Soil erosion triggers several global environmental and economic problems. The Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE) and its updates are the most widely used models for soil erosion evaluation. USLE includes several parameters that describe rainfall and soil characteristics. The application of the USLE is challenging due to the variability of accuracy and resolution of the required data for each parameter from one region to another. In the current study, a methodology to collect and process the required data for the USLE is proposed. Remote sensing is utilized to estimate the soil components percentages and land cover. ArcGIS is used to evaluate the topographic slope and length parameters. Lastly, synthetic SCS type II storm distribution is used to distribute the available daily rainfall events to calculate the rainfall erosivity factor. The results showed good agreement between the calculated and measured catchment sediment release for two catchments in the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt.

Agricultural water appropriation has undergone rapid changes in recent decades, but estimates of global water appropriation have not been updated with the latest data and consistent methods. Documenting these changes is challenging given the heterogeneous water use landscape and the growing influence of human activities worldwide, and this complexity cannot be well addressed with the existing methodology, which is subject to large model uncertainties. Here, a spatial analysis and aggregated method was proposed to quantify and refine estimates of global agricultural water appropriation (GAWA) in terms of consumptive freshwater use, with data derived from Earth observations, independent of estimates from hydrological models. The results show the global water appropriation at the pixel scale, in agroecological zones and in the main water-consuming countries, including global maps of rainfed and irrigated cropland evapotranspiration (ET), net water consumption due to irrigation, natural ET and renewable freshwater resources (RFWR), and indicate that agriculture remains the largest user in terms of both water consumption and withdrawals worldwide, representing 87% of global water consumption, with approximately 60% of global freshwater withdrawals devoted to irrigation circa 2015. The percentage of withdrawals devoted to irrigation has decreased in recent decades when compared to the previous estimate of 70%. The results reveal the actual global crop consumptive use (8053.6 km3/yr) of blue and green water and the total human water consumption (8442 km3/yr), which represents the part of the water cycle affected by human intervention, mainly (95.4%) by agriculture. This study reveals that high-resolution irrigated croplands are essential for accurate estimations of water use appropriation and demonstrates that earth observation-derived data can provide a new understanding of global water use landscape. The study can support decision making in sustaining food and water security, and implementing water-adapted sustainable agricultural policies.

This study examined the effects of exposure to lead acetate (PbAc) and/or aluminum trioxide nanoparticles (AlONPs) on testicular function. Additionally, the probable reproprotective effects of quercetin (QTN) against AlONPs and PbAc co-exposure in male Sprague Dawely rats were assessed. AlONPs (100 mg/kg b.wt.), PbAc (50 mg/kg b.wt.), and QTN (20 mg/kg b.wt.) were orally administered for 60 days. Then, spermiogram, histopathological examinations of the testis and accessory glands, and immunohistochemical detection of androgen receptors (AR) and tumor necrotic factor alpha (TNF-α) were achieved. Moreover, serum levels of male sex hormones and testicular levels of antioxidant indices were estimated. The results showed that AlONP and/or PbAc caused significant sperm abnormalities, testicular oxidative stress, and histopathological changes. Furthermore, serum testosterone, LH, and FSH levels significantly decreased, while estradiol levels significantly increased. The AlONPs and/or PbAc co-exposed group had more obvious disturbances. Furthermore, QTN co-administration significantly reversed the AlONPs and PbAc-induced testicular histopathological alterations, reduced antioxidant defenses, and altered AR and TNF-α immune expression in testicular tissues. Conclusively, AlONPs and/or PbAc evoked testicular dysfunction by inducing oxidative injury and inflammation. However, QTN oral dosing effectively mitigated the negative effects of AlONPs and PbAc by suppressing oxidative stress and inflammation and improving the antioxidant defense system.

Ochratoxin A (OTA) is a fungal secondary metabolite produced by certain species of Aspergillus and Penicillium, and exerts immunosuppressive effect on humans and animals. Quercetin (QUE) is one of the flavonoids produced as a plant-secondary metabolite. The present study was designed to evaluate the efficacy of QUE against the immunotoxic hazard of OTA in broiler chickens. Forty one-day-old broiler chicks were randomly and equally allocated into four groups; control, OTA (0.5 mg/kg feed), QUE (0.5 g/kg feed) and OTA + QUE (0.5 mg/kg OTA + 0.5 g/kg QUE). The results revealed that dietary OTA induced a significant decrease in the antibody response to Newcastle Disease (ND), Infectious Bronchitis (IB) and Avian Influenza (AI) vaccination and in the lymphoproliferative response to Phytohemagglutinin-P (PHA-P). Ochratoxin A also induced oxidative stress and lipid peroxidation in the bursa of Fabricius, spleen and thymus tissues of chickens as demonstrated by decreased CAT and GSH levels and increased TBARS content. In addition, administration of OTA resulted in apoptosis, which was evident by the increased expression level of PTEN, Bax and Caspase-3 genes and decreased expression level of PI3K, AKT and Bcl-2 genes. Furthermore, exposure to OTA resulted in various pathological lesions in the bursa of Fabricius, spleen and thymus of chickens. On the other hand, administration of QUE ameliorated most of the immunotoxic effects of OTAby its immunomodulatory, antioxidant and anti-apoptotic activities. Taken together, the results suggested that QUE potentially alleviated the OTA-induced immunotoxicity in broiler chickens, probably through amelioration of oxidative stress and activation of the PI3K/AKT signaling pathway.

Virginity is the nullity of sexual experience in females. However, the use of virginity testing as proof of previous involvement in sexual relations is dependent on having an intact hymen, which refers to a hymen with no signs of previous penetrating injury. Although the quality of this evidence in questioned virginity is extremely poor and considered a violation of human rights, it still constitutes a major facet in medicolegal investigations of sexual assaults. This work evaluates virginity testing as currently practiced in many countries, including Egypt, in terms of medical and legal considerations.

In a contribution to stability profiling of the recent antidiabetic drug, omarigliptin (OMR), two stability-indicating chromatographic methods were developed and validated. Stability profiling was performed for OMR under different stress conditions as acidic, alkaline, oxidative, photolytic and thermal degradations. Structures elucidation to all formed degradation products were identified using IR and mass spectrometry. Thin Layer Chromatography (TLC) and High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) were used. In TLC-densitometric method, aluminum TLC plates precoated with silica gel G.F254 were used as stationary phase along with methanol: ethyl acetate: 33% ammonia (2:8:1,v/v/v) as mobile phase. The obtained chromatograms were scanned at 254 nm over concertation range of 5–70 μg band−1 for OMR. The second chromatographic method was an HPLC one with diode array detection and RP-C18 column with isocratic elution. Mobile phase used was composed of phosphate buffer pH 3.5: acetonitrile (80, 20, v/v), delivered at flow rate of 1.0 mL min−1. Diode array detector was adjusted at 230 nm with linearity range of 15–180 μg mL−1 for OMR. Several factors affecting TLC and HPLC efficiency have been carefully studied. The developed methods were validated according to International Conference on Harmonization guidelines and successfully applied for assessment of OMR in bulk powder and tablets.