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There are many pre-processing-based speedup techniques for shortest path problems that are available in the literature. These techniques have an increased demand because of large datasets in such applications such as roadmaps, web search engines and mobile data sets. Pre-processing for the Time-Dependent Shortest Path Problem is still a demanding process that involves graph or network partitioning strategy. Efficient pre-processing of graphs or networks reduces the shortest path computation time while parallelizing the pre-processing phase improves the speedup of the system. In this paper, a speedup technique called Recursive Spectral Bisection (RSB) combined with the Elliptic Convolution of the shortest path method is proposed for dynamic Time-Dependent networks. The same method has been parallelized, and the results are tested on three types of graphs. It is observed that the Time-Dependent RSB combined with the Elliptic Convolution of the shortest path method has no update time, and the Query Performance Loss (QPL) is reduced in planar and road networks compared to random networks. In road networks, the proposed method achieves an average speedup in a QPL of 140. The use of the Parallel speedup technique results in an average speedup in a QPL of more than 1 in the planar and road networks.

Summary: Background: We measured the incidence of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infections and re-infections in an adult community-based cohort in southern India. Methods: We conducted a 2-year follow-up on 1229 participants enrolled between May and October 2021. Participants provided vaccination histories, weekly saliva samples, and blood samples at 0, 6, 12, and 24 months. Salivary reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and Meso-Scale Discovery panels were used for SARS-CoV-2 detection and anti-spike, anti-nucleocapsid immunoglobulin G quantification. Whole genome sequencing was performed on a subset of positive samples. SARS-CoV-2 infection incidence was measured across Pre-Omicron (May–December 2021), Omicron-I (December 2021–June 2022), and Omicron-II (July 2022–October 2023) periods. Findings: In total, 1166 (95%) participants with 83% seropositivity at baseline completed the follow-up, providing 2205 person-years of observation. Utilizing both RT-PCR and serology we identified 1306 infections and yielded an incidence rate of 591.3 per 1000 person-years (95% confidence interval, 559.6–624.3), which peaked during Omicron-I at 1418.1 per 1000 person-years (95% confidence interval, 1307.4–1535.6). During Omicron-I and II, neither prior infection nor vaccination conferred protection against infection. Overall, 74% of infections were asymptomatic. Interpretation: Integrated RT-PCR and serology revealed significant SARS-CoV-2 infection frequency, highlighting the prevalence of asymptomatic cases among previously infected or vaccinated individuals. This underscores the effectiveness of combining surveillance strategies when monitoring pandemic trends and confirms the role of non-invasive sampling in ensuring participant compliance, reflecting national transmission patterns. Funding: The study was funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

The present study found that ∼80 million people in India, ∼60 million people in Pakistan, ∼70 million people in Bangladesh, and ∼3 million people in Nepal are exposed to arsenic groundwater contamination above 10 μg/L, while Sri Lanka remains moderately affected. In the case of fluoride contamination, ∼120 million in India, >2 million in Pakistan, and ∼0.5 million in Sri Lanka are exposed to the risk of fluoride above 1.5 mg/L, while Bangladesh and Nepal are mildly affected. The hazard quotient (HQ) for arsenic varied from 0 to 822 in India, 0 to 33 in Pakistan, 0 to 1,051 in Bangladesh, 0 to 582 in Nepal, and 0 to 89 in Sri Lanka. The cancer risk of arsenic varied from 0 to 1.64 × 1−1 in India, 0 to 1.07 × 10−1 in Pakistan, 0 to 2.10 × 10−1 in Bangladesh, 0 to 1.16 × 10−1 in Nepal, and 0 to 1.78 × 10−2 in Sri Lanka. In the case of fluoride, the HQ ranged from 0 to 21 in India, 0 to 33 in Pakistan, 0 to 18 in Bangladesh, 0 to 10 in Nepal, and 0 to 10 in Sri Lanka. Arsenic and fluoride have adverse effects on animals, resulting in chemical poisoning and skeletal fluorosis. Adsorption and membrane filtration have demonstrated outstanding treatment outcomes. HIGHLIGHTS India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Nepal are severely affected by As contamination.; India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka are severely affected by F− contamination.; Arsenic is found to cause DNA damage and promotes diabetes and obesity.; Genetic background of person is found to increase or decrease the fluorosis risk; There is a lack of adequate information on the hydro-geochemistry of pollutants.;

Increasing prerequisites for sustainable energy storage and conversion technologies have necessitated the exploration of advanced materials with improved properties. Here, we present the synthesis and characterization of ZnO nanoparticles (NPs), ZnO/NiO, ZnO/Co3O4 and ZnO/NiO/Co3O4 NCs as promising bi-functional materials for dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) and electrochemical energy storage applications. A facile chemical co-precipitation approach was followed to synthesize pure ZnO NPs, ZnO/NiO, ZnO/Co3O4 and ZnO/NiO/Co3O4 NCs. The structural and morphological analyses revealed the successful integration of ZnO, NiO, and Co3O4 NPs and also the formation of well-defined core-shell and homogenous nanocomposite structures. The XRD and HRTEM analyses confirmed the crystalline nature and nanoscale morphology of synthesized materials, respectively. The photovoltaic performance of DSSC fabricated using ternary ZnO/NiO/Co3O4 NC photoanode showed optimum dye-loading and best solar to electrical energy conversion efficiency with Jsc of 11.29 mA cm−2 and ƞ of 4.66%, which was considerably higher than the DSSC fabricated using pure ZnO NPs photoanode (ƞ = 2.01%). The increment in photocurrent density (Jsc) could be ascribed to the perfect band alignment of NiO and Co3O4 NPs in the ternary NC. Further, the ZnO/NiO/Co3O4 NC photoanode integrated DSSC disclosed 97% retainment in energy conversion efficiency even after 10 days of operation. The electrochemical performance of supercapacitor fabricated using ternary ZnO/NiO/Co3O4 NC showed high specific capacitance of 534.7 Fg−1 at 1 Ag−1 with favourable rate ability (∼52% at 16 Ag−1), good cyclic stability (91.07%) and low internal resistance. Moreover, the ZnO/NiO/Co3O4 NC at a current density of 2 Ag−1 exhibited a significantly high capacitance value of 463.1 Fg−1, which was 1.93, 1.58 and 1.22 times greater than ZnO NPs, ZnO/Co3O4 NC and ZnO/NiO NC, respectively.

The zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticle on a two - electron oxygen reduction reaction is a particularly promising candidate for in-situ application. Herein, we prepared the Cd doped ZnO nanocomposites through a simple hydrothermal method. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis has been carried out to confirm the structure and size of the nanomaterial. The optical absorption and energy gap of the prepared nanoparticles have been identified by UV–vis-NIR studies. Photoluminescence (PL) studies on the synthesized nanomaterials confirm the characteristic existence of blue and green emission bands. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy has been studied on the ZnO nanoparticles to analyze the -OH and CO-O vibrations. The structural and surface morphology analysis was inferred by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) microanalysis. Cd doped ZnO nanocomposites are environmentally friendly and can be utilized to quickly remove contaminants from wastewater. The findings from the adsorption equilibrium fit the Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) model very well, showing multi-layer adsorption. The photodegradation studies on Cd doped ZnO nanocomposites were carried out, which is an advanced oxidation process widely used for methylene blue removal. Therefore, the higher photocatalytic performance revealed that Cd doped ZnO nanocomposites could be a promising photocatalyst for environmental remediation applications.

Background: CT scan and Diagnostic nasal endoscopy [DNE] can both be used in diagnosis and management of Chronic rhinosinusitis [CRS]; however, it has been a matter of debate as to which of these two modalities is effective in terms of cost, ease off doing and better correlationAim of the work: This study intends to correlate the severity of the symptoms of CRS with DNE and CT scan findings vis-a-vis correlating the scores between the two diagnostic modalities and concluding as to which off them is more effective.Materials and Methods: This was a prospective observational study done at a tertiary teaching hospital. Patients satisfying the diagnostic criteria of CRS by American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery were shortlisted for study. The duration of symptoms and severity score of all patients was recorded. All participants were then subjected to CT scan and DNE. The Qualitative and quantitative variables were compared with help of Spearman Rank correlation coefficient test. A p-value of < 0.05 was taken as statistically significant. SPSS version 19.0 was used for analysis.Results: A total of 128 patients diagnosed with CRS participated in the study. There were 56 [43.7%] males and 73 [57.03%] females. Correlation was between all the parameters such as severity score and CT Scan scores, severity score and DNE scores, CT scan scores and DNE scores [right side, left side and bilateral combined] were statistically significant.Conclusion: In the patients who meet the symptoms criteria for diagnosis of CRS had high-level of diagnostic accuracy with both CT scan and DNE. Since both the test and symptoms severity correlates well, doing either one of them will suffice in diagnosis. DNE being readily available in Otolaryngology department can be chosen over CT scan thereby reducing cost and radiation exposure to patient.

Ecofriendly synthesis of zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) was carried out using Solanum trilobatum (S. trilobatum) leaf extract as bioreducing agent. SEM images disclosed spherical ZnO NPs formation having a mean diameter of ∼25 nm. EDAX spectrum demonstrated presence of Zn and O elements and absence of peaks corresponding to impurity elements that revealed purity of ZnO NPs. X-ray diffraction pattern displayed diffraction peaks associated with hexagonal wurtzite structured ZnO. Rietveld refinement analysis of XRD data indicated that ZnO NPs have hexagonal single phase (P63mc space group). Profile parameters (Rp, Rwp, and χ2) with minimum values designated harmony between calculated and observed diffraction patterns. FTIR spectrum of ZnO NPs signified high intense band at 540.94 cm−1 associated with characteristic stretching of Zn–O bond. Photocatalytic performance of ZnO NPs showed noticeable methylene blue dye decomposition with an efficiency of 94.07 % under sunlight illumination. Total organic carbon analysis disclosed considerable removal of organic carbon content from the methylene blue dye. Conclusively, S. trilobatum leaf extract can be employed as bioreductant agent to synthesis semiconductor nanomaterials for environmental remediation applications.

A co-precipitation route was followed to produce zinc oxide-tin oxide nanocomposites (ZnO-SnO2 NCs) by changing molar proportion between precursor salts. The characterization tools, viz. XRD, UV–Vis spectrophotometer, SEM, and EDAX were utilized to inspect structural, optical, morphological, and elemental features of ZnO-SnO2 NCs. The XRD patterns exhibited diffraction angles corresponding to hexagonal wurtzite ZnO and tetragonal rutile SnO2. The ZnO-SnO2 NCs showed absorption from 300 nm to 700 nm, owing to the presence of visible light reactive SnO2 in the ZnO–SnO2 NCs. The SEM images displayed ZnO–SnO2 NCs with diverse morphology as a consequence of the incorporation of Sn2+ ions and the corresponding EDAX spectra confirmed their purity. The dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) integrated with ZnO–SnO2 NC photoanodes showed considerable variations in photovoltaic parameters due to the influence of their band gap and morphology.

Nanocrystalline TiO2 and Sn-doped TiO2 thin films were prepared by sol–gel spin coating method. The crystallinity and anatase phase of TiO2 and Sn-doped TiO2 were confirmed from X-ray diffraction analysis. The EDAX analysis also confirmed the presence of tin, oxygen and titania elements. By fabricating an inverted organic solar cell with device configuration of ITO/Sn-doped TiO2/active layer/MoO3/Al, power conversion efficiency (PCE) of the Sn-doped TiO2 was observed to be 3.08% compared to the TiO2 based solar cell of 2.64%. Keywords: Doped TiO2, Polymer solar cells, Sol–gel method, XRD

Objectives The main purpose of this article is to measure the fractional anisotropy (FA) and apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) values of cortex and medulla of renal allograft using 3-Tesla diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) in renal transplant patients with normal and graft dysfunction and to assess the correlation between diffusion tensor parameters (ADC and FA) and the estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) value. Materials and Methods Fifty renal transplant recipients who received either living or cadaveric renal allografts were included in the study. Blood samples for serum creatinine and eGFR value were taken on the same day prior to the magnetic resonance study and the patients were assigned to three groups (A, B, C) according to allograft function (eGFR levels). The mean ADC and FA values of the cortex/medulla in upper, mid, and lower poles were calculated from the DTI sequence. Statistical analysis was performed using paired sample Student’s t-test and one-way analysis of variance test. Results The mean ADC values of the cortex were higher than the medulla that was statistically significant. However, the mean FA values were significantly higher in the medulla than the cortex. Mean ADCs and FA of the renal cortex and medulla were significantly higher in group A patients with normal renal function than in group B and C with poor renal functions. The corticomedullary difference in the FA values was more in group A. However, this difference was lower in group B and more so in group C. Conclusion ADC and FA values in the renal cortex and medulla exhibit a good correlation with allograft function and were significantly lower in transplants with dysfunction than those with good function. FA values appear to be more sensitive than eGFR and ADC for detection of early pathological changes in the graft dysfunction.