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The presence of dyes in wastewater poses a significant environmental challenge due to their permanence toxicity and potential to harm ecosystems. Because of their high porosity and adjustable characteristics, metal‐organic frameworks (MOFs) have become attractive materials for effective dye removal. Among various MOFs, zeolitic imidazolate frameworks (ZIFs) have garnered significant attention, especially ZIF‐8, for its excellent stability, significant porosity, adjustable pore size and remarkable adsorption capacity. This review article provides a comprehensive overview of recent advances in the implementation of ZIF‐8 and its composites for the removal of pollutants from wastewater. The various synthesis methods, structural characteristics and dye adsorption performance of ZIF‐8 and its composites are discussed. Furthermore, impact of the different factors such as pH, temperature, dye concentration, contact time etc. were also highlighted. Moreover, the detailed adsorption mechanism was also discussed. Finally, the current challenges and future perspectives in the production of materials based on ZIF‐8 for the removal of dyes were also presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urothelial cell carcinoma (UCC) is the ninth most common cancer that accounts for 4.7% of all new cancer cases globally. UCC development and progression are due to complex and stochastic genetic programs. To study the cascades of molecular events underlying the poor prognosis that may lead to limited treatment options for advanced disease and resistance to conventional therapies in UCC, transcriptomics technology (RNA‐Seq), a method of analyzing the RNA content of a sample using modern high‐throughput sequencing platforms has been employed. Here, we review the principles of RNA‐Seq technology and summarize recent studies on human bladder cancer that employed this technique to unravel the pathogenesis of the disease, identify biomarkers, discover pathways and classify the disease state. We list the commonly used computational platforms and software that are publicly available for RNA‐Seq analysis. Moreover, we discussed the future perspectives for RNA‐Seq studies on bladder cancer and recommended the application of a new technology called single‐cell sequencing to further understand the disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to study the nexus between government effectiveness and socioeconomic equity, which leads to a sustainable social protection system. We have empirically investigated the nexus through a panel data set of 46 developing countries for a period of 20 years. Developing countries face socio-economic inequity due to ineffective government policies leads to the collapse of the social protection system. We have developed an index of sustainable protection systems using the Keyser Meyer Olkin Methodology used as a sampling adequacy. We found a positive association between government effectiveness and social protection systems in developing countries. However, a weak mechanism may cause the poor implementation of sustainable social protection needs utmost policy maneuvers in those countries. There is a need for capacity building of government institutions to improve their effectiveness. Action should be taken that promotes transparency, accountability, and good governance practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The stainless-steel orthopaedic implants used for the management of various types of fracture internal fixations are very expensive; this makes their utilization in food animals relatively noneconomical. There is a need to have an improvised implant that is cheaper and available for use in food animals to manage complicated fractures requiring open reduction and internal fixation. The objective of this study is to evaluate the haematological and biochemical changes following the reduction of stable femoral fractures in goats using conventional (Kirschner pin) and improvised chrome vanadium-coated long crews. Twelve apparently healthy Red Sokoto bucks were randomly divided into two groups of six (n=6) were used for this study. A transverse femoral diaphyseal fracture was created using orthopaedic wire in both groups. In group A, a conventional Kirschner pin size 4.0x125 mm2, single trocar, non-threaded, was used to immobilize the fracture, while in group B, an improvised test chrome vanadium (long screw) size 2.3 mm was used for the fracture immobilizations. Blood samples were collected before fracture induction at the base line, serving as a control. The haematological and biochemical assessments were performed at 0 weeks (immediate postoperative) and subsequently at 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 and 12 weeks postoperatively. Packed cell volume (PCV%), haemoglobin concentration (Hb), red blood cell count (RBCs), white blood cell count (WBCs) and differential leukocytic count (neutrophils, lymphocytes and monocytes) were evaluated. Also, serum activity of alkaline phosphatase (ALP), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) was detected. Besides, serum calcium, phosphorous and creatinine levels were evaluated. There were no significant differences between the two groups in PCV, haemoglobin, RBCs, WBCs and neutrophils, and the values were within the normal range. However, lymphocytes and monocytes were significantly (p<0.05) different at weeks 2 and 6, respectively. Biochemical parameters revealed significant (p<0.05) changes in serum ALT (weeks 0, 2, 4), ALP (week 6), creatinine (weeks 10 and 12), and calcium (week 2) at some postoperative intervals. However, no variations were observed in serum AST and phosphorous, which were within the normal range. The improvised chrome vanadium (Long screw) can be used safely in goats for the management of stable femoral fractures without significant adverse changes to hemato-biochemical profiles within twelve weeks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bilateral debt swap is an innovative global financing mechanism designed to support heavily indebted countries (HICs). It is a debt-restructuring process involving donor countries forgiving debt owed by HICs in exchange for commitments to undertake projects on environment and socio-economic development. It is a unique approach designed to help heavily indebted countries get back on their feet. Effective debt swap financing can lead to both economic growth and environment sustainability, but they are challenging to implement. This study examines the impact of bilateral debt swap financing on economic growth and environment sustainability. For the purpose, we have used debt swap index developed with Kaiser–Meyer–Olkin (KMO) methodology. KMO widely used approach of Principle Component Analysis (PCA) to solve the problem of "over-identification" and make strong correlation among endogenous variables of interest. In order to validate the nexus empirically between bilateral debt swap financing with economic growth and environment sustainability, we have employed the Two-Step System Generalized Method of Moments (SYS-GMM) approach in 25 countries for the period of 2002 to 2021. This modern econometric method addresses endogeneity issues and controls for unobserved heterogeneity in panel data. At the same time, the technique addresses the simultaneity problem, reverse causality, and remove selection bias. Findings of the study shows that effective bilateral debt swap financing can boost economic growth and environment sustainability by investing domestic resources for targeted activities along with reduced debt burden. Empirical results reveal that 1% change in debt swap financing can lead to a maximum of 0.23% growth in the economy and 0.28% improvement in environment sustainability. However, it is important to note that in most empirical specifications, results are inconclusive. One possible reason for this is often ineffective debt swap practices coupled with inadequate monitoring and evaluation in HICs. Policymakers should focus on enhancing debt swap policies to promote economic growth and environment sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The occurrence of equatorial spread F (ESF) has the potential to detrimentally impact space-based technological systems. This study investigates the utility of ionosondes in forecasting the incidence of post-sunset ESF in the zonal direction, utilizing observational data obtained from four ionosondes located near the magnetic Equator in Southeast Asia. Data were collected during the equinox seasons (March–April and September–October) between 2003 and 2020. To establish a relationship between the probability of post-sunset ESF occurrence and the evening vertical plasma drift (v), a logistic regression model was employed. Post-sunset ESF occurrence is defined as the presence of ESF during the time window between 19:00 and 21:00 LT, while v is derived from the average time derivative of virtual heights during the interval from 18:30 to 19:00 LT. Results indicate that the probability of post-sunset ESF occurrence approaches zero, signifying that ESF is unlikely to develop when v is negative. Conversely, when v exceeds 30 m/s, the probability of post-sunset ESF occurrence surpasses 0.87, indicating that ESF occurs almost invariably. The likelihood of post-sunset ESF occurrence reaches 1 when v equals or exceeds 40 m/s. Utilizing this model, the study determined that a single ionosonde positioned at the Equator can effectively forecast the incidence of post-sunset ESF up to a longitudinal distance of 30° from its location. The accuracy of ionosondes in predicting post-sunset ESF occurrence above their respective locations is approximately 0.80, with a 10% decrease in accuracy when forecasting ESF occurrence at longitudinal distances of 30°. In conclusion, this study enhances our understanding of the link between the evening vertical plasma drift and the manifestation of post-sunset ESF by leveraging ionosonde data. Furthermore, it provides valuable insights into the recommended coverage range of ionosondes for predicting post-sunset ESF occurrence in the zonal direction, which can be employed to fortify regional space weather services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Zinc oxide (ZnO) nanostructures have shown remarkable potential in optoelectronics applications due to their outstanding optical and electronic properties. Doping ZnO with nanomaterials such as metal nanoparticles has proven its effectiveness in altering, enhancing, and modifying the intrinsic ZnO to suit the intended application. However, doping ZnO with certain materials, such as carbon nanotubes (CNTs), is much more challenging due to their chemical inactivity and low dispersity in mediums. In this work, ZnO nanorods (ZNRs) were grown on ITO-coated glass substrate using the chemical bath deposition (CBD) method, followed by doping the ZNRs with CNTs suspended in different organic solvents using the drop-casting method. The doped ZNRs were characterized using several characterization methods, including AFM, FESEM, EDX, UV–Vis, PL, and I–V. From the results, it was found that low yield integration of CNTs within the ZNRs was achieved when dimethylformamide (DMF) and ethanol (ETH) were used as solvents, whereby the doped ZNRs were observed to possess similar optical behavior. Results from the other solvent, 1,2-Dichloroethane (DCE), revealed structural damage to the ZNRs, and CNTs were found to merge with the ZNRs, forming a surface with large-size grains. Meanwhile, doping CNTs from acetone (ACE) solvent shows a promising result whereby an acceptable amount of CNTs were well integrated within the ZNRs with minimum structural damage. It was found that the roughness, average diameter, Zn:O:C ratio, band gap energy, and emission peak of the ZNTs doped with CNTs from ACE were 35.2, 57.89 nm, 46:38:16, 3.23 eV, 381.55 nm, respectively. This is the first study that focuses on doping ZNRs with CNT through drop-casting without degrading the electrical and optical properties of the ZNRs. We believe that CNT-doped ZNRs have excellent potential as gain media in electrically pumped random lasers due to the combination of the optical properties of ZnO and the electrical properties of the CNTs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bladder cancer cells can acquire persistent infection of oncolytic Newcastle disease virus (NDV) but the molecular mechanism(s) remain unelucidated. This poses a major barrier to the effective clinical translation of oncolytic NDV virotherapy of cancers. To improve our understanding of the molecular mechanism(s) associated with the development of NDV persistent infection in bladder cancer, we used mRNA expression profiles of persistently infected bladder cancer cells to construct PPI networks. Based on paths and modules in the PPI network, the bridges were found mainly in the upregulated mRNA-pathways of p53 signalling, ECM-receptor interaction, and TGF-beta signalling and downregulated mRNA-pathways of antigen processing and presentation, protein processing in endoplasmic reticulum, completement and coagulation cascades in persistent TCCSUPPi cells. In persistent EJ28Pi cells, connections were identified mainly through upregulated mRNA-pathways of renal carcinoma, viral carcinogenesis, Ras signalling and cell cycle and the downregulated mRNA-pathways of Wnt signalling, HTLV-I infection and pathways in cancers. These connections were mainly dependent on RPL8-HSPA1A/HSPA4 in TCCSUPPi cells and EP300, PTPN11, RAC1—TP53, SP1, CCND1 and XPO1 in EJ28Pi cells. Oncomine validation showed that the top hub genes identified in the networks that include RPL8, THBS1, F2 from TCCSUPPi and TP53 and RAC1 from EJ28Pi are involved in the development and progression of bladder cancer. Protein-drug interaction networks identified several putative drug targets that could be used to disrupt the linkages between the modules and prevent bladder cancer cells from acquiring NDV persistent infection. This novel PPI network analysis of differentially expressed mRNAs of NDV persistently infected bladder cancer cell lines provide an insight into the molecular mechanisms of NDV persistency of infection in bladder cancers and the future screening of drugs that can be used together with NDV to enhance its oncolytic efficacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is of vital importance to optimize the radiation dose to patients undergoing radionuclide bone scanning. This is one of the most common nuclear medicine procedures in many parts of the world, including Nigeria, and the current study was performed as part of a national survey to establish diagnostic reference levels (DRLs) for common nuclear medicine procedures in Nigeria in order to optimize their use. Nuclear medicine was only recently introduced to the health-care system in Nigeria, with only 2 centers presently conducting these procedures. Methods: A retrospective, cross-sectional study was performed in the nuclear medicine department of a tertiary hospital in southwest Nigeria to determine the preliminary local DRL for radionuclide bone scanning. One hundred and nine patients who met the study criteria were included. Data were obtained from June 2017 to March 2019 and were analyzed to obtain the third quartile of the distributed administered activity and achievable dose (anthropometric variables and radiation dose to bone surface). Results: The mean administered activity, achievable dose, and DRL were 833.98 ± 106.93, 832.5, and 895.4 MBq, respectively. The calculated preliminary local DRL was larger than values reported in studies done in Sudan, the United Kingdom, and Australia or by the International Commission on Radiological Protection. Conclusion: The preliminary DRL from this first-of-its-kind study in Nigeria was high because of practitioners' lack of experience. However, the values were still within the international best-practice range, which when optimized will go a long way toward reducing medical exposure without compromising image quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to look at the asymmetric effect of oil production on environmental degradation in OPEC member countries from 1970–2019. Design/methodology/approach: The authors build a nonlinear panel ARDL–PMG model using the Shin et al. (2014) nonlinear autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) approach in panel form to assess both the short- and long-run impact of positive and negative oil production movements on CO2 emissions. Findings: The result demonstrates that the variables are cointegrated. According to the linear long run coefficients, oil production, FDI inflows and economic growth both have a positive and significant relationship with CO2 emissions, implying that they deteriorate environmental quality in OPEC countries, while renewable energy has a negative relationship with CO2, implying that increasing renewable energy improves environmental quality. The asymmetric findings prove that positive and negative shocks of oil production exert a positive effect on carbon emissions in short run and long run. Research limitations/implications: To begin with, the empirical assessments do not include all OPEC member nations; researchers are advised to resolve this constraint by looking at the economies of other OPEC members. Albeit the lack of data for other energy sources may serve as another constraint of this research, future research is expected to broaden the current framework via other energy sources such as nuclear, electricity, biomass, solar as well as wind. Originality/value: The research adds to the body of knowledge as many of the prevailing studies in the literature failed to look at the asymmetric effect of oil production on the quality of environment. This is another gap in the literature that the current study is set out to fill. This study adds oil production as an explanatory variable and helps to extend the existing literature for OPEC countries, which could propose a solution to deal with ensuing environmental issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports a bi-port, wideband, parasitic-fed, single/shared patch antenna with enhanced interport isolation for 2.4 GHz in-band full duplex (IBFD) applications. The employed parasitic feeding provides comparatively the wider impedance bandwidth and better gain for the presented antenna. The improved self-interference cancellation (SIC) levels across the required bandwidth are obtained through differentially-driven receive (Rx) mode operation. The differential Rx operation performs effective cancellation of in-band self-interference (SI) through signal inversion mechanism to achieve the additional isolation on the top of the intrinsic isolation of polarization diversity. The validation model for the presented antenna features ≥88 dB peak isolation between the dual-polarized Tx and Rx ports. In addition, the measured Tx–Rx isolation for prototype is >70 dB across the 10 dB return loss bandwidth of 100 MHz (2.42–2.52 GHz). The measured gain for each mode is better than 7.0 dBi. The novelty of this work is that compared to previously reported designs, the presented antenna offers wider impedance bandwidth and improved SIC levels in addition to superior gain performance. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first single/shared patch antenna which provides better than 70 dB interport isolation across the 10 dB return loss bandwidth of 100 MHz along with 7.0 dBi gain for Tx/Rx modes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For successive economic growth of any society, sustainable energy plays a pivotal role. Considering this view, developing countries are facing serious challenges of energy at the present time. However, policymakers have outlined numerous policies to satisfy energy demand but still remain incapable to fill the gap between demand and supply. At a halt, 11% of the world population lacks access to different formulae of energy supply and access. Additionally, in different time periods, distinct policies have erupted for the progress of renewable energy. It includes especially those households of the far-flung areas having no gas and electricity availability. However, the basis of this research study is to determine the significant renewable energy source for Pakistan's economy with the economic benefits such as job creation in energy sector. This research study aims in finding ways to secure energy supplies and achieving economic benefits. The research study concludes by engaging renewable energy technologies with the least operational and externality cost that is the utmost choice in the future. In policy perspective, Pakistani government should take actions in favor of renewable energy and technological innovation that necessitates biomass resources to be tied to non-sustainable prolonged investments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The occurrence of post-sunset equatorial spread-F (ESF) could have detrimental effects on trans-ionospheric radio wave propagation used in modern communications systems. This problem calls for a simple but robust model that accurately predicts the occurrence of post-sunset ESF. Logistic regression was implemented to model the daily occurrence of post-sunset ESF as a function of the evening upward plasma drift (v). The use of logistic regression is formalized by y ^ = 1 / [ 1 + exp (− z) ] , where y ^ represents the probability of post-sunset ESF occurrence, and z is a linear function containing v. The value of v is derived from the vertical motion of the bottom side of the F-region in the evening equatorial ionosphere, which is observed by the ionosondes in Southeast Asia. Data points (938) of v and post-sunset ESF occurrence were collected in the equinox seasons from 2003 to 2016. The training set used 70% of the dataset to derive z and y ^ and the remaining 30% was used to test the performance of y ^ . The expression z = − 2.25 + 0.14 v was obtained from the training set, and y ^ ≥ 0.5 (v ≥ ~16.1 m/s) and y ^ < 0.5 (v < ~16.1 m/s) represented the occurrence and non-occurrence of ESF, respectively, with an accuracy of ~0.8 and a true skill score (TSS) of ~0.6. Similarly, in the testing set, y ^ shows an accuracy of ~0.8 and a TSS of ~0.6. Further analysis suggested that the performance of the z-function can be reliable in the daily F10.7 levels ranging from 60 to 140 solar flux units. The z-function implemented in the logistic regression ( y ^ ) found in this study is a novel technique to predict the post-sunset ESF occurrence. The performance consistency between the training set and the testing set concludes that the z-function and the y ^ values of the proposed model could be a simple and robust mathematical model for daily nowcasting the occurrence or non-occurrence of post-sunset ESFs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a bi-port, single-layered (planar), dual circularly polarized (CP) patch antenna with improved interport isolation for S-band satellite telemetry and telecommand applications. The dual-port, planar antenna is based on a square-shaped radiator with trimmed corner to achieve CP characteristics (RHCP and LHCP) for excitations from respective ports. However, the RF isolation between the two ports is very low due to strong power leakage from transmit (Tx) to transmit (Rx) port. The externally employed tunable self-interference cancellation (SIC) circuit achieves high isolation between orthogonal ports while axial ratio (AR) is ≤3 dB for both right and left handed circular polarization modes. The employed single-tap SIC circuit/loop attains the high interport isolation through signal inversion mechanism. The proposed antenna design achieves ≥72 dB peak interport isolation in addition to ≥30 dB and 15 dB port to port isolation over the isolation or SIC bandwidths of 15 MHz and 90 MHz (−10 dB bandwidth for both ports), respectively. The port to port isolation performance is improved without significant degradation in antenna radiation characteristics. The validation model of the presented planar antenna based on single element characterizes much better measured interport isolation performance compared to those dual CP printed antennas reported earlier as endorsed through detailed comparison [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A compact dual-polarized monostatic antenna (single radiator for transmit and receive modes) is presented with differential receive mode operation to achieve excellent interport isolation for 2.4 GHz single frequency full-duplex or in-band full-duplex applications. The presented antenna comprises three ports radiating element (patch) and a simple 3 dB/180o ring hybrid coupler has been utilized for differentially excited receive mode operation. The 3 dB/180o ring hybrid coupler acts as a self-interference cancellation (SIC) circuit for effective suppression of RF leakage from the transmit port to provide very high interport decoupling between transmit and receive ports. A compact antenna structure has been realized by using two-layered printed circuit board through vias interconnections of both receive ports of the antenna with inputs of SIC circuit. The validation model of proposed antenna offers more than 95 dB peak interport isolation. Moreover, the experimentally measured interport isolation is better than 70 dB throughout the antenna's 10 dB return-loss impedance bandwidth (BW) of 50 MHz (2.38–2.43 GHz). Furthermore, the recorded isolation is more than 80 dB in 20 MHz BW. The implemented antenna has good radiation characteristics including nice gain and low cross-polarization levels as endorsed by measurements. Same antenna structure with microstrip-T feeds can provide DC isolated ports with same interport RF isolation performance for active antenna applications. Such antenna with DC interport isolation will avoid the requirements of additional series capacitors on transmit and receive ports of antenna. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a compact, dual polarized bistatic (two closely spaced transmit and receive radiators) patch antenna with excellent interport isolation performance. The presented antenna system employs differential receive mode operation for the cancellation of self-interference (SI) to achieve very high interport isolation for 2.4 GHz in-band full duplex (IBFD) applications. The presented antenna is based on two closely spaced radiators and a simple 3 dB/180° coupler for differentially excited receive mode operation. The 3 dB/180° coupler performs as a passive self-interference cancellation (SIC) circuit for the presented antenna. The small form-factor structure is realized through via interconnections between the receiving patch and SIC circuit. The prototype of the presented antenna characterizes better than 105 dB peak interport isolation. Moreover, the recorded interport isolation is more than 90 dB and 95 dB within 60 MHz and 40 MHz bandwidths, respectively. The measured gain and cross-polarization levels reflect superior radiation performance for the validation model of the proposed antenna. The presented antenna offers DC interport isolation too, which is required for active antenna applications. The novelty of this work is a compact (small form-factor) antenna structure with very high peak interport isolation along with wider SIC bandwidth as compared to previously reported antennas for full duplex applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work presents two dual polarized proximity‐fed monostatic patch antennas with improved interport isolation for 2.4 GHz industrial, scientific and medical band same frequency full duplex wireless applications. The presented antennas achieves the high interport decoupling through intrinsic isolation of the polarization diversity in conjunction with a simple single‐tap and two‐taps self‐interference cancellation (SIC) topologies. The polarization diversity isolation is achieved through two perpendicular microstrip feeds for proximity feeding to excite orthogonal polarization mode for transmit (Tx) and receive (Rx) modes. The prototype for proposed antenna with integrated single‐tap and two‐taps SIC circuit is tested to record its interport isolation, impedance bandwidths and gains for both Tx and Rx ports. The implemented antenna with single‐tap SIC circuit demonstrates 10 dB return‐loss bandwidth of ≥100 MHz for both Tx and Rx ports. The measured isolation exceeds 40 dB over the 40 MHz bandwidth. Moreover, the recorded peak isolation is better than 74 dB for implemented antenna prototype. Furthermore, the 40 MHz bandwidth with 40 dB isolation can be tuned with the help of SIC‐tap as demonstrated through the experimental results. The measured gain levels are around 4.6 dBi for both Tx and Rx port. The same antenna structure with integrated two‐taps SIC topology features better than 55 dB isolation within 10 dB return loss bandwidth of 100 MHz. The peak isolation exceeds 97 dB and isolation levels are better than 60 and 80 dB over 50 and 20 MHz bandwidths, respectively, for presented antenna with two‐taps SIC configuration. The compact antenna offers comparatively wider impedance and isolation bandwidth with improved SIC levels compared to previous designs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: High-resolution CT (HRCT) temporal bone has emerged as a useful option in pre-operative assessment of tegmen height in chronic otitis media patients. Material and Methods: A total of 60 patients with clinical suspicion of chronic otitis media were enrolled in the study. HRCT evaluation was done using Siemens Somatom Force 384 slice multidetector computed tomography machine. We radiologically assess tegmen height using lateral semicircular canal as a reference point on HRCT. Final result has been based on correlation of radiological and intraoperative findings. Diagnostic efficacy of HRCT temporal bone was evaluated in terms of sensitivity, specificity, PPV, NPV, and accuracy for pre-operative assessment of tegmen height. Results: The correlation between actual tegmen height and estimated tegmen height (by equation) was 0.457 which is highly significant (P < 0.001). In the study, the mean tegmen height of exposed dura (ED) was 5.81 ± 1.71 (95% CI 4.91-6.70) while the mean tegmen height of non-exposed dura (NED) was 8.40 ± 1.31 (95% CI 8.02-8.78). Highly significant difference was found in mean tegmen height between ED and NED cases (P < 0.001). Conclusion: Pre-operative CT assessment of tegmen height is an important parameter in assessing risk of dural injury during tympanomastoid surgeries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Environmental problems, including extreme weather phenomena, unprecedented global warming, and environmental disasters caused by increasing levels of CO2 and other toxic emissions, along with rapidly increasing economic development and energy consumption, require global development and policies to meet sustainable development goals. The traditional data envelopment analysis (DEA) model has limited practical applicability for measuring environmental performance, as it lacks the computational capacity to deal with undesirable outputs. The current study employs "radial" and "non-radial" DEA technology, and acknowledges the associations of a mathematical foundation to increase the analytical capability of the environmental performance of DEA. Results show that in the measurement of environmental performance analysis, the non-radial DEA model has a higher discriminating power compared to radial DEA. Results show that the average values of radial and non-radial environmental performance are highest for Latin America and the Caribbean, at 0.99 and 0.96, respectively, while the former USSR has the lowest values of 0.22 and 0.32, respectively. The South Asian region shows relatively stable values of about 0.58 to 0.65, and Latin America & Caribbean countries and sub-Saharan Africa also show a stable radial environmental performance ranging from 0.82 to 1.00. These results indicate a considerable difference among the eight world regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Africa plays a central importance role in the human origins, and disease susceptibility, agriculture and biodiversity conservation. Nigeria as the most populous and most diverse country in Africa, owing to its 250 ethnic groups and over 500 different native languages is imperative to any global genomic initiative. The newly inaugurated Nigerian Bioinformatics and Genomics Network (NBGN) becomes necessary to facilitate research collaborative activities and foster opportunities for skills' development amongst Nigerian bioinformatics and genomics investigators. NBGN aims to advance and sustain the fields of genomics and bioinformatics in Nigeria by serving as a vehicle to foster collaboration, provision of new opportunities for interactions between various interdisciplinary subfields of genomics, computational biology and bioinformatics as this will provide opportunities for early career researchers. To provide the foundation for sustainable collaborations, the network organises conferences, workshops, trainings and create opportunities for collaborative research studies and internships, recognise excellence, openly share information and create opportunities for more Nigerians to develop the necessary skills to exceed in genomics and bioinformatics. NBGN currently has attracted more than 650 members around the world. Research collaborations between Nigeria, Africa and the West will grow and all stakeholders, including funding partners, African scientists, researchers across the globe, physicians and patients will be the eventual winners. The exponential membership growth and diversity of research interests of NBGN just within weeks of its establishment and the unanticipated attendance of its activities suggest the significant importance of the network to bioinformatics and genomics research in Nigeria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: The objective of this study was to characterize findings of high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) and dual-energy CT (DECT) (80 keV, 140 keV, and mixed) in pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) patients and to compare and correlate HRCT and DECT findings. Material and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 67 patients of 18-65 years of age who were suspected cases of pulmonary TB with signs and symptoms of cough, fever, hemoptysis, sputum, night sweats, and weight loss with positive sputum AFB examinations/bronchoalveolar lavage. All the patients subjected to HRCT scan and followed with DECT scan. Comparison of various imaging techniques (DECT 80 keV, DECT 140 keV, and DECT mixed) with HRCT was done for detecting lung findings and data so obtained were subjected to statistical analysis. Results: On comparing the various imaging techniques with HRCT for detecting consolidation, tree in bud pattern, cavitary lesions, ground-glass opacity, bronchiectasis, atelectasis, nodules, granuloma, peribronchial thickening, and fibrosis, the maximum agreement of HRCT was found with DECT 80 keV and minimum agreement was found with DECT 140 keV. Conclusion: The study concluded that DECT 80 keV monochromatic reconstructions among 80 keV, mixed, and 140 keV monochromatic reconstructions in lung parenchyma window settings are a faster and better analytical tool for the assessment of findings of pulmonary TB when compared with HRCT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a two-elements based, dual polarized, single layer, patch antenna array with improved isolation between transmit (Tx) and receive (Rx) ports for 2.4 GHz in-band full duplex (IBFD) or simultaneous transmit and receive wireless applications. The differential feeding deployed at the Rx port effectively suppresses the coupling which is termed as self-interference from the Tx port to achieve high Tx–Rx interport isolation. A simple 3 dB/180° ring hybrid coupler with nice amplitude and phase balance characteristics has been used for differential Rx operation. The mathematical description for a differential feeding based self-interference cancellation mechanism is also presented for the proposed dual polarized IBFD antenna array. The measurement results for the implemented prototype of the antenna array demonstrate very nice levels of Tx–Rx interport isolation. The implemented single layer, compact antenna array presents 10 dB return-loss bandwidth of more than 50 MHz for both Tx and Rx ports. The prototype achieves >80 dB peak interport isolation and 75 dB (65 dB) isolation in 20 MHz (50 MHz) bandwidth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Carbon dots (CDs) have attracted widespread attention in light-emitting-diode (LED) applications owing to their environmental friendliness, easy processing and unique optical properties. For the practical use of CDs in LEDs, the controllable synthesis of high performance oil-soluble carbon dots is still in urgent demand. In this study, S,N-codoped oil-soluble carbon dots (S,N-OCDs) with an average size of 3.38 nm were prepared by solvothermal reaction of acetone, dimethyl trithiocarbonate (DMTTC) and nitric acid. Characterization results reveal that both the conjugated aromatic π systems from the aldol condensation and highly active free radicals from DMTTC essentially dominate the development of these yellow-green emitting S,N-OCDs, which possess high carbonization, quantum yield (21.08%) and oil-solubility. Furthermore, a white light-emitting-diode (WLED) was fabricated through mixing the obtained S,N-OCDs and epoxy and drop-casting the mixture on the surface of gallium nitride (GaN)-based blue chips. The as-prepared WLED showed excellent color rendering properties (CCT of 5389 K, CIE coordinates of (0.33, 0.30), and CRI of 88.38). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ceramide synthase 2 (CERS2) gene has been linked to tumour recurrence and invasion in many different types of cancers including bladder cancer. In this study, the expression levels of CERS2 in bladder cancer cell lines were analysed using qRT-PCR and the protein expression in clinical bladder cancer histopathological specimens were examined via immunohistochemistry. The potential utility of CERS2 as a predictive biomarker of response to oncolytic virotherapy was assessed by correlating the CERS2 mRNA expression to IC50 values of cells treated with the Newcastle disease virus (NDV), AF2240 strain. This study demonstrates that CERS2 is differentially expressed in different types of bladder cancer cell lines and that the siRNA-mediated downregulation of the expression of CERS2 reduces the migratory potential of UMUC1 bladder cancer cells. However, there were no significant correlations between the expression levels of the CERS2 protein with bladder cancer grade/stage or between the IC50 values of cells treated with NDV and CERS2 expression. Although the utility of CERS2 expression may be limited, its potential as an antimigration cancer therapeutic should be further examined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Different strains of Newcastle disease virus (NDV) worldwide proved to have tumouricidal activity in several types of cancer cells. However, the possible anti-cancer activity of Malaysian NDV AF2240 strain and its mechanism of action remains unknown. The ability of cytokine-related apoptosis-inducing NDV AF2240 to treat breast cancer was investigated in the current study.Methods: A total of 90 mice were used and divided into 15 groups, each group comprising of 6 mice. Tumour, body weight and mortality of the mice were determined throughout the experiment, to observe the effect of NDV and NDV + tamoxifen treatments on the mice. In addition, the toxic effect of the treatments was determined through liver function test. In order to elucidate the involvement of cytokine production induced by NDV, a total of six cytokines, i.e. IL-6, IFN-γ, MCP-1, IL-10, IL12p70 and TNF-α were measured using cytometric bead array assay (plasma) and enzyme-linked immunosorbent spot (isolated splenocytes).Results: The results demonstrated that 4 T1 breast cancer cells in allotransplanted mice treated with AF2240 showed a noticeable inhibition of tumour growth and induce apoptotic-related cytokines.Conclusions: NDV AF2240 suppression of breast tumour growth is associated with induction of apoptotic-related cytokines. It would be important to further investigate the molecular mechanism underlaying cytokines production by Newcastle disease virus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

NCS is the combination of control system with control loops that used to regulate feedback signals among system. With the promising research vogue in academic and industry domains stimulate the emergence and advancement of networked control system. In nonlinear systems one of the foremost altercates is communication delays and packet losses. In this paper we analyzed different network control schemes, data rates and other network parameters to investigate the performance of our control system in a comprehensive way. It is also demonstrated by simulations and practical experiments that the several network control systems can compensate for arbitrary communication data dropout to attain anticipated performance and loop stability. The results demonstrate that as the data rate increases, frame size becomes lower and path loss exponent is decreased. Moreover, the control system response can be improved by increasing transmit power and error coding threshold. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ethnic origin plays an important role in bone morphometry. Studies examining the influence of coracoid process have focused primarily on adults and have not included people from diverse Asian ethnic backgrounds. Our goal was to explore ethnic differences in morphometry of coracoid among Asian population. We performed morphometric measurements of coracoid process on cadaveric shoulders and shoulder CT scans from 118 specimens. The cadaveric sample included Indian (46%), Chinese (27%), and Myanmarese (27%) subjects, while the CT scans sample included Chinese (67%) and Malay (33%) subjects. The morphometric measurements were performed using digital caliper and software developed at Golden Horses Health Sanctuary (GHHS). In the Indian cadaveric shoulders, the coracoid process is better developed than the other groups with the exception of the tip width of coracoid process. There are significant differences in almost all measurements (P<0.05) between the ethnic groups. On the other hand, the morphometry of coracoid process from CT scans data is bigger in Chinese than Malay subjects when stratified by sex (P<0.05). Moreover, in all morphometric measurements, the females had smaller measurements than males (P<0.05). Understanding such differences is important in anatomy, forensic and biological identity, and orthopaedic and shoulder surgeries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Breast cancer is the malignant tumour that developed from cells of the breast and is the first leading cause of cancer death among women worldwide. Surgery, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy are the available treatments for breast cancer, but these were reported to have side effects. Newcastle disease virus (NDV) known as Avian paramyxovirus type-1 (APMV1) belongs to the genus Avulavirus in a family Paramyxoviridae. NDV is shown to be a promising anticancer agent, killing tumour cells while sparing normal cells unharmed. In this study, the oncolytic and cytotoxic activities of NDV AF2240 strain were evaluated on MDA-MB-231, human mammary carcinoma cell line, using MTT assay, and its inhibitory effects were further studied using proliferation and migration assays. Morphological and apoptotic-inducing effects of NDV on MD-MB-231 cells were observed using phase contrast and fluorescence microscopes. Detection of DNA fragmentation was done following terminal deoxyribonucleotide transferase-mediated Br-dUTP nick end labeling staining (TUNEL) assay, which confirmed that the mode of death was through apoptosis and was quantified by flow cytometry. Furthermore, analysis of cellular DNA content demonstrated that the virus caused an increase in the sub-G1 phase (apoptotic peak) of the cell cycle. It appears that NDV AF2240 strain is a potent anticancer agent that induced apoptosis in time-dependent manner. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective : To report early and late outcome after a one stage operation and comparison with others similar work and to see feasibility of this procedures in our limited resources. Patients and method: We have performed transanal pull through in department of Paediatric Surgery, Nishtar Hospital Multan during May 2010 to May 2013. Fifty patients out of 117 were selected, older than one year, non marasmic and diagnosed as short segment aganglionosis by barium enema were selected. Transanal Swenson's pull through was performed, aganglionic segment was decided on gross appearance (narrow) due to lack of frozen section facility, anastomosis made with 4/0 vicryl. Results: Procedure completed on an average within one hour, without any transfusion. Feeding was started from day one, manageable complications were observed in 25% patients, no mortality seen. Hospital stay was on an average 6 days. Conclusions: Transanal one stage pull through is very practical, can be done without facility of frozen section. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To determine the frequency of Hirschsprung's Disease associated enterocolitis in pre and post operative patients. Place and Duration of Study: Nishtar Hospital and Ibn-e-Sina Hospital, Multan from January 2008 to June 2012. Methodology: A total number of 114 patients aged from less than 6 months to more than 5 years were diagnosed and treated for Hirschsprung's Disease after rectal biopsy and internal sphinterotomy. Results: In total of 114 patients 32 (28%) developed enterocolitis before and 5 (18.5%) after definite surgery. Conclusions: The results of this study implicates that the early diagnosis and to make measures to decrease the post pull-through anastomostic anorectal stenosis can reduce the frequency of pre and post operative Hirschsprung's disease associated enterocolitis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims The study aims to assess the effects of switching from National Center for Health Statistics ( NCHS) growth references to World Health Organization ( WHO) growth standards on health-care workers' decisions about malnutrition in infants aged <6 months. Methods We conducted a single blind randomised crossover trial involving 78 health-care workers (doctors, clinical officers, health service assistants) in Southern Malawi. Participants were offered hypothetical clinical scenarios with the same infant plotted on NCHS-based weight-for-age charts and again on WHO-based charts. Additional scenarios compared growth charts with a single final weight against charts with the same final weight plus a preceding growth trend. Reported (i) level of concern, (ii) referral suggestions and (iii) feeding advice were elicited with a questionnaire. Results Even after adjusting for health-care worker type and experience, using WHO rather than NCHS charts increased: (i) concern: a OR 4.4 (95% CI 2.4-8.1); (ii) odds of referral: a OR 5.1 (95% CI 2.4-10.8); and (iii) odds of feeding advice which would interrupt exclusive breastfeeding (a OR 2.4, 95% CI 1.2-4.9). A preceding steady growth trend line did not affect concern, referral or feeding advice. Conclusions Health-care workers take insufficient account of linear growth trend, clinical and feeding status when interpreting a low weight-for-age plot. Because more infants <6 months fall below low centile lines on WHO growth charts, their use may increase inappropriate referrals and risks undermining already low rates of exclusive breastfeeding. To avoid their being misinterpreted in this way, WHO charts need accompanying guidelines and training materials that recognise and address this possible adverse effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To determine the frequency of Hirschsprung's Disease as a cause of neonatal intestinal obstruction, to compare the results of treatment with others and to suggest means and ways to improve the deficiencies in our circumstances. Place and duration of study: Nishtar hospital and Ibn-e-Siena Hospital, Multan from January, 2008 to June, 2012. Methodology: A total number of 115 patients from neonatal age to more than 5 years were diagnosed and treated for Hirschsprung's Disease. Results: Hirschsprung's Disease was a cause of neonatal obstruction in 26 (22.6%) patients. Hirschsprung's Disease was a cause of recurrent diarrhea in 37 (32.17%) patients. 76 (66.08%) patients presented with chronic constipation. 27 patients underwent for pull-through operation. Conclusions: The overall complications rate and stooling pattern after Soave's procedure are not significantly different from others. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To analyse and to compare how female patients are informed about adhesions and their related problems by surgeons preoperatively. Methods: Over 8 weeks 105 patients (Germany) and 82 (UK) patients admitted for laparoscopic or open abdominopelvic surgery were interviewed preoperatively in a multi-centre study in Germany and the UK. 212 responses to an online survey were also analysed. Results: Less than 50% of patients are made aware of adhesions. Even fewer patients were told about complications caused by adhesions. Lack of knowledge is cited by 46% of patients as a reason for health professionals not informing them about adhesions. 41% considered adhesions as not sufficiently important. Patients who had previously heard of adhesions were most commonly informed by physicians. Conclusions: There is lack of information among patients and physicians about adhesions and their complications. Written information before surgery and computer-based applications may help raise patient's awareness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Large-quantity synthesis of single-crystalline perfectly hexagonal-shaped ZnO rods has been achieved through the thermal evaporation of metallic zinc powder in the presence of oxygen without the use of metal catalyst or additives. Detailed structural analyses confirm that the structures formed exhibit a wurtzite hexagonal phase and are preferentially oriented along the c-axis direction. Low-temperature photoluminescence shows that the exciton emission bound-to-neutral donor (D0X) and free-exciton dominate the edge emission region while the donor-acceptor pair (DAP) and its replica dominate the lower energy regions. With increased temperature, D0X decreases abruptly and is then suppressed, but with further increase in temperature (>100?K) the photoluminescence spectra are dominated by the DAP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two-dimensional ZnO nanosheet networks composed of many thin anduniform hexagonal-shaped ZnO nanosheets and ZnO nanodiscs were preparedin a large scale on silicon substrate through thermal evaporation usingZnCl2 and O2 as source materials for Zn and oxygen, respectively, without the use of metal catalysts oradditives. Detailed structural studies indicated that the synthesized products aresingle crystalline with wurtzite hexagonal structure. Raman scattering of thesynthesized products confirmed that the as-grown structures have good crystalquality with a hexagonal wurtzite phase. Room temperature photoluminescencespectra showed a strong green band with a suppressed UV emission from the ZnOnanosheet networks, but on the other hand a dominant and strong near bandedge emission with a much suppressed deep level emission was observed in thenanodiscs. The growth mechanism of these structures is also discussed in detail. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The correct affiliation of the 1st Author is shown in this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The automatic detection of shapes or patterns represented by signals captured from spacecraft data is essential to revealing interesting phenomena. A signal processing approach is generally used to extract useful information from observation data. In this paper, we propose an image analysis approach to process image datasets produced via plasma wave observations by the Arase satellite. The dataset consists of 31,380 PNG files generated from the dynamic power spectra of magnetic wave field data gathered from a one-year observation period from March 2017 to March 2018. We implemented an automatic detection system using image analysis to classify the various types of lightning whistlers according to the Arase whistler map. We successfully detected a large number of whistler traces induced by lightning strikes and recorded their corresponding times and frequencies. The various shapes of the lightning whistlers indicate different very-low-frequency propagations and provide important clues concerning the geospace electron density profile. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Femoral dP/dtmax (maximum rate of the arterial pressure increase during systole) measured by pulse contour analysis has been proposed as a surrogate of left ventricular (LV) dP/dtmax and as an estimator of LV systolic function. However, femoral dP/dtmax may be influenced by LV loading conditions. In this study, we evaluated the impact of variations of LV systolic function, preload and afterload on femoral dP/dtmax in critically ill patients with cardiovascular failure to ascertain its reliability as a marker of LV systolic function. Results: We performed a prospective observational study to evaluate changes in femoral dP/dtmax, thermodilution-derived variables (PiCCO2—Pulsion Medical Systems, Feldkirchen, Germany) and LV ejection fraction (LVEF) measured by transthoracic echocardiography during variations in dobutamine and norepinephrine doses and during volume expansion (VE) and passive leg raising (PLR). Correlations with arterial pulse and systolic pressure, effective arterial elastance, total arterial compliance and LVEF were also evaluated. In absolute values, femoral dP/dtmax deviated from baseline by 21% (201 ± 297 mmHg/s; p = 0.013) following variations in dobutamine dose (n = 17) and by 15% (177 ± 135 mmHg/s; p < 0.001) following norepinephrine dose changes (n = 29). Femoral dP/dtmax remained unchanged after VE and PLR (n = 24). Changes in femoral dP/dtmax were strongly correlated with changes in pulse pressure and systolic arterial pressure during dobutamine dose changes (R = 0.942 and 0.897, respectively), norepinephrine changes (R = 0.977 and 0.941, respectively) and VE or PLR (R = 0.924 and 0.897, respectively) (p < 0.05 in all cases). Changes in femoral dP/dtmax were correlated with changes in LVEF (R = 0.527) during dobutamine dose variations but also with effective arterial elastance and total arterial compliance in the norepinephrine group (R = 0.638 and R = − 0.689) (p < 0.05 in all cases). Conclusions: Pulse contour analysis-derived femoral dP/dtmax was not only influenced by LV systolic function but also and prominently by LV afterload and arterial waveform characteristics in patients with acute cardiovascular failure. These results suggest that femoral dP/dtmax calculated by pulse contour analysis is an unreliable estimate of LV systolic function during changes in LV afterload and arterial load by norepinephrine and directly linked to arterial waveform determinants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The increasing use of cloud computing, especially in commercial, government and healthcare institutions, started with the use of computerized clouds. Clouds store important data, which reduces the cost of management and ensures easy access. To protect this data, cryptographic methods are used to ensure confidentiality of the data, as well as to secure access to user data and increase trust in cloud technology. In our paper, we suggest a new scheme to support an attribute-based encryption system (ABE) that involves multiple parties such as data owners, data users, cloud servers and authority. A verified and authenticated decryption process for the cloud environment is the imperative feature of our proposed architecture. The data owner encrypts their data and sends it to the cloud. The cloud server performs partial decryption and the final decrypted data are shared for users as per their privileges. Thus, the data owner reduces complexity of productivity by delegating the decryption process to the cloud server. Analysis of the experimental results confirms that data access in the electronic cloud atmosphere is safer due to a controlled multiple-users-rights scheme. Our performance evaluation results show that the proposed model condensed the communication overhead and made Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine (DICOM) more secure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]