI decreased from 10 (interquartile range [IQR]?=?28) to 0 (IQR?=?1) at the 12-month follow-up visit (p?<?0.001). Mean ESR and median CRP dropped respectively from 40.8?±?24.8 to 9.1?±?4.5 mm/h (p?<?0.001) and from 3.0 (IQR?=?1.9) to 0.3 (IQR?=?0.3) mg/dl (p?<?0.001) after 12 months of treatment. A steroid-sparing effect was observed from the third month of treatment (p?<?0.01). Thirteen patients (65%) were still on treatment at the last follow-up visit (median duration of treatment 17 (IQR?=?38) months). The presence of R92Q mutation in a symptomatic relative (p?=?0.022), the relapsing remitting disease course (p?<?0.001) and the presence of migratory erythematous skin rashes during fever attacks (p?=?0.005) were associated with complete efficacy of IL-1 inhibitors.Conclusions:R92Q patients showed a favourable response to ANA and CAN, particularly when the mutation segregated in a family member and when a relapsing-remitting disease course or TNF-α receptor-associated periodic syndrome (TRAPS) typical skin rash were observed. In the subgroup of patients not taking advantage of IL-1 blockage different molecular mechanisms underlying the autoinflammatory picture are likely to exist.

Introduction Previous studies recognise insufficient time as an obstacle to pharmacists expanding their clinical-based activities and services. For such a reason, the role of well-trained ward-based clinical pharmacy technicians (CPTs) is to work as an integral part of the pharmacy team to achieve the best patient outcomes and medicines optimisation, releasing pharmacist time to complete more complex clinical-related activities. Objective To demonstrate quantitatively the range and extent of daily activities undertaken by CPTs during a patient's hospital journey. Method A prospective-based study has been designed. All daily working services and activities undertaken by ward-based CPTs within a 450-bed Acute District General hospital were quantitatively collected and documented. Data were collected from five medical, two surgical and one cardiology wards of 30 beds in each over a period of 2 weeks for each ward representing a total of 70 working days (14 weeks, excluding weekends). Results Results showed the breakdown of seven different ward-based activities throughout a typical working day with the main working load being reviews of the patients' medication charts in order to supply new medicines and refer medicines-related issues to the ward pharmacist, with an average number reviewed of (23.17±0.85) representing 77.23% of the total patients in a 30-bed ward. The CPTs' highest workload was on Mondays and Fridays, mainly during the morning working hours (09:00-12:00). Also, statistically significant differences (p<0.05; Kruskal-Wallis test) existed between the workload of the three different ward specialties (medical, surgical and cardiology) in five clinical activities out of seven undertaken by CPT per day. Conclusion CPTs are completing more than seven different ward pharmacy-related activities which enhance medicines optimisation, medicines management and patient care. They are a valuable resource carrying out many roles which were previously completed by junior pharmacists. Their prioritising of patients for review ensures pharmacists focus their efforts on the most vulnerable patients. © European Association of Hospital Pharmacists 2021. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.

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Leishmaniasis is a major vector-borne disease triggered by an obligate intracellular protozoan parasite of the genus Leishmania and transmitted by the bite of phlebotomine female sand flies. This parasite causes a wide range of human diseases, from localized self-healing cutaneous lesions to fatal visceral infections. The aim of this study was to investigate the cytotoxic, antiproliferative, and apoptotic effects of curcumin on Leishmania major promastigotes (MHOM/SA/84/JISH) and to assess these effects on the cell cycle of promastigotes. The MTT colorimetric assay was used to evaluate the cytotoxicity and proliferation of promastigotes. Additionally, flow cytometry was used to analyze the cell cycle. The Annexin V/propidium iodide staining technique followed by flow cytometry was used to study the cell death induced by curcumin. In this study curcumin showed a potent antileishmanial effect, exhibiting cytotoxicity against L. major promastigotes. At 80μM, the survival in curcumin treated promastigotes reached 22%; however, the median lethal concentration of curcumin (LC50) was 35μM. The drug exerted its cytotoxic effect by inducing apoptosis. Curcumin-induced cell death in promastigotes reached 82.5% at 80μM concentration. In addition, curcumin delayed the cell cycle in the S-phase inhibiting cell proliferation. Thus, curcumin was shown to be effective against L. major promastigotes. Therefore, curcumin merits further research studies to demonstrate its efficacy in treating cutaneous leishmaniasis.Resumen
La leishmaniasis es una enfermedad vectorial significativa, obligadamente desencadenada por un protozoo intramacrófago del género Leishmania, que se transmite por la picadura de mosquitos flebótomos hembra. Esta especie parasitaria causa una gran variedad de enfermedades humanas: desde lesiones cutáneas localizadas autocurables hasta infecciones viscerales mortales. El objetivo de este estudio fue investigar los efectos citotóxicos, antiproliferativos y apoptóticos de la curcumina en los promastigotes de Leishmania major (MHOM/SA/84/JISH) y evaluar su efecto en el ciclo celular de este parásito. Se utilizó el ensayo colorimétrico MTT para evaluar la citotoxicidad y la proliferación de los promastigotes. Además, se utilizó la citometría de flujo para analizar su ciclo celular. Se empleó la técnica de tinción de ioduro de propidio/anexina V y, posteriormente, citometría de flujo para estudiar la muerte celular inducida por la curcumina. En este estudio, la curcumina reflejó un potente efecto leishmanicida. También exhibió citotoxicidad frente a los promastigotes de L. major. A una concentración de 80μM, la supervivencia de los promastigotes tratados con curcumina fue del 22%; en tanto que la concentración letal media (LC50) fue de 35μM. El fármaco produjo su acción parasiticida mediante la inducción de apoptosis. La muerte celular inducida por curcumina en los promastigotes fue del 82,5% a una concentración de 80μM. Además, la curcumina demoró el ciclo celular en la fase S e inhibió así la proliferación celular. La curcumina demostró efectividad frente a los promastigotes de L. major y, por tanto, consideramos que los estudios deberían continuar a fin de demostrar su efectividad para tratar la leishmaniasis cutánea.

Background: Coagulopathy and thromboembolic events are common in Covid-19 patients and are poor prognostic factors. Controversy exists regarding the potential of anticoagulation (AC) to reduce mortality and incidence of thromboembolic events in Covid-19 patients. The current systematic review and meta-analysis investigated the association between anticoagulants and mortality in adult hospitalized COVID-19 patients using the available published non-randomized studies. Methods: Google Scholar, PubMed, Scopus, the Cochrane Library and Clinical Trials.gov were searched for relevant studies. A meta-analysis of adjusted and unadjusted estimates was performed. The relative risk was used as a measure of effect. The random-effects model was used to pool estimates using the generic inverse variance method. Results: Sixteen studies were included in the quantitative data synthesis. Results showed a statistically significant association between AC and mortality (RR = 0.56, 95% CI 0.36; 0.92, p = 0.02). Both therapeutic (Relative risk [RR] = 0.4, 95% CI 0.27; 0.57) and prophylactic AC (RR = 0.54, 95% CI 0.41; 0.71) were associated with lower risk of mortality. Pre-admission AC was not associated with mortality (RR = 0.84, 95% CI 0.49; 1.43, p > 0.05) while prophylactic AC was associated with higher risk of mortality compared to therapeutic AC (RR = 1.58, 95% CI 1.34; 1.87, p < 0.001). Conclusion: Findings support the association of AC with mortality in Covid-19 patients. The results, synthesized from mostly low-quality studies, show that prophylactic and therapeutic AC might reduce mortality in Covid-19 patients. Findings suggest that therapeutic doses might be associated with better survival compared to prophylactic doses. © 2020 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Pathogenic infestations are significant threats to vegetable yield, and have become an urgent problem to be solved. Rhizoctonia solani is one of the worst fungi affecting tomato crops, reducing yield in some regions. It is a known fact that plants have their own defense against such infestations; however, it is unclear whether any exogenous material can help plants against infestation. Therefore, we performed greenhouse experiments to evaluate the impacts of R. solani on 15- and 30-day old tomato plants after fungal infestation, and estimated the antifungal activity of nanoparticles (NPs) against the pathogen. We observed severe pathogenic impacts on the above-ground tissues of tomato plants which would affect plant physiology and crop production. Pathogenic infection reduced total chlorophyll and anthocyanin contents, which subsequently disturbed plant physiology. Further, total phenolic contents (TPC), total flavonoid contents (TFC), and malondialdehyde (MDA) contents were significantly increased in pathogen treatments. Constitutively, enhanced activities were estimated for catalase (CAT), superoxide dismutase (SOD), and ascorbate peroxidase (APX) in response to reactive oxygen species (ROS)in pathogen-treated plants. Moreover, pathogenesis-related genes, namely, chitinase, plant glutathione S-transferase (GST), phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL1), pathogenesis-related protein (PR12), and pathogenesis-related protein (PR1) were evaluated, with significant differences between treated and control plants. In vitro and greenhouse antifungal activity of silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs), chitosan nanoparticles, and Ag NPs/CHI NPs composites and plant health was studied using transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectrophotometry. We found astonishing results, namely, that Ag and CHI have antifungal activities against R. solani. Overall, plant health was much improved following treatment with Ag NPs/CHI NPs composites. In order to manage R. solani pathogenicity and improve tomato health, Ag/CHI NPs composites could be used infield as well as on commercial levels based on recommendations. However, there is an urgent need to first evaluate whether these NP composites have any secondary impacts on human health or the environment.

Background: Antimicrobial consumption has been increasing lately. Hence, effective strategies are required to control antimicrobial use and decrease the development of antimicrobial resistance. Objective: To evaluate the impact of the use of a mobile app on the implementation of antimicrobial stewardship program (ASP) interventions. Methods: This was a longitudinal study conducted at El-Nile Badrawi Hospital in Cairo, Egypt, on inpatients receiving antimicrobials from January 2018 to December 2019. The study included 2 phases: the preimplementation phase, which included a paper-based ASP developed according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Core Elements of Hospital Antibiotic Stewardship Programs 2014, and the mobile app phase where the MEDIcare Pro mobile app was developed and used in ASP intervention implementation. The study outcomes were antimicrobial consumption and cost, length of hospital and intensive care unit (ICU) stay, 30-day mortality rate and readmission rate, and detection of drug-related problems (DRPs). Results: The mobile app statistically significantly decreased antimicrobial consumption from 75.1 defined daily dose (DDD)/100 bed-days in the preimplementation phase to 64.65 DDD/100 bed-days in the mobile app phase, with a total cost savings of E£1,237,476. There was a significant reduction in the length of ICU stay, with a mean difference of 1.63 days between the 2 phases, but no significance was detected regarding length of hospital stay or readmission rate. There was a statistically significant decrease in mortality rate from 1.17% in the preimplementation phase to 0.83% in the mobile app phase (P = 0.02). The frequency of DRPs detected by pharmacists statistically significantly increased from 0.54/100 bed-days in the preimplementation phase to 3.23/100 bed-days in the mobile app phase. Conclusion: The use of a mobile app was found to be effective, applicable, and usable in guiding health professionals on rational antimicrobial use. © 2021 American Pharmacists Association®

Regular assessment of groundwater potential is vital especially in arid regions that depend mainly on groundwater. Sinai Peninsula is one of the strategic arid regions in Egypt where any future development plans would mainly depend on groundwater. In this research, the sustainability of the Upper Cretaceous Aquifer in Sinai is evaluated considering the effect of three types of abstractions. First, 54 currently working abstraction wells with total extraction of about 300 m3/day. Second, 24 newly drilled wells that serve 2000 feddan in a new developmental settlement to the west of the study area with expected total extraction of 23,000 m3/day. The third component is the current abstraction of about 20 Mm3/year from the El-Naqb area.. The objective of this study was achieved by analyzing the available geological, lithological, and hydrogeological data and then using these analyzed data to simulate the aquifer using MODFLOW code in the GMS software. The constructed model was calibrated in a transient mode with the aid of parameter estimation program (PEST). A forward run then took place to predict water levels after 30 years considering a new developmental settlement constructed in El-Nehayat (Ras Sudr). Results show that the estimated spatial maximum and average drawdown rates at El-Nehayat are 2.57 and 0.4 m/year which are small values due to the limited present development on the UCA. Based on the obtained results, further exploration for the UCA is recommended.

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Statement of problem: Studies on the impact of incorporating attachments in removable prostheses on patient-based outcomes are scarce. Purpose: The purpose of this clinical study was to investigate oral health–related quality of life (OHRQoL) and patient satisfaction in partially edentulous participants before and after rehabilitation with mandibular attachment-retained removable prostheses as compared with conventional removable prostheses. Material and methods: This crossover study included 74 participants (aged 36 to 57). Initially, 56 received conventional clasp-retained removable dental prostheses (RDPs), and 18 received conventional overdentures (ODs) based on their mandibular partially edentulous state. Two months later, of the 56 RDP participants, 24 had received extracoronal attachment-retained RDPs, 17 received telescope-retained RDPs, and 15 received bar-attachment retained RDPs. The 18 OD participants received ball attachment–retained ODs. Assessments included Oral Health Impact Profile-short version-14 for OHRQoL and a visual analog scale (VAS) for patient satisfaction. Assessments were done before treatment and 2 months after wearing each prosthesis with a 1-month washout period. Statistical analysis included the Friedman then the Wilcoxon signed rank test for Oral Health Impact Profile-short version-14 scores and repeated measures ANOVA then the Bonferroni or paired t test for VAS scores (α=.05). Results: There were no dropouts. Rehabilitation, irrespective of prosthesis type, significantly improved OHRQoL in all domains and significantly increased overall patient satisfaction (P<.05). When compared with the conventional prostheses, attachment-retained prostheses significantly improved functional limitation, psychological discomfort, and physical limitation domains in all groups (P<.05), as well as the physical pain domain in the OD group (P=.041). General satisfaction, stability, comfort, ability to speak, and ability to masticate significantly increased (P<.05) with attachment-retained prostheses. Conventional prostheses were significantly easier to clean (P<.05) in all groups, except for the telescope-attachment group. Conclusions: Both conventional and attachment-retained prostheses significantly increased patient satisfaction and improved OHRQoL in all domains as compared with before treatment. However, incorporation of attachments further improved functional limitation, psychological discomfort, and physical limitation domains in all groups, as well as the physical pain domain in the OD group. Participants were more satisfied with their attachment-retained prostheses in most aspects.

Background: Multimodal speech recognition is proved to be one of the most promisingsolutions for robust speech recognition, especially when the audio signal is corrupted by noise. As
the visual speech signal not affected by audio noise, it can be used to obtain more information used
to enhance the speech recognition accuracy in noisy system. The critical stage in designing robust
speech recognition system is choosing of reliable classification method from large variety of available
classification techniques. Deep learning is well-known as a technique that has the ability to
classify a nonlinear problem, and takes into consideration the sequential characteristic of the speech
signal. Numerous researches have been done in applying deep learning to overcome Audio-Visual
Speech Recognition (AVSR) problems due to its amazing achievements in both speech and image
recognition. Even though optimistic results have been obtained from the continuous studies, researches
on enhancing accuracy in noise system and selecting the best classification technique are
still gaining lots of attention.
Objective: This paper aims to build AVSR system that uses both acoustic combined with visual
speech information and use classification technique based on deep learning to improve the recognition
performance in a clean and noisy environment.
Methods: Mel Frequency Cepstral Coefficient (MFCC) and Discrete Cosine Transform (DCT) are
used to extract the effective features from audio and visual speech signal respectively. The audio
feature rate is greater than the visual feature rate, so that linear interpolation is needed to obtain
equal feature vectors size then early integrating them to get combined feature vector. Bidirectional
Long-Short Term Memory (BiLSTM), one of the Deep learning techniques, are used for classification
process and compare the obtained results to other classification techniques like Convolution
Neural Network (CNN) and the traditional Hidden Markov Models (HMM). The effectiveness of
the proposed model is proved by using two multi-speaker AVSR datasets termed AVletters and
GRID.
Results: The proposed model gives promising results where the obtained results In case of GRID,
using integrated audio-visual features achieved highest recognition accuracy of 99.07% and 98.47%
, with enhancement up to 9.28% and 12.05% over audio-only for clean and noisy data respectively.
For AVletters, the highest recognition accuracy is 93.33% with enhancement up to 8.33% over audio-
only.
Conclusion: Based on the obtained results, we can conclude that increasing the size of audio feature
vector from 13 to 39 doesn’t give effective enhancement for the recognition accuracy in clean
environment, but in noisy environment, it gives better performance. BiLSTM is considered to be
the optimal classifier for a robust speech recognition system when compared to CNN and traditional
HMM, because it takes into consideration the sequential characteristic of the speech signal (audio
and visual). The proposed model gives great improvement in the recognition accuracy and decreasing
the loss value for both clean and noisy environments than using audio-only features. Comparing
the proposed model to previously obtain results which using the same datasets, we found that our
model gives higher recognition accuracy and confirms the robustness of our model.

To survey the health-seeking behaviors and perspectives of the Egyptian population toward the COVID-19 pandemic. A descriptive survey was designed and disseminated via social media platforms. The survey consisted of 32 questions addressing respondent’s demographics, knowledge, practice, and attitude toward the COVID-19 pandemic. A total of 25,994 Egyptians participated in the survey from the 29 Egyptian governorates. More than 99% of the respondents were aware of the COVID-19 pandemic. Responses showed split opinions regarding whether people should wear gloves or masks to prevent COVID-19 infection (47.7% and 49.5% replied with “False”, respectively). Almost one-quarter (23.1%) of the respondents went to crowded places during the last 14 days. Calling the emergency hotline and self-isolation at home were the most frequent practices to deal with COVID-19 symptoms (34.1% and 44.5%, respectively). A total of 85% of respondents reported their confidence in the Egyptian healthcare system to win the battle against COVID-19 despite the challenges. A vast majority of this large population sample reported reasonable knowledge levels and potentially appropriate practices toward COVID-19. © 2021 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.

Bauxite residue (BR) is a highly alkaline type of solid waste generated by the aluminum industry that poses a significant environmental risk upon disposal. However, BR is abundant in metals, especially iron, that offer the desired catalytic activity for microwave pyrolysis. Thus, this study aimed to use BR as a low-cost microwave absorber and catalyst for biomass microwave pyrolysis to obtain higher quality bio-oil and biochar. The addition of BR to switchgrass, the representative biomass, did not facilitate microwave absorption because most of the iron in the BR was in the form of goethite and hematite. However, the addition of an efficient microwave-absorbing catalyst (e.g., K3PO4 or clinoptilolite) to the BR triggered synergistic effects, increasing the microwave heating rate by ~ 346% compared to K3PO4 or clinoptilolite alone, which was attributed to the reduction of hematite and goethite to maghemite and/or magnetite. The addition of 10% BR to a mixture of 10% K3PO4 and 10% bentonite further triggered synergistic effects that resulted in the highest microwave heating rate of 439 °C/min, which was a 211% increase compared to using 10% K3PO4 and 10% bentonite without BR, and doubled the Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface area of the biochar, reduced the bio-oil acidity by up to 71% compared to that obtained using a single catalyst, and increased the alkylated phenols contents in the bio-oil by 339% compared to that produced without a catalyst. These results demonstrated that the synergistic effects of BR can only be triggered when mixed with another efficient microwave-absorbing catalyst.