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The repairing and strengthening of concrete structures using external and internal partial confinements are inevitable in the construction industry due to the new standards and rapid developments. The conventional materials and methods of confinement are unable to meet modern safety and functional standards. The fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) enhances the strength and ductility of deteriorating and new concrete columns by reducing lateral confinement pressure and resistance against seismic shocks. The precise methods of partial confinement are inevitable for effective FRP-concrete bonding, durability, and cost-effectiveness under different loading conditions and to cope with external environmental factors. Predictive modeling and simulation techniques are pivotal for the optimization of confinement materials and methods by investigating the FRP-concrete novel confinement configurations, stress–strain responses, and failure modes. The novel materials and methods for concrete columns' partial confinement lack high compressive strength, ductility, chemical attack resistivity, and different fiber orientation impacts. This review provides an overview of recent confinement materials, novel methods, and advanced modeling and simulation techniques with a critical analysis of the research gaps for partial FRP confinement of concrete columns. The current challenges and future prospects are also presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Acne vulgaris, a chronic inflammatory condition, is associated with significant physical and psychosocial burden. Since 2019, three new topical agents for acne vulgaris have been approved in the USA and Canada. We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis to compare the efficacy between twice-daily clascoterone cream 1%, once-daily trifarotene 0.005% cream, and once-daily tazarotene 0.045% lotion for acne treatment. Methods: Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) comparing clascoterone, trifarotene, or tazarotene with vehicle in patients with moderate-to-severe acne were identified from a systematic literature review and included in a meta-analysis. Primary outcomes were percentage reduction in inflammatory and noninflammatory lesion count (ILC and NILC, respectively) and treatment success rate (≥ 2-grade improvement in Investigator's Global Assessment or Evaluator's Global Severity Score and a rating of clear or almost clear) at week 12. DerSimonian and Laird random-effects models with the inverse variance method were used to calculate the mean difference (MD) for percentage reduction in ILC and NILC, and odds ratios (ORs) for the rate of treatment success. Results: Six Phase 3 RCTs were included in the meta-analysis. The analyses showed robust differences favoring the interventions for ILC (MD: − 11.5; 95% confidence interval [CI]: − 14.39, − 8.62), NILC (MD: − 12.25; 95% CI: − 15.21, − 9.29), and treatment success rate (OR: 2.14; 95% CI: 1.81, 2.53). No differences were observed between clascoterone, trifarotene, and tazarotene for ILC (MD: − 12.8, − 11.2, and − 10.1, respectively), NILC (MD: − 11.6, − 13.9, and − 12.8, respectively), or treatment success rate (OR: 2.9, 1.9, and 2.1, respectively (all P > 0.05). Conclusion: No significant differences in efficacy were observed between clascoterone, trifarotene, and tazarotene after 12 weeks of treatment in patients with moderate-to-severe acne. Differences in application frequency and safety profile should also be taken into consideration when making treatment decisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: This study aims to examine the trends across the entire NRMP application cycles from 2007-2008 to 2022-2023, specifically exploring trends across competitive surgical specialties to assess the efficacy of the existing NRMP business model and provide evidence-based recommendations to better address the current needs of both applicants and programs. Methods: A cross-sectional study exploring the trends in the mean number of applicants and mean number of total ranked positions per applicant across surgical, the top 5 most competitive surgical specialties, and non-surgical specialties from 2007-2008 to the 2022-2023 match cycles utilizing data from the NRMP database. Results: Over the studied 16 match cycles, the mean number of applicants to surgical specialties has increased by 47.99% and the mean number of total ranked positions per applicant has increased by 88.07%. For the top 5 most competitive specialties, the mean number of applicants has increased by 57.66% and the mean number of total ranked positions per applicant has increased by 83.33%. Conclusion: Trends across the 16 most recent NRMP cycles show evidence of increased congestion in the match system, the burden of which is primarily placed on applicants. Our findings support the need for drastic reform in the NRMP to relieve this burden, and we discuss practical solutions to allow the NRMP to better meet the needs of applicants and residency programs alike. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hydrogen storage has garnered significant research attention in recent times due to the favorable qualities of hydrogen as a clean energy reservoir. We adorned hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) with Fe and Mn to employ it for hydrogen storage purposes. Density functional theory (DFT) utilized to investigate diverse properties, encompassing the hydrogen storage capabilities of h-BN modified with both Fe and Mn. Simulation results revealed that, in its unaltered state, h-BN forms weak van der Waals interactions with H 2 molecules, leading to a binding energy within the range of 0.28 eV and a desorption temperature below 200 K. Furthermore, the study seeks to evaluate the structural stability, electronic characteristics, adsorption tendencies, binding energies, and hydrogen storage capacity. Adsorption energies of H 2 molecules on Fe- and Mn-decorated h-BN falls within the practical range of −0.20 to −0.20 eV for 1H 2 to 14H 2 molecules and −0.17 to −0.20 eV for 1H 2 to 17H 2 molecules respectively making them appropriate for H 2 storage applications. Additionally, hydrogen storing capacity values for Fe- and Mn-decorated h-BN are 6.77 wt % for 14H 2 molecules and 7.03 wt %, for 17H 2 molecules respectively. Hybridization was observed between the states of H 2 and the d states of the system. At elevated temperatures, the molecular dynamics simulations using AIMD techniques significantly enhanced the thermal stability of hydrogen (H 2) molecules when they were adsorbed onto h-BN surfaces decorated with both Fe and Mn, outperforming other experimental conditions or configurations. Based on desorption temperature prediction from the Van't Hoff equation, Fe- and Mn-decorated h-BN exhibit potential as substrate materials for H 2 storage by moderately high temperatures. The results of our current work make recognized that Fe/Mn decorated h-BN monolayers are strong eye-getting base material for hydrogen capacity exhibitions at high temperatures. • DFT study is performed in Fe/Mn decorated hexagonal BN for hydrogen storage. • Fe/Mn atoms revealed robust binding energy (−3.83 eV/3.03 eV) towards h-BN. • H 2 interacted with Fe decorated BN with adsorption energies −0.20 eV (n = 14H 2). • Adsorption energies are in the range of −0.17 to −0.20 eV for Mn decorated h-BN. • The hydrogen storage capacity of Fe/Mn decorated h-BN is 6.77 wt %/7.03 wt %. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Combining the coping theory and social support theory, this study aims to reveal users' coping strategies for mobile fitness app (MFA) engagement and fitness intentions with a rigorous and comprehensive hybrid research approach. Design/methodology/approach: A three-stage hybrid research design was employed in this study. In the first stage, this study utilized structural equation modeling (SEM) to investigate the associations between coping resources and coping outcomes. A post hoc analysis was conducted in the second stage to unveil the reasons behind the insignificant or weak linkages. In the third stage, the fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) technique was applied to explore the various configurations of coping resources that lead to the coping outcomes. Findings: The results in the three stages verify and compensate each other. The SEM results confirm the presence of two coping strategies in MFA, highlighting the importance of the intertwining of the strategies, and the post hoc analysis unveils the mediating role of positive affect. Moreover, the fsQCA results reinforce and complement the SEM findings by revealing eight alternative configurations that are sufficient for leading to users' MFA engagement and fitness intention. Originality/value: This study offers a prominent methodological paradigm by demonstrating the application of multi-analysis in exploring users' coping strategies. In addition, the study also advances the understanding of the complexity of the mechanism that determines users' behavioral decisions by presenting a comprehensive interpretation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Compartmentalizing an aqueous media into numerous nanoliter‐scale droplets has substantially improved the performance of amplification assays. Particle‐templated droplets or dropicles offer a user‐friendly workflow for creating uniform volume compartments upon simple mixing of reagents and particles using common laboratory apparatus. Amphiphilic shape‐coded particles are demonstrated to spontaneously hold aqueous droplets within hydrophilic cavities for multiplexed diagnostic assays. Here, a configurable 3D‐printed microfluidic device is proposed for the tunable fabrication of amphiphilic size‐coded particles. The device is configured with multiple outlet tubings of different diameters and photomasks of variable slit lengths to fabricate a wide range of size‐coded particles. a range of unique particle codes are fabricated using a single reconfigurable device. The cross‐sectional profile of the particles is further engineered by tuning the flow rate ratios of precursor streams to vary the inner and outer diameters of the particles and the thicknesses of the inner hydrophilic and outer hydrophobic layers. A range of cavity diameters and particle lengths enabled dropicle volumes of ≈1 nL to ≈30 nL. The fabricated particles are characterized by their ability to hold uniform droplet volumes and to orient themselves facing upward or sideways in a well plate based on their aspect ratios. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The target of this paper is to show the impact of polarization adaptation on the received signal quality in an outdoor small-cell deployment scenario. The signal-to-interference ratio (SIR) is the key factor in defining the achievable data rate, and the capacity of the cell. At the cell border area, the SIR value is typically low and causes a significant decrease in the system capacity and achievable data rates. These bad SIR areas at the cell border can be improved by using orthogonal polarizations in the neighboring cells rather than using all polarizations over the whole cell coverage area. For the research work of this paper, a series of measurements were carried out to measure a received signal power and a cross polarization discrimination (XPD) ratio while the signal is transmitted and received with a different set of polarizations. In the measurements, we have considered horizontal, vertical, +/− 45° slanted polarizations, and two different environments, urban street and open space, and three frequency bands, 970−1030 MHz, 2000−2030 MHz and 3364−3400 MHz. The measurement results revealed that at a different distance from the transmitter, for horizontal/vertical polarization, the average XPD is around 24.7 dB and 31.7 dB in the urban street and open area environments, respectively. For +/− 45° slanted polarization, the average XPD is around 11.5 dB and 12.1 dB in the urban street and open area environments, respectively. This paper goes on to propose polarization adaptation in each cell, where the primary polarization is valid for the whole service area of the cell, and secondary polarization is only used in close proximity of the base station antenna. Considering the results, it is emphasized that system capacity can be significantly improved by having only one channel with good SIR values compared to multiple channels with bad SIR values. However, MIMO channels with orthogonal polarizations or with spatial multiplexing can be utilized in the closed vicinity of the base station, i.e., in an area with good SIR values. It is shown that the overall cell capacity can be increased by almost 35% by utilizing polarization adaptation compared to MIMO 2 × 2. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Spontaneous occurrence of Tumor Lysis Syndrome (TLS) is very rare. Only 3 pediatric case reports were reported in literature. All 3 patients presented with therapy-sensitive disease. Unfortunately, only one patient survived. It is preventable in 100% of patients, but TLS is a hard nut to crack. We present three distinct cases of spontaneous tumor lysis syndrome within the pediatric population, each associated with different types of tumors. A 3-year-old boy with mediastinal germ cell tumor of stage III, had hyperuricemia and hyperphosphatemia on presentation, tumor lysis syndrome improved but later died with sepsis, another patient of 4-year-old girl with precursor B cell acute lymphoblastic lymphoma had hyperkalemia, hyperuricemia and hyperphosphatemia on presentation and third patient was 6-year-old boy with abdominal Burkitt lymphoma stage III presented with hyperkalemia, hyperuricemia, hyperphosphatemia and Acute Kidney Injury (AKI) before initiation of chemotherapy. Later both these patients improved and survived. Spontaneous tumor lysis syndrome has high mortality, so it is of utmost importance to diagnose it timely. Swift and effective responses to spontaneous TLS can significantly reduce the risk of mortality linked to this critical emergency condition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on both the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Malaysia, emphasizing the importance of developing accurate and reliable forecasting mechanisms to guide public health responses and policies. In this study, we compared several cutting-edge deep learning models, including Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM), bidirectional LSTM, Convolutional Neural Networks (CNN), hybrid CNN-LSTM, Multilayer Perceptron's, and Recurrent Neural Networks (RNN), to project COVID-19 cases in the aforementioned regions. These models were calibrated and evaluated using a comprehensive dataset that includes confirmed case counts, demographic data, and relevant socioeconomic factors. To enhance the performance of these models, Bayesian optimization techniques were employed. Subsequently, the models were re-evaluated to compare their effectiveness. Analytic approaches, both predictive and retrospective in nature, were used to interpret the data. Our primary objective was to determine the most effective model for predicting COVID-19 cases in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Malaysia. The findings indicate that the selected deep learning algorithms were proficient in forecasting COVID-19 cases, although their efficacy varied across different models. After a thorough evaluation, the model architectures most suitable for the specific conditions in the UAE and Malaysia were identified. Our study contributes significantly to the ongoing efforts to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, providing crucial insights into the application of sophisticated deep learning algorithms for the precise and timely forecasting of COVID-19 cases. These insights hold substantial value for shaping public health strategies, enabling authorities to develop targeted and evidence-based interventions to manage the virus spread and its impact on the populations of the UAE and Malaysia. The study confirms the usefulness of deep learning methodologies in efficiently processing complex datasets and generating reliable projections, a skill of great importance in healthcare and professional settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The unbalanced ratio of the environmental components adversely impacts the ecosystem because of dangerous gases at high levels. One of them, CO gas is the colourless, tasteless, and odourless gas that becomes difficult to identify by human sensory organs. Its accidental inhalation causes serious health problems. To overcome the dangerous and adverse effects of CO gas, the utilization of novel inorganic Al12As12 and Ga12As12 nanocages has not yet been thoroughly investigated. To fill this gap, a comparative investigation of the sensing capability of both nanocages is accomplished by employing first-principle DFT and TD-DFT computations. The calculated adsorption energy values manifest both nanocages' remarkable adsorption response. The explored molecular electronic properties: the energy gap (~ 2.21 eV), softness (~ 0.45 eV), hardness(~ 1.11 eV), electrophilicity index(~ 10.64 eV), electrical conductivity (~ 1.98 × 109), and recovery time (~ 1.63 × 10−12 s−1) values ascertain the comparatively high reactivity and sensing response of the Ga12As12 nanocage towards CO gas. NBO analysis explored the presence of more effective ICT network in Ga12As12 nanocage by showing the effective interactions towards CO gas. UV–Vis analysis and NCI analysis explored the comparative maximum absorbance wavelength (550.04 nm) along with minimum excitation energy (2.25 eV) and comparatively highest noncovalent interactions, respectively, by Ga12As12 nanocage complexes. The thermodynamic analysis explored the spontaneity of the interaction process for both the systems but comparatively highest values of ∆fH0 and ∆rG0 for Ga12As12 nanocage complexes that indicate the increased strength of the reaction mechanism. So, all the investigation parameters have proved the Ga12As12 nanocage and Al12As12 nanocage are helpful for environmental monitoring to detect CO gas, and the Ga12As12 nanocage is a promising influential sensing material and exhibits comparatively high sensitivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The prevalence of mild and major neurocognitive disorders (NCDs), also referred to as mild cognitive impairment and dementia, is rising globally. The prevention of NCDs is a major global public health interest. We sought to synthesize the literature on potentially modifiable risk factors for NCDs. Methods: We conducted an umbrella review using a systematic search across multiple databases to identify relevant systematic reviews and meta-analyses. Eligible reviews examined potentially modifiable risk factors for mild or major NCDs. We used a random-effects multi-level meta-analytic approach to synthesize risk ratios for each risk factor while accounting for overlap in the reviews. We further examined risk factors for major NCD due to two common etiologies: Alzheimer's disease and vascular dementia. Results: A total of 45 reviews with 212 meta-analyses were synthesized. We identified fourteen broadly defined modifiable risk factors that were significantly associated with these disorders: alcohol consumption, body weight, depression, diabetes mellitus, diet, hypertension, less education, physical inactivity, sensory loss, sleep disturbance, smoking, social isolation, traumatic brain injury, and vitamin D deficiency. All 14 factors were associated with the risk of major NCD, and five were associated with mild NCD. We found considerably less research for vascular dementia and mild NCD. Conclusion: Our review quantifies the risk associated with 14 potentially modifiable risk factors for mild and major NCDs, including several factors infrequently included in dementia action plans. Prevention strategies should consider approaches that reduce the incidence and severity of these risk factors through health promotion, identification, and early management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The 2022 Canadian Cardiovascular Society (CCS) cardiorenal guideline provided clinical recommendations on sodium-glucose co-transport 2 inhibitors (SGLT2i) and glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1RA) use. Since then, additional trials of relevance for SGLT2i have been published. This update re-evaluates the clinical recommendations for using SGLTi and their indirect comparison with existing evidence on GLP-1RA as compared to the standard of care to reduce cardiorenal morbidity and mortality. Methods: We updated our existing search and screening of the literature from September 2021 to April 2023 for randomized controlled trials of SGLT2i and GLP-1RA with placebo control. We conducted risk of bias assessment, data extraction and updated our meta-analysis of studies with similar interventions and components. The certainty of the evidence was determined using GRADE. Results: Evidence from three new trials and additional results from an updated existing trial on SGLT2i met our inclusion criteria after an updated search. Across all the included studies, the total sample size was 151,023 adults, with 90,943 in SGLT2i trials and 60,080 in GLP-1 RA trials. The mean age ranged from 59.9 to 68.4 years. Compared with standard care, the use of SGLT2i and GLP-1 RA showed significant reductions in the outcomes of cardiovascular (CV) mortality (14% & 13%), any-cause mortality (12% & 12%), major adverse CV events (MACE) (11% & 14%), heart failure (HF) hospitalization (30% & 9%), CV death or HF hospitalization (23% & 11%), and kidney composite outcome (32% & 22%). In participants with T2D, both classes demonstrated significant cardiorenal protection. But, only GLP-1RA showed a reduction in non-fatal stroke (16%) and only SGLT2i showed a reduction in HF hospitalization (30%) in this population of people living with T2D. Conclusions: This updated and comprehensive meta-analysis substantiates and strengthens the clinical recommendations of the CCS cardiorenal guidelines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The energy crisis can be met by switching to renewable energy sources. The present study explores the physical and hydrogen storage capacity of XCdH 3 (X = K, Rb) by first-principles study. According to the phonon spectrum and formation, energy materials are dynamically stable. The electronic profile revealed that the concerned compounds are half-metallic. Furthermore, the electronic band gap is evaluated in terms of the total and partial density of states. In terms of hypothetical dielectric function optical properties are discussed and in the energy range of 0–40 eV. In optical properties, the highest reflectivity and absorption are observed in KCdH 3. Mechanically, KCdH 3 shows brittle properties and RbCdH 3 has ductile properties. Lattice constant, elastic coefficient, Poisson ratio anisotropy, Young, and shear modulus, are calculated. The gravimetric hydrogen storage is found 5.55 %, and 4.32 % wt% of KCdH 3 and RbCdH 3 , respectively. KCdH 3 qualified as the best substance for storing hydrogen due to the greater gravimetric ratio. All the above parameters are calculated the first time. Evaluation of concerned material provides a roadmap and significant contribution to scientific literature for future prospective. • Doping of potassium and rubidium XCdH 3 (X = K, Rb) to improve the efficiency of hydrogen storage. • Effect of alkali metals enhance the visible-light absorption of XCdH 3 (X = K, Rb). • The low recombination rate and charge carrier transportation supported to improve the efficiency of hydrogen capacity. • Novelty base materials are dynamically stable and synthesizable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Halide base perovskite LiCdX3 (X = F, Cl) is tested by CASTEP (Cambridge Serial Total Energy Package) based on density function theory (DFT). The presented discussion is to explore the structural, electronic, and optical properties of LiCdX3 (X = F, Cl). The calculated values of the lattice parameter are found to be 3.8 Å and 5.27 Å of LiCdF3 and LiCdCl3 respectively. The ideal structure of LiCdX3 (X = F, Cl) is cubic and dynamically stable. Electronic properties show that materials are semiconductors. The results from band structure are further evaluated by the total and partial density of states. The partial and total density of states confirms the degree of localization of electrons. In optical properties, the highest absorption coefficient is observed in LiCdCl3. The material is half metallic and has a narrow indirect band gap which may be used in photovoltaic applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: A prospective IDEAL stage 2a pilot study was carried out at a tertiary care center to evaluate the reliability of a homemade laparoscopic endotrainer, following the MISTEL and IDEAL framework guidelines. Methods: The validated modified (MISTELS) score was used to test the reliability of a low‐cost laparoscopic trainer with commonly found components built by surgeons. Basic household materials including a cellular phone (camera source), wifi (linking source) and freely available webcam apps were used for construction. Five basic laparoscopic skills were performed by general surgery resident volunteers with minimal (1–6 months') laparoscopic surgery experience and tested and retested based on efficiency and precision. To determine interrater reliability, two trained observers scored all subjects. The Cronbach alpha test was used to test for internal consistency between tasks. The Interclass correlation coefficient is used for test and retest reliability. Results: 15 (80% male, mean age 28 ± 5 years) residents were included. The interrater and test–retest reliabilities for the total scores of the basic laparoscopic skills tests were 0.952 (95% CI, 0.895–0.981) and 0.64 (95% CI, 0.35–0.77), respectively. The Cronbach Alpha for the first assessment test and retest was 0.83. The MISTELS metrics had excellent reliability, exceeding the threshold level of 0.8. Conclusion: It is possible to assemble a low‐cost, reliable trainer at home to enhance laparoscopic skills during residency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the field of metric fixed point theory, there are several generalized or modified types of metric space. One such type is called multiplicative metric space. It was initially introduced as a modified version of the metric space, but was later found to be equivalent to the metric space. However, it allows the researchers to view the concept of metric space from a different perspective. Consequently, the idea of product-operated metric space is introduced in this article, which is obtained by removing the slackness of the multiplicative metric space. This article also presents some fundamental characteristics of the product-operated metric space and investigates the existence of fixed points for self-maps in product-operated metric spaces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives Methods Results Conclusions South Asia (SA) and Southeast Asia (SEA) are geographically close; however, discrepancies in oral cancer (OC) epidemiology exist between the two regions. Socioeconomic disparities may influence the OC burden. The aim of this study was to assess the epidemiology of OC and its relationship with the Inequality Adjusted Human Development Index (IHDI) and its components in SA and SEA.Cancer data for this ecological study was obtained from GLOBOCAN 2020, while the IHDI was obtained from the Human Development Report 2020. Based on data availability, 14 SA and SEA countries were chosen. Poisson log‐weighted regression models were employed to examine IHDI and its components in relation to incidence and mortality. Univariate linear regression models were utilized to determine the association between the mortality‐to‐incidence ratio (MIR) and the IHDI.Mortality and MIR of OC were negatively correlated with all sub‐indices of the IHDI, including education, health and income. However, incidence and mortality of OC were influenced by region and sex.Higher IHDI countries tended to have lower MIR. SA and males showed higher incidence and mortality. Reducing intra‐country inequalities in development may be a pragmatic approach to enhancing the OC burden and prognosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drought stress is a worldwide threat to the productivity of crops, especially in arid and semi-arid zones of the world. In the present study, the effect of selenium (Se) seed priming on the yield of quinoa under normal and drought conditions was investigated. A pot trial was executed to enhance the drought tolerance in quinoa by Se seed priming (0, 3, 6, and 9 mg Se L−1). The plants were exposed to water stress at three different growth stages of quinoa, viz. multiple leaf, flowering, and seed filling. It was noticed that drought significantly affected the yield components of quinoa, however, Se priming improved the drought tolerance potential and yield of quinoa by maintaining the plant water status. Se priming significantly increased main panicle length (20.29%), main panicle weight (26.43%), and thousand grain weight (15.41%) as well as the gas exchange parameters (transpiration rate (29.74%), stomatal conductance (35.29%), and photosynthetic rate (28.79%), total phenolics (29.36%), leaf chlorophyll contents (35.97%), water relations (leaf relative water contents (14.55%), osmotic potential (10.32%), water potential (38.35%), and turgor potential (31.37%), and economic yield (35.99%) under drought stress. Moreover, Se priming markedly improved grain quality parameters i.e., phosphorus, potassium, and protein contents by 21.28%, 18.92%, and 15.04%, respectively. The principal component analysis connected the various study scales and showed the ability of physio-biochemical factors to describe yield fluctuations in response to Se seed priming under drought conditions. In conclusion, a drought at the seed-filling stage has a far more deleterious impact among other critical growth stages and seed priming with Se (6 mg L−1) was found more effective in alleviating the detrimental effects of drought on the grain yield of quinoa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined the impact of cyclicity (with or without cycle corpus luteum; CL) on oocyte quality and embryonic development in buffaloes. We collected oocytes from the ovaries of slaughtered buffaloes (N = 158 cyclic; n = 316 ovaries and N = 177 acyclic; n = 353 ovaries). Blood progesterone concentration and number of oocytes per ovary were higher in cyclic buffaloes. Cyclic buffalo ovaries produce higher oocytes with I + II and fewer III + IV grades. Oocytes from cyclic buffaloes had a higher maturation rate based on cumulus expansion, cleavage rate and embryo development to the 8‐cell, morula and blastocyst stages than acyclic buffaloes. In conclusion, oocytes recovered from the ovaries of the cyclic buffaloes showed improved oocyte competence and subsequent in vitro blastocyst development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aniline, a vital component in various chemical industries, is known to be a hazardous persistent organic pollutant that can cause environmental pollution through its manufacturing, processing, and transportation. In this study, the microcosms were established using sediment with a history of aniline pollution as an inoculum to analyze the aniline biodegradation under aerobic conditions through stable isotope probing (SIP) and isopycnic density gradient centrifugation technology. During the degradation assay, aniline that was 13C-labeled in all six carbons was utilized to determine the phylogenetic identity of the aniline-degrading bacterial taxa that incorporate 13C into their DNA. The results revealed that aniline was completely degraded in the microcosm after 45 and 69 h respectively. The bacteria affiliated with Acinetobacter (up to 34.6 ± 6.0%), Zoogloea (up to 15.8 ± 2.2%), Comamonas (up to 2.6 ± 0.1%), and Hydrogenophaga (up to 5.1 ± 0.6%) genera, which are known to degrade aniline, were enriched in the heavy fractions (the DNA buoyant density was 1.74 mg L−1) of the 13C-aniline treatments. Moreover, some rarely reported aniline-degrading bacteria, such as Prosthecobacter (up to 16.0 ± 1.6%) and Curvibacter (up to 3.0 ± 1.6%), were found in the DNA-SIP experiment. Gene families affiliated with atd, tdn, and dan were speculated to be key genes for aniline degradation based on the abundance in functional genes and diversity in different treatments as estimated using Phylogenetic Investigation of Communities by Reconstruction of Unobserved States version 2 (PICRUSt2) and the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG). This study revealed the functional bacteria and possible degradation genes for aniline degradation in simulated polluted environments through SIP. These findings suggest that important degrading bacteria for the transformation of aniline and potential degradation pathways may be useful in the effective application of bioremediation technologies to remediate aniline-contaminated sites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Antitheilerial resistance and treatment failure are growing international concerns. Against this backdrop, the first study aimed to compare the efficacy of Juglone (a naturally occurring naphthoquinone) and buparvaquone against bovine tropical theileriosis during natural infection. A total of 60 adult cattle (2-4 years) were selected and divided into five groups, comprising 15 animals each. The animals of Group-I were administered two doses of buparvaquone (BPQ) at a dose rate of 2.5mg/kg body weight intramuscular, 48 hours apart. The cattle of Group-II were administered with BPQ and oxytetracycline (OXY) at the dose rate of 2.5 mg/kg (two doses at 48-hour intervals) and 20 mg/kg intramuscular 3 doses at 48-hour intervals, respectively. While infected animals of Group-III were treated with Juglone (JUG) at a dose rate of 0.48 mg/kg IV on alternate days for 7 days. Whereas, Group-IV acted as a healthy control. The hemogram revealed normocytic normochromic anemia in infected animals. A significant decrease of neutrophils along with decrease of total leukocytes and lymphocytes was noticed in recovered animals from all treated groups (Group I to III). After 21 days, the results of the therapeutic trial showed the highest efficacy of Group II (BPQ+OXY) (93.3%; 14/15), followed by Group III (JUG) (73.3%) and Group I (BPQ) (66.7%; 10/15) groups, three weeks after treatment. It can be concluded that BPQ+OXY had the highest efficacy; whereas the efficacy of Juglone is also comparable, this can be used as an alternative treatment against tropical theileriosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Carbon disulfide dimer (CS2)2 is a model system that has been widely studied in the field of computational chemistry because of its relevance to a variety of chemical and biological processes. The (CS2)2 dimer is a relatively simple molecular system composed of two carbon disulfide (CS2) molecules interacting with each other through intermolecular forces. Despite its apparent simplicity, the (CS2)2 dimer exhibits a rich array of structural and dynamical properties that are of great interest to researchers. In this research, we present an ab initio study of the intermolecular interactions in the carbon disulfide dimer (CS2)2 using an improved Lennard–Jones (ILJ) potential with CCSD(T)/QZVPP calculations. The potential energy surface of (CS2)2 is calculated using high‐level quantum mechanical calculations based on the CCSD(T)/def2‐qzvpp method, which accurately accounts for electron correlation effects. The resulting potential energy surface is then fitted to an ILJ potential energy function, which includes both long‐range dipole–dipole interactions and short‐range repulsive interactions. The calculated potential energy surface reveals a rich variety of structural and dynamical properties of (CS2)2, including multiple minima and saddle points, which are sensitive to the relative orientation of the two CS2 molecules. It is essential to use extended basis sets to accurately incorporate the significant quadrupole moment of CS2, which we have calculated to be 2.44 a.u. The results of this study demonstrate the importance of using high‐level ab initio methods for the accurate calculation of potential energy surfaces in complex molecular systems such as (CS2)2. The use of an ILJ potential, which takes into account both dipole–dipole interactions and short‐range repulsive interactions, provides a more accurate and efficient approach for modeling intermolecular interactions in (CS2)2 and other similar systems. The results of this study will be useful for understanding the behavior of carbon disulfide dimers in different environments and for the development of new materials and chemical processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lumbar spine stenosis (LSS) is caused by low back pain that exerts pressure on the nerves in the spine. Detecting LSS is a significantly important yet difficult task. It is detected by analyzing the area of the anteroposterior diameter of the patient's lumbar spine. Currently, the versatility and accuracy of LSS segmentation algorithms are limited. The objective of this research is to use magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to automatically categorize LSS. This study presents a convolutional neural network (CNN)-based method to detect LSS using MRI images. Radiological grading is performed on a publicly available dataset. Four regions of interest (ROIs) are determined to diagnose LSS with normal, mild, moderate, and severe gradings. The experiments are performed on 1545 axial-view MRI images. Furthermore, two datasets—multi-ROI and single-ROI—are created. For training and testing, an 80:20 ratio of randomly selected labeled datasets is used, with fivefold cross-validation. The results of the proposed model reveal a 97.01% accuracy for multi-ROI and 97.71% accuracy for single-ROI. The proposed computer-aided diagnosis approach can significantly improve diagnostic accuracy in everyday clinical workflows to assist medical experts in decision making. The proposed CNN-based MRI image segmentation approach shows its efficacy on a variety of datasets. Results are compared to existing state-of-the-art studies, indicating the superior performance of the proposed approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective of the research was to potentiate solubility of Rosuvastatin by nanogels synthesized by free radical polymerization. Surface morphology and structural compatibility were studied through scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. Zeta sizer was used for particle size analysis. Swelling, in-vitro release and solubility studies were accomplished in different media. Similarly, results of in-vitro release of nanogels and commercially available tablets of Rosuvastatin were compared in different dissolution media. Biocompatibility study was performed in healthy rabbits for safety profile. FTIR spectroscopy confirmed the presence of corresponding peaks of respective functional groups of individual constituents and that of the drug in unloaded and loaded nanogels. SEM images depicted the fluffy appearance of nanogels with small pores inside the structure. Particle size of the optimized formulation was in the range of 217.70 ± 2.23 for unloaded and 257.33 ± 2.11 for loaded nanogels. Percent drug loading, in-vitro drug release and solubility profiles were also satisfactory. In comparison with commercially available tablet Rovista®, in-vitro release profiles of synthesized nanogels showed better response. Moreover, synthesized nanogels were also biocompatible. It was concluded that the solubility of Rosuvastatin was potentially enhanced by nanogels and such formulation can also be used for other poorly soluble drugs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A modified optimized magnitude‐selective affine (OMSA) model‐based digital predistortion (DPD) is presented that introduces the weighting function into our earlier proposed magnitude‐selective affine (MSA) method with an aim to further reduce the complexity overheads without affecting performance compared to the MSA method. This model utilizes a power‐reliant weighted function rather than the summation of MSA quantities for improving the multiband 5G new radio (NR) analog radio over fiber system performance. The OMSA‐DPD method is tested using 5G NR signals which are transmitted over a 10‐km fiber length. The performance of the OMSA‐DPD method is assessed in comparison to MSA and generalized memory polynomial (GMP) methods in terms of adjacent channel power ratio, error vector magnitude, and complexity. The experimental results show that the OMSA‐DPD method achieves better performance with lower complexity compared to the MSA and GMP models, meeting the 3GPP limits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The conventional dictionary learning (DL) algorithms aim to adapt the dictionary/sparse code to individual functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data. Thus, lacking the capability to consolidate the spatiotemporal diversities offered by other subjects. Considering that subject-wise (sw) data matrix can be decomposed into the sparse linear combination of multi-subject (MS) time courses and MS spatial maps, two new algorithms, sw sequential DL (swsDL) and sw block DL (swbDL), have been proposed. They are based on the novel framework, defined by the mixing model, where base matrices prepared by operating a computationally fast sparse spatiotemporal blind source separation method over multiple subjects are employed to adapt the mixing matrices to sw training data. They solve the optimization models formulated using l 0 / l 1 -norm penalization/constraints through dictionary/sparse code pair update and alternating minimization approach. They are unique because no existing sparse DL method can incorporate MS spatiotemporal components while updating sw atoms/sparse codes, which can eventually be assembled using neuroscience knowledge to extract group-level dynamics. Various fMRI datasets are used to evaluate and compare the performance of the proposed algorithms with existing state-of-the-art algorithms. Specifically, overall, a 14 % increase in the mean correlation value and 39 % reduction in the mean computation time exhibited by swsDL and swbDL, respectively, over the adaptive consistent sequential dictionary algorithm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Congenital erythropoietic porphyria (CEP), also known as pink tooth or Gunther disease, is a rare hereditary disorder caused by an enzyme mutation in the heme biosynthesis pathway, which leads to the accumulation of immature and non-physiological protoporphyrin rings in various tissues. CEP is characterized by sun-exposed bullous skin lesions, hemolytic anemia, red/brown urine, and teeth staining. Case presentation: We present a unique case of a 10-year-old Asian boy with CEP who presented with recurrent epistaxis, an unusual presentation for this condition. Based on clinical presentation and laboratory findings, including elevated urine uroporphyrin and coproporphyrin I and III levels, microcytic anemia, a higher red cell distribution width (RDW), and a lower platelet count, a thorough assessment and detailed workup resulted in a diagnosis of CEP. The patient underwent a successful splenectomy and recovered without any complications. Conclusion: This case report aims to raise awareness among healthcare professionals about the uncommon and atypical presentation of CEP and its management options. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To compare the efficacy of micro-marsupialization with surgical excision for the treatment of mucoceles originating from the minor salivary glands of the lower lip. Our primary endpoints were the mean procedural time and the duration of post-operative healing. Study Design: Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT). Setting: Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Faisalabad Medical University, Faisalabad. Period: 1st July 2022 to 31th Dec 2022. Material & Methods: We enrolled a total of 60 patients, with 30 in each group (Group X: micro-marsupialization, Group Y: surgical excision). Random allocation was performed using a lottery method. Procedural time (in minutes) and post-operative healing duration (in days) were recorded for both groups, with follow-up assessments conducted over a 3-month period. Results: The study comprised 60 patients (40 males and 20 females) with a mean age of 34.60±10.15 years in Group X and 36.03±9.25 years in Group Y. In Group X, the mean surgical time was 6.23±0.935 minutes, while in Group Y, it was 34.70±2.493 minutes. A statistically significant difference in surgical time was observed between the two groups (p 0.0001). Regarding postoperative healing, Group X had a mean duration of 4.67±0.844 days, while Group Y had a mean duration of 6.57±0.504 days. A statistically significant difference was also noted in post-operative healing duration between the two groups (p 0.008). Conclusion: This study underscores the superiority of micro-marsupialization over surgical excision as a treatment option for mucoceles originating from the minor salivary glands of the lower lip. Micro-marsupialization offers several advantages, including significantly shorter procedural times and faster post-operative healing periods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Glaucoma is a progressive and degenerative optic neuropathy that causes severe visual impairment or even blindness if left untreated. Glaucoma is majorly caused due to stress which increases intraocular pressure that leads towards optic nerve degeneration. The degenerative optic nerve then causes irreversible loss of peripheral vision which may lead to complete blindness. Although the progression of glaucoma can harshly affect the vision, it can be prevented if diagnosed in the early stages. However, optical coherence tomography (OCT) imagery is widely used by ophthalmologist for early glaucoma diagnosis and progression tracking. Owing to this objective screening capacity of the OCT imagery, many researchers have used it as an examination procedure to verify their clinical studies or to train their autonomous systems for mass-screening glaucomatous pathologies. In this paper, we present a systematic review of the recent studies that have proposed various solutions to mitigate glaucomatous progression using OCT imagery. Initially, we have presented a review of clinical studies that looked at glaucomatous diseases in OCT images.Furthermore, this paper presents a detailed survey of the state-of-the-art techniques for glaucoma detection and grading. In future directions, ganglion cell layer as well as macular analysis and its automation will improve the diagnostic power of OCT for the early glaucoma detection and especially monitoring its progression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multi-object Tracking (MOT) is very important in human surveillance, sports analytics, autonomous driving, and cooperative robots. Current MOT methods do not perform well in non-uniform movements, occlusion and appearance–reappearance scenarios. We introduce a comprehensive MOT method that seamlessly merges object detection and identity linkage within an end-to-end trainable framework, designed with the capability to maintain object links over a long period of time. Our proposed model, named STMMOT, is architectured around 4 key modules: (1) Candidate proposal creation network, generates object proposals via vision-Transformer encoder–decoder architecture; (2) Scale variant pyramid, progressive pyramid structure to learn the self-scale and cross-scale similarities in multi-scale feature maps; (3) Spatio-temporal memory encoder, extracting the essential information from the memory associated with each object under tracking; and (4) Spatio-temporal memory decoder, simultaneously resolving the tasks of object detection and identity association for MOT. Our system leverages a robust spatio-temporal memory module that retains extensive historical object state observations and effectively encodes them using an attention-based aggregator. The uniqueness of STMMOT resides in representing objects as dynamic query embeddings that are updated continuously, which enables the prediction of object states with an attention mechanism and eradicates the need for post-processing. Experimental results show that STMMOT archives scores of 79.8 and 78.4 for IDF1, 79.3 and 74.1 for MOTA, 73.2 and 69.0 for HOTA, 61.2 and 61.5 for AssA, and maintained an ID switch count of 1529 and 1264 on MOT17 and MOT20, respectively. When evaluated on MOT20, it scored 78.4 in IDF1, 74.1 in MOTA, 69.0 in HOTA, and 61.5 in AssA, and kept the ID switch count to 1264. Compared with the previous best TransMOT, STMMOT achieves around a 4.58% and 4.25% increase in IDF1, and ID switching reduction to 5.79% and 21.05% on MOT17 and MOT20, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: The chemical composition of whole wheat grains has been extensively studied, yet the literature on the lipophilic bioactive compounds of Turkish local wheat genotypes is limited. This study was carried out to determine some lipid‐soluble bioactive compounds in whole wheat lipids of selected on‐farm conserved Turkish wheat varieties (including four monococcum, three dicoccum, four durum and seven aestivum genotypes). For this purpose, fatty acid composition, phytosterol profile, and steryl ferulate contents were determined by GC‐FID and HPLC‐DAD. The major fatty acids in wheat lipids were identified as linoleic, oleic and palmitic acids, whereas β‐sitosterol was observed as the predominant phytosterol. The local wheat varieties, such as Siyez‐4, Karakılçık, Köse 220/33, Sünter and Spelt S. başak, contain higher amounts of beneficial bioactive compounds, for example unsaturated fatty acids (linoleic, oleic and α‐linolenic acids), phytosterols (β‐sitosterol, campesterol and stigmasterol) and steryl ferulates (campesteryl, sitosteryl and sitostanyl ferulate), making them a better choice over the commercial ones. This study offered a quick approach to obtain important information regarding bioactive compounds in the lipids of local wheat varieties. Furthermore, it could also provide valuable insights into the selection of on‐farm conserved wheat genotypes for future wheat breeding programmes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Earlier research suggests social identity's association with environmental attitudes and behaviors and identifies several social-identity-based strategies that can potentially foster pro-environment behaviors. This paper examines whether and how social identities are associated with support for pro-environment policies. Using our survey of 1,804 randomly selected respondents, we seek to analyze how group identities are associated with demographic characteristics and value orientations of citizens in the American West, and how these group identities are associated with support for policies aimed at resource development (supply expansion) versus conservation (demand reduction) of energy and water resources. Findings from cluster analysis and binary logistic regression models indicate a significant association between social identity and policy preferences. Respondents who strongly identify themselves as environmentalists, conservationists, and wildlife advocates are more likely to support conservation policies and less likely to support resource development policies compared to those who strongly identify as hunters, fishers, and property rights activists. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pleomorphic adenoma is a benign tumor of the salivary glands. It commonly occurs in the parotid gland, palate, upper lip and cheek. The authors present a rare case of a pleomorphic adenoma of the lower lip in a 30 years old female admitted on 20th of July, 2022 at Akbar Niazi Teaching Hospital, Islamabad with a complaint of painless, slightly itchy swelling on the lower lip for the last four months. Careful history and examination revealed a swelling of the lower lip which had gradually increased in size but was static for the last three months. As the patient complained of cosmetic and social inconvenience, it was surgically managed. Any post-operative complications were ruled out and the patient was sent home in a good condition. Much research is warranted to know the exact etiopathogenesis and appropriate management of pleomorphic adenoma of the lower lip. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Salbutamol (SAL) is a β2-agonist and belongs to a category of drugs used to maintain bronchodilation. Unfortunately, some athletes have misused these medications as performance-enhancing drugs to improve their performance. Thus, to ensure fair competition, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) prohibits its usage among athletes. Herein, we have designed, a novel, non-enzymatic electrochemical sensor by wrapping benzimidazolium-1-acetate liquid (IL) around Co3O4 (derived from the pyrolysis of ZIF-67) embedded in N-doped porous C (IL@NC–Co), for the detection of SAL in urine for dope tests. The fabricated material was characterized through SEM, XRD, and FTIR techniques, which confirmed the successful synthesis of the material. The designed novel IL@NC–Co electrochemical sensor showed excellent electrocatalytic activity because of its highly porous structure and fast electron transfer due to the presence of carboxyl functional groups and aromatic rings in IL, thus resulting in an enhanced current response. The developed sensor exhibited excellent selectivity even in the presence of co-existing interferences and good sensitivity (0.0039 μA nM−1 cm−2) with a linear response to SAL concentrations ranging from 2 to 2500 μM with a low detection limit of 0.0014 nM. The designed electrode showed an excellent stability of 96.58% with RSD 2.45% even after 24 h. The fabricated electrode was successfully utilized for selective monitoring of SAL in urine samples, thus suggesting the reliability of the designed system to be applicable for dope tests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In energy scarcity, particularly in Agri-based developing economies, bio-coal briquetting is the most suitable means of meeting sustainable energy needs utilizing agricultural waste. In this study, briquettes were made from an indigenously designed briquetting machine for investigating coal–biomass proportion blend using coal from Dara Adam Khel, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in Pakistan, and pomegranate/olive waste to analyze their resulting calorific value, strength, and geochemical properties. A central composite design (CCD) and response surface methodology (RSM) were employed to design the experiments and analyze the data. Regression models were developed for each biomass type, demonstrating their adequacy and reliability for further analysis and prediction. Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (EDX) analysis provided insights into the elemental composition of the coal briquettes. Mechanical analysis was performed to assess the strength of the briquettes, with varying compositions showing different levels of strength. Optimization using a composite desirability function yielded an optimal calorific value of 6728 kJ/kg. In summary, this study underscores the viability of bio-coal briquetting as a transformative solution to alleviate energy scarcity. Repurposing agricultural waste curtails resource depletion while mitigating waste disposal challenges. The optimized calorific value aligns with eco-friendly energy initiatives, advancing a greener path toward energy security. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Developing efficient nonlinear optical (NLO) materials is a cutting-edge field of study. The desirability of promising NLO materials for optoelectronic applications drove us to investigate the pyridoquinazolinone-based D-π-A architectured chromophores for predicting proficient NLO compounds. Pyridoquinazolinone-based dye (WL-O) is chosen as a reference and its nine derivatives (ASH1-ASH9) are quantum chemically modeled by inserting variously reported π-linkers into the D-π-A framework. Simulations using DFT and TD-DFT provide insight into how π-linker alteration affects the NLO properties. The potential use of investigated dyes for NLO response applications is confirmed by evaluating photophysical aspects, frontier molecular orbital (FMO), natural population analysis (NPA), molecular electrostatic potential (MEP), the density of state (DOS), transition density matrix (TDM) analysis, and static, frequency-dependent NLO response properties. FMO analysis shows that all dyes’ energy gaps are lower when compared to the reference, resulting in a strong NLO response. The highest absorption wavelength of the studied dyes was found to be in the visible spectrum, as determined by UV-Vis analysis. NPA-based findings demonstrated the movement of the electrons from D to A through π-linkers resulting in the formation of a charge separation state and active NLO sensitivity of the proposed dyes. Moreover, MEP, LOL, and ELF topological investigations are performed to appraise the charge transfer inside ASH1-ASH9 and high NLO characteristics. The robust NLO response revealed the eye-catching linear polarizability(α0 ), first-hyperpolarizability (β), particularly ASH3, with the highest α0 and β0 computed to be 520.44 a.u. and 26166.79 a.u., respectively. Additionally, frequency-dependent hyperpolarizability SHG β(−2ω,ω,ω) and EOPE β(−ω,ω,0) calculations for commonly used lasers were performed at 1907.21, 532, and 1064 nm. ASH3 with terthiophene linker exhibits a striking EOPE β(−ω,ω,0) and SHG β(−2ω,ω,ω) response of 2.94 × 104 a.u. and 3.80 × 104 a.u. respectively at 1907.21 nm. This theoretical framework confirmed that the investigated dyes have fine NLO potential and are recommended for future NLO applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• During infection, plants suffer with many physiological and biochemical changes. • Antioxidants and secondary metabolites defend plants against biotic stress. • Regulation of antioxidant defense is an essential component of defense. • Plants characteristically produce cellular antioxidants for cellular protection. • Extensive effects in the complete networks in plants are needed for the analyzed genes. Plants, being sessile in nature, are inept to escape biotic stress that adversely impact their growth, development, and productivity. Rather, plants employ a variety of processes at the molecular, morphological, physiological as well as biochemical levels to mitigate the negative impacts of such stressors. Plants have a complex defense system against pathogens, pests and diseases, which includes collaborative actions regulated by array of genes and transcription factors. Immunity against pathogenic attack is determined by the plant's ability to avoid early infection and limit the growth of harmful pathogens, whereas resistance to microbial toxins is determined by the capacity of plant tissues to reduce toxin accumulation and its detoxification. This ability can be achieved through modulations in multiple processes. Among these processes, regulation of the antioxidant defense system, generation of reactive oxygen species and production of secondary metabolites is reckoned as an essential component of defense mechanism. Antioxidants such as superoxide dismutase (SOD), peroxidase (POD) and secondary metabolites, specifically phenolics, terpenes, and nitrogen-containing compounds have been widely proven to defend plants against range of biotic stresses. It is essentially needed to improve existing management practices to control pathogens and breed immunity in crops for sustainable agriculture and food security. Particularly to improve resistance to pathogenesis, the breeding of long-term resilience in cereals genotypes is one of the most promising strategies. A better grasp of the molecular processes underlying plant resilience to microbial assault will cast light on plant-pathogen interactions and provide useful information for breeding programs. This review emphasizes the ongoing investigation and significant operation of key molecular, physiological, and biochemical factors for tolerance and resistance in Oryza sativa against microbial infections. Additionally, we have focused on secondary metabolites and antioxidant defense system playing a crucial role in deciding how plants react to pathogen attacks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mupirocin (MUP) is an effective topical antibiotic with poor skin permeability; however, its skin permeability can be improved by a nanoemulsion formulation based on eucalyptus oil or eucalyptol. Despite this improvement, the nanoemulsion has limitations, such as low viscosity, low spreadability, and poor retention on the skin. To overcome these limitations, the aim of this study was to develop a nanoemulgel formulation that would enhance its rheological behaviour and physicochemical properties. The MUP nanoemulgel was prepared by incorporating a preprepared MUP nanoemulsion into Carbopol gel at a concentration of 0.75% in a 1:1 ratio. The nanoemulgel formulations were characterised and evaluated for their physicochemical and mechanical strength properties, rheological behaviour, and in vitro skin permeation and deposition, as well as antibacterial studies. Both nanoemulgels exhibited stability at temperatures of 4 and 25 °C for a period of 3 months. They had a smooth, homogenous, and consistent appearance and displayed non-Newtonian pseudoplastic behaviour, with differences in their viscosity and spreadability. However, both nanoemulgels exhibited lower skin permeability compared to the marketed control. The local accumulation efficiency of MUP from nanoemulgel after 8 h was significantly higher than that of the control, although there was no significant difference after 24 h. Micro-CT scan imaging allowed visualisation of these findings and interpretation of the deposited drug spots within the layers of treated skin. While there were no significant differences in the antibacterial activities between the nanoemulgels and the control, the nanoemulgels demonstrated superiority over the control due to their lower content of MUP. These findings support the potential use of the nanoemulgel for targeting skin lesions where high skin deposition and low permeability are required, such as in the case of topical antibacterial agents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Extreme weather events are increasing in frequency and severity owing to climate change. Individual‐level behavioural responses—notably, disaster preparedness and community helping actions (such as donating and volunteering)—supplement government efforts to respond to such phenomena, but rarely have they been explored together. Using data from a survey administered soon after the 2020 Oregon wildfires, this paper compares a range of socio‐demographic, experiential, attitudinal, and communication‐related factors associated with these two individual‐level behavioural responses. Findings indicate that respondents who reported experiencing a higher degree of harm and heightened concern about climate change after the wildfires were more likely to report disaster preparedness and community helping actions. Those who reported more frequent informal discussions about the wildfires, consulting more sources to seek information on them, and higher percentages of friends, neighbours, and community members taking actions to prepare for future wildfires also reported more disaster preparedness and community helping actions. Disaster preparedness actions were also positively associated with seeking information from formal/official sources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic systemic inflammatory disease with genetic manifestations. According to recently published case reports, patients taking corticosteroid medication for the management of rheumatoid arthritis develop strongloidiasis and are at high risk of developing associated infections. This study explored the antiarthritic role of ivermectin, a drug used in the treatment of strongyloides and to compare its results with dexamethasone. Thirty‐two male Wistar rats were randomly divided into four groups: control, diseased, dexamethasone, and ivermectin groups. Rheumatoid arthritis in all rats except the control group was induced by using complete Freund's adjuvant. After 7 days of rheumatoid arthritis induction, animals were treated with dexamethasone 5 mg/kg and ivermectin 6 mg/kg. Body weight, visual arthritic score, total leukocyte count, differential leukocyte count, proinflammatory genes, and histopathological findings were used to assess the effects of ivermectin on rheumatoid arthritis. Treatment with ivermectin showed a significant reduction in inflammatory cells levels, body weight, and visual arthritic score, indicating an improvement in the degree of inflammation as compared with the diseased group. Treatment with ivermectin and dexamethasone significantly reduced the augmentation in the mRNA expression levels of IL‐17, TLR‐2, TNF, and NF‐κB as a result of arthritic development. Ivermectin treatment also showed a significant reduction in the severity of inflammation and destruction of joints and showed comparable effects to dexamethasone, a corticosteroid used for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis. Ivermectin has significant antiarthritic properties and can be a novel treatment agent for the management of rheumatoid arthritis patients suffering from strongyloidiasis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents a novel analytical model composed of monolayer graphene and core partially filled with chiroplasma. This presented analysis is generalized for any isotropic or anisotropic material having plasma and metamaterials. Cylindrical structure has been proposed for this analytical model to find the propagation and attenuation for hybrid waveguide HE 11 and EH 01 modes. To analyze the feasibility of our proposed structure, partially filled chiroplasma waveguide with monolayer graphene at cladding has been introduced. By using the suitable boundary conditions for the proposed structure, a novel matrix is obtained to examine and evaluate its dispersion relation and propagating parameters numerically. It is demonstrated that anisotropy of chiroplasma, chirality, and chemical potential of graphene can control and adjust the plasmonic features for proposed structure in the terahertz (THz) frequency regime. Harnessing the chiroplasma media with graphene layers can paving the way for fabrication and model the novel plasmonic devices in mid infrared region. The proposed structure and analytical model can be exploited for many potential applications such as chiral sensing and chiroptical communication devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The emergence and massive growth of cloud computing increased the demand for task scheduling strategies to utilize the full potential of virtualization technology. Efficient task scheduling necessitates efficiency, reduced makespan and execution time, and improvement ratio. Additionally, secure scheduling is a pivotal element in highly distributed environments. Task scheduling is an NP-complete problem where the time required to locate the resource depends on the problem size. Despite the several proposed algorithms, optimal task scheduling lacks an ideal solution and requires further efforts from academia and industry. Recently, blockchain has evolved as a promising technology for combining cloud clusters, secure cloud transactions, data access, and application codes. This study leverages the advantages of blockchain to propose a novel encoding technique to improve the makespan value and scheduling time. The proposed algorithm is an optimal solution for effective and efficient job shop scheduling where an Improved Particle Swarm Optimization (IPSO) and blockchain technology is used to provide efficiency and security. IPSO algorithm is hybridized by acquiring the best data from methods, and selective particles are kept for further iteration generation. The IPSO algorithm effectively traverses to the solution space and obtains optimal solutions by altering the dominant operations. The performance of IPSO is evaluated concerning the makespan, improvement ratio, execution time, and efficiency. Experiment results indicate that the proposed algorithm is practical and secure in handling flexible job scheduling, and outperforms the state-of-the-art task scheduling algorithms. Results suggest that IPSO minimizes the execution time by 8% and increases the efficiency by 35% than the existing scheduling approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To compare Goldmann applanation tonometer, air puff tonometer, and tonopen measured IOP Readings in vitrectomized eyes filled with temponading oils and gasses. Study Design: Comparative cross-sectional study. Place and Duration of Study: Armed Forces Institute of Ophthalmology (AFIO), Rawalpindi Pakistan, from Aug 2021 to Feb 2022. Methodology: A total of 50 eyes were included in our study. Intraocular pressure was measured by an experienced ophthalmologist between 10am to 4pm on the 7th postoperative day by three devices, Goldmann applanation tonometer (GAT), air puff tonometer, and tonopen. Pearson's correlation and paired samples t-test was applied to determine correlation and any significant difference between the mean of intraocular pressure measured by three different devices. Results: Out of the 50 people included in study 31(62%) were males and 19(38%) were females. The mean age of study participants was 50.10±11.61 years. Mean intraocular (IOP) pressure measured by the GAT applanation tonometer was 14.59±1.13 mmHg. Mean IOP as calculated by the airpuff tonometer was 15.93±1.88 mmHg, whereas mean IOP as calculated by tonopen was 15.85±1.86 mmHg. All three instrument values showed significant difference as p-value < 0.001. Conclusions: The air puff tonometer overestimates IOP as compared to GAT. Tonopen and air puff tonometer produce IOP measurements that are similar and consistent to each other but not to GAT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: Geometric calibration is essential in developing a reliable computed tomography (CT) system. It involves estimating the geometry under which the angular projections are acquired. Geometric calibration of cone beam CTs employing small area detectors, such as currently available photon counting detectors (PCDs), is challenging when using traditional-based methods due to detectors' limited areas. OBJECTIVE: This study presented an empirical method for the geometric calibration of small area PCD-based cone beam CT systems. METHODS: Unlike the traditional methods, we developed an iterative optimization procedure to determine geometric parameters using the reconstructed images of small metal ball bearings (BBs) embedded in a custom-built phantom. An objective function incorporating the sphericities and symmetries of the embedded BBs was defined to assess performance of the reconstruction algorithm with the given initial estimated set of geometric parameters. The optimal parameter values were those which minimized the objective function. The TIGRE toolbox was employed for fast tomographic reconstruction. To evaluate the proposed method, computer simulations were carried out using various numbers of spheres placed in various locations. Furthermore, efficacy of the method was experimentally assessed using a custom-made benchtop PCD-based cone beam CT. RESULTS: Computer simulations validated the accuracy and reproducibility of the proposed method. The precise estimation of the geometric parameters of the benchtop revealed high-quality imaging in CT reconstruction of a breast phantom. Within the phantom, the cylindrical holes, fibers, and speck groups were imaged in high fidelity. The CNR analysis further revealed the quantitative improvements of the reconstruction performed with the estimated parameters using the proposed method. CONCLUSION: Apart from the computational cost, we concluded that the method was easy to implement and robust. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Extensive and frequent use of pesticides has induced numerous abnormalities in target and non-target exposed organisms. Among different various pesticides, neonicotinoids are extensively employed in agro-production sectors. Thiamethoxam (TMX) plays an essential role in keeping the crop safe from insect attack, but on the other hand, it has been reported to induce adverse effects in both humans and animals. Previously, it was thought that neonicotinoids have low toxicity potential in mammals, but widespread use has made it evident that these pesticides have serious toxic effects on both invertebrates and vertebrates. Extensive applications of pesticides also pose serious eco-toxicological threats to aquatic and terrestrial organisms in the ecosystem. This review describes the chemistry, pharmacodynamics, and toxic effects of various TMX on living organisms. Moreover, this review summarizes the excretion/deposition of TMX in different tissues along with potentially adverse effects on production potential, immunity, blood parameters, and male/female reproductive systems. Though the pros of TMX surpass the cons, its reported intrinsic toxicity stresses the need to develop new pesticides that have high potency with little harm to humans and animals. Hence, there is a need for hours to address knowledge gaps related to TMX and design effective rational usage of TMX strategies to keep the ecosystem safe from the potentially harmful effects of TMX. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using 3D CNNs on high-resolution medical volumes is very computationally demanding, especially for large datasets like UK Biobank, which aims to scan 100,000 subjects. Here, we demonstrate that using 2D CNNs on a few 2D projections (representing mean and standard deviation across axial, sagittal and coronal slices) of 3D volumes leads to reasonable test accuracy (mean absolute error of about 3.5 years) when predicting age from brain volumes. Using our approach, one training epoch with 20,324 subjects takes 20–50 s using a single GPU, which is two orders of magnitude faster than a small 3D CNN. This speedup is explained by the fact that 3D brain volumes contain a lot of redundant information, which can be efficiently compressed using 2D projections. These results are important for researchers who do not have access to expensive GPU hardware for 3D CNNs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we explore the impact of contractual governance (CG) on project performance (PP) under the mediation of project management risk (PMR). Contractual governance influences favorably IT projects performance in an emerging market context where the IT sector is growing. The principal-agent theory is used to build a research model that schedules project governance and IT project risk management. Data were collected from 295 IT professionals and the response rate was 73.75%. Smart PLS was employed to test proposed relationships. The findings postulate a strong causal relationship between the CG, PP and PMR. Fundamental elements (FE), change elements (CE), and governance elements (GE) have a significant positive relationship with project management risk (PMR), and PMR positively affects PP. Additionally, PMR mediates the relationship of FE, CE and GE with PP. Overall, the results of the study provide pragmatic visions for IT industry practitioners and experts, but the unscheduled risk to the IT industry may bring enormous harm. Consequently, effective and well-structured governance in a strategic way tends to improve the project performance by monitoring and managing both project risk and quality. In addition, the study empirically supports the significant impacts of project governance dimensions i.e., fundamental elements, change elements and governance elements on project management risk and project performance. It also guides researchers and adds value to the project performance-related literature by filling the gap. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Spine image analysis is based on the accurate segmentation and vertebrae recognition of the spine. Several deep learning models have been proposed for spine segmentation and vertebrae recognition, but they are very computationally demanding. In this research, a novel deep learning model is introduced for spine segmentation and vertebrae recognition using CT images. The proposed model works in two steps: (1) A cascaded hierarchical atrous spatial pyramid pooling residual attention U-Net (CHASPPRAU-Net), which is a modified version of U-Net, is used for the segmentation of the spine. Cascaded spatial pyramid pooling layers, along with residual blocks, are used for feature extraction, while the attention module is used for focusing on regions of interest. (2) A 3D mobile residual U-Net (MRU-Net) is used for vertebrae recognition. MobileNetv2 includes residual and attention modules to accurately extract features from the axial, sagittal, and coronal views of 3D spine images. The features from these three views are concatenated to form a 3D feature map. After that, a 3D deep learning model is used for vertebrae recognition. The VerSe 20 and VerSe 19 datasets were used to validate the proposed model. The model achieved more accurate results in spine segmentation and vertebrae recognition than the state-of-the-art methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the present work, CuS–ZnO/water hybrid nanofluids (in concentrations of 0.0025 mass% and 0.005 mass%) are synthesized using a two-step method with nanoparticles composition of 95% CuS and 5% ZnO. The optically tuned nanofluid filter on the agricultural greenhouse roof can reduce the cooling load by transmitting the visible spectrum and absorbing the near-infrared radiation in the solar spectrum. The size distribution of nanoparticles, stability and optical transmission of both concentrations in the visible and near-infrared regions are examined. Two hollow containers (i.e., ducts) with thicknesses of 4 mm and 8 mm are prepared. Each of these ducts is attached to a greenhouse unit and placed in front of a solar simulator. The experimental results reveal that applying CuS–ZnO nanofluid reduces the inside temperature of the greenhouse unit under all irradiance and ambient temperature ranges. The cooling system gains an average of 27.4% less heat from the greenhouse unit when the CuS–ZnO nanofluid flows through an 8 mm duct compared to no-fluid case (empty duct). The photothermal conversion efficiency of nanofluid is found to be higher than the one for water. The crop growth factor of 82.2% is obtained for 8 mm duct case, and the photosynthetic photon flux density inside the greenhouse unit is reduced without affecting the growth of many plants. Furthermore, the payback period of the nanofluid system (with 8 mm duct) is calculated as 0.42 years, and the application of optically tuned nanofluid can help reduce the cooling system's size and energy requirement for cooling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]