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The development of efficient drug nanocarriers has remained an important challenge in advanced drug delivery in human body. Combination of graphene-based nanomaterials and cyanuric chloride (CC), as a linker, may improve the success of drug delivery. Herein, a simple approach was used for the synthesis of superparamagnetic graphene oxide (SPMGO) nanocomposite through a chemical precipitation method. The nanocomposite was readily functionalized with cyanuric chloride as a linker for loading the drug. The FTIR spectroscopy confirmed the efficient synthesis of nanocarriers. So did the transmission electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, and thermo-gravimetric analysis, X-ray diffraction and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Subsequently, the synthesized nanocarriers were studied in terms of their potential for biomedical applications. Immobilization of methotrexate (MTX), as a drug for treatment of cancer was taken into action on the SPMGO and SPMGO/CC. The in vitro assays indicated that the drug nanocarrier systems, SPMGO/MTX and SPMGO/CC/MTX, are hemo-compatible and increase the efficiency of MTX against Caov-4, HeLa and MCF-7 cell lines. The MTX nanocarriers represented a considerably high drug loading and controlled drug release. The overall results indicated the great potential of SPMGO/CC/MTX nanocarrier for targeted drug delivery, particularly in MTX chemotherapy.

Nine simply supported reinforced concrete beams of dimensions 150 × 150 × 700 mm have been tested to study the anchorage behavior of installed headed bars. The variables included the size of the added head plate, debonded length and loading type. Therefore, four head areas 28*28, 32*32, 35*35 and 38*38 mm, three debonded lengths 0, 300 and 600 mm and two loading types (one-point load and two-point load) are used in this research. The test results of load failure values, type of failure and deflection for eight beams provided with plate head and one beam of the non-head bar are being obtained. It was found that the value of load failure increased with using higher plate head size and lower debonding length. Furthermore, the percentages of decrease in deflection for beams that have head net size Anh/Ab (2.9, 4, 5, and 6) are 29%, 36%,38% and 44% respectively, and 12% and 55% when beams with debonding length 300 and 600 mm compared with beams of full bonded (zero debonded length). While the load failure for beams tested under two-points load was greater than beams which were tested under one-point load.

Spatial data observed on a group of areal units is common in scientific applications. The usual hierarchical approach for modeling this kind of dataset is to introduce a spatial random effect with an autoregressive prior. However, the usual Markov chain Monte Carlo scheme for this hierarchical framework requires the spatial effects to be sampled from their full conditional posteriors one-by-one resulting in poor mixing. More importantly, it makes the model computationally inefficient for datasets with large number of units. In this article, we propose a Bayesian approach that uses the spectral structure of the adjacency to construct a low-rank expansion for modeling spatial dependence. We propose a pair of computationally efficient estimation schemes that select the functions most important to capture the variation in response. Through simulation studies, we validate the computational efficiency as well as predictive accuracy of our method. Finally, we present an important real-world application of the proposed methodology on a massive plant abundance dataset from Cape Floristic Region in South Africa.

A chemical vapor deposition (CVD) was employed to deposit ZnO thin films on two different substrates, glass (quartz) and silicon. The characterization of structural properties of the comb-like nanostructure ZnO thin films were carried out through X-ray diffraction (XRD), atomic force microscopy (AFM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Nanostructured thin film sensor has been fabricated to detect the Na2SO2 aqueous solution concentrations. The obtained films are strongly c-axis oriented along (100) direction and have other low intensity towards the directions (101), (200) and (211), indicating polycrystalline characteristics. The film exhibits high dense comb-like nanostructured distribution which has been indicated in the SEM images, AFM images depicted the film porosity, the film deposited on the glass substrate has more pinholes and porosity than that deposited on the silicon substrate. A new sensing method has been established depending on the piezoelectrical properties of the ZnO material and the electrochemical interaction with the salt. Furthermore, the Na2SO4 sensing properties of the ZnO thin film were investigated for various salt concentrations (100, 200, 300 and 400) mg/L. The nanostructured ZnO thin film exhibits higher response, very fast rise time and acceptable recovery time upon working at room temperature. The relative response of ZnO film linearly behaves with the salt concentrations biomedical sensor was obtained. In this work, the results of detailed

The rising of information and communication technologies brought about new challenges that need to be dealt with is the citizens' security is considered. Undoubtedly, the latest well known electronic attacks have indicated the losses that are likely to happen as ICT and security as a field widens. There are several types of electronic attacks like Denial of service, phishing attacks, backdoors, Day-Zero gaps, and technical gaps that facilitate the vulnerabilities that are often taken advantage of by malicious persons. There is a need for cybersecurity because it defines the body of processes, technologies, and practices in terms of how they are designed to help protect various programs, devices, networks, and data from the malicious persons who perform unauthorized access and damage these resources. There have been technical measures, development of cyber talents, and investment in cybersecurity insurances, community awareness, cyber alliances, as well as encryption and backing up of data to ensure their security is guaranteed. There have been technological steps to help counter cyber-attacks that need the response from organizations at the technical, operational, and managerial levels, such as security of the networks, malware defences, and data recovery systems. Based on the process side, there is a need to activate cybersecurity strategies and plans. From the users' side, there is a need for the adoption of a focused method of monitoring the security and threat intelligence as well as a continued awareness of the need for security among its users and those who apply executive management of the visible support.

The base of traffic management is the reliable and real-time traffic flow predictions. A fuzzy multi-objective defuzzification method has been suggested for improving the capability of traffic flow prediction. On the basis of such method solving a transportation problem to predict the traffic flow. In the case when indicated values are not satisfying the relations, each one of the values has been adjusted till satisfying the relation. The presented paper is providing a novel approach to defuzzify fuzzy numbers using a modification of center of gravity COG method with multi-objective linear programming (LP) model. This method presented the observed values as triangular fuzzy numbers and the crisp values are found in the interval of each fuzzy number. The objective is to find the appropriate crisp value that satisfies all relationships and minimise the distance among this value and all values in the interval of fuzzy numbers by partitioning each interval into sub-intervals. The application related to the suggested approach is showed in solving transportation problem, as well as compare with one of the previous methods is also presented. The resulted crisp value appears as the best solution or optimal solution to the problem.

In this paper we address the vehicle routing problems with backhauls. This type of vehicle routing problems consists of two types of delivery, linehaul and backhaul cases. For the linehaul case, vehicles deliver goods/products from a single depot toward receiver customers, while for the backhaul case, the delivery process executes from sender customers and end at the depot. This problem is classified as NP-hard, indeed a high cost and large number of vehicles will be caused in case of lack planning and managing. Thus, it is important to develop an efficient strategy to manage this process in a way to reduce the overall cost. In this paper, we first formulated an assignment integer linear programming model, which is proven to solve limited size instances. For large size instances, we developed an evolutionary genetic algorithm approach which is tested to be efficient for solving large scale problems. The result shows that combining the linehaul and backhaul cases saves delivery cost and vehicles.

Allium porrum L. (leek; AP) is an edible plant that contains a variety of phytocompounds which their pharmaceutical properties are yet to be investigated. In this study, the computational analyses focused on PlcR protein as a putative target along with in vitro experiments were performed to elucidate the phytobiotic potential of the hydro-alcoholic extract of A. porrum against Bacillus cereus. The extract of the AP bulbs was prepared by using 70% (v/v) hydro-alcoholic solution. The antibacterial activity of this extract was then tested against B. cereus. Furthermore, a complete set of phytochemical compounds reported for AP were docked against the PlcR protein of B. cereus to evaluate their binding affinities. According to the results, this extract showed a remarked activity against B. cereus with the minimal inhibitory and bactericidal concentrations (MIC and MBC, respectively) of 4 μg/ml and 213 μg/ml, while the bacterial strain was resistant to chloramphenicol (30 μg/ml). It was revealed that all phytocompounds of AP showed significant binding affinities against PlcR protein. Among them, five compounds, including neoporrigenin B, porrigenin C, porrigenin B, Kaempferol 3-O-gentiobioside, Seco-porrigenin and Neoagigenin, demonstrated the highest affinity with -9.17, -8.88, -8.77, -8.1, -9.69, and -8.73 kcal/mol, respectively. These features were considerably higher than that of chloramphenicol (-6 kcal/mol), suggesting them as potential binders against PlcR protein. Eventually, neoporrigenin B and porrigenin C are proposed as phytobiotic components against B. cereus PlcR protein.

The rapidly growing demand for lithium has resulted in a sharp increase in its price. This is due to the ubiquitous use of lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) in large-scale energy and transportation sectors as well as portable devices. Recycling of the LIBs for being the supply of critical metals hence becomes environmentally and economically viable. The presently used approaches for the recovery of spent LIBs like pyrometallurgical process can effectively recover nickel, cobalt, and copper, while lithium is usually lost in slag. Bioleaching process as an alternative method of extraction and recovery of valuable metals from the primary and secondary resources has been attracting a large pool of attraction. This method can provide higher recovery yield even for low concentration of metals which makes it viable among conventional methods. The bioleaching process can work with lower operating cost and consumed water and energy along with a simple condition, which produces less hazardous by-products ultimately. Here, we comprehensively review the biological and chemical mechanisms of the bioleaching process with a conclusive discussion to help how to extend the use of bioleaching for lithium extraction and recovery from the spent LIBs with a focus on recovery yields improvement. We elaborate on the three main types of the reported bioleaching with considering effective parameters including temperature, initial pH, pulp density, aeration, and medium and cell nutrients to sustain microorganism activity. Finally, practical challenges and future opportunities of lithium are discussed to inspire future research trends and pilot studies to realize the full potential of lithium recovery using sustainable bioleaching processes to extend a clean energy future.

Thermal evaporated Sn thin film was deposited followed by atmospheric oxidation annealing at 550°C for 1 h to fabricate nanostructured SnO 2 thin film sensor. The nanostructures were characterized through X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and electrochemical amperometric glucose (C 6 H 12 O 6 ) sensing. The obtained film was strongly c-axis oriented along (100) direction and has other low intensity towards the directions 101, 200 and 211, indicating polycrystalline characteristics. The film exhibited high dense porous nature has been indicated in the SEM images. Furthermore, the glucose sensing properties of the as-prepared SnO 2 thin film were investigated for various glucose concentrations (50, 100, 150 and 200) mg/L. The nanostructured SnO 2 thin film exhibited a higher response, fast rise time 8s and suitable recovery time 53s upon working at room temperature. Linear relative response with the glucose concentrations for SnO 2 thin film biomedical sensor was obtained.

In this paper, we consider a low initial population model. Our aim is to study the periodicity computation of this model by using neutral differential equations, which are recognized in various studies including biology. We generalize the neutral Rayleigh equation for the third-order by exploiting the model of fractional calculus, in particular the Riemann–Liouville differential operator. We establish the existence and uniqueness of a periodic computational outcome. The technique depends on the continuation theorem of the coincidence degree theory. Besides, an example is presented to demonstrate the finding.

This study aimed to investigate the flexural strength and to monitor cracks and the mode of failure of recycled expandable polystyrene (EPS) reinforced concrete (RC) beams subjected to static load. Sixteen RC beams using recycled EPS concrete were manufactured experimentally by replacing 0%, 15%, 20%, 25%, 35%, 45%, or 60% of the coarse aggregate volume with recycled EPS, while 10% of the cement was substituted with silica fume (SF). The beam dimensions were 150 mm width, 200 mm height, and 1400 mm length. The theoretical method was verified using American Concrete Institute (ACI) code equations, by comparing ACI code results with those of the experimental tests. The results show that, with increased recycled EPS volume ratio, the values of compressive strength, splitting tensile strength, and modulus of rupture of recycled EPS concrete reduced by up to 53%, 38%, and 63%, respectively, compared to those of normal concrete. The results also show that recycled EPS RC beams can effectively sustain applied loads with acceptable strength and reasonable deflection. Moreover, recycled EPS RC beams were found to be acceptable within the ACI code in terms of their ultimate moment. Cracking failure occurs at acceptable levels, with an increased cracking load and beam stiffness. Recycled EPS used in EPS concrete at percentages of 15%, 20%, 25%, and 35% can withstand applied loads satisfactorily and is more effective than materials with ratios of 45% and 60%. The recycled EPS is functionally acceptable in RC beams and meets structural requirements.

A new concrete barrier (NCB) design that separates the opposing lanes in roads was presented and tested experimentally. The proposed design comprises three parts. The expanded polystyrene (EPS) beads were used to cast the outer parts with 15%, 30%, and 45% replacement from coarse aggregate by volume with silica fume substituted with 10% of cement. Four pressures were applied to the concrete barrier models (2.3, 3.2, 4.5, and 5.8 MPa), which are respectively equivalent to four operational speeds of the vehicles (50, 70, 100, and 130 km/h). Results showed that the failure occurred only in the outer part facing the strike force, and the other parts did not fail. The use of EPS beads with percentages of 15% and 30% was to absorb the impact loads in a good way, and these percentages are better than 45%. The results demonstrated little lateral deflection. Moreover, the EPS beads led little strains and facilitated to absorb the impact force. The new prototype of concrete barrier can be functional in roads with good energy dissipation, and it has conformed with the requirements of the crash concrete barrier test.

The efficiency of using ultra high-performance fiber reinforced concrete (UHPFC) to strengthen reinforced concrete (RC) beams under torsion is investigated. The significant advantages of the applied UHPFC jackets are (i) its high compressive and tensile strength and (ii) its excellent rheological properties led to facilitate concrete casting in strengthening works, and that is of high interest to the researchers and practice engineers. This study includes experimental results of all specimens with different types of configurations and thickness of UHPFC. Ten beams with only longitudinal reinforcement (i.e., without transverse reinforcement) are strengthened with UHPFC on two, three, and four sides. One beam with the same reinforcement ratio but without UHPFC is used as the control beam. As well as, finite element analysis was conducted in tandem with experimental work to compare and justify the effective of repair technique. Results show the effectiveness of the proposed technique at ultimate torque for different beam strengthening configurations, crack patterns, and behavioral curves. Strengthened RC beams four sides with a thin layer of UHPFC exhibit an enhanced torsional behavior and higher capacity than strengthened beams three and two sides. The UHPFC can generally be used as an effective external torsional reinforcement for RC beams without stirrups. It was noted that the behavior of the beams strengthen with UHPFC jackets are better than the control beams. The use of UHPFC had effect in delaying the growth of crack formation. The finite element analysis is a good agreement with the experimental data.

Polymeric macrocycles are important as complexation agents in chemistry. The multivalent binding of heteroatoms inside the macrocycle to metals and organic pollutants has gained much interest. A protecting group strategy was applied to synthesise functionalized crown ether based on glucose. The 4,6-position was protected by benzylidene, and arms were introduced on the remaining hydroxyls in 2- and 3-positions. Cyclization was achieved through sodium sulfide in ethanol. The selective cleavage of the benzylidene protecting group left the free hydroxyl group on C-6 position. The propargyl group was introduced and attached the macrocycles to polyvinyl azide by click reaction. The compounds were identified by nuclear magnetic resonance, infrared spectroscopy and mass spectrometry, and the morphology and thermal stability of the polymer were characterized via field-emission scanning electron microscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, X-ray powder diffraction and differential scanning calorimetry. The removal of metal ions Co, Cd and Pb was performed by atomic absorption spectrometry in different experimental conditions. The results indicated that synthesised crown ether can effectively removal such metals and has highly sufficient recyclability.

Cancer is in general not a result of an abnormality of a single gene but a consequence of changes in many genes, it is therefore of great importance to understand the roles of different oncogenic and tumor suppressor pathways in tumorigenesis. In recent years, there have been many computational models developed to study the genetic alterations of different pathways in the evolutionary process of cancer. However, most of the methods are knowledge-based enrichment analyses and inflexible to analyze user-defined pathways or gene sets. In this paper, we develop a nonparametric and data-driven approach to testing for the dynamic changes of pathways over the cancer progression. Our method is based on an expansion and refinement of the pathway being studied, followed by a graph-based multivariate test, which is very easy to implement in practice. The new test is applied to the rich Cancer Genome Atlas data to study the (epi)genetic alterations of 186 KEGG pathways in the development of serous ovarian cancer. To make use of the comprehensive data, we incorporate three data types in the analysis representing gene expression level, copy number and DNA methylation level. Our analysis suggests a list of nine pathways that are closely associated with serous ovarian cancer progression, including cell cycle, ERBB, JAK-STAT signaling and p53 signaling pathways. By pairwise tests, we found that most of the identified pathways contribute only to a particular transition step. For instance, the cell cycle and ERBB pathways play key roles in the early-stage transition, while the ECM receptor and apoptosis pathways contribute to the progression from stage III to stage IV. The proposed computational pipeline is powerful in detecting important pathways and gene sets that drive cancers at certain stage(s). It offers new insights into the understanding of molecular mechanism of cancer initiation and progression.

This study encompasses columnar ozone modelling in the peninsular Malaysia. Data of eight atmospheric parameters [air surface temperature (AST), carbon monoxide (CO), methane (CH4), water vapour (H2Ovapour), skin surface temperature (SSKT), atmosphere temperature (AT), relative humidity (RH), and mean surface pressure (MSP)] data set, retrieved from NASA's Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS), for the entire period (2003–2008) was employed to develop models to predict the value of columnar ozone (O3) in study area. The combined method, which is based on using both multiple regressions combined with principal component analysis (PCA) modelling, was used to predict columnar ozone. This combined approach was utilized to improve the prediction accuracy of columnar ozone. Separate analysis was carried out for north east monsoon (NEM) and south west monsoon (SWM) seasons. The O3 was negatively correlated with CH4, H2Ovapour, RH, and MSP, whereas it was positively correlated with CO, AST, SSKT, and AT during both the NEM and SWM season periods. Multiple regression analysis was used to fit the columnar ozone data using the atmospheric parameter's variables as predictors. A variable selection method based on high loading of varimax rotated principal components was used to acquire subsets of the predictor variables to be comprised in the linear regression model of the atmospheric parameter's variables. It was found that the increase in columnar O3 value is associated with an increase in the values of AST, SSKT, AT, and CO and with a drop in the levels of CH4, H2Ovapour, RH, and MSP. The result of fitting the best models for the columnar O3 value using eight of the independent variables gave about the same values of the R (≈0.93) and R2 (≈0.86) for both the NEM and SWM seasons. The common variables that appeared in both regression equations were SSKT, CH4 and RH, and the principal precursor of the columnar O3 value in both the NEM and SWM seasons was SSKT.

Adsorption equilibrium and kinetics of 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) and carbofuran using commercial granular activated carbon, Filtersorb 300 (GAC F300) were studied in a batch system with respect to initial concentration of 2,4-D and carbofuran. The Langmuir and the Freundlich isotherm models were applied to the equilibrium data of 2,4-D and carbofuran adsorption. Observed results showed that the equilibrium data fitted well to the Langmuir equilibrium model in the studied concentration range of 2,4-D and carbofuran. The monolayer adsorption capacities of GAC F300 were 181.82 and 96.15 mg/g for 2,4-D and carbofuran, respectively. Two simplified models, pseudo-first order and pseudo-second order kinetic, were used to test the adsorption kinetics of 2, 4-D and carbofuran on GAC F300. The data was best fitted to the pseudo-second-order kinetic model.

When French novelist Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr wrote “Plus ca change, plus c’est la meme chose,” he could have been penning an epigram about change management. For over three decades, academics, managers, and consultants, realizing that transforming organizations is difficult, have dissected the subject. They’ve sung the praises of leaders who communicate vision and walk the talk in order to make change efforts succeed. They have sanctified the importance of changing organizational culture and employees’ attitudes. They have teased out the tensions between top-down transformation efforts and participatory approaches to change. However, the more things change, the more they stay the same. The Process Classification Framework was created in collaboration with many experts and practitioner panels in 1992. It is a globally recognized business process model that defines activities and processes across thirteen enterprise-level operating and management categories. The Process Classification Framework enables companies to understand their inner workings from a horizontal process viewpoint rather than a vertical functional viewpoint. Moreover, the framework does not list all processes within a company and every process listed in the framework does not represent in every organization.The framework can help answer the question of how a company is doing and therefore help validate the company’s operational objectives. The benefits of employing the Process Classification Framework includes reduced inventory, improved customer/suppliers relationships, improved sales, improved profit margins, and more enriching jobs for employees. The globally recognized business leaders armed with the taxonomy of the business processes: industry best practices, benchmarking tools and risks and controls, will definitely outperform the competitors.

Quality management represents excellence in management in a fast-changing business environment afflicted with crises and turbulence. This paper introduces and defines quality management and discusses different global changes and their implications on doing business. It also explains the different management functions and identifies various managerial roles and their impact on an organization. The next section deals with effective management and reviews the differences between managers and leaders according to selected research. The third section discusses the importance of strategic planning and corporate strategy. The fourth section explains the importance of having a risk management strategy in place in organizations or Enterprise Risk Management (ERM). This paper concludes with some recommendations for businesses in order to avoid turbulence, financial problems, and crises.