Search

IntroductionRock weathering is a fundamental process that shapes Earth’s topography, soil formation, and other surface processes. However, the mechanisms underlying the influence of fertilizer application on weathering remain poorly understood, especially with respect to bacterial intervention.MethodsIn this study, purple parent rocks from Shaximiao Group (J2s) and Penglaizhen Group (J3p) were selected to investigate the effects of fertilizer application on the bacterial community and weathering characteristics of these rock by leaching experiment.ResultsThe results revealed that: fertilizer application, especially when at high levels, greatly altered the abundance, diversity and composition of the bacterial community in weathered products. Through redundancy analysis, a decrease in pH and increases in available nutrients (AN and AP) resulting from fertilizer application were identified as the key factors driving changes of bacterial community composition in weathered products. Moreover, fertilizer application promotes the physical and chemical weathering of the parent rocks to some extent. This is especially true for the chemical weathering of J2s. Structural equation model indicated that fertilizer application affects weathering through multiple pathways by affecting the chemical properties (pH, C:N and AP), specific bacterial genera (IMCC26256, Ramlibacter, and Nitrosospira), and bacterial community composition of weathered products.DiscussionOur study links weathering characteristics with chemical properties and bacterial community changes of weathered products after fertilizer application, which plays a key role in controlling and predicting dynamic changes of rock weathering in space and time. It is helpful to further understand the law of human activities affecting the surface processes.

The intricacies of relay-aided device-to-device (D2D) communication within the novel fluctuating two-ray (FTR) model is inspected in this study. Two cases with respect to co-channel interference are considered here, in case A, co-channel interferences due to unmanned aerial vehicles affect the relay while at the D2D receiver, the co-channel interferences follow the FTR model. In case B, interferences due to unmanned aerial vehicles affect the D2D receiver and the relay now experiences interferences over the FTR channels. The channel of a co-channel interference due to unmanned aerial vehicle is assumed to be a recently proposed single-shadowing based composite fading model. Further enhancing operational efficiency, the D2D receiver incorporates a power splitting mechanism for power harvesting. In this analysis a characteristic function-based approach is applied, which serves as the foundational cornerstone for deriving expressions that govern the outage and success probabilities. These intricate expressions are connected with critical factors, such as the dynamics of path-loss phenomena, the spatial separation between the interferers and the relay, the varying distances between the interferers and the D2D receiver, and the physical gap bridging the relay and the D2D receiver. Building upon the derived expressions, an extensive numerical analysis unfurls them for both interference cases.

Abstract Apple, a vital fruit crop worldwide and a major crop grown in northern parts of India, acts as a backbone for the survival and livelihood of the farming community. However, it is prone to severe damage from insect pests and diseases. In the past few years, due to erratic weather patterns, there has been an alarmingly increased infestation of different insect pests, both invasive and non-invasive, resulting in substantial economic losses to this industry. One similar case was seen in the Himalayan region of India, where the apple crop in Karewas was heavily damaged by some invasive fruit borer, feeding on pulp and making galleries to reach the seed locules, thereby destroying the seed material. To ascertain the true identity of this pest, a study based on morpho-molecular characterization of this pest was carried out in the Faculty of Agriculture, Wadura, SKUAST Kashmir, India, during the years 2021 and 2022. The invasive fruit samples were collected from apple orchards at different locations (experimental sites) in North India by installing delta sticky traps @ 5 traps/ha for moth collection. The fruit-boring larvae and pupa were also collected and reared in confined chambers of the laboratory with controlled temperature and humidity. All the laboratory investigations were conducted at the Division of Entomology, FoA, Wadura, SKUAST Kashmir. During the investigation, it was confirmed that the invasive borer is a codling moth (Cydia pomonella L.), a member of the family Tortricidae, order Lepidoptera, which was earlier having quarantine importance in India, as it was only present in the Ladakh region of India. From the phylogenetic analysis of sample sequences, the species of codling moth present at all experimental sites was more identical to the codling moth sequence from Leh (the northernmost arid region), India. Further, the study of life cycle and voltinism revealed that codling moth completes three generations per year in Kashmir, with a single cycle lasting up to 2.5 months. However, the timing of various generations varies, depending on prevailing weather conditions at specific locations and times. The number of generations completed by codling moth in Kashmir conditions during apple growing season was three full and a half overwintering generations. The study of the life cycle of this important pest was necessary to know the weak link for its effective management and to prevent the economic loss in apple fruit.

Reliable estimates of how human activities may affect wildlife populations are critical for making scientifically sound resource management decisions. A significant issue in estimating the consequences of management, development, or conservation measures is the need to account for a variety of biotic and abiotic factors, such as land use and climate change, that interact over time altering wildlife habitats and populations. The snow leopard Panthera uncia (Schreber, 1775), as a vulnerable species, is extremely sensitive to indirect impacts of climate change. Given that it is highly difficult undertaking conservation measures on the entire range of snow leopards, identifying hotspots for conservation is necessary. This study was conducted in Bagrot and Haramosh valleys, in the Trans-Himalayan region, to evaluate the impacts of climate and human pressure on snow leopard habitat. Hybrid classification of Landsat satellite data for 2010 and 2020 was performed to elucidate land use changes that suggested a decrease in permanent snow by 10 % and 3 % in Haramosh and Bagrot while an increase in settlements cover by 16 % and 23 %, respectively. Life zone comparison for 2010 and 2020 using the Holdridge life zone (HLZ) classification system disclosed a change from three life zones to five life zones in Haramosh, and four life zones to five life zones in Bagrot, caused by a temperature increase of 2°C to 3°C, indicating that the area is becoming more and more suitable for settlements and less favorable for snow leopards. This study underlines again that mountainous regions are more vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. Warming weather is making survival more difficult for snow leopards. Although they are resilient to the direct effects of climate change, indirect impacts like avalanches, flash floods, urbanization, and human-wildlife conflict make them more vulnerable and threaten their survival. Thus, we recommend establishing further protected areas, better controlling illegal wildlife trade, and conducting genetic studies to understand impacts on snow leopards and rangeland management, livelihood improvement, and human-wildlife conflict reductions.

This article presents heat transfer analysis at the walls of a circular heated obstacle under the influence of force and natural convection in a triangular domain. The circular obstacle is fixed at the center of triangular domain. The circular obstacle and the inclined walls differ in temperature (Th>Tc). The flow and heat transfer in the computational domain are caused by lid movement and temperature gradient. The triangular cavity is filled with air. The physical setup is described in terms of a system of differential equations. The dimensionless equations are solved using the Finite Volume Method (FVM). The results are computed for various flow controlling variables and presented in the form of isotherms, contours, tabular values and curves. The finding reveals that larger Reynolds number and Grashof number tend to higher heat transfer at the surfaces of heated obstacle. The average Nusselt number is noted to be maximum at w1 in the third quadrant when compared with the other walls of the heated obstacle. The results are compared with literature results in the limiting case.

Background: Wild canids form an important component of the ecosystem but are generally less studied and least prioritized for conservation. Diet is fundamental for effective management and exhibits the role of a species in an ecosystem. Golden jackal (Canis aureus, Linnaeus, 1758), a medium-sized canid species is known for opportunistic and omnivorous foraging behavior. Methods: This research investigates the feeding ecology of golden jackals within the Hirpora Wildlife Sanctuary, Western Himalayas. From August 2020 to July 2022, trails (n = 9; 1.5–5.5 km) were walked seasonally (once per month) to collect fecal samples (n = 128) for investigation of seasonal diet composition and dietary niche breadth and biomass consumption of prey items by golden jackal. The association between the coefficient of digestibility value and food items was assessed using the Pearson correlation. We also conducted PCA to understand contribution of major dietary items. Results: Scat analysis revealed that jackals feed on both animal and plant matter. Animal matter constituted most of the diet, encompassing small mammals and domestic livestock, insects, and birds. Rodents emerge as the dominant dietary item, maintaining consistent prevalence year-round. Livestock carrion, notably domestic sheep formed a significant component across all seasons, with maximal consumption observed in summer. Notably absent from the jackals' diet were traces of threatened mountain ungulates. Domestic sheep emerged as the primary contributor (33.4 %) to the overall biomass consumed, highlighting the jackals' interaction with human-associated food resources. The research unveils an overall dietary niche breadth of 0.38, indicating a low degree of dietary diversity. Seasonal analysis indicates heightened dietary overlap in the autumn-summer transition, with rodents, domestic sheep, and birds being major contributors to this overlap. Conclusion: The findings underscore the adaptability of golden jackals to diverse food resources in a seasonal environment. This study provides foundational insights into the dietary ecology of jackal crucial for its conservation and management strategies in the ecologically fragile ecosystem. The finding gives a hint at the role jackals can play in regulating rodent populations and contributing to environmental cleanliness by scavenging.

Electrospinning provides a simple and versatile method for generating ultrafine fibers from a rich variety of materials that include polymers, composites, and ceramics. Find applications in various fields, including tissue engineering, filter media, reinforcement in nanocomposites, and micro/nano-electro-mechanical systems. In this study the polystyrene fibers in 10%, 20% and 30% (w/v) in THF: DMF solvents were characterized by ATR-FTIR, AFM and SEM. The obtained fibers exhibited a smooth surface with fine structures, emphasizing a ribbon-like morphology with bead-like features within the range of 3 µm to 5 µm in diameter. The aim of this study was to extract the parabens at optimized conditions such as pH, adsorbent dose, contact time and the elution of solvent. To examine the mechanism of adsorption kinetics, the two most commonly used kinetics models (pseudo-first order and pseudo-second order) were employed to test experimental data along with the Morris-Weber diffusion model. The obtained data showed that the maximum sorption efficiency obtained at pH 3.0, adsorbent dose optimized as 10 mg of fiber with time of 24 hours, the methanol was sufficient to elute paraben from fibers met. The experimental data of the adsorption followed by first-order reaction with a mass transfer-controlled diffusion mechanism

Escherichia albertii and Escherichia fergusonii are recognized as emerging pathogens with zoonotic potential. Despite their increasing importance, there is a paucity of data on the cytotoxicity of these two pathogens. Therefore, in the present study, we investigated the cytotoxic potentials of the cell-free supernatants from 10 E. albertii and 15 E. fergusonii isolates for their cytotoxic effects on four different cell lines (CHO, Vero, HeLa, and MDCK). All E. albertii isolates (100%) and all but one E. fergusonii (93.33%) were cytotoxic. E. albertii isolates produced similar cytotoxicity titres across the cell lines, whereas the Vero cell was found to be the most sensitive to toxins produced by E. fergusonii (p < 0.05), followed by HeLa and CHO cells. MDCK was the least sensitive cell line to E. fergusonii toxins (p < 0.05). PCR detection of cytotoxicity-associated genes (cdtB, stx1, and stx2) indicated uniform possession of cdtB gene by all E. albertii isolates, while stx1 and stx2 genes were harboured neither by E. albertii, nor E. fergusonii. Taken together, our results provided experimental evidence of the cytotoxic effects of these two emerging pathogens, and Vero cells were identified as an optimal candidate to study the cytotoxic effects of E. albertii and E. fergusonii.

Introduction: COVID-19, a novel disease, appeared in December 2019 in China and rapidly spread across the world. Till the second week of April 2020, high incidence (2.9/100,000) and cases fatality rates (1.7%) were observed in Pakistan. This study was conducted to determine the temporal and spatial distribution of the first 100 deaths attributed to COVID-19 in Pakistan and their associated demographic factors. Method: A record review of the first 100 deaths reported among RT-PCR confirmed COVID-19 cases was conducted. Demographic, epidemiological, and risk factors information was obtained associated comorbidities and clinical signs and symptoms were recorded and frequencies were determined. Results: A total of 100 mortalities with an overall case fatality rate of 1.67% (CFR) were analyzed. The median age of patients was 64.5 years (IQR: 54-70) with 75% (n=75) males. Among all deaths reported, 71 (71%) cases had one or more documented comorbidities at the time of diagnosis. The most frequently reported co-morbidities were: hypertension (67%), followed by Diabetes Mellitus (45%) and Ischemic Heart Diseases (27%). The most frequent presenting symptoms were shortness of breath (87%) and fever (79%). The median duration of illness was eight days (IQR: 4-11 days), the median delay reaching hospital to seek health care was three days (IQR: 0-6 days) while the median duration of hospital stay was also three days (IQR: 1-7 days). Among all, 62% had no history of international travel. The most affected age group was 60-69 years while no death reported in the age group below 20 years.

Maize is a globally significant food crop but its future sustainability under rainfed conditions is at risk due to climate change and increased climate uncertainty. In Pakistan most maize is rainfed but there is increasing interest in the role of supplemental irrigation to reduce the vulnerability of crop yields to future drought and climate risks. Using a crop model (DSSAT CERES-Maize) with downscaled data from a weather generator (LARS-WG) and for five selected GCMs, two RCPs (4.5 and 8.5) and two time slices (2050s and 2080s), this study assessed the impacts of climate change and climate variability on rainfed maize grown in the Pothwar region of Pakistan, and the extent to which irrigation could offset future yield reductions. Model simulations were calibrated and validated using experimental data from 2021 and 2022. The outputs showed that on average the yield of maize could be increased by 55% with a single irrigation of 60 mm during the reproductive stage. For the baseline (1991–2020) the average rainfed yield was 3370 kg/ha. The climate change scenarios for the 2050s indicated a −13.5% and −5.8% decline in rainfed yield under RCP4.5 and RCP8.5, respectively. Irrigation applications (between 162 mm and 180 mm) increased grain yields by 5615 kg/ha and 5732 kg/ha, respectively. For the 2080s scenarios there was a projected decrease in yield by -9.3% and -39.7% under RCP4.5 and RCP8.5, respectively. Modelling also confirmed significant reductions in maize biomass production which would negatively impact on feedstocks for both livestock and renewable energy generation.

While urbanisation has numerous advantages, it causes greater risks to the environment and human health because of the release of heavy metals, various organic and inorganic contaminants, personal care products, and pharmaceuticals. Though several actions are being taken daily to lessen the release of harmful substances, there is still an immediate need to find a suitable solution to protect the environment. Nanotechnology has multifaceted applications, and there is extensive evidence of the emerging applications of nanoremediation, especially for soil and water pollution. Iron nanoparticles showed outstanding removal efficiency towards hexavalent chromium (100 %). Likewise, several publications on soil and water remediation employ nanomaterials based on metals, carbon, and polymers. However, most of the previously conducted works present the key nanoremediation results without depicting each nanomaterial's advantages and disadvantages. Hence, this work critically reviews the pros and cons of each nanomaterial with a special focus towards novel approaches using green synthesised nanomaterials that are completely eco-friendly and hence preferred for the removal of various contaminants without producing harmful effects. However, some bottlenecks exist in fully implementing the green nanoparticles for Nanoremediation. Thus, the review discusses the limitations of green nanomaterials that need to be addressed soon to maintain environmental sustainability. Finally, this review presents opportunities for future work in assessing the eco-safety of each nanomaterial that boosts the further utilisation of nanotechnology in the sustainable remediation of contaminated soil and water.

In contemporary business organizations, the pivotal role of automation in control processes is evident through Inventory Management Systems (IMS), which leverage advanced techniques and data analytics algorithms to optimize inventory levels, enhance accuracy, and minimize costs. However, existing security techniques for IMS, including access controls, firewalls, and audits, face challenges in effectively addressing the evolving threat landscape. These limitations, including struggles with dynamic user roles, susceptibility to data manipulation, and challenges in thwarting various cyber threats, necessitate innovative solutions for robust real-time management and security. Consequently, this work proposes a novel hybrid approach that integrates blockchain with RFID data, Generative Adversarial Networks, and Elliptic Curve Diffie-Hellman cryptographic techniques. In the developed hybrid approach, RFID readers are leveraged to collect inventory data, while the Generative Adversarial Network is specifically designed for processing the raw dataset, encompasses data filtering, normalization, and error correction tasks. The utilization of the Elliptic Curve Diffie-Hellman technique is integral for generating both private and shared keys, facilitating secure transmission between the IMS client and cloud-based servers. The blockchain module is engineered to enhance data security and protect shared secret keys, which is achieved through a two-layer mechanism involving encryption via the Advanced Encryption Standard algorithm and SHA-256 hashing function. Additionally, it incorporates the Artificial Algae Algorithm and an Elman Neural Network to ensure robust data access and integrity. To assess the effectiveness of the proposed hybrid approach, it is implemented on a publicly available dataset. The performance assessment involves a comparison with state-of-the-art security methods, considering key metrics such as encryption time, decryption time, key generation time, throughput, latency, and data confidentiality rate. Simulation results conclusively demonstrate that the proposed hybrid approach significantly reduces encryption time, decryption time, key generation time, and latency. Furthermore, it notably improves throughput and data confidentiality rates while aligning with stringent IMS security requirements.

Cell-free massive multiple-input-multiple-output (CF-mMIMO) networks incorporate a cell-free architecture with distributed antennas in a geographical area, and aim to deliver high data rates and support large numbers of users. It is crucial that such networks operate in an energy-efficient manner within the available spectrum. Thus, we focus on maximizing the energy efficiency (EE) of a CF-mMIMO network, which coexists with a collocated primary network in underlay mode. The EE maximization is a non-convex problem and to compute a power allocation policy efficiently, we propose a weighted minimum-mean-square-error (WMMSE) based Dinkelbach’s algorithm. Besides this, we also provide a simplified algorithm for maximum-ratio precoding in which we approximate the non-convex EE objective function with a lower bound, transforming the non-convex EE problem into a convex problem. Subsequently, we propose a policy for downlink power allocation that maximizes the EE of the secondary CF-mMIMO network while adhering to power constraints at each access point and interference constraints at each primary user. We also compare with some heuristic power allocation policies. The results demonstrate that the proposed WMMSE based power allocation scheme outperforms the heuristic power allocation schemes to a significant degree.

This work used a straightforward solvent casting approach to synthesize bone whitlockite (WH) based PVA/Gelatin composites. WH nanoparticles (NPs) were synthesized using the wet precipitation method, followed by their addition into the PVA/Gelatin matrix at concentrations from 1% to 10%. The physicochemical characterization of the prepared PVA/Gelatin/WH composite was carried out using ATR-FTIR, Optical profilometry, a Goniometer, a Universal tensile testing machine (UTM), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) techniques. The ATR-FTIR analysis confirmed the formation of noncovalent interactions between polymeric chains and WH NPs and the incorporation of WH NPs into the polymer cavities. SEM analysis demonstrated increased surface roughness with the addition of WH NPs, supporting the results obtained through optical profilometry analysis. The mechanical properties of the prepared composite showed an increase in the tensile strength with the addition of WH filler up to 7% loading. The prepared composite has demonstrated an excellent swelling ability and surface wettability. The reported results demonstrate the exceptional potential of the prepared composite for bone tissue regeneration.

The assessment of soil health through a robust index system having a sufficient number of indicators is an important step toward sustainable crop production. The present study aimed at establishing a minimum data set (MDS) from soil functional and nutritional attributes using a dual index system to evaluate the soil health of farmlands under wheat (Triticum aestivum)–maize (Zea mays) crop rotation in Yanting County, Sichuan, China. Farms from 10 villages in the study area were selected, out of which three sites were considered healthy/ideal sites and used as a reference for the remaining seven targeted sites, and soil samples were collected at depth of 20 cm from these farms. The MDS indicators were selected by using principal component analysis (PCA) followed by Pearson’s correlation on 25 attributes. Based on significant values, eight attributes were retained in the final MDS, including the sucrase level, pH, wilting coefficient, water holding capacity, organic matter, NK ratio, total potassium, and available phosphorus. Based on the results, most of the farmland soils in Yanting County were in a healthy condition, accounting for 61.71% of the surveyed samples, followed by sub-healthy, degraded, and weak soils, accounting for 19.64%, 9.71%, and 8.93%, respectively. The values of most of the indicators at the targeted sites were significantly lower than those at ideal sites. Thus, specific steps should be taken by adding soil organic matter, combined with other fertilizers, to enhance the microbial biomass, enzymatic activities, and other biological activities in the soil.

This paper discusses amplify-and-forward relay-assisted air-to-ground unmanned aerial vehicle communication over a recently proposed single-shadowing-based composite fading scenario. Included are the results derived from the Fluctuating Beckmann faded co-channel interference at the receiver node and relay. Maximal ratio combining based diversity scheme is considered. The power splitting at the receiver for energy harvesting has been assimilated. The utilization of characteristic function leads to the derivation of outage, success probabilities, and capacity with outage expressions. These expressions represent the impact of path-loss, aerial vehicle-relay, relay-receiver distances, and channel characteristics of desired and interference signals. Utilizing these expressions, numerical outcomes are presented and evaluated.

The vehicle routing problem with time windows (VRPTW) is a famous problem in logistics and transportation that has many applications in real life. The objective of the problem is to find the minimum distance covered by a set of vehicles that set to start together from the warehouse and visit some prefixed customers within certain time frames. In this paper, an efficient optimization algorithm, called modified football game algorithm (MFGA), is proposed to solve the VRPTW as an NP-hard problem. MFGA imitates the behavior of football players during a game to find the best positions to score a goal under the supervision of a team coach. In the presented algorithm, a new method is presented to create an initial solution for the VRPTW problem. In addition, a more efficient method has been designed to create a new location for the player, which makes the algorithm more efficient. The performance of the proposed MFGA is validated against Solomon’s VRPTW benchmark instances. Experimental results confirm that MFGA produces competitive results compared to several state-of-the-art algorithms in terms of various solution quality indicators. The proposed algorithm obtains 17 best-known solutions (BKSs) and improves 12 BKSs in the literature.

In the modern world, research in the field of thermal enhancement is going to increasing due to their diverse applications in the field of chemical industries and engineering domains. In the current study, the hydrodynamic or magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) instability of Hartmann flow in the porous medium is considered. Here, the special nature of magnetic field known as the transverse magnetic field is used in the current analysis. The investigation of hydrodynamic stability of electrically conductive for Hartmann flow in channel along with applied magnetize field is analyzed. The fluid layers are penetrated by a constant magnetize field and flow is considered through porous medium. Reynolds number (Re) is utilized to main system of hydrodynamic stability equations. A Chebyshev collocation technique is applied through numerical method to analyze magnetohydrodynamic instability system. The obtained flow equations represent system of ODEs. The current analysis makes use of a unique type of magnetic field known as the transverse magnetic field. The instabilities of nanofluids that contains nanoparticles with water as based fluid for with physical parameters are compared and discussed for growth rate and neutral graphs. These flow equations are solved numerically by using “Cheybeshev Collocation Method”. The mathematical technique “QZ (Qualitat and Zuverlassigkeit)” is applied to find out eigenvalues from comprehensive Orr-sommerfeld technique by using MATLAB software. Different embedded physical parameters Reynolds number (Re), Hartmann number (Ha) wave number (k) are compared and discussed for growth rate and neutral graphs. The instabilities of Hartmann flow in porous medium different embedded physical parameters are compared and discussed using growth rate and neutral graphs. It predicted that the flow become stable due to the magnetic field, Reynolds number and wave number the fluids transportation. The outcomes of current study are utilized in drug-delivery systems, photodynamic therapy and delivery of antitumor.

In biotechnology and biosensors bioconvection along with microorganisms play a important role. This article communicates a theoretic numerical analysis concerning the bioconvective Sutterby nanofluid flow over a stretchable wedge surface. Bioconvection is a remarkable occurrence of undercurrents fluid that is produced owing to the turning of microbes. It is considered for hydrodynamics unsteadiness and forms classified in interruption of inclined swimming microbes. Bioconvection is perceived practically in many uses for example pharmaceutical products, bio sensing applications, biomedical, bio-micro systems, biotechnology advancements and refining of mathematical models. Additionally, unsteady parameter influences are taken into account. Furthermore, no mass flux as well as heat sink/source consequences are measured in existing analysis. The similarity transformation are established for the non-linear PDEs of microorganism's field, nanofluid concentration, energy, momentum and mass for bioconvection flow of Sutterby nanofluid. Then, altered non-linear ODEs are resolved by utilizing the bvp4c technique. Moreover, nanofluids are declining in thermal and concentration fields and the greater number of Peclet number declines the field of microorganisms. Acquired numerical data displays that temperature field of nanofluid increases for more thermophoretic and unsteady parameters.

The fixed fleet heterogeneous open vehicle routing problem (HFFOVRP) is one of the most practical versions of the vehicle routing problem (VRP) defined because the use of rental vehicles reduces the cost of purchasing and routing for shipping companies nowadays. Also, applying a heterogeneous fleet is recommended due to the physical limitations of the streets and efforts to reduce the running costs of these companies. In this paper, a mixed-integer linear programming is proposed for HFFOVRP. Because this problem, like VRP, is related to NP-hard issues, it is not possible to use exact methods to solve real-world problems. Therefore, in this paper, a hybrid algorithm based on the ant colony algorithm called MACO is presented. This algorithm uses only global updating pheromones for a more efficient search of feasible space and considers a minimum value for pheromones on the edges. Also, pheromones of some best solutions obtained so far are updated, based on the quality of the solutions at each iteration, and three local search algorithms are used for the intensification mechanism. This method was tested on several standard instances, and the results were compared with other algorithms. The computational results show that the proposed algorithm performs better than these methods in cost and CPU time. Besides, not only has the algorithm been able to improve the quality of the best-known solutions in nine cases but also the high-quality solutions are obtained for other instances.

Abstract:Introduction: Bezoars are non-dissolved hard masses of undigested or partially digested food or foreign material that are trapped in the gastrointestinal tract. Bezoars are broadly classified into four groups, viz; phytobezoars, trichobezoar, lactobezoars, and pharmacobezoars. One of the common sub-types of phytobezoars is amlookobezoar (diospyrobezoar). Aims: To describe the clinical profile and treatment outcome of a series of patients of amlookobezoar presenting with small bowel obstruction.Methods: This prospective observational case-series study includes five patients of both sexes presenting with small bowel obstruction (SBO) caused due to amlookobezoar. All patients were evaluated with respect to detailed history, physical examination and radiological assessment to confirm the diagnosis. Radiological assessment included X-ray abdomen, USG and CECT abdomen. Results: We had total of five cases of SBO caused due to amlookobezoars. The age of these patients ranged from 8-years to 22-years with male-female ratio of 4:1. All the 5 patients in this series presented with the features of SBO in the autumn months. None of our patients had any other significant predisposing factor for bezoar formation except that all of these patients had taken significant amount of amlooks (persimmon fruit) 3-10days earlier. Four patients eventually required the exploratory laparotomy. All the four patients had soft to firm bezoars stuck up in distal or mid-ileum. Fortunately in all these 4 patients, we were able to manually breakdown the amlookobezoars and milk them down beyond the ileocaecal level without the need for any enterotomy, gut resection or creation of stoma. In all of the 4 operated patients, the postoperative period was almost uneventful. Conclusion: Though uncommon, but amlookobezoars should be considered as differential diagnosis in a case of small bowel obstruction. Amlookobezoars commonly affects young adolescent males in the autumn months and often needs a laparotomy with fragmentation and milking down of amlookobezoars.

The heterogeneous fixed fleet open vehicle routing problem with time windows is a very significant type of the vehicle routing problem (VRP) that aims to find the minimum fixed and variable cost of transportation for a heterogeneous fleet with a fixed number in which the capacity of every vehicle and usage of the vehicles should not be ignored. Also, in this problem, each customer has a special time window for servicing and each vehicle starts its route from the warehouse and ends up in one of the customers. We propose a mixed integer linear programming model of this problem. Since this problem, as well as open VRP and VRP with fixed heterogeneous fleet are hard NP problem, an improved tabu search algorithm is proposed to solve the problem. Our proposed algorithm uses a modified sweep algorithm to generate some initial solutions. Besides, a variable tabu list and some new mechanisms for intensification and diversification mechanisms are used. Numerical results are presented to show the correctness of our model and finally, the efficiency of the proposed algorithm is compared with an exact algorithm, classic tabu search and simulated annealing. The obtained results prove the efficiency of the proposed algorithm.

Purpose: To report a case of diffuse xanthogranuloma presenting as bilateral anterior uveitis in a neonate. Observations: A neonate was brought by the parents with complaints of redness, watering, and photophobia in both eyes for 10 days. Examination under anesthesia revealed the presence of bilateral hyphema, fibrinous membrane, corneal haze, and raised intraocular pressure (IOP). Ultrasound Biomicroscopy revealed diffuse bilateral iris thickening. The child was managed medically with topical glaucoma medications, topical steroids, and cycloplegics. The child responded well with the resolution of hyphema, anterior chamber inflammation, and reduction of IOP. Conclusion and importance: In neonates and infants presenting with bilateral uveitis, spontaneous hyphema, and secondary glaucoma, even in the absence of a well-defined iris lesion, diffuse juvenile xanthogranuloma should be considered as a differential diagnosis.

An experiment was conducted during the rainy (kharif) season of 2019 and 2020 at ICAR-Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi to identify the potential genotypes having good horticultural traits along with strong and durable resistance against ToLCV disease of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.). A diverse set of 30 tomato genotypes carrying different Ty genes were screened out at phenotypic and genotypic level. First appearance/symptom of tomato leaf curl virus (ToLCV) disease was recorded in Pusa 120 only after 16 days of transplanting (DAT). Within 30 days of transplanting most of the genotypes, viz. Pusa 120, DT12, DT16, DT6 and Pusa Sheetal recorded 80 to 100 PDI (per cent disease incidence) and they were rated as highly susceptible to ToLCV. While at 90 DAT ToLCV incidence (≤15%) was observed in DT2, DT8, DT17, DT20 and DT30 and were categorized a resistant. None of the genotype was found as highly resistant. Four genotypes, viz. DT2, DT10, DT20 and DT30 showed presence of both resistant genes Ty-2 and Ty-3 at genotypic level. These promising genotypes will be useful as parental material to develop lines/hybrids carrying multiple genes against both monopartite and bipartite viruses for strong and durable resistance against ToLCV disease.

Abstract L-Histidine immobilized montmorillonite is prepared and used as an adsorbent for removal of As(III) from aqueous solutions. The L-Histidine immobilized montmorillonite is characterized by FTIR, XRD, TGA and PZC techniques that confirmed the successful insertion of Histidine into interlayer of montmorillonite structure. The various parameters such as pH, reaction time, temperature, concentration of As(III) and adsorbent dosage are optimized to obtain maximum As(III) adsorption. It is observed that usually the removal of As(III) is increased with increasing the amount of adsorbent, contact time, temperature and till pH 6. The results showed that all these adsorption parameters greatly influenced the adsorption process. The various adsorption isotherm models including Langmuir, Freundlich, Temkin and Dubinin-Radishkevich (DR) as well as kinetics models are applied to the adsorption data. The Langmuir isotherm and pseudo-second order kinetics model are well-fitted to the adsorption data. Further, the probability distribution function (PDF) is applied that verified the adsorption data well while the Akaike’s Information Criterion (AICcorrected) and Absolute Average Relative Deviation (AARD) statistical models supported the best fit adsorption isotherms. The PDF model have provided a good statistical identification of adsorption parameters, adsorption rates and maxima whereas AICcorrected and AARD models revealed the well-fitting of Langmuir adsorption isotherm model in correlating the equilibrium data. Thermodynamic parameters (ΔH, ΔS, ΔG) proved the endothermic and spontaneous nature of adsorption process along with entropical changes occurring at solid-solution interface. The results showed that L-Histidine immobilized montmorillonite is an excellent material for As(III) adsorption with maximum adsorption capacity of 87.7 mg g−1.

Outage and Success performances of an amplify-andforward relay-assisted D2D communication system over a κ-μ shadowed fading wireless link are presented here. Co-channel interference (CCI) is assumed to affect the D2D signals at relay and destination nodes. The system is analyzed with two scenarios, namely, with diversity combining and without diversity combining. Selection combining (SC) based diversity scheme is incorporated at the D2D receiver to combat fading conditions. The expressions for success and outage probabilities are presented by using the characteristic function approach. The expressions are functions of path-loss exponents, wireless link length between relay and D2D source node, wireless link length between the receiver node and relay, distances between interferers and the relay node, CCI distances from various devices of the system, fading channel. The numerical analysis for various scenarios is presented and analyzed.

This analysis articulately presents the impact of heat transfer along with associated characteristics inside an equilateral triangular enclosure. Aiming to focus on the significance of heat transfer, four heaters (w1,w2,w3,w4) and three cold walls (C1,C2,C3) are brought into notice in equilateral enclosure. The bottom wall of the enclosure moves with uniform velocity (U0̄) in its own axis while the inclined and corner cold walls of the enclosure are fixed. The position of heaters is considered in four quadrants of cylindrical wall while the segments are placed at the corners of enclosure. Mathematical expressions are developed for heaters and cold walls. The computational model is considered in two-dimensional triangular domain. Water liquid is treated as a working fluid (Pr=6.9). Buoyancy effect is incorporated into Navier–Stokes equations using Boussinesq estimation. The governing equations are explored numerically by using Finite Volume Method based ANSYS-Fluent implicit solver software. Comparison has been made for the current results with published work in limiting case. Excellent matched has been seen. The findings show that the heat transfer rate is noted maximum in third quadrant of cylindrical wall (w4) when compared with other walls against Reynolds number. The temperature is noted maximum at the top corner near the segment C3 when Reynolds number increases. The results have it possible applications in thermal insulation of buildings, heating and cooling processes in machineries, furnaces and controlling of fire in buildings etc.

Localized drug delivery is a promising approach to treat bone infections. An ideal scaffold should provide a good regeneration environment and must be able to treat possible infections during healing. In this work, Strontium (Sr) and Iron (Fe) co-substituted whitlockite (WH) is prepared and comprehensively evaluated for the localized drug delivery application. Strontium and iron are added in varying ratios to study the effect of foreign metal concentration on crystallinity, phase purity, and drug delivery of WH. The prepared bioceramics were analyzed using x-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transforms infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and Scanning electron microscope (SEM/EDS). The XRD and FTIR analysis confirmed that the strontium and iron addition did not form secondary CaP phases. The in-vitro release study of the prepared samples showed a sustained release for 25 days in all samples. Results demonstrated in the present study confirm the potential of prepared bioceramics for drug delivery and biomedical applications.

Hydrodynamics instability is studied for an electrical conducting fluid against small disturbance between the channels by using normal magnetized force. Chebyshev collocation technique is used to determine the stability of three-dimensional Hartmann flow problem. The distinctive case of the perturbations is calculated. It is also considered that perturbations intensity be determined by just on quantified by different parameters. We have considered one of the flow stabilities conditions to analyze our problem. QZ (Qualitat and Zuverlassigkeit) technique is applied to investigate the problem to draw stability curves. αc,βc are critical wave numbers in streamwise and span-wise respectively and for a big range of Hartmann value (Ha), we obtained critical Reynolds number (Rec). It is found that Couette flow is destabilized for a specific value of Magnetize force while with greater or lesser magnitude than the particular one will stabilize the flow. Disturbances with particular oblique angle θ will grow while the others will decay for the three-dimensional disturbance. We observed from over results that for Ha(>2.0) Rec, increases steadily and when Ha more than 3.886, Rec decreases fast to the minimum. It is also established that for drop down from Ha = 3.886 and Rec becomes very large. For distinct Hartmann values, there exist two Rec numbers due to closed contour. The outcomes of current study are utilized in drug-delivery systems and photodynamic therapy.

Background:The Public Health Empowerment Program (PHEP) is a 3-month training program for frontline public health staff to improve surveillance quality and strengthen the early warning system capacities. Studies evaluating the program and its impact on the health systems in the Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMR) are lacking. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the level of PHEP graduates’ engagement in field epidemiology activities, assess their perceived skills and capacity to perform these activities and assess the extent to which PHEP helped the graduates to perform field epidemiology activities.Methods:A descriptive evaluation study was conducted based on levels 3 and 4 of Kirkpatrick’s model for evaluating training programs to assess the change in graduates’ behavior and the direct results of the program. Data were collected using two online surveys targeting PHEP graduates and programs’ directors/ technical advisers.Results:A total of 162 PHEP graduates and 8 directors/ technical advisers participated in the study. The majority of PHEP graduates reported that they are often involved in activities such as responding to disease outbreaks effectively (87.7%) and monitoring surveillance data collection (75.3%). High proportions of PHEP graduates rated their skills as good in performing most of field epidemiology activities. The majority of graduates reported that the PHEP helped them much in conducting, reviewing, and monitoring surveillance data collection (92%), responding effectively to public health events and disease outbreaks (91.4%), and communicating information effectively with agency staff and with the local community (85.2%).Conclusion:PHEP appears to be an effective program for improving the public health workforce’s skills and practices in epidemiological competencies in the EMR. PHEP strengthened the engagement of the graduates in most field epidemiology activities, especially during COVID-19.

Significant progress has been made in the field of gene therapy, but effective treatments for brain tumors remain challenging due to their complex nature. Current treatment options have limitations, especially due to their inability to cross the blood-brain barrier (BBB) and precisely target cancer cells. Therefore options that are safer, more effective, and capable of specifically targeting cancer cells are urgently required as alternatives. This current study aimed to develop highly biocompatible natural biopolymeric chitosan nanoparticles (CNPs) as potential gene delivery vehicles that can cross the BBB and serve as gene or drug delivery vehicles for brain disease therapeutics. The efficiency of the CNPs was evaluated via in vitro transfection of Green Fluorescent Protein (GFP)-tagged plasmid in HEK293-293 and brain cancer MG-U87 cell lines, as well as within in vivo mouse models. The CNPs were prepared via a complex coacervation method, resulting in nanoparticles of approximately 260 nm in size. In vitro cytotoxicity analysis revealed that the CNPs had better cell viability (85%) in U87 cells compared to the chemical transfection reagent (CTR) (72%). Moreover, the transfection efficiency of the CNPs was also higher, as indicated by fluorescent emission microscopy (20.56% vs. 17.79%) and fluorescent-activated cell sorting (53% vs. 27%). In vivo assays using Balb/c mice revealed that the CNPs could efficiently cross the BBB, suggesting their potential as efficient gene delivery vehicles for targeted therapies against brain cancers as well as other brain diseases for which the efficient targeting of a therapeutic load to the brain cells has proven to be a real challenge.

The capacitated vehicle routing problem (CVRP) is regarded as an NP-hard problem. Moreover, the CVRP is described as a model that can be used in many applications such as transport, logistics, and distribution. The exact algorithms can find exact optimal solutions on the small-sized problem instances; however, for large-sized instances it is difficult to find the exact optimal solutions in polynomial time. This reason motivated the researchers to present heuristic/metaheuristic algorithms to solve large-sized problem instances within a reasonable computational time. One of the good algorithms that deal with the CVRP is the ant colony optimization (ACO) algorithm. Several ACO algorithms have been suggested in the literature, such as the ant system (AS) algorithm, ant colony system (ACS) algorithm, and so on. On the other hand, ACO is designed to solve the path problem that finds the best way. However, this algorithm still lacks exploratory mechanisms, which results in premature convergence and stagnation issues. Therefore, we propose to develop an enhanced ACS (EACS) algorithm for solving the CVRP based on subpaths. In our proposed algorithm, we propose to utilize the K-nearest neighbour (KNN) algorithm for finding the best initial solution and then enhance the diversity mechanism of the proposed algorithm by avoiding the generation of the same solution using subpaths. This uses the diversity of the generated solution to find a better solution with a shorter route in a reasonable amount of computational time. Furthermore, we propose to apply the three-opt algorithm to the completed subtour and the k-opt algorithm to the subpath gained from the experience of the subpath. Finally, to verify the effectiveness of the proposed EACS algorithm, the algorithm is tested on some CVRP instances and is compared with one of the state-of-the-art methods, namely, the enhanced simulated annealing algorithm. The comparative study showed a better performance of our EACS compared to the enhanced simulated annealing algorithm.

OBJECTIVE: To compare the efficacy of expulsive medical therapy for treating ureteric stones with or without mirabegron as an add-on to Diclofenac. METHODOLOGY: A prospective randomized controlled trial was undertaken between April 2018 to March 2019 at the Asian Institute of Medical Sciences, Hyderabad, Sindh. A total of two hundred participants who had ureteric stones were enrolled using non-probability convenience sampling. Diclofenac Only 100 mg/day (group A, n=100), and Mirabegron 50 milligrams/day + diclofenac 100 milligrams/day (group B, n=100) were administered to patients, adjunctively. Age, sex, site, size of the stone, and laterality were noted. The stone expulsion time for each patient was evaluated. SPSS version 24 was used for analysis. A p-value of 0.05 or less was set as the cut-off value for significance. RESULTS: Age, sex, site of stone, and laterality were not significantly different between the two groups (p=0.886, p=0.755, p=0.168, p=0.321, & p=0.889, respectively). Spontaneous stone expulsion ratios were observed as 43% and 71% in group A and group B (p4mm (p=0.04). The SER for middle and distally localized stones was higher in group B with a statistically significant p=0.02. CONCLUSION: The present study indicated that combined therapy with both mirabegron and Diclofenac is more effective than monotherapy with Diclofenac only. Mirabegron is a safe drug that improves the stone expulsion ratio in ureteric stones by > 4mm.

Abstract The addressed work explains SWCNTs (Single walled carbon nanotubnes) and MWCNTs (Multi walled carbon nanotubnes) nanofluid flow under the influences of temperature dependent viscosity and mixed convection. Comparative study of SWCNTs and MWCNTs suspended in base liquid is presented. Further heat and mass transfer are addressed for nanofluid effected by radiation, heat generation/absorption and diffusion species. Mathematical development of problem is taken in cylindrical coordinates. System of highly nonlinear differential equations are constructed via appropriate transformations. The system of equations are tackled numerically by bvp4c MATLAB solver. The findings of the study show that larger volume fraction $$\left( \phi \right)$$ ϕ contributes to enhance the nanoliquid flow. The velocity by submerging MWCNTs is noted higher than SWCNTs. Furthermore, the relationship between the viscosity variable $$\left( \theta _{r}\right)$$ θ r and the temperature is such that the temperature near the surface decreases with increase in $$\left( \theta _{r}\right)$$ θ r , while at the same time the temperature away from the surface increases. Subsequently, higher temperature is observed in SWCNTs-liquid compared to the MWCNTs-liquid to the similar values of $$\left( \theta _{r}\right)$$ θ r . Further, heat transfer is an increasing function of varying viscosity variable $$\left( \theta _{r}\right)$$ θ r .

The discrete differential evolution (DDE) algorithm is an evolutionary algorithm (EA) that has effectively solved challenging optimization problems. However, like many other EAs, it still faces problems such as premature convergence and stagnation during the iterative process. To address these concerns in the DDE algorithm, this work aims to achieve the following objectives: (i) investigate the causes of premature convergence and stagnation in the DDE algorithm; (ii) propose techniques to prevent premature convergence and stagnation in DDE, including a quantitative measurement of premature convergence based on the level of mismatching between the population solutions and then divide the population into individual groups based on the level of mismatching between the population solutions and the best solution; and applying the roulette wheel selection (RWS) approach to determine whether a higher degree of nonmatching is more suitable for choosing a population of separate groups to be able to produce a new solution with more options to prevent the occurrence of premature convergence; (iii) evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed techniques through employing the DDE algorithm to solve the quadratic assignment problem (QAP) as a standard to evaluate our results and their effect on avoiding premature convergence and stagnation issues, which led to the enhancement of the algorithm’s accuracy. Our comparative study based on the statistical analysis shows that the DDE algorithm that uses the proposed techniques is more efficient than the traditional DDE algorithm and the state-of-the-art methods.

Today, goods transportation is considered to be one of the most important activities of national economics. Logistics and supply chain play an important role in the industry and services, considering the needs of the people, while there is an increase in the population. In addition, the role of logistics in urban areas, especially in restaurants, grocery stores, etc., is clearly visible. Besides, the final price of the goods is the most important factor that is always considered in service and in production. Due to this important factor, transportation has been found to be one of the most significant and influential factors in determining the price of goods. For these reasons, the newest variant of the vehicle routing problem, called the line feeder vehicle routing problem (LFVRP), is considered in this paper, in which various types of vehicles (large and small vehicles) are used for providing services to customers. In this particular type of delivery issue, these vehicles must start from the warehouse, meet customers, and finally return to the depot. In fact, the issue of LFVRP is related to the fast customer service in urban areas because in this case, all that are considered to be of priority are to minimize transportation costs and overall distribution time for fast customer service, especially in urban areas. Due to the many applications of this problem in the real world, a general review of this problem is conducted, and the versions of this problem are described along with the algorithms for its solution in the paper.

Objective :To determine the pain intensity of non-specific neck pain and find out the association of neck pain with stress, anxiety and depression. Methodology: A cross sectional study was carried out on 254 young adults in Shifa Tameer-e-Millat University Islamabad, Pakistan from July to December 2017. Participants of either gender in age range 18 to 24 years and have non-specific neck pain were included in the study. All the participants with any illness or trauma that might cause neck pain and pathological condition associated with neck were excluded from the study. “Numeric Pain Rating Scale” and “Depression Anxiety Stress Scale-21” were used to evaluate pain intensity and negative emotions such as depression, anxiety and stress. Chi square test was applied to determine the association between pain and depression, anxiety and stress. The data was analyzed through SPSS v-21. Results: Out of total 254 participants 212 (83.5%) were females and 42 (16.5%) were males. Participants mean age was 20.66±1.83 (years). According to the results stress and depression had significant association with neck pain (p value 0.05. Conclusion: The study concluded that majority of the participants had mild level of non-specific neck pain and significant association of neck pain was found with depression and stress. Key words: Anxiety, Depression, Mental health, Pain, Stress.

C. globosum is an endophytic fungus, which is recorded effective against several fungal and bacterial diseases in plants. The exclusively induce defense as mechanism of biocontrol for C. globosum against phyto-pathogens is reported. Our pervious study states the effectiveness of induced defense by C. globosum (Cg), in tomato against Alternaria solani. In this study the temporal transcriptome analysis of tomato plants after treatment with C. globosum was performed for time points at 0 hpCi, 12 hpCi, 24 hpCi and 96 phCi. The temporal expression analysis of genes belonging to defense signaling pathways indicates the maximum expression of genes at 12 h post Cg inoculation. The sequential progression in JA signaling pathway is marked by upregulation of downstream genes (Solyc10g011660, Solyc01g005440) of JA signaling at 24 hpCi and continued to express at same level upto 96 hpCi. However, the NPR1 (Solyc07g040690), the key regulator of SA signaling is activated at 12 h and repressed in later stages. The sequential expression of phenylpropanoid pathway genes (Solyc09g007920, Solyc12g011330, Solyc05g047530) marks the activation of pathway with course of time after Cg treatment that results in lignin formation. The plant defense signaling progresses in sequential manner with time course after Cg treatment. The results revealed the involvement of signaling pathways of ISR and SAR in systemic resistance induced by Cg in tomato, but with temporal variation.

Bio-control agents are the best alternative to chemicals for the successful management of plant diseases. Among them, Trichoderma is commonly used as a biological control agent in plant disease management due to its ability to suppress soil-borne plant pathogens. In the present study, 20 Trichoderma asperellum isolates were collected from different geographical locations and confirmed using morphological characteristics and molecular phylogenetic inferences based on combined ITS and β-tubulin sequences. All twenty isolates were screened for their antagonism against the collar rot pathogen under in vitro and in planta conditions. The isolates were evaluated through dual culture and volatile methods in an in vitro study. Isolate A10 inhibited the test pathogen Agroathelia rolfsii at 94.66% in a dual culture assay and 70.95% in a volatile assay, followed by the isolates A11 and A17, which recorded 82.64% and 81.19% in dual culture assay and 63.75% and 68.27% in the volatile assay respectively. An in planta study was conducted under greenhouse conditions in tomato var. pusa ruby by pre- and post-inoculation of T. asperellum isolates in the A. rolfsii infected soil to evaluate their antagonistic potential against the disease. The A10 isolate was found effective under both pre- and post-inoculation conditions, with a disease inhibition percent of 86.17 and 80.60, respectively, followed by the isolates A11 and A17, which exhibited inhibition of 77.80% and 75.00% in pre-inoculation and 72.22% and 69.44% in post-inoculation, respectively. Further, biochemical analysis was conducted to determine the specific activity of hydrolytic enzymes produced by T. asperellum during interaction with A. rolfsii. We found that isolate A10 produces more hydrolytic enzymes with the specific activity of 174.68 IU/mg of β-1,3 glucanase, 183.48 IU/mg of β-1, 4 glucanase, 106.06 IU/mg of protease, followed by isolate A17, A11 respectively. In GC-MS analysis, we observed maximum anti-microbial volatile organic compounds from the isolate A10, including 2H-Pyran-2-one (17.39%), which was found to be most abundant, followed by dienolactone (8.43%), α-pyrone (2.19%), and harziandione (0.24%) respective retention time of 33.48, 33.85, 33.39, and 64.23 min, respectively, compared to other isolates. In the TLC assay, we observed that a greater number of bands were produced by the A10 and A17 isolates in the Hexane: Ethyl Acetate (1:1) solvent system than in the 9:1 solvent system, which represents the presence of major metabolites in the ethyl acetate extract.

Background: Renal Trauma is one of the significant causes of deterioration, morbidity, and mortality in the pediatric age group around the globe. Firearm injuries are among one of the essential causes for renal trauma. Overall, trauma is the leading cause of death and accounts for approximately 50% of mortality in children over 1 year of age. Therefore, the current study aims to determine the frequency of morbidity, mortality and renal trauma in blunt and firearm accidents in pediatric population. Methodology: A total of 180 children, aged up to 15 years with blunt and penetrating trauma, including firearm injuries, were enrolled in our study. All patients with in the inclusion criteria of the study, who were presented in the emergency department were evaluated and resuscitated by a pediatric surgeon. Patients indicated with renal trauma were operated and were post-operatively managed in the pediatric surgery ward. All patients included were followed as an outpatient. The data of this descriptive case series were collected prospectively and was analyzed on SPSS version 22.0. Results: Out of 180 patients 110 (61.11%) were male and 70 (38.89%) were female with mean age of 8.5 ± 2.9 years. Majority of the patients had blunt trauma (54.44%) followed by firearm injuries (60, 33.33%). While penetrating trauma were observed in 22 patients (12.22%). Overall Renal trauma was observed in 40 (22.2%) of patients. Out of 40 patients, 20 (50%) patients had blunt, while 14 (35%) had firearm and 05 (12.5%) had penetrating abdominal trauma. Majority of renal injuries were Grade II (60%) followed by Grade III (17.5%), Grade IV (12.5%) and Grade I (10%) injury. The major morbidities noted in firearm injured patients were surgical site infection that was reported in 33.33% patients, limb deformity in 6.66% and neurological deficit in 5% patients. Overall Mortality was observed in 6.6% patients and firearm injuries was responsible for 8.33%. Conclusion: Firearm injuries are one of the significant causes of trauma in children. The renal trauma was observed in 22.2% of cases, and all were managed conservatively. The frequency of morbidity and mortality secondary to firearm injuries was high as compared to other studies.

Chiral Metal-Organic Frameworks (CMOFs) are unique crystalline and porous class of materials which is composed of organic linkers and metal ions. CMOFs surpass traditional organic and inorganic porous materials because of their tunable shape, size, functional diversity, and selectivity. Specific applications of CMOFs may be exploited by introducing desired functional groups. CMOFs have chiral recognition abilities, making them unique for chiral compound synthesis and separation. The CMOFs can be synthesized through different approaches. Two main approaches have been discussed, i.e., direct and indirect synthesis. Synthetic strategies play an essential role in getting desired properties in MOFs. CMOFs find potential applications in adsorption, asymmetric catalysis, luminescence, degradation, and enantioselective separation. The MOFs’ porosity, stability, and reusability make them an attractive material for these applications. The plethora of applications of CMOFs have motivated chemists to synthesize novel MOFs and number of MOFs have been ever-escalating. Herein, the synthetic methods of CMOFs and their various applications have been discussed.

Poly (l-lacticacid) (PLLA) is an FDA approved material for bone tissue engineering but its inherent brittleness and low melting ability are major challenges for its large-scale commercial applications. This challenge can be overcome by making its blends. This study reports blends of PLLA with a relatively new class of polymer i.e. cyclic olefinic copolymer and their miscibility, thermal behavior, morphology, crystallinity, degradability, and excellent biocompatibility is evaluated. Blends were prepared by taking 5–30 weight percent COC with PLLA matrix using solvent casting method. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images revealed that PLLA/COC form miscible blends up to 5–20 wt% of COC. FTIR, XRD, and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) data showed that addition of COC to PLLA resulted in decrease in crystallinity along with formation of new α′-crystalline phase which coexists with inherent α-phase of PLLA in the blends. The transformation of α′-form is due to the presence of Van der Waals forces of interactions of the polymer chain moieties between PLLA and COC. Interestingly, PLLA/COC blends exhibited superior mechanical properties in relation to the pure PLLA. Compressive modulus values for PLLA/COC 10wt% increased 117% as compared to pure PLLA. PLLA/COC blends at 10 wt% have maximum ultimate tensile strength, modulus, and toughness ~ 123%, 67.8% and, 18.87% respectively. PLLA/COC blends showed increased swelling and degradation results as compared to PLLA. PLLA/COC blends exhibited excellent cytocompatibility over PLLA with preosteoblast (MC3T3-E1) and bone marrow stem cells (BMSc) cell lines suggesting possible candidate for Bone Tissue Engineering.

Objective: To study the Peacekeeping Stress syndrome and see its relationship with various demographic variables (age, years of service and marital status). Study Design: Cross sectional study. Place and Duration of Study: Study was carried out on Pakistani Peacekeepers who were deployed in Democratic Republic of Congo in Jun 2019. Methodology: About 536 Pakistani male peacekeepers with mean age of 33 years, deployed in Democratic Republic of Congo were taken as study sample. By group testing method, all participants were assessed through Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS-21), Urdu version and demographic form consisted of age, marital status, education, years of service and rank. Results: Results revealed that DASS-21 has good reliability (α=0.71) for the present sample and prevalence of depression, anxiety and stress among Pakistani peacekeepers was low (2.9%, 4% and 4% respectively). Further to it, there was significant negative correlation of depression and stress with the age and years of service whereas relationship of anxiety with these variables (age and years of service) was non-significant. There were significant mean differences between the married and unmarried peacekeepers on Anxiety and Stress and non-significant on depression. Conclusion: Present study provided useful information regarding the mental health of peacekeepers and highlighted the fact that Pakistani peacekeepers are resilient enough to handle the challenges of international environment.

The present study discloses entropy analysis in flow of hybrid nanofluid under the influences of magnetohydrodynamics, variable viscosity and mixed convection. Melting heat, heat generation and radiation effects have been implemented for the second law of thermodynamics analysis. Homogeneous reaction of cubic auto-catalyst and first order heterogenous reaction regulate the concentration. Graphene oxide (GO) and molybdenum-disulphide(MoS2) are dealt as nanomaterials and water as a continuous phase liquid. Second law of thermodynamics is utilized for the formulation of entropy optimization rate. Bejan number has examined for the irreversibility process due to heat and mass transfers. Variations in entropy rate and Bejan number have been studied under the influences of sundry variables. Furthermore, comparative analysis of nanoliquid and hybrid nanoliquid has been examined for the entropy generation and Bejan number. Cylindrical coordinate system is taken for the problem formulation. Bvp4c maltab solver is used to deal with the obtained boundary layer problems. The findings of this study reveal that entropy rate and Bejan number in hybrid nanoliquid flow are noted maximum than the normal nanoliquid. The irreversibility due to heat transfer and entropy generation can be controlled by melting variable and temperature dependent viscosity variable.

In this study, Ag@In2O3 modified nickel foam (NF) was reported for its role as a non-enzymatic glucose sensor. Ag@In2O3 was prepared by a simple two-step method; preparation of a metal-organic framework (MOF) MIL-68(In) by solvothermal method, entrapment of Ag + by adding AgNO3 then drying it for 2 h to complete the entrapment process and subsequent calcination at 650°C for 3 h. The Ag@In2O3 modified NF was employed as a non-enzymatic glucose sensor to determine glucose concentrations in an alkaline medium. Two linear ranges were obtained from Ag@In2O3 modified electrode, i.e., 10 μM to 0.8 mM and 0.8–2.16 mM with a sensitivity of 3.31 mA mM−1 cm−2 and 1.51 mA mM−1 cm−2 respectively, with a detection limit of 0.49 µM. Ag@In2O3 modified NF exhibited high selectivity for glucose, among other interfering agents.

The murder of Jamal Khashoggi in the consulate of Saudi Arabia in Turkey is still controversial. The judgment relies on valid and reliable evidence. This study is vital due to investigating a murder case based on pragmatic meanings as language evidence broadcasted in media. This research employs Grice’s conversational implicature to investigate the murder of Jamal Khashoggi by analyzing the exposed recorded tapes of Jamal Khashoggi and the accused inside the consulate, the utterances of Khadija Changiz, the fiancée of Jamal Khashoggi, and Adel al Jubeir’s statements, the foreign minister of Saudi Arabia as a representative of the Saudi Arabian. The design of this research is a case study, and content analysis is used to analyze the data based on Mayring’s (2000) qualitative content analysis. Based on the findings of the study, the recorded tapes of Jamal Khashoggi and the accused are outlined as ambiguous language. Saudi Arabia denied the murder by saving face, misleading the hearer, and skipping the questions, but later on, affirmed the murder and promised to bring justice. Hence, the results of this study will affect the verdict on the judicial decree, and the accusations will be prosecuted, and justice will be served to Jamal Khashoggi.