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Background: In Morocco, despite various initiatives to improve the quality of reproductive healthcare, the indicators remain unfavorable. To strengthen the skills of midwives and support the achievement of Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) 4 and 5 by 2030, Morocco has developed and implemented a competency-based training framework. However, there is a lack of information on the successful implementation of this program and its impact on the quality of student midwives’ preparation for practice. Objective: This study aimed to gain a deeper understanding and explore the barriers affecting the development of clinical learning skills among midwifery students and newly qualified midwives. Methods: This study employed a descriptive, exploratory qualitative approach. Data were collected through nine focus group discussions with 30 midwifery students and 24 newly graduated midwives between April and June 2023 from six higher education institutions in northern and central Morocco. Inductive content analysis was used to analyze the transcribed discussions. Results: The barriers varied between locations. Overall, the internship design was inadequate, and the clinical environment was insufficient. Participants highlighted limited opportunities to experience the full range of midwifery skills. However, most midwifery students and new graduates had deficient competencies in managing high-risk situations and emergencies. Conclusion: This work provides an overview of the nature and extent of the challenges faced by many student midwives in Morocco, resulting in newly graduated midwives being poorly prepared for the full range of midwifery practice. These findings can inform various initiatives to strengthen midwifery education at the global, regional, and national levels.

Obstetric emergencies are critical situations that jeopardize the health of both the mother and the baby during pregnancy or childbirth. This study aimed to validate the effectiveness of clinical simulation training in managing these situations. We conducted a narrative review of studies published between 2008 and 2022, collected from databases including Scopus, Sciencedirect, PubMed, Springer, Scielo, and Google Scholar. Data from studies that met our inclusion criteria were meticulously gathered and summarized. Our findings strongly emphasize that clinical simulation emerges as a highly effective tool in the training of healthcare professionals. This training translates into substantial improvements in various aspects, including performance, knowledge, confidence, satisfaction, attitudes, self-efficacy, teamwork abilities, and the skills necessary to confront critical obstetric situations such as postpartum hemorrhage, eclampsia, shoulder dystocia, maternal cardiac arrest, umbilical cord prolapse, and cesarean sections. Importantly, this training reduces the inherent risks associated with learning on real patients and aligns with the highest ethical standards. Additionally, our results underscore that interdisciplinary collaboration in the management of obstetric emergencies proves to be an effective strategy for providing comprehensive patient care. However, it is crucial to highlight that, in order to ensure patient safety and promote a teamwork approach, it is imperative for healthcare professionals to receive adequate training and be duly qualified. Although we acknowledge that implementing clinical simulation training can entail significant costs and require substantial resources, we firmly believe that this strategy continues to hold immeasurable value in the education of professionals in this field. Ultimately, we anticipate that future high-quality research will further fortify the evidence base regarding best practices in clinical simulation training for obstetric emergencies, thus contributing to enhanced patient outcomes and the overall quality of healthcare in this critical domain.

« L’évolution » est considérée depuis longtemps comme étant le paradigme de base de la Biologie. D’une autre façon, la biologie ne peut se comprendre qu’à la lumière de l’évolution. Aussi, il est impossible, nous parait-t-il, que l’enseignement du savoir biologique puisse faire fi de l’idée de l’évolution et des théories et/ou modèles explicatifs. A travers l’analyse de contenu, nous cherchons à décrire la place qu’accordent les programmes à l’évolution, découvrir les éventuels arguments des concepteurs derrière le choix des éléments constituant le programme dans le système éducatif à la science au Maroc. L’analyse des manuels scolaires marocains en cycle secondaire, montre une approche hésitante et douteuse dans le traitement des théories de l’évolution. Cette hésitation peut s’expliquer par les valeurs de la société. «

Dilbilimciler teradüfü; "farklı lafızları değişik dillere dönüştürmeksizin ve söylenen lafızlar arasında fonetik bir yakınlık olmaksızın, tek bir mana için kullanılan kelimelerdir" şeklinde tarif etmişlerdir. Ancak bazıları bu yaklaşımın aksini söylemişler, dolayısıyla bu çeşitliliği de dilsel duyurnun kaybı, kasdedilen anlamı belirleyememe, lafızları sınırlandırmamaveya ger<>ksiz birziyadelik saymışlardır. Bazı dilbilimciler ise An~p dilindeki bu olguyu zenginliğin delııı, kullanabiliriilik yeteneği ve dilin üstün bir meziyeti kabul etmişlerdir.

Ashabın hadis rivayetinde tam güvenilir olup olmadıkları, yalan söyleyip söylemedikleri günümüzde bazı çevrelerde tartışılan konulardan bir tanesidir. Bu bağlamda özellikle Ebu Hureyre'ye tenkidler yöheltilmektedir. Aşağıdaki satırlarda hem yöneltilen tenkidler genel hatlarıyla sunulacak, hem.de ashabın tamamının RasUiüllah adına hadis uydurmaktan beri ve aynı zamanda adilkimseler oldukları ispat edilecek, yöneltileniddialar reddedilecektir. Böylece Kur'an ve hadislerle övülen o kutlu rieslin ümmetin itimadına tam anlamıyla layık oldukları gösterilecektir.!

Depuis quelques années, les mutations de l’environnement obligent les entreprises à repenser leurs modes d'organisation et de gestion et à recourir à des stratégies de recentrage sur leur métier principal avec recours croissant à l’externalisation ou à la sous-traitance de nombreuses activités. Face à cette opération d’externalisation qui se base sur la logique du marché c.à.d. la recherche des compétences externes et la réduction des coûts, les dirigeants des deux parties du contrat fonctionnent dans des systèmes de management et avec une culture qui est souvent éloignée du développement durable et de la RSE. Leur formation et leur métier reposent sur la culture de l’efficacité technique et économique, pour beaucoup d’entre eux, les critères environnementaux et sociaux, au delà des exigences législatives, ne font pas partie des pratiques normales de l’approvisionnement. Ceslogiques des marchéset des réductions de coûts ont entrainé une sortie apparente du périmètre de responsabilité juridique des impacts environnementaux et sociaux négatifs générés par l’activité de la grande entreprise et son report sur les PME fournisseurs. Mais ces pratiques ont été dénoncées comme non responsables par les acteurs de la société civile. Ces mouvements ont été de puissants leviers pour l’introduction de critères de RSE dans lagestion de la chaine d’approvisionnement.Dans ce contexte, les grandes entreprises clientes mettent en place des dispositifs pour intégrer des objectifs de qualité sociale et environnementale dans leurs achats (nature du bien acheté) ou dans le choix et la gestion de leur relation avec leurs fournisseurs. Les PMEintégrées à ces chaînes de valeur devront alors non seulement être en mesure d'intégrer les principes de la RSE, mais également d'en rendre compte de façon crédible, au risque d'êtreécartées au profit de partenaires moins susceptibles de mettre à risque la réputation des grandes entreprises.A ce niveau là, on peut s’interroger sur la manière de développement des pratiques responsables dans la gestion de la chaine d’approvisionnement.Cette communication à pour objectif de répondre à cette problématique, en déterminant d’abord, le rôle des grands textes et références internationaux dans la diffusion de la RSE dans la chaine d’approvisionnement, ensuite, la réalité de la RSE dans cette dernière, puis, le réseau comme démarche collective d’intégration de la RSE dans la chaine d’approvisionnement, en enfin la supply chaine pérenne

Abstract Background The present study presents a 3-D numerical simulation of a direct injection diesel engine powered by base diesel oil and soybean biodiesel fuel at different load conditions. The modeling was performed using commercial computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software linked to a chemical solver. A chemical kinetic reaction mechanism was developed to simulate the combustion and fuel spray processes. Base diesel oil results were verified using a single-cylinder, 4-stroke diesel engine. Results The study showed that the usage of the soybean biodiesel fuel caused a reduction in carbon monoxide (CO) and hydrocarbon (HC) emissions by about 42.38% and 41.35%, compared with base diesel and an increase in nitrogen oxides (NOx) and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions of about 21.8% and 11.2%, respectively. Exhaust gas temperature (EGT) is reduced by an average value of 9.4%, the brake-specific fuel consumption (BSFC) is increased by an average value of 11.8% and the brake thermal efficiency (BTE) is dropped by an average value of 11.3% for soybean biodiesel fuel. Conclusions The CFD model showed the effect of the unsaturated fatty acid methyl esters present in soybean biodiesel on the spatial distributed values of NOx, oxygen and temperature during the combustion in engine cylinder. It was observed that the combustion of soybean biodiesel began about 3.89 CAD earlier than base diesel, and the in-cylinder peak pressure was dropped by 8.25%. Soybean biodiesel fuel was optimized by performing four starts of injection (SOI) at timings of − 18, − 16, − 15 and − 13,5 bTDC, and it was found that the combustion characteristics of soybean biodiesel are optimum at SOI = − 15 bTDC. These results indicate that the biodiesel fuel can be used as an alternative and environmentally friendly fuel in the engine without any modifications.

Abstract This study aims to investigate the effects of piston bowl shape and biodiesel fuel on combustion and emissions of a direct injection (DI) diesel engine. Three configurations of piston bowl geometry are modeled: hemispherical, toroidal, and rectangular. Biodiesel fuel derived from soybean oil is being considered. An experimental work was conducted on a diesel engine with a hemispherical piston bowl, and a better validity was attained. The study showed that, diesel engine with toroidal piston bowl delivered the largest power than other shapes, where turbulent regions are formed inside the toroidal piston bowl with higher intensity, which resulted in better combustion characteristics and lower emission concentrations. It is observed from the combustion of biodiesel fuel that, the rapid combustion stage began earlier than conventional diesel fuel by about 5o CA, heat release rate (HRR) decreased by 18.88%, emissions of carbon monoxide (CO), and unburnt hydrocarbon (UHC) reduced but nitric oxide (NO) emission increased by about 17.78% at 55o CA, as compared to diesel fuel. During the injection process, the jet core of biodiesel fuel appeared thicker and longer than conventional diesel fuel. For optimization, preheating with exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) of biodiesel fuel contributes to reduce the emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx) and improve the atomization rate.

Smart ambulance is a novel system where modern communication, computation, and sensing technologies are employed to revolutionize ambulance and emergency systems. We propose a smart system that aims to minimize the ambulance response time, travel time from patient’s location to the hospital, and the waiting time at the hospital. We utilize the road traffic conditions and hospital loading information (collected in real-time basis) to make optimal decisions (which hospital responds to the patient’s request and which ambulance it sends, which route the ambulance takes to reach the patient, which hospital the ambulance heads to after picking up the patient, and which route it should take to the selected hospital). The first two decisions are used to minimize the response time while the last two decisions are employed to minimize the door-to-needle time. We analyze the performance of the proposed algorithm; both analytically and by simulation for verification. The results showed very good consistency between simulation results and analytical results, which confirms the correctness and accuracy of the analysis. In addition, we compare the performance of our proposed smart algorithm with a previous algorithm that is reported in the literature and that minimizes the drop-off delay. The results confirmed the superiority of our smart algorithm under considered operating conditions and scenarios.

Occupational asthma is defined as variable airway obstruction due to exposure to a specific substance in the workplace environment. The aim of the study was to find out the frequency of occupational asthma in wheat mill workers and to explore the role of fungi biomarkers (galactomannan (GM) and β-D-glucan (βDG)) in occupational asthma. Subjects and methods: Assessment of fungi in air was done. Spirometric function of workers (n=120) were assessed during diurnal (before and 15 minutes after inhalation of salbutamol) and nocturnal time. Blood samples were analyzed to measure serum GM and βDG and allergen specific immunoglobulin E. The workers were asked about asthma symptoms. Results and conclusion: A significant proportion of workers had occupational asthma (25%) and only four workers (3.3%) had non-occupational asthma (excluded from the study). The rest were normal (86 workers). Penicillium and Aspergillus were the only species found in the air environment. Mean GM concentration (GM-c) was significantly higher among occupational asthmatics than normal workers. The estimated risk of occupational asthma (Odds ratio) was 13.3 times higher among workers with high GM-c (>1 pg/ml). Ln (GM) was the only significant predictor of PEFR variability. GM has a potential diagnostic role in occupational asthma due to fungal exposure among wheat mill workers. βDG did not have a role in occupational asthma. We recommend that wheat mill flour workers should do periodic spirometric functions and serum GM every 6 - 12 months for early diagnosis and control of occupational asthma.

This study proposes a new approach to employ the hydrology-based predictions of the water fate, rather than empirical ones, to estimate crop water requirements (CWRs) in artificially-drained agricultural lands. The study area comprises a 12 ha-wheat-land that locates in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, China, for the growing season of 2018–2019. Despite there was almost no need for irrigation in the study area due to the amble rainfall; the empirical prediction of the water fate caused overestimations in CWRs (30840 m3). Under the same data of evapotranspiration and precipitation, the new approach enhanced CWRs estimates (12750 m3), and this is due to the well-known accuracy of hydrology-based approaches in predicting the water fate. In addition, the water fate in the study area was hydrological simulated and predicted under some scenarios of field conditions and management practices, and the new approach was applied to estimate CWRs under these scenarios. It was revealed that changes in the water fate affected much CWRs and caused an increase (up to 80%), compared to the estimated value under baseline conditions. Therefore, the accurate prediction of the water fate is indispensable for better CWRs estimates along with better utilization of available water resources. In addition, the new approach presented in this study can be applied to estimate future CWRs in artificially drained lands, along with the assessment of various impacts of many field conditions and management practices on CWRs.

This paper assesses the Quaternary aquifer behavior in Assuit governorate under different management discharge/recharge scenarios. The four discharge scenarios represent 1.25, 1.5, 2.0, and 2.5 of the current abstraction rate. The two proposed discharge scenarios represent 0.5 and 1.0 m reduction in surface water levels in the Nile River and main canals in the study area. The sensitivity analysis was performed, identifying hydraulic conductivity as the most sensitive parameter. The model was calibrated with 28 observation wells with a good agreement with measured data. The reductions in groundwater heads are 0.17, 0.35, 0.72, 1.11 m for the four discharge scenarios, respectively, while 0.22 and 0.46 m obtained as a reduction in groundwater heads for the two proposed discharge scenarios, respectively. The recharge from the Nile and canals was reduced by 58.078, 114,800 m3/day, respectively. Sustainable management plan is recommended for long-term analysis of the Quaternary aquifer in the study area.

Objective: To study the incidence of postoperative atrial fibrillation (POAF) and its predictors after coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) in an Asian cohort. Study Design: Cross sectional study. Place and Duration of Study: The study was conducted at the department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Almana Hospital, Al Khobar, Saudi Arabia, which is a tertiary care hospital. The study duration was form Oct 2019 to Dec 2021. Methodology: All the male and female consecutive patients with coronary artery disease undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) were included in the study. All the surgeries were performed through median sternotomy using cardiopulmonary bypass. Patients with emergency CABG, off pump CABG and those undergoing multiple procedures were excluded from the study. A total of 220 consecutive patients were included in the study. Patients were followed in the perioperative period. Various variables were recorded on a preformed proforma. Patients were divided into two groups, those who had atrial fibrillation (AF) and those who did not have AF. Data was analyzed using SPPS version 23 (SPSS, Inc., Chicago,IL). Results: The mean age of the patients was 51.50±11 years in the AF group and 49.38±9 years in the no AF group. The incidence of atrial fibrillation postoperatively in our cohort was (n=52, 25%). There was no statistically significant difference between the groups with respect to hypertension and diabetes (p=0.408 and p=0.054) respectively). Conclusion: In spite of a younger population, the incidence of AF in our cohort undergoing CABG is comparable to the international literature. Lack of preoperative β-blockers, statins and low ejection fraction are predictors of new onset POAF.

One of the most critical stages for developing groundwater resources for drinking water use is assessing the water quality. The use of a Water Quality Index (WQI) is considered an effective method of evaluating water quality. The objective of this research was to evaluate the performance of six multiple artificial intelligence techniques, i.e., linear regression (stepwise), support vector regression SVM (linear and polynomial kernels), Gaussian process regression (GPR), Fit binary tree, and artificial neural network ANN (Bayesian) to predict the WQI in Jizan, Southern Saudi Arabia. A total of 145 groundwater samples were collected from shallow dug wells and boreholes tapping the phreatic aquifer. The WQI was calculated from 11 physicochemical parameters (pH, TDS, Ca2+, Mg2+, Na+, K+, Cl−, SO42−, HCO3−, NO3−, and TH). The spatial distribution results showed that higher values of Cl− and SO42− were recorded in the places close to the coastline, indicating the occurrence of seawater intrusion and salinisation. Seven wells had a WQI of greater than 300, indicating that the water was unfit for consumption. The results showed that the GPR, linear regression (stepwise), and ANN models performed best during the training and testing stages, with a high correlation of 1.00 and low errors. The stepwise fitting model indicated that pH, K+, and NO3− were the most significant variables, while HCO3− was a non-significant variable for the WQI. The GPR, stepwise regression, and ANN models performed best during the training and testing stages, with a high correlation and low errors. In contrast, the SVM and Fit binary tree models performed the worst in the training and testing phases. Based on subset regression analysis, the optimum input combination for WQI model prediction was determined as these eight input combinations with high R2 (0.975–1.00) and high Adj-R2 (0.974–1.00). The resultant WQI model significantly contributes to sustainable groundwater resource management in arid areas and generates improved prediction precision with fewer input parameters.

The reduction of the Nile River Nile flow to Egypt is expected due to the construction and potential improper filling of various projects in the Nile River basin such as the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD). Therefore, this research investigates the potential impacts of the GERD on the groundwater level in the Nile Valley aquifer in El-Minia Governorate. Three filling scenarios of 2, 3 and 6 years for the GERD reservoir were simulated under three different flow conditions from the Blue Nile including normal flow (NF), minimum of average flow (MAF) and minimum flow (MF) that arriving Nasser Lake. The results indicated that GWLs decreased by 1.41, 1.76, and 2.21 m for NF, MAF, and MF compared to the base case (BC) for first scenario of two years filling of GERD reservoir, respectively, while for the other two scenarios, the reductions in GWLs were lesser. The tested several management scenarios to satisfy the irrigation demand of the study area revealed that all the simulated scenarios showed an adverse impact of GERD on the deterioration of the Nile Valley aquifer, El-Minia, Egypt. We highlighted the importance of adopting a win–win situation between Eastern Nile Countries and Egypt to minimize the severe adverse GERD's filling impact on groundwater in the Nile Valley aquifer.

Assessment of the long term possibilities and risks related to geological storage requires insight in the deep groundwater flow systems. The objective of this paper is to show the relevance of the deep creep flow of the earth’s viscous upper mantle and crust as a complement to the groundwater flow. The paper presents an approach based on Fourier decomposition of the topography. The creep flow equations are solved analytically, which results in simple indices like penetration depth and relaxation time characterizing the gravity-driven creep flow. Thanks to the very high effective viscosity of the Earth’s subsurface a Darcy-like equation is obtained in which the ‘creep conductivity’ is Fourier mode dependent, which allows for simple comparison with the hydraulic conductivity for groundwater flow. Order of magnitude calculations indicate that for horizontal length scales of 100–1000 km the subsurface creep velocities are 0.3–30 mm/year, respectively, which shows that creep velocities in the deep subsurface are significant with respect to deep groundwater velocities.

Jazan province on Saudi Arabia’s southwesterly Red Sea coast is facing significant challenges in water management related to its arid climate, restricted water resources, and increasing population. A total of 180 groundwater samples were collected and tested for important hydro-chemical parameters used to determine its adaptability for irrigation. The principal components analysis (PCA) was applied to evaluate the consistency/cluster overlapping, agglomeration in the datasets, and to identify the sources of variation between the 11 major ion concentrations (pH, K+, Na+, Mg2+, Ca2+, SO42−, Cl−, HCO3−, NO3−, TDS, and TH). The EC values ranged from excellent to unsuitable, with 10% being excellent to good, 43% permissible, and 47% improper for irrigation. The SAR classification determined that 91.67% of groundwater samples were good to excellent for irrigation, indicating that they are suitable for irrigation with no sodium-related adverse effects. Magnesium hazard values showed that 1.67% of the samples are unsuitable for irrigation, while the remaining 98.33% are suitable. Chloro-alkaline indices signify that most groundwater samples show positive ratios indicating that ion exchange is dominant in the aquifer. The Gibb’s diagram reflects that evaporation, seawater interaction, and water–rock interaction are the foremost processes impacting groundwater quality, besides other regional environmental variables. A strong positive correlation was declared between TDS and Na+, Mg2+, Ca2+, Cl−, SO42− in addition to TH with Mg2+, Ca2+, Cl−, SO42−, TDS, and also Cl− with Na+, Ca2+, Mg2+ were major connections, with correlation coefficients over 0.8 and p < 0.0001. The extracted factor analysis observed that TH, Ca2+, TDS, Cl−, and Mg2+ have high positive factor loading in Factor 1, with around 52% of the total variance. This confirms the roles of evaporation and ion exchange as the major processes that mostly affect groundwater quality, along with very little human impact. The spatial distribution maps of the various water quality indices showed that the majority of unsuitable groundwater samples were falling along the coast where there is overcrowding and a variety of anthropogenic activities and the possible impact of seawater intrusion. The results of the hierarchical cluster analysis agreed with the correlations mentioned in the factor analysis and correlation matrix. As a result, incorporating physicochemical variables into the PCA to assess groundwater quality is a practical and adaptable approach with exceptional abilities and new perspectives. According to the study’s findings, incorporating different techniques to assess groundwater quality is beneficial in understanding the factors that control groundwater quality and can assist officials in effectively controlling groundwater quality and also enhancing the water resources in the study area.

The estimation of reference evapotranspiration (ETo), a crucial step in the hydrologic cycle, is essential for system design and management, including the balancing, planning, and scheduling of agricultural water supply and water resources. When climates vary from arid to semi-arid, and there are problems with a lack of meteorological data and a lack of future information on ETo, as is the case in Egypt, it is more important to estimate ETo precisely. To address this, the current study aimed to model ETo for Egypt’s most important agricultural governorates (Al Buhayrah, Alexandria, Ismailiyah, and Minufiyah) using four machine learning (ML) algorithms: linear regression (LR), random subspace (RSS), additive regression (AR), and reduced error pruning tree (REPTree). The Climate Forecast System Reanalysis (CFSR) of the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) was used to gather daily climate data variables from 1979 to 2014. The datasets were split into two sections: the training phase, i.e., 1979–2006, and the testing phase, i.e., 2007–2014. Maximum temperature (Tmax), minimum temperature (Tmin), and solar radiation (SR) were found to be the three input variables that had the most influence on the outcome of subset regression and sensitivity analysis. A comparative analysis of ML models revealed that REPTree outperformed competitors by achieving the best values for various performance matrices during the training and testing phases. The study’s novelty lies in the use of REPTree to estimate and predict ETo, as this algorithm has not been commonly used for this purpose. Given the sparse attempts to use this model for such research, the remarkable accuracy of the REPTree model in predicting ETo highlighted the rarity of this study. In order to combat the effects of aridity through better water resource management, the study also cautions Egypt’s authorities to concentrate their policymaking on climate adaptation.

In the coming years, climate change is predicted to impact irrigation water demand considerably, particularly in semi-arid regions. The aim of this research is to investigate the expected adverse impacts of climate change on water irrigation management in Saudi Arabia. We focus on the influence of climate change on irrigation water requirements in the Al Quassim (97,408 ha) region. Different climate models were used for the intermediate emission SSP2-4.5 and the high emission SSP5-8.5 Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 6 (CMIP6) scenarios. The FAO-CROPWAT 8.0 model was used to calculate reference evapotranspiration (ETo) using weather data from 13 stations from 1991 to 2020 and for both the SSP2-4.5 and SSP5-8.5 scenarios for the 2040s, 2060s, 2080s, and 2100s. The findings indicated that, for the 2100s, the SSP2-4.5 and SSP5-8.5 scenarios forecast annual average ETo increases of 0.35 mm/d (6%) and 0.7 mm/d (12.0%), respectively. Net irrigation water requirement (NIWR) and growth of irrigation water requirement (GIWR) for the main crops in the Al Quassim region were assessed for the current, SSP2-4.5, and SSP5-8.5 scenarios. For SSP5-8.5, the GIWR for the 2040s, 2060s, 2080s, and 2100s are expected to increase by 2.7, 6.5, 8.5, and 12.4%, respectively, compared to the current scenario (1584.7 million m3). As a result, there will be higher deficits in 2100 under SSP5-8.5 for major crops, with deficits of 15.1%, 10.7%, 8.3%, 13.9%, and 10.7% in the crop areas of wheat, clover, maize, other vegetables, and dates, respectively. Optimal irrigation planning, crop pattern selection, and modern irrigation technologies, combined with the proposed NIWR values, can support water resources management. The findings can assist managers and policymakers in better identifying adaptation strategies for areas with similar climates.

Heat and mass transport through porous media is governed by the advection-dispersion equation. Near the forward moving mixing front the longitudinal and transversal dispersion lengths are non-zero; only dispersion by molecular diffusion remains. The present paper presents mathematical-physical arguments why in steady transport the dispersion lengths are equal to zero. In conventional models the dispersion lengths are generally assumed to be process-independent. To interpolate between the relatively large dispersion lengths near time-dependent moving front and the steady transport conditions far away from the front, a mathematical model is proposed to describe the process-dependent time-evolution of the dispersion lengths. In this model, the dispersion lengths near the forward moving front are equal to the well-established conventional dispersion lengths that correctly represent the mixing near the front. However, further behind the moving front, where the mass transport has become (almost) steady, the process-dependent model results in vanishing dispersion lengths and, consequently, in a substantially smaller transversal mixing zone. Keywords: Advection, Flow systems, Mixing, Steady transport, Transversal dispersion

Objectives - In recent years studies on organizational engagement have increasingly been carried out to find out further, and more broadly, both antecedent variables and consequent variables, specifically involving individuals as research objects, and there are only a few studies involving groups as research objects. Therefore, this study aims to examine the antecedent model and the consequences of group attachment based on Social Exchange Theory. Design/Methodology/Approach - The population of this research is 113 social sciences study programs in private universities and college, and there are 105 study programs qualify as data. While the object of group research consists of heads and secretaries of the department. The research model uses a census model. Antecedents include perceptions of organizational support, distributive justice, and the consequences of group engagement, namely group performance. Findings - The results show that the perception of organizational support directly predicted group engagement and group performance, the distributive justice predicted group engagement but not group performance, and the group engagement predicted group performance. Indirectly, it was found that group attachment was significant as a mediator of the effect of perceived organizational support on group performance, and the effect of distributive justice on group performance. Originality - There are still a few studies on group engagement as a mediator and predictor of antecedents and their consequences using group data objects. Therefore, this study offers not only using group data but also providing a wider range of antecedent variables and their consequences based on social exchange theory.

Root distribution during rice cultivation is a governing factor that considerably affects soil water content (SWC) and root water uptake (RWU). In this study, the effects of activating root growth (using growth function) and assigning a constant average root depth (no growth during simulation) on SWC and RWU for rice cultivation under four deficit drip irrigation treatments (T90, T80, T70, and T60) were compared in the HYDRUS-2D/3D model version 3.03. A secondary objective was to investigate the effect of applied deficit irrigation treatments on grain yield, irrigation water use efficiency (IWUE), and growth traits of rice. The simulated DI system was designed to reflect a representative field experiment implemented in El-Fayoum Governorate, Egypt, during two successive seasons during 2017 and 2018. The deficit treatments (T90, T80, T70, and T60) used in the current study represent scenarios at which the first irrigation event was applied when the pre-irrigation average SWC within the upper 60 cm of soil depth was equal to 90%, 80%, 70%, and 60% of plant-available water, respectively. Simulation results showed that as water deficiency increased, SWC in the simulation domain decreased, and thereby, RWU decreased. The average SWC within the root zone during rice-growing season under different deficit treatments was slightly higher when activating root growth function than when considering constant average root depth. Cumulative RWU fluxes for the case of no growth were slightly higher than for the case of root growth function for T90, T80, and T70 accounting for 1289.50, 1179.30, and 1073.10 cm2, respectively. Average SWC during the growth season (24 h after the first irrigation event, mid-season, and 24 h after the last irrigation event) between the two cases of root growth was strongly correlated for T90, T80, T70, and T60, where r2 equaled 0.918, 0.902, 0.892, and 0.876, respectively. ANOVA test showed that there was no significant difference for SWC between treatments for the case of assigning root growth function while the difference in SWC among treatments was significant for the case of the constant average root depth, where p-values equaled 0.0893 and 0.0433, respectively. Experimental results showed that as water deficiency decreased, IWUE increased. IWUE equaled 1.65, 1.58, 1.31, and 1.21 kg m−3 for T90, T80, T70, and T60, respectively. Moreover, higher grain yield and growth traits of rice (plant height, tillers number plant−1, panicles length, panicle weight, and grain number panicles−1) were obtained corresponding to T90 as compared with other treatments. Activating the root growth module in HYDRUS simulations can lead to more precise simulation results for specific dates within different growth stages. Therefore, the root growth module is a powerful tool for accurately investigating the change in SWC during simulation. Users of older versions of HYDRUS-2D/3D (version 2.05 and earlier) should consider the limitations of these versions for irrigation scheduling.