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In the study reported on here, we investigated the effectiveness of principal leadership practices in secondary schools in Niger State, Nigeria. Surveys were conducted with 154 principals, 269 heads of the department and 25 members of staff from the Secondary Education Board in Niger State. The findings indicate that the extent of principal leadership practices and school effectiveness attributes in secondary schools in Niger State is high. The result of multiple regressions shows that about 14% (R[superscript 2] =0.14) of the variation in school effectiveness accounted for leadership practices. We recommend that the Federal and State Ministries of Education in Nigeria focus on issues other than leadership practices, such as training programmes for secondary school teachers to enhance school effectiveness. There is also a compelling need for secondary school principals to identify and promote the professional development needs of teachers and to ensure that teachers are effectively trained to enhance the development of secondary schools into centre of excellence.

Dramatic shifts brought about by globalization, technological innovation, and data-driven decision-making practices are immensely reflected in the landscape of 21st century higher education. Learning Analytics or LA is an emerging multidisciplinary, technological practice with the ultimate goal of producing effective learning to improve students' achievement in the tertiary level. Applications of LA have not yet been fully managed to redeem its promises especially since it is still at the stage of infancy in Malaysia. Since optimizing the use of LA necessitates weighing its value embeddedness, this paper aims to explore practices in strategic direction and leadership, which are critical to ensure the sustainable success of LA programs. This study utilized a qualitative research design and an interpretive paradigm. Using purposive sampling, seven respondents were selected for this single case study. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews, focus group, and document analysis from a higher education institution in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The findings from the thematic analysis show the interlocking significance of policies, procedures, and practice; leadership practice; and recommended strategies contributing to its sustainability. Key issues lie in how to integrate strategies, policies, practices, and procedures that should be executed under the right leadership and recommended corporate strategies. Above all, this study can be used to guide successful LA initiatives and implementation in HEIs in Malaysia.

Particulate matter (PM) is an extremely overlooked air pollutant with drastic effects on the biome, owing to the industrial and agricultural advancements, significantly exacerbating global environmental contamination levels. The altered atmosphere in urban settings due to PM pollution profoundly influences plants' morphological, physiochemical state and allied responses. PM exposure leads to drastic decrease in plant-height, phytomass, leaf number, leaf length and productivity. PM change the epicuticular wax patterns, penetrates plant tissue through stomata, and denatures the chloroplast pigmentation. It changes leaves' light absorption and reflection patterns, weakening the total radiation that reaches the chlorophyll antenna and ultimately reducing the photosynthetic rate and electron transport chain. Consequently, this alters plants morphology like wax deposits, thick epidermis, and long trichomes near stomata. Moreover, PM stress also adversely effects gluconeogenesis, amino acid biosynthesis, TCA cycle, and photorespiration-associated gene expression. Several transcription factors, such as MYB, C3H, and G2-homologues, are activated as a collective stress response. Additionally, ascorbic acid, proline and soluble sugars accumulate and several antioxidants are produced to scavenge the PM-induced reactive oxygen species (ROS). This review aims to document plants' various responses to PM pollution in their respective eco-geographic settings and investigate ways used by plants to mitigate PM pollution. We also enumerate the consequences of PM pollution on plants and the corresponding phenomic and genetic mechanisms through which plants adapt.

This study explores the influence of zirconium (Zr) additions on the phase composition, microstructure, and mechanical properties of Ti-2.5Al–5V–5Mo alloy sheets. Through isothermal and polythermal section analysis, we quantified the phase transformations in the Ti–Al–Mo–V–Zr system under varying cooling rates. The introduction of Zr resulted in a refined duplex microstructure, significantly reducing grain size and enhancing mechanical properties. In the temperature range of 600–750 °C, the α/β-phase ratio shifted from 70/30 to 30/70, reflecting optimized phase stability. Post-rolling thermal treatments further refined the microstructure to an ultrafine grain size, which improved yield strength and tensile strength while preserving ductility. The findings demonstrate that precise control over Zr content and thermal processing parameters can achieve an ideal balance between strength and ductility, making these alloys highly suitable for advanced structural applications. This research underscores the potential of Zr-alloyed titanium alloys for industrial use, particularly where enhanced mechanical performance and microstructural stability are critical.

Lack of appropriate early diagnostic tools for drug-resistant tuberculosis (DR-TB) and their incomplete drug susceptibility testing (DST) profiling is concerning for TB disease control. Existing methods, such as phenotypic DST (pDST), are time-consuming, while Xpert MTB/RIF (Xpert) and line probe assay (LPA) are limited to detecting resistance to few drugs. Targeted next-generation sequencing (tNGS) has been recently approved by WHO as an alternative approach for rapid and comprehensive DST. We aimed to investigate the performance and feasibility of tNGS for detecting DR-TB directly from clinical samples in Bangladesh. pDST, LPA and tNGS were performed among 264 sputum samples, either rifampicin-resistant (RR) or rifampicin-sensitive (RS) TB cases confirmed by Xpert assay. Resistotypes of tNGS were compared with pDST, LPA and composite reference standard (CRS, resistant if either pDST or LPA showed a resistant result). tNGS results revealed higher sensitivities for rifampicin (RIF) (99.3%), isoniazid (INH) (96.3%), fluoroquinolones (FQs) (94.4%), and aminoglycosides (AMGs) (100%) but comparatively lower for ethambutol (76.6%), streptomycin (68.7%), ethionamide (56.0%) and pyrazinamide (50.7%) when compared with pDST. The sensitivities of tNGS for INH, RIF, FQs and AMGs were 93.0%, 96.6%, 90.9%, and 100%, respectively and the specificities ranged from 91.3 to 100% when compared with CRS. This proof of concept study, conducted in a high-burden setting demonstrated that tNGS is a valuable tool for identifying DR-TB directly from the clinical specimens. Its feasibility in our laboratory suggests potential implementation and moving tNGS from research settings into clinical settings.

The present article provides insights into the immunity of ocean invertebrates. Research in this field has revealed hallmark components and strategies of the animal immune system, which have both theoretical and practical utility. From phylum Porifera to arthropods, animal immunity has evolved over various timescales. Within these timescales, dynamic environmental factors and microbial influences have shaped invertebrate immunity in an adaptive manner, resulting in the acquisition of complex genetic traits. These genetic traits play a crucial role in coding for multiple components, including antigens binding to cellular and cytoplasmic receptors, antimicrobial peptides, proteases, and proteins in pioneer animals. Marine invertebrates, such as sponges, cnidarians, mollusks, echinoderms, and crustaceans, exhibit diverse innate immune mechanisms influenced by their environment and microbial interactions. Despite lacking adaptive immune responses, marine invertebrates rely primarily on innate immunity. Their immune system encompasses physical and chemical barriers that prevent pathogen entry, as well as specialized cells and humoral factors that combat infections and minimize potential damage. In summary, this review explores the immunity of ocean invertebrates, highlighting key discoveries related to both cellular and humoral defenses across various marine species.

Background More children are surviving through interventions to address the infectious causes of under-5 mortality; subsequently, the proportion of deaths caused by birth defects is increasing. Prevention, diagnosis, treatment and care interventions for birth defects are available but are needed where the burden is highest, low-and-middle-income countries. Objectives A selection of birth defect focused publications, conferences, and World Health Assembly resolutions from 2000 to 2017 show that global efforts were made to raise the profile of birth defects in global public health. However, recent donor support and national government interest has waned. Without concerted global action to improve primary prevention and care for children born with birth defects, the Sustainable Development Goal targets for child survival will not be met. Results Birth defects make up 8% and 10% of global under-5 and neonatal deaths respectively, making them significant contributors to preventable loss of life for children. Survivors face long-term morbidity and lifelong disability which compounds the health and economic woes of individuals, families, communities and society as a whole. Demographic changes in sub-Saharan Africa portend a growing number of births with 1.6 billion projected from 2021 to 2050. More births and better survival without effective prevention and treatment for birth defects translates into more mortality and disability from birth defects. Conclusions We recommend interventions for prevention of birth defects. These are evidenced-based and affordable, but require low- and middle-income countries to strengthened their health systems. Action against birth defects now will prevent premature deaths and long-term disability, and lead to stronger, more resilient health systems.

Introduction: Pilocytic astrocytoma (PA) is one of the most common primary intracranial neoplasms in childhood with an overall favorable prognosis. Despite decades of experience, there are still diagnostic and treatment challenges and unresolved issues regarding risk factors associated with recurrence, most often due to conclusions of publications with limited data. We analyzed 499 patients with PA diagnosed in a single institution over 30 years in order to provide answers to some of the unresolved issues. Materials and Methods: We identified pilocytic astrocytomas diagnosed at the University of California, San Francisco, between 1989 and 2019, confirmed the diagnoses using the WHO 2021 essential and desirable criteria, and performed a retrospective review of the demographic and clinical features of the patients and the radiological, pathologic and molecular features of the tumors. Results: Among the patients identified from pathology archives, 499 cases fulfilled the inclusion criteria. Median age at presentation was 12 years (range 3.5 months - 73 years) and the median follow-up was 78.5 months. Tumors were predominantly located in the posterior fossa (52.6%). There were six deaths, but there were confounding factors that prevented a clear association of death to tumor progression. Extent of resection was the only significant factor for recurrence-free survival. Recurrence-free survival time was 321.0 months for gross total resection, compared to 160.9 months for subtotal resection (log rank, p

Academic global surgery is a rapidly growing field that aims to improve access to safe surgical care worldwide. However, no universally accepted competencies exist to inform this developing field. A consensus-based approach, with input from a diverse group of experts, is needed to identify essential competencies that will lead to standardization in this field. A task force was set up using snowball sampling to recruit a broad group of content and context experts in global surgical and perioperative care. A draft set of competencies was revised through the modified Delphi process with two rounds of anonymous input. A threshold of 80% consensus was used to determine whether a competency or sub-competency learning objective was relevant to the skillset needed within academic global surgery and perioperative care. A diverse task force recruited experts from 22 countries to participate in both rounds of the Delphi process. Of the n = 59 respondents completing both rounds of iterative polling, 63% were from low- or middle-income countries. After two rounds of anonymous feedback, participants reached consensus on nine core competencies and 31 sub-competency objectives. The greatest consensus pertained to competency in ethics and professionalism in global surgery (100%) with emphasis on justice, equity, and decolonization across multiple competencies. This Delphi process, with input from experts worldwide, identified nine competencies which can be used to develop standardized academic global surgery and perioperative care curricula worldwide. Further work needs to be done to validate these competencies and establish assessments to ensure that they are taught effectively.

Raising scientifically literate citizens has been the main concern of the science education community. Socioscientific issues (SSIs) provide a context to facilitate individuals to expand their epistemic understanding and develop scientific reasoning skills such as evidence-based argumentation and consensus building. In this qualitative research, we examined how preservice middle school science teachers (PSTs) embedded the nature of science (NOS) aspects via physical dynamic models (PDM) that they developed on SSIs. We specifically focused on how PSTs scientifically explained the SSIs in their PDMs by explicitly incorporating and reflecting on the NOS aspects. Slightly more than half of the groups succeeded in developing models with dynamic/functional feature that enabled their classmates to predict, hypothesize, test, observe, infer, and generate an explanation of the SSI during presentations. Almost half of the PSTs could not differentiate between demonstration and functional/dynamic models. We additionally used the VNOS-C questionnaire to assess PSTs' NOS understanding at the beginning and end of the semester. The VNOS-C results showed that PSTs improved on all NOS aspects at the end of the semester. However, among seven NOS aspects that we focused on in our study, creativity and imagination, empirical evidence, and inferential reasoning were explicitly used in PSTs' presentations of SSI using PDMs. Their presentations did not address subjectivity, tentativeness, social and cultural influence, and theory and law aspects. We recommend replicating this study in different science contexts. Integrating NOS aspects into physical dynamic models needs to be further investigated.

Introduction Tuberculosis (TB) continues to be one of the deadliest infectious diseases over the centuries, killing more people worldwide than any other single infectious disease. There is an urgent need for additional strategies which can expedite efforts to combat TB including a preventive vaccine. In this endeavour, we have developed a protocol for a multisite, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial in India that aims to evaluate the efficacy and safety of two TB vaccines; namely, VPM1002 and Immuvac (M.w) (Mycobacterium Indicus Pranii) (MIP) among healthy household contacts (HHCs) of sputum smear-positive pulmonary TB (PTB) patients.Methods and analysis In the three-arm randomised double-blind placebo-controlled trial study protocol, a total of 12 000 HHCs (aged 6−99 years) of sputum smear-positive PTB patients will be randomised to receive either of the two vaccine candidates VPM1002 and MIP or placebo. The primary efficacy endpoint is the prevention of microbiologically confirmed TB. Secondary endpoints will include (1) prevention against Latent TB infection, (2) incidence of adverse events and serious adverse events in study participants, (3) efficacy of vaccine in prevention of PTB/extra PTB in different age groups (6–18 years, 19–35 years, 36–60 years and above 60 years) and (4) immunogenicity of VPM1002 and MIP at month 2 and month 6 after first vaccination in terms of flow cytometric analysis of M.Tb specific CD4+ and CD8+ T cells secreting cytokines and Luminex assays for the presence of different cytokines in the sera and supernatants of peripheral blood mononuclear cells cultures stimulated with whole cell lysates of M.Tb and subsequently similar analysis for the cases who develop TB postvaccination during the follow-up period.Ethics and dissemination Ethics committees’ approvals have been granted by the Institutional Human Ethics Committees of all participating centres in this study and the names of the ethics committees and approvals are as follows: (1) National Institute for Research in Tuberculosis (NIRT)-Chennai (including subsites): ECR/135/Inst/TN/2013/RR-19, Approval No. 390/NIRT-Institutional Ethics Committee (IEC)/2018 dated 5 December 2018 (NIRT-Madurai-ECR/1365/Inst/TN/2020; approval dated 8 June 2020; NIRT, Vellore: ECR/1215/Inst/TN/2019; approval dated 26 September 2020); (2) All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Delhi (including subsites)-Institute Ethics Committee, ECR/547/Inst/DL/2014/RR-17 ECR/538/Inst/DL/2014/RR-20; approval No.IEC-385/06-07-2018, approval OP-28/05.04.2019 and SFH- ECR/593/Inst/DL/2014/RR-20 IEC/VMMC/SJH/project/2019-05/25 ; 23 May 2019; (3) National Institute of Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases (NITRD), Delhi: ECR/315/Inst/DL/2013/RR-19; approval IEC-No-NITRD/EC/2019/9004; 8 January 2019; (4) Pune-National AIDS Research Institute (NARI) and subsite-ECR/23/Inst/MH/2013/RR-19; IEC-NARI/EC/approval/2018/196; 29 May 2018; (5) Regional Medical Research Centre-Bhubaneshwar-ECR/911/Inst/OR-2017/RR-21; approval, dated 25 April 2018; Subsites- AIIMS, Bhubaneshwar ECR/534/Inst/OD/2014/RR-17 and 20 approval No. T/EMF/Pulm. Med/19/01 dated 13 May 2019; SCB, Cuttack No. No.ECR/84/Inst/OR/2013/RR-20; approval no.186 dated 7 February 2020; (6) NTI-Bengaluru: Ethics Committee-No-ECR/1819/Inst/KA/2019; approval No NTI-IEC/1.2019/principal investigator, dated 31 January 2019; (7) BMMRC, Hyderabad- ECR/450/Inst/AP/2013/RR-16 approval No. 779/BMMRC/2018/IEC, dated 11 June 2018 (Subsite Share India- Mediciti Ethics Committee-ECR/283/Inst/AP/2013/RR-20; Approval no. EC/11/VII/2K20(1) dated 11 July 2020) and (8) SJMC-Bengaluru: ECR/238/Inst/KA/2013/RR-19; approval IEC/1/491/2020; 7 August 2020.The trial findings will be published in accordance with the Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials guidance. The results of this clinical trial will be presented at scientific conferences and disseminated through publications in peer-reviewed journals, conference presentations and shared with Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, policy-makers and other stakeholders.Trial registration number CTRI/2019/01/017026.

The main purpose of this research is to promote language and cultural learning among novice teachers in Kazakhstan through the implementation of technology-oriented learning strategies. To assess the success of this strategy, a primary survey methodology combined with a quantitative research methodology was used. In the process of data collection, I distributed the survey instrument to a sample of 105 individuals, including 65 males and 40 females. Next, the gathered data were analyzed by SPSS, the software that was used for descriptive statistics, correlation analysis and ANOVA. This research was designed to identify the complicated connections between the introduction of technology and the language and cultural skills of preservice teachers. The significance of this study for educational practice in Kazakhstan cannot be overestimated. They promote the involvement of technology-based strategies as a source of fostering educational spaces that are more open and culturally relevant.

Abstract Background Information about the development of cognitive skills and the effect of sensory integration in children using auditory brainstem implants (ABIs) is still limited. Objective This study primarily aims to investigate the relationship between sensory processing skills and attention and memory abilities in children with ABI, and secondarily aims to examine the effects of implant duration on sensory processing and cognitive skills in these children. Methods The study included 25 children between the ages of 6 and 10 years (mean age: 14 girls and 11 boys) with inner ear and/or auditory nerve anomalies using auditory brainstem implants. Visual‐Aural Digit Span Test B, Marking Test, Dunn Sensory Profile Questionnaire were applied to all children. Results The sensory processing skills of children are statistically significant and positive, and moderately related to their cognitive skills. As the duration of implant use increases, better attention and memory performances have been observed (p

Aquatic plants are a cheap and renewable biomass rich in bioactive and biofunctional compounds, holding valorization prospects for use in food and pharmaceuticals. Four commonly found edible aquatic plants in Bangladesh, namely red water lily (Nymphaea nouchali), white water lily (Nympheae alba), malancha (Alternanthera philoxeroides), and red seaweed (Gracilaria tenuistipitata), were compared in terms of proximate composition, bioactive compounds, antioxidant activity, mineral and heavy metal contents, and amino acid composition. The crude protein content was the highest in A. philoxeroids (26.96 %), followed by G. tenuistipitata (25.21 %), N. nouchali (25.14 %), and N. alba (23.54 %). The sequence of crude lipid content of four aquatic plants was A. philoxeroids (4.8 %) > N. nouchali (4.0 %) > G. tenuistipitata (3.4 %) > N. alba (2.4 %). The aquatic plants were rich in carbohydrates, with G. tenuistipitata having 37.02 %, significantly (P

BackgroundBovine genital campylobacteriosis (BGC) is a globally important venereal disease of cattle caused by Campylobacter fetus subspecies venerealis. Diagnosis of BGC is highly challenging due to the lack of accurate diagnostic tests.MethodsTo characterise the biomarkers for C. fetus venerealis infection, a total of twelve cycling heifers were selected and categorised as vaccinated (n = 6) with Vibrovax® (Zoetis™) and unvaccinated (n = 6). All heifers were oestrous synchronised with a double dose of prostaglandin (PGF2α) 11 days apart and when in oestrous intravaginally challenged with 2.7 x 109 CFU live C. fetus venerealis. DNA extracted from vaginal mucus samples was screened using a C. fetus qPCR and 16S rRNA was characterised using Illumina sequencing (V5-V8 region). Relative abundances of serum proteins were calculated using sequential window acquisition of all theoretical fragment ion spectra coupled to tandem mass spectrometry (SWATH-MS) for all heifers at three timepoints: pre-challenge, post-challenge and post-recovery.ResultsIn 16S rRNA sequencing of vaginal mucus, Campylobacter spp. appeared two days following challenge in unvaccinated compared to 14 days in vaccinated animals, consistent with the qPCR results. Increased relative abundances of Firmicutes and Campylobacterota were identified after C. fetus venerealis challenge and were associated with C. fetus venerealis in vaccinated and unvaccinated heifers. Greater relative abundance of Streptococcus spp. was observed during oestrous rather than dioestrous. In both vaccinated and unvaccinated heifers, Acinetobacter spp. increased after challenge with higher abundance of Corynebacterium spp. in the vaccinated group. A total of 130 unique proteins were identified in SWATH analysis of the serum samples, and the number of differentially abundant proteins found was higher in the vaccinated group after recovery from infection compared to pre-and post-challenge (adjusted P 0.2).ConclusionCoglutinin, clusterin, HP homologs, vitamin D binding protein and fetuin B were identified as potential biomarkers for C. fetus venerealis infection and need further study to validate their efficiency as immune biomarkers for BGC.

The goal of this study is to determine the function of work engagement as a mediating factor in the relationship between job crafting, task performance, and employability in the hospitality sector. A questionnaire was applied and participants were drawn from 209 hotel employees in İstanbul, and Kocaeli, Türkiye. To test these hypotheses, structural equation modeling was implemented. The findings show that job crafting is linked to employability and task performance positively. Furthermore, this research looks into the role of work engagement as a mediator in the links between job crafting, perceived employability and task performance. The findings reveal that there are considerable indirect effects, implying that work engagement is mediated. Thus, our results suggest that job crafting was a positive predictor of perceived employability and task performance and work engagement has a mediator role between those variables in the hospitality sector.

Dear Editor, From a scientific perspective, snail mucus, or snail secretion filtrate (SSF), has emerged as a significant discovery in dermatology and regenerative medicine. Several studies on mucus composition have illuminated its features in recent years, yet much remains unexplored. High-quality snail mucus contains adequate levels of active substances (e.g., allantoin, glycolic acid, proteins, glycosaminoglycans, and polyphenols). It comprises a complex mixture of proteins, enzymes, peptides, and trace minerals produced both externally and internally, which improves skin hydration, flexibility, and smoothness. This makes it an ideal ingredient for anti-aging creams, moisturizers, and serums. The beauty and pharmaceutical industries popularize commercial SSF products due to their natural composition and scientifically proven performance as a promising dermatological treatment. These products offer synergistic therapeutic effects, including cell signaling, tissue growth, tissue repair, wound healing, hydration, anti-aging properties, and exfoliation. Read more in the PDF.

Cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) is a natural ingredient with potential therapeutic properties for addressing various skin-related problems. The study aims to identify a suitable formulation for a facial toner extract that exhibits favourable physical properties as determined by organoleptic, homogeneity, pH, and hedonic testing. The present study employed an experimental approach to produce a 70% ethanol extract of cucumber fruit through the maceration method, utilising 70% ethanol solvent. Subsequently, the extract derived from the cucumber fruit developed four formulas to prepare face toners. The concentrations of these formulas were designated as F0 (0%), FI (0.5%), F2 (1%), F3 (1.5%), and F4 (utilising brand x toner as a positive control). The physical evaluation test yielded the fulfilment of the physical criteria for the toner, encompassing the organoleptic, homogeneous, pH, and hedonic tests. The IC50 values obtained from the antioxidant activity test conducted on face toner preparations containing cucumber fruit extract at concentrations of 0.5%, 1%, and 1.5% were found to be 128 ppm, 91.017 ppm, and 62.218 ppm, respectively. The SPSS analysis reveals a significant difference in the IC50 value among the various formulas. Specifically, F3 exhibits a smaller IC50 value than the other formulas, indicating a stronger antioxidant activity. It is important to note that a smaller IC50 value indicates a stronger antioxidant activity. The study's findings suggest a positive correlation existing between the extract's concentration and its antioxidant activity, specifically, the extract denoted as F and administered at a concentration of 1.5%.

Background: Frontonasal dysplasia type-2(FND2), a rare phenotypically variable and heterogeneous developmental anomaly resulting from mutation of the ALX4 gene, is primarily characterized by malformation of the skull and facial skeleton. This study was designed to showcase a clinical, imaging, and genetic analysis of FND2 in a consanguineous family of Bangladeshi origin. Methodology: Clinical imaging and whole genome sequencing of mother, father and patient was done by using Nextera DNA flex library preparation kit (Illumina, USA) using Novaseq 6000 next generation sequencer to find out ALX4 mutation which causes FND2 in patient. Result: We report the clinical as well as molecular findings in an 8-year-old girl with FND2. The child presented with various characteristic features of skull and facial anomalies associated with FND 2 along with numerous other features many of which have not been described in previous literature. The parents also showed some key clinical, radiological, and genetic features of FND 2. The whole genome sequencing (WGS) revealed homozygosity for a 793C-T transition in the ALX4 gene, which resulted in premature termination at codon 265 (p.Arg265Ter). Both of her parents were heterozygous carriers of ALX4 mutation. Conclusions: This is the first report that associates clinical, imaging, and genomics analyses in a Bangladeshi patient for better understanding the disease FND2. These results will facilitate diagnosis and genetic counseling of the future FND2 patients.

Using auto-combustion approach, cobalt ferrite nanoparticles doped with Zn+2 with the basic chemical composition ZnxCo1-xFe2O4 (x = 0 to 1: in steps of 0.25) were prepared. Phase confirmation of the proposed samples was confirmed through XRD studies. XRD pattern of the calcined ferrites revealed single phase spinel cubic structure. At room temperature, using HIOKI LCR meter (Model no: 3520-50) the dielectric measurements in the frequency range 102 Hz–106 Hz were performed. Dielectric constant (ε′) and dielectric loss tangent (tan δ) of synthesized nano-materials were investigated as a function of frequency and Zn+2 concentration at ambient temperature and all the samples exhibited dielectric dispersion. Magnetic measurements for ZnxCo1-xFe2O4 nano-ferrites were carried out at room temperature using a vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM), and all the samples of the system CoZnFe2O4 exhibited ferromagnetic behavior.

IntroductionTransparency and traceability are essential for establishing trustworthy artificial intelligence (AI). The lack of transparency in the data preparation process is a significant obstacle in developing reliable AI systems which can lead to issues related to reproducibility, debugging AI models, bias and fairness, and compliance and regulation. We introduce a formal data preparation pipeline specification to improve upon the manual and error-prone data extraction processes used in AI and data analytics applications, with a focus on traceability.MethodsWe propose a declarative language to define the extraction of AI-ready datasets from health data adhering to a common data model, particularly those conforming to HL7 Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources (FHIR). We utilize the FHIR profiling to develop a common data model tailored to an AI use case to enable the explicit declaration of the needed information such as phenotype and AI feature definitions. In our pipeline model, we convert complex, high-dimensional electronic health records data represented with irregular time series sampling to a flat structure by defining a target population, feature groups and final datasets. Our design considers the requirements of various AI use cases from different projects which lead to implementation of many feature types exhibiting intricate temporal relations.ResultsWe implement a scalable and high-performant feature repository to execute the data preparation pipeline definitions. This software not only ensures reliable, fault-tolerant distributed processing to produce AI-ready datasets and their metadata including many statistics alongside, but also serve as a pluggable component of a decision support application based on a trained AI model during online prediction to automatically prepare feature values of individual entities. We deployed and tested the proposed methodology and the implementation in three different research projects. We present the developed FHIR profiles as a common data model, feature group definitions and feature definitions within a data preparation pipeline while training an AI model for “predicting complications after cardiac surgeries”.DiscussionThrough the implementation across various pilot use cases, it has been demonstrated that our framework possesses the necessary breadth and flexibility to define a diverse array of features, each tailored to specific temporal and contextual criteria.

In this manuscript, we delve into the realm of lattice ordered complex linear diophantine fuzzy soft set, which constitutes an invaluable extension to the existing Fuzzy set theories. Within this exploration, we investigate basic operations such as $\oplus$⊕ and $\otimes$⊗ , together with their properties and theorems. This manuscript is more amenable in two ways, i.e., it enables real-life problems involving parametrization tool and applications with an existing order between the components of the parameter set based on the preference in the complex frame of reference. Adaptive cruise control (ACC) is a system designed for maintaining distance between two vehicles and to sustain a manually provided input speed. The purpose of cars with ACC is to avoid a collision that frequently happens nowadays, thereby improving road safety regulations amidst rising collision rates. The fundamental aim of this manuscript is to prefer an applicable car with ACC together with its latest model by defining a peculiar postulation of lattice ordered complex linear diophantine fuzzy soft set $\rm ( \widehat{LOCLDFSS} )$(LOCLDFSS^) . Emphasizing real-life applicability, we illustrate the effectiveness and validity of our suggested methodology in tackling current automotive safety concerns, providing useful guidance on reducing challenges related to contemporary driving conditions.

IntroductionFabrication of plant-based metal nanoparticles has yielded promising results, establishing this approach as viable, sustainable, and non-toxic in the biomedical sector for targeted drug delivery, diagnostic imaging, biosensing, cancer therapy, and antimicrobial treatments.MethodsThe present work demonstrates the suitability of Hippophae rhamnoides berries for the instant green synthesis of silver nanoparticles to check their antioxidant, lipid peroxidation, and antimicrobial potential. The preliminary characterization of Hippophae rhamnoides-mediated AgNPs was validated by monitoring the color shift in the solution from pale yellow to reddish brown, which was further confirmed by UV–vis spectroscopy and the plasmon peaks were observed at 450 nm. Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FESEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) were used to evaluate the surface topography and structure of AgNPs. Herein, the antioxidant potential of synthesized AgNPs was investigated using DPPH free radical assay and the antimicrobial efficacy of similar was checked against E. coli and S. aureus by following MIC (minimum inhibitory concentration) and MBC (Minimum bactericidal concentration) assay. Along with the inhibitory percentage of lipid peroxidation was analysed by following TBARS (Thiobarbituric acid reactive species) assay.Results & discussionThe results revealed that the AgNPs were spherical in shape with an average size distribution within the range of 23.5–28 nm and a crystalline structure. Negative zeta potential (−19.7 mV) revealed the physical stability of synthesized AgNPs as the repulsive force to prevent immediate aggregation. The bioactive functional moieties involved in reducing bulk AgNO3 into AgNPs were further validated by FTIR. TBARS was adapted to test lipid peroxidation, and Hippophae rhamnoides-mediated AgNPs showed a 79% inhibition in lipid peroxidation compared to Hippophae rhamnoides berries extract as 65%. Furthermore, the antibacterial tests showed 37 ± 0.01 mm and 35 ± 0.0132 mm, zones of inhibition against E. coli MTCC 1698 and S. aureus MTCC 3160 with MIC and MBC values of 1 mg/mL, respectively.

PURPOSEProstate cancer has emerged as a significant public health challenge in the Middle East, characterized by rising incidence rates and a concerning mortality-to-incidence ratio. Yet, despite these alarming trends, data regarding prostate cancer awareness in the region remain limited. To address this critical knowledge gap, this study investigates prostate cancer awareness within the Middle East.MATERIALS AND METHODSA cross-sectional survey was performed among 5,913 men age 40 years and older across 14 Middle Eastern countries between January 1, 2022, and July 31, 2023. Excluding those with a history of prostate cancer, a validated questionnaire assessed prostate cancer awareness. Data were analyzed using frequencies and percentages for categorical variables, medians and ranges for continuous variables, and Pearson chi-square analysis for relationships between education levels and awareness of prostate cancer.RESULTSThe survey achieved a 74.9% response rate, with 4,431 male participants. Regarding prostate cancer awareness, 83.8% of participants had heard of the disease. However, only 31.0% correctly identified it as the most common malignancy in men, and 21.8% believed it affects both sex. Awareness of screening was limited, with just 19.1% recognizing the prostate-specific antigen test's role. Additionally, participants had a pessimistic view, with a mean perception that 75% of patients with prostate cancer die from the disease, rather than from other causes. Higher education levels were associated with significantly increased awareness of prostate cancer (P < .001).CONCLUSIONThis study reveals that while general awareness of the disease exists, crucial knowledge deficits regarding risk factors, screening, and prognosis are evident. Addressing these knowledge gaps through culturally tailored education may improve early detection rates, treatment outcomes, and ultimately reduce the burden of prostate cancer in the Middle East.

A superficial, one step thermal polycondensation method has been employed for the manifestation of graphene like graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) catalyst. The as synthesized g-C3N4 was well characterized by SEM and EDAX analysis, XRD, ATR-IR, FTIR, Fluorescence spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy and UV–Visible spectroscopy which provide structural, morphological assemblage relating to the structure of g-C3N4. The g-C3N4 showed that an outstanding photochemical stability, morphology, conductive carbon framework and superior photocatalytic activity. The band gap value of g-C3N4 is 2.34 eV determined using Tauc plot. Due to low band gap (2.33 eV) and unique morphology which provides high separation and migration ability of the photogenerated charges, the g-C3N4 shows enhanced photocatalytic activity for the removal of many organic dyes such as Rhodamine B (RhB), Crystal Violet (CV), Methylene Blue (MB), Methyl Orange (MO), Naphthol Orange (NO) and a phenol derivative, p-Nitrophenol (p-NP). Among them, RhB dye was degraded almost 81 % at 90 min under sunlight irradiation in presence g-C3N4 while other dyes and p-NP was degraded at lower rate. From the experimental data, it was found that MO and p-NP degradation rate was least. The rate constant for degradation of Rh B is 1.1 × 10−2 min−1. Therefore, g-C3N4 can be used as an efficient photocatalyst for waste water treatment by the removal of such organic pollutants.

Summary: Background: Children in low and middle-income countries remain vulnerable following hospital-discharge. We estimated the incidence and correlates of hospital readmission among young children admitted to nine hospitals in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. Methods: This was a secondary analysis of the CHAIN Network prospective cohort enrolled between 20th November 2016 and 31st January 2019. Children aged 2–23 months were eligible for enrolment, if admitted for an acute illness to one of the study hospitals. Exclusions were requiring immediate resuscitation, inability to tolerate oral feeds in their normal state of health, had suspected terminal illness, suspected chromosomal abnormality, trauma, admission for surgery, or their parent/caregiver was unwilling to participate and attend follow-up visits. Data from children discharged alive from the index admission were analysed for hospital readmission within 180-days from discharge. We examined ratios of readmission to post-discharge mortality rates. Using models with death as the competing event, we evaluated demographic, nutritional, clinical, and socioeconomic associations with readmission. Findings: Of 2874 children (1239 (43%) girls, median (IQR) age 10.8 (6.8–15.6) months), 655 readmission episodes occurred among 506 (18%) children (198 (39%) girls): 391 (14%) with one, and 115 (4%) with multiple readmissions, with a rate of: 41.0 (95% CI 38.0–44.3) readmissions/1000 child-months. Median time to readmission was 42 (IQR 15–93) days. 460/655 (70%) and 195/655 (30%) readmissions occurred at index study hospital and non-study hospitals respectively. One-third (N = 213/655, 33%) of readmissions occurred within 30 days of index discharge. Sites with fewest readmissions had the highest post-discharge mortality. Most readmissions to study hospitals (371/450, 81%) were for the same illness as the index admission. Age, prior hospitalisation, chronic conditions, illness severity, and maternal mental health score, but not sex, nutritional status, or physical access to healthcare, were associated with readmission. Interpretation: Readmissions may be appropriate and necessary to reduce post-discharge mortality in high mortality settings. Social and financial support, training on recognition of serious illness for caregivers, and improving discharge procedures, continuity of care and facilitation of readmission need to be tested in intervention studies. We propose the ratio of readmission to post-discharge mortality rates as a marker of overall post-discharge access and care. Funding: The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (OPP1131320).

This study aims to identify and analyze the psychological and behavioral impact of early adult women who are victims of gaslighting in romantic relationships. Gaslighting is a behavior carried out by a gaslighter by intimidating, lying, dominating and manipulating victims where the goal is for the victims to doubt themselves, their memories, their own thoughts, and their own sanity. This study uses a qualitative research method with a case study approach. Subjects amounted to early adult woman who was a victim of gaslighting behavior in North Sulawesi, Indonesia. The data collection method used was observation and semi-structured interviews and then the data were analyzed using the data reduction process analysis method. The results showed that the psychological impacts experienced by victims of gaslighting behavior were confusion, frustration, anxiety, stress and low self-esteem. Meanwhile, the behavioral impact experienced by victims of gaslighting behavior is the emergence of argumentative behavior, desperate to convince the gaslighter, starting to doubt their own views, having difficulty making decisions, giving in and being silent to avoid conflict, and depending on the gaslighter.

Earlier studies have demonstrated that moral values play a critical role in mobilizing against moral norm violations. Despite its importance, scientific knowledge of the concept is limited, especially in non-Western cultures. This study examined the roles of moral foundations and moral disengagement in relation to moral courage in the Turkish cultural context. 658 adults (410 females, 248 males; Mage = 23, SDage = 9.12) participated in the current study through an online survey. Participants filled out Moral Disengagement Scale (Bandura et al., 1996), Moral Foundations Scale (Graham et al., 2011), and Moral Courage Scale (Bronstein et al., 2007). Results indicated that individualizing moral foundations had a direct and positive association with moral courage; they were also related to moral courage indirectly through decreasing moral disengagement. Binding moral foundations, on the other hand, directly and negatively associated with moral courage, but had no indirect role through moral disengagement. Moreover, exploratory analyses revealed that females tended to be more sensitive to moral issues, were less likely to disengage from moral principles, and were more likely to raise their voices against moral norm violations. Findings showed that moral engagement is a substantial part of intentions to stand up against moral norm violations.

Burkholderia is a genus consisting of several species including the Burkholderia pseudomallei group, Burkholderia cepacia complex and other phytopathogens. Burkholderia species is a gram-negative bacillus with protean presentation that can be acquired from various sources, including water, soil, plant surfaces, and hospital environments. The organism on Gram staining is seen as gram-negative rod and on culture, the colonies are non-lactose fermenting. As it can mimic other diseases, it is frequently misdiagnosed and there is lack of awareness about the clinical spectrum of disease and diagnosis. This study aims to investigate varied clinical manifestations, identify potential risk factors and transmission modes and contribute to enhancing the clinical management of diseases. The increasing prevalence of Burkholderia infection implies its potential emergence as a significant public health concern, compounded by the growing incidence of diabetes, which has the potential to escalate the overall disease burden.The principal finding of the case series highlighted a spectrum of clinical presentations, emphasizing the need for comprehensive diagnostic strategies and tailored therapeutic interventions. These strategies will address the diverse manifestations and challenges posed by Burkholderia infections.This underscores the importance of heightened awareness among clinicians and microbiologists, given the need for extended treatment to achieve a complete cure and prevent potential relapses.

The wide use of sensors in healthcare applications has made it necessary to have secure communication in healthcare Internet of Things (IoT) networks. The sensor data is sensitive, and can contain extremely confidential information such as medical diagnosis, clinical records, vital signs and health data of patients. The emergence of blockchain as a technology ensures consensus and trust among systems, and is now considered to be a new trend used to achieve high scalability, data integrity and privacy. Federated learning is a new technology based on distributed learning that exploits the concept of trust. In federated learning, each user builds an individual distributed model to help a central server that is accessible only to a trusted user group. This paper harnesses the potential of these approaches and proposes an attack detection model to discern normal user behaviours from that of adversaries in an IoT network. This model is called the Blockchain enabled Federated Learning model for secured communication in healthcare IoT (BFL-hIoT), to secure data in healthcare IoT networks. This model is trained and tested on a standard dataset and demonstrates the highest classification accuracy of 97.16 % for normal, 0.9546 for backdoors, 0.9618 for XSS etc., outperforming other blockchain and deep learning models.

Study region: Target area of this study are the main agricultural production zones of Austria. Most important croplands cover the flat to pre-alpine areas concentrated in the north, east, and southeast of Austria. Study focus: The novelty of our study is the spatiotemporal assessment of rainfall characteristics that drive erosivity at the event level as well as the identification of erosive rainfall distribution patterns within the events. Our assessment approach allows the definition of both typical and extreme erosivity. Long-term and high temporal resolution rainfall datasets were used to apply a clustering approach, seasonal and spatial analyses, and rainfall distributions assessment (isopleths) of the identified rainfall types (clusters). New hydrological insights for the region: Three dominant erosive event-types (clusters) were identified that strongly relate with Austria’s seasonality and complex topography. The most erosive rainfall events (cluster C1) are characterized by a high intensity and short duration. C1 events have the largest occurrence frequency in pre-alpine southern Austria and occur from May to September. Unlike the less erosive and more evenly distributed event types (C2 and C3) the highly erosive C1 events have a pronounced maximum rainfall intensity at the onset of the event.

Skin and soft tissue infections (SSTIs) result from microbial invasion and may be mono or polymicrobial in etiology. The present retrospective record-based study described five uncommon SSTIs from a medical college hospital of West Bengal. Clinical samples were collected and processed following standard microbiological procedures and guidelines. Identification and antimicrobial susceptibility testing of etiological agents, wherever applicable, were done by conventional and automated (Vitek-2 Compact) system. We found a case of spontaneous gas gangrene caused by Clostridium septicum, Group-A â-hemolytic Streptococcus mediated necrotizing fasciitis; lesions of Burkholderia pseudomallei and Burkholderia cepacia complex and that of disseminated rhinosporidiosis caused by Rhinosporidium seeberi. We infer that strong clinical suspicion may surface uncommon etiology from unusual presentations of SSTIs making their diagnosis, treatment and relief rapid and uneventful.