The There are many factors influencing the performance of photovoltaic (PV) systems. Among these factors, temperature and solar radiation are two major parameters that have a large effect on the efficiency of PV systems. The cell temperature of PV panels is related to the ambient temperature while the solar radiation incident on the surface of the PV modules depends on the slope and azimuth of these modules. Furthermore, ground reflectance (albedo) affects the irradiance incident on the PV panel surface, which in turn affects the output of a PV system. Nevertheless, the effects of these factors on the economic performance of the solar PV systems are scarcely reported. This paper presents a complete design of a stand-alone PV/battery system to supply electric power for a mobile base station in Choman, Erbil, Iraq. The effects of different factors on the total electricity produced by PV arrays and its economic performance are simultaneously investigated. HOMER software has been used as a tool for the techno-economic and environmental analysis. As indicated from the simulation results, the PV array capacity and its economic performance are highly affected by the variation of the slope and azimuth. With a base case (albedo of 20% and average annual ambient temperature of 11°C), the best feasible system which is achieved by facing PV due to south with a tilt angle of 40° or 45°, is found to have net present cost (NPC) of 70595 $ and cost of energy (COE) of 0.54 $/kWh. Moreover, the results indicate that increasing the ground reflectance from 10% to 90% results in a 7.2% decrease in the PV array capacity and about 3% decrease in the NPC and COE. On the other hand, increasing the ambient temperature from 0°C to 40°C results in a 19.7% increase in the PV array capacity and an 8.2% increase in the NPC and COE. Furthermore, according to the ambient temperature of Choman, using PV modules with high sensitivity to temperature is found to be an attractive option. Provided simulation performance analysis proves that the studied parameters must be treated well to establish an enabling environment for solar energy development in Iraq.

Livability is one of the paramount characteristics of the current era that architects striving to achieve. This situation becomes even more important on commercial streets, whose functional diversity and constant movement of people require special action. In Erbil, commercial streets suffer from neglect in terms of adopting places for livability. Although it has huge potential to form an attractive and entertaining environment other than shopping. Some countries have developed standards for the design of commercial streets. The basic requirements are the same, but details usually vary according to the diverse needs of people. The research aims to identify a comprehensive framework (A Checklist) for placemaking to form the basis for measuring livability in one of the vital streets in Erbil city. This Framework is considered the basis for assessing and designing at the same time, supporting designers to achieve two main pillars: develop existing streets and suggest basic principles for future street design. This article adopts a practical framework, a questionnaire, a field survey, and observation as research methods. The research concluded that altogether placemaking dimensions are essential in activating livability, and a sort of balance between the main dimensions appeared. The more applied strategies, the higher the street livability.

Colorectal cancer prognosis get worse with advancement of disease into metastatic stage. There is a pertinent need to develop prognostic biomarkers that can be used for personalized and precision medicine. Alternative splicing provides an insight into understanding of changes at isoform expression level which may not be evident at gene level. In this direction, we utilized our prior knowledge about significant alternatively spliced genes and chose ADAM12 and MUC4 for further characterization in a metastatic cell line model. These genes were found to be good prognostic indicators in The Cancer Genome Atlas database. We studied the gene organization and designed primers to specifically amplify a group of isoforms. Differential expression of these group of isoforms was observed in normal, primary and metastatic colorectal cancer cell lines. We further validated the results using sanger sequencing. Isoform expression was found to respond to the 5-fluorouracil treatment. RNAseq analysis of the cell lines further validated the differential expression of gene isoforms. Successful detection of ADAM12 and MUC4 in cell lysates varied according to the antibody used which may reflect differential expression of isoforms. This comprehensive study underscores the importance of studying alternatively spliced isoforms and their probable used as prognostic or predictive biomarkers.

Precast concrete sandwich panels (PCSP) are energy efficient building system that is achieved through an insulation layer created between the concrete wythes. The insulation layer is usually of low bearing strength material making it more applicable for non-structural building systems. Hence, shear connectors are introduced to improve its structural capacity, which subsequently degrades it thermal performance by serving as thermal bridges across the panel. This article review researches of alternative materials and methods used to improve the thermal efficiency as well as reduced the strength loss due to insulation in PCSP. The alternative materials are basalt fibre reinforced polymer (BFRP), carbon fibre reinforced polymer (CFRP), glass fibre reinforced polymer (GFRP), and foam concrete which are selected due to their low thermal conductivity for use in shear connection. While thermal path method has been used to prevent the effect of thermal bridges. Although, some of these materials have successfully achieved the desirable behaviours, however, several undesirable properties such as brittleness, bond slip, the sudden crushing of the panel system, and FRP failure below its ultimate strength were observed. Hence, the practicality of the alternative materials is still questionable despite its higher cost compared to the conventional steel and concrete used in the PCSP system.

Faba bean (Vicia faba L.) is one of the popular pulse crops grown for traditional consumption, not only in Oman but also in Arabian Peninsula and other countries. In Oman, the famers living in and around high altitude mountain areas mostly grow it. This paper highlights features of variation in seed color and diversity in seed traits found in collected accessions from the joint collecting missions of 2008-2010 between the staff of College of Agriculture, Sultan Qaboos University and the Ministry of Agriculture & Fisheries throughout all the governorates of the Sultanate of Oman. 41 seed samples/accessions were collected from 38 sites. Of these, the highest number of accessions was collected from Batinah South governorate (38) represented mostly by the mountains of Rustaq, followed by the mountains of Interior/Al-Dakhliyah (8), and Dhahira & Buraimi (4). Only one accession was collected from mountains of the Eastern/ Al-Sharqiyah governorates. The seed accessions were found diverse with respect to all seed characters studied, i.e. seed length (cm) and width (cm) and 1000-seed weight (g) besides seed color. The faba bean accessions were classified into 9 genetically diverse clusters based on the Principal Component Analysis, which indicated that the contribution of seed width and 100-seed weight to the total variation existing in indigenous germplasm collected from all the governorates of Oman. It was found from the critical analysis of seed colors that 38 accessions were homogenous (pure) with one color and three were heterogeneous with combinations of colors.

The prolonged exposure to nicotine and the development of nicotine dependence have significant implications for cancer risk. Tobacco use, driven by nicotine addiction, is a major contributing factor to the development of various types of cancer. Smoking tobacco, in particular, has been strongly associated with an increased risk of lung cancer, as well as other malignancies. The harmful chemicals present in tobacco products, including carcinogens, can cause DNA damage and promote the initiation and progression of cancerous cells. This article presents a comprehensive literature review on the neurobiology of nicotine dependence and its implications for tobacco use treatment. Nicotine dependence is a complex phenomenon involving various neurobiological mechanisms. When nicotine enters the body, it binds to nicotinic acetylcholine receptors in the brain's reward circuitry, triggering the release of neurotransmitters like dopamine, serotonin, and norepinephrine. Over time, repeated nicotine exposure leads to neuroadaptive changes in the brain, resulting in increased motivation to seek and use the drug. Understanding the neurobiology of nicotine dependence is crucial for developing effective treatment strategies. Pharmacological interventions, such as nicotine replacement therapy and medications like bupropion and varenicline, can help individuals manage cravings and withdrawal symptoms. Additionally, behavioral therapies and counseling play a vital role in enhancing self-efficacy and providing support for smoking cessation efforts. By reviewing the existing literature, this article sheds light on the intricate neural pathways and processes involved in nicotine addiction. It emphasizes the importance of a multidimensional approach that combines pharmacological treatments and behavioral interventions to address the physiological and psychological aspects of nicotine dependence. This knowledge can inform the development of more targeted and personalized treatment approaches to help individuals overcome tobacco addiction and improve their chances of successful smoking cessation.

This case study explores communication challenges faced by Spotify users, focusing on messaging consistency, personalization, and user feedback mechanisms. Conducted with students at Umm Al Quwain University, the study reveals a disconnect between Spotify's communication and user expectations, impacting engagement and satisfaction. Key findings highlight the need for personalized messaging, improved communication channels, and active user feedback incorporation. By implementing these recommendations, Spotify can bridge the communication gap, enhance user experience, and solidify its position as a leader in user-centricity.

The solid-state technique was utilized to make a single phase of delafossite CuAlO2, along with 1%, 2%, 3% and 4% silver doped CuAlO2 samples in this study. The content of the samples was investigated using energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) equipped with a field emission scanning electron microscope (FE-SEM). The polycrystalline nature of all of the analyzed cases was confirmed by structural analyses utilizing an X-ray diffraction (XRD) pattern with a simple typical peak of CAO rhombohedral phase. Raman, FT-IR and UV–Vis spectroscopy were used to study the structural, and optical energy band gap (Eg) of Ag doped CuAlO2 nanoparticles. The Kubelka–Munk function was used to calculate the optical band gap of ACAO alloys using diffuse reflectance spectra, and it altered as the Ag ion concentration increased. A. c. impedance spectroscopy was used to investigate the dielectric characteristics of Ag doped CuAlO2 nanoparticles.

This research aims to explore the complex interplay between supply chain resilience (SCR), digital supply chain (DSC), and sustainability, focusing on the moderating influence of supply chain dynamism. The goal is to understand how these elements interact within the framework of contemporary supply chain management and how they collectively contribute to enhancing sustainability outcomes. The sample size is 300 CEOs and managers. The study approach integrates quantitative research methods. Structural equation modeling (SEM) is utilized to quantitatively analyze the direct and indirect effects of SCR and DSC on sustainability. The numerous surveys we conduct among supply chain ecosystem stakeholders provide a rich picture of practical implications and contextual nuances. In sum, our early findings generally support a positive relationship between SCR and sustainability in and of itself decrying the need for more resilient supply networks for sustainability. We further find the beneficial impact of digital technologies in promoting sustainability via enhancing environmental control and controlling for efficiency in supply chains. We also offer evidence to show that supply chain dynamism compounds the positive logic between SCR and DSC and sustainability. As a final word, it must be noted that our work speaks to the burgeoning Supply Chain Dynamism as moderator literature by examining the direct and contingent effects of SCR and DSC on not only performance but sustainability. By shedding light on the moderating role of dynamism, the study provides fresh insights into the multifaceted nature of supply chain management and sustainability practices. The study's findings enhance theoretical understanding by elucidating the synergistic effects of SCR, DSC, and sustainability in dynamic supply chain settings. It augments existing theoretical frameworks by integrating concepts of resilience, digitalization, and sustainability into a comprehensive model. Practical and economical, the research offers actionable guidance for organizations aiming to improve sustainability performance through resilient and digitally advanced supply chains. By acknowledging the role of supply chain dynamism, managers can tailor strategies to manage disruptions effectively and leverage digital innovations. Economically, adopting sustainable practices can result in cost savings and competitive advantages. The research emphasizes the importance of aligning supply chain strategies with sustainability goals to drive long-term value and societal impact.

A Savonius wind turbine is one of the simplest vertical-axis turbines. Several researchers have been attracted to it because of its simple structure, low noise, appropriate torque, and independence from wind direction. SR3345 and SR5050 blade profiles will be investigated for their effects on the performance of Savonius wind turbines. First, the fabricated wind turbine is placed in front of an open circuit wind tunnel with a velocity of 6 m/s. Furthermore, governing relationships are used to calculate power and torque coefficients as well as tip speed. In this study, the power and torque coefficients of the turbine are compared with the two profiles considered based on overlap ratios between 0 and 0.3. Despite its increased stability, the central shaft reduced the power coefficient of the turbine. For blade SR3345, the best performance occurs at tip speed ratios of less than 1, while for blade SR5050, the best performance occurs at higher tip speed ratios. Both blades SR3345 and SR5050 achieve the highest power coefficients at overlap ratios of 0 and 0.18 when a central shaft is present.

Recently, the application of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in many areas of life has allowed raising the efficiency of systems and converting them into smart ones, especially in the field of energy. Integrating AI with power systems allows electrical grids to be smart enough to predict the future load, which is known as Intelligent Load Forecasting (ILF). Hence, suitable decisions for power system planning and operation procedures can be taken accordingly. Moreover, ILF can play a vital role in electrical demand response, which guarantees a reliable transitioning of power systems. This paper introduces a Perfect Load Forecasting Strategy (PLFS) for predicting future load in smart electrical grids based on AI techniques. The proposed PLFS consists of two sequential phases, which are; Data Preprocessing Phase (DPP) and Load Forecasting Phase (LFP). In the former phase, input electrical load dataset is prepared before the actual forecasting takes place through two essential tasks, namely feature selection and outlier rejection. Feature selec-tion is done using Advanced Leopard Seal Optimization (ALSO) as a new natural inspired opti-mization technique, Citation: To be added by editorial staff during production. Academic Editor: Firstname Last-name Received: date Revised: date Accepted: date Published: date Copyright: © 2023 by the authors. Submitted for possible open access publication under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). While outlier rejection is accomplished through Interquartile Range (IQR) as a measure of statis-tical dispersion. On the other hand, actual load forecasting takes place in LFP using a new pre-dictor called; Weighted K-Nearest Neighbor (WKNN) algorithm. The proposed PLFS has been tested through excessive experiments. Results have shown that PLFS outperforms recent load forecasting techniques as it introduces the maximum prediction accuracy with the minimum root mean square error.

The research analysed the publications metric of literature regarding the impact of socially responsible investing (SRI) and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) on portfolio and financial performance. The study aimed to determine the latest trends, key themes, authors, and influential journals. Data from the SCOPUS database was used in this study. A total of 1377 research articles from academic journals related to this topic and published from 2013 to 2022, they data was cleaned to remove duplicate, and documents that do not meet the criteria of this study. For this bibliometric analysis, a total of 260 articles were chosen in order to summarise the collective knowledge and emerging patterns in ESG, SRI, ethical, and impact investing, a bibliometric analysis was employed. The thematic map classified the ESG, SRI, and performance relationship themes into four categories of themes: niche themes, motor themes (corporate financial performance, corporate social performance, ESG, ESG factors, sustainability, performance, integrated reporting, gender diversity, and board size), emerging or declining themes (social responsibility, environmental performance, socially responsible investment, ethical investment, and SRI), and basic or transversal themes (financial performance, corporate social performance, ESG performance, environmental, social, and governance). Social responsible investing, engagement, and ESG, implies a position between niche themes and highly developed topic/emerging or decreasing theme, and covid, ROA, while, tobin’s Q, implies a position between highly developed topic/emerging or decreasing theme and basic theme. The findings contribute to the enhanced understanding of ESG, SRI, ethical, and impact investing, which are crucial for an efficient capital market in promoting sustainability and sustainable development. The study offers vital practical implications and future research directions.

Sporadic colorectal cancer (CRC) develops through distinct molecular events. Loss of 18q chromosome is a conspicuous event in the progression of adenoma to carcinoma. There is limited information regarding the molecular effectors of this event. Earlier, we had reported ATP8B1 as a novel gene associated with CRC. ATP8B1 belongs to the family of P-type ATPases (P4 ATPase) that primarily function to facilitate the translocation of phospholipids. In this study, we attempt to implicate ATP8B1 gene located on chromosome 18q as a tumor suppressor gene. We studied indigenous patient data and confirmed the reduced expression of ATP8B1 in tumor samples. CRC cell lines were engineered with reduced and enhanced levels of ATP8B1 which provided a tool to study its role on cancer progression. Forced reduction of ATP8B1 expression either by CRISPR/Cas9 or shRNA was associated with increased growth and proliferation of CRC cell line - HT29. In contrast, overexpression of ATP8B1 resulted in reduced growth and proliferation of SW480 cell line. We generated a network of genes that are downstream of ATP8B1. Further, we provide predicted effect of modulation of ATP8B1 levels on this network and possible effect on fatty acid metabolism related genes. These results provide evidence in support of ATP8B1 being a tumor suppressor that may affect fatty acid metabolism in CRC.

Phytoalexins are naturally-occurring molecules with antimicrobial activity deriving from the secondary metabolism of plants, which are synthesized in response to physical agents or stresses, phytopathogenic agents (fungi, bacteria and viruses) as well as numerous chemical compounds and biological control agents. Among these, grapevine phytoalexins, which belong to the chem-ical group of stilbenes, exhibit biocidal activity against a large number and a variety of plant pathogens. An important issue in research on these compounds is to be able to stimulate their synthesis in planta and to determine whether the induction of their production can serve as a basis for protecting that plant against its pathogens. Quite a few chemical compounds, derivatives of phytohormones bio-elicitors as well as biocontrol agents have been used to induce the synthesis of stilbene phytoalexins with the aim of conferring protection to grapevine against its main dis-eases (gray mold, downy mildew, powdery mildew and esca). This article reviews the experi-ments that have been carried out in this direction during the last thirty years and shows that the observed protective effects towards pathogens are generally linked to induction and priming of the grapevine phytoalexin response, confirming the interest of using, in a more general way, stimulation of the production of phytoalexins in plants as a basis for crop protection.

Discovery of novel variants from data derived from local population provides confident targets for developing biomarkers for personalized medicine. Biomarker discovery would be an important tool in advancing and utilizing the concept of precision and personalized medicine in the clinic. We identified the need to generate high quality sequencing data from local population and understand the pattern of occurrence of variants in colorectal cancer patients. In this report, we used archived samples from Saudi Arabia and used Ampliseq Comprehensive Cancer panel to identify novel somatic variants. We report a comprehensive analysis of next generation sequencing results with a coverage of >300X. We identified 466 novel variants which were previously unreported in COSMIC and ICGC databases. We analyzed the genes associated with these variants in terms of their frequency of occurrence, probable pathogenicity and clinicopathological features. Among pathogenic somatic variants, 174 were identified for the first time in large intestine. APC, RET and EGFR genes were most frequently mutated. Higher number of variants were identified in left colon. Occurrence of variants in ERBB2 was significantly correlated with those of EGFR and ATR genes. Network analyses of the identified genes provide functional perspective of the identified genes and suggest affected pathways and probable biomarker candidates. This report lays the ground work for biomarker discovery and identification of driver gene mutations in local population.

This study presents an innovative approach named Optimal Adaptive Continuous Barrier Function Terminal Sliding Mode Control (OACBF-TSMC) approach with a novel switching manifold, to control mathematical model of nonlinear systems under model uncertainties and external disturbances. The proposed OACBF-TSMC approach combines the advantages of adaptive control, continuous barrier functions, and terminal sliding mode control to achieve robust stability of the mathematical model of nonlinear systems, and by using a genetic algorithm that tries to optimize the controller parameters as much as possible so that the proposed controller is the most to have efficiency and performance. The proposed method is designed to address the challenges of systems and provide superior performance in terms of stabilization accuracy, disturbance rejection, and robustness against uncertainties. However, the critical challenge facing the proposed controller is the complete elimination of the chattering phenomenon, which is the most important problem of ordinary sliding mode controllers. The simulation results show that the system trajectories in the proposed approach have converged to the origin with minimal overshoot and under-shoot in a finite time; In addition, the chattering problem in the control inputs has been well eliminated, which makes the proposed method suitable for various systems, including chaotic systems, energy sources, and distributed production systems. Furthermore, the OACBF-TSMC approach has the potential to enhance the stability and reliability of control systems, contributing to the integration of the system states.

This research paper describes the social engineering concepts, techniques, and security countermeasures. This research aims to study various social engineering techniques to find the best countermeasures that would help to reduce social engineering attacks.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the effect of corporate social responsibility (CSR) on brand image in the apparel industry in Jordan, using the moderating variable of customer consciousness. The current research uses a quantitative, descriptive, cause-effect, and cross-sectional approach, and also it uses a convenience sampling method. Data was collected from 440 respondents. Results indicate that Jordanian Apparel organizations have medium to highly implementing of all items and constructs of CSR, brand image items, and consciousness items. Moreover, there is a strong relationship between CSR dimensions, a medium relationship be-tween each CSR dimension and brand image, a medium relationship between each CSR dimension and consciousness, a medium relationship between total CSR and brand image, a medium relationship between total CSR and consciousness, and the medium relationship between brand image and consciousness. Results of the first model show that total CSR affects the brand image. Where social responsibility has the highest positive effect, followed by ethical responsibility, then economic responsibility, however, environmental responsibility negatively affects the brand image. The second model shows consciousness moderates the effect of CSR on the brand image. The study recommends longitudinal research on the Jordanian Apparel industry, especially to test the effect of environmental responsibility on the brand image. Moreover, the re-search uses customers’ consciousness as a moderating variable, which improves the effect of CSR on brand image. The Apparel industry organizations in Jordan should revise their daily practices particularly environmental responsibility and/or increase their customers’ awareness of their practices. Finally, the current research contributes to existing studies by using consciousness as a moderating variable.

Beta thalassemia is an inherited blood disorder that results in inefficient erythropoiesis due to genetic mutation that leads to reduction or absence of the hemoglobin beta-globulin protein. Approximately 8.5% of UAE residents suffer from β-thalassemia, a significant health and financial problem. The treatment options available for β-Thalassemia major are limited and associated with a wide range of complications. β-thalassemia gene therapy is emerging as a potential novel treatment option that eliminates the complications caused by the current long-term treatment modalities and the associated economic burden. This paper reviews the scientific literature related to emerging gene-therapy for β-Thalassemia by analyzing all the articles published from January 2010 to December 2023 in the English language on Databases like PubMed, Scopus, ProQuest, and CINAHL. The use of gene therapy has demonstrated promising outcomes for a permanent cure of β-Thalassemia. ZYNTEGLO (Betibeglogene autotemcel) is the only cell-based gene therapy which was approved by the FDA on 19th August, 2018. To conclude, Gene therapy is an innovative solution. It demonstrates a promising future, but does come with its own set-backs and is something that must be tackled in-order to revolutionize it in the medical world. FDA approved ZYNTEGLO is a potentially one-time curative treatment for β-Thalassemia. Although cutting-edge, its use is limited because of the high cost; a price of $2.8million per patient.

Natural product especially secondary metabolites that produced by plants under the stressed condition shown to have a different pharmacological impact. Aeluropus lagopoides is one of the typical halophyte plants survivals under stressed conditions. It has been used for wound healing and as a painkiller. The bioactivity and the chemical composition of this plant have poorly investigated. Consequently, chemical components of A. lagopoides leaves were extracted using hexane (nonpolar), ethyl acetate (semi-polar), n-butanol (polar) to extract the most extensive variety of metabolites. The cytotoxicity and anticancer impact of extracted secondary metabolites evaluated against breast (MCF-7), colon (HCT-116), and liver (HepG2) cancer cell lines using SRB test. The mechanism of action verified by observing the appearance of apoptotic bodies using the fluorescent microscope while their antiproliferative impact had been evaluated using flow cytometer. Results revealed that secondary metabolites extracted using hexane and ethyl acetate were having the highest cytotoxicity and thus anticancer activity effect on HepG2 with IC₅₀ (24.29 ± 0.85, 11.22 ± 0.679 µg/mL) respectively. Where apoptotic bodies observed, flow cytometer results exhibited that secondary metabolites can inhibit cell cycle in G0/G1 phase. Accordingly, A. lagopoides hexane and ethyl acetate extracts may consider as a candidate anti-cancer drug.

Numerous companies frequently engage in collaborative cooperation to exchange intelligence rather than resorting to competing strategies to achieve higher levels of intelligence. \textit{Intelligence} is essential in determining \textit{collaborative intelligence} . Intelligence can be discerned by a range of behaviors and actions that go beyond the mere individual observable activity. Collaborative intelligence is often defined as the combined actions of individuals (such as humans and machines) working towards a common goal. It encompasses more than just behaviour and includes other crucial elements such as the sharing of intelligence. The ontological view concerns the system's understanding and representation of information, data, and the fundamental reality it aims to capture and manage. This paper aims to expand upon our previous research on Intelligence in decentralized environments. The methodology utilized in this paper involves employing an ontological view to derive intelligence, encompassing its various forms, such as data, information, and knowledge. The paper explores the fundamental significance of intelligence and semantic integration in supporting the collaborative intelligence framework. Semantic integration is crucial to establishing a shared understanding of individuals' data, information, and concepts. It is fundamental in facilitating effective communication, intelligence sharing, and decision-making within a collaborative environment.

Biofuels have many environmental and practical benefits as a transportation fuel. They are among the best alternatives to fossil fuels due to their capacity for negative carbon emissions, which is vital for archiving the global ambition of a Net-Zero Economy. However, conventional biofuel production takes place on inland sites and relies on freshwater and edible crops (or land suitable for edible crop production), which has led to the food vs fuel debate. It also suffers technical and economical barriers due to the energy balance and the cost of production compared to fossil fuels. Establishing a coastal integrated marine biorefinery (CIMB) system for the simultaneous production of biofuels, high-value chemicals, and other co-products could be the ultimate solution. The proposed system is based on coastal sites and relies on marine resources including seawater, marine biomass (seaweed) and marine microorganisms (marine yeasts and marine microalgae). The system will not require the use of arable land and freshwater in any part of the production chain and will be linked to offshore renewable energy sources to increase its economic and environmental value. This article aims to introduce the CIMB system as a potential vehicle for addressing global warming and speeding the global effort on climate change mitigation as well as increasing global water, food and energy security. I hope this perspective may serve to draw attention into research funding for this approach.

This paper presents multidisciplinary and innovative research concerning fighting against coronavirus through wastewater collection and treatment. Studies suggest that coronavirus exists in the wastewaters. Untreated wastewater is proved to spread the virus. Coronavirus is attacking people globally and shrinking the economy. This paper highlights the idea that the coronavirus shall be defeated with the help of wastewater collection and treatment as well. The question addressed by this paper is will communities defeat the coronavirus without well-collected and treated wastewaters? This research aims to display the role of wastewaters in the spread of coronavirus in cities and to require their collection. The methods to achieve the goals are theoretical surveys, case study strategy, mathematical modeling, statistical procedures, forecasting of future, and dialectical discussions. The findings of this research demonstrate the need for carefully collected and treated wastewaters to overcome the coronavirus. This paper gives suitable techniques to collect and treat wastewater such as wastewater stabilization ponds, bacterial reactors, and anaerobic ponds. The innovative idea of this paper, its suggested indicators to select a certain wastewater treatment technique in every city, and its outcome will assist the global community to fight the coronavirus more effectively.

This research paper is to analyze the planning and design techniques of the tourism complexes in the process of municipalities’ master planning. First, it explains the importance of the tourism industry with the help of theories of scholars and experts. Then, it emphasizes the link between the economic developments of cities/regions with the development of the tourism industry. The innovation of this work is to integrate tourism industry planning and comprehensive regional/ urban planning. The main way of doing this is to plan and design the tourism complexes in the early stages of the master planning of the municipality. Urban land-use policies and locating techniques are suggested through this research. Land-use policies and new urban design models for the regional/urban sustainable development are some of the other handouts in this paper. The outcome of this research is good assistance for engineers, planners, and students of urban and regional development.

Promoting organic foods production and consumption contributes to accomplishing United Nations sustainable development goals. Social commerce provides a promising opportunity to develop the organic food industry. However, there is limited knowledge regarding customer behaviors in relation to purchasing organic foods via social commerce platforms. Therefore, this study expanded upon the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT-2) to develop a comprehensive model that explains how customers' social commerce trust and behavioral intentions to purchase organic foods using Instagram social commerce affect their purchasing behaviors. The research model was analyzed by employing partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) for the data collected from a quantitative survey of 410 customers who used Instagram to purchase organic foods in Iran. The results revealed that facilitated purchasing conditions, hedonic motivations, social influence, rating and reviews, and influencers’ endorsements increase customers' purchase intentions. Moreover, Instagram’s recommendations and referrals, influencers’ endorsements, as well as social influence boost customers' trust in the social commerce platform. Eventually, it was determined that influencers’ endorsements, social commerce trust, and purchase intention determine a customer’s organic foods purchasing behaviors. This research provides valuable insights for organic food marketers to optimize their social commerce strategies.

This study focuses on a new class of functions called sub-b-s-preinvex, that is a generalization of sub-b-s-convex and preinvex functions, and discusses some of their properties. A new sub-b-s-preinvex programming is introduced and the sufficient conditions of optimality under this type of function is established.

Abstract: The empirical soil loss model, RUSLE, was used with a conjunction of remotely sensed data and geographic information system technology to delineate the soil erosion and watershed priorities in terms of conservation practices at seven boundary sub-watersheds (labeled as SW-00, SW-01, …, SW-06) between Iraq and Iran at Ali Al-Gharbi area, southern Iraq. The six factors of the RUSLE model, ie. the rainfall erosivity, the soil erodibility, the slope steepness length, the crop management, and management practice, were calculated or estimated using information from different data sources such as remotely sensed data and previous studies. The finding showed that the annual soil erosion loss ranges from 0 - 1890 (tons h-1 y-1) with an average of 0.66 (tons h-1 y-1). Values of soil erosion were classified into five classes: very low, low, moderate, high, and very high. The potential soil loss in the high and very high classes ranges from 14.84 to 1890 (tons h-1 y-1), and these classes occupy only 27 km2 of the study area, indicating that the soil loss is very low in the area being examined. In terms of the spatial distribution of soil loss, the northern and northeastern parts (mountains and hills) of the sub-watersheds where the slope is steeper are more likely to erode than the plain area in the southern and southeastern portions, indicating that slope, in addition to rainfall erosivity, has a dominant effect on the soil erosion rate. The study of soil erosion in the watersheds under consideration reveals that only the northern portions of the SW-00, SW-02, and SW-04 watersheds require high priority conservation plans; however, these portions are primarily located in mountain regions, making conservation plans implementation in these areas impractical. Due to low soil loss, other sub-watersheds, particularly SW-01, SW-03, SW-05, and SW-06, are given low priority.

Underwater Wireless Sensor Networks (UWSN) enables various oceanic applications which require effective packet transmission. In this case, sparse node distribution, dynamic network topology and inappropriate selection of relay nodes cause void holes. Addressing this problem, we present a Relay based Void Hole Prevention and Repair protocol (ReVOHPR) by multiple Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUV) for UWSN. ReVOHPR efficiently identifies and avoids void holes and trap relay nodes to avoid it. ReVOHPR adopts the following operations as Ocean Depth (levels) based Equal Cluster Formation, Dynamic Sleep Scheduling, Virtual Graph based Routing, and Relay Assisted Void Hole Repair. For energy efficient cluster forming, Entropy based Eligibility Ranking (E2R) is presented which elects stable cluster heads (CHs). Then, dynamic sleep scheduling is implemented Dynamic Kernel Kalman Filter (DK2F) algorithm in which Sleep and Active modes based on the nodes current status. Inter Cluster Routing is performed by maximum matching nodes which selects by Dual criteria and also data transmitted to AUV. Finally, void holes are detected and repair by Bi-Criteria Mayfly Optimization (BiCMO) algorithm. The BiCMO focuses on reducing the number of holes, data packet loss and maximizes Quality of Service (QoS) and energy efficiency of the networks. This protocol is timely deal with node failures in packet transmission via multi-hop routing. Simulation is implemented by NS3 (AquaSim module) simulator that evaluates the performance in network simulation for following metrics as average energy consumption, delay, packet delivery rate and throughput.

Introduction: COVID-19's emergence caused devastating consequences worldwide, with high morbidity and mortality rates. Critically ill patients face challenges like acute respiratory failure requiring intensive measures, including mechanical ventilation. Mortality rates in ARDS are influenced by various factors. This paper focuses on describing characteristics, management, and survival factors of mechanically ventilated ICU patients in Saudi Arabia. Methods: a retrospective, noninterventional approach, we reviewed charts and data of all COVID-19-infected patients who were admitted to the ICU, particularly those requiring ventilation support at Aseer Central Hospital (ACH) in the southern region of Saudi Arabia. Results: The study enrolled 594 COVID patients, mean age 60.5 ± 17.3 years, with 67% males. Approximately half had O negative blood group. Common chronic health issues: diabetes mellitus (35.5%). Positive culture findings in almost 340 (57.2%), with Klebsiella pneumoniae being the most isolated microorganism (45.5%). Significant correlations found with mortality: age, blood culture, Rh positive group (P<0.05). Conclusion: this study provides critical insights into the clinical and epidemiological aspects of COVID-19 patients admitted to the ICU in a Saudi Arabian hospital. The research underscores the impact of age, comorbidities, laboratory markers, and treatment interventions on patient out-comes, emphasizing the significance of tailored management strategies in this context.

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) is known for its high car ownership and usage as well its high GDP per capita. This is combined with low/ or no provision of public transportation (PT) systems, has been resulting in perceptual attitudes of full dependency on private car travel. The level of awareness of the benefits of reducing car use and increasing the travel by more sustainable options, has a great impact on social change and behaviour. The Kingdom is currently progressing towards a new phase of “national transfer” through implementation of strategic and sustainable measures and programs. The city of Riyadh is construction a massive metro-system in Riyadh, that is nearing completion and operation. The public is aware of the national agenda, aware of the newly constructed projects and aware of the needed social change to realize the new vision of the country. This paper aims to assess travel behaviour and attitudes towards public transportation of Saudi travellers’ who are witnessing the new transformation in the Kingdom and who are aware of the new sustainable projects. Depicted from the theory of random utility, a discrete choice model of the intent to use public transportation is calibrated as a function of social and attitudinal factors. An online survey was designed and carried out using social media means; a completed 399 questionnaires have been obtained and studied. The methodology includes examining attitudes and preferences of the participants towards using public transportation options against participants’ socio-economic data. The analysis was carried out using ordinal logistic regression analysis (OLR) which is an efficient technique that is derived from the theory of random utility. The results show a good support for PT; a higher support for public transportation modes, form participants who are young females, lower income groups and the university graduates were reported. The level of support seems higher with the higher level of awareness about the new PT system.

(1) Background: Breast cancer (BC) is the second largest cause of mortality in female worldwide. Besides from basic risk factors, there are several hereditary variables that contribute to BC. Breast cancer has been linked to a variety of nuclear DNA changes as well as mitochondrial DNA alterations. The aim of this study was to analysis the association of mitochondrial tRNA leucine2 gene with BC. (2) Material and methods: In the current study, 24 samples have been collected from various families in Peshawar. DNA was extracted from Blood. PCR was used to amplify the mitochondrial tRNA MT-TL2 gene, and 22 samples were sequenced. The sequence was compared with accession #NC-012920.1 of the revised Cambridge Reference Sequence (rCRS). (3) Results: The results (Chromatograph, nucleotide sequence and rCRS alignment) shows mutations in mitochondrial tRNA MT-TL2 gene in our participants is not the cause of Breast cancer. (4) Conclusion: Yet, a significant number of BC patients must be studied, and their full mitochondrial DNA must be analyzed. This will provide an indication of the potential DNA marker that might be used to prevent BC deaths at the earliest stages.

Carbon fiber reinforced polymers (CFRPs) are being used extensively in modern industries that require high strength-to-weight ratio such as aerospace, automotive, motorsport, and sports equipment. However, although reinforcement with carbon fibers improves the mechanical properties of polymer, this comes on the expense of abrasive wear resistance. Therefore, to efficiently utilize CFRPs in dry sliding contacts, solid lubricant is used as a filler. Further, to facilitate fabrication of objects with complex geometries, selective laser sintering (SLS) can be employed. Accordingly, in the present work, graphite-filled carbon fiber-reinforced polyamide 12 (CFR-PA12) specimens were prepared using SLS process to explore the dry sliding friction and wear characteristics of the composite. The test specimens were aligned along four different orientations in the build chamber of SLS machine to determine the orientation-dependent tribological properties. The experiments were conducted using pin-on-disc tribometer to measure the coefficient of friction (COF), interface temperature, friction-induced noise, and specific wear rate. In addition, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) of tribo-surfaces was conducted to specify the dominant wear pattern. The results indicated that the steady state COF, contact temperature, and wear pattern of graphite-filled CFR-PA12 are orientation-independent, and that the contact temperature is likely to approach an asymptote far below the glass transition temperature of amorphous PA12 zones, thus eliminating the possibility of matrix softening. Additionally, the results showed that the Z-oriented specimen exhibits the lowest level of friction-induced noise along with the highest wear resistance. Moreover, SEM of tribo-surfaces determined that abrasive wear is the dominant wear pattern.

Load variations in any power system result in losses escalation and voltage drops. With the sensible and optimal allocation of distributed generators (DGs), these problems could be considerably mitigated. It has been seen in the priorly existing methods that ideally allocation of DGs has been carried out during fixed loads and constant power requirements. However, in real scenarios the loads are always variable and allocation of DGs must be done in accordance to the variations of the connected load. Therefore, the current paper addressed the aforementioned problem by distinctive optimal allocation of DGs for each variability of 24hour load horizon. However, the single exclusive solution is considered among all allocations of 24 hours. The min-max regret concept has been utilized in order to deal with such methodology. Altogether, 24 scenarios are analyzed wherein each scenario corresponds to a specific hour of the respective day. The optimal allocation of DGs in terms of their optimal sizing and placement has been carried out by using three algorithms including battle royal optimization (BRO), accelerated particle swarm optimization (APSO) and genetic algorithm (GA). The multi-objective optimization problem is evaluated on the basis of minimum value criterion of the multi-objective index (MO). MO comprises of active and reactive power losses and voltage deviation. Hence, in order to find robustness of proposed technique, Conseil international des grands réseaux electriques (CIGRE’s) MV benchmark model incorporating 14 buses has been considerably used as a test network. In the end the results of three proposed algorithms have been compared.

External audit reliance issues on the internal audit function (IAF) are increasingly important in financial auditing, yet its application in audit engagements lags behind other applications. Despite the belief that audit reliance will shape auditing in the future, limited and intervalley publications explore this transformative potential. This paper investigates the increasing importance of external audit reliance issues in financial auditing. It investigates the use of the IAF in external audit reliance decisions and its potential to enhance audit quality, process transparency, and stakeholders' credibility. Through a systematic literature review of 68 scientific articles from 1984 to 2022, factors influencing external auditors' dependence on the IAF are analyzed, including IAF work quality, assistance type, organizational factors, customer pressure, and business risk. The review highlights the IAF's crucial role in improving financial reporting integrity and external audit effectiveness. However, the challenges that allowed external auditors to decide whether to rely on the works of IAF like limited disclosures and accessible data hinder assessing IAF reliance effects, leading to information asymmetry that may impact stakeholder confidence. The paper discusses implications, limitations, and future research directions to explore technology adoption and optimize audit practices, promoting transparency in the audit process.

Recent years have witnessed significant advances in reinforcement learning (RL), which has registered remarkable success in solving various sequential decision-making problems in machine learning. Most of the successful RL applications, e.g., the games of Go and Poker, robotics, and autonomous driving, involve the participation of more than one single agent, which naturally fall into the realm of multi-agent RL (MARL), a domain with a relatively long history, and has recently re-emerged due to advances in single-agent RL techniques. Although, typically, the communication protocol between agents is manually specified and not altered during training, recently, some papers have shown signs of trying to emerge a communication between agents on the one hand and, on the other hand, to understand what is exchanged between agents. So, there is a growing body of literature on this topic which includes qualitative and quantitative studies and the ones that apply mixed methods. This study presents the scoping review of the methodological strategies undertaken in a total of 16 research articles. The results present the critical appraisal of quantitative methods in terms of validity and reliability and for qualitative methods considering four trustworthiness factors. In the end, relevant insights are further explored with implications and reflections on how they can benefit one's research in the field.

This paper reviews the low-resilience problem in many cities, poor designs of cities to cope with disasters, and the need for tolerance of urban constructions. It explores answers concerning the question of how shall we build cities resiliently? The method of this applied research is a multiphase process that considers all physical and socioeconomic elements of a city. It introduces six indicator groups of urban management (M), economy (E), built environments (U), Infrastructures (I), natural environments (N), and health protection (H). The groups include 55 indicators as variables in the mathematical calculations in this paper. This paper builds a mathematical model to maximize the profitability of resilient buildings by optimizing investments in the required projects. The projects will upgrade the firmness and tolerance of cities against nature-based and human-made dangers and risks. There is a linear programming in 55 variables to select optimal solutions from fifty-five factorial alternatives. Then, the programming will develop into non-linear programming. The unique innovation of this paper is its linear programming interpretation by non-linear to give optimal solutions for the problem. Applying the Lagrange function in the Kuhn-Tucker conditions proves the accuracy of the hypothesis that post-COVID urbanization requires maximum resilience. Only in this way, the urban economies will be free of risks. Outcomes in this paper will assist in the pre-planning, design, and building of built environments everywhere resilient and sustainable.

This paper discusses devastating urban floods in the year 2019 that caused human and socioeconomic losses in many countries, including Iran. The main question addressed by this paper is the choice between two flood management models, namely, the optimal and nature-based flood management or the existing hazardous situation that damage the ecosystem and natural resources. The analysis of this paper will find the main responsible factors in the mentioned floods in Iran. For this reason, it examines the impacts of the existing flood management that neglects the ecosystems, environmental components, and nature. The method of this research includes theoretical studies, case studies with the help of structured interviews, and observations. A benchmarking technique compares the two alternatives. The comparisons use seven indicators abstracted from successful global experiences and local knowledge. Finally, this research presents a model for optimal flood management that is applicable everywhere in the world.

In present paper, spatial Minkowski Pythagorean Hodograph (MPH) curves are characterized with Rational Rotation Minimizing Frames (RRMFs). We define Euler-Rodrigues Frame (ERF) for MPH curves and by means of this concept, we reach the definition of MPH curves of type (n, m). Expressing the conditions provided by these curves in the form of Minkowski-Hopf map that we define, it is aimed to establish a connection with the Lorentz force which occurs during the process of Computer Numerical Control (CNC) type sinker Electronic Discharge Machines (EDMs). This approach is reinforced by split quaternion polynomials. Finally, we give conditons satisfied by MPH curves of low degree to be type (n, m) and construct illustrative examples.

Rhenium Disulfide (ReS2) has evolved as a novel 2D transition-metal dichalcogenide (TMD) material which has promising applications in optoelectronics and photonics because of its distinctive anisotropic attributes. In this review, we emphasize on formulating saturable absorbers (SAs) based on ReS2 to produce Q-switched and mode-locked pulsed lasers of diverse operation wavelengths like 1 μm, 1.5 μm, 2 μm, and 3 μm. We outline ReS2 synthesis techniques and integration platforms concerning solid-state and fiber-type lasers. We discuss the laser performance based on SAs attributes. Lastly, we draw conclusions and outlook by recommending additional improvements for SA devices so as to advance the domain of ultrafast photonic technology.

This work probes the combined effects of magnetic field and viscous dissipation on heat field and examine the second law analysis (entropy generation) in an electrically conducting fluid under the effect of wall mass transfer over continuous stretched non-isothermal surface with variable viscosity. The viscosity of the fluid is assumed to be an inverse linear function of temperature. The governing equation for the problem are changed to dimensionless ordinary differential equations by using similarity transformation and solved numerically by using Rung Kutta and Shooting technique. Velocity, concentration and temperature distribution are obtained and used to compute the entropy generation and the Bejan number in the flow field. The effect of variable viscosity, Schmidt number, Hartman and Reynolds number on the velocity, concentration, temperature, entropy generation and Bejan number are studied and discussed.

With the rapid expansion of intelligent resource-constrained devices and high-speed communication technologies, Internet of Things (IoT) has earned a wide recognition as the primary standard for low-power lossy networks (LLNs). Nevertheless, IoT infrastructures are vulnerable to cyber-attacks due to the constraints in computation, storage, and communication capacity of the endpoint devices. From one side, the majority of newly developed cyber-attacks are formed by slightly mutating formerly established cyber-attacks to produce a new attack tending to be treated as a normal traffic through the IoT network. From the other side, the influence of coupling the deep learning techniques with cybersecurity field has become a recent inclination of many security applications due to their impressive performance. In this paper, we provide a comprehensive development of a new intelligent and autonomous deep learning-based detection and classification system for cyber-attacks in IoT communication networks leveraging the power of convolutional neural networks, abbreviated as (IoT-IDCS-CNN). The proposed IoT-IDCS-CNN makes use of the high-performance computing employing the robust CUDA based Nvidia GPUs and the parallel processing employing the high-speed I9-Cores based Intel CPUs. In particular, the proposed system is composed of three subsystems: Feature Engineering subsystem, Feature Learning subsystem and Traffic classification subsystem. All subsystems are developed, verified, integrated, and validated in this research. To evaluate the developed system, we employed the NSL-KDD dataset which includes all the key attacks in the IoT computing. The simulation results demonstrated more than 99.3% and 98.2% of cyber-attacks’ classification accuracy for the binary-class classifier (normal vs anomaly) and the multi-class classifier (five categories) respectively. The proposed system was validated using k-fold cross validation method and was evaluated using the confusion matrix parameters (i.e., TN, TP, FN, FP) along with other classification performance metrics including precision, recall, F1-score, and false alarm rate. The test and evaluation results of the IoT-IDCS-CNN system outperformed many recent machine-learning based IDCS systems in the same area of study.

The ameliorative effect ethanolic extract of M. oleifera (MO) leaves in combination of curcumin against seizures, cognitive impairment & oxidative stress PTZ-induced kindled rats. Molecular docking was performed to predict the potential phytochemical of MO and curcumin against Epilepsy. The effect of pretreatment with leaves of M. oleifera ethanolic extracts (MOEE) (250, 500mg/kg, orally), curcumin (200 and 300 mg/kg, orally), valproic acid used as standards (100mg/kg) and combined effect of MOEE (250mg/kg) and curcumin (200mg/kg) at low dose, on pentylenetetrazole (PTZ)-induced kindling. For the development of kindling the individual Wistar rats (Male) were injected pentyletetrazole (40 mg/kg, i.p.) on every alternate day. Molecular Docking has been done by AutoDock4.2 tool to merge the ligand orientations in the binding cavity. From the RCSB website, the crystal structure of Human Glutathione reductase (PDB ID: 3DK9) was obtained. Curcumin and MOEE showed dose-dependent effect. The combined effects of leaves of MOEE & curcumin significantly improved the seizure score and decreased the number of myo-clonic jerks in compare with standard dose of valproic acid. PTZ kindling induced a significant oxidative stress and cognitive impairment which was reversed by pretreatment with MOEE & curcumin. Glutathione reductase (GR) is an enzyme, which plays key role in the cellular control of reactive oxygen species (ROS). Therefore, activating GR can uplift the antioxidant property, which leads to the inhibition of ROS induced cell death in brain. The combination of ethanolic extract of M. oleifera (MOEE) leaves and curcumin have shown better result than any other combination for antiepileptic effect by virtue of antioxidant effects. As per docking study showed that the chloro-genic acid and quercetin is treated with the combination of curcumin can be much more potential.

Scientific studies on the impact of wood species on solid fuel production, performance, and sustainability are grossly inadequate. The knowledge of this is imperative as users of solid fuels are increasing rapidly, especially in Africa. On this note, it becomes necessary to explore measures that will improve its efficiency and sustainability as an energy source. This study investigates some properties of selected wood species used as an energy source in Nigeria and their pelleting potential. Nine (9) samples were characterized and assessed for suitability of pelleting following four wood pellet quality standards. The findings revealed Anogeissus leiocarpus as the species with the best rating score in terms of fuel properties while Vitellaria paradoxa as the lowest. However, in terms of conformity with the four wood pellets standards, Khaya senegalensis, Parkia biglobosa and Anogeissus leiocarpus having presented density, calorific value, sulfur, arsenic, cadmium, and lead within the limits of the wood pellet quality standards were considered the best wood species in terms of fuel suitability and pelleting potential. The findings therefore suggest that not all wood species are suitable as fuel. Thus, for species that do not meet the standard wood pellet requirements, alternatives such as the use of biomass blends, additives, or process adjustments can be employed to adapt the quality to the standards or by using the fuels in improved cookstoves.

The ubiquitous problem of electrical energy waste is driven by human error, in which people regularly forget to turn off appliances when they leave a room, resulting in excessive consumption. The paper presents an energy-efficient TRIZ-inspired (EETRIZ) paradigm to automate consumer electronic devices in order to address this problem. Employing motion detection at entry and exit points, the system discerns room occupancy, effectively managing electrical appliances like lamps, fans, and air conditioners. The integration of theory of inventive problem solving (TRIZ) principles guides the ideation and design of an efficient switching mechanism. The system demonstrates that it is flexible by controlling multiple electronic consumer devices simultaneously. This paradigm can be used in a variety of environments, such as homes, offices, schools, and universities, and its goal is to reduce excessive energy use that results from human negligence. With an emphasis on economic viability and environmental impact, the proposed EETRIZ paradigm not only offers enhanced energy efficiency but also lays the groundwork for long-term sustainability practices, aligning with global efforts towards greener and smarter energy management. The proposed EETRIZ is implemented on C platform with support of MPLAB, Nuvoton 8051 Serie MCU Programming, GMPLibrary (GMP-5.1.1) and, Miracl Library. The proposed EETRIZ outperforms current state-of-the-art methods in terms of energy efficiency, cost-effectiveness, precision, and user-friendliness, according to hardware testing.

Hyperlipidemia is an identified risk factor for metabolic syndrome, obesity and cardiovascular complications characterized by elevated levels of lipids in blood. The present study aimed to inhibit HMG-CoA reductase with 15-oxoursolic acid through in-vivo and in-silico assessments. HFD-induced hyperlipidemia in rats was developed with a marked increase in total cholesterol (58.34 ± 0.21 mg/dl), triglycerides (45.45 ± 0.39 mg/dl), LDL-c (66.12 ± 0.10 mg/dl), VLDL-c (19.34 ± 0.16 mg/dl), and a decrease in HDL-c (10.34 ± 0.18 mg/dl). The oral administration of 15-oxoursolic acid at a concentration of 30 mg/Kg b.w significantly reduced the serum concentration of total cholesterol (42.65 ± 0.54 mg/dl), triglycerides (32.33 ± 0.16 mg/dl), LDL-c (50.34 ± 0.15 mg/dl) and VLDL-c (13.15 ± 0.45 mg/dl) respectively and an increased in the serum HDL-c (18.56 ± 0.34 mg/dl). 15-oxo ursolic acid also caused a decrease in the coronary risk index and atherogenic risk index. In-silico studies of 15-oxoursolic acid with HMG-CoA reductase showed significant interaction capability with binding energy (-9.26805 Kcal/mol). It is concluded that 15-oxoursolic acid could significantly reduce the total cholesterol, triglycerides and LDL levels in HFD-induced hyperlipidemia rats which might lead to new medication with significant hypolipidemic potential.

This article describes a simple Susceptible Infected Recovered (SIR) model fitting with COVID-19 data for the month of march 2020 in New York (NY) state. The model is a classical SIR, but is non-autonomous; the rate of susceptible people becoming infected is adjusted over time in order to fit the available data. The death rate is also secondarily adjusted. Our fitting is made under the assumption that due to limiting number of tests, a large part of the infected population has not been tested positive. In the last part, we extend the model to take into account the daily fluxes between New Jersey (NJ) and NY states and fit the data for both states. Our simple model fits the available data, and illustrates typical dynamics of the disease: exponential increase, apex and decrease. The model highlights a decrease in the transmission rate over the period which gives a quantitative illustration about how lockdown policies reduce the spread of the pandemic. The coupled model with NY and NJ states shows a wave in NJ following the NY wave, illustrating the mechanism of spread from one attractive hot spot to its neighbor.

Neuro-rehabilitation services are essential in reducing post-stroke impairments, enhancing independence, and improving recovery in hospital and post-discharge. However these services are therapist-dependent and resource intensive. Patients’ disengagement and boredom in stroke units are common which adversely affect functional and psychological outcomes. Novel techniques such as use of iPads™ are increasingly researched to overcome such challenges. The aim of this review is to determine the feasibility, effectiveness, acceptability, and barriers to the use of iPads™ in stroke neuro-rehabilitation. Four databases and manual literature search were used to identify published studies using the terms “iPad”, “Stroke”, and “neuro-rehabilitation”. Studies were included in accordance with the review selection criteria. A total of 16 articles were included in the review. The majority of the studies focused on iPads use in speech and language therapy. Although of small scale, the studies highlighted that iPads are feasible, have the potential to improve rehabilitation outcomes, and can improve patient’s social isolation. Patients’ stroke severity and financial limitations are some of the barriers highlighted in this review. This review presents preliminary data supportive for the use of iPad technology in stroke neuro-rehabilitation. However, further research is needed to determine impact on rehabilitation goals acquisition, clinical efficacy, and cost-efficiency.

In the present work we study the properties of geodesic sub-$ (\alpha,b,s) $-preinvex functions on Hadamard manifolds and establish some basic properties in both general and differential cases. Further, we study sufficient conditions of optimality and proved some new inequalities under geodesic sub-($ \alpha,b,s $)-preinvexity.

Many assumptions exist about online learning and its impact on college students. Hitherto, the views of those meant to be the beneficiaries of this technology have been given little consideration despite the fact that students use cyberspace for academic work and beyond. This qualitative case-study report is based on research conducted by college students at a private university in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia. The aim was to examine the online learning experiences of their peers during the first wave of the coronavirus global pandemic, with a view to understand how prepared their university is for an academic genre located in cyberspace. The findings are based on the perspectives of 2,298 college students responding to a survey administered to the entire student population comprising around 9,000 individuals. They suggest that increasing opportunities for cyberlearning could have positive effects on students. Also provided is cautionary advice about the need to improve teaching pedagogies and combat academic dishonesty.

Long-term health consequences are influenced by circumstances that occur during pregnancy. The confluence of the maternal and fetal circulations occurs at the placenta, which is the first or-gan to develop. Placental pathology can provide an accurate diagnosis of inflammation inside the amniotic sac. The pathological alterations of preterm placentas provide evidence for the causes of numerous perinatal pathologies, including spontaneous preterm births. This retrospec-tive study aimed to re-examine placentas regarded as normal by the Obstetrics and Gynecology Department in our institution so that grading and staging of any evident inflammatory response could be evaluated and associated with baby gender. Eighty-four full-term placentas were col-lected after delivery. Placentas that were considered normal and were not sent to the histo-pathology department were taken. Morphological examination of fresh placenta was conducted. Full thicknesses of placenta samples were taken from central and marginal regions of placental disc. Fetal and maternal inflammatory responses syndrome were assessed. Villitis of unknown etiology (VUE) and chronic deciduitis also were evaluated in the placenta. Immunohistochemis-try (IHC) was also performed to evaluate patterns of inflammation in the placenta using an-ti-CD8 and anti-CD68 antibodies. The correlation between the silent pathologies and clinical complications or involvement of developing fetal inflammatory response syndrome was meas-ured. In this study, seventeen (20%) maternal inflammatory samples and ten (12%) fetal inflam-matory samples showed inflammatory responses. The frequency of chronic deciduitis and villi-tis of unknown etiology was more remarkable among Saudi pregnant women than the previ-ously reported findings in the literature of placental pathology. The prevalence of fetal and ma-ternal inflammatory response was greater in the placentas of mothers of males than in placentas of female mothers. Grading placental inflammation usually predict the degree of maternal an-ti-fetal cellular rejection. Fetal inflammatory response syndrome usually goes unnoticed in Sau-di Arabia. There are differences in the inflammatory response in the placenta based on the sex of the newborn. Increasing the number of placental samples that must be sent for microscopic in-spection may be preferable due to their significance in identifying the causes of chronic disor-ders.

The excited-state lifetimes of the anticoagulant drug warfarin (W) in water and in the absence and presence of methyl-β-cyclodextrins (Me-β-CD) were recorded using time-resolved fluorescence measurements. Selective excitation of the open and cyclic protonated isomers of W were acquired with laser emitting diodes (LED) producing 320 and 280 nm excitation pulses, respectively. Formation of the inclusion complex was checked by UV–visible absorption spectroscopy, and the values of binding constants (2.9 × 10³ M^–1 and 4.2 × 10² M^–1 for protonated and deprotonated forms, respectively) were extracted from the spectrophotometric data. Both absorption and time-resolved fluorescence results established that the interior of the macromolecular host binds preferentially the open protonated form, red shifts the maximum of its absorption of light at ~305 nm, extends its excited-state lifetime, and decreases its emission quantum yield (ФF). Collectively, sequestration of the open guest molecules decreases markedly their radiative rate constants (kr), likely due to formation of hydrogen-bonded complexes in both the ground and excited states. Due to lack of interactions, no change was observed in the excited-state lifetime of the cyclic form in the presence of Me-β-CD. The host also increases the excited-state lifetime and ФF of the drug deprotonated form (W¯). These later findings could be attributed to the increased rigidity inside the cavity of Me-β-CD. The pKa values extracted from the variations of the UV–visible absorption spectra of W versus the pH of aqueous solution showed that the open isomer is more acidic in both ground and excited states. The positive shifts in pKa values induced by three derivatives of cyclodextrins: HE-β-CD, Ac-β-CD, and Me-β-CD supported the preferential binding of these hosts to open isomers over cyclic.

Pakistan relies mostly on fossil fuel for fulfilling its energy demand which is expensive as 11 well as not friendly for the environment. The need of the hour is to shift from fossil fuels to renew-12 able energy resources like geothermal, wind, solar etc. to cater for global warming issues. Pakistan 13 has a lot of potential geothermal sites because of several fault lines and hot springs. A sound 14 knowledge of ground temperature is essential to use geothermal energy, which is obtained by drill-15 ing boreholes and putting sensors making it an expensive procedure. Thus, to avoid huge cost for 16 drilling bore holes, particularly for ground temperature analysis, a numerical approach has been 17 considered for determining ground temperature. Furthermore, correlation charts between air and 18 ground temperatures have been developed as there were no proper studies on the ground temper-19 ature of Pakistan. Then, with the help of a boreholes drilled in National University of Sciences and 20 Technology Islamabad Pakistan, the actual ground and numerically calculated temperatures have 21 been compared which shows an error margin in the range between 0.27% for higher depths to 7.3% 22 near surface. Thus, it is shown that the proposed method is easy to implement and better than large 23 scale testing methods for the depths at which geothermal energy is extracted.

This paper aims to investigate impact of employees’ gender on OCB as per the employees’ perception in Jordanian governmental hospitals. A convenient sample of 126 employees working in the three main governmental hospitals in north of Jordan has been taken for the purpose of this study. The collected data includes linguistic terms that suffer from uncertainty which, in turn, cannot be dealt with traditional numerical values. The result prove that gender impact on OCB has shown statistically significant differences at (α=0.05) as far as altruism, courtesy, and civic virtue are concerned; and this variable stands in favor of males with the total score of 0.011%. Similarly, as far as the effect of age factor on OCB is concerned, there have been statistically significant differences at (α=0.05) in relation to courtesy, sportsmanship, and civic virtue with the total score of 0.27%. Finally, the results provide a baseline data for further studies which may contribute more significant in the field of OCB.

The use of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) in natural killer (NK) cells for cancer therapy is gaining momentum, marking a significant shift in cancer treatment. This review aims to explore the potential of CAR-NK cell therapy in cancer immunotherapy, providing a fresh perspective. It discusses the innovative approaches in CAR-NK cell design and engineering, particularly targeting refractory or recurrent cancers. By comparing CAR-NK cells with traditional therapies, the review highlights their unique ability to tackle tumor heterogeneity and immune system suppression. Additionally, it explains how novel cytokines and receptors can enhance CAR-NK cell efficacy, specificity, and functionality. The review underscores the advantages of CAR-NK cells, including reduced toxicity, lower cost, and broader accessibility compared to CAR-T cells, along with their potential in treating both blood cancers and solid tumors.

Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) encompasses technologies, services, and applications facilitating communication between vehicles (V2V) and between vehicles and fixed infrastructure (V2I and I2V). This mutual interaction constitutes a Vehicular Ad-Hoc Network (VANET) which supports a plethora of applications targeting critical transportation aspects, such as safety, mo-bility, and environmental considerations. Dedicated Short Range Communications (DSRC), op-erating on the 5.9 GHz band, is pivotal for such exchanges. We introduced an innovative algorithm designed to identify jamming attacks and transition the Safety Application to a secure fail-safe mode. This algorithm leverages a dual-metric strategy, incorporating both distance and PDR measurements. Field tests confirm that our algorithm adeptly recognizes the activities of deceptive jammers, ensuring a prompt shift of the safety application into its fail-safe state. This paper delves into these countermeasures, evaluating their efficiency via mathematical modelling, simulations, and on-ground testing. Findings acknowledge that these strategies bolster the reliability of safety applications in jamming scenarios. Furthermore, the approaches propounded align with ongoing standardization endeavours by relevant authorities, ensuring communication mediums remain unhindered.

Inflation is a crucial macroeconomic indicator which measures changes in the general level of prices of goods and services. In recent years, a series of successive events affected the inflation rates. To fight this increase in inflation, governments start to take different actions through their monetary and fiscal policies. In this research 10 independent parameters were used to see their effect on inflation rates. Some are traditional like GDP, Population, and exchange rate while others are some new technology related parameters like E-money payments transactions and number of Institutions offering payment services/instruments. The dependent parameter is the consumer price index (CPI). All parameters were taken in 8 years period (2013-2020). Supervised machine learning is used to run a robust regression model. The results show that technology advancement in payments is not a catalyst for price inflation if it is used properly and under regulations and control monetary policies. The results direct regulators to have a good understanding of the situation and take the right action in their policies of adopting fintech businesses.

This paper presents a new adaptive and optimal algorithm for the trajectory tracking control of a quadrotor using iterative learning algorithm (ILA) and enumerative learning algorithm. Ordinarily the ILA, as an adaptive method, can perform well with PID control to improve the controller’s performance for a nonlinear system. Quadrotors are considered as non-linear and unstable systems which the use of an adaptive and optimal controller can increase its stability and decrease error level. In this method, a PID controller is proposed for the outer and inner control loops of a quadrotor and the ILA is used to adapt PID control gains. Subsequently, an enumerative learning algorithm is used to optimize the learning rates of the ILA. For this purpose, at first, the dynamic model of the quadrotor is acquired. After that, the structure of the inner and outer control loops is defined. In the end, the simulation results for the trajectory tracking control of a quadrotor are demonstrated. Through simulation, it is concluded that as time increases, the performance of the suggested control method in trajectory tracking control becomes better and better and error signals convergence to zero.

Land degradation monitoring and assessment in the Sahel zone has relied substantially on temporal trends of remote sensing-based vegetation indices, which are proxies for the bioproductivity of the land. However, prior studies have shown that negative or positive trends in bioproductivity are not necessarily associated with degradation or improvement of land condition. In this short communication, while acknowledging the contributions of remote sensing-based indices and global-scale datasets to dismantling an outdated desertification narrative, we argue that local land users have much to contribute to our understanding of land degradation, and particularly to ensuring that scientific assessments of degradation capture variables relevant to them. We used the participatory photo elicitation method in three sites in the Senegalese Ferlo in order to elicit local pastoralists’ perspectives on land degradation and identify the indicators that they use to characterize pasture quality, while empowering them to lead the discussion. The discussion revealed indicators far beyond bioproductivity, including livestock performance as well as composition and quality of the herbaceous and woody vegetative cover, invasive species, soil quality and water availability. We found that the pastoralists’ knowledge and interest in the issue could potentially be harnessed more systematically, and at larger scales, in order to build a spatially explicit field-based knowledge base of land degradation complementary to remote sensing-based maps of trends in bioproductivity. Such a dataset could serve as a standalone product or as a reference dataset for development and validation of remote sensing-based indicators.

Pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (PNETs) are characterized by dysregulated signaling pathways that are crucial for tumor formation and progression. The efficacy of traditional therapies is limited, particularly in treatment of PNETs at advanced stage. Epigenetic alterations profoundly impact the activity of signaling pathways in cancer development, offering potential opportunities for drug development. There is currently a lack of extensive research on epigenetic regulation in PNETs. To fill this gap, we first summarize major signaling events which are involved in PNET development. Then, we discuss the epigenetic regulation of these signaling pathways in the context of both PNET and commonly occurring, and therefore more extensively studied, malignancies. Finally, we will offer perspective on the future research direction of PNET epigenome and its potential applications in patient care.

Herbal Coffee is getting more popular due to its unique flavor and higher concentration of bioactive compounds, mainly polyphenols. Rosemary is a unique herb with potent antioxidant properties. A green technique called ultrasound aids in releasing bioactive substances from the plant cell wall. In this context, ultrasound-assisted herbal coffee prepared and their anti-diabetic, anti-Alzheimer, and antioxidant activities were measured while the LC/MS was used to determine the bioactive components from the herbal coffee infusion. A total of 95 secondary metabolites were putatively reported, including alkaloids, phenolic acids, and flavonoids, which we identified in the herbal coffee infusion. The total phenolic content (61.5 ± 5.1 mg GAE/g), total flavonoid content (19.3 ± 0.9 mg QE/g), and total condensed tannin (7.6 ± 0.7 mg CE/g) of herbal coffee infusion were observed to be highest of the two remaining samples. The herbal coffee extracts were used to determine all samples' antioxidant, anti-diabetic, and anti-Alzheimer activities. Using LC-MS/MS, we semi-quantified 19 phenolic metabolites. The results show numerous bioactive components in herbal coffee infusion with more potent antioxidant, antidiabetic, and anti-Alzheimer potential. Moreover, more studies must be conducted to confirm how the metabolomic profile of herbal coffee affects its flavor profile.

This study investigated the evolution of density, gas permeability and thermal conductivity of sugar maple wood during the thermo-hygro-mechanical densification process. The results suggested that the oven-dry average density of densified samples was significantly higher than that of the control samples. However, the oven-dry density did not show a linear increase with the decrease of wood samples thickness. The radial intrinsic gas permeability of the control samples was 5 to 40 times higher than that of densified samples, which indicated that the void volume of wood was reduced notably after the densification process. The thermal conductivity increased by 0.5 - 1.5% per percent increase of moisture content for densified samples. The thermal conductivity of densified wood was lower than that of the control samples. The densification time had significant effects on the oven-dry density and gas permeability. Both the densification time and the moisture content had significant effects on thermal conductivity, but their interaction effect was not significant.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the third most common cause of cancer-related deaths. Classically, liver transplantation (LT) can be curable for HCC tumors within the Milan criteria. Bridging strategies to reduce the dropouts from LT waiting lists or/and to downstage patients who are beyond Milan criteria are widely utilized. We conducted a literature-based review to evaluate the role of systemic therapies as a bridging treatment to liver transplantation (LT) in HCC patients. Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitors (TKIs) can be used as a bridging systemic therapy to LT in patients with contraindication to locoregional liver-directed therapies. Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors (ICIs) treatment can be utilized either as a monotherapy or as a combination therapy with Bevacizumab or TKIs prior to LT. Acute rejection post liver transplantation is a concern in the context of ICIs treatment. Thus, a safe ICI washout period before LT and cautious post-LT immunosuppression strategies are required to reduce post-LT rejections and to optimize clinical outcomes. Nevertheless, prospective clinical trials are needed to establish definitive conclusions about the utility of systemic therapy as a bridging modality prior to LT in HCC patients.

Diabetes is a life-threatening disease and chronic diabetes affects the parts of the body including the liver, kidney and pancreas. The root cause of diabetes is mainly associated with oxidative stress produced by reactive oxygen species. The minocycline is a polyphenolic drug with excellent antioxidant activities. The objective of the present study was to investigate the antidiabetic potential of minocycline modified silver nanoparticles (Mino/AgNPs) against alloxan-induced diabetic mice. The Mino/AgNPs were synthesized using minocycline as reducing and stabilizing agents. UV-vis, FTIR, X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) were applied for the characterization of Mino/AgNPs. The 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) free radical scavenging assay was conducted to determine the antioxidant potential of newly synthesized Mino/AgNPs. The results revealed that the Mino/AgNPs showed higher radical scavenging activity (IC50 = 19.7 µg/mL) as compared to the minocycline (IC50 = 26.0 µg/mL) and ascorbic acid (IC50 = 25.2 µg/mL). Further, the Mino/AgNPs were successfully employed to examine their antidiabetic potential against Alloxan-induced diabetic mice. Hematological results showed that the mice treated with Mino/AgNPs demonstrated a significant decrease in fasting blood glucose level and lipid profile as compared to the diabetic group. The histopathological examination confirmed that the diabetic mice treated with Mino/AgNPs showed significant recovery and revival of histo-morphology of kidney, central vein of liver and islet cells of the pancreas compared to the diabetic mice. Hence Mino/AgNPs have good antidiabetic potential and could be an appropriate nanomedicine to prevent the development of diabetes.

Mental health issues can have significant impacts on individuals and communities and hence on social sustainability. There are several challenges facing mental health treatment, however, more important is to remove the root causes of mental illnesses because doing so can help prevent mental health problems from occurring or recurring. This requires a holistic approach to understanding mental health issues that are missing from the existing research. Mental health should be understood in the context of social and environmental factors. More research and awareness are needed, as well as interventions to address root causes. The effectiveness and risks of medications should also be studied. This paper proposes a big data and machine learning-based approach for the automatic discovery of parameters related to mental health from Twitter data. The parameters are discovered from three different perspectives, Drugs & Treatments, Causes & Effects, and Drug Abuse. We used Twitter to gather 1,048,575 tweets in Arabic about psychological health in Saudi Arabia. We built a big data machine learning software tool for this work. A total of 52 parameters were discovered for all three perspectives. We defined 6 macro-parameters (Diseases & Disorders, Individual Factors, Social & Economic Factors, Treatment Options, Treatment Limitations, and Drug Abuse) to aggregate related parameters. We provide a comprehensive account of mental health, causes, medicines and treatments, mental health and drug effects, and drug abuse, as seen on Twitter, discussed by the public and health professionals. Moreover, we identify their associations with different drugs. The work will open new directions for social media-based identification of drug use and abuse for mental health, as well as other micro and macro factors related to mental health. The methodology can be extended to other diseases and provides a potential for discovering evidence for forensics toxicology from social and digital media.

This study introduces and demonstrates a comprehensive, accurate, unbiased approach to robust quantitative comparison of Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems (ENDS) appropriate for establishing substantial equivalence (or lack thereof) between tobacco products. The approach is demonstrated across a family of thirteen pen- and pod-style ENDS products. Methods employed consist of formulating a robust emissions surface regression model, quantifying the empirical accuracy of the model as applied to each product, evaluating relationships between product design characteristics and maximum emissions characteristics, and presenting results in formats useful to researchers, regulators, and consumers. Results provide a response surface to characterize emissions (total particulate matter and constituents thereof) from each ENDS appropriate for use in a computer model and for conducting quantitative exposure comparisons between products. Results demonstrate that emissions vary as a function of puff duration, flow rate, E-Liquid composition, and device operating power. Further, results indicate that regulating design characteristics of ENDS devices and consumables may not achieve desired public health outcomes; it is more effective to regulate maximum permissible emissions directly. Three emissions outcome measures (yield per puff, mass concentration and constituent mass ratio) are recommended for adoption as standard quantities for reporting by manufacturers and research laboratories. The approach provides a means of (a) quantifying and comparing maximal emissions from ENDS products spanning their entire operating envelope, (b) comparative evaluation of ENDS devices and consumable design characteristics, and (c) establishing comparative equivalence of maximal emissions from ENDS. A consumer-oriented product emissions dashboard is proposed for comparative evaluation of ENDS exposure potential. Maximum achievable power dissipated in the coil of ENDS is identified as a potentially effective regulatory parameter.

A major health threat for children in the 21st century is physical inactivity in conjunction with the elevated prevalence of obesity. In Malaysia, low physical activity among children is a major concern. The objective of the study was to analyze the day to day variation of step count in a sample of obese children using the activPAL^TM monitor. This was a cross sectional study conducted in Kuala Terengganu, Terengganu. The sample compromised 41 boys and 24 girls between the ages of 9-11 years. Number of steps was objectively measured using an activPAL^TM accelerometer over a period of 4-7 days and had their height and weight measured. Mean step count from this sample of obese children was 8861 ± 3157steps. Steps per day were significantly higher for boys compared to girls (p=0.034). Obese children took significantly more steps at weekdays than on weekends (p=0.001). Steps/hour were significantly higher in weekday compared to weekend between 0600 to 0700 (p<0.001), 0700 to 0800 (p<0.001), 0800 to 0900 am (p<0.001), 0900 to 1000 (p=0.032), 1000 to 1100 (p=0.046), 1100 to 1200 (p<0.001), 1300 to 1400 (p=0.002), 1400 to 1500 (p<0.001), 1800 to 1900 (p=0.026) and 2000 to 2100 (p=0.019). Detailed daily patterns of physical activity are required to fully understand the differences across days that help future interventions to target those falling short particularly during weekend.

In this work, zinc oxide (ZnO) thin film has been fabricated on glass substrate using pulse laser ablation (PLA) technique. The effect of laser pulses of 1000, 1500, 2000 pulses at laser energy 700 mJ as well as, laser energy of 600, 700, and 800 mJ at fixed laser pulses of 1500 pulse, with methanol as a solvent on the structural properties of prepared films using XRD, SEM and EDX. XRD results revealed that the ZnO thin films have hexagonal structure with polycrystalline in nature with preferred orientation of (002). Crystalline size was increased with the increasing of the pulses and at energy of 700 mJ and pulse of 1500 pulse seemed nanostructure like tree leaf. In addition, narrow FWHM and no phase change have been observed in all cases. SEM images showed that for all cases the films were homogenous with some island and cluster then cracking started to obtain with the increasing of increase the pulse number. EDX analysis showed that the prepared films were free of defects and contaminations.

Economic valuations of ecosystem services often transfer previously estimated global unit values to the geographical setting of interest. While this approach produces quick results, its reliability depends on how representative the large-scale average unit values are for the given local context. Here, we estimate the values of three ecosystem services (ES) – water filtration, nutrient cycling and carbon sequestration – in the Grand River watershed (GRW) of southern Ontario, Canada. The watershed covers nearly 7000 km2, has a humid continental climate and a population of close to one million people. Land cover is dominated by agriculture. We compare ES valuations using locally derived (i.e., GRW-specific) unit values to valuations based on unit values from a regional database and those compiled in the global Ecosystem Services Valuation Database (ESVD). The regional database includes mean unit values from three case studies within southern Ontario and one boreal watershed in British Columbia. As expected, the regional database yields average monetary values for the three ES that are close to those obtained with the local unit values but with larger associated uncertainties. Using the ESVD, however, results in significantly higher monetary values for the ES. For water filtration, the ESVD value is more than five times higher than the regional and local estimates. We further illustrate the effect of the extent of aggregation of forested and agricultural land categories on the ES values. For example, by subdividing the forest category into three sub-categories (deciduous, coniferous, and mixed forest), the estimated value of the carbon sequestration ES of forested areas within the GRW increases by 15%. Overall, our results emphasize the importance of critically assessing the origin of unit values and the land cover resolution in ES valuation, especially when the latter is used as a policy-guiding tool.

Software analysis, debugging, and reverse engineering have a crucial impact in today’s software industry. Efficient and stealthy debuggers are especially relevant for malware analysis. However, existing debugging platforms fail to address a transparent, effective, and high-performance low-level debugger due to their detectable fingerprints, complexity, and implementation restrictions. In this paper, we present HyperDbg, a new hypervisor-assisted debugger for high-performance and stealthy debugging of user and kernel applications. To accomplish this, HyperDbg relies on state-of-the-art hardware features available in today’s CPUs, such as VT-x and extended page tables. In contrast to other widely used existing debuggers, we design HyperDbg using a custom hypervisor, making it independent of OS functionality or API. We propose hardware-based instruction-level emulation and OS-level API hooking via extended page tables to increase the stealthiness. Our results of the dynamic analysis of 10,853 malware samples show that HyperDbg’s stealthiness allows debugging on average 22% and 26% more samples than WinDbg and x64dbg, respectively. Moreover, in contrast to existing debuggers, HyperDbg is not detected by any of the 13 tested packers and protectors. We improve the performance over other debuggers by deploying a VMX-compatible script engine, eliminating unnecessary context switches. Our experiment on three concrete debugging scenarios shows that compared to WinDbg as the only kernel debugger, HyperDbg performs step-in, conditional breaks, and syscall recording, 2.98x, 1319x, and 2018x faster, respectively. We finally show real-world applications, such as a 0-day analysis, structure reconstruction for reverse engineering, software performance analysis, and code-coverage analysis.

In this article, we are interested in a new generic class of nonlocal fractional impulsive differential inclusions with linear sectorial operator and Lipschitz multivalued function in the setting of finite dimensional Banach spaces. By modifying the definition of PC-mild solutions initiated by Shu, we succeeded to determine new conditions that sufficiently guarantee the existence of the solutions. The results are obtained by combining techniques of fractional calculus and fixed point theorem for contraction maps. We also characterize the topological structure of the set of solutions. Finally, we provide a demonstration to address the applicability of the theoretical results.

This paper explores the capability of various machine learning algorithms, including Random Forests and advanced gradient boosting techniques such as XGBoost, LightGBM, and CatBoost, to predict customer churn in the telecommunications sector. For this analysis, a dataset available to the public was employed. The performance of these algorithms was assessed using recognized metrics, including Accuracy, Precision, Recall, F1-score, and the Receiver Operating Characteristic Area Under Curve (ROC AUC). These metrics were evaluated at different phases: subsequent to data preprocessing and feature selection; following the application of SMOTE and ADASYN sampling methods; and after conducting hyperparameter tuning on the data that had been adjusted by SMOTE and ADASYN. The outcomes underscore the notable efficiency of upsampling techniques such as SMOTE and ADASYN in addressing the imbalance inherent in customer churn prediction. Notably, the application of random grid search for hyperparameter optimization did not significantly alter the results, which remained comparatively unchanged. The algorithms' performance post- ADASYN application marginally surpassed that observed after SMOTE application. Remarkably, LightGBM achieved an exceptional F1-score of 89% and an ROC AUC of 95% subsequent to the ADASYN sampling technique. This underlines the effectiveness of advanced boosting algorithms and upsampling methods like SMOTE and ADASYN in navigating the complexities of imbalanced datasets and intricate feature interdependencies.

This work investigated the effects of manufacturing variations including coil resistance, initial pod mass, and e-liquid color on coil lifetime and aerosol generation of Vuse ALTO pods. Random samples of pods were used until failure (where e-liquid was consumed, and coil resistance increased to high value indicating a coil break). Initial coil resistance, initial pod mass, and e-liquid net mass ranged between 0.89 to 1.14 [], 6.48 to 6.61 [g], and 1.88 to 2.00 [g] respectively. Coil lifetime with light color e-liquid was (mean) = 149, (standard deviation) = 10.7 puffs while pods with dark color e-liquid was = 185, = 22.7 puffs with a difference of ~36 puffs (p &lt;0.001). Total mass of e-liquid consumed until coil failure was = 1.93, = 0.035 [g]. TPM yield per puff of all test pods for the first session (brand new pods) was = 0.0123, = 0.0003 [g]. During usage, TPM yield per puff of pods with light color e-liquid was relatively steady while it was continuously decreasing for pods with dark e-liquid. Coil lifetime and TPM yield per puff were not correlated with either variation in initial coil resistance or variation in initial pod mass. The absence of e-liquid in the pod is an important factor in causing coil failure. Small bits of the degraded coil could be potentially introduced to the aerosol. There is a potential correlation of e-liquid color with both coil lifetime and TPM yield per puff. Change of e-liquid color might have been a result of oxidation which changed some nicotine into nicotyrine.

This paper demonstrates an on-off keying (OOK) super-regenerative quenching transmitter operating in 402- 405MHz MICs band applications. To reduce power consumption, the transmitter is controlled by a novel digital quenching signal controller that generates a digital control signal to start transmitter operation when a baseband signal is input to the transmitter. The digital signal controller consists of an envelope detector, a comparator, and a quench timer designed using a state machine to synchronize the operation between the digital controller and the input baseband signal. The transmitter consists of a Colpitts oscillator operating in double operating frequency followed by a frequency divider by 2, this configuration reduces system area and improves phase noise and signal spectrum. The proposed transmitter is implemented using UMC 130nm CMOS technology, and a 1.2V supply. Simulation shows that the proposed transmitter can meet MICS band mask specifications with data rates up to 1Mbps and total power dissipation of 537uW.

In recent decades, widespread damage to structures due to destructive earthquakes has encouraged researchers to use seismic control systems. One of the most important structures is bridges, which should maintain their service after severe earthquakes. One of the ways to control the bridge is to isolation the deck from the substructure, which results in high displacements at different points in the bridge and the residual displacements within the separator itself, thus requiring repair and replacement of these systems after severe earthquakes. Therefore, the use of new seismic separation systems on bridges has always been important. The purpose of this project is to utilize a new memory-shaped seismic separator system to investigate the seismic performance of v-shaped column bridges , in which case the effect of earthquake orientation and its effects on responses the earthquake will also be assessed. Due to the ever-increasing advances in various intelligent materials, such as shape memory alloys, and their unique capacities, such as back-centering, and high fatigue and corrosion resistance, in this study, these materials have been used as a complementary component along with lead core separators. The shape memory alloy has been used as 4 vertical rods that connect two separating parts to each other and in this research the diameter and location of these rods will be calculated using optimization algorithm in Matlab software.

(1) Background: Colon polyps are common protrusions in the colon’s lumen with potential risks of developing colorectal cancer. Early detection and intervention of these polyps are vital for reducing colorectal cancer incidence and mortality rates. This research aims to evaluate and compare the performance of three machine-learning image classification models’ performance in detecting and classifying colon polyps. (2) Methods: The performance of three machine learning image classification models, Google Teachable Machine (GTM), Roboflow3 (RF3), and You Only Look Once version 8 (YOLOV8), in the detection and classification of colon polyps were evaluated. The study used a dataset of colonoscopy images of normal colon, polyps, and resected polyps. The study assessed the models’ ability to correctly classify the images into their respective classes using precision, recall, and F1 score generated from confusion matrix analysis and performance graphs. (3) Results: All three models successfully distinguished between normal colon, polyps, and resected polyps in colonoscopy images. GTM achieved the highest accuracies: 0.99, with consistent precision, recall, and F1 scores of 1.00 for the `normal’ class, 0.97 - 1.00 for `polyps,’ and 0.97 - 1.00 for `resected polyps.’ While GTM exclusively classified images into these three categories, both YOLOV8 and RF3 extended their capabilities to detect normal colonic tissue, polyps, and resected polyps, with YOLOV8 and RF3 achieving overall accuracies of 0.84 and 0.87, respectively. (4) Conclusions: Machine learning, particularly models like GTM, shows promising results in ensuring comprehensive detection of polyps during colonoscopies.

In this study, an alternative method to conventional production methods involving thin section copper permanent mould casting (rapid solidification), hot rolling and heat treatment processes to manufacture AISI DC 53 cold work tool steel, has been investigated. In this new method, solidification of the AISI DC 53 was done in the thin section copper mould instead of traditional ingot casting. After solidification, thin slabs obtained was homogenized to 1150 ^oC and hold at this temperature for one hour and then hot rolling was be applied. During hot rolling process, about % 30 reduction in thickness of slab was obtained. After hot rolling, heat treatment (austenitizing, quenching and tempering) have been applied to thin slab. The samples have been taken as cast, as rolled and as heat treated (austenitized and tempered) and the microstructural analysis, hardness tests, retained austenite quantity measurement by XRD method have been performed. The heat treatment and tests have been performed for a commercially available AISI DC 53 which is manufactured by thick section ingot casting and rolling. Hardness values of the AISI DC 53 steels produced by traditional route is in the range of 52-54 HRC after austenitization at 1025 ^oC for one hour and quenched in compressed air and tempered twice at 525 ^oC for 120 mins. On contrary the permanent mould cast AISI DC 53 after homogenization at 1150 ^oC and immediately hot rolling then air cooling and austenitized at 1025 ^oC for one hour then quenched by compressed air and tempered twice at 525 ^oC for 120 mins have hardness valeus in the range of 55-57 HRC. Experiments have revealed that the properties of new rapid solidified steel in permanent copper mould are better than the commercially available steel and have a more refined microstructure than commercially produces alternative. Therefore, the new proposed method can be used as an alternative manufacturing method for cold-work tool steels.

Since the 1980s, a growing interest in goat milk was noticed due to the nutritional values and health benefits of this milk, which resulted in increasing goat populations and milk production worldwide. This comprehensive review elaborates on goat milk composition compared to other types of milk. It is also an overview of goat milk production, properties, nourishment-value, applications in dairy products, and potential health benefits. Goat milk composition and its characteristics are slightly different from other types of milk and can be utilized to manufacture many dairy products. Fresh goat milk and goat milk products (e.g., yogurt and kefir were found to provide various potential health benefits, such as anti-inflammatory, prevent cardiovascular disease, anti-diabetic and antihypertensive, strengthen bones, boost immunity, and improve metabolism.

The vast rise in the number of Internet-connected devices necessitates a more accessible spectrum. As a result, Cognitive Radio was already proposed as a solution to the problem of restricted spectrum resources by utilizing available spectrum which is assigned to primary users. This method allows the secondary user to utilize the spectrum whenever the primary user is not using it, and it does so without intruding with the primary user. Whenever the secondary user detects the spectrum, it faced some issues, such as complexity in sensing leading to a lack of noise value, and the primary user is hidden to all secondary users. In order to tackle these challenges, an adaptive threshold matched filter detector and a cooperative matched filter detector are utilized in this paper to detect the spectrum. The probability of detection (Pd), probability of miss detection (Pm), and probability of false alarm (Pf) are the metrics used to assess sensing accuracy. To simulate suggested detectors, the MATLAB R2020a software was utilized. In comparison to earlier studies, the simulation conclusions reveal that the detection process starts with lower SNR values.

The potato tuber moth PTM, Phthorimaea operculella, is one of the most economically important potato pests worldwide. In the present study, the potential of Steinernema feltiae and Steinernema carpocapsae for controlling PTM in potato tubers was evaluated compared to alpha-cypermethrin. Steinernema carpocapsae in both concentrations (12.6×10⁶IJs and 6.2×10⁶IJs) showed a lower number of emerged insects than alpha-cypermethrin (10 mg ai l^-1). Alpha-cypermethrin (20 mg ai l^-1) showed the highest efficacy against PTM (81.17%), S.carpocapsae (12.6×10⁶IJs), and alpha-cypermethrin (10 mg ai l^-1) showed similar efficacy (72.53%) while S. feltiae (6.2×10⁶IJs) showed the lowest efficacy (39.04%). The results showed that S.carpocapsae in both concentrations and S. feltiae (12.6×10⁶IJs) were efficient the same as alpha-cypermethrin (10 mg ai l^-1) having no environmental and health adverse impacts issued in the chemical insecticides usage. Both concentrations of alpha-cypermethrin and S. carpocapsae showed the least tuber damage with no significant differences, while it was as high as the control (59.26%) in both concentrations of S. feltiae. This promising finding introduces EPNs as a part of the potato tuber protection program in storage. Accordingly, EPNs can be considered as an appropriate alternative to synthetic chemicals for PTM control without any residue and health problems.

Water pollutants removal by biomass adsorbent has been considered innovative and cost effective, thus commendable for application in industrial applications. However, certain important aspects have been overlooked by researchers, namely the efficiency in the operation time and pollutant removal. In this research, landfill leachate samples with organic components were treated using bentonite-enriched with sawdust augmented (SBR) process. By modifying the pH, the sawdust samples were categorized into three: the acidic, the alkaline, and the neutral. To bentonite samples, the pH-adjusted sawdust was added at 10%, 20%, and 30% amounts by mass respectively. At the optimum aeration rate of 7.5 L/min and contact period of 22 h, the treatment achieved 99.28% and 95.41% removal of COD and NH₃-N with bentonite respectively. For both pollutants, in the presence of sawdust, the removal reduced by about 17% with contact period reduced to 2 h which was a considerable achievement.

In the past decade, considerable efforts have been devoted to the development of semitransparent organic solar cells. Numerous materials and architectures have been proposed for the future commercialization of these devices. Among these, the use of ternary active layers demonstrated a great promise for the development of efficient semi-transparent organic solar cells with the potential for future applications including self-powered greenhouses and powered windows. Researchers seek alternative solutions to the trade-off between device power conversion efficiency (PCE) and average visible transmittance (AVT), with photoactive materials being the key parameters that govern both (PCE) and (AVT) as well as device stability. Several new organic materials, including polymers and small molecules, were synthesized, and used in conjunction with a variety of techniques to achieve semitransparent conditions. In this review paper, we will look at the working principle and key parameters of semi-transparent organic solar cells, as well as the methods that have been used to improve the performance of ternary-based semi-transparent organic solar cells. The main approaches were concluded to be spectral enhancement and transparency increment of the active layer through bandgap tuning, utilizing novel organic semiconductors, and design architecture of the active layers.

Carbon nanotubes are hybridized with metal crystals to impart multifunctionality into the nanohybrids (NHs). Simple but effective synthesis techniques are desired to form both zero-valent and oxides of different metal species on carbon nanotube surfaces. Sol-gel technique brings in significant advantages and is a viable technique for such synthesis. This study probes the efficacy of sol-gel process and aims to identify underlying mechanisms of crystal formation. Standard electron potential (SEP) is used as a guiding parameter to choose the metal species; i.e., highly negative SEP (e.g., Zn) with oxide crystal tendency, highly positive SEP (e.g., Ag) with zero-valent crystal-tendency, and intermediate range SEP (e.g., Cu) to probe the oxidation tendency in crystal formation are chosen. Transmission electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction are used to evaluate the synthesized NHs. Results indicate that SEP can be a reliable guide for the resulting crystalline phase of a certain metal species, particularly when the magnitude of this parameter is relatively high. However, for intermediate range SEP-metals, mix phase crystals can be expected. For example, Cu will form Cu₂O and zero-valent Cu crystals, unless the synthesis is performed in a reducing environment.

Since December 2019, a rapid increase in the number of SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) cases was reported worldwide, despite strict infection control and lock down measures. Current paper investigated the actual facts behind this rapid increase in the number of cases. Study of genomic sequence reveals that domestic and wild animals were likely ancestors and zoonotic source for SARS-CoVs, MERS-CoVs, and SARS-CoV-2. Strong evidence suggest that these viruses already existed and replicated in animals and humans during past several decades, exhibiting diverse mutations, evolutions and self-limiting diseases, except during outbreaks. Serious zoonotic reservoir investigations are required to investigate animal transmission of SARS-CoVs and SARS-CoV-2 to limit current pandemic. This might be the reason of increasing number of cases via animals. SARS-CoV-2 has been retrospectively isolated in different studies in August 2019, several months before Wuhan announced. Hence, there is a possibility that viruses existed, went undetected, infecting subclinically, in past several years, and SARS-CoV-2 antigens and neutralizing antibodies may have been present in humans since long time. This might be another reason of increasing number of cases by screening as mass screening and antigen or antibody testing was not carried out in the past years. Randomized controlled trials are required to investigate human to human transmission by touch, as the current evidence is limited with conflicting results. As all SARS-CoVs are basically respiratory viruses, droplet precautions and infection control measures are essential, especially for hospital staff. Increased number of SARS-CoV-2 asymptomatic, or subclinical cases are detected worldwide. This silent phase of transmission can be beneficial for humans. Lack of symptoms eventually lessen virus transmission and reduce the pathogen's long-term survival and provide humoral herd immunity up to several years. Hence, seropositivity with diverse antibodies develops against mutating SARS-CoVs which will confer strong immunity during epidemics. Strategies such as identification, contact tracing and quarantine are costly and practically difficult. Hence, asymptomatic persons can continue their work with droplet precautions and standard infection control procedures, while symptomatic or sick persons can isolate themselves in their homes without the need for strict quarantine until clinical recovery, with reduced hospital visits and minimizing chances of hospital acquired infections. RT-PCR has low sensitivity and specificity, carries a high risk of handling live virus antigens, and requires difficult protocols. As viral load also sharply declines after few days of onset of infection, this technique might overlook infection. Furthermore, SARS-CoV-2 infection may be present in blood when oropharyngeal swabs are negative by RT-PCR. Additionally, RT-PCR usually gives false negative and false positive results and must be interpreted cautiously. This might be again a reason of increasing number of cases by false positive RT-PCR reporting. Moreover, antibodies against SARS-CoVs develop robustly in serum even by reduced amount of antigens. In contrast to RT-PCR, ELISA for diagnosing antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 demonstrates 100% specificity and 100% sensitivity, even in clinically asymptomatic individuals. These antibodies can be used for serologic surveys, monitoring and screening. However, screening tests for SARS-COV-2 should be avoided in unhygienic public places by nasopharyngeal swabs, which carry a high risk of further transmission, co-infection or superinfection. Such highly infectious virus must be isolated and tested in highly sterilized laboratory. Further strict international laws and policies are required to stop the possible spread of experimental viruses, biological warfare and bioterrorism.

This study aimed to evaluate and compare the mechanical properties of three CAD-CAM monolithic esthetic zirconia (Ceramill® Zolid FX Multilayer (ZF), IPS e.max® ZirCAD MT Multi (ZM), and KATANATM STML (KS)) with a CAD-CAM lithium disilicate glass-ceramic (IPS e.max® CAD LT (MC)) as control. 80 samples (20/group) were milled, sintered, and subjected to a three-point bending test (3-PBT) to measure flexural strength and elastic modulus; Vickers indentations were used to measure microhardness. The numerical outcomes were analyzed using one-way ANOVA with a statistical significance set at <0.05. Zirconia showed superior mechanical properties compared with lithium disilicate (P<0.05). ZM had the highest values of flexural strength (P<0.05), KS and ZM showed significantly higher elastic modulus values than ZF (P<0.05), and ZF and KS microhardness values were significantly higher than ZM (P<0.05). Monolithic multi-layered zirconia had enhanced mechanical properties when compared with lithium disilicate and can be a predictable replacement in clinical applications.

In Electronic Nicotine Delivery System (ENDS), coil resistance is an important factor in the generation of heat energy used to change e-liquid into vapor. An accurate and unbiased method for testing coil resistance is vital for understanding its effect on emissions and reporting results that are comparable across different types and brands of ENDS and measured in different laboratories. This study proposes a robust, accurate and unbiased method for measuring coil resistance. An apparatus is used which mimics the geometric configuration and assembly of ENDS pods and power control units. The method is demonstrated on two commonly used ENDS devices, the ALTO by Vuse and JUUL. Analysis shows that the proposed method is stable and reliable. The two-wire configuration introduced a positive measurement bias of 0.086 [ohm], which is a significant error for sub-ohm coil designs. The four-wire configuration is far less prone to bias error. We observed a significant difference in coil resistance of 0.593 [ohm] (p<0.001) between the two products tested. The mean resistance and standard deviation of the pod coil assemblies was shown to be 1.031 (0.067) [ohm] for ALTO and 1.624 (0.033) [ohm] for JUUL. The variation in coil resistance between products and within products can have significant impacts on aerosol emissions.

On 11 March 2020, the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) was defined by the World Health Organization as a pandemic. Severe acute respiratory syndrome-2 (SARS-CoV-2) is the newly evolving human coronavirus infection, causing (COVID-19), first appeared in Wuhan, China in December 2019 and spread rapidly all over the world. COVID-19 is being increasingly investigated in virology, epidemiology, and clinical management strategies. There is currently no established consensus on the standard of care in the pharmacological treatment of COVID-19 patients. However, certain medications suggested for other diseases tend to be potentially effective for treating this infection, although, so far, without clear evidence. Therapies include new agents which are currently tested in several clinical trials, in addition to other medications that have been repurposed as antiviral and immune-modulating therapies. Previous high-morbidity human coronavirus epidemics such as the 2003 SARS-CoV and the 2012 Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) prompted the identification of compounds that could theoretically be active against the emerging coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. Moreover, the advances in molecular biology techniques and computational analysis allowed better recognition of the virus structure and quicker screening of chemical libraries to suggest potential therapies. This review aims to summarize rationalized pharmacotherapy considerations in COVID-19 patients, to serve as a tool for health care professionals at the forefront of clinical care during this pandemic. All the therapies reviewed require either additional drug development or randomized large-scale clinical trials to be justified for clinical use.

The purpose of this paper is to develop an index system for measuring the compliance of high-rise residential buildings with fire requirements and also to develop an index system for measuring the fire response efficiency, which is linked to the index of compliance with fire requirements. The higher the compliance rate, the greater the chance of a successful response. The two systems de-pend on the automation of the firefighting system management processes using the techniques of the fourth industrial revolution and developed based on the consultation of subject matter experts in the field. The main elements of the indexes were identified, which were based mainly on several variables, including the fire administrative system, the firefighting system, the residents, the loca-tion of the high-rise residential buildings from the fire extinguishing station, and the height of the high-rise residential building. The two systems can contribute to improving emergency prepared-ness in high-rise residential buildings in the Emirate of Sharjah and are also considered as a measurement index for compliance with fire requirements in the Emirate of Sharjah.

The world’s human population is reaching record longevities. Consequently, our societies are experiencing the impacts of prolonged longevity, such as increased retirement age. A major hypothesised influence on ageing patterns is resource limitation, formalised under calorie restriction theory. This theory predicts extended organismal longevity due to reduced calorie intake without malnutrition. However, several challenges face current calorie restriction (CR) research and, although several attempts have been made to overcome these challenges, there is still a lack of holistic understanding of how CR shapes organismal vitality. Here, we conduct a literature review of 222 CR peer-reviewed publications to summarise the state-of-the-art in the field. We use this summary to highlight challenges of CR research in our understanding of its impacts on longevity. Our review demonstrates that experimental research in this field is biased towards short-lived species (98.2% of studies examine species with <5 years of mean life expectancy) and lacks realism in key areas, such as stochastic environments or interactions with other environmental drivers such as temperature. We argue that only by considering a range of short- and long-lived species and by taking more realistic approaches can the impacts of CR on longevity be examined and validated in natural settings. We conclude by proposing experimental designs and study species that will allow the discipline to gain a much-needed understanding of how restricting caloric intake affects long-lived species in realistic settings. Through incorporating more experimental realism, we anticipate crucial insights that will ultimately shape the myriad of socio-bio-economic impacts of senescence in humans and other species across the Tree of Life.

With the rapid surge in technological advancements, an equal amount of investment in technology-embedded teaching has become vital to pace up with the ongoing educational needs. Distance education has evolved from the era of postal services to the use of ICT tools in current times. With the aid of globally updated content across the board, technology usage ensures all students receive equal attention without any discrimination. Importantly, web-based teaching allows all kind of students to learn at their own pace, without the fear of being judged, including professionals who can learn remotely without disturbing their job schedules. Having web-based content allows low-cost and robust implementation of the content upgradation. An improved, yet effective, version of the education using such tools is Hybrid Learning (HL). This learning mode aims to provide luxurious reinforcement to its legitimate candidates while maintaining the quality standards of various elements. Incorporated with both traditional and distance learning methods, along with exploiting social media tools for increased comfort level and peer-to-peer collaboration, HL ultimately facilitates the end user and educational setup. The structure of such a hybrid model is realized by delivering the study material via a learning management system (LMS) designed in compliance with quality standards, which is one of the fundamental tackling techniques for controlling quality constraints. In this paper, we present the recently piloted project by COMSATS University Islamabad (previously known as COMSATS Institute of Information Technology) which is driven by technology-embedded teaching model. This model is an amalgam of the traditional class room model with the aid of state-of-the-art online learning technologies. The students are enrolled as full-time students, with all the courses in traditional classroom mode, except one course offered as hybrid course. This globally adapted model helps the students to benefit from both face-to-face learning as well as gaining hands-on experience on technology-enriched education model providing flexibility of timings, learning pace, and boundaries. Our HL model is equipped with two major synchronous and asynchronous blocks. The synchronous block delivers real-time live interaction scenarios using discussion boards, thereby providing a face-to-face environment. Interactions via social network has witnessed equally surging improvement in the output performance. The asynchronous block refers to the lecture videos, slides and handouts, prepared by imminent professors, available 24/7 for students. To ensure quality output, our HL model follows the course learning outcomes (CLOs), and program learning outcomes (PLOs) as per international standards. As a proof of concept, we have deployed a mechanism at the end of each semester to verify the effectiveness of our model. This mechanism fundamentally surveys the satisfaction levels of all the students enrolled in the HL courses. With the surveys already conducted, a significant level of satisfaction has been noted. Extensive results from these surveys are presented in the paper to further validate the efficiency and robustness of our proposed HL model.

Background: In spinal cord injury, radical treatment is still a persistent hope for patients and clinicians. Our study aimed to determine the different histological changes in central, cranial and caudal sites of compressed spinal cord as a result of neuroectodermal stem cells (NESCs) transplantation in rats. Material and methods: For extraction of NESCs, future brains were extracted from mice embryos (10-days old) and cultured. Eighty, male rats were divided randomly into control, sham (20 rats each); while 40 rats were subjected to compressed spinal cord injury (CSCI). Seven days after spinal cord injury, rats were subdivided into 2 groups (20 rats each); an untreated and treated with NESCs injected cranial and caudal to the site of the spinal cord injury. Rats were sacrificed 4 weeks after transplantations of NESCs and specimens from the spinal cord at the central, cranial and caudal to site of spinal cord injury were proceeded to be stained with haematoxylin & eosin, osmic acid and Immunohistochemistry of glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP). Results: Sections of CSCI revealed areas of hemorrhages, necrosis and cavitation limited by reactive astrocytosis, with upregulation of GFAP expression. Evidence of remyelination and mitigation of histopathological features, reactive astrocytosis in CSCI sections were more pronounced in cranial than in caudal region. Conclusions: NESCs transplantation ameliorated the pathological changes, promoted remyelination.

A Wireless Body Area Network (WBAN) is a network of wirelessly connected sensing and actuating devices. WBANs used for recording biometric information and administering medication are classified as part of a Cyber Physical System (CPS). Preserving user security and privacy is a fundamental concern of WBANs, which introduces the notion of using biometric readings as a mechanism for authentication. Extensive research has been conducted regarding the various methodologies (e.g. ECG, EEG, gait, head/arm motion, skin impedance). This paper seeks to analyze and evaluate the most prominent biometric authentication techniques based on accuracy, cost, and feasibility of implementation. We suggest several authentication schemes which incorporate multiple biometric properties.

Internet-led labour market has become so competitive forcing many organisations from different sectors to embrace e-recruitment. However, realising the value of the e-recruitment from a Requirements Engineering (RE) analysis perspective is challenging. This research is motivated by the results of a failed e-recruitment project conducted in military domain which is used as a case study in this research. After reviewing the various challenges faced in that project through a number of related research domains, this research focuses on two major problems which are the (1) difficulty of scoping, representing, and systematically transforming recruitment problem knowledge towards e-recruitment solution specification; and (2) the difficulty of documenting e-recruitment best practices for reuse purposes in an enterprise recruitment environment. In this paper, a Problem-Oriented Conceptual Model (POCM) with a complementary Ontology for Recruitment Problem Definition (Onto-RPD) is proposed to contextualise the various recruitment problem viewpoints from an enterprise perspective and to elaborate those problem viewpoints towards a comprehensive recruitment problem definition. The POCM and Onto-RPD are developed incrementally using action-research conducted on three real case studies: (1) Secureland Army Enlistment, (2) British Army Regular Enlistment, and (3) UK Undergraduate Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS). They are later evaluated in a focus group study against a set of criteria. The study showed that the POCM and Onto-RPD provide a strong foundation for representing and understanding the e-recruitment problems from different perspectives.

Perovskite solar cells have shown significant progress, but their commercialization remains hindered by lead-based toxicity. Many nontoxic perovskite-based solar cells have demonstrated potential such as Cs2AgBi0.75Sb0.25Br6, but their power-conversion efficiency is inadequate. To address this issue, some researchers are focusing on emerging acceptor-donor-acceptor'-donor-acceptor (A-DA'D-A) type non-fullerene acceptors (NFAs) for Cs2AgBi0.75Sb0.25Br6 to find effective electron transport layers for high-performance photovoltaic responses with low voltage drops. In this comparative study, four novel A-DA'D-A types NFAs such as BT-LIC, BT-BIC, BT-L4F, and were used as an electron transport layer (ETL) for the proposed devices, FTO/PEDOT: PSS/ Cs2AgBi0.75Sb0.25Br6/ETL/Au. Comprehensive simulations were conducted to optimize the devices. The simulations showed that all optimized devices exhibit photovoltaic responses, with the BT-BIC device having the highest power conversion efficiency (13.2%) and the BT-LIC device having the lowest (6.8%). The BT-BIC as ETL provides fewer interfacial traps and better band alignment, enabling greater open-circuit voltage for efficient photovoltaic responses.

The deaf-mute and individuals with hearing disabilities who communicate through sign language should not be overlooked or excluded. It is a social responsibility to strive for an inclusive world without inequality. Advances in technology offer various solutions to address the communication gap, one of which is the use of computer-based sign language recognition systems. This project proposes a Malaysian Sign Language recognition model utilizing MobileNetV1, a convolutional neural network-based algorithm, to interpret sign language in real-time settings through a website application using Streamlit. The outcome of the model test shows that it has achieved a recognition rate of 96 percent. Although the proposed model has demonstrated the ability to recognize sign language, it is suggested that further improvement can be achieved by enhancing the quality and diversity of the dataset. The implementation of a more comprehensive dataset would lead to improved performance and increased accuracy of the model. This project underscores the importance of considering and accommodating the needs of the deaf-mute and individuals with hearing disabilities and highlights the potential of technology to bridge communication barriers and achieve a more inclusive society.

Reliability assessment is an important component and tool used for process plants since the facility consists of many loops and instruments attached and operates based on each other availability, thus it requires a statistical method to visualize the reliability. The paper focuses on reliability assessment and prediction based on available statistical models such as normal, log-normal, exponential, and Weibull distribution. This paper also visualizes, which model fits best for assessment and prediction and also considers failure modes caused during a simulation mode process control operation. A simulation model is designed in this paper to observe the failure of the control valve causing stiction to visualize the failure modes and predict the best-fit model for reliability assessment.

Palm fatty acid distillate (PFAD) is a by-product from the refining of crude palm oil. It comprises mainly of free fatty acids, having around 45% of palmitic and 33% oleic acids as the major components. Ultra-violet (UV) curable urethane acrylate (UA) oligomers could be synthesized from PFAD by the following procedure. A hydroxyl terminated macromer was first prepared by reacting PFAD with a mixture of isophthalic acid, phthalic anhydride, neopentagylcol (NPG) and pentaerythritol. The macromer is then reacted with 2-hydroxylethylacrylate (2HEA) and toluene diisocynate (TDI) to generate a resin containing acrylate side chains for UV curable application. A series of UA resins were prepared by using 15, 25, 45, 55 and 70% of PFAD respectively. The UA resin has Mw in the range of 3200 to 27,000. They could be cured by UV irradiation at intensity of 225mW/cm². Glass transition temperature (T_g) of the cured film was measured by differential scanning calorimeter (DSC), and hardness of the film was determined by pendulum hardness tester according to ASTM4366. The resins were used in wood coating application. All of the cured films showed good adhesion, hardness and chemical resistant for resins using up to 55% PFAD; however the resin at 70% did not cure properly.

Aerodynamic performance of a floating offshore wind turbine (FOWT) is significantly influenced by platform surging motions. Accurate prediction of the unsteady aerodynamic loads is imperative for determining the fatigue life, ultimate loads on key components such as FOWT rotor blades, gearbox and power converter. The current study examines the predictions of numerical codes by comparing with unsteady experimental results of a scaled floating wind turbine rotor. The influence of platform surge amplitude together with the tip speed ratio on the unsteady aerodynamic loading has been simulated through unsteady CFD. It is shown that the unsteady aerodynamic loads of FOWT are highly sensitive to the changes in frequency and amplitude of the platform motion. Also, the surging motion significantly influences the windmill operating state due to strong flow interaction between the rotating blades and generated blade-tip vortices. Almost in all frequencies and amplitudes, CFD, LR-BEM and LR-uBEM predictions of mean thrust shows a good correlation with experimental results.

In recent years, the discharge of various emerging pollutants, chemicals and dyes in water and wastewater has represented one of the prominent human problems. Since water pollution is directly related to human health, highly resistant and emerging compounds in aquatic environments will pose many potential risks to the health of all living. Therefore, water pollution is a very acute problem that has constantly increased in recent years with the expansion of various industries. Consequently, choosing efficient and innovative wastewater treatment methods to remove contaminants is crucial. Among advanced oxidation processes, electrochemical oxidation (EO) is the most common and effective method for removing persistent pollutants from municipal and industrial wastewater. However, there are still many gaps despite the great progress in using EO to treat real wastewater. This is due to the lack of comprehensive information on the operating parameters which affect the process and its operating costs. In this paper, among various scientific articles, the impact of operational parameters on the EO performances, a comparison between different electrochemical reactor configurations, and a report on general mechanisms of electrochemical oxidation of organic pollutants have been reported. Moreover, an evaluation of cost analysis and energy consumption requirements have also been discussed. Finally, the combination process between EO and another important advanced oxidation technology, PEC, called photoelectrocatalysis (PEC), has shortly been discussed and reviewed. This article showed that there is a direct relationship between important operating parameters with the amount of costs and the final removal efficiency of emerging pollutants. Optimal operating conditions can be achieved by paying special attention to reactor design, which can lead to higher efficiency and more efficient treatment. The rapid development of EO for removing emerging pollutants from impacted water and its combination with other green methods can result in more efficient approaches to face the pressing water pollution challenge.

Hillslope and mountain roads are often the source of erosion, which in turn can lead to larger landslides and other types of mass-movements. For this reason, low-cost repeat surveys that can be done by practitioners and not solely scientists and engineers is essential. To solve this issue the present contribution shows the testing and applicability of a mix of SfM-MVS and low-cost SLAM technology to provide erosion information. The low-cost SLAM generated between 300 ~ 900 points per square meter, while SfM-MVS created between ~11,000 to 900,000 points. The density is however a trade-off against a spatially varying error, although the variability at the road-cut scale only ranges from 2 cm vertically to 2.5 cm in x,y,z based on the C2C algorithm. Furthermore, this error tends to be more important in the higher section of the cutout (further away from the sensor and at a flatter angle). It is thus possible to measure small-scale roadside change, providing that the change is in the range of >5 cm (adding the maximum potential error twice) and providing that the road-cut is such that the sensors can be brought close to the surface (camera or sensor on a pole). The authors suggest that it can be a solution for state and agencies with limited funding and that cannot afford regular laser or for roadside that are difficult to access.

Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) is a global initiative towards transforming education for sustainability. The integration of SD into the education portfolio is considered to be an important approach that ensures strategic alignment of higher education with SDGs. A document review was used to identify and discuss the difference between transmissive and transformative education in relation to SDGs and in the context of Somali education. In this trajectory, it is expected that the concept of ‘‘transformative education is likely to become more common to meet the emerging social, economic and environmental issues, yet practical challenges remain in Somaliland HE sector. The roadmap towards addressing transformative education for sustainability is not included in the Somaliland national portfolios; particularly ESD has not been presented. In this regard, this paper proposed a generic framework that spotlights the integration of HEIs and the national development goals (NDGs) in Somaliland. Meanwhile, developed and developing countries are prioritizing structural transformation in their HEIs that are tailored to national and regional development programs. Consistent with the Rio + 20 outcomes, the authors analyzed the concept of the ‘‘sustainable university’’ and identified the fact that it is practically divided into three interrelated and complementary categories, namely social-, environmental-, and economic-oriented university in pursuit of actualizing SD. The paper recommends major reforms in the education sector including availing investment portfolios for R&D, renovation of education goals and transforming universities for sustainability