Search

Objective: To evaluate the efficacy of ligature sealing versus standard suture sealing for multinodular goiter patients after thyroidectomy. Method: The aim of our study is to evaluate the efficacy of ligature sealing versus standard suture sealing for multinodular goiter patients after thyroidectomy. The research was done in the Mayo Hospital in Lahore, Pakistan, specifically in the General Surgery Division. Ligasure-sealed patients made up Group A, while those in Group B were treated with traditional suture-ligation. The average duration of surgery, the average amount of discomfort felt by the patient afterward, and the average amount of drain fluid collected aftersurgery were all recorded. Results: Eighty people in total participated in the study. Patients in Group-Ahad an average operation time of 67.3±6.9 minutes, while those in Group-B averaged 85.6±8.3 minutes; this difference was statistically significant (p0.000001). Patients in group Areported an average of 2.6±1.3 units of pain, while those in group B reported 1.7±0.7 units of pain; this difference was statistically significant (p 0.001). Patients in Group-A had a mean drain output of 53.5±4.9 ml following surgery, while those in Group-B had an output of 68.2±7.3 ml; this difference was statistically significant (p = 0.0001). Conclusion: Thyroid surgery using ligature sealing is an effective and safe alternative to the standard approach, resulting in significantly less downtime, less discomfort, and less drainage after the procedure.

The oxidation of atrazine herbicide from water was performed by using titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanoparticles synthesized via the sol-gel method. A batch-scale photocatalytic reactor was designed for experimental work. The process was monitored using a UV–visible spectrophotometer. Operational parameters such as catalyst loading and pollutant concentration were investigated. The X-ray diffraction confirmed the anatase phase and high purity of the synthesized particles. Fourier transform infrared showed the functional group of titanium (Ti–O–Ti). The morphology of synthesized nanoparticles was characterized by scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy, which exhibited the irregular shape of nanoparticles along with aggregations. The average size of TiO2 was found to be 56.92 nm as measured from dynamic light scattering analysis. UV–visible spectrometry showed an absorbance of 0.13 (m/z, respectively, at collision energies of 16 and 24 eV. The photocatalytic activity of the TiO2 nanoparticles was examined for the degradation of atrazine. Overall, the obtained results displayed the great efficiency of TiO2 nanoparticles towards ultra-violet light, which was 92.56% at 100 mg of dosages, highlighting the great potential of the photocatalysis process for atrazine degradation. Furthermore, the process followed pseudo-first-order kinetics and the rate was seen to depend on catalyst loading.

Background: Dengue fever is a viral disease caused by four different serotypes of dengue viruses from DENV, transmitted mostly by the Aedes aegypti mosquito. The disease has history of many outbreaks mostly in tropic and sub-tropic countries, costing many lives annually, with millions in mild to complicated forms, bringing stress to health systems and economies of poor countries. Dengue epidemic occurred in Pakistan in 2010 with 257 deaths during the epidemic and prevalence of 16580 cases in Rawalpindi, repeated epidemic in 2015, 2017, 2018 and 2019 with higher prevalence. Objective: To determine the frequency of dengue hemorrhagic fever in patients of dengue fever and to compare mean platecrit and platelet indices in patients with or without dengue hemorrhagic fever due to dengue fever. Materials And Methods: The design of this study was an observational cross sectional study design. This study was conducted in the Department of Infectious Diseases, Holy Family Hospital, Rawalpindi and the duration of this study was 6 months after the approval of synopsis i.e 1st May 2021 to 30th Oct 2021. Patients fulfilling selection criteria were enrolled in the study from emergency of Department of Infectious Diseases, Holy Family Hospital Rawalpindi. Informed consent was taken. Then patients were evaluated and divided for severity score (annexure I). Reports were assessed for Platelet indices including platelet count, mean platelet volume, platelet distribution width (as per operational definition). All this information were recorded on proforma (attached). Results: Total 150 participants were enrolled in the study as per the inclusion criteria. Mean age in the study was 38.42+13.74 whereas there were 94 (62.7%) male and 56 (37.3%) female patients who were included in the study according to the inclusion criteria. Among 150 patients, 28 (18.7%) patients were presented with dengue hemorrhagic fever in patients of dengue fever. Mean Platecrit indices in patients with or without dengue hemorrhagic fever due to dengue fever in the study was 0.26+1.62 vs 0.08+0.02 (p-value 0.552) whereas mean platelet indices in patients with or without dengue hemorrhagic fever due to dengue fever in the study was 64.19+41.11 vs 78.10+32.74 (p-value 0.097). Practical Implication: To determine the frequency of dengue hemorrhagic fever in patients of dengue fever and to compare mean platecrit and platelet indices in patients with or without dengue hemorrhagic fever due to dengue fever Conclusion: The study concluded that different indices of platelets within different forms of dengue fever to assess the severity of the disease process may serve as an early indicator of disease progress and severity which will help to decide early intervention. Keywords: Dengue Fever, Hemorrhagic, Platelet, Indices, Serotypes, Epidemic, Participants

Introduction: To determine reliability of leukocyte count on admission for prediction of mortality among patients with organophosphorus intoxication. Early prediction can help in preventing the poor outcome and improved management. This is cost and time effective method and better management and preventive protocols can be developed. Objective: To determine the diagnostic accuracy of leukocyte count in prediction of mortality in patients with organophosphorus intoxication keeping actual mortality as gold standard. Material and Methods: The design of this study was a Cross sectional study design. The duration of this study was six months from 31-03-2020 to 30-09-2020 and this study was conducted in the Department of Medicine (unit II), HFH, Rawalpindi. A total of one hundred and sixty (n=160) patients of either gender between age between 16-85 years who were confirmed cases of organophosphorus poisoning were enrolled. Leukocyte count levels were noted at the time of admission and patients were monitored for 7 days in the hospital for mortality. Results: The results showed that sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value and accuracy of raised leukocytes counts (>12000/uL) at admission as 60.4%, 77.8%, 50.0%, 84.3% and 73.1% respectively. ROC curve showed best cutoff value of raised leukocytes counts (>12000/uL) at admission as 10253/uL, where sensitivity of 72.1% and specificity of 58.1% was achieved. Area under the curve (AUC) was calculated as 0.707. Practical Implication: To determine the diagnostic accuracy of leukocyte count in prediction of mortality in patients with organophosphorus intoxication keeping actual mortality as gold standard Conclusions: Raised leukocytes counts (>12000/uL) at admission allowed prediction of mortality in patients with organophosphorus poisoning with reasonable accuracy. Our study results showed sensitivity, specificity, PPV, NPV and accuracy of 60.4%, 77.8%, 50.0%, 84.3% and 73.1% respectively. Keywords: Leukocyte Counts, Organophosphorus, Poisoning, Mortality, Intoxication, Predictive Value, Morbidity.

Objective: To compare the effect of Amitriptyline and Pregabalin in treatment of painful diabetic neuropathy. Material and Methods: The design of this study was Randomized Controlled Trial study design. This study was conducted in the Department of Medicine in, Holy Family Hospital, Rawalpindi and the duration of this study was Six months after the approval of synopsis i.e from 1st November 2019 to 1st May 2020. Approval from ethical committee of the hospital was taken. Written informed consent was taken from patients. Consent form is attached with this. Patients were randomly allocated into two groups by lottery method. The dose of Pregabalin was used as 50mg thrice daily for a period of six weeks and label as group-A and group B received amitriptyline as 25mg once daily before bedtime for a period of six weeks as prescribed by a senior consultant who was blind to object of the study. At the start and end of treatment pain was marked by patients on Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) and numerical score. It was noted on the Performa. Results: Total 100 patients were included according to the inclusion criteria of the study. The dose of Pregabalin was given in patients in group-A and group-B received amitriptyline. Mean age (years) in the study was 55.87+6.43 whereas there were 55 (55.0) male and 45 (45.0) female patients who were included in the study according to the inclusion criteria. In our study, frequency and percentage of effect (pain relief) among Pregabalin and Amitriptyline in treatment of painful diabetic neuropathy was 27 (54.0) and 11 (22.0) respectively which was statistically significant (p-value 0.001). Practical Implication: In this study Pregabalin is more responsible for pain relief than Amitriptyline in treatment of painful diabetic neuropathy. Further studies at multiple studies must be conduct in future for determining the efficacy of amitriptyline and Pregabalin in diabetic neuropathy in order to formulate guidelines for management of diabetic peripheral neuropathy. Conclusion: The study concluded that Pregabalin is more responsible for pain relief than Amitriptyline in treatment of painful diabetic neuropathy. Further studies at multiple studies must be conduct in future for determining the efficacy of Pregabalin and amitriptyline in diabetic neuropathy in order to formulate guidelines for management of diabetic peripheral neuropathy. Keywords: Amitriptyline, Pregabalin, Neuropathy, Pain Relief, Diabetic Sensorimotor Polyneuropathy, Prevalence.

Public Acceptance is a prerequisite forgaining the intended benefits of Connected and Au-tonomous Vehicles (CAVs). This paper proposes anidea of digital labels for CAVs so as to increaseconsumers trust and awareness regarding the se-curity level of their vehicle. We come up with anarchitecture named Cybersecurity Box (CSBox) inwhich digital labels display and inform the CAVconsumers and passengers about its cybersecurityhealth status. We also highlight requirements andchallenges in developing digital security labels forCAVs

Tuberculosis, being one of the top 10 death causing diseases worldwide, is still widespread in developing countries. Pakistan is currently ranked fifth among the high tuberculosis burden countries and 5 % of the total patients worldwide are from this country. The study was conducted on 633 tuberculosis patients involving both pulmonary and extrapulmonary tuberculosis from Punjab population of Pakistan. Male to female ratio was found to be 0.96 in this population. Most of the individuals infected from this disease were found to be of age group 15-34 where 38.38% males and 46.43% females were infected. Among pulmonary tuberculosis, age group

In the last decades, embroidery getting much attention in industries and academics. Although the technique is very old, it is still very much adopted. The current era of machine learning and smart devices makes this method even more attractive, easy to adopt and high accuracy. The proposed research work aims to highlight the implementation of new smart devices in this field, and the work is based on microcontrollers. Adopting the proposed work will be very easy and feasible to transform from the old sewing machine to a new smart method. Using smart devices, it is very easy and precise to get the embroidery fulfilling the user's demands. It gives simple raster images, which are used to convert into digital images to portray any new product. The current work is a novel idea of generating simple images rather than complicated ones, which are difficult to draw. In our method, we introduce the digitization process to input any image file used for vectorizing raster images, where vector images can easily convert into a DST embroidery file, a commonly used embroidery format originally from Tajima. It also has a Gcode file. The machine runs on a Gcode file which can be easily generated and runs on a product.

Background: Human papilloma virus is a large group of DNA containing viruses that infect squamous epithelium of skin or uncornified mucous membrane. Aim: To compare the outcomes of MMR vaccine V/S 5 fluorouracil in treatment of palmo-plantar warts in patients among male and female patients. Study Design: Experimental study. Methodology: In order to collect the data, simple random sampling technique was used. Enrolled patients (n=102) were divided into two groups. Group-A received intra-lesional MMR vaccine (0.1-0.5mal) while other group received intra-lesional 5-Fluorouracil (0.1-0.5mal) injection. Both groups received intra-lesional injections in warts at 2 weekly interval for 3 months. SPSS v 23 evaluated data. Chi-square test was used to compare the gender distribution, results, responder and recurrence between both groups with p-value less than 0.05 as significant. Results: Mean age of the patients of group A was 30.5 ± 6.0 and the mean age of patients of group B was 28.2 ± 8.7 years. In Group A, 33 patients (58.9%) were responders, while in Group B, 43 patients (76.8%) were responders. P-value (0.043) suggested that the difference in response rate between the two groups was statistically significant. Practical Implication: This study compared the efficacy of two different treatment options that were commonly used in palmo-planter warts management. Secondly, it added to local literature regarding their efficacy in comparison to each-other. Conclusion: It was concluded that intra-lesional 5-FU was more safe and effective treatment in comparison to injection MMR for palmo-planter warts as it showed high response rate with low recurrence. Keywords: Efficacy, MMR Vaccine, Response Rate, 5-Flourouracil and Intra-lesional Injection.

Background: Warts are lesions that grow on the human skin due to infection named human papilloma-virus (HPV) type 1, 2, and 4. More than 100 types of HPV virus have been identified now. Aim: To compare the efficacy of adapalene and electrocautery therapies in managing plane warts. Study design: Randomized Control Trial. Methodology: A total of 52 patients via non probability consecutive sampling technique with plane warts were enrolled and randomly divided into 2 equal groups. The patients of Group A were treated with 0.5% Adapalene gel (applied twice daily over the lesions for maximum 3 months or until resolution of warts) and patients in group B were treated with electro-cautery procedure fortnightly for maximum 3 months or until resolution of warts). Patients were assessed after every 2 weeks for initial 3 months and then these patients were followed monthly for another 3 months and final outcome was seen at 6 months. Data was evaluated by using SPSS version 23. Student-t test was applied with p-value than 0.05 taken as significant. Results: The mean duration of wart resolution was observed as 45.92±19.22 days in the adapalene group, while the electro-cautery procedure took 45 ± 17.81 days for wart clearance. There were no statistically significant differences in the complications between the two groups (p=0.60). Practical Implication: Although successful outcomes have been achieved in many studies by using Adapalene and electrocautery separately for treating warts but none of the published research compares these two treatment modalities (Adapalene vs electrocautery) for treatment of plane warts as per our knowledge. Therefore to fill this gap, this study was designed to compare the efficacy of adapalene and electrocautery therapies. Conclusion: It was concluded that Both Adapalene and electrocautery are effective in treatment of plane warts and there are no statistically significant differences in the complications/side effects of these two treatment modalities. Keywords: Adapalene Gel 0.1%, Electrocautery, Plane Warts, Clinical Outcomes and Effectiveness.

Background: Almost 50% males face a health issue called androgenic alopecia and even almost 21 million women are affected too. Aim: To determine the efficacy difference of platelet rich plasma for treatment of androgenic alopecia among patients. Study design: Quasi experimental method. Methodology: In order to collect the data, the purposive sampling technique was used. Enrolled patients (n=102) were divided into two groups. Each group received PRP infections after every 1 month for 3 months. Follow up was done at 3 and 6 months. Results were assessed by standard photographs and Hamilton Norwood scale for men and Ludwig scale for women. SPSS v 23 evaluated data. Chi-square test was used to compare the efficacy of Platelet Rich Plasma for treatment of androgenic alopecia between genders. Results: Mean age of the study participants was 27.1±4.5 years. Independent sample t test revealed that the mean age of the female participants was significantly higher than male participants (p < 0.001). There was 100% response rate of PRP treatment for androgenic alopecia in both genders. Practical Implication: This study helped researchers in exploring the efficacy of PRP as a remedy for hair re-growth as it is cheap and safe. Secondly, it added to local literature regarding androgenic alopecia. Conclusion: It was concluded that sub-dermal PRP injections were effective among both genders with androgenic alopecia. Keywords: Efficacy, Androgenic alopecia, Response Rate, Treatment Options and Plasma Rich Proteins.

When compared to the open cholecystectomy, laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC) has the benefits of less post-operative pain and quicker return to work. However, up to 80% of individuals after laparoscopic surgery still experience significant pain and needing pain relief. Methodology: The reason for this research was to compare the results of LC performed with and without LPP. LC requires the surgeon to choose a pneumoperitoneum pressure that maximizes working space while avoiding unintended side effects. This study used a Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT) design, and it was done at the West Surgical Ward at Mayo Hospital in Lahore. The study enrolled 60 participants who met the inclusion criteria. The patients were split in two groups: Low-pressure pneumoperitoneum-LPP (Group A) (06-10 mm of Hg) and pneumoperitoneum at standard pressure (SPP) is part of Group B. (12-16 mm of Hg). All had opted for a LC to treat their symptomatic gallstone disease. At 4, 8, and 24 hours following surgery, the severity of postoperative shoulder pain (if present) was evaluated using a visual analogue pain scale (VAS). The frequency of postoperative nausea and vomiting was assessed at 4, 8, 12, and 24 hours. Results: The patients were 35.63 years old on average. Majority of these two groups has no complications. Based on the data, we discovered that the frequency of episodes of nausea/vomiting in both groups was very low and that only a few patients had bouts of nausea/vomiting in the 4 hours and 24 hour time intervals. Conclusion: We have come to the conclusion that LP laparoscopic surgery is a viable and risk-free alternative to SP laparoscopic operation for the treatment of benign gall stone disorders. Our findings lead us to the conclusion that LPP is a superior option for the LC since it reduces the post-operative pain in the shoulder and the risk of PONV while not significantly increasing the risk of intraoperative complications. Keywords: Benign Gall Stone, Treatment, Low-Pressure Laparoscopic Surgery

The study of breast diseases and their epidemiology deserves special attention. Another reason that grants special value to the breast diseases is the way it affects women health both physically and mentally. The commonest breast symptom is breast lump. Breast lumps are the most common symptom bringing patient to a breast clinic. They are also the most common cause of serious trouble for the patients keeping in view the increased incidence of breast cancer. This is partially due to increased awareness among females. In this study we detected the frequency of clinically palpable breast lumps and their causes and treatment presenting to the breast clinic of a busy private sector hospital. Methods: Study design: Descriptive case series Place of study: Department of Surgery, Holy family Hospital Karachi Duration of study: 1 year (from July 2020 till June 2021) Study population: All females presenting to the breast clinic within the mentioned period Data collection procedure: All the information was taken by the patient through history. Informed consent was taken for examination. Further investigations according to the triple assessment protocol were done in patients who presented with a lump to ascertain the exact nature and etiology of lump. All the data was then entered in a predesigned proforma. Results: A total of 126 patients presented to the breast clinic in Holy family Hospital. The number of patients presenting with breast lump was just above half of the total patients i.e 66 patients (52%).Out of these 66 patients, majority was benign i.e 53 patients(80%) with malignant lumps accounting for 13 patients,20 % of the total patients with breast lump.60(48%) patients presented with symptoms other than breast lump. The most common symptom other than lump was pain followed by nipple discharge, skin diseases etc. Conclusion: Breast lump was the most common symptom in patients presenting to our breast clinic and majority were benign and did not require surgery. Keywords: Clinically Palpable, Breast Lump, Triple Assessment

Edge computing is an extension of cloud computing where physical servers are deployed closer to the users in order to reduce latency. Edge data centers face the challenge of serving a continuously increasing number of applications with a reduced capacity compared to traditional data center. This paper introduces ImpalaE, an agent based on Deep Reinforcement Learning that aims at optimizing the resource usage in edge data centers. First, it proposes modeling the problem as a Markov Decision Process, with two optimization objectives: reducing the number of physical servers used and maximize number of applications placed in the data center. Second, it introduces an agent based on Proximal Policy Optimization, for finding the optimal consolidation policy, and an asynchronous architecture with multiple workers-shared learner that enables for faster convergence, even with reduced amount of data. We show the potential in a simulated edge data center scenario with different VM sizes based on Microsoft Azure real traces, considering CPU, memory, disk and network requirements. Experiments show that ImpalaE effectively increases the number of VMs that can be placed per episode and that it quickly converges to an optimal policy.

Purpose: This study provides important perceptions to the policy makers in Pakistan to introduce a new mode of transportation for the consumer. In this particular case, the consumers in Pakistan are still showing their interest in buying Internal combustion engine (ICE’s) over Electrical vehicles (EV’s) due to non-awareness of merits and demerits of EV’s. Methodology: Therefore to evaluate consumer’s preferences towards two wheeler electric vehicles a survey was conducted by distributing questionnaire among the people of country in different regions. About 317 respondents living in Pakistan participated. Eleven different factors related to consumer’s preference has been observed for the purchase of E-bikes. After analyzing these 11 factors, top three factors like awareness about E-bike, design and aesthetic and health and safety issues have found their preference. Similarly, three other bottom factors i.e. availability of charging facilities, mileage per charging and price factors has found main causes of low purchase of EV’s by consumers. Findings: After conducting survey it has revealed that awareness about electric vehicles should be developed among the students and other users, maximum dealership should be given to the experts, distribution network should be strong and also prices of E-bikes should be decreased in order to increase the sale. Recommendation: The study also had revealed that Govt. of Pakistan with the consultation/coordination of manufacturers within the country could prepare a policy for the installation of plants/factories of E-bikes wherein with the support of Govt. for the provision of necessary infrastructure and subsidy to the consumer.

In the last few decades, there has been an increase in food safety and traceability issues. To prevent accidents and misconduct, it became essential to establish Food Safety Traceability System (FSTS) to trace the food from producer to consumer. The traceability systems can help track food in supply chains from farms to retail. Numerous technologies such as Radio Frequency Identification (RFID), sensor networks, and data mining have been integrated into traditional food supply chain systems to remove unsafe food products from the chain. But, these are not adequate for the current supply chain market. The emerging technology of blockchain can overcome safety and tracking issues. This can be possible with the help of blockchain features like transparent, decentralized, distributed, and immutable. Most of the previous works missed the discussion of the systematic process and technology involved in implementing the FSTS using blockchain. In this paper, we have discussed an organized state of research of the existing FSTS using blockchain. This survey paper aims to outline a detailed analysis of blockchain technology, FSTS using blockchain, consensus algorithms, security attacks, and solutions. Several survey papers and solutions based on blockchain are included in this research paper. Also, this work discusses some of the open research issues related to FSTS.

Objective: To determine the results of visual live anatomical demonstrations among medical students by Surgeons. Study Design: Prospective study. Setting: Department of Anatomy, Liaquat Medical and Dental College, Darul Sehat Hospital. Period: Period of 3 years on the students of Batch 2017, 2018 and 2019. Material & Methods: Total 300 students of first year medical students (MBBS) with full attendance in class over the year were included in study. The mode of presentations was theoretical, video and power-point presentations and through live surgeries. Exclusion criteria students with absenteeism in classes. Results: Out of 100 students enrolled every year, only 75 students were included due to full attendees as per inclusion criteria. Total of 225 students were enrolled. The mean age of students was 19.4 ±0.57 years in every year students. The students were assessed in their term exams and pre-prof exams and showed significant difference in pre-presentation and post-presentation scores. Another group scores with live surgical demonstrations compared those without live visual surgical demonstrations 75.89± 3.9 vs 74.7± 4.6 in year 2017, 79.46 ± 4.9 vs 74.8 ±4.3in year 2018) and 84.8± 3.4 vs 76.41± 4.3 in year 2019 students showed statistical significant difference p value

Accurate large-scale biomass prediction is crucial for assessing forest carbon storage and dynamics. It can also inform sustainable forest management practices and climate change mitigation efforts. However, stand-level biomass models are still scarce worldwide. Our study aims to introduce the generalized additive model (GAM) as a convenient and efficient approach for forest biomass estimation. Data from 311 sample plots of three conifer species in northeastern China were used to evaluate the performance of the GAM model and compare it with traditional nonlinear seemingly unrelated regression (NSUR) models in predicting stand biomass, including total, aboveground, and component biomass. The results indicated that the goodness of fit of GAM was better than that of NSUR in two model systems. In the majority of cases, the scatter plots and prediction performance revealed that the stand total and component biomass models utilizing GAM outperformed those based on NSUR. Disregarding heteroscedasticity and requiring fewer statistical assumptions provide additional support for the replacement of NSUR-based models with GAM-based models. This study implies that the GAM approach has greater potential for developing a system of stand biomass models.

Background: Children often require sedation for long non-invasive diagnostic procedures. Dexmedetomidine is a highly selective alpha 2-adrenoceptor agonist with sedative, anxiolytic and analgesic properties. It mimics natural sleep and allows patients to easily arouse with minimal effects on respiration and airway patency. Objective: To assess the successful completion of pediatric non-invasive diagnostic procedures with intranasal dexmedetomidine as a sedative agent. Methods: Seventy-nine subjects of age six months to twelve years scheduled for non-invasive diagnostic procedures were included. Dexmedetomidine (4 mcg/kg) was administered intranasally 25 minutes before the scheduled time of procedure. A sedation score of two or above as per the MICHIGAN sedation scale was considered satisfactory for starting the procedure. Results: Seventy-four (95%) out of the seventy-nine subjects were successfully sedated with Intranasal dexmedetomidine (p

Implementation of robust routing is very critical in network communication. Connecting devices like routers maintain databases for the whole network topology in the routing table. Each router needs to keep these tables updated with the best possible routes so that an efficient communication can always take place in nondelay tolerant intelligent networks that include military and tactical systems, vehicular communication networks, underwater acoustic networks, and intelligent sensor networks. The fast construction of shortest-path tree (SPT) is important to devise an efficient routing in a nondelay tolerant networks. That is why a simple and efficient algorithm is the need of the time. A robust routing solution SPT with O V + E time complexity is proposed to supersede the existing landmark.

Niosomes are multilamellar vesicles that efficiently deliver active substance into skin systemic circulation or skin layers. They are used in topical drug delivery system to enhance the skin permeation of active substance. So, the prime objective of this study was to develop a niosomal gel of fusidic acid to increase its skin permeation. Different formulations of niosomes of fusidic acid were designed by varying the cholesterol to surfactant ratio. Formulations containing fusidic acid, cholesterol, dihexadecyl pyridinium chloride, Span 60, or Tween 60 were prepared by thin film hydration method in rotary evaporator. The thin film formed in rotary flask was hydrated by phosphate buffer saline of pH 7.2. The niosomes formed were characterized through entrapment efficiency, size, polydispersity index (PDI), and zeta potential. The S3 formulation containing span 60 showed the highest entrapment efficiency (EE) of niosomes, so it was incorporated into Carbopol gel. Determination of pH, spreadability, rheological, and

The diagnosis of novel coronavirus (COVID-19) has gained the spotlight of the world's scientific community since December 2019 and it remains an important issue due to the emergence of novel variants around the globe. Early diagnosis of coronavirus is captious to prevent and hard to control. This pandemic can be eradicated by implementing suppressing strategies which can lead to better outcomes and more lives being saved. Therefore, the analysis showed that COVID-19 can only be managed by adopting public health measures, such as testing, isolation and social distancing. Much work has been done to diagnose coronavirus. Various testing technologies have been developed, opted and modified for rapid and accurate detection. The advanced molecular diagnosis relies on the detection of SARS-CoV-2 as it has been considered the main causative agent of this pandemic. Studies have shown that several molecular tests are considered essential for the confirmation of coronavirus infection. Various serology-based tests are also used in the detection and diagnosis of coronavirus including point-of-care assays and high-throughput enzyme immunoassays that aid in the diagnosis of COVID-19. Both these assays are time-consuming and have less diagnostic accuracy. Nanotechnology has the potential to develop new strategies to combat COVID-19 by developing diagnostics and therapeutics. In this review, we have focused on the nanotechnology-based detection techniques including nanoparticles and biosensors to obstruct the spread of SARS-CoV-2.

Highly conductive and stable β″-Al2O3 electrolyte powder is achieved via the solid-state reaction technique when sintered at 1200 °C, 1250 °C, 1300 °C, 1350 °C, and 1400 °C temperature, correspondingly. The findings show that the ionic conductivity has improved slightly from 1200 °C to 1400 °C. As the sintering temperature is increased, the EIS curve shows a short curve of resistance. A maximum ionic conductivity of 7.07 × 10−4 S cm−2 is achieved at 1400 °C (1800 Ω). This is caused by the large β″ contents in Al2O3, as inspected by the X-ray diffraction results. Furthermore, the morphology of Al2O3 shows less porosity and denser particles within the powder.

Solid-state lithium batteries (SSLBs) are promising energy storage devices in the future due to their high theoretical energy density and enhanced safety. However, the practical energy density of SSLBs is severely constrained by the limited mass loading of cathode materials, which is related to sluggish charge transfer inside the thick cathodes. In this work, the solid-state batteries with high-mass-loading cathodes are realized by introduction of three-dimensional (3D) electronic-conductivity current collectors and in situ solidification of polymer electrolytes. The porous electronic current collectors of 3D carbon felts accommodate the flowing cathode slurry with considerably increased loading of cathode materials. Subsequently, the in situ solidified polymer electrolytes ensure conformal ionic conducting channels inside the cathodes, along with the formation of intimate and flexible contacts at cathode/electrolyte interfaces. In this way, the solid-state LiFePO4/garnet/Li batteries with cathode loading of 6.2 mg cm−2 show an initial discharge capacity of 159.4 mAh g−1 and a capacity retention of 92.1% after 100 cycles at 30 °C and 0.1 C. Furthermore, the cathode mass loading as high as 27.8 mg cm−2 is achieved with a corresponding areal capacity of approximately 4.2 mAh cm−2. This work proposes a promising unique cathode architecture for solid-state lithium batteries with high mass loading of the cathode.

Reduction in friction ensures fuel economy, control on emissions and durability of components in internal combustion engines. A modern gasoline internal combustion engine was instrumented to determine the friction values at the cam–roller interface considering the effects of surface treatment and engine operating state. A series of tests under different operating speeds and lubricant inlet temperatures were undertaken using both an original surface roller and a Wonder Process Craft (WPC) surface-treated engine roller. The results clearly revealed a substantial reduction in friction magnitude for the WPC surface-treated engine roller in comparison to the original roller while operating under similar conditions, indicating their strong potential for employment in engines. An increase in friction with the rise in temperature was also observed for both types of rollers, whereas increased lubricant entraining velocity due to higher operating speed had the opposite impact. A considerable reduction in frictional drive torque ranging from 8% to 28% was observed by employing the WPC-treated roller in comparison to original/untreated roller at various operating conditions, which signifies the strong potential for employment of WPC surface treatment in the roller/follower valve train engines.

Internet of Things (IoT) vision has astoundingly transcended environmental sensing with integrated computing systems and smart devices, providing seamless connectivity among humans, machines, and their environment to cooperate for convenience and economical benefits. Apart from all the tremendous benefits of IoT, this paradigm still suffers from challenges of security and privacy vulnerabilities and demands a secure system for effective utilization of services in real-world IoT scenarios relying on which the IoT consumers expect secure and trustworthy communications. Trust Management (TM), which is a crucial aspect of security, plays a vital role in ensuring the exchange of information in a secure manner and maintaining the reliability of a system by measuring the degree of trust on IoT devices, reducing the uncertainties and risks involved in the systems. Thus, in recent years, Blockchain technology has been utilized for developing security innovations in TM field for different classes of IoT applications. It can provide tamper-proof data by enabling more reliable trust information and integrity verification, ultimately enhancing its availability and privacy when storing and sharing information. This paper provides a comprehensive survey that aims at analyzing and assessing Blockchain-based decentralized trust management systems (BCDTMS) for IoT. The contributions of this study are threefold; first, we provide the comprehensive and comparative analysis of state-of-the-art BCDTMS devised for different IoT classes such as Internet of Medical of Things (IoMT), Internet of Vehicles (IoV), Industrial IoT (IIoT), and Social IoT (SIoT). To make it an extensive study, we perform a detailed assessment of the existing BCDTMS in the literature in the aspects of Blockchain and TM. Second, we present requirements for developing Blockchain-based TM systems for IoT, and third we have highlighted the challenges in the context of using Blockchain for TM in various IoT applications.

Weed management is becoming increasingly important for sustainable crop production. Weeds cause an average yield loss of 11.5% billion in Pakistan, which is more than PKR 65 billion per year. A real-time laser weeding robot can increase the crop’s yield by efficiently removing weeds. Therefore, it helps decrease the environmental risks associated with traditional weed management approaches. However, to work efficiently and accurately, the weeding robot must have a robust weed detection mechanism to avoid physical damage to the targeted crops. This work focuses on developing a lightweight weed detection mechanism to assist laser weeding robots. The weed images were collected from six different agriculture farms in Pakistan. The dataset consisted of 9000 images of three crops: okra, bitter gourd, sponge gourd, and four weed species (horseweed, herb paris, grasses, and small weeds). We chose a single-shot object detection model, YOLO5. The selected model achieved a mAP of 0.88@IOU 0.5, indicating that the model predicted a large number of true positive (TP) with much less prediction of false positive (FP) and false negative (FN). While SSD-ResNet50 achieved a mAP of 0.53@IOU 0.5, the model predicted fewer TP with significant outcomes as FP or FN. The superior performance of the YOLOv5 model made it suitable for detecting and classifying weeds and crops within fields. Furthermore, the model was ported to an Nvidia Xavier AGX standalone device to make it a high-performance and low-power computation detection system. The model achieved an FPS rate of 27. Therefore, it is highly compatible with the laser weeding robot, which takes approximately 22.04 h at a velocity of 0.25 feet per second to remove weeds from a one-acre plot.

Software-defined networking (SDN) plays a crucial role in the enterprise and wide-area networking. The increasing demand for strict service-level agreement applications on the Internet requires networks to be scalable and resilient in the face of link and switch failure. However, there is a lack of systematic reviews on SDN data plane failure recovery techniques. This review article assesses SDN current state-of-the-art link and switches failure recovery solutions. We cover the root causes of failures in the traditional core network and their detection and classify the current failure recovery techniques for SDN into two categories: traditional and artificial intelligence (AI) approaches. AI-based techniques enable efficient failure recovery and enhance the quality of service. We also consider performance measure metrics to evaluate and determine the limitations of existing solutions. This study reviews 188 papers from 2010 to 2021, selecting 70 articles that are highly relevant to our work. All articles are written in English. Our research aims to collect a large amount of evidence that will assist the industry and academic researchers in net- working to address current research gaps in failure recovery solutions for the SDN data plane.