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In recent years, silicon‐based room temperature Terahertz (THz) detectors have become the most optimistic research area because of their high speed, low cost, and unimpeded compatibility with mainstream complementary metal‐oxide‐semiconductor (CMOS) device technologies. However, Silicon (Si) suffers from low responsivity and high noise at THz frequencies. In this review, the recent advances in Si‐based THz detectors using silicon‐on‐insulator (SOI) substrates are presented. These offer several advantages over bulk counterparts, such as reduced parasitic capacitance, enhanced electric field confinement, and improved thermal isolation. The different types of THz detectors exploiting SOI substrate, such as conventional metal‐oxide‐semiconductor field effect transistors (MOSFETs), junction‐less MOSFETs, junction‐less nanowires field effect transistors (JLNWFETs), micro‐electromechanical system (MEMS), metal‐semiconductor‐metal (MSM) structures, and single electron transistor (SET), are discussed, and their key performances in terms of responsivity, noise equivalent power (NEP), bandwidth, and dynamic range are compared. The challenges and opportunities for further improvement of SOI THz detectors, such as device scaling, integration, and modulation, are also highlighted. This review may offer compelling evidence supporting the idea that SOI THz detectors have the potential to facilitate high performance, low power consumption, and scalability—qualities essential for advancing next‐level technologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article proposes a framework for the damage assessment of and effect of temperature variations in laminated composites using Lamb waves and unsupervised autonomous features. A network of piezoelectric transducers is employed to generate data for 18 health states of a laminated composite plate. The data is processed with sparse autoencoder (SAE) for unsupervised autonomous features. The discriminative capabilities of the extracted features are confirmed by processing the feature space in the supervised and unsupervised frameworks of machine learning. The confusion matrices of supervised learning provided physical insights into the problem. The feature space was also visualized in two dimensions in an unsupervised manner through principal component analysis (PCA), which revealed physically consistent results for the effect of temperature variations, damage of different severity levels, and the undamaged paths between the actuator and sensors. The healthy state data and information on the paths between the actuator and sensors was processed via SAE for damage localization. The proposed approach can be employed for the autonomous assessment of composite structures for the presence of damage and variations of operating temperatures while using both supervised and unsupervised machine learning algorithms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A mathematical model for production scheduling of open pit mines maximises the net present value and satisfies the reserves, pit slope angle, and production capacity constraints. A solution to this model aims to deliver an extraction sequence and the movement of materials across various stages within the operation over a defined planning horizon. However, given that the mineral reserves delineated into thousands of mining blocks form the geological input, the model falls in the category of large-scale optimisation problems, i.e. it is computationally intractable, and exact methods cannot solve realistic scenarios of the problem. Therefore, this paper contributes an alternative to the conventional mathematical model along with a corresponding heuristic method to solve this proposed model. An implementation of the proposed method at various realistic instances reveals better performance in terms of net present value, computation time and optimality gap as compared to the traditional methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To achieve sustainable development of e-commerce and promote customers' online shopping conduct, companies develop online shopping platforms to enhance customers' online shopping behavior. The growing significance of technology in advertising has sparked intense interest in the worlds of education and business to create enjoyable experiences for online clients. Analyzing flow-related states is crucial for generating these experiences. Based on a combined theoretical framework comprising the antecedents of flow, the expectation confirmation model, and the technology acceptance model, this research examines how flow experiences influence the willingness to participate in online purchasing through online shopping platforms, with a focus on Chinese internet users of online shopping platforms. Three hundred internet clients were selected using the convenience sampling technique, and a survey methodology was employed to collect information from internet consumers. Findings from this study suggest that flow had a significant effect on continuous intention, perceived usefulness, and satisfaction. Furthermore, concerning flow's antecedents, flow was significantly influenced by feedback, perceived enjoyment, and perceived vividness. Moreover, perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use were found to have substantial relationships with satisfaction and continuous intention. This research provides significant implications for research scholars and practitioners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is crucial to comprehend how fertilization and cultivation management alter the composition of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and microbial communities to regulate the biogeochemical cycling of soil nutrients and mitigate adverse impacts on soil–water quality. Based on 15 years of long-term field trials conducted in purple soil on farmland with a slope of 15° in southwestern China, the following five treatments were examined: CK (no fertilizer was applied), T1 (NPK plus organic manure and downslope cultivation), T2 (NPK and downslope cultivation), T3 (1.5-fold NPK and downslope cultivation), and T4 (NPK and contour cultivation). Soil samples were obtained from summer maize at two soil depths (0–10 and 10–20 cm) and from rhizospheric soil, and the changes in the DOC content, UV–visible (UV–Vis) absorptivity, and phospholipid fatty acids (PLFAs) were assessed. Our results revealed a significant change in the DOC content following fertilization, especially in T1, as it was 136.0%, 179.4%, and 132.2% higher, respectively, than that in CK at the 0–10 and 10–20 cm depths and rhizospheric soil. Fertilization decreased the UV–Vis absorptivity variables of DOC (i.e., SUVA254, SUVA260, SUVA400, SUVA465, SUVA665, and C:C ratio) and raised the E4:E6 ratio (fulvic acid to humic acid in DOC), regardless of T2 and T3 at the 10–20 cm depth and in the rhizospheric soil compared with those in CK, respectively. Fertilization significantly increased the total PLFA content and selected microbial groups relative to CK. Among the treatments, T1 significantly increased the total PLFA content by 50.6%, 59.0%, and 46.2%, respectively, relative to CK, at the 0–10 and 10–20 cm depths and in the rhizospheric soil. The microbial community structure in contour cultivation (T4) was significantly greater than in downslope cultivation (T2). Random forest analysis (RFA) revealed that SOC and DOC were likely the primary variables for regulating the total PLFAs in the examined soil. Partial least squares path modeling (PLS-PM) further indicated that the DOC content and the ratio of E4:E6 among DOC compositions had greater effects on the soil microbial community structure in the examined soil. These observations suggested that long-term fertilization and cultivation management are effective approaches to regulating the soil microbial community structure by altering the composition of DOC in sloping farmland. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: This post hoc analysis of the international SINUS‐24/‐52 trials (NCT02912468/NCT02898454) aimed to assess dupilumab efficacy in patients with severe chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps (CRSwNP) according to different definitions of type 2 inflammatory signature. Methods: Six definitions of type 2 inflammation were used: ≥150 eosinophils/μL or total immunoglobulin E (IgE) ≥100 IU/mL with a coexisting type 2 condition; ≥150 eosinophils/μL or total IgE ≥100 IU/mL; ≥150 eosinophils/μL; ≥250 eosinophils/μL or total IgE ≥100 IU/mL; coexisting asthma or ≥300 eosinophils/μL; presence of a coexisting type 2 condition. Odds ratios (ORs; dupilumab vs. placebo) for achieving clinically meaningful improvement (≥1 point) from baseline to week 24 (pooled SINUS‐24/‐52) and week 52 (SINUS‐52) were calculated for nasal polyp score (NPS; range 0–8), nasal congestion/obstruction score (NC; 0−3), and loss of smell score (LoS; 0−3). Results: At baseline (n = 724), most patients displayed a type 2 inflammatory signature across definitions (64.2%–95.3%). At week 24, ORs for clinically meaningful improvement ranged from 11.9 to 14.9 for NPS across type 2 definitions, 6.5–9.6 for NC, and 12.2–17.8 for LoS (all p < 0.0001). OR ranges were similar or greater at week 52: 19.0–36.6, 7.6–12.1, and 9.2–33.5, respectively (all p < 0.0001). Conclusion: Most patients with CRSwNP in the SINUS study had type 2 inflammation. Dupilumab demonstrated robust efficacy across definitions of type 2 inflammation, consistent with its profile as an inhibitor of Interleukin‐4 and Interleukin‐13 signaling, key and central drivers of type 2 inflammation in CRSwNP. Key Points: This study assessed type 2 inflammation prevalence and dupilumab efficacy in chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps according to algorithm‐defined type 2 inflammationDupilumab efficacy was similar across all type 2 definitions [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Blasphemy laws in Pakistan have been a subject of intense debate, scrutiny, and controversy both domestically and internationally. This article presents a comprehensive analysis of the evolution, legal framework, societal implications, and human rights concerns surrounding blasphemy laws within the Pakistani legal system. Beginning with a historical overview, the study examines the origins and development of these laws within the context of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) and Shariah-based legal principles. Through an exploration of notable cases and incidents, the article highlights the challenges faced in implementing fair trials and the far-reaching consequences on individuals accused of blasphemy. Additionally, it critically evaluates the conflicts between the laws and the fundamental principles of freedom of speech and expression, delving into the human rights implications and international perspectives. By reviewing reform efforts and proposing potential amendments, this article seeks to contribute to the ongoing discourse on the need for balanced legal reforms and societal harmony in navigating the complex landscape of blasphemy laws in Pakistan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

New solitary wave solutions are developed for various shapes of three-dimensional nonlinear partial differential equations using the Sardar-Subequation method. Some periodic solitary wave solutions, including bright, dark, dark-bright, and singular periodic soliton solutions, are obtained. These solutions have broad applications in a particular category of applied sciences and physics. Graphical representations of the obtained results have been created using Maple 18 software to illustrate the accuracy and simplicity of the proposed method. Two-dimensional (2-D), three-dimensional (3-D), and 2-D contour plots have been used to depict the physical behavior of the observed patterns by incorporating relevant parameters. To demonstrate the robustness, sustainability, capability, and effectiveness of the present method, we have applied it to solve the nonlinear (3+1)-dimensional modified KdV-Zakharov-Kuznetsov equation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Traffic flow analysis is essential to develop smart urban mobility solutions. Although numerous tools have been proposed, they employ only a small number of parameters. To overcome this limitation, an edge computing solution is proposed based on nine traffic parameters, namely, vehicle count, direction, speed, and type, flow, peak hour factor, density, time headway, and distance headway. The proposed low-cost solution is easy to deploy and maintain. The sensor node is comprised of a Raspberry Pi 4, Pi camera, Intel Movidius Neural Compute Stick 2, Xiaomi MI Power Bank, and Zong 4G Bolt+. Pre-trained models from the OpenVINO Toolkit are employed for vehicle detection and classification, and a centroid tracking algorithm is used to estimate vehicle speed. The measured traffic parameters are transmitted to the ThingSpeak cloud platform via 4G. The proposed solution was field-tested for one week (7 h/day), with approximately 10,000 vehicles per day. The count, classification, and speed accuracies obtained were 79.8%, 93.2%, and 82.9%, respectively. The sensor node can operate for approximately 8 h with a 10,000 mAh power bank and the required data bandwidth is 1.5 MB/h. The proposed edge computing solution overcomes the limitations of existing traffic monitoring systems and can work in hostile environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Contrasting fertilization modifies soil phosphorus (P) transformation and bioavailability, which impact crop P uptake and P migration in the soil profile. A long-term (25-year) fertilizer experiment was employed to investigate crop yield, P uptake and changes in sequentially extracted P fractions in the soil profile, and their relationships on a calcareous soil derived from loess material under a winter wheat and summer maize double-cropping system. The experiment involved seven nutrient management treatments: control (CK, no nutrient input), N, NK, NP, and NPK, representing various combinations of synthetic nitrogen (N), phosphate (P), and potassium (K) applications, as well as combinations of NPK fertilizers with either crop residues (SNPK, where S refers to maize stalk or wheat straw) or manure (MNPK, where M refers to dairy manure). Wheat and maize yields were significantly higher with P input fertilizer relative to the P-omitted treatments. Long-term application of P-containing fertilizers markedly raised the contents of inorganic (Pi) and organic (Po) P fractions at 0–20 cm depth compared with the P-omitted treatments. Moreover, both Pi and Po fractions were markedly higher under MNPK than under NPK and SNPK treatments. For achieving high yield for wheat and maize, the critical contents of labile P were 54 and 63 mg kg−1, and those of moderately labile P were 48 and 49 mg kg−1, respectively, defined by the linear plateau model. In addition, the change points of labile P and moderately labile P were 99 and 70 mg kg−1, above which CaCl2-P content significantly increased. Moreover, long-term P input significantly accumulated different P fractions in the deeper soil layers up to 100 cm, with large portions of organic P being a composite of labile and moderately labile P, especially in MNPK treatment. Our results suggest that excessive P supply with organic manure resulted in massive P accumulation in the topsoil and promoted soil P fraction transformation and availability in the deep soil layers, especially in an organic P form that has often been neglected. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Development of superior quality cotton varieties is the only way to meet the demand for the fast-growing textile sector. Fifty interspecific lines were screened to select the diverse lines for expression analysis. Comparative expression and promoter analysis were carried out to comprehend the role of fibre genes (APX1, ATP Synthase, and GhMYB 25-like) in three interspecific lines (SL-19, SL-79 and SL-369) and three Gossypium species (Gossypium hirsutum, Gossypium arboreum & Gossypium anomalum). Among the interspecific lines, the maximum expression was noted in SL-19 for all fibre genes with varying levels at different fibre developmental stages while minimum fibre genes transcripts were present in SL-3.69. Among the species, maximum expression was noted in G. hirsutum while the minimum was noted in G. anomalum. The GhMYB25-like gene was involved in fibre initiation, showing its maximum expression at initial fibre development stages (0 & 5 DPA). APX1 and ATP synthase genes were involved in fibre elongation with more expression at 10 DPA & 15 DPA. Moreover, the identification of various important promoters in APX1, ATP synthase & GhMYB25-like genes was done which makes it an important tool for engineering extra-long fibre traits leading to the development of high-quality cotton varieties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In summary, this Special Topic provides an excellent overview and cross section of key challenges in the development of high-efficiency, high power, and long lifetime UV/DUV LEDs as well as the rapidly emerging area of UVB and UVC laser diodes. Recently, several groups have reported current-injection laser diodes in the UVB and UVC spectral region with emission wavelength as short as 272 nm.[[17]] Even though the demonstrated devices are still a long way from what is needed for practical systems, these breakthroughs illustrate that semiconductor UV/DUV laser diode technologies show great potential. Finally, Kondo I et al. i demonstrate high-power operation of AlGaN-based UVB laser diodes.[41] By improving the injection efficiency through modulation of the polarization charge at the interface between the p-side waveguide layer and the EBL, they were able to show pulsed laser diodes with a peak light output power of 150 mW at a lasing wavelength of 300 nm. Group III-nitride based light emitters in the ultraviolet (UV) and deep ultraviolet (DUV) spectral range are the fundamental building block for several key applications. [Extracted from the article]

The significance of nanomaterials in biomedicines served as the inspiration for the design of this study. In this particular investigation, we carried out the biosynthesis of calcium oxide nanoparticles (CaONPs) by employing a green-chemistry strategy and making use of an extract of Ficus carica (an edible fruit) as a capping and reducing agent. There is a dire need for new antimicrobial agents due to the alarming rise in antibiotic resistance. Nanoparticles' diverse antibacterial properties suggest that they might be standard alternatives to antimicrobial drugs in the future. We describe herein the use of a Ficus carica extract as a capping and reducing agent in the phyto-mediated synthesis of CaONPs for the evaluation of their antimicrobial properties. The phyto-mediated synthesis of NPs is considered a reliable approach due to its high yield, stability, non-toxicity, cost-effectiveness and eco-friendliness. The CaONPs were physiochemically characterized by UV-visible spectroscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX), scanning-electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The biological synthesis of the calcium oxide nanoparticles revealed a characteristic surface plasmon resonance peak (SPR) at 360 nm in UV-Vis spectroscopy, which clearly revealed the successful reduction of the Ca2+ ions to Ca0 nanoparticles. The characteristic FTIR peak seen at 767 cm−1 corresponded to Ca-O bond stretching and, thus, confirmed the biosynthesis of the CaONPs, while the scanning-electron micrographs revealed near-CaO aggregates with an average diameter of 84.87 ± 2.0 nm. The antibacterial and anti-biofilm analysis of the CaONPs showed inhibition of bacteria in the following order: P. aeruginosa (28 ± 1.0) > S. aureus (23 ± 0.3) > K. pneumoniae (18 ± 0.9) > P. vulgaris (13 ± 1.6) > E. coli (11 ± 0.5) mm. The CaONPs were shown to considerably inhibit biofilm formation, providing strong evidence for their major antibacterial activity. It is concluded that this straightforward environmentally friendly method is capable of synthesizing stable and effective CaONPs. The therapeutic value of CaONPs is indicated by their potential as a antibacterial and antibiofilm agents in future medications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, Shehu has introduced an integral transform called Shehu transform, which generalizes the two well-known integrals transforms, i.e. Laplace and Sumudu transform. In the literature, many integral transforms were used to compute the solution of integro-differential equations (IDEs). In this article, for the first time, we use Shehu transform for the computation of solution of nth-order IDEs. We present a general scheme of solution for nth-order IDEs. We give some examples with detailed solutions to show the appropriateness of the method. We present the accuracy, simplicity, and convergence of the proposed method through tables and graphs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Blind image super-resolution (Blind-SR) is the process of leveraging a low-resolution (LR) image, with unknown degradation, to generate its high-resolution (HR) version. Most of the existing blind SR techniques use a degradation estimator network to explicitly estimate the blur kernel to guide the SR network with the supervision of ground truth (GT) kernels. To solve this issue, it is necessary to design an implicit estimator network that can extract discriminative blur kernel representation without relying on the supervision of ground-truth blur kernels. We design a lightweight approach for blind super-resolution (Blind-SR) that estimates the blur kernel and restores the HR image based on a deep convolutional neural network (CNN) and a deep super-resolution residual convolutional generative adversarial network. Since the blur kernel for blind image SR is unknown, following the image formation model of blind super-resolution problem, we firstly introduce a neural network-based model to estimate the blur kernel. This is achieved by (i) a Super Resolver that, from a low-resolution input, generates the corresponding SR image; and (ii) an Estimator Network generating the blur kernel from the input datum. The output of both models is used in a novel loss formulation. The proposed network is end-to-end trainable. The methodology proposed is substantiated by both quantitative and qualitative experiments. Results on benchmarks demonstrate that our computationally efficient approach (12x fewer parameters than the state-of-the-art models) performs favorably with respect to existing approaches and can be used on devices with limited computational capabilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The advent of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the Internet of Things (IoT) have recently created previously unimaginable opportunities for boosting clinical and patient services, reducing costs and improving community health. Yet, a fundamental challenge that the modern healthcare management system faces is storing and securely transferring data. Therefore, this research proposes a novel Lionized remora optimization-based serpent (LRO-S) encryption method to encrypt sensitive data and reduce privacy breaches and cyber-attacks from unauthorized users and hackers. The LRO-S method is the combination of hybrid metaheuristic optimization and improved security algorithm. The fitness functions of lion and remora are combined to create a new algorithm for security key generation, which is provided to the serpent encryption algorithm. The LRO-S technique encrypts sensitive patient data before storing it in the cloud. The primary goal of this study is to improve the safety and adaptability of medical professionals' access to cloud-based patient-sensitive data more securely. The experiment's findings suggest that the secret keys generated are sufficiently random and one of a kind to provide adequate protection for the data stored in modern healthcare management systems. The proposed method minimizes the time needed to encrypt and decrypt data and improves privacy standards. This study found that the suggested technique outperformed previous techniques in terms of reducing execution time and is cost-effective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Date palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.) is a considerably beneficial and economically profitable fruit crop. Female date palm plants produce fruit that is rich in fiber and sugar. Date palm is propagated by two means: suckers and seed. The propagation of date palm through seeds is very necessary for germplasm conservation and breeding. The late reproductive age (4–5 years) and dioecious nature of date palm make genetic improvement and breeding difficult. Early sex determination is the only way to improve breeding by selecting experimental male and female plants at the seedling stage. The primers for Tapetum Determinant 1 (TPD1-like) were designed using Amplify software. The DNA amplification of selected date palm suckers of three genotypes (Ajwa, Amber, and Medjool) was observed through PCR. Expression profiling of selected genotypes was carried out through semi-q PCR and RT-PCR by using the cDNA of suckers and unknown seedlings. Different in silico analyses were performed for the gene and protein characterization and identification of cis-acting elements in the promoter region. The promoter was identified along with the protein's properties and functionality. The expression of TPD1-like gene was found in the leaves of three selected genotypes of male sucker and in some plants of selected unknown seedlings that are considered male plants, and no expression was observed in female suckers and unknown seedlings that are considered female plants. The findings suggested that the TPD1-like gene has the potential for sex differentiation at the seedling stage, as the TPD1-like gene is essential to the specialization of tapetal cells and plays a critical role in plant reproduction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Internet of Things (IoT) is one of the most widely used technologies today, and it has a significant effect on our lives in a variety of ways, including social, commercial, and economic aspects. In terms of automation, productivity, and comfort for consumers across a wide range of application areas, from education to smart cities, the present and future IoT technologies hold great promise for improving the overall quality of human life. However, cyber-attacks and threats greatly affect smart applications in the environment of IoT. The traditional IoT security techniques are insufficient with the recent security challenges considering the advanced booming of different kinds of attacks and threats. Utilizing artificial intelligence (AI) expertise, especially machine and deep learning solutions, is the key to delivering a dynamically enhanced and up-to-date security system for the next-generation IoT system. Throughout this article, we present a comprehensive picture on IoT security intelligence, which is built on machine and deep learning technologies that extract insights from raw data to intelligently protect IoT devices against a variety of cyber-attacks. Finally, based on our study, we highlight the associated research issues and future directions within the scope of our study. Overall, this article aspires to serve as a reference point and guide, particularly from a technical standpoint, for cybersecurity experts and researchers working in the context of IoT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This observational study assessed the prevalence of co-existing type 2 inflammatory conditions [T2Cs; asthma, atopic dermatitis (AD), allergic rhinitis, and chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps (CRSwNP)] in patients with moderate-to-severe (M/S) type 2 asthma, M/S CRSwNP, or M/S AD, in the real-world setting. Data from 761 physicians in the US and EUR5 were sourced from Adelphi Disease-Specific Programmes covering patients with M/S asthma (n = 899), M/S CRSwNP (n = 683), and M/S AD (n = 1497). At least one T2C was identified in 66%, 69%, and 46% of M/S asthma, M/S CRSwNP, and M/S AD cohorts, respectively, and 24%, 36% and 16% had at least two T2Cs; trends were similar in the US and EUR5. In patients with M/S asthma or M/S CRSwNP, T2Cs commonly presented as mild or moderate. The comorbidity burden suggests that an integrated treatment approach is warranted to address underlying type 2 inflammation in patients with M/S type 2 diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vibrio alginolyticus is a Gram-negative bacterium commonly associated with mackerel poisoning. A bacteriophage that specifically targets and lyses this bacterium could be employed as a biocontrol agent for treating the bacterial infection or improving the shelf-life of mackerel products. However, only a few well-characterized V. alginolyticus phages have been reported in the literature. In this study, a novel lytic phage, named ΦImVa-1, specifically infecting V. alginolyticus strain ATCC 17749, was isolated from Indian mackerel. The phage has a short latent period of 15 min and a burst size of approximately 66 particles per infected bacterium. ΦImVa-1 remained stable for 2 h at a wide temperature (27–75 °C) and within a pH range of 5 to 10. Transmission electron microscopy revealed that ΦImVa-1 has an icosahedral head of approximately 60 nm in diameter with a short tail, resembling those in the Schitoviridae family. High throughput sequencing and bioinformatics analysis elucidated that ΦImVa-1 has a linear dsDNA genome of 77,479 base pairs (bp), with a G + C content of ~ 38.72% and 110 predicted gene coding regions (106 open reading frames and four tRNAs). The genome contains an extremely large virion-associated RNA polymerase gene and two smaller non-virion-associated RNA polymerase genes, which are hallmarks of schitoviruses. No antibiotic genes were found in the ΦImVa-1 genome. This is the first paper describing the biological properties, morphology, and the complete genome of a V. alginolyticus-infecting schitovirus. When raw mackerel fish flesh slices were treated with ΦImVa-1, the pathogen loads reduced significantly, demonstrating the potential of the phage as a biocontrol agent for V. alginolyticus strain ATCC 17749 in the food. Key points: • A novel schitovirus infecting Vibrio alginolyticus ATCC 17749 was isolated from Indian mackerel. • The complete genome of the phage was determined, analyzed, and compared with other phages. • The phage is heat stable making it a potential biocontrol agent in extreme environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Bioinformatics Grand Challenges Consortium (BGCC) is a collaborative effort to address the most pressing challenges in bioinformatics. Initially focusing on education and training, the consortium successfully defined seven key grand challenges and is actively developing actionable solutions for these challenges. Building on this foundation, the BGCC plans to broaden its focus to include additional grand challenges in emerging areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Neuromyelitis optica is a relapsing–remitting disease characterized by a recurrent attack of optic neuritis and transverse myelitis; sometimes associated with acute brainstem syndrome. Systemic lupus erythematosus is an autoimmune multisystem disorder in which ocular involvement such as acute ischemic optic neuropathy is a rare manifestation. However, neuromyelitis optica can be associated with systemic lupus erythematosus. Case presentation: A 24-year-old Bangladeshi woman was admitted to the hospital with complaints of sudden, progressive, painless vision loss in both eyes, and progressive weakness in both lower limbs for 48 hours. She also gave a history of arthralgia, a photosensitive skin rash, intermittent fever, oral ulcerations, and alopecia for the last 2 months. On examination, the fundus was suggestive of bilateral acute ischemic neuropathy, and examinations of the lower limb revealed spastic paraparesis with sensory abnormality. Laboratory investigations revealed the presence of positive anti-aquaporin 4 antibody, strongly positive antinuclear antibody, and anti-ds DNA with the longitudinally extensive lesion on magnetic resonance imaging of the spinal cord. She was treated with methylprednisolone, hydroxychloroquine, and mycophenolate, and was discharged with improvement of her paraparesis. However, her vision did not improve substantially. Conclusion: The importance of this report is to shed some light on the occurrence of two devastating complications that is, bilateral acute ischemic optic neuropathy in systemic lupus erythematosus complicated by neuromyelitis optica, as well as evidence of rare presentations for systemic lupus erythematosus and treatment modalities of ischemic optic neuropathy with systemic lupus erythematosus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Paediatric pneumonia is a respiratory infection that affects infants and young children under the age of 3. This disease is the leading cause of infant and child mortality in developing countries because of the weak immune system of young children. The difficulty and length of time required to identify the pathogen and causative agent are the main reasons for this high mortality rate. In addition, the identification of certain causative agents is particularly important for the treatment of paediatric pneumonia. In this study, we explored the possible mechanisms by which pathogenic Enterococcus faecalis induced pneumonia in vivo. The potential virulence factors of bacteria isolated from the intestines of paediatric pneumonia patients were determined. Taken together, the results suggested that lysophosphatidic acid (LTA) from pathogenic E. faecalis decreases the expression of platelet-activating factor receptor (PAFR), which in turn disrupts the function of intestinal tight junctions (Occ and Ccldn1), leading to the entry of LE-LTA into the bloodstream because of the disruption of the intestinal barrier. Although LTA can enter circulation, it cannot directly infiltrate the lungs, which indicates that lung inflammation in mice is not caused by the direct entry of LE-LTA into the lungs. We further found that LTA activates immune cells, such as CD8 + T cells and type 2 innate lymphocytes, in vivo. Interleukin-6 and interleukin-17 can produce large amounts of inflammatory factors and thus promote the development of pneumonia. In conclusion, our findings demonstrate that the LTA of pathogenic E. faecalis in the intestine is a virulence factor that can cause paediatric pneumonia. This study found that intestinal bacterial virulence factors can induce immune responses in the lungs and blood. These findings could provide further insight into the mechanism of infectious diseases in the lung that are caused by bacteria in the intestine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To share experience feasibility and safety of pyeloplasty as day care procedure in pediatric patients. Study Design: Prospective Quasi Experimental study. Setting: Department of Urology, Saidu Teaching Hospital, Swat. Period: 1st July 2018 to 31st March 2020. Material & Methods: Pediatric patients presented with complaints of pelviureteric junction obstruction (PUJO) were carefully selected for day care pyeloplasty. They were electively admitted on the same day and operated in the morning hours and discharged after check by the operating surgeon if they fulfill criteria for day care surgery. Results: A total of 82 patients were planned for pyeloplasty 86.16% patients selected for day care surgery and discharged within 12 hours while 13% patients were admitted for 24 hour or more. Among day care patients 4.2% were readmitted for social reasons, 2.8 % patients had fever and admitted to in patient facility for intravenous antibiotics. 1.4% patients readmitted for gross hematuria and managed conservatively, 4.2% patient were complaining of pain and adjusted pain medication on outpatient basis and 4.2% patients had telephonic contact for stent symptoms and were reassured. Conclusion: Day care pyeloplasty is safe and cost effective procedure in careful selected pediatric patients who were complaining of symptoms due to PUJO. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research presents a new Simulated Annealing based stochastic optimisation algorithm to integrate geological uncertainty into the optimization process through multiple equiprobable simulated realisations of an orebody while considering stockpiling options and other relevant constraints. The stockpiling option is included, increasing the chances of processing high-grade and most certain ore blocks in early periods. The efficiency of the proposed algorithm in creating a single good enough production schedule that minimises the risk of deviation from production targets while maximising the net present value of the operation is demonstrated through three case studies, i.e. case A with 2448 blocks, B with 6,578 and C with 10,810 blocks. The comparison of results with the two-stage stochastic model reveals that the proposed methodology reduces the risk of production deviation to a minimal and provides a near-optimal solution with an optimality gap of 3.53, −0.87, and 8.19% for cases A, B, and C within a reasonable amount of time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With more than half of the humans on the planet becoming internet users, the amount of information created and accessed is enormous. The Internet has become the most popular medium and source for seeking information. The information-seeking behavior is exhibiting itself. In Kashmir, India – users, businesses, and institutions use Internet to access and disseminate information. But, information blockades seem to hamper the seeking and delivering of information. Information blockades have become an increasing occurrence in various countries worldwide. Most often imposed in regions that witness some form of instability, such as economic or political; information blockades disrupt the primary communication channels. However, studies exploring the relationship between information-seeking behavior and information blockades are scarce. This study is a novel call for focusing research endeavors on information-seeking behavior and its antithetical counterpart, i.e. Information blockade. This paper uses various statistical resources and employs an intensive content analysis method to analyze the literature and identify key themes and patterns of research undertaken on information-seeking behavior and information blockades, especially in Kashmir, India. For the current discourse, ostensibly, the two phenomena have an antithetical relationship and more studies need to be conducted to understand the dynamics of how these two phenomena co-exist. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To share experience feasibility and safety of pyeloplasty as day care procedure in pediatric patients. Study Design: Prospective Quasi Experimental study. Setting: Department of Urology, Saidu Teaching Hospital, Swat. Period: 1st July 2018 to 31st March 2020. Material & Methods: Pediatric patients presented with complaints of pelviureteric junction obstruction (PUJO) were carefully selected for day care pyeloplasty. They were electively admitted on the same day and operated in the morning hours and discharged after check by the operating surgeon if they fulfill criteria for day care surgery. Results: A total of 82 patients were planned for pyeloplasty 86.16% patients selected for day care surgery and discharged within 12 hours while 13% patients were admitted for 24 hour or more. Among day care patients 4.2% were readmitted for social reasons, 2.8 % patients had fever and admitted to in patient facility for intravenous antibiotics. 1.4% patients readmitted for gross hematuria and managed conservatively, 4.2% patient were complaining of pain and adjusted pain medication on outpatient basis and 4.2% patients had telephonic contact for stent symptoms and were reassured. Conclusion: Day care pyeloplasty is safe and cost effective procedure in careful selected pediatric patients who were complaining of symptoms due to PUJO. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fertilization and cultivation management strongly affect crop productivity, alter soil nutrient availability, and influence microbial communities, leading to substantial stoichiometric imbalances. However, how these practices reflect the potential nutrient limitation of soil microbes in agricultural ecosystems remains unclear. Herein, soil samples (0–10 and 10–20 cm) from a maize crop subjected to a 15-year long-term field experiment considering five different treatments (no fertilizer + downslope cultivation, combined manure and mineral fertilizers + downslope cultivation, mineral fertilizer alone + downslope cultivation, 1.5-fold mineral fertilizer + downslope cultivation and mineral fertilizer + contour cultivation representing CK, T1, T2, T3 and T4, respectively) were deployed on a 15° purple soil sloping farmland to explore the potential microbial resource limitation using various extracellular enzyme stoichiometry (EES) approaches. Our results revealed that fertilization practices (i.e., T1, T2, T3, and T4) significantly influenced extracellular enzyme activity (EEA), particularly in T1 and T3 at the 0–10 and 10–20 cm soil depths. The mean natural logarithms of the EES ratio across the treatments were 1.23:1.34:1.00 at 0–10 cm and 1.23:1.32:1.00 at 10–20 cm depths, deviating from the overall global mean of 1:1:1, suggesting an imbalance in microbial resources. Based on the calculations of threshold elemental ratio (TER) and available resource ratios (R C:N – TER C: N > 0), scatter plots of EES (below the 1:1 line) and vector angle (<45°) revealed that fertilization and cultivation management alleviated microbial N limitation. Furthermore, a strong homeostasis analysis of N:P and a significant increase in the N:P stoichiometry imbalance also synthetically supported N limitation from soil microbes. Heatmap correlation and random forest analysis showed that C:N, EES C:N and N:P stoichiometry imbalances were the main factors influencing microbial N limitation. Based on partial least squares path modeling (PLS-PM), soil EEA was the driving factor that induced microbial N limitation. These findings enable greater comprehension of the status of microbial resource limitation by considering the EEA stoichiometry approach under fertilization and cultivation management and provide insight into regulating soil nutrient cycling (i.e., N cycle) mediated by soil ecological processes and adjusting their management in similar intense agroecosystems worldwide. • Fertilization and cultivation management resulted in widespread microbial N limitation. • EEA and EES could be a useful approach to reflect microbial resource limitation. • The soil EES of the natural log C:N:P ratio was unbalanced. • EEA, C:N, and EES C:N were the main factors driving microbial N limitation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transient negative capacitance effects in epitaxial ferroelectric Pb(Zr0.2Ti0.8)O3 capacitors are investigated with a focus on the dynamical switching behavior governed by domain nucleation and growth. Voltage pulses are applied to a series connection of the ferroelectric capacitor and a resistor to directly measure the ferroelectric negative capacitance during switching. A time-dependent Ginzburg-Landau approach is used to investigate the underlying domain dynamics. The transient negative capacitance is shown to originate from reverse domain nucleation and unrestricted domain growth. However, with the onset of domain coalescence, the capacitance becomes positive again. The persistence of the negative capacitance state is therefore limited by the speed of domain wall motion. By changing the applied electric field, capacitor area or external resistance, this domain wall velocity can be varied predictably over several orders of magnitude. Additionally, detailed insights into the intrinsic material properties of the ferroelectric are obtainable through these measurements. A new method for reliable extraction of the average negative capacitance of the ferroelectric is presented. Furthermore, a simple analytical model is developed, which accurately describes the negative capacitance transient time as a function of the material properties and the experimental boundary conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nanofluids, maneuvered by the steady augmentation of metallic and non-metallic identities to nano-size in a fundamental liquid including upgraded heat absorption, show precedence regarding effective heat control at the nano-level. Besides increased heat absorption-gravity, segmentation, ballistic conduction, inter-stage frictional force, unsteady shear count, diffusion, particle shift due to adhesiveness, and coating at the meeting surface of solid and liquid, it plays an essential part in increasing thermal efficiency. The hydrogenated properties related to nanofluids are resolved through the combined effect of comparative modification in thermophysical characteristics susceptible to various factors like particle magnitude, substance and density, base liquid characteristics and acid value, liquid fever, and supplements. As a result, typical correlations stand ineffective in detailing peculiarities regarding nanofluids, and some studies led to the development concerning the transfer of heat and coefficient of friction relationship for various consolidations of nano-solution and working parameters. However, some researchers certified conventional friction factor models for nanofluids, though, some conflicting studies focused on the retribution in pressure reduction because nano-sized particles were big enough to be ignored. The basic theme attributed to this paper involves analyzing the study evolution for heat exchange and reduction in pressure interrelation for nano-solution using different analytical and constraints (working parameters). Additionally, a thorough analogy regarding heat transfer interdependency recommended for the same configuration and drift parameters is granted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, the advanced driver assistance system (ADAS) of autonomous vehicles (AVs) has offered substantial benefits to drivers. Improvement of passenger safety is one of the key factors for evolving AVs. An automated system provided by the ADAS in autonomous vehicles is a salient feature for passenger safety in modern vehicles. With an increasing number of electronic control units and a combination of multiple sensors, there are now sufficient computing aptitudes in the car to support ADAS deployment. An ADAS is composed of various sensors: radio detection and ranging (RADAR), cameras, ultrasonic sensors, and LiDAR. However, continual use of multiple sensors and actuators of the ADAS can lead to failure of AV sensors. Thus, prognostic health management (PHM) of ADAS is important for smooth and continuous operation of AVs. The PHM of AVs has recently been introduced and is still progressing. There is a lack of surveys available related to sensor-based PHM of AVs in the literature. Therefore, the objective of the current study was to identify sensor-based PHM, emphasizing different fault identification and isolation (FDI) techniques with challenges and gaps existing in this field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A large component of the Health Information Systems now comprises numerous independent apps created in the past that need to be merged to provide a more uniform service. In addition to affecting the Intelligent Health Board Functionality and dependability, the quality of these additional apps may also have an impact. A critical characteristic of the SHS's management and upkeep is the SHS's reliance on the real benefits provided to it. In speaking, an HMIS (Healthcare Management Information System) is a computer-based device that benefits medical practitioners to perform their duties more efficiently by coordinating all of their data. Even though these systems are widely used by most of the world, there is a significant need to comprehend these technologies and indeed the potential they provide. Healthcare data warehouses in Saudi Arabia have evolved through time, and this research examines how key service improvements in Saudi present varied viewpoints on how premium initiative help may be attained in health as well as how this could be done. When it comes to understanding how different types of medical professionals interact with healthcare systems throughout history, researchers developed stages of the maturity model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bioactive peptides are naturally found in various foods and were shown to have various distinct physiological as well as medicinal benefits. In this study shrimp peptide hydrolysate (SPH) was prepared to investigate its immunomodulatory effect against cyclophosphamide (CTX) induced immunosuppressed mice. The SPH effect was also analyzed on murine macrophage (RAW264.7 cells). The findings show that SPH stimulates macrophages to form multiple pseudopodia, has no cytotoxic effect, and increases phagocytic activity in RAW264.7 cells. Furthermore, the immunosuppressed in‐vivo model illustrates the improvement in various aspects, that is body weight, escalation in immune organ index, and ameliorates histopathological transformation of thymus along with the spleen. SPH enhances cell‐mediated immunity by facilitating splenocyte proliferation and inhibit excessive apoptosis. Moreover, the significant outcome had been observed with the upregulation of cytokines interferon‐gamma (IFN‐ϒ), interleukin‐2 (IL‐2) level and simultaneously downregulate certain genes include interleukin‐4 (IL‐4) and interleukin‐10 (IL‐10). Additionally, SPH expedites cellular immunity by enhancing the regulation of immunoglobulin A (IgA) and immunoglobulin M (IgM). However, these findings support the hypothesis that SPH is an effective immunomodulatory agent capable of preventing immune system hypofunction. It is necessary to investigate the detailed mechanism to rule out any unforeseen effects of SPH in future research. Practical applications: Chemotherapy medications, despite their dominating detrimental effects of damaging immunological organs such as the spleen and thymus, extend the treatment process as well as the destruction of the self‐immune system. This study found that SPH is an effective immunomodulatory agent capable of avoiding immune organ hypofunction and improving cell mediate immunity by enhancing macrophage activation, phagocytosis, spleenocyte proliferation, suppressing apoptosis, and elevating cytokines and antibodies. As a result, SPH can be utilized as a nutritional and functional dietary supplement to boost immunological modulation in combination with chemotherapy medications in order to lessen their adverse effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Edible mushrooms have now been suggested as promising sources of biological functional ingredients and are the subject of the most recent nutrition research and novel functional foods. Polysaccharides from mushrooms exhibit impressive biological effects, notably against obesity. Obesity is a chronic metabolic disorder characterized by chronic inflammation, gut dysbiosis, and hyperpermeability of the colon. Here, we prove that mushrooms Morchella esculenta polysaccharide (MEP) effects on HFD-induced obesity, colonic inflammation, and gut microbiota dysbiosis. Our findings demonstrate MEP supplementation attenuates obesity parameters and reduces inflammation in the colon via regulation of Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4), nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), and inactivation of nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB). Furthermore, MEP administration restores gut microbiota dysregulation by ameliorating Firmicutes to Bacteroidetes proportion as well as enhancing beneficial bacteria, like Lactobacillus, and inhibiting pathogenic bacteria like Enterococcus. MEP improves gut integrity by increasing tight junction proteins (TJs) and reducing endotoxin levels by controlling Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) in HFD-induced obese mice. These results demonstrated the therapeutic efficacy of MEP in attenuating HFD-induced obesity via regulating inflammatory cascades, ameliorating the gut microbiome, and modulating gut integrity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the present paper, some error bounds for weighted Ostrowski–Grüss type inequalities are found by using the weighted Čebyšev functional and Diaz–Metcalf inequality. These bounds give some better and new estimates. Applications are also obtained for numerical integration. Furthermore, this paper recaptures some previous established results as its special cases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The estimated 30 million children and adults are suffering with diabetes across the world. A person with diabetes can recognize several symptoms, and it can also be tested using retina image as diabetes also affects the human eye. The doctor is usually able to detect retinal changes quickly and can help prevent vision loss. Therefore, regular eye examinations are very important. Diabetes is a chronic disease that affects various parts of the human body including the retina. It can also be considered as major cause for blindness in developed countries. This paper deals with classification of retinal image into diabetes or not with the help of deep learning algorithms and architecture. Hence, deep learning is beneficial for classification of medical images specifically such a complex image of human retina. A large number of image data are considered throughout the project on which classification is performed by using binary classifier. On applying certain deep learning algorithms, model results into the training accuracy of 96.68% and validation accuracy of 66.82%. Diabetic retinopathy can be considered as an effective and efficient method for diabetes detection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we obtain new Ostrowski type inequalities by using the extended version of Montgomery identity and Green's functions. We also give estimations of the difference between two integral means. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The gut microbiota is important in regulating host metabolism, maintaining physiology, and protecting immune homeostasis. Gut microbiota dysbiosis affects the development of the gut microenvironment, as well as the onset of various external systemic diseases and metabolic syndromes. Cyclophosphamide (CTX) is a commonly used chemotherapeutic drug that suppresses the host immune system, intestinal mucosa inflammation, and dysbiosis of the intestinal flora. Immunomodulators are necessary to enhance the immune system and prevent homeostasis disbalance and cytotoxicity caused by CTX. In this study, shrimp peptide hydrolysate (SPH) was evaluated for immunomodulation, intestinal integration, and microbiota in CTX-induced immunosuppressed mice. It was observed that SPH would significantly restore goblet cells and intestinal mucosa integrity, modulate the immune system, and increase relative expression of mRNA and tight-junction associated proteins (Occludin, Zo-1, Claudin-1, and Mucin-2). It also improved gut flora and restored the intestinal microbiota ecological balance by removing harmful microbes of various taxonomic groups. This would also increase the immune organs index, serum levels of cytokines (IFN-γ, IL1β, TNF-α, IL-6), and immunoglobin levels (IgA, IgM). The Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes proportion was decreased in CTX-induced mice. Finally, SPH would be recommended as a functional food source with a modulatory effect not only on intestinal microbiota, but also as a potential health-promoting immune function regulator. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A supervised machine learning framework is proposed for local assessments of delamination and transducer debonding in smart composite laminates while using their low-frequency structural vibrations. Load independent discriminative features were identified through a system identification algorithm and several supervised machine learning algorithms were employed to distinguish between the healthy and damaged structures. Linear discriminant analysis was shown to outperform other classifiers. The issue of overfitting of the training data was addressed by evaluating the predictive performance of the classifier on independent test cases. The proposed approach could help provide insightful guidelines for the assessment of multidamages in smart composite laminates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drought is one of the major abiotic stresses that significantly reduces seed cotton yield worldwide. Therefore, Drought tolerance is a complex phenomenon that comprises a combination of morphological and physiological parameters which results in the enhancement of drought tolerance in cotton. Therefore, in the present study 150 cotton genotypes were evaluated for drought tolerance by planting at two water regimes i.e., normal water and limited water conditions. Data were recorded for morphological and physiological parameters i.e. root fresh length (FRL), shoot fresh length (FSL), lateral root numbers (LRN), root fresh weight (FRW), shoot fresh weight (FSW), shoot dry weight (DSW), weight /length ratio(W), root dry weight (DRW), plant weight (PW), the difference in shoot fresh weight and shoot dry weight (SDWR), stomatal conductance (SC), canopy temperature (CT), water potential (WP), osmotic potential (OP) and relative water contents (RWC) at the seedling stage. Principal component analysis (PCA) of seedling at normal water conditions explained PCA1 35.21% and PCA2 15.25% of the total variance. The cluster analysis of the recorded data for the morpho-physiological parameters grouped 150 genotypes into six clusters. First Cluster included 16 cotton genotypes, 2nd cluster having 44, clusters 3, 4, 5, and 6 contains 22, 52, 10, and 6 genotypes respectively. In water stress conditions PCA1 containing 18 cotton genotypes, 2nd cluster having of 32 cotton genotypes, clusters 3, 4, 5, and 6 contain 14, 35, 30, and 21 genotypes, respectively. The use of morpho-physiological seedling traits associated with drought resistance can facilitate breeding strategies to evolve cotton genotypes having tolerance against drought stress in the changing climatic conditions. Screening of available cotton genotypes for drought tolerance in controlled greenhouse conditions can shorten the duration with improvement in efficiency for screening. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To compare the efficacy of total laryngeal anesthesia and simple local anesthesia during awake fiberoptic bronchoscopy. Study Design: Quasi-experimental study. Place and Duration of Study: Department of Pulmonology, Combined Military Hospital Lahore, from Jan to Jul 2020. Methodology: A total of 70 patients, who were undergoing fiberoptic bronchoscopy were divided into two groups. Group-I patients were given topical anesthesia with 2% Lignocaine while group-II patients, in addition to topical Lignocaine, had 2% Lignocaine injected into bilateral internal laryngeal nerves for total laryngeal anesthesia. Assessment of efficacy of anesthesia was evaluated by Reasoner scale. Results: In group-I, 26 (74.28%) patients showed mild or moderate cough and gagging during stage-1. Fifteen (42.85%) patients showed moderate cough and gagging that interfered with the procedure during stage-2 and 19 (54.28%) patients showed mild cough or gagging that did not interfere with the procedure in stage-3. In group-II, 17 (48.57%) patients exhibited mild cough or gagging during stage-1. Sixteen (45.71%) exhibited mild cough or gagging that did not interfere with the procedure during stage-2 with all the patients showing either no cough or mild cough and gagging that did not interfere with the procedure during stage-3. More patients of group-II 32 (91.42%) agreed to a repeat test if required medically as compared to group-I 28 (80%). Conclusion: Patients undergoing fiberoptic bronchoscopy who underwent total laryngeal anesthesia and sedation, in addition to topical anesthesia experienced less cough and gagging than those receiving only local anesthesia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In-package DRAM-based Last-Level-Caches (LLCs) that cache data in small chunks (i.e., blocks) are promising for improving system performance due to their efficient main memory bandwidth utilization. However, in these high-capacity DRAM caches, managing metadata (i.e., tags) at low cost is challenging. Storing the tags in SRAM has the advantage of quick tag access but is impractical due to a large area overhead. Storing the tags in DRAM reduces the area overhead but incurs tag serialization latency for an associative LLC design, which is inevitable for achieving high cache hit rate. To address the area and latency overhead problem, we propose a block-based DRAM LLC design that decouples tag and data into two regions in DRAM. Our design stores the tags in a latency-optimized DRAM region as the tags are accessed more often than the data. In contrast, we optimize the data region for area efficiency and map spatially-adjacent cache blocks to the same DRAM row to exploit spatial locality. Our design mitigates the tag serialization latency of existing associative DRAM LLCs via selective in-DRAM tag comparison, which overlaps the latency of tag and data accesses. This efficiently enables LLC bypassing via a novel DRAM Absence Table (DAT) that not only provides fast LLC miss detection but also reduces in-package bandwidth requirements. Our evaluation using SPEC2006 benchmarks shows that our tag-data decoupled LLC improves system performance by 11.7 percent compared to a state-of-the-art direct-mapped LLC design and by 7.2 percent compared to an existing associative LLC design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Patient perspective is an important and increasingly sought-after complement to clinical assessment. The aim of this study was to transcribe individual patients' experience of treatment in a dupilumab clinical trial through free-text responses with analysis using natural language processing (NLP) to obtain the unique perspective of patients on disease impact and unmet needs with existing treatment to inform future trial design. Patients and Methods: Patients with chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps (CRSwNP) who were enrolled in a Phase IIa randomized controlled trial comparing dupilumab with placebo (NCT01920893) were invited to complete a self-assessment of treatment (SAT) tool at the end of treatment, asking, "What is your opinion on the treatment you had during the trial? What did you like or dislike about the treatment?" Free-text responses were analyzed for the overall cohort and according to treatment assignment using natural language processing including sentiment scoring. In a mixed-methods approach, quantitative patient-reported outcome (PRO) results were utilized to complement the qualitative analysis of free-text responses. Results: Of 60 patients enrolled in the study, 43 (71.6%) completed the SAT and responses from 37 patients were analyzed (placebo, n = 16; dupilumab, n = 21). Word analyses showed that the most common words were "smell," "improve," "staff," "great," "time," and "good." Across the whole cohort, "smell" was the most common symptom-related word. The words "smell" and "experience" were more likely to occur in patients treated with dupilumab. Patients treated with dupilumab also had more positive sentiment in their SAT responses than those who received placebo. The results from this qualitative analysis were reflected in quantitative PRO results. Conclusion: "Smell" was important to patients with CRSwNP, highlighting its importance as a patient-centric efficacy outcome measure in the context of clinical trials in CRSwNP. Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT01920893. Registered 12 August 2013, https://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT01920893. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to introduce a new modification of Lupas operators in the frame of post quantum setting and to investigate their approximation properties. First using the relations between q-calculus and post quantum calculus, the post quantum analogue of operators constructed will be linear and positive but will not follow Korovkin's theorem. Hence a new modification of q-Lupas operators is constructed which will preserve test functions. Based on these modification of operators, approximation properties have been investigated. Further, the rate of convergence of operators by mean of modulus of continuity and functions belonging to the Lipschitz class as well as Peetre's K-functional are studied. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Agronomic biofortification with iron (Fe) in tomatoes has emerged as a promising strategy to combat global iron deficiency. Iron is essential for human health and plays a critical role in the growth and development of crops. This study aimed to determine the optimal dose of Fe for tomato biofortification and assess its impact on its growth, yield and quality attributes, particularly the fruit’s Fe content. A greenhouse experiment was conducted using tomato hybrids Sandal and Sahel, applying Fe foliar treatments at concentrations of 0, 1, 3, 6 and 9 mM Fe per plant. The results demonstrated that foliar application of 6 mM Fe significantly enhanced the tomato’s growth, yield and quality, while markedly increasing the fruit’s Fe content to 30.07 and 34.1 mg kg−1 in Sandal and Sahel hybrids, respectively. These values were substantially higher than those of the control treatment with Fe contents of 14.77 and 15.0 mg kg−1, respectively. However, higher doses of Fe (> 6 mM Fe per plant) showed adverse effects on growth, yield, and quality. Foliar application of iron proved an effective and economical solution, readily integrated into commercial tomato production, offering farmers a practical method to produce Fe-biofortified tomatoes and combat iron deficiency-linked malnutrition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractIodine (I) is a beneficial micronutrient for crop plants and essential for human health, yet approximately two billion people worldwide suffer from I deficiency, resulting in significant health issues. Agricultural soils often lack sufficient I, resulting in crops with low I content. However, tomatoes have shown potential to accumulate I when supplemented externally, making them an ideal candidate for I biofortification, particularly as an alternative to iodized salt for individuals on low-sodium diets. This two-year greenhouse pot experiment evaluated the effectiveness of foliar application of potassium iodide (KI) in biofortifying two commercial tomato hybrids. Different concentrations of I (0, 1, 3, 6, and 9 mM/plant) were applied as foliar treatments to assess their effects on physiological parameters, yield attributes, and quality traits, especially I enrichment in tomato fruit. The results demonstrated that foliar application of KI significantly increased fruit I contents at concentrations that also promoted overall plant growth and development. These findings underscored the efficient translocation of I through the phloem in tomatoes. I enrichment in tomato fruits ranged up to 5.27 mg/kg, exceeding the recommended daily allowance (RDA) of 150 μg/day. Even lower doses of 1–3 mM KI were effective in achieving significant I enrichment suitable for biofortification programs. In conclusion, tomato emerged as an excellent candidate for agronomic biofortification with I due to the practicality, and affordability of foliar application. The study highlights the potential of foliar I application as a feasible strategy for addressing global I deficiency, emphasizing its suitability for widespread adoption by farmers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we present new perturbed inequalities of Ostrowskitype, for twice differentiable functions with absolutely continuous first derivative and second-order derivative in some Lp-space for 1< P < ∞. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, we would like to state generalized results related to well-known Hermite -- Hadamard dual inequality for p--convex functions using the newly introduced notion of (s; r)--convexity (s--convex function in mixed kind) with different techniques. Hence various established and new results would be captured as special case. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Groundwater heavy metal pollution is a major concern all around the world. For the assessment of heavy metals and physico-chemical characteristics, groundwater samples were collected from different locations of the Karak District, Pakistan. With the help of the global information system device (GIS), groundwater samples were collected and studied from 47 locations. The present study focused on the water table (WT), water source depth (WSD), pH, electrical conductivity (EC), dissolved oxygen (DO), total dissolved solids (TDS), lead (Pb(II)), silver (Ag(I)), iron (Fe(II)) and chromium (Cr(VI)) parameters. Heavy metals were analyzed by the Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer (AAS). The Pearson's matrix of correlation showed relationships between several parameters, such as the EC and the TDS which had close interactions between all the three different groundwater samples (collected by hand pump (HP), bore holes (BH) and tube wells (TW)). The strong correlation was detected in all the sources of water between the TDS and the EC, the regression coefficient (r) of which was 1. In the hierarchical clustering (by dendrograms) the HP samples show two clusters: Cluster 1 contains seven parameters and Cluster 2 has four parameters. The BH samples have two clusters: Cluster 1 contains three parameters and Cluster 2 has eight parameters. The TW dendrogram also shows two clusters: Cluster 1 contains six parameters while Cluster 2 has five parameters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With increased penetration of the converter dominated renewables, the overall inertial response and frequency stability of the power grid has been reduced. Low inertia contributes to maximum frequency deviations with higher rate of change of frequency that undermines the reliability of the power system. In the case of type-4 grid connected wind turbines, the kinetic energy of the rotor cannot be directly used to mitigate frequency excursions in the AC grid since fully-rated converters decouple the grid from the turbine rotor. Nonetheless, by designing an adequate control system for full converters, emulated inertia of the rotor can be propagated to the grid. In this paper, we present inertia emulation control strategy based on second order differential equation analogous to the swing equation of classical synchronous machines employed in machine side converter of the permanent magnet synchronous generator wind turbines. The proposed control allows the management of virtual inertia, damping and reactance. The performance of the proposed controller is verified through time-domain simulations and eigenvalue analysis performed in MATLAB Simulink. • The proposed control emulates SMs' behaviour and renders inertia support to the grid. • Unlike typical inertia controllers, proposed scheme does not rely on derivative term. • Enables power oscillation damping without affecting the steady state of the frequency. • Offers better RoCoF mitigation, and nadir improvement over PD-based controllers. • Its features include simple control design, easily scalable, efficient, and reliable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]