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Simple Summary: This research reveals the efficacy of five plant extracts (Nicotiana tabacum, Nicotiana rustica, Azadirachta indica, Thuja orientalis, and Melia azedarach) against Callosobruchus maculatus. The extracts were tested at six different concentrations with four replications. Phytochemical analysis revealed varying amounts of alkaloids, flavonoids, saponins, diterpenes, phytosterols, and phenols. Among the plants, A. indica showed the highest effectiveness, with the lowest infestation rate (16.65%), seed weight loss (7.85%), mean oviposition (84.54), and adult emergence (58.40%). Conversely, T. orientalis was the least effective. Toxicity analysis using probit analysis indicated that N. tabacum, N. rustica, and A. indica had the highest toxicity, as demonstrated by the lowest LC50 and LC90 values. Repellency tests showed that A. indica exhibited 100.00% highest repellency at a 3% concentration after 48 h against C. maculatus. This study suggests incorporating these plant extracts, especially N. rustica, N. tabacum, A. indica, and M. azedarach, into integrated pest management programs, to manage C. maculatus. An estimated 2000 plant species have been employed for pest control worldwide. The use of these botanical derivatives is thought to be one of the most cost-effective and sustainable options for pest management in stored grain. The present study was designed to assess the efficacy of five plant extracts viz; Nicotiana tabacum L., Nicotiana rustica L., Azadirachta indica A. Juss., Thuja orientalis L., and Melia azedarach L. against Callosobruchus maculatus L. Plant species extracts were applied at six different concentrations, i.e., 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, 2.0, 2.5, and 3.0% in four replications. The phytochemical analyses of ethanolic extracts of five plant species showed variable amounts of phytochemicals i.e., alkaloids, flavonoids, saponins, diterpenes, phytosterol, and phenols. Total phenolic and flavonoid compounds were also observed. The efficacy of A. indica was highest, characterized by the lowest infestation rate (16.65%), host seed weight loss (7.85%), mean oviposition (84.54), and adult emergence (58.40%). In contrast, T. orientalis was found to be the least effective against C. maculatus, with the highest infestation rate of 25.60%, host seed weight loss of 26.73%, mean oviposition of 117.17, and adult emergence rate of 82.01%. Probit analysis was performed by estimating LC50 and LC90. The toxicity percentages of N. tabacum (LC50 = 0.69%, LC90 = 14.59%), N. rustica (LC50 = 0.98%, LC90 = 22.06%), and A. indica (LC50 = 1.09%, LC90 = 68.52%) were notable in terms of the lower LC50 and LC90 values after the 96-h exposure period against C. maculatus. Repellency was assessed by using the area preference and filter paper method. The repellency of C. maculatus on plant extracts increased with the increasing dose and time, such that it was the highest after 48 h. Likewise, at a 3% concentration, A. indica demonstrated 100.00% (Class-V) repellency followed by N. tabacum (96.00%, Class-V), N. rustica (74%, Class-IV), M. azedarach (70.00%, Class-IV), and T. orientalis (68.00%, Class-IV). Based on the findings of this study, we recommend integrating N. rustica, N. tabacum, A. indica, and M. azedarach for effective management of C. maculatus and highlight the potential of these plant species in the formulation of new biocidal agents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The escalating reliance of modern society on information and communication technology has rendered it vulnerable to an array of cyber-attacks, with distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks emerging as one of the most prevalent threats. This paper delves into the intricacies of DDoS attacks, which exploit compromised machines numbering in the thousands to disrupt data services and online commercial platforms, resulting in significant downtime and financial losses. Recognizing the gravity of this issue, various detection techniques have been explored, yet the quantity and prior detection of DDoS attacks has seen a decline in recent methods. This research introduces an innovative approach by integrating evolutionary optimization algorithms and machine learning techniques. Specifically, the study proposes XGB-GA Optimization, RF-GA Optimization, and SVM-GA Optimization methods, employing Evolutionary Algorithms (EAs) Optimization with Tree-based Pipelines Optimization Tool (TPOT)-Genetic Programming. Datasets pertaining to DDoS attacks were utilized to train machine learning models based on XGB, RF, and SVM algorithms, and 10-fold cross-validation was employed. The models were further optimized using EAs, achieving remarkable accuracy scores: 99.99% with the XGB-GA method, 99.50% with RF-GA, and 99.99% with SVM-GA. Furthermore, the study employed TPOT to identify the optimal algorithm for constructing a machine learning model, with the genetic algorithm pinpointing XGB-GA as the most effective choice. This research significantly advances the field of DDoS attack detection by presenting a robust and accurate methodology, thereby enhancing the cybersecurity landscape and fortifying digital infrastructures against these pervasive threats. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fluids have played and still play a vital role in attaining an optimized output from industrial processes. However, due to technological advancement, fluids with high hydrothermal characteristics are required. In order to overcome these challenges, researchers have developed fluids with dispersed nanoparticles, which are recognized as nanofluids. Various types of nanoparticles can be added to base fluids to produce thermally enhanced liquids. Among these, the addition of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) is considered the best due to the considerable enhancement of thermophysical properties and the stability of the solution. Thus, in the present investigation, an analysis of the heat transfer characteristics of an MWCNT–water nanofluid included in a star-shaped cavity equipped with a hot rectangular baffle is conducted. In addition, a uniform magnetic field is applied along the x-direction to oppose the convective flow generated by variations in density. Mathematical formulations under assumed boundary conditions and physical assumptions are established in the form of dimensionless PDEs. The finite-element-method-based software "COMSOL" is used to execute the numerical simulations. PARADISO is employed to resolve the developed non-linear system of equations. The effects of the governing parameters on the velocity and temperature fields are presented through streamlines and isotherms. The Nusselt number is evaluated to depict the impact of the addition of nanoparticles (MWCNTs) on the heat transfer enhancement. Changes in the horizontal and vertical components of velocity are also evaluated against the Rayleigh number and nanoparticle volume fraction via cutline representation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, 3D-structured clay filters were prepared and coated with iron-doped titanium dioxide (Fe-TiO2) using 3D printing and sol–gel soaking and calcination techniques. Three-dimensional printing was employed to mold and shape the clay filters before annealing. The coated and uncoated filters were characterized for different properties, i.e., morphology, optical properties, and crystalline structure, using field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), UV/Vis diffused reflectance spectroscopy (DRS), and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The FESEM images show uniform coatings of round-shaped Fe-TiO2 on the tiny pore of the clay filter. The optical energy band gap of the obtained coating was around 2.8 eV, estimated by Tauc's plot, compared with 3.2 eV of pristine anatase TiO2. The XRD spectra data processed through XRD software revealed the coatings of TiO2 on the filter surface with the obtained phase of anatase. The photocatalytic performance of bare and coated filters was initially tested for the degradation of indigo carmine (IC) dye and the obtained results suggested the photocatalytic degradation of IC dye by the Fe-TiO2 clay filter compared with the bare filter. Afterward, the denitrification of nitrate NO3 at various concentrations was performed using Fe-TiO2-coated clay filters and analyzing the total nitrogen (TN) analysis and reduction of NO3 to nitrite (NO2−), nitrogen monoxide (NO), and nitrogen gas (N2). The TN analysis revealed up to 81% denitrification efficiency of the 30 ppm NO3 solution with the photocatalytic response of the Fe-TiO2-coated filter. The results revealed that the Fe-TiO2-coated clay filter has a high potential for denitrification applications under natural sunlight. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Additive manufacturing is a key component of the fourth industrial revolution (IR4.0) that has received increased attention over the last three decades. Metal additive manufacturing is broadly classified into two types: melting-based additive manufacturing and solid-state additive manufacturing. Friction stir additive manufacturing (FSAM) is a subset of solid-state additive manufacturing that produces big area multi-layered components through plate addition fashion using the friction stir welding (FSW) concept. Because of the solid-state process in nature, the part produced has equiaxed grain structure, which leads to better mechanical properties with less residual stresses and solidification defects when compared to existing melting-based additive manufacturing processes. The current review article intends to highlight the working principle and previous research conducted by various research groups using FSAM as an emerging material synthesizing technique. The summary of affecting process parameters and defects claimed for different research materials is discussed in detail based on open access experimental data. Mechanical properties such as microhardness and tensile strength, as well as microstructural properties such as grain refinement and morphology, are summarized in comparison to the base material. Furthermore, the viability and potential application of FSAM, as well as its current academic research status with technology readiness level and future recommendations are discussed meticulously. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Convection in fluids produced by temperature and solute concentration differences is known as thermosolutal convection. It has valuable utilization in wide industrial and technological procedures such as electronic cooling, cleaning, and dying processes, oxidation of surface materials, storage components, heat exchangers, and thermal storage systems. In view of such prominent physical significance, focus is made to explicate double (thermal and solutal)-diffusive transport in viscoelastic fluid characterized by the Casson model enclosed in a curved enclosure with corrugations. An incliningly directed magnetic field is employed to the flow domain. A uniformly thermalized and concentrated circular cylinder is installed at the center of the enclosure to measure transport changes. Dimensionally balanced governing equations are formulated in 2D, representing governed phenomenon. Finite element-based open-sourced software known as COMSOL is utilized. The domain of the problem is distributed in the form of triangular and quadrilateral elements. Transport distributions are interpolated by linear and quadratic polynomials. The attained non-linear system is solved by a less time and computation cost consuming package known as PARDISO. Convergence tests for grid generation and validation of results are executed to assure credibility of work. The influence of involved physical parameters on concerned fields are revealed in graphical and tabular manner. Additionally, heat and mass fluxes, along with, kinetic energy variation are also evaluated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Termites are social insects that invade plantations, agricultural crops, and man-made structures throughout the world. The districts Buner, Haripur, and Swabi belong to different agro-ecological zones and a neglected area of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (Pakistan: Oriental region) for work on the distribution and identity of termites. Termites were collected and identified morphologically and with DNA barcoding of the COII region. Odontotermes assmuthi, Odontotermes obesus, Odontotermes parvidens, and Odontotermes horai were identified, and a key to the genus Odontotermes of the area was made along with a distribution map. The identified species were found feeding on different forage substrates. Four novel COII sequences were submitted to GenBank. The neglected area of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (Pakistan: Oriental region), consisting of Buner, Haripur, and Swabi districts, were surveyed for termites during the summer of 2016–2019 for identification and assessment of the distribution of colonies. Collections were made either directly from visible galleries or using traps with ethanol. Soldiers were used for morphometric identification and DNA extraction. Morphometric identification was carried out based on the available literature through measurements of 20 characters/indices and evaluating species differences statistically. Based on these characteristics, we generated a key and a distribution map of the genus Odontotermes for the study area. This is the first record of Odontotermes assmuthi and Odontotermes obesus in these three districts, the first record of Odontotermes parvidens for the Buner and Swabi districts, and the first record of Odontotermes horai for Haripur. We subsequently used barcoding of the mtDNA COII to verify species assignments of colonies and for phylogenetic analyses using Neighbor-Joining and Maximum Likelihood analyses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Currently, pagination clearly explains the increase in the thermophysical attributes of viscous hybrid nanofluid flow by varying morphological aspects of inducted triadic magnetic nanoparticles between two coaxially rotating disks. Copper metallic nanoparticles are inserted with three different types of metallic oxide nanoparticles: Al2O3, Ti2O, and Fe3O4. Single-phase simulation has been designed for the triadic hybrid nanofluids flow. The achieved expressions are transmuted by the obliging transformation technique because of dimensionless ordinary differential equations (ODEs). Runge–Kutta in collaboration with shooting procedure are implemented to achieve the solution of ODEs. The consequences of pertinent variables on associated distributions and related quantities of physical interest are elaborated in detail. It is inferred from the analysis that Cu-Al2O3 metallic type hybrid nanofluids flow shows significant results as compared with the other hybrid nanoparticles. The injection phenomenon on hybrid nanofluids gives remarkable results regarding shear stress and heat flux with the induction of hybridized metallic nanoparticles. Shape and size factors have also been applied to physical quantities. The morphology of any hybrid nanoparticles is directly proportional to the thermal conductance of nanofluids. Peclet number has a significant effect on the temperature profile. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Flow of a liquid in an enclosure with heat transfer has drawn special focus of researchers due to the abundant thermal engineering applications. So, the aim of present communication is to explore thermal characteristics of natural convective power-law liquid flow in a square enclosure rooted with a T-shaped fin. The formulation of the problem is executed in the form of partial differential expressions by incorporating the rheological relation of the power-law fluid. The lower wall of the enclosure along with the fin is uniformly heated and vertical walls are prescribed with cold temperature. For effective heat transfer within the cavity the upper boundary is considered thermally insulated. A finite element based commercial software known as COMSOL is used for simulations and discretization of differential equations and is executed incorporating a weak formulation. Domain discretization is performed by dividing it into triangular and rectangular elements at different refinement levels. A grid independence test is accomplished for quantities of engineering interest like local and average Nusselt numbers to attain accuracy and validity in results. Variation in the momentum and thermal distributions against pertinent parameters is analyzed through stream lines and isothermal contour plots. Measurement of the heat flux coefficient along with the calculation of kinetic energy against involved parameters is displayed through graphs and tables. After the comprehensive overview of attained results it is deduced that kinetic energy elevates against the upsurging magnitude of the Rayleigh number, whereas contrary behavior is encapsulated versus power-law index n . Elevation in the Nusselt number for the shear thinning case i. e. ,   n = 0.5 adheres as compared to Newtonian i. e. ,   n = 1   and shear thickening cases   i. e. ,   n = 1.5 . It is perceived that by the upsurging power-law index viscosity augmentations and circulation zones increases. Heat is transferred quickly against Rayleigh number (Ra) due to production of temperature difference in flow domain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A study on strategies regarding advancement in heat transfer characteristics in two-dimensional closed domains by placing cold cylinders is conducted. This effort is undertaken due to the fact that active and passive control in heat transmission is connected with provision of temperature differences at different locations of enclosures. Based on the experiments, researchers have concluded that placement of cold cylinder in non-uniformly distributed heat in a cavity is the most effective technique to enrich heat transfer rate, along with reducing the the waste of extra heat generation in processes such as polymer and aero dynamical extrusion, glass cooling, refrigeration, heating and cooling systems. Thus, the prime goal of this work is to outline heat and flow characteristics of non-linear fluid occupied in a square enclosure with adjustment of the cold cylinder. Heat transfer attributes are incorporated by accounting buoyancy forces and forming coupling of molecular diffusion of fluid within the flow domain. Formulation of the problem in dimensionless form is attained by encapsulating the aspects of natural convection in view of principal partial differential equations. Parametric study for governing expressions is computed numerically with the finite element method based on COMSOL Multiphysics version 5.6. Quadric interpolating functions are used to obtain information about velocity and temperature on nodes in elements. Hybrid meshing is manifested for discretization of the domain into rectangular and triangular elements. For the optimized variation in flow structures, prospective parameters are varied from 0.5 ≤ n ≤ 1.5 ,   5   ≤   Pr   ≤   35 and 10 2   ≤   R a   ≤ 10 6 . The achieved results are projected graphically through streamlines, isotherms, and local and average Nusselt numbers. Tabular data for kinetic energy and wall heat flux are also calculated. It is inferred through the analysis that, with uplift in the Rayleigh number R a elevation in the magnitude of kinetic energy and convective heat transfer arises, whereas the reverse pattern is depicted versus the power–law index n. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Resistance spot welding (RSW) of dual phase (DP) steels is a challenging task due to formation of brittle martensitic structure in the fusion zone (FZ), resulting in a low energy capacity of the joint during high-rate loading. In the present study, in situ postweld heat treatment (PWHT) was carried out by employing a double pulse welding scheme with the aim of improving the mechanical performance of DP590 steel resistance spot weld joint. Taguchi method was used to optimize in situ PWHT parameters to obtain maximum peak load and failure energy. Experiments were designed based on orthogonal array (OA) L16. Mechanical performance was evaluated in terms of peak load and failure energy after performing low dynamic tensile shear (TS) test. Microstructural characterization was carried out using a scanning electron microscope (SEM). The results show that improvements of 17 and 86% in peak load and failure energy, respectively, were achieved in double-pulse welding (DPW) at optimum conditions compared to traditional single-pulse welding (SPW). The improvement in mechanical performance resulted from (i) enlargement of the FZ and (ii) improved weld toughness due to tempering of martensite in the FZ and subcritical heat affected zone (SCHAZ). These factors are influenced by heat input, which in turn depends upon in situ PWHT parameters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]