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Globally, large numbers of adults remain unbanked, and most of them live in rural areas of the Third World. The recent outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has shown us how inequalities in accessing financial services continue to affect us. However, digital financial inclusion has emerged as an effective tool used to tackle socioeconomic ills and drive economic development. In fact, due to these modern technological developments, the number of studies in this area is very limited, especially in the context of developing economies. This study examines the impacts of migrant remittances on digital financial inclusion within households in Bangladesh by using the Migration and Remittance Household Survey. To meet the research objectives of this study, a household survey was conducted and 2165 households interviewed in 2022–2023 in Bangladesh. The survey data collected was tested using univariate and multivariate estimations. This study finds that the coefficient of remittance has positive relationships with the probability of e-bank accounts and the use of mobile banking for a household’s financial transactions. However, the use of ATM cards by households for financial transactions has not been significantly affected. The article concludes that remittance flows may enhance access to and use of means of digital financial inclusion by reducing some of the barriers and costs in Bangladesh, which could greatly contribute to the country’s economic growth by creating and increasing a strong fund for investment. The findings of this study can help in taking various steps to facilitate the most powerful financial sector of Bangladesh, namely, remittance management.

Although Bangladesh is a constitutionally Islamic country, some brothels are regulated by state law. But these brothels are located in the suburbs, and there were legal brothels around the capital, which no longer exist. Thus, prostitution is observed in a variety of ways, including in residential hotels, resorts, homes, and open spaces. As prostitution and trafficking are inseparable, this paper adopts a quantitative approach to measure the socioeconomic variables associated with prostitution and trafficking in children in the capital city of Dhaka, Bangladesh. The data for this study were collected from 385 respondents, and the questionnaire format was open-ended. The proposed conceptual model is presented in a way that includes sociocultural and economic factors influencing prostitution. To examine the model, a three-level research design was applied. The sociodemographic data of the respondents were collected and analyzed in this study. This study finds that the significant economic factors are poverty and lack of employment opportunities. Moreover, sociocultural variables are closely associated with rape, harassment, divorce, insufficient support from household members, living in vulnerable conditions, social instability, lifestyle, and gender violence. These findings emphasize the need to implement existing anti-trafficking laws and raise awareness of children in Bangladesh to stop child trafficking for sex work.

Abstract This paper presents a study on the bond characteristics of glass fiber reinforced polymer (GFRP) bars in engineered cementitious composite (ECC). Ninety beam specimens having variable parameters namely bar diameter, GFRP bar types (standard low modulus ‘LM’ and high modulus ‘HM’), two concrete types (ECC and normal concrete ‘NC’) and embedded length (5, 7 and 10 times bar diameter) were tested as per RILEM specifications. Bond stress–slip characteristics and failure modes of specimens as well as influence of variable parameters on bond strength are described. The performance of various Codes and other existing equations in predicting bond strength of both low/high modulus GFRP bars embedded in ECC compared to NC is described based on experimental results. The bond strength decreased with the increase of embedment length—maximum bond strength reduction of 36% was observed. For both ECC and NC, bond strength reduced with the increase of bar size and ECC produced maximum 1.6 times higher bond strength compared to NC. Code based and other existing equations were found conservative in predicting bond strength of GFRP bars embedded in ECC.

Sonneratia apetala, a nutrient-rich mangrove fruit, presents an opportunity for innovative food product development, offering potential health benefits and economic value through the creation of jam, jelly, and pickle. This innovative invention reveals the nutritional content including vitamins and minerals of Sonneratia apetala jam, jelly, and pickles from Nijhum Dwip in Hatiya Upazila, Noakhali District. These products contain Na, Mg, K, Ca, Mn, Fe, Cu, and Zn, which are essential for human nutrition. The texture and sensory qualities of the products depend on their Total Soluble Solids (TSS), acidity, moisture, pH, and total sugar content, with each parameter receiving an average score of 7 to 8 out of 9 (hedonic scale). Trace amounts of Cd, Cr, Pb, and Hg were found to be significantly below the safe consumption limits. F-, Cl-, SO42-, soluble and total PO43- concentrations were also below safety thresholds. The moisture, ash, protein, fat, fiber, pectin, sugar, carbohydrate, and caloric values highlight the dietary benefits and energy content of these products. The products exhibited higher levels of vitamin C and minerals compared to other citrus fruits. All tested parameters met safe consumption standards, ensuring product safety. These products underwent testing for Heterotrophic Bacterial Count to guarantee their safety. A one-year shelf life is ensured by conducting quarterly storage data checks and organoleptic tests by a 10-member jury panel. The one-way ANOVA test for sensory analysis and shelf life detection indicates statistically significant results. These products help mitigate nutrient deficiencies and promote health by regulating the diet. Applying this technology in grassroots jam, jelly, and pickle production could potentially boost the local economy by approximately $10,000 annually through the creation of small industries among the coastal population., Competing Interests: The authors declare no competing interests., (Copyright: © 2024 Uddin et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)

Background: Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and sexually transmitted infections (STIs) can cause severe and fatal complications; knowledge about these diseases is essential for promoting safe sex practices and modifying behaviours that are harmful to one's health. This study investigates Syrian people's understanding, attitudes, and behaviors towards HIV/AIDS and STIs, aiming to identify factors promoting safe sex practices and modifying harmful behaviors., Methods: This online cross-sectional study was conducted in Syria between 3 September and 23 November 2022, involving all 18+ individuals. The questionnaire was adapted from a previous study containing 74 questions from five sections: socio-demographic information, knowledge and practice regarding STIs, knowledge and practice regarding HIV/AIDS, attitude towards HIV/AIDS, and attitude regarding STIs and analyzed using descriptive and multivariate logistic regression., Results: The study involved 1073 participants mostly aged between 18-30, with 55.3% females. Over half had good awareness of STIs and HIV/AIDS, with 55% and 63% respectively. Specifically, the overall knowledge level of STI type, signs/symptoms, risks of transmission, preventive methods, and complications for untreated STIs were (45.7%), (52.9%), (58.1%), (66.1%), and (59.6%), respectively. Medical field respondents had higher knowledge of HIV (P-value < 0.05, OR = 2)., Conclusion: Our results show that Syrian people have a knowledge level of STIs and HIV was moderate. However, the attitude toward STIs was negative, as less than half of the participants had a good attitude. It is essential to solve these knowledge gaps, especially in low-income countries such as Syria.

Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) is a prevalent metabolic and hormonal disorder affecting women of reproductive age. Limited data exists on Syrian women's PCOS awareness and health behaviors. This study aimed to gauge PCOS prevalence, knowledge, awareness, and health-related practices among Syrian women. A cross-sectional online survey was conducted from 11 February to 27 October 2022, targeting Syrian women aged 18-45. Collaborators from specific medical universities distributed a questionnaire adapted from a Malaysian paper through social media platforms. Out of 1840 surveyed Syrian women, 64.2% were aged 21-29, and 69.6% held bachelor's degrees. Those with a bachelor's degree exhibited the highest mean knowledge score (12.86), and women previously diagnosed with PCOS had a higher mean knowledge score (13.74) than those without. Approximately 27.4% were confirmed PCOS cases, and 38.9% had possible cases. Women with PCOS were 3.41 times more likely to possess knowledge about the condition. The findings suggest a moderate level of PCOS knowledge and health-related practices among Syrian women, emphasizing the need for increased awareness. Consistent local PCOS screening programs, in collaboration with obstetrics and gynecology professionals, are crucial for improving understanding and clinical symptom recognition of this condition among Syrian women.

To assess the sources, levels, spatial distributions and exposure to human health, the concentration of heavy metals Pb, Cu, Mn, Zn, and Fe in the sand/sediment of the Parki Beach area of Anowara, Chattogram, Bangladesh are determined using Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy (AAS) for the first time. A total of 40 surface and subsurface sand and sediment samples were collected from 20 different sampling points along the 15 km long Parki Beach area, Bangladesh. Average concentrations of Pb, Cu, Mn, Zn and Fe in surface samples are 14.60, 10.10, 283, 407 and 25,256 mg/kg respectively and 9.95, 4.20, 193, 156.6 and 24,404 mg/kg for sub-surface samples, respectively, which shows that the values are higher in surface samples than those in sub-surface samples. According to the Consensus-Based Sediment Quality Guidelines (CBSQG), the northern part of the beach becomes moderately polluted by Mn and Fe, and a smaller area of the southern part is highly polluted by Zn. The average Contamination Factor (CF) of Zn was greater than 1(CF > 1), while the CF of other metals was less than 1(CF < 1). CF of Zn in some sampling points was exceptionally high. Geo-accumulation Index (I geo ) also shows that Zn slightly pollutes some sampling points. The enrichment Factor (EF) of Fe and Mn in samples in the northern part of the study area is quite high and the study reveals that high values of Fe and Mn are mainly derived from geogenic sources. Ecological risk factor (Er) indicates low ecological risk for all sampling points. The Pollution Load Index (PLI) was measured at all sampling stations, and the results showed that the overall level of heavy metal pollution is low. The health quotient (HQ), health index (HI), total health index (THI) and incremental life time cancer risk (ILCR values suggest that adults are safe from any health risk while children may experience non carcinogenic health risk due to the combined effect of the metals. Reduction of heavy metal in the beach is possible with the adaptation of multiple strategies. This data can be used by policymakers to develop strategies to reduce the potential impacts of soil contamination on the environment and public health., Competing Interests: Ethical responsibilities of authors and consent to participate: All authors have read, understood, and have complied as applicable with the statement on "Ethical responsibilities of Authors" as found in the Instructions for Authors. Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.)

In clinical settings, standard dosimeters might miss radiation mishaps. Retrospective dosimeters could help to track personnel (such as patients and other staff who don't wear dosimeters) exceeding safe limits and assess long-term exposure trends. This study has investigated key thermoluminescence (TL) dosimetric characteristics, including the glow curve structure, dose-response, energy dependence, sensitivity and fading of various safety glasses that are used as screen protectors of smartphones subjected to photon irradiation. Among the studied glasses, the HD Anti-Peep safety glass for iPhone has been found to exhibit a linear dose-response with a regression coefficient of 99% within the dose range of 2-10 Gy. Moreover, all the safety glasses showed independence with respect to photon energy of 6 MV and 10 MV. The TL glow curves of the samples showed a broad glow peak between 125 °C and 325 °C at 10 Gy. The TL kinetic parameters of the safety glasses were also studied by analyzing the glow curves using the peak shape and initial rise method. The geometric factor (μ g ) is found to be within the range of 0.43-0.53, which indicates the suitability of applying Chen's general-order formula to calculate the kinetic parameters such as activation energy, frequency factor and trap lifetime. The activation energy (E) and frequency factor (s) are found in the range of 0.31-0.54 eV and 4.55 × 10 3 to 2.12 × 10 6 s -1 respectively obtained via the peak shape method. The relatively long trap lifetime and observed thermoluminescence features indicate that the HD Anti-Peep safety glass offers a better option to estimate dose retrospectively to ensure the safety of human health., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

One of the most well-liked energizing drinks is now tea, which is primarily used in Malaysia. The natural radioactivity in the associated soils where tea plants are cultivated plays a major role in determining the presence of radionuclides in tea leaves. The present study assesses the transfer of radionuclides from soil-to-tea leaves and then estimates the committed effective doses through tea consumption. Tea leaves and the associated soils were obtained from the largest tea plantation area, which is located in the Cameron Highlands, Malaysia. The marketed tea leaves in powdered form were obtained from the supermarkets in Kuala Lumpur. HPGe gamma-ray spectrometry was used to determine the prevailing concentrations of long-lived radioactive materials in tea leaves. Activity concentrations of 226 Ra, 232 Th, and 40 K in tea soils ranged from 49 to 101.7 Bq kg -1 , 74.5-124.1 Bq kg -1 and 79.6-423.2 Bq kg -1 , respectively, while the respective values in tea leaves are 14.4-23.8 Bq kg -1 , 12.9-29.5 Bq kg -1 and 297-387.5 Bq kg -1 . Transfer factors of radionuclides showed typical values (<1.0) except for the 40 K. The threshold tea consumption rates suggest that one should not consume more than 67 g of tea leaves per day (around 4 g of tea leaves are needed for making 1 cup of tea, so 17 cups per day) to avoid negative health effects. Committed effective doses due to tea consumption are found to be lower (5.18-6.08 μSv y -1 ) than the United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation (2000) reference dose guidance limit of 290 μSv y -1 for foodstuffs; however, it should be noted that the guidance limit is recommended for all foodstuffs collectively. Providing data on natural radioactivity in tea leaves grown in Malaysia, this study may help people manage a healthy lifestyle., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Background: Nuclear medicine diagnostic and treatment procedures represent significant sources of ionizing radiation exposure for both staff and patients. Consequently, assessing and optimizing radiation doses are crucial to minimize potential side effects., Aim: This study seeks to evaluate the effective radiation doses associated with common diagnostic and treatment procedures, as well as propose diagnostic reference levels (DRLs), within two nuclear medicine centers in Madinah, Saudi Arabia., Methodology: Data from 445 patients were gathered from two nuclear medicine centers in the Madinah region of Saudi Arabia. The data were categorized based on the type of nuclear medicine (NM) procedure, the chemical composition of the administered radiopharmaceutical, as well as patient age and weight. Effective radiation doses for prevalent NM procedures were computed, and suggested DRLs were formulated., Results: Effective radiation doses were analyzed for 16 adult and 2 pediatric NM procedures (divided into 8 groups). The effective radiation doses for adult diagnostic nuclear medicine procedures range from 0.05 mSv (Nanocoloid) to 29 mSv (67Ga-citrate). For pediatric procedures, the doses range from 0.80 mSv (5-year-old undergoing renal DTPA) to 1.6 mSv (1-year-old undergoing renal DMSA). Furthermore, DRL values were determined for both adult and pediatric NM procedures. The study's findings demonstrated a high degree of concordance between effective radiation doses and DRL values, aligning well with previously published research., Conclusion: While the effective radiation doses outlined in this study were generally within acceptable limits and consistent with prior research findings, optimizing radiation doses remains imperative, particularly for pediatric NM procedures., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

This study investigates the uptake of naturally occurring radionuclides ( 226 Ra, 232 Th, and 40 K) from soil by rice plants in extensively cultivated regions in Bangladesh. It also evaluates the potential radiation risks associated with rice consumption by the Bangladeshi populace. High purity germanium (HPGe) gamma-ray spectrometry was employed to measure the concentrations of radionuclides in both soil and rice samples. For 40 K, our results agree with the International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA) published value; however, the transfer factors (TF) for the other two radionuclides differ considerably. Despite the fact that the IAEA based its publication of TFs for 226 Ra and 232 Th on clay soil, the majority of the soil profile in the present study was silty clay with a little alkalinity. Moreover, the data obtained may have been impacted by the growing seasons, cultivation methods, and soil fertility. Additionally, the annual effective dose due to the ingestion of radioactivity resulting from rice consumption was evaluated and the results agree with UNSCEAR (United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation), 2000. With a few exceptions, the excess lifetime cancer risk (ELCR) values for 226 Ra, 232 Th, and 40 K were below the globally average permissible level (1 × 10 -3 ). In light of this, the current study indicates that consuming rice does not pose an immediate health risk to the general public. By studying TFs among various rice varieties and geographical areas, scientists can develop models to forecast the possible radiation exposure from rice consumption and pinpoint activities or areas that require additional attention., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (© 2024 The Authors.)

Background: Radiation is an integral part of routine medical practice, but it carries a risk to the health of medical staff. Hence, it should be assessed periodically. The study's goal was to quantify the levels of radiation exposure for medical staff at King Faisal Medical Complex (KFMC), Taif City Saudi Arabia, and to assess their radiation protective procedures in practice., Methods: The study looked at the thermoluminescence dosimeters (TLDs) records of 50 medical professionals who were exposed to radiation while working at KFMC from 2019 to 2020 in Taif city, Saudi Arabia. In Riyadh, radiation exposure is read from skin TLDs using Harshaw model 6600 plus detectors. The Excel software was utilized to process the obtained data for calculating effective doses. A questionnaire was also distributed to the medical staff to assess their radiation protection procedures. The Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) program version 23 was used to analyze the obtained data., Results: The mean annual effective doses of the medical staff in 2019 and 2020 were determined to be 1.14 mSv and 1.4645 mSv, respectively, with no significant difference in effective doses between males and females in either year. The socio-demographic features of the medical personnel were examined, and the findings revealed that the majority of participants were male radiological technologists. The rate of adherence to radiation protection techniques was 68%, with a normally distributed dispersal. The amount of adherence varied significantly depending on nationality, occupation, and academic qualification., Conclusion: According to the research, the mean annual effective dosage for medical professionals at KFMC was significantly below the recommended level, indicating satisfactory compliance with the ALARA radiation safety concept., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Perovskite solar cells (PSCs) hold potential for low-cost, high-efficiency solar energy, but their sensitivity to moisture limits practical application. Current fabrication requires controlled environments, limiting mass production. Researchers aim to develop stable PSCs with longer lifetimes under ambient conditions. In this research work, we investigated the stability of perovskite films and solar cells fabricated and annealed in natural air using four different anti-solvents: toluene, ethyl acetate, diethyl ether, and chlorobenzene. Films (about 300 nm thick) were deposited via single-step spin-coating and subjected to ambient air-atmosphere for up to 30 days. We monitored changes in crystallinity, electrical properties, and optics over time. Results showed a gradual degradation in the films' crystallinity, morphology, and electro-optical properties. Notably, films made with ethyl acetate exhibited superior stability compared to other solvents. These findings contribute to advancing stable and high-performance PSCs manufactured under normal ambient conditions. In addition, we also discuss the possible machine learning (ML) approach to our future work direction to optimize the materials structures, and synthesis process parameters for future high-efficient perovskite solar cells fabrication., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

This work builds upon a prior study, examining the dosimetric utility of pencil lead and thin graphitic sheets, focusing upon the measurement of skin doses within the mammographic regime. In recognizing the near soft-tissue equivalence of graphite and the earlier-observed favourable thermoluminescence yield of thin sheets of graphite, this has led to present study of 50 μm thick graphite for parameters typical of external beam fractionated radiotherapy and skin dose evaluations. The graphite layers were annealed and then stacked to form an assembly of 0.5 mm nominal thickness. Using a 6 MV photon beam and delivering doses from 2- to 60 Gy, irradiations were conducted, the assembly first forming a superficial layer to a solid water phantom and subsequently underlying a 1.5 cm bolus, seeking to circumvent the build-up to electronic equilibrium for skin treatments. Investigations were made of several dosimetric properties arising from the thermoluminescence yield of the 50 μm thick graphite slabs, in particular proportionality and sensitivity to dose. The results show excellent sensitivity within the dose range of interest, the thermoluminescence response varying with increasing depth through the stacked graphite layers, obtaining a coefficient of determination of 90%. Acknowledging there to be considerable challenge in accurately matching skin thickness with dose, the graphite sheets have nevertheless shown considerable promise as dosimeters of skin, sensitive in determination of dose from the surface of the graphite through to sub-dermal depth thicknesses., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest We have no conflicts of interest to report., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Purpose: In pediatric medicine, precise estimation of bone age is essential for skeletal maturity evaluation, growth disorder diagnosis, and therapeutic intervention planning. Conventional techniques for determining bone age depend on radiologists' subjective judgments, which may lead to non-negligible differences in the estimated bone age. This study proposes a deep learning-based model utilizing a fully connected convolutional neural network(CNN) to predict bone age from left-hand radiographs., Methods: The data set used in this study, consisting of 473 patients, was retrospectively retrieved from the PACS (Picture Achieving and Communication System) of a single institution. We developed a fully connected CNN consisting of four convolutional blocks, three fully connected layers, and a single neuron as output. The model was trained and validated on 80% of the data using the mean-squared error as a cost function to minimize the difference between the predicted and reference bone age values through the Adam optimization algorithm. Data augmentation was applied to the training and validation sets yielded in doubling the data samples. The performance of the trained model was evaluated on a test data set (20%) using various metrics including, the mean absolute error (MAE), median absolute error (MedAE), root-mean-squared error (RMSE), and mean absolute percentage error (MAPE). The code of the developed model for predicting the bone age in this study is available publicly on GitHub at https://github.com/afiosman/deep-learning-based-bone-age-estimation ., Results: Experimental results demonstrate the sound capabilities of our model in predicting the bone age on the left-hand radiographs as in the majority of the cases, the predicted bone ages and reference bone ages are nearly close to each other with a calculated MAE of 2.3 [1.9, 2.7; 0.95 confidence level] years, MedAE of 2.1 years, RMAE of 3.0 [1.5, 4.5; 0.95 confidence level] years, and MAPE of 0.29 (29%) on the test data set., Conclusion: These findings highlight the usability of estimating the bone age from left-hand radiographs, helping radiologists to verify their own results considering the margin of error on the model. The performance of our proposed model could be improved with additional refining and validation., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Here we report the synthesis of Sm-doped Na 0.5 Bi 4.5 Ti 4 O 15 (Na 0.5 Sm 0.5 Bi 4 Ti 4 O 15 ) lead-free ceramics via a conventional solid-state technique. Investigations of Na 0.5 Bi 4.5 Ti 4 O 15 (NBT) and Na 0.5 Sm 0.5 Bi 4.5 Ti 4 O 15 (NSBT) ceramics were demonstrated in detail to understand the composition-based structure-property of Aurivillius compounds and related functional material. Dielectric properties for frequency and temperature in a wide range were analyzed. The conduction activation energy values of NSBT ceramics are obtained to be 1.40 eV, whereas, the NBT ceramics get the value to be 1.31 eV. At higher temperatures, the conduction activation energy value of NSBT ceramics is 1.32 eV for both frequencies of 100 Hz and 1 kHz, whereas, for NBT compounds, the calculated value is 1.27 eV for both frequencies. The simulation performed on the impedance data for capacitive and resistance elements shows well-fitting curves which indicates a single relaxation behavior in the material. Similarly, the AC -conductivity data were analyzed which gives different conduction processes and relaxation activation energies in the NSBT ceramics., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (© 2024 The Authors.)

In the delta region of Bangladesh, Sonneratia apetala , also known as Keora and mangrove apple, is widely recognized for its dual role as a source of both food and medicine. Seasonal S. apetala fruits were gathered from Hatiya, Noakhali, in October 2021. The samples were segregated into pericarps and seeds, then fractionated into methanol segments. The anti-proliferative activities of these samples against lung A549 cells were evaluated using the Trypan blue exclusion method. Additionally, High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) was employed to quantify phenolic compounds, while standard protocols facilitated the identification of specific phytochemical constituents. Chemical profiling via Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) and the isolation and detection of bioactive compounds through column chromatography and Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) analysis were undertaken. The methanol fractions of the seeds and pericarp were found to contain carbohydrates, tannins, flavonoids, steroids, alkaloids, glycosides, and terpenoids, with the absence of saponins and anthraquinones. Notably, the anti-proliferative effect demonstrated statistical significance at a concentration of 300 μg/mL for both extracts. Furthermore, HPLC analysis identified and quantified six polyphenols: catechin hydrate, (-)-epicatechin, rutin hydrate, trans -ferulic acid, trans -cinnamic acid, myricetin, and kaempferol, with the following concentrations: 46.65 and 12.72; 349.29 and 140.39; 5.26 and 33.06; 10.35 and 29.28; ND and 11.93; and 10.03 and 7.90 mg/100 g in the methanol fraction of the seed and pericarp, respectively. GC-MS analysis of S. apetala fruit revealed five notable compounds with significant peak areas (%): 2-methyltetracosane, tetratetracontane, heptacosane, 1-chloro-2-hexyl-1-octanol, and phenol, 3,5-bis(1,1-dimethylethyl), exhibiting peak areas of 43.96, 35.8, and 15.95, respectively. Meanwhile, the notable peak in S. apetala seeds was 1,3-benzenedicarboxylic acid, bis(2-ethylhexyl) ester, with a peak area (%) of 100. These compounds are known for their anticancer and antioxidant properties. Therefore , S. apetala , particularly its seeds and fruits, shows promising potential for development into dietary supplements and functional foods., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (© 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

Among many types of cancers, to date, lung cancer remains one of the deadliest cancers around the world. Many researchers, scientists, doctors, and people from other fields continuously contribute to this subject regarding early prediction and diagnosis. One of the significant problems in prediction is the black-box nature of machine learning models. Though the detection rate is comparatively satisfactory, people have yet to learn how a model came to that decision, causing trust issues among patients and healthcare workers. This work uses multiple machine learning models on a numerical dataset of lung cancer-relevant parameters and compares performance and accuracy. After comparison, each model has been explained using different methods. The main contribution of this research is to give logical explanations of why the model reached a particular decision to achieve trust. This research has also been compared with a previous study that worked with a similar dataset and took expert opinions regarding their proposed model. We also showed that our research achieved better results than their proposed model and specialist opinion using hyperparameter tuning, having an improved accuracy of almost 100% in all four models., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist., (Copyright: © 2024 Pathan et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)

The intriguing optoelectronic properties, diverse applications, and facile fabrication techniques of perovskite materials have garnered substantial research interest worldwide. Their outstanding performance in solar cell applications and excellent efficiency at the lab scale have already been proven. However, owing to their low stability, the widespread manufacturing of perovskite solar cells (PSCs) for commercialization is still far off. Several instability factors of PSCs, including the intrinsic and extrinsic instability of perovskite materials, have already been identified, and a variety of approaches have been adopted to improve the material quality, stability, and efficiency of PSCs. In this review, we have comprehensively presented the significance of band gap tuning in achieving both high-performance and high-stability PSCs in the presence of various degradation factors. By investigating the mechanisms of band gap engineering, we have highlighted its pivotal role in optimizing PSCs for improved efficiency and resilience., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry.)

Automated epileptic seizure detection from ectroencephalogram (EEG) signals has attracted significant attention in the recent health informatics field. The serious brain condition known as epilepsy, which is characterized by recurrent seizures, is typically described as a sudden change in behavior caused by a momentary shift in the excessive electrical discharges in a group of brain cells, and EEG signal is primarily used in most cases to identify seizure to revitalize the close loop brain. The development of various deep learning (DL) algorithms for epileptic seizure diagnosis has been driven by the EEG's non-invasiveness and capacity to provide repetitive patterns of seizure-related electrophysiological information. Existing DL models, especially in clinical contexts where irregular and unordered structures of physiological recordings make it difficult to think of them as a matrix; this has been a key disadvantage to producing a consistent and appropriate diagnosis outcome due to EEG's low amplitude and nonstationary nature. Graph neural networks have drawn significant improvement by exploiting implicit information that is present in a brain anatomical system, whereas inter-acting nodes are connected by edges whose weights can be determined by either temporal associations or anatomical connections. Considering all these aspects, a novel hybrid framework is proposed for epileptic seizure detection by combined with a sequential graph convolutional network (SGCN) and deep recurrent neural network (DeepRNN). Here, DepRNN is developed by fusing a gated recurrent unit (GRU) with a traditional RNN; its key benefit is that it solves the vanishing gradient problem and achieve this hybrid framework greater sophistication. The line length feature, auto-covariance, auto-correlation, and periodogram are applied as a feature from the raw EEG signal and then grouped the resulting matrix into time-frequency domain as inputs for the SGCN to use for seizure classification. This model extracts both spatial and temporal information, resulting in improved accuracy, precision, and recall for seizure detection. Extensive experiments conducted on the CHB-MIT and TUH datasets showed that the SGCN-DeepRNN model outperforms other deep learning models for seizure detection, achieving an accuracy of 99.007%, with high sensitivity and specificity., Competing Interests: The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article., (© The Author(s) 2024.)

Coastal Mangroves are facing growing threats due to the harmful consequences of human activities. This first-ever detailed study of natural radioactivity in soil samples collected from seven tourist destinations within the Sundarbans, the world's largest mangrove forest, was conducted using HPGe gamma-ray spectrometry. Although the activity levels of 226 Ra (11 ± 1-44 ± 4 Bq/kg) and 232 Th (13 ± 1-68 ± 6 Bq/kg) generally align with global averages, the concentration of 40 K (250 ± 20-630 ± 55 Bq/kg) was observed to surpass the worldwide average primarily due to factors like salinity intrusion, fertilizer application, agricultural runoff, which suggests the potential existence of potassium-rich mineral resources near the study sites. The assessment of the hazard parameters indicates that the majority of these parameters are within the recommended limits. The soil samples do not pose a significant radiological risk to the nearby population. The results of this study can establish important radiological baseline data before the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant begins operating in Bangladesh., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

In this study, activity concentrations of natural radionuclides in 28 raw milk samples collected from different dairy farms in Dhaka city of Bangladesh were measured using a high-purity germanium (HPGe) detector for the first time. The activity concentration of 226 Ra, 232 Th, and 40 K in the investigated fresh milk samples ranged from BDL (Below detection level) to 26 ± 1.6 Bq/kg, BDL to 11.7 ± 3.3 Bq/kg and 101 ± 17 to 384 ± 32 Bq/kg, respectively. No artificial radionuclides were found in the investigated samples. Present results show inline within the range of available data in the literature. Annual committed effective doses were estimated following the consumption characteristics of raw milk by city population, values are found within the limiting range recommended by international organizations due to consumption of foodstuffs. Additionally, real-time gamma-ray dose rate in the farms/sampling locations was found in the range of 0.12 ± 0.01-0.20 ± 0.01 μSv/h by using a digital gamma survey meter (Gamma Scout) and the calculated maximum annual effective dose due to outdoor absorbed dose was found to be 0.25 mSv/y, which shows lower than the United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR) recommended limit of 2.4 mSv/y. This study indicates that the concentration of radionuclides in the farm fresh milk of Dhaka city does not pose any unwanted risk to public health, and it is safe to consume by both children and adults with the current intake level., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (© 2024 The Authors.)

Electron cyclotron resonance heating method of Particle-in-Cell code was used to analyze heating phenomena, axial kinetic energy, and self-consistent electric field of confined electron plasma in ELTRAP device by hydrogen and helium background gases. The electromagnetic simulations were performed at a constant power of 3.8 V for different RF drives (0.5 GHz- 8 GHz), as well as for 1 GHz constant frequency at these varying amplitudes (1 V-3.8 V). The impacts of axial and radial temperatures were found maximum at 1.8 V and 5 GHz as compared to other amplitudes and frequencies for both background gases. These effects are higher at varying radio frequencies due to more ionization and secondary electrons production and maximum recorded radial temperature for hydrogen background gas was 170.41 eV. The axial kinetic energy impacts were found more effective in the outer radial part (between 0.03 and 0.04 meters) of the ELTRAP device due to applied VRF through C8 electrode. The self-consistent electric field was found higher for helium background gas at 5 GHz RF than other amplitudes and radio frequencies. The excitation and ionization rates were found to be higher along the radial direction (r-axis) than the axial direction (z-axis) in helium background gas as compared to hydrogen background gas. The current studies are advantageous for nuclear physics applications, beam physics, microelectronics, coherent radiation devices and also in magnetrons., Competing Interests: The authors have declared no competing interests, (Copyright: © 2024 Khan et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)

Saltwater intrusion in the coastal areas of Bangladesh is a prevalent phenomenon. However, it is not conducive to activities such as irrigation, navigation, fish spawning and shelter, and industrial usage. The present study analyzed 45 water samples collected from 15 locations in coastal areas during three seasons: monsoon, pre-monsoon, and post-monsoon. The aim was to comprehend the seasonal variation in physicochemical parameters, including water temperature, pH, electrical conductivity (EC), salinity, total dissolved solids (TDS), hardness, and concentrations of Na+, K+, Mg2+, Ca2+, Fe2+, HCO3-, PO43-, SO42-, and Cl-. Additionally, parameters essential for agriculture, such as soluble sodium percentage (SSP), sodium absorption ratio (SAR), magnesium absorption ratio (MAR), residual sodium carbonate (RSC), Kelly's ratio (KR), and permeability index (PI), were examined. Their respective values were found to be 63%, 16.83 mg/L, 34.92 mg/L, 145.44 mg/L, 1.28 mg/L, and 89.29%. The integrated water quality index was determined using entropy theory and principal component analysis (PCA). The resulting entropy water quality index (EWQI) and SAR of 49.56% and 63%, respectively, indicated that the samples are suitable for drinking but unsuitable for irrigation. These findings can assist policymakers in implementing the Bangladesh Deltaplan-2100, focusing on sustainable land management, fish cultivation, agricultural production, environmental preservation, water resource management, and environmental protection in the deltaic areas of Bangladesh. This research contributes to a deeper understanding of seasonal variations in the hydrochemistry and water quality of coastal rivers, aiding in the comprehension of salinity intrusion origins, mechanisms, and causes., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist., (Copyright: © 2024 Uddin et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)

The structural and electronic properties of ReS 2 different forms - three-dimensional bulk and two-dimensional monolayer - were studied within density functional theory and pseudopotentials. A method for standardizing the description of bulk unit cells and "artificial" slab unit cells for DFT research has been proposed. The preference of this method for studying zone dispersion has been shown. The influence of the vacuum layer thickness on specified special high-symmetry points is discussed. Electron band dispersion in both classical 3D Brillouin zones and transition to 2D Brillouin zones in the proposed two-dimensional approach using the Niggli form of the unit cell was compared. The proposed two-dimensional approach is preferable for low-symmetry layered crystals such as ReS 2 . It was established that the bulk ReS 2 is a direct gap semiconductor (band gap of 1.20 eV), with the direct transition lying in the X point of the first Brillouin zone, and it is in good agreement with published experimental data. The reduction in material dimension from bulk to monolayer was conducted with an increasing band gap up to 1.45 eV, with a moving direct transition towards the Brillouin zone center. The monolayer of ReS 2 is a direct-gap semiconductor in a wide range of temperatures, excluding only a narrow range at low temperatures, where it comes as a quasi-direct gap semiconductor. The transition, situated directly in the Γ-point, lies 3.3 meV below the first direct transition located near this point. The electronic density of states of ReS 2 in the bulk and monolayer cases of ReS 2 were analyzed. The molecular orbitals were built for both types of ReS 2 structures as well as the electron difference density maps. For all types of ReS 2 structures, an analysis of populations according to Mulliken and Voronoi was carried out. All calculated data is discussed in the context of weak quantum confinement in the 2D case., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper. The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests., (© 2024 The Authors.)

Plastics have a significant role in various sectors of the global economy since they are widely utilized in agriculture, architecture, and construction, as well as health and consumer goods. They play a crucial role in several industries as they are utilized in the production of diverse things such as defense materials, sanitary wares, tiles, plastic bottles, artificial leather, and various other household goods. Plastics are utilized in the packaging of food items, medications, detergents, and cosmetics. The overconsumption of plastics presents a significant peril to both the ecosystem and human existence on Earth. The accumulation of plastics on land and in the sea has sparked interest in finding ways to breakdown these polymers. It is necessary to employ suitable biodegradable techniques to decrease the accumulation of plastics in the environment. To address the environmental issues related to plastics, it is crucial to have a comprehensive understanding of the interaction between microorganisms and polymers. A wide range of creatures, particularly microbes, have developed techniques to survive and break down plastics. This review specifically examines the categorization of plastics based on their thermal and biodegradable properties, as well as the many types of degradation and biodegradation. It also discusses the various types of degradable plastics, the characterization of biodegradation, and the factors that influence the process of biodegradation. The plastic breakdown and bioremediation capabilities of these microbes make them ideal for green chemistry applications aimed at removing hazardous polymers from the ecosystem., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Background: Volunteering is a beneficial activity with a wide range of positive outcomes, from the individual to the communal level. In many ways, volunteering has a positive impact on the development of a volunteer's personality and experience. This study aimed to evaluate the impact of health volunteering on improving the self-skills and practical capacities of students in the western region of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia., Materials and Methods: The study was a descriptive cross-sectional electronic web-based survey that was submitted on a web-based questionnaire; 183 students answered the survey, and then, the data were analyzed using SPSS., Results: This study shows that 95.6% of participants agree and strongly agree that the health volunteering experience was useful, 2.7% of the participants neither agree nor disagree, and 1.6% disagree and strongly disagree. Regarding the distribution of the participants on skills learned from volunteering experience, the largest proportion of student (36.1%) volunteers in the health sector acquired communication skills and the smallest proportion of student (14.8%) volunteers in the acquired time management skills. Regarding the disadvantages, 81.4% of the participants do not think there were any disadvantages to their previous health volunteering experience, while only 18.6% of them think there were any disadvantages to their previous health volunteering experience. Additionally, the study found that the type of the sector affects the skills acquired from health volunteering., Conclusion: Research revealed that the majority considered volunteering a great experience. Volunteering increased the self-skills and practical capacities of radiology students, which proved the hypothesis., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2024 Alzain, Elhussein, Hamd, Fadulelmulla, Omer, Alotaibi, Alsuhaymi, Aljohany, Alharbi, Ahmed, Hussien, Elamin, Mohamed Ahmed Medani and Khandaker.)

Perovskite materials have attracted significant attention as innovative and efficient X-ray detectors owing to their unique properties compared to traditional X-ray detectors. Herein, chronologically, we present an in-depth analysis of X-ray detection technologies employing organic-inorganic hybrids (OIHs), all-inorganic and lead-free perovskite material-based single crystals (SCs), thin/thick films and wafers. Particularly, this review systematically scrutinizes the advancement of the diverse synthesis methods, structural modifications, and device architectures exploited to enhance the radiation sensing performance. In addition, a critical analysis of the crucial factors affecting the performance of the devices is also provided. Our findings revealed that the improvement from single crystallization techniques dominated the film and wafer growth techniques. The probable reason for this is that SC-based devices display a lower trap density, higher resistivity, large carrier mobility and lifetime compared to film- and wafer-based devices. Ultimately, devices with SCs showed outstanding sensitivity and the lowest detectable dose rate (LDDR). These results are superior to some traditional X-ray detectors such as amorphous selenium and CZT. In addition, the limited performance of film-based devices is attributed to the defect formation in the bulk film, surfaces, and grain boundaries. However, wafer-based devices showed the worst performance because of the formation of voids, which impede the movement of charge carriers. We also observed that by performing structural modification, various research groups achieved high-performance devices together with stability. Finally, by fusing the findings from diverse research works, we provide a valuable resource for researchers in the field of X-ray detection, imaging and materials science. Ultimately, this review will serve as a roadmap for directing the difficulties associated with perovskite materials in X-ray detection and imaging, proposing insights into the recent status, challenges, and promising directions for future research., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry.)

Objective . Gold nanorods (GNRs) have emerged as versatile nanoparticles with unique properties, holding promise in various modalities of cancer treatment through drug delivery and photothermal therapy. In the rapidly evolving field of nanoparticle radiosensitization (NPRS) for cancer therapy, this study assessed the potential of gold nanorods as radiosensitizing agents by quantifying the key features of NPRS, such as secondary electron emission and dose enhancement, using Monte Carlo simulations. Approach . Employing the TOPAS track structure code, we conducted a comprehensive evaluation of the radiosensitization behavior of spherical gold nanoparticles and gold nanorods. We systematically explored the impact of nanorod geometry (in particular size and aspect ratio) and orientation on secondary electron emission and deposited energy ratio, providing validated results against previously published simulations. Main results . Our findings demonstrate that gold nanorods exhibit comparable secondary electron emission to their spherical counterparts. Notably, nanorods with smaller surface-area-to-volume ratios (SA:V) and alignment with the incident photon beam proved to be more efficient radiosensitizing agents, showing superiority in emitted electron fluence. However, in the microscale, the deposited energy ratio (DER) was not markedly influenced by the SA:V of the nanorod. Additionally, our findings revealed that the geometry of gold nanoparticles has a more significant impact on the emission of M-shell Auger electrons (with energies below 3.5 keV) than on higher-energy electrons. Significance . This research investigated the radiosensitization properties of gold nanorods, positioning them as promising alternatives to the more conventionally studied spherical gold nanoparticles in the context of cancer research. With increasing interest in multimodal cancer therapy, our findings have the potential to contribute valuable insights into the perspective of gold nanorods as effective multipurpose agents for synergistic photothermal therapy and radiotherapy. Future directions may involve exploring alternative metallic nanorods as well as further optimizing the geometry and coating materials, opening new possibilities for more effective cancer treatments., (© 2024 Institute of Physics and Engineering in Medicine.)

Pure and manganese-doped titanium dioxide nanoparticles (MnTiO 2 -NPs) were synthesized by the defect-oriented hydrothermal approach. The synthesized material was then characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), and UV-visible spectroscopy (UV-Vis). The agar well diffusion method assessed the antibacterial efficiency of TiO 2 and MnTiO 2 -NPs against E. coli and S. aureus . Zone of inhibition (ZOI) formed by pure TiO 2 was observed as 12 mm and 11.5 mm against E. coli and S. aureus , while for MnTiO 2 -NPs it was observed as 19 mm ( E. coli ) and 21 mm ( S. aureus ). The concentration of synthesized nanoparticles (10 mg/ml, and 20 mg/ml) was used for antibacterial studies. The efficacy of the pure and MnTiO 2 -NPs as an active photocatalyst for the degradation of methylene blue (MB) dye was also assessed using a UV light. It was observed that the photodegradation efficiency of 1 g of MnTiO 2 -NPs was higher than the same amount of pure TiO 2 . The results suggest that the photocatalyst concentration directly impacts the photodegradation of MB dye. The pH value was found to influence the photodegradation of MB dye at higher pH values. Based on the obtained results, MnTiO 2 -NPs were observed as a promising agent for microbial resistance and water remediation., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper. The author is an Editorial Board Member/Editor-in-Chief/Associate Editor/Guest Editor for [Journal name] and was not involved in the editorial review or the decision to publish this article. The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests., (© 2024 The Authors.)

Background and Aim: Spiral computed tomography (CT) scans, which are considered a high-contrast resolution, quick and cross-sectional imaging technique, have grown in popularity as a result of technological advancements. However, these advancements have brought with them the potential for significantly increased radiation doses to the patient. Consequently, many organizations recommended optimization and establishing diagnostic reference levels. The aim of the current study was to assess CT radiation dose and propose a local diagnostic reference level (LDRL) for the adult trunk [chest and abdomen] using CT dose parameters such as CT dose index volume (CTDI vol ) and dose length product (DLP) as well as to compare the practices for aforementioned examinations between two hospitals in Taif and Abha cities in Saudi Arabia., Materials and Methods: Data from 428 patients (216 for abdomen and 212 for chest) who were examined in two hospitals in Taif and Abha City in Saudi Arabia from December 2022 to March 2023, are used in this study. The data for hospitals in Taif and Abha are presented as 'T' and 'A' throughout this manuscript. The parameters of exposure and slice thickness were recorded in a specially designed data sheet together with the gender, age and patients morphometric. Microsoft Excel version 2010 was used to analyze results and plot the figures. The LDRL was achieved from the third quartile of CTDIvol and DLP for each hospital and examination., Results: The average DLP (mGy-cm) and CTDI vol (mGy) for the chest and abdomen were 243 mGy cm, 5.8 mGy and 549 mGy cm, 8.6 mGy respectively. The average effective dose (ED) for chest and abdomen were 5.10 and 21.10 mSv, respectively. The proposed LDRL for the chest and abdomen were 6.9 mGy (CTDIvol), 375 mGy-cm (DLP), 7.8 mGy (CTDIvol), and 747 (DLP) mGy-cm, respectively., Conclusion: Hospital 'A' irradiated patients with a higher dose for the abdomen exam than Hospital 'T', but both hospitals agreed on the amount of radiation dose received by patients for chest imaging. The proposed LDRL for two examinations was less than the DRL obtained from the literature., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Many minerals and compounds show thermoluminescence (TL) properties but only a few of them can meet the requirements of an ideal dosimeter. Several phosphate materials have been studied for low-dose dosimetryin recent times. Among the various phosphates, ABPO 4 -type material shows interesting TL properties. In this study, an ABPO 4 -type (A = Lithium, B=Calcium) phosphor is synthesized using a modified solid-state diffusion method. Temperature is maintained below 800 °C in every step of phosphor preparation to obtain the pure phase of Lithium calcium phosphate (LiCaPO 4 ). The purpose of this work is to synthesize LiCaPO 4 using a simple method, examine its structural and luminescence properties in order to gain a deeper understanding of its TL characteristics. The general TL properties, such as TL glow curve, dose linearity, sensitivity, and fading, are investigated. Additionally, this study aims to determine various kinetic parameters through Glow Curve Deconvolution (GCD) method using the Origin Lab software together with the Chen model. XRD analysis confirmed the phase purity of the phosphor with a rhombohedral structure. Lattice parameters, unit cell volume, grain size, dislocated density, and microstrain were also calculated from XRD data. Raman analysis and Fourier Transform Infrared analysis were used to collect information about molecular bonds, vibrations, identity, and structure of the phosphor. To investigate TL properties and associated kinetic parameters, the phosphor was irradiated with 6.0 MV (photon energy) and 6.0 MeV (electron energy) from a linear accelerator for doses ranging from 0.5 Gy to 6.0 Gy. For both photon and electron energy, TL glow curves have two identical peaks near 200 °C and 240 °C.The TL glow curves for 0.5 Gy-6 Gy are deconvoluted, then fitted with the appropriate model and then calculated the kinetic parameters. Kinetic parameters such as geometric factor (μ g ), order of kinetics, activation energy (E), and frequency factor (s) are obtained from Chen's peak shape method. The dose against the TL intensity curve shows that the response is almost linear in the investigated dose range. For photon and electron energy, the phosphor is found to be the most sensitive at 2.0 Gy and 4.0 Gy, respectively. The phosphor shows a low fading and after 28 days of exposure, it shows a signal loss of better than 3%. The studied TL properties suggest the suitability of LiCaPO 4 in radiation dosimetry and associated fields., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

The study found that the activity concentrations of the radionuclides 238 U, 232 Th and 40 K in the sandstone are 32 ± 13, 29.6 ± 12.2, and 132.6 ± 86.4 Bq kg -1 , respectively. These values are lower than the reported worldwide limits of 33, 45, and 412 Bq kg -1 . According to the present study, the absorbed dose rate (D air ), the annual effective dose, and the excess life time cancer were all found to be below the worldwide mean. Pearson correlation, PCA, and HCA were used to analyze the data and identify patterns in the relationship between radionuclides and radiological hazards. A statistical analysis of the sandstones showed that the radioactive elements 238 U, 232 Th and 40 K are the main contributors to the radioactive risk. The study suggests that the sandstone is safe to use. The levels of radioactivity are not high enough to pose a risk to human health., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

Single crystals of Cu 2 ZnGeSe 4 and Cu 2 ZnGeS 4 solid solutions were developed and successfully obtained using the chemical vapor transfer method, with iodine acting as a transporter. The structure, compositional dependences of lattice parameters, pycnometric and X-ray densities and microhardness were determined. The chemical composition determined by the X-ray microanalysis satisfactorily corresponds to the nominal one with a tolerance of ±5 %. The XRD analysis showed that all the obtained compounds and their solid solutions have unit cell described by tetragonal symmetry. The attice parameters were found to be а  = 5.342 ± 0.005 Å, с  = 10.51 ± 0.01 Å for the Сu 2 ZnGeS 4 compound and а  = 5.607 ± 0.005 Å, с  = 11.04 ± 0.01 Å for the Cu 2 ZnGeSe 4 , respectively. Structural studies confirmed the validity of the Vegard's law in relation to the obtained samples. The pycnometric densities of ∼4.28 g/cm 3 for the Cu 2 ZnGeS 4 and ∼5.46 g/cm 3 for the Cu 2 ZnGeSe 4 were found to be slightly less than their X-ray densities of ∼4.32 g/cm 3 and ∼5.52 g/cm 3 , respectively. The maximum microhardness of ∼398 kg/mm 2 for these solid solutions corresponds to x  = 0.60. The melt point of the solid solutions increases from ∼1180 °C for the Сu 2 ZnGeSe 4 up to ∼1400 °C for the Сu 2 ZnGeS 4 . Based on X-ray fluorescence analysis and DTA data, the phase diagram of the Cu 2 ZnGeSe 4 -Cu 2 ZnGeS 4 system was constructed. Analysis of the obtained diagram indicates its first type according to Rozbom's classification., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (© 2023 The Authors.)

Assessment of activity levels of radionuclides that exist in soil, granite, and charnockite rock samples is very crucial because it exhibits an enhanced elemental concentration of uranium (U) and thorium (Th) contributing higher natural background activity than usual in the environment and it may cause health risk to human health through the external and internal exposure. This study determined the radioactivity levels of 238 U, 232 Th, and 40 K radionuclides in soil, granite, and charnockite rock samples collected from selected fields in Ekiti State, Nigeria using Caesium iodide CsI(Tl) scintillation gamma spectrometer. It also evaluated indices of the radiological parameters consisting of radium equivalent activity (Ra eq ), absorbed dose rate (D R ), annual effective dose equivalent (AEDE), internal hazard index (H in ), and excess lifetime cancer risk (ELCR). The calculated average activity concentrations of 238 U, 232 Th, and 40 K are 30.40 ± 0.71 Bq kg -1 , 3.31 ± 0.05 Bq kg -1 , and 222.25 ± 14.72 Bq kg -1 , respectively, which were lower than their respective world average values. Comparatively, potassium concentrations in these collected samples have a higher value than concentrations of uranium and thorium ( 40 K >  238 U >  232 Th). All the evaluated values of the radiological parameters (except D R ) of the appraised radionuclides were below the global permissible limits. The granite rocks, charnockite rocks, and soils from Ekiti State in Nigeria do not pose any hazardous risk to humans, but continued monitoring is necessary when these materials are used as building materials, which cause long-term radiation exposure., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (© 2023 The Authors.)

Owing to the unique physical and chemical properties of 2D materials and the great success of graphene in various applications, the scientific community has been influenced to explore a new class of graphene-like 2D materials for next-generation technological applications. Consequently, many alternative layered and non-layered 2D materials, including h-BN, TMDs, and MXenes, have been synthesized recently for applications related to the 4th industrial revolution. In this review, recent progress in state-of-the-art research on 2D materials, including their synthesis routes, characterization and application-oriented properties, has been highlighted. The evolving applications of 2D materials in the areas of electronics, optoelectronics, spintronic devices, sensors, high-performance and transparent electrodes, energy conversion and storage, electromagnetic interference shielding, hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), oxygen evolution reaction (OER), and nanocomposites are discussed. In particular, the state-of-the-art applications, challenges, and outlook of every class of 2D material are also presented as concluding remarks to guide this fast-progressing class of 2D materials beyond graphene for scientific research into next-generation materials., Competing Interests: The authors affirm that they have no known financial or interpersonal conflicts that might have looked to have an impact on the research presented in this paper., (This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry.)

This work investigates the fundamental photocatalytic properties of nitrogen-doped single-walled silicon carbide nanotubes (N-doped SWSiCNTs) for hydrogen evolution for the first time. Investigations of the structural, mechanical, electronic, and optical properties of the studied systems were carried out using popular density functional theory implemented in quantum ESPRESSO and Yambo codes. Analysis of the structural properties revealed high mechanical stability with the 3.6% and 7.4% N-doped SWSiCNT. The calculated band gap of the N-doped SWSiCNT with 3.6% demonstrated a value of 2.56 eV which is within the photocatalytic range of 2.3 eV-2.8 eV. The hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) potentials of the 3.6% N-doped SWSiCNT also showed good agreement with previous theoretical data. The studied material showed the best photocatalytic performance in both parallel and perpendicular directions by absorbing photons in the visible region. Therefore, the observed structural, mechanical, electronic and optical behaviors demonstrated by the 3.6% N-doped SWSiCNT exposed it as a better photocatalyst for hydrogen production under visible light., Competing Interests: No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s)., (© 2023 The Author(s). Published by National Institute for Materials Science in partnership with Taylor & Francis Group.)

Present study concerns the radiological character of Malaysian honey. A total of 18 samples (representative of the various most common types) were obtained from various honey bee farms throughout the country. Using a high-purity germanium γ-ray spectroscopic system, the samples were analysed for the naturally occurring radionuclides 226Ra, 228Ra and 40K. The respective range of activities (in Bq/kg) was: 3.49 ± 0.35 to 4.51 ± 0.39, 0.99 ± 0.37 to 1.74 ± 0.39 and 41.37 ± 3.26 to 105.02 ± 6.91. The estimated associated committed effective doses were derived from prevailing data on national consumption of honey, the annual dose being found low compared with the UNSCEAR reference dose limit of 290 μSv y-1. The estimated threshold consumption rate for honey indicates a maximum intake of 339 g/d, which poses an insignificant radiological risk to public health; however, the total dietary exposure may not, the guidance level of 290 μSv y-1 being applicable to dietary intake of all foodstuffs. The study is in support of the cultivation of a healthy lifestyle, acknowledging prevailing radioactivity within the environment., (© The Author(s) 2023. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.)

Concentrations of heavy metals in Yellowfin and Skipjack tuna fishes from the Laccadive sea were determined by inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES) to evaluate the human health hazards via their consumption. The samples were collected from different atolls of Maldives to ensure a good representation of sample distribution. The metal concentration in tuna fish is found to be below the maximum tolerable limit set by different international organisations. The target hazard quotient values for individual metals were well below the limiting value of 1, indicating an insignificant health risk via the dietary intake of fish. The maximum targeted cancer risk value was 10 -4, indicating low carcinogenic risk from the consumption of tuna fish from the Maldives. Hence, the consumption of tuna from the Laccadive Sea is safe for human health., (© The Author(s) 2023. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.)

This work presents the first in-depth study of soil radioactivity in the mangrove forest of Bangladesh part of the Sundarbans. It used HPGe gamma-ray spectrometry to measure the amount of natural radioactivity in soil samples from Karamjal and Harbaria sites of the world's largest mangrove forest. The activity concentrations of most of the 226Ra (14±2 Bqkg-1 to 35±4 Bqkg-1) and 232Th (30±5 Bqkg-1 to 50±9 Bqkg-1) lie within the world average values, but the 40K concentration (370± 44 Bqkg-1 to 660±72 Bqkg-1) was found to have exceeded the world average value. The evaluation of radiological hazard parameters revealed that the outdoor absorbed dose rate (maximum 73.25 nGyh-1) and outdoor annual effective dose (maximum 0.09 mSvy-1) for most samples exceeded the corresponding world average values. The elevated concentration of 40K is mainly due to the salinity intrusion, usage of fertilizers and agricultural runoff, and migration of waste effluents along the riverbanks. Being the pioneering comprehensive research on the Bangladesh side of the Sundarbans, this study forms a baseline radioactivity for the Sundarbans before the commissioning of the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant in Bangladesh., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist., (Copyright: © 2023 Siraz et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)

A hydrothermal technique was employed to synthesize Ni/Mg/Al ternary L.D.H.s modified with montmorillonite (NMA-MMT-LDHs). Many characterization methods, including X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (S.E.M.), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), and Brunauer, Emmett, and Teller (B.E.T.), were used to assess the physiochemical properties of the produced analytes. Congo red and methylene blue were utilized as model dyes to treat textile waste with the synthesized analytes. The batch adsorption model was utilized to conduct the adsorption experiments under varying contact time, adsorbent dosage, and solution pH conditions. A pseudo-second-order kinetics and the Langmuir adsorption model control the adsorption process. The maximum monolayer adsorption capacities of C.R. and M.B. were determined to be 344 and 200 mg/g, respectively. As the quantity of dosage increased from the 0.01-0.04 g, the percent removal efficiency (%) increased from 75 to 87 % for S2-LDH, 84-88 % for S2-MMT, 86-93 % for S3-MMT, and 95-97% for S4-MMT for C.R. dye and 82-85 % for S2-LDH, 83-89 % for S2-MMT, 83-91 % for S3-MMT, and 84-92 % for S4-MMT for M.B. dye. The removal percentage of C.R. dye for adsorbents S2-LDH, S2-MMT, S3-MMT, and S4-MMT were 75 %, 84 %, 86 %, and 95 %, respectively and 82 %, 83 %, 83 %, and 85 %, respectively for the M.B. dye removal. The presence of MMT significantly increases the affinity of Ni/Mg/Al-LDHs (NMA-LDHs), and the designed production technique can be used to produce a variety of compositionally distinct adsorbent materials., Competing Interests: The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests:K. S. Al-mugren reports financial support was provided by Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University. K. S. Al-mugren reports a relationship with 10.13039/501100004242Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University that includes: employment and funding grants., (© 2023 Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

The current investigation deals with the treatment of water pollution that is caused by the leaching of nickel ions from the metallurgical industry and new-energy batteries. Therefore, an eco-friendly treatment of nickel through the use of a composite of cotton stalk biochar with nanozerovalent copper has been presented in this investigation signifying the impact of zerovalent copper in enhancing the adsorption capacity of biochar for nickel adsorption. Thermogravimetric analysis data showed the adsorbent to be significantly stable in the higher thermal range, whereas transmission electron microscopy analysis confirmed the particles to be 27 nm and also showed the cubic geometry of the particles. A much closer scanning electron microscopy analysis shows the morphology of particles to be cubic in shape. Batch adsorption indicated a positive influence of pH increase on adsorption due to the electrostatic attraction between positive nickel ions and post point of zero charge (pH PZC ) negative surface of copper biochar composite (pH > 5.5). A high adsorption rate was observed in the first 60 min, whereas adsorption increased with the increase in temperature from 303 to 318 K. Kinetic modeling confirmed the pseudo-first-order to fit best to the data. The apparent activation energy (11.96 kJ mol -1 ) is indicative of the chemical nature of the process. The adsorption data fitted well to the Langmuir adsorption model. The negative values of apparent Δ G ° and the positive values of apparent Δ H ° indicate the spontaneity and endothermicity of the process, respectively, whereas the positive values of apparent Δ S ° point toward increased randomness during the process. Postadsorption XPS suggests the adsorption of nickel on the surface of biochar composites in the form of Ni(OH) 2 and NiO(OH)., Competing Interests: The authors declare no competing financial interest., (© 2023 The Authors. Published by American Chemical Society.)

Sign Language Recognition is a breakthrough for communication among deaf-mute society and has been a critical research topic for years. Although some of the previous studies have successfully recognized sign language, it requires many costly instruments including sensors, devices, and high-end processing power. However, such drawbacks can be easily overcome by employing artificial intelligence-based techniques. Since, in this modern era of advanced mobile technology, using a camera to take video or images is much easier, this study demonstrates a cost-effective technique to detect American Sign Language (ASL) using an image dataset. Here, "Finger Spelling, A" dataset has been used, with 24 letters (except j and z as they contain motion). The main reason for using this dataset is that these images have a complex background with different environments and scene colors. Two layers of image processing have been used: in the first layer, images are processed as a whole for training, and in the second layer, the hand landmarks are extracted. A multi-headed convolutional neural network (CNN) model has been proposed and tested with 30% of the dataset to train these two layers. To avoid the overfitting problem, data augmentation and dynamic learning rate reduction have been used. With the proposed model, 98.981% test accuracy has been achieved. It is expected that this study may help to develop an efficient human-machine communication system for a deaf-mute society., (© 2023. Springer Nature Limited.)

This study investigated the photocatalytic properties of MoS 2 -doped boron nitride nanotubes (BNNTs) for overall water splitting using popular density functional theory (DFT). Calculations of the structural, mechanical, electronic, and optical properties of the investigated systems were performed using both the generalized gradient approximation and the GW quasi-particle correction methods. In our calculations, it was observed that only (10, 10) and (12, 12) single-walled BNNTs (SWBNNTs) turned out to be stable toward MoS 2 doping. Electronic property calculations revealed metallic behavior of (10, 10)-MoS 2 -doped SWBNNTs, while the band gap of (12, 12) SWBNNT was narrowed to 2.5 eV after MoS 2 doping, which is within the obtained band gaps for other photocatalysts. Hence, MoS 2 influences the conduction band of pure BNNT and improves its photocatalytic properties. The water-splitting photocatalytic behavior is found in (12, 12) MoS 2 -doped SWBNNT, which showed higher water oxidation (OH - /O 2 ) and reduction (H + /H 2 ) potentials. In addition, optical spectral calculations showed that MoS 2 -doped SWBNNT had an optical absorption edge of 2.6 eV and a higher absorption in the visible region. All of the studied properties confirmed MoS 2 -doped SWBNNT as a better candidate for next-generation photocatalysts for hydrogen evolution through the overall water-splitting process., Competing Interests: The authors declare no competing financial interest., (© 2023 The Authors. Published by American Chemical Society.)