Search

The experimental studies of the observables associated with the $b \rightarrow c$ transitions in the semileptonic $B-$ meson decays at BaBar, Belle and LHCb have shown some deviations from the Standard Model (SM) predictions, consequently, providing a handy tool to probe the possible new physics (NP). In this context, we have first revisited the impact of recent measurements of $R({D^{(*)}})$ and $R(\Lambda_c)$ on the parametric space of the NP scenarios. In addition, we have included the $R(J/\psi)$ data in the analysis and found that their influence on the best-fit points and the parametric space is mild. Using the recent HFLAV data, after validating the well established sum rule of $R(\Lambda_c)$, we derived the similar sum rule for $R(J/\psi)$. Furthermore, according to the updated data, we have modified the correlation among the different observables, giving us their interesting interdependence. Finally, to discriminate the various NP scenarios, we have plotted the different angular observables and their ratios for $B \to D^* \tau\nu_\tau$ against the transfer momentum square $\left(q^2\right)$, using the $1\sigma$ and $2\sigma$ parametric space of considered NP scenarios. By implementing the collider bounds on NP Wilson coefficients, we find that, in the parametric space of some NP WCs is significantly restrained. To see the clear influence of NP on the amplitude of the angular observables, we have also calculated their numerical values in different $q^2$ bins and shown them through the bar plots. We hope their precise measurements will help to discriminate various NP scenarios., Comment: 33 pages, 9 figures, 8 Tables, updated Tables and Figures with latest experimental data in the text

The genetic basis of human facial variation and craniofacial birth defects remains poorly understood. Distant-acting transcriptional enhancers control the fine-tuned spatiotemporal expression of genes during critical stages of craniofacial development. However, a lack of accurate maps of the genomic locations and cell type-resolved activities of craniofacial enhancers prevents their systematic exploration in human genetics studies. Here, we combine histone modification, chromatin accessibility, and gene expression profiling of human craniofacial development with single-cell analyses of the developing mouse face to define the regulatory landscape of facial development at tissue- and single cell-resolution. We provide temporal activity profiles for 14,000 human developmental craniofacial enhancers. We find that 56% of human craniofacial enhancers share chromatin accessibility in the mouse and we provide cell population- and embryonic stage-resolved predictions of their in vivo activity. Taken together, our data provide an expansive resource for genetic and developmental studies of human craniofacial development.

We present results from the JWST First Reionization Epoch Spectroscopically Complete Observations survey (FRESCO) on the star forming sequence of galaxies at $1.09.5 M_\odot$ that are lower than found in many earlier studies by up to 0.6 dex, but in good agreement with recent results obtained with the Prospector fitting framework. The difference log(SFR(Pa$\alpha$)-SFR(Prospector)) is -0.09 $\pm$ 0.04 dex at $10^{10-11} M_\odot$. We also measure the empirical relation between Paschen-$\alpha$ luminosity and rest-frame H band magnitude and find that the scatter is only 0.04 dex lower than that of the SFR-M* relation and is much lower than the systematic differences among relations in the literature due to various methods of converting observed measurements to physical properties. We additionally identify examples of sources -- that, with standard cutoffs via the UVJ diagram, would be deemed quiescent -- with significant, typically extended, Paschen-$\alpha$ emission. Our results may be indicative of the potential unification of methods used to derive the star forming sequence with careful selection of star forming galaxies and independent star formation rate and stellar mass indicators., Comment: 16 pages, 9 figures; submitted to ApJ

Measuring the relation between star formation and galactic winds is observationally difficult. In this work we make an indirect measurement of the mass loading factor (the ratio between mass outflow rate and star formation rate) in low-mass galaxies using a differential approach to modeling the low-redshift evolution of the star-forming main sequence and mass-metallicity relation. We use the SAGA (Satellites Around Galactic Analogs) background galaxies, those spectra observed by the SAGA survey that are not associated with the main SAGA host galaxies, to construct a sample of 11925 spectroscopically confirmed low-mass galaxies from $0.01\lesssim z \leq 0.21$ and measure a auroral line metallicity for 120 galaxies. The crux of the method is to use the lowest redshift galaxies as the boundary condition of our model, and to infer a mass-loading factor for the sample by comparing the expected evolution of the low redshift reference sample in stellar mass, gas-phase metallicity, and star formation rate against the observed properties of the sample at higher redshift. We infer a mass-loading factor of $\eta_{\rm m}=0.92^{+1.76}_{-0.74}$, which is in line with direct measurements of the mass-loading factor from the literature despite the drastically different set of assumptions needed for each approach. While our estimate of the mass-loading factor is in good agreement with recent galaxy simulations that focus on resolving the dynamics of the interstellar medium, it is smaller by over an order of magnitude than the mass-loading factor produced by many contemporary cosmological simulations., Comment: 37 pages, 19 figures, accepted to ApJ

Coupling brain–computer interfaces (BCIs) and robotic systems in the future can enable seamless personal assistant systems in everyday life, with the requests that can be performed in a discrete manner, using one’s brain activity only. These types of systems might be of a particular interest for people with locked-in syndrome (LIS) or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) because they can benefit from communicating with robotic assistants using brain sensing interfaces. In this proof-of-concept work, we explored how a wireless and wearable BCI device can control a quadruped robot—Boston Dynamics’ Spot. The device measures the user’s electroencephalography (EEG) and electrooculography (EOG) activity of the user from the electrodes embedded in the glasses’ frame. The user responds to a series of questions with YES/NO answers by performing a brain-teaser activity of mental calculus. Each question–answer pair has a pre-configured set of actions for Spot. For instance, Spot was prompted to walk across a room, pick up an object, and retrieve it for the user (i.e., bring a bottle of water) when a sequence resolved to a YES response. Our system achieved at a success rate of 83.4%. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first integration of wireless, non-visual-based BCI systems with Spot in the context of personal assistant use cases. While this BCI quadruped robot system is an early prototype, future iterations may embody friendly and intuitive cues similar to regular service dogs. As such, this project aims to pave a path towards future developments in modern day personal assistant robots powered by wireless and wearable BCI systems in everyday living conditions.

Ethanol produced through the fermentation of plant biomass is considered an environment friendly alternate to fossil fuels. Bioethanol and biodiesel, commonly known as second-generation biofuels, are produced through biological processes using agro-industrial waste and are considered sustainable, safe, and ecofriendly. These biofuels can minimize the emission of carbon dioxide and reduced the world’s dependence on fossil fuel. This review article focuses on three generations of biofuels, particularly the production of biofuel using fungal biocatalysts specifically Aspergillus niger and Saccharomyces cerevisiae and the mechanism by which they convert biomass into biofuel. A. niger is known for releasing cellulolytic and pectolytic enzymes to hydrolyze biomass and survive against toxins, while S. cerevisiae produces invertase and zymase enzymes to convert sucrose into fructose and glucose sugars, and then further convert fructose and glucose into ethanol. The main purpose of this review is to explore alternative techniques for generating biofuels, using as few harmful chemicals as possible and reducing time consumption.

This workshop aims to bring together researchers and practitioners (African and otherwise) engaging with diverse communities and industries to discuss the geopolitics of knowledge production in computing research and design. Our proposal builds on existing works that have explored the modalities of the knowledge economy - particularly as knowledge is created, legitimized, and circulated as objective truth via the exercise of power. For example, engaging indigenous communities in conferences and knowledge fairs have sought to challenge disciplinary silos and boundaries imposed on non-Western academics and practitioners. This workshop, as a platform for interaction and discussion with no “sage on the stage”, is the first of its kind within AfriCHI and it seeks to explore and promote more subtle discussions about HCI knowledge production and dissemination practices.

Women’s empowerment is globally recognized, with economic empowerment being a key aspect—enabling decision-making, income growth, and asset ownership. This study investigates the mediating role of opportunity and microfinance elements, along with social capital, in enhancing women’s economic empowerment. Data was collected from 205 female clients across three microfinance banks in Pakistan using closed-ended questionnaires. Employing Partial Least Squares-Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM), the study reveals strong positive correlations between women entrepreneurs’ sales performance and their ability to secure loans, acquire new skills, and establish networks. Social capital plays a pivotal role in boosting business outcomes. The relationship between loan availability, savings, skill development, social capital, and bonding is mediated by opportunities for business improvement. Vulnerability moderates the relationship between opportunity and women entrepreneurs’ sales success, allowing for business expansion. Microfinance components positively impact women’s economic empowerment.

The present study aimed to explore reality of the quality of the education delivered in the vocational education (VE) course in Jordanian public schools. The study’s sample consists from eighty (80) supervisors supervising the vocational education (VE) course in the directorates of education located in the Northern Province (Irbid, Ajloon, Jarash and Mafraq). To meet the goals intended from this study, the researcher of the present study developed the study’s instrument (i.e. a questionnaire). The study’s questionnaire sheds a light on the quality standards related to the vocational education curricula. It was found that the sampled supervisors have neutral attitudes towards the quality of the education delivered in the vocational education course in Jordanian public schools. The researcher recommends creating partnerships and promoting cooperation between the Ministry of Education and the Technical and Vocational Skills Development Commission (TVSD). Such partnerships and cooperation must aim at increasing the extent of meeting quality standards in the vocational education curricula. Keywords: quality, vocational education (VE) curricula, Jordan, public schools DOI: 10.7176/JEP/15-2-07 Publication date: February 28th 2024

Diversitas genetik adalah variasi biologis yang terjadi dalam populasi. Studi ini dilakukan untuk mewujudkan klasifikasi suatu individu atau populasi dan dibandingkan dengan individu atau populasi lainnya. Kajian dijalankan di Sungai Petani, Malaysia yaitu salah satu daerah dengan kasus dengue yang semakin meningkat. Nyamuk Aedes albopictus mengalami evolusi yang cepat sehingga terjadi penyebaran spesies dari hutan ke daerah perkotaan karena kemampuan adaptasinya yang baik. Spesies ini dicurigai bakal menjadi salah satu vektor yang utama dalam wabah dengue di tempat kajian. Penanda molecular yang dipilih untuk penelitian ini adalah gen mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase I karena sangat efektif dalam mengidentifikasi spesies untuk variasi kelompok hewan. Tujuan penelitian dilaksanakan adalah untuk mendeteksi dan mengidentifikasi diversitas genetik nyamuk Ae. albopictus di daerah Sungai Petani, Malaysia. Penelitian ini bersifat deskriptif. Telur dan larva Ae. albopictus telah dibiak sehingga menjadi nyamuk dewasa. Sepuluh sampel dari Padang dan dari Sungai Petani, Malaysia masing-masingnya dilakukan pengisolasian DNA dan uji molekular dengan metode polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Hasil PCR disekuensing dan dikontig untuk dianalisis menggunakan program MEGA dengan metode multiple sequence alignment, lalu menghasilkan pohon filogenetik.Hasil didapatkan sampel yang dikaji memiliki kekerabatan yang dekat dengan satu sama lain dengan jarak genetik p<0.005, dan merupakan spesies kompleks simpatrik dan alopatrik, selain memiliki kemungkinan terjadinya fenomena siblings spesies. Sampel A09 dan A15 ditemukan mempunyai jarak genetik yang berbeda dari sampel lain. Kesimpulannya, terdapat persamaan genetik di antara sampel dari Padang, Indonesia dan Sungai Petani, Malaysia.

Women’s empowerment is globally recognized, with economic empowerment being a key aspect—enabling decision-making, income growth, and asset ownership. This study investigates the mediating role of opportunity and microfinance elements, along with social capital, in enhancing women’s economic empowerment. Data was collected from 205 female clients across three microfinance banks in Pakistan using closed-ended questionnaires. Employing Partial Least Squares-Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM), the study reveals strong positive correlations between women entrepreneurs’ sales performance and their ability to secure loans, acquire new skills, and establish networks. Social capital plays a pivotal role in boosting business outcomes. The relationship between loan availability, savings, skill development, social capital, and bonding is mediated by opportunities for business improvement. Vulnerability moderates the relationship between opportunity and women entrepreneurs’ sales success, allowing for business expansion. Microfinance components positively impact women’s economic empowerment.

Diversitas genetik adalah variasi biologis yang terjadi dalam populasi. Studi ini dilakukan untuk mewujudkan klasifikasi suatu individu atau populasi dan dibandingkan dengan individu atau populasi lainnya. Kajian dijalankan di Sungai Petani, Malaysia yaitu salah satu daerah dengan kasus dengue yang semakin meningkat. Nyamuk Aedes albopictus mengalami evolusi yang cepat sehingga terjadi penyebaran spesies dari hutan ke daerah perkotaan karena kemampuan adaptasinya yang baik. Spesies ini dicurigai bakal menjadi salah satu vektor yang utama dalam wabah dengue di tempat kajian. Penanda molecular yang dipilih untuk penelitian ini adalah gen mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase I karena sangat efektif dalam mengidentifikasi spesies untuk variasi kelompok hewan. Tujuan penelitian dilaksanakan adalah untuk mendeteksi dan mengidentifikasi diversitas genetik nyamuk Ae. albopictus di daerah Sungai Petani, Malaysia. Penelitian ini bersifat deskriptif. Telur dan larva Ae. albopictus telah dibiak sehingga menjadi nyamuk dewasa. Sepuluh sampel dari Padang dan dari Sungai Petani, Malaysia masing-masingnya dilakukan pengisolasian DNA dan uji molekular dengan metode polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Hasil PCR disekuensing dan dikontig untuk dianalisis menggunakan program MEGA dengan metode multiple sequence alignment, lalu menghasilkan pohon filogenetik.Hasil didapatkan sampel yang dikaji memiliki kekerabatan yang dekat dengan satu sama lain dengan jarak genetik p<0.005, dan merupakan spesies kompleks simpatrik dan alopatrik, selain memiliki kemungkinan terjadinya fenomena siblings spesies. Sampel A09 dan A15 ditemukan mempunyai jarak genetik yang berbeda dari sampel lain. Kesimpulannya, terdapat persamaan genetik di antara sampel dari Padang, Indonesia dan Sungai Petani, Malaysia.

Diversitas genetik adalah variasi biologis yang terjadi dalam populasi. Studi ini dilakukan untuk mewujudkan klasifikasi suatu individu atau populasi dan dibandingkan dengan individu atau populasi lainnya. Kajian dijalankan di Sungai Petani, Malaysia yaitu salah satu daerah dengan kasus dengue yang semakin meningkat. Nyamuk Aedes albopictus mengalami evolusi yang cepat sehingga terjadi penyebaran spesies dari hutan ke daerah perkotaan karena kemampuan adaptasinya yang baik. Spesies ini dicurigai bakal menjadi salah satu vektor yang utama dalam wabah dengue di tempat kajian. Penanda molecular yang dipilih untuk penelitian ini adalah gen mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase I karena sangat efektif dalam mengidentifikasi spesies untuk variasi kelompok hewan. Tujuan penelitian dilaksanakan adalah untuk mendeteksi dan mengidentifikasi diversitas genetik nyamuk Ae. albopictus di daerah Sungai Petani, Malaysia. Penelitian ini bersifat deskriptif. Telur dan larva Ae. albopictus telah dibiak sehingga menjadi nyamuk dewasa. Sepuluh sampel dari Padang dan dari Sungai Petani, Malaysia masing-masingnya dilakukan pengisolasian DNA dan uji molekular dengan metode polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Hasil PCR disekuensing dan dikontig untuk dianalisis menggunakan program MEGA dengan metode multiple sequence alignment, lalu menghasilkan pohon filogenetik.Hasil didapatkan sampel yang dikaji memiliki kekerabatan yang dekat dengan satu sama lain dengan jarak genetik p<0.005, dan merupakan spesies kompleks simpatrik dan alopatrik, selain memiliki kemungkinan terjadinya fenomena siblings spesies. Sampel A09 dan A15 ditemukan mempunyai jarak genetik yang berbeda dari sampel lain. Kesimpulannya, terdapat persamaan genetik di antara sampel dari Padang, Indonesia dan Sungai Petani, Malaysia.

Ethanol produced through the fermentation of plant biomass is considered an environment friendly alternate to fossil fuels. Bioethanol and biodiesel, commonly known as second-generation biofuels, are produced through biological processes using agro-industrial waste and are considered sustainable, safe, and ecofriendly. These biofuels can minimize the emission of carbon dioxide and reduced the world’s dependence on fossil fuel. This review article focuses on three generations of biofuels, particularly the production of biofuel using fungal biocatalysts specifically Aspergillus niger and Saccharomyces cerevisiae and the mechanism by which they convert biomass into biofuel. A. niger is known for releasing cellulolytic and pectolytic enzymes to hydrolyze biomass and survive against toxins, while S. cerevisiae produces invertase and zymase enzymes to convert sucrose into fructose and glucose sugars, and then further convert fructose and glucose into ethanol. The main purpose of this review is to explore alternative techniques for generating biofuels, using as few harmful chemicals as possible and reducing time consumption.

OBJECTIVES To assess the lamina cribrosa (LC) anterior lamina cribrosa depth (ALCD), lamina cribrosa thickness (LCT) and retinal nerve fiber layer thickness (RNFLT) in primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) cases and age-matched controls and to compare these anatomical variables among POAG cases and age-matched controls. METHODOLOGY The case-control study was researched at Al-Ain Eye Institute, Karachi, in four month’s duration (November 2018 till February 2019). Expert eye specialist recruited 57 POAG cases and 46 age-matched healthy controls. Observation of intraocular pressure (IOP) and open angle was done using Goldmann tonometry and Slit-lamp biomicroscopy with stereoscopic ophthalmoscopy respectively. Visual field parameters of mean deviation (MD) and pattern standard deviation (PSD) measured using Humphrey Field Analyzer. Highly sensitive spectral domain ocular coherence tomography with enhanced depth imaging (EDI-OCT) was used to determine ALCD, LCT and RNFLT. RESULTS Statistically significant results were produced by RNFLT defects when it is compared in groups of mild with moderate cases of POAG (P-value 0.037). ALCD and LCT did display an association with RNFLT defects but did not produced statistically significant results. CONCLUSION Assessments of ALCD and LCT can provide important prognostic evidence about RNFLT and can assist in future planning of mild and moderate cases suffering from POAG.

OBJECTIVES To assess the lamina cribrosa (LC) anterior lamina cribrosa depth (ALCD), lamina cribrosa thickness (LCT) and retinal nerve fiber layer thickness (RNFLT) in primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) cases and age-matched controls and to compare these anatomical variables among POAG cases and age-matched controls. METHODOLOGY The case-control study was researched at Al-Ain Eye Institute, Karachi, in four month’s duration (November 2018 till February 2019). Expert eye specialist recruited 57 POAG cases and 46 age-matched healthy controls. Observation of intraocular pressure (IOP) and open angle was done using Goldmann tonometry and Slit-lamp biomicroscopy with stereoscopic ophthalmoscopy respectively. Visual field parameters of mean deviation (MD) and pattern standard deviation (PSD) measured using Humphrey Field Analyzer. Highly sensitive spectral domain ocular coherence tomography with enhanced depth imaging (EDI-OCT) was used to determine ALCD, LCT and RNFLT. RESULTS Statistically significant results were produced by RNFLT defects when it is compared in groups of mild with moderate cases of POAG (P-value 0.037). ALCD and LCT did display an association with RNFLT defects but did not produced statistically significant results. CONCLUSION Assessments of ALCD and LCT can provide important prognostic evidence about RNFLT and can assist in future planning of mild and moderate cases suffering from POAG.

Achieving optimal health is an aspirational goal for the population, yet the definition of health remains unclear. The role of nutrition in health has evolved beyond correcting malnutrition and specific deficiencies and has begun to focus more on achieving and maintaining optimal health through nutrition. As such, the Council for Responsible Nutrition held its October 2022 Science in Session conference to advance this concept. Here, we summarize and discuss the findings of their Optimizing Health through Nutrition - Opportunities and Challenges workshop, including several gaps that need to be addressed to advance progress in the field. Defining and evaluating various indices of optimal health will require overcoming these key gaps. For example, there is a strong need to develop better biomarkers of nutrient status, including more accurate markers of food intake, as well as biomarkers of optimal health that account for maintaining resilience-the ability to recover from or respond to stressors without loss to physical and cognitive performance. In addition, there is a need to identify factors that drive individualized responses to nutrition, including genotype, metabotypes, and the gut microbiome, and to realize the opportunity of precision nutrition for optimal health. This review outlines hallmarks of resilience, provides current examples of nutritional factors to optimize cognitive and performance resilience, and gives an overview of various genetic, metabolic, and microbiome determinants of individualized responses.

The Jazz Community Performance Center explores the intersection between music and architecture. The thesis project poses the question, "How can music form architecture?" The project examines the connection of music and architecture through rhythm, harmony, melody, and form and how these elements can inform and inspire the design of the jazz community performance center. The project also explores how music's emotional and experiential qualities can be translated into a built form. The Jazz Community Performance Center location is adjacent to Union Market in Washington, DC, Ward 5, to complement and extend the vibrancy of Union Market's culture through music. The Union Market fosters a sense of belonging and connection by bringing people together from different races, genders, cultures, and backgrounds. The Jazz Community Perfromance Center will be an extension of the Union Market's purpose of uniting visitors from near and far, but people will gather through jazz music this time. The center will offer diverse jazz music performances, from traditional and classic jazz to more modern and experimental styles. The target demographics for the Jazz Community Performance Center will be music enthusiasts, cultural tourists, students, and deaf communities from Gallaudet University adjacent to the project's location. Its primary goal is to create a Jazz Community Performance Center that serves as a center for jazz education, performance, and culture. The center's mission is to give aspiring and professional musicians a space to perform and exhibit their passion for jazz music. The Jazz Community Performance Center introduces informal and formal indoor jazz performances, practice rooms, a vibration experiential gallery to invite the deaf communities of Gallaudet University, and an outdoor performance space in the plaza's center to grab and connect the community.

Users are the last line of defense as phishing emails pass filter mechanisms. At the same time, phishing emails are designed so that they are challenging to identify by users. To this end, attackers employ techniques, such as eliciting stress, targeting helpfulness, or exercising authority, due to which users often miss being manipulated out of malicious intent. This work builds on the assumption that manipulation techniques, even if going unnoticed by users, still lead to changes in their behavior. In this work, we present the outcomes of an online study in which we collected gaze and mouse movement data during an email sorting task. Our findings show that phishing emails lead to significant differences across behavioral features but depend on the nature of the email. We discuss how our findings can be leveraged to build security mechanisms protecting users and companies from phishing.

Users are the last line of defense as phishing emails pass filter mechanisms. At the same time, phishing emails are designed so that they are challenging to identify by users. To this end, attackers employ techniques, such as eliciting stress, targeting helpfulness, or exercising authority, due to which users often miss being manipulated out of malicious intent. This work builds on the assumption that manipulation techniques, even if going unnoticed by users, still lead to changes in their behavior. In this work, we present the outcomes of an online study in which we collected gaze and mouse movement data during an email sorting task. Our findings show that phishing emails lead to significant differences across behavioral features but depend on the nature of the email. We discuss how our findings can be leveraged to build security mechanisms protecting users and companies from phishing.

Although eye tracking brings many benefits to users of mobile devices and developers of mobile applications, it poses significant privacy risks to both: the users of mobile devices, and the bystanders that surround users, are within the front-facing camera's field of view. Recent research demonstrates that tracking an individual's gaze reveals personal and sensitive information. This paper presents an investigation of the privacy perceptions and the subjective acceptance of users towards eye tracking on handheld mobile devices. In a four-phase user study (N=17), participants used a smartphone eye tracking app, were interviewed before and after viewing a video showing the amount of sensitive and personal data that could be derived from eye movements, and had their privacy concerns measured. Our findings 1) show factors that influence users' and bystanders' attitudes toward eye tracking on mobile devices such as the algorithms' transparency and the developers' credibility and 2) support designing mechanisms to allow for privacy-aware eye tracking solutions on mobile-devices.

Thermal attacks are an emerging threat that enables the reconstruction of user input after interaction with a device by analysing heat traces. There are several ways to protect users from thermal attacks that require different degrees of user involvement. In this paper, we first present a structured literature review to identify 15 protection strategies. Then, we investigate user perceptions of these strategies in an online study (N = 306). Our results show that users intuitively use protection strategies that also work against other side-channel attacks. Further, users are willing to sacrifice convenience for the sake of verifying a strategy's efficacy. Yet, an ideal holistic defence from thermal attacks is one that is readily integrated into user interfaces by manufacturers in a way that the user can verify it. Further, users like resourceless strategies that fit their habits. We use the literature review and study results to identify a user-centred design space for thermal attack protection. We conclude the paper with specific recommendations for users, device manufacturers and interface providers to better protect individuals from thermal attacks.

Past work showed great promise in biometric user identification and authentication through exploiting specific features of specific body parts. We investigate human motion across the whole body, to explore what parts of the body exhibit more unique movement patterns, and are more suitable to identify users in general. We collect and analyze full-body motion data across various activities (e.g., sitting, standing), handheld objects (uni- or bimanual), and tasks (e.g., watching TV or walking). Our analysis shows, e.g., that gait as a strong feature amplifies when carrying items, game activity elicits more unique behaviors than texting on a smartphone, and motion features are robust across body parts whereas posture features are more robust across tasks. Our work provides a holistic reference on how context affects human motion to identify us across a variety of factors, useful to inform researchers and practitioners of behavioral biometric systems on a large scale.

Gaze is promising for hands-free interaction on mobile devices. However, it is not clear how gaze interaction methods compare to each other in mobile settings. This paper presents the first experiment in a mobile setting that compares three of the most commonly used gaze interaction methods: Dwell time, Pursuits, and Gaze gestures. In our study, 24 participants selected one of 2, 4, 9, 12 and 32 targets via gaze while sitting and while walking. Results show that input using Pursuits is faster than Dwell time and Gaze gestures especially when there are many targets. Users prefer Pursuits when stationary, but prefer Dwell time when walking. While selection using Gaze gestures is more demanding and slower when there are many targets, it is suitable for contexts where accuracy is more important than speed. We conclude with guidelines for the design of gaze interaction on handheld mobile devices.

Cyclists encounter drivers in many traffic scenarios; good communication is key to avoiding collisions. Little is known about everyday driver-cyclist interaction and communication. This is important in designing Automated Vehicles (AVs) that must drive safely around cyclists. We explored driver-cyclist interaction across diverse scenarios through in-the-wild observations (N = 414) and a naturalistic study involving cyclists wearing eye-trackers (N = 12). Results showed cyclists attended to road markings and traffic signs in controlled traffic scenarios but to vehicle sides and windows in uncontrolled encounters. Interactions were unlikely at controlled intersections, but various techniques were used to negotiate right-of-way in uncontrolled scenarios, e.g. cyclists used arm gestures and shoulder checks to communicate their intent and awareness when lane merging. Drivers communicated these through on-vehicle signals and head movements at roundabouts. We discuss the implications of driver-cyclist interaction behaviour on AV interaction design and offer insights into system requirements to support cyclists riding in traffic.

Social engineering is a popular attack vector among cyber criminals. During such attacks, impostors often attempt to trigger empathy to manipulate victims into taking dangerous actions, for example, sharing their credentials or clicking on malicious email attachments. The objective of this position paper is to initiate a conversation on the tension between positive and negative aspects of empathy in HCI as it pertains to security-relevant behaviors. To this end, we focus on the malicious ways in which empathy can be instrumentalized in social engineering. We describe examples of such empathy-related social engineering attacks, explore potential solutions (including the automated detection of empathy-triggering communication, or of empathetic communication on the part of a potential victim), and discuss technical, social as well as organizational interventions. We highlight research challenges and directions for future work.

Gaze is promising for natural and spontaneous interaction with public displays, but current gaze-enabled displays require movement-hindering stationary eye trackers or cumbersome head-mounted eye trackers. We propose and evaluate GazeCast - a novel system that leverages users' handheld mobile devices to allow gaze-based interaction with surrounding displays. In a user study (N = 20), we compared GazeCast to a standard webcam for gaze-based interaction using Pursuits. We found that while selection using GazeCast requires more time and physical demand, participants value GazeCast's high accuracy and flexible positioning. We conclude by discussing how mobile computing can facilitate the adoption of gaze interaction with pervasive displays.

The leather and chemical industries produce a large volume of effluents that contain harmful chemicals, heavy metals, and nutrients. These effluents contribute to pollution and have adverse effects on the environment, aquatic life, animals, and humans. To mitigate these effects, biological techniques such as degradation via algae, fungi, and bacteria have been implemented for the treatment of these effluents. The article discusses the harmful impacts of these industrial effluents and the potential of biological treatment methods to address them. The chemical industry generates effluent containing toxic, carcinogenic, and mostly non-biodegradable chemicals, leading to acute and chronic health effects. Similarly, leather industry generates heavy metals and toxic compounds in effluents that are discharged into aquatic life such as rivers, ponds and streams without further treatment. They have massive chronic effect on primarily them and ultimately up in the food chain. Various bioremediation techniques such as bio augmentation involving multiple microbes like bacteria, fungi and algae have and can be used to treat such effluents biologically and eco-friendly. Chromium (III) and chromium (VI) can be treated effectively only by such techniques. Furthermore, SBR technique and its multiple variants are applied for treatment of potentially toxic chemicals present in chemical industrial effluent. All such techniques provide strong biological substitution to prevalent physical or chemical methods of remediation.

Recently, the experimental measurements of the branching ratios and different polarization asymmetries for the processes occurring through flavor-changing-charged current $b\rightarrow c\tau\overline{\nu}_{\tau}$ transitions by BABAR, Belle, and LHCb show some sparkling differences with the corresponding SM predictions. Assuming the left handed neutrinos, we add the dimension-six vector, (pseudo-)scalar, and tensor operators with complex WCs to the SM WEH. Together with 60%, 30% and 10% constraints coming from the branching ratio of $B_{c}\to\tau\bar{\nu}_{\tau}$, we analyze the parametric space of these new physics WCs accommodating the current anomalies in the purview of the most recent HFLAV data of $R_{\tau/{\mu,e}}\left(D\right)$, $R_{\tau/{\mu,e}}\left(D^*\right)$ and Belle data of $F_{L}\left(D^*\right)$ and $P_{\tau}\left(D^*\right)$. Furthermore, we derive the sum rules which correlate these observables with $R_{\tau/{\mu,e}}\left(D\right)$ and $R_{\tau/{\mu,e}}\left(D^*\right)$. Using the best-fit points of the new complex WCs along with the latest measurements of $R_{\tau/{\mu,e}}\left(D^{(*)}\right)$, we predict the numerical values of the observable $R_{\tau/\ell}\left(\Lambda_c\right)$, $R_{\tau/\mu}\left(J/\psi\right)$ and $R_{\tau/\ell}\left(X_c\right)$ from the sum rules. Apart from finding the correlation matrix among the observables under consideration, we plot them graphically which is useful to discriminate different NP scenarios. Finally, we study the impact of these NP couplings on various angular and the CP triple product asymmetries, that could be measured in some ongoing and future experiments. The precise measurements of these observables are important to check the SM and extract the possible NP., Comment: 21 pages, 6 figures, The numerical analysis is modified, and the Table III is added to elaborate and to perform the quantitative analysis of the observables

The leather and chemical industries produce a large volume of effluents that contain harmful chemicals, heavy metals, and nutrients. These effluents contribute to pollution and have adverse effects on the environment, aquatic life, animals, and humans. To mitigate these effects, biological techniques such as degradation via algae, fungi, and bacteria have been implemented for the treatment of these effluents. The article discusses the harmful impacts of these industrial effluents and the potential of biological treatment methods to address them. The chemical industry generates effluent containing toxic, carcinogenic, and mostly non-biodegradable chemicals, leading to acute and chronic health effects. Similarly, leather industry generates heavy metals and toxic compounds in effluents that are discharged into aquatic life such as rivers, ponds and streams without further treatment. They have massive chronic effect on primarily them and ultimately up in the food chain. Various bioremediation techniques such as bio augmentation involving multiple microbes like bacteria, fungi and algae have and can be used to treat such effluents biologically and eco-friendly. Chromium (III) and chromium (VI) can be treated effectively only by such techniques. Furthermore, SBR technique and its multiple variants are applied for treatment of potentially toxic chemicals present in chemical industrial effluent. All such techniques provide strong biological substitution to prevalent physical or chemical methods of remediation.

The aim of this study is to determine the current status of planning to achieve success in public “Higher Education Institutions (HEIs)” in Malaysia. This study used a descriptive approach. The unit of analysis of this study “consists of Academic and non-academic staff” from four “Malaysian Technical University Network (MTUN)” universities. The research sample consists of 300. A questionnaire is made to collect authentic data from the target population. The result of this study seems to prove the respondents’ desire for an urgent change in the situation of planning to achieve success in public HEIs. The study showed that universities perform relatively well in gender-equitable appointments to leadership positions. Furthermore, respondents to this study valued the importance of planning to achieve success at the university level, with most respondents giving planning to achieve success a high priority. Furthermore, the results of this study show that state laws and policies also play a role in facilitating planning to achieve success practices at the HEI level. This study recommends both public and private HEIs in Malaysia to conduct further research to promote planning to achieve success practices at university level. This study made a “significant contribution to the literature review” by revealing the current status of planning to achieve success implementation in higher education institutions in Malaysia. The findings of this study serve as a guide for higher education institutions in Malaysia to develop their strategies at the university level.

OBJECTIVES To assess the lamina cribrosa (LC) anterior lamina cribrosa depth (ALCD), lamina cribrosa thickness (LCT) and retinal nerve fiber layer thickness (RNFLT) in primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) cases and age-matched controls and to compare these anatomical variables among POAG cases and age-matched controls. METHODOLOGY The case-control study was researched at Al-Ain Eye Institute, Karachi, in four month’s duration (November 2018 till February 2019). Expert eye specialist recruited 57 POAG cases and 46 age-matched healthy controls. Observation of intraocular pressure (IOP) and open angle was done using Goldmann tonometry and Slit-lamp biomicroscopy with stereoscopic ophthalmoscopy respectively. Visual field parameters of mean deviation (MD) and pattern standard deviation (PSD) measured using Humphrey Field Analyzer. Highly sensitive spectral domain ocular coherence tomography with enhanced depth imaging (EDI-OCT) was used to determine ALCD, LCT and RNFLT. RESULTS Statistically significant results were produced by RNFLT defects when it is compared in groups of mild with moderate cases of POAG (P-value 0.037). ALCD and LCT did display an association with RNFLT defects but did not produced statistically significant results. CONCLUSION Assessments of ALCD and LCT can provide important prognostic evidence about RNFLT and can assist in future planning of mild and moderate cases suffering from POAG.

OBJECTIVES Septicaemia (blood poisoning) is one of the chief sources of global morbidity and mortality in pediatric patients and presents with multidrug and extensive drug resistance. This study aims to detect the major causative agents, antimicrobial susceptibility patterns and associated factors of bacteraemia among pediatric patients.METHODOLOGY This retrospective cross-sectional study was done at National Medical Center, Karachi microbiology laboratory. Clinical specimens consist of blood. Blood samples were processed in BACTEC's automated blood culture system, and positive samples were sub-cultured on blood, Mac-Conkey. Final identification was done by API 20E and API 20NE (Biomerieux) and confirmed by MicroScan (Beckman coulter)®. The antimicrobial susceptibility was performed by using Bauer– Kirby disk diffusion method.RESULTS A total of 395 pediatric patients were taken in the study. Out of these patients, 226 (57.2 %) were female. The children with age 1-4 years were highly affected. Almost 50% were handled in emergency and transferred for admission. 36.2% of patients were exposed to intravenous devices. 89 (22.5%) patients had a history of prolonged use of antibiotics. Most patients with pneumonia presented with septicemia as a complication, and were detected by Klebsiella pneumonia (35.4%), Acinetobacter bauminii (25.3%) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (20.3%). CONCLUSION The study revealed that gram-negative organisms are the predominant causative organisms of septicaemia. Antibiotic resistance to Carbapenem is gradually increased in the case of Acinetobacter bauminii and Escherichia coli. These issues can be overcome by early detection of microorganisms and establishing antibiotic stewardship.

OBJECTIVES The study aimed to assess the effects of quarantine on non-scarring hair fall and to determine the relationship between sun exposure and hair fall. METHODOLOGY This cross-sectional study was conducted in Karachi from January to June 2022 . Ethical approval was taken from the institutional ethical review committee. Participants were recruited by non-probability convenience sampling technique after obtaining informed consent. Those with dermatologic diseases of the scalp (cicatricial alopecia, alopecia areata, seborrheic dermatitis, infections), high-stress levels, post-pregnancy, thyroid disorders, hormonal disorders and COVID-19 were excluded from the study. Hair loss was assessed using a self-filled questionnaire regarding the history of comorbidities, demographics, education, institute status during quarantine, hair fall experience and personal habits. RESULTSThe study consisted of 137 participants after exclusion criteria were applied. Among these, 95.6% complained of increased hair fall during quarantine. Most participants were women (63.4%) compared to men (36.6%). The average age of the hair fall group was 20 years. Only 15.3% of participants spent more than 1-2 hours in the sun, and the majority had their hair covered when going out during quarantine. CONCLUSION Hair fall is high during quarantine, particularly among women of young age group. Personal habits and exposure to the sun for a short time at noon can affect hair fall in quarantine, although no direct correlation was found. Hair fall during lockdown is inversely related to certain comorbidities.

LIGO's mission critical timing system has enabled gravitational wave and multi-messenger astrophysical discoveries as well as the rich science extracted. Achieving optimal detector sensitivity, detecting transient gravitational waves, and especially localizing gravitational wave sources, the underpinning of multi-messenger astrophysics, all require proper gravitational wave data time-stamping. Measurements of the relative arrival times of gravitational waves between different detectors allow for coherent gravitational wave detections, localization of gravitational wave sources, and the creation of skymaps. The carefully designed timing system achieves these goals by mitigating phase noise to avoid signal up-conversion and maximize gravitational wave detector sensitivity. The timing system also redundantly performs self-calibration and self-diagnostics in order to ensure reliable, extendable, and traceable time stamping. In this paper, we describe and quantify the performance of these core systems during the latest O3 scientific run of LIGO, Virgo, and KAGRA. We present results of the diagnostic checks done to verify the time-stamping for individual gravitational wave events observed during O3 as well as the timing system performance for all of O3 in LIGO Livingston and LIGO Hanford. We find that, after 3 observing runs, the LIGO timing system continues to reliably meet mission requirements of timing precision below 1 $\mu$s with a significant safety margin., Comment: 11 pages, 8 figures

Recently, the experimental measurements of the branching ratios and different polarization asymmetries for the processes occurring through flavor-changing-charged current $b\rightarrow c\tau\overline{\nu}_{\tau}$ transitions by BABAR, Belle, and LHCb show some sparkling differences with the corresponding SM predictions. Assuming the left handed neutrinos, we add the dimension-six vector, (pseudo-)scalar, and tensor operators with complex WCs to the SM WEH. Together with 60%, 30% and 10% constraints coming from the branching ratio of $B_{c}\to\tau\bar{\nu}_{\tau}$, we analyze the parametric space of these new physics WCs accommodating the current anomalies in the purview of the most recent HFLAV data of $R_{\tau/{\mu,e}}\left(D\right)$, $R_{\tau/{\mu,e}}\left(D^*\right)$ and Belle data of $F_{L}\left(D^*\right)$ and $P_{\tau}\left(D^*\right)$. Furthermore, we derive the sum rules which correlate these observables with $R_{\tau/{\mu,e}}\left(D\right)$ and $R_{\tau/{\mu,e}}\left(D^*\right)$. Using the best-fit points of the new complex WCs along with the latest measurements of $R_{\tau/{\mu,e}}\left(D^{(*)}\right)$, we predict the numerical values of the observable $R_{\tau/\ell}\left(\Lambda_c\right)$, $R_{\tau/\mu}\left(J/\psi\right)$ and $R_{\tau/\ell}\left(X_c\right)$ from the sum rules. Apart from finding the correlation matrix among the observables under consideration, we plot them graphically which is useful to discriminate different NP scenarios. Finally, we study the impact of these NP couplings on various angular and the CP triple product asymmetries, that could be measured in some ongoing and future experiments. The precise measurements of these observables are important to check the SM and extract the possible NP., Comment: 21 pages, 6 figures, The numerical analysis is modified, and the Table III is added to elaborate and to perform the quantitative analysis of the observables

This study aimed to assess nurse's knowledge of pressure ulcer prevention in governmental hospitals in the Gaza Strip. This study utilized a descriptive, cross-sectional, analytical design. The sample of the study consisted of 116 ICU nurses from five governmental hospitals. For data collection, the researcher used a self-administrated questionnaire and Observation Checklist. Results showed that the study population were males (73.3%) and 26.7% were females. Moreover, (62.1%) of the study population had less than 5 years of experience in the ICU. There were no statistical significant differences between means in knowledge related to gender, age, educational level, and hospitals. The study concluded that intensive care nurses' knowledge of pressure ulcer prevention was above moderate. The study recommended the need to provide sufficient numbers of qualified nurses in intensive care departments and urged nurses to attend training courses on safety standards for the prevention of pressure ulcers among patients.

It is generally known that caffeine has ergogenic characteristics and research has shown that it can improve both the physical and technical aspects of a player's performance. The objective of this study was to discover the impact of caffeine on arousal of male university football players in the South Punjab zone of Pakistan. A randomized placebo controlled, single blind parallel group design was used to perform the study. A total of (n=120) players were selected for the study (age: 22.39 ± 1.69 Years; Height: 172.9 ± 5.85 cm; Body mass 70.12 ± 5.03 kg; Body mass index: 23.45 ± 1.43 kg/m2 Mean ± SD) were distributed into n=4 groups (n=30 in each group) to identify the effect of caffeine on the arousal of the players. In this study (n=3) various doses of caffeine in capsule form were given to three experimental groups. Group A was administered caffeine at 3 mg/kg-1 (LD-CAF: 3 mg/kg-1). Group B was administered caffeine at 6mg/kg-1 (MD-CAF: 6mg/kg-1). Group C was administered caffeine at 9 mg/kg-1 (HD-CAF: 9 mg/kg-1). Whereas, group D was considered a placebo control (PC) group, administered zero mg of caffeine (CAF: 0 mg/kg-1). Felt Arousal Scale (FAS) survey was completed in pre and post-test. Overall, all experimental groups had prominent effects (P < 0.001) on the arousal of male university football players. Results also indicated that a high dose (HD) of caffeine 9mg/kg-1 was more effective (131%) than others.

Dynamic graphs are rich data structures that are used to model complex relationships between entities over time. In particular, anomaly detection in temporal graphs is crucial for many real world applications such as intrusion identification in network systems, detection of ecosystem disturbances and detection of epidemic outbreaks. In this paper, we focus on change point detection in dynamic graphs and address three main challenges associated with this problem: i). how to compare graph snapshots across time, ii). how to capture temporal dependencies, and iii). how to combine different views of a temporal graph. To solve the above challenges, we first propose Laplacian Anomaly Detection (LAD) which uses the spectrum of graph Laplacian as the low dimensional embedding of the graph structure at each snapshot. LAD explicitly models short term and long term dependencies by applying two sliding windows. Next, we propose MultiLAD, a simple and effective generalization of LAD to multi-view graphs. MultiLAD provides the first change point detection method for multi-view dynamic graphs. It aggregates the singular values of the normalized graph Laplacian from different views through the scalar power mean operation. Through extensive synthetic experiments, we show that i). LAD and MultiLAD are accurate and outperforms state-of-the-art baselines and their multi-view extensions by a large margin, ii). MultiLAD's advantage over contenders significantly increases when additional views are available, and iii). MultiLAD is highly robust to noise from individual views. In five real world dynamic graphs, we demonstrate that LAD and MultiLAD identify significant events as top anomalies such as the implementation of government COVID-19 interventions which impacted the population mobility in multi-view traffic networks., Comment: 30 pages, 15 figures, extended version of previous paper "Laplacian Change Point Detection for Dynamic Graphs" with novel material. arXiv admin note: substantial text overlap with arXiv:2007.01229

Face recognition is known to be vulnerable to adversarial face images. Existing works craft face adversarial images by indiscriminately changing a single attribute without being aware of the intrinsic attributes of the images. To this end, we propose a new Semantic Adversarial Attack called SAA-StarGAN that tampers with the significant facial attributes for each image. We predict the most significant attributes by applying the cosine similarity or probability score. The probability score method is based on training a Face Verification model for an attribute prediction task to obtain a class probability score for each attribute. The prediction process will help craft adversarial face images more easily and efficiently, as well as improve the adversarial transferability. Then, we change the most significant facial attributes, with either one or more of the facial attributes for impersonation and dodging attacks in white-box and black-box settings. Experimental results show that our method could generate diverse and realistic adversarial face images meanwhile avoid affecting human perception of the face recognition. SAA-StarGAN achieves an 80.5% attack success rate against black-box models, outperforming existing methods by 35.5% under the impersonation attack. Concerning the black-box setting, SAA-StarGAN achieves high attack success rates on various models. The experiments confirm that predicting the most important attributes significantly affects the success of adversarial attacks in both white-box and black-box settings and could enhance the transferability of the crafted adversarial examples., Comment: 13 pages, 8 figures, 3 tables

Sundus Iftikhar,1 Rahila Yasmeen,2 Rehan Ahmed Khan,2 Mahwish Arooj1 1University College of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Lahore, Lahore, PB, Pakistan; 2Islamic International Medical College, Riphah International University, Rawalpindi, PB, PakistanCorrespondence: Sundus Iftikhar, 26-C extension DHA Phase 8 ex-Parkview, Lahore, Pakistan, Tel +923457363111, Email sundus@iftikhar.mePurpose: Despite being in high numbers in medical colleges, only a small proportion of women join the workforce and even fewer reach leadership positions in Pakistan. Organizations like United Nations and Women Global Health are working towards closing the gender gap. The study aims to explore the enablers and barriers for women in healthcare leadership and to explore the strategies to promote women in leadership positions in Pakistan’s specific societal culture.Methods: In this qualitative exploratory study, semi-structured interviews of 16 women holding leadership positions in the health-care profession, ie, medical and dental (basic or clinical sciences) were included. The data were collected until saturation was achieved. The data were analyzed in MS Excel. Deductive and Inductive thematic analysis was done.Results: Thirty-eight codes were generated that were combined in the form of categories. The major themes that emerged from the data were: elevating factors, the shackles holding them back, let us bring them up and implicit bias. Elevating factors were intrinsic motivation and exceptional qualifications, while the shackles were related to gender bias, male insecurities, and lack of political background. It was noteworthy that differences in gender roles were highly defined by culture and religion.Conclusion: There is a need to change the perception of South Asian society and redefine gender roles through media and individual attempts. Women must take charge of their choices and believe in themselves. The institutional policies to help promote gender equality would be mentor

Users are the last line of defense as phishing emails pass filter mechanisms. At the same time, phishing emails are designed so that they are challenging to identify by users. To this end, attackers employ techniques, such as eliciting stress, targeting helpfulness, or exercising authority, due to which users often miss being manipulated out of malicious intent. This work builds on the assumption that manipulation techniques, even if going unnoticed by users, still lead to changes in their behavior. In this work, we present the outcomes of an online study in which we collected gaze and mouse movement data during an email sorting task. Our findings show that phishing emails lead to significant differences across behavioral features but depend on the nature of the email. We discuss how our findings can be leveraged to build security mechanisms protecting users and companies from phishing., Comment: 17 pages

Multiple myeloma (MM) is one of the most common hematological malignancies, accounting for 20% of all newly diagnosed hematological cancers [1]. The most recent data from Cancer Today show that in 2020 the number of new MM cases was 176,404 worldwide

Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) is the most common leukemia among adults worldwide. Although genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have uncovered the germline genetic component underlying CLL susceptibility, the potential use of GWAS-identified risk variants to predict disease progression and patient survival remains unexplored. Here, we evaluated whether 41 GWAS-identified risk variants for CLL could influence overall survival (OS) and disease progression, defined as time to first treatment (TTFT) in a cohort of 1039 CLL cases ascertained through the CRuCIAL consortium. Although this is the largest study assessing the effect of GWAS-identified susceptibility variants for CLL on OS, we only found a weak association of ten single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) with OS (p < 0.05) that did not remain significant after correction for multiple testing. In line with these results, polygenic risk scores (PRSs) built with these SNPs in the CRuCIAL cohort showed a modest association with OS and a low capacity to predict patient survival, with an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC) of 0.57. Similarly, seven SNPs were associated with TTFT (p < 0.05); however, these did not reach the multiple testing significance threshold, and the meta-analysis with previous published data did not confirm any of the associations. As expected, PRSs built with these SNPs showed reduced accuracy in prediction of disease progression (AUROC = 0.62). These results suggest that susceptibility variants for CLL do not impact overall survival and disease progression in CLL patients.

This book was created as part of the SIRIUS B VERGE program to orient students to astrophysics as a broad field. The 2023-2024 VERGE program and the printing of this book is funded by the Women and Girls in Astronomy Program via the International Astronomical Union's North American Regional Office of Astronomy for Development and the Heising-Simons Foundation; as a result, this document is written by women in astronomy for girls who are looking to pursue the field. However, given its universal nature, the material covered in this guide is useful for anyone interested in pursuing astrophysics professionally., Comment: Introductory guide for students interested in pursuing astrophysics; to be submitted to BAAS

The leather and chemical industries produce a large volume of effluents that contain harmful chemicals, heavy metals, and nutrients. These effluents contribute to pollution and have adverse effects on the environment, aquatic life, animals, and humans. To mitigate these effects, biological techniques such as degradation via algae, fungi, and bacteria have been implemented for the treatment of these effluents. The article discusses the harmful impacts of these industrial effluents and the potential of biological treatment methods to address them. The chemical industry generates effluent containing toxic, carcinogenic, and mostly non-biodegradable chemicals, leading to acute and chronic health effects. Similarly, leather industry generates heavy metals and toxic compounds in effluents that are discharged into aquatic life such as rivers, ponds and streams without further treatment. They have massive chronic effect on primarily them and ultimately up in the food chain. Various bioremediation techniques such as bio augmentation involving multiple microbes like bacteria, fungi and algae have and can be used to treat such effluents biologically and eco-friendly. Chromium (III) and chromium (VI) can be treated effectively only by such techniques. Furthermore, SBR technique and its multiple variants are applied for treatment of potentially toxic chemicals present in chemical industrial effluent. All such techniques provide strong biological substitution to prevalent physical or chemical methods of remediation.

The widespread of data visualisation tools on smartphones has provided end users an easy way to track their health data, leading designers to put more effort into delivering suitable visualisations. Both academia and industry have developed several frameworks to guide the creation of informative and well-designed charts, such as the visualisation and design framework and Google Material Design. Despite the typical focus on design and chart types in these existing frameworks, our study highlights the need to incorporate additional components when developing data visualisations. The needs of non-expert users, the nature of the data being represented, and the mobile environment are often not prioritised in these frameworks, leading to visualisations that do not meet user needs and expectations. To address these issues, we propose our Six-Dimensions Data Visualisation Framework (6DVF) to assist in the design and evaluation of visualisations on mobile devices. Finally, we present our initial findings from a designer evaluation experiment., Comment: 6 pages

This paper presents the challenge report for the 2021 Kidney and Kidney Tumor Segmentation Challenge (KiTS21) held in conjunction with the 2021 international conference on Medical Image Computing and Computer Assisted Interventions (MICCAI). KiTS21 is a sequel to its first edition in 2019, and it features a variety of innovations in how the challenge was designed, in addition to a larger dataset. A novel annotation method was used to collect three separate annotations for each region of interest, and these annotations were performed in a fully transparent setting using a web-based annotation tool. Further, the KiTS21 test set was collected from an outside institution, challenging participants to develop methods that generalize well to new populations. Nonetheless, the top-performing teams achieved a significant improvement over the state of the art set in 2019, and this performance is shown to inch ever closer to human-level performance. An in-depth meta-analysis is presented describing which methods were used and how they faired on the leaderboard, as well as the characteristics of which cases generally saw good performance, and which did not. Overall KiTS21 facilitated a significant advancement in the state of the art in kidney tumor segmentation, and provides useful insights that are applicable to the field of semantic segmentation as a whole., Comment: 34 pages, 12 figures

This paper presents a study on Sannipatataj Jwara with special reference to systemic onset juvenile idiopathic arthritis with macrophage activation syndrome.

This paper presents an overview home remedies for mother and child care.