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Wetlands are represented in Saudi Arabia in the form of mangrove, sabkha, and wadi (valleys) systems, and these habitats are considered as a sanctuary for biodiversity. The present study aimed to identify different vegetation groups in a wetland site in Wadi Hargan near Alqurainah, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and to relate different plant communities and plant diversity to soil moisture, salinity, and other soil properties. Floristic analysis and vegetation structure were investigated within 15 stands along the wadi and were subjected to correlation analysis with soil factors via multivariate analysis. The floristic survey revealed the presence of 111 plant species belonging to 39 families. The most represented families were Asteraceae, Poaceae, Brassicaceae, Caryophyllaceae, and Papilionaceae, which accounted for the largest proportion (55.4%) of the total species. The therophytes were the dominant life form, where they were represented by 46.9% of the total number of species. The application of cluster analysis (TWINSPAN) to the importance value of each species based on the relative cover and density led to the recognition of four plant communities: (A) Phragmites australis—Tamarix nilotica community, (B) Zygophyllum coccineum—Acacia gerrardii community, (C) Lycium shawii—Zygophyllum coccineum community, and (D) Rhazya stricta community. The soil analysis and correlation test revealed significant variations in the content of salinity, moisture, CO3, Cl, SO4, Ca, Mg, and Na among the plant communities. It can be concluded that soil moisture and salinity factors were the fundamental driving forces for plant community structure in the studied wadi. The wadi was moderately grazed, mainly by camels; thereby, the invasive plant Rhazya stricta dominated the central region of the wadi. Also, human interference was observed at the end of the wadi, where some weeds sprouted such as Malva parviflora. The presence of those two rare wetland species, Adiantum capillus-veneris and Ficus salicifolia, in the study area, showed the unique properties of the studied wadi and necessitate an urgent biodiversity conservation action to protect its natural vegetation from overgrazing and human interference.

Abstract Wheat commands attention due to its significant impact on culture, nutrition, the economy, and the guarantee of food security. The anticipated rise in temperatures resulting from climate change is a key factor contributing to food insecurity, as it markedly reduces wheat harvests. Terminal heat stress mostly affects spike fertility in wheat, specifically influencing pollen fertility and anther morphology. This research especially focuses on the shape of anthers and examines the effects of heat stress. The DinoLite Microscope’s high-resolution images are used to measure the length and width of wheat anthers. By using object identification techniques, the research accurately measures the length and width of each anther in images, offering valuable insights into the differences between various wheat varieties. Furthermore, Deep Learning (DL) methodologies are utilized to enhance agriculture, specifically employing record categorization to advance plant breeding management. Given the ongoing challenges in agriculture, there is a belief that incorporating the latest technologies is crucial. The primary objective of this study is to explore how Deep Learning algorithms can be beneficial in categorizing agricultural records, particularly in monitoring and identifying variations in spring wheat germplasm. Various Deep Learning algorithms, including Convolution Neural Network (CNN), LeNet, and Inception-V3 are implemented to classify the records and extract various patterns. LeNet demonstrates optimized accuracy in classifying the records, outperforming CNN by 52% and Inception-V3 by 70%. Moreover, Precision, Recall, and F1 Measure are utilized to ascertain accuracy levels. The investigation also enhances our comprehension of the distinct roles played by various genes in abiotic stress tolerance among diverse wheat varieties. The outcomes of the research hold the potential to transform agricultural practices by introducing a more effective, data-driven approach to plant breeding management.

Landslides are frequent geological hazards, mainly in the rainy season along road corridors worldwide. In the present study, we have comparatively analyzed landslide susceptibility by employing integrated geospatial approaches, i.e., data-driven, knowledge-driven, and machine learning (ML), along the main road corridors of the Muzaffarabad district. The landslide inventory of three road corridors is developed to evaluate landslide susceptibility, and eleven landslide causative factors (LCFs) were analyzed. After statistical significance analysis, these eleven LCFs generated susceptibility models using WoE, AHP, LR, and RF. Distance from roads, landcover, lithological units, and slopes are considered more influential LCFs. The performance matrix of different LSMs is evaluated through the area under the curve (AUC-ROC), overall accuracy, Kappa index, F1 score, Mean Absolute Error, and Root Mean Square Error. The AUC-ROC for WoE, AHP, LR, and RF techniques along Neelum road is 0.86, 0.82, 0.91, and 0.97, respectively, along Jhelum Valley road is 0.83, 0.81, 0.93, and 0.95, respectively, while along Kohala road is 0.89, 0.88, 0.89, and 0.92, respectively. The produced LSMs through ML (i.e., RF and LR) showed better prediction accuracies than WoE and AHP along these three road corridors. The LSMs are categorized into very high, high, moderate, and low susceptible zones along these roads. The LSM generated through hybrid models can facilitate the concerned local agencies to implement landslide mitigation policies for the landslide-prone zones along road corridors.

The cultivated soils in several semi-arid areas have very low organic matter due to climatic constraints that limit primary crop yield. Conservation tillage systems, outlined here as no tillage, no tillage with straw return and straw incorporation into the field, have been accepted as capable systems that preserve soil’s resources and sustain soil productivity. However, in semi-arid climates, there is presently no knowledge about the influence of different conservation tillage techniques on soil’s physical, chemical and biological properties at different soil depths in spring wheat fields and only little information about spring wheat yield in these management systems. Therefore, the present study was carried out with the objective of examining the impact of conservation tillage systems on soil properties (physical, chemical and biological) and spring wheat yield. The three conservation tillage treatments consisted of no tillage system (NT), wheat stubble return with no tillage (NTS) and straw incorporation with conventional tillage (CTS), as well as one conventional tillage (CT) control treatment, which were evaluated under randomized complete block design with three replications. The three conservation tillage treatments were compared with the conventional tillage control. Conservation tillage significantly increased the bulk density, gravimetric water content, water storage, hydraulic conductivity and soil aggregates and decreased the pore space and soil temperature compared to CT; however, no significant difference was found in the case of field capacity. Soil chemical properties in the 0–40 cm soil layer increased with conservation tillage compared to CT. Conservation tillage also notably increased the soil microbial counts, urease, alkaline phosphatase, invertase, cellulase and catalase activities relative to CT. Microbial biomasses (carbon and nitrogen) and wheat yield significantly elevated under conservation tillage compared to CT. Therefore, conservation tillage could significantly improve soil properties and maintain wheat yield for the research zone.

ABSTRACT BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVE: Distal femur fractures are increasingly common injuries in today’s orthopedic practice. Early treatment with suitable implant brings in promising functional outcomes. There is a growing debate over the type of implant used in these injuries. Therefore, we have compared two commonly used implants to determine the functional outcomes in search of an implant that has less post op complications, less technically demanding and produces better results. To compare the functional outcome of dynamic condylar screw with condylar blade plate in treatment of distal femur fractures. METHODOLOGY: A total of 372 skeletally mature patients aging 18-60 years of both gender with fracture distal femur (Type A, according to OTA classification) presented within 3 weeks of fracture time were included. Patients meeting inclusion criteria were stratified into two groups having 186 patients each. Group A and Group B. Group A received dynamic condylar screw fixation and in group B, condylar blade plate fixation was preferred. Patients were followed for 3 years and their Functional outcome was evaluated with the help of Lysholm Knee Score. RESULTS: Lysholm knee score after 3 years in group A (Dynamic condylar screw) was excellent (95-100) in 173 patients (76.9%), Good in 33 (17.7 %), Fair in 8 (4.3%), poor in 2 (1.1%).However, group B had Excellent in 57(30.6%), Good in 59(31.7%), Fair in 38 (20.4%), and poor in 32 (17.2%). CONCLUSION: Dynamic condylar screw can be used as an effective treatment with better functional outcome as compared to condylar blade plate in type A fractures of distal femur.

This paper discusses the state of the art in the application of self-healing silicone-based materials for outdoor high-voltage insulation. Both the dynamic behavior of the dimethyl side groups of silicone rubber and the diffusion of a bulk siloxane to maintain low surface energy are respectively reported as intrinsic mechanisms responsible for the self-healing of silicone rubber. Localization, temporality, mobility, and the type of synthesis are the aspects defining the efficiency of the self-healing ability of silicone rubber. In addition, the deterioration of the self-healing ability with filler loaded into silicone rubber insulation housing composites is discussed. Taking the self-healing property into consideration among the other properties of silicone rubber insulators, such as tracking and erosion resistance, can be a useful design practice at the material development stage. Hydrophobicity retention, recovery, and transfer measurements are discussed as useful indicators of the self-healing ability of silicone rubber. Nevertheless, there remains a need to standardize them as design tests at the material development stage. The paper is intended to shed the light on the hydrophobicity recovery, a key material design parameter in the development of silicone rubber outdoor insulating composites, similar to the tracking and erosion resistance.

The use of real-time systems is growing at an increasing rate. This raises the power efficiency as the main challenge for system designers. Power asymmetric multicore processors provide a power-efficient platform for building complex real-time systems. The utilization of this efficient platform can be further enhanced by adopting proficient scheduling policies. Unfortunately, the research on real-time scheduling of power asymmetric multicore processors is in its infancy. In this research, we have addressed this problem and added new results. We have proposed a dynamic-priority semi-partitioned algorithm named: Earliest-Deadline First with C=D Task Splitting (EDFwC=D-TS) for scheduling real-time applications on power asymmetric multicore processors. EDFwC=D-TS outclasses its counterparts in terms of system utilization. The simulation results show that EDFwC=D-TS schedules up to 67% more tasks with heavy workloads. Furthermore, it improves the processor utilization up to 11% and on average uses 14% less cores to schedule the given workload.

Soil-based radon investigations are of value in correlating radon production and its transportation into buildings through the processes of convection and diffusion. Such studies can help in identifying land areas that pose special concerns. We present preliminary results of soil radon gas measurements at 60 different locations in an attempt to map out the geohazard zone of the city of Muzaffarabad. The seismic geohazard microzonation for the area includes five microzones based on different hazard parameters: a very high hazard zone, a high hazard zone, a moderate hazard zone, a low hazard zone, and a safe zone. Measurements were taken with an active radon monitoring system at the depths of 30, 40, 50, and 60 cm below the ground surface. The results obtained were explained by the lithology of the area. Average soil radon gas concentrations were correlated with the depth from the ground surface and indoor radon values for the study area. No significant correlation was found between soil radon gas and meteorological parameters, however soil radon gas increases as the depth from the surface of the ground grows. The results showed a linear relation between soil radon concentrations with depth from ground surface (R2 = 0.9577). The minimum soil radon concentration (68.5 Bq/m3) was found at a depth of 30 cm in the very high hazard zone, the maximum value (53.300 Bq/m3) at a depth of 60 cm in the seismically safe zone. Measured soil gas radon concentrations at depths of 30, 40, 50, and 60 cm were mapped for high, moderate, and low radon concentrations. Elevated soil radon gas concentrations were found in the safe zone, otherwise considered to be suitable for any type of construction.

Extramedullary hematopoiesis (EMH) is the development of hematopoietic tissue outside the bone marrow and it most often occurs in the liver and spleen. Renal EMH is quite rare, and there are very few case reports concerning the kidney. We describe a case diagnosed with congenital dyserythropoetic anemia presenting with a solitary renal mass with splenomegaly. CECT showed a heterogeneously enhancing mass lesion suggestive of renal neoplasm. Microscopic examination revealed features of extramedullary hematopoiesis. We intend to present this case because of the rarity of EMH in kidney and to emphasize that its possibility should be kept in mind in any case of solitary renal mass, especially in those patients suffering from chronic hematological disorders.

We analyze performance of famous cluster based routing protocols and identify the factors affecting energy consumption in wireless sensor networks (WSNs). From theoretical and experimental analysis, it is observed that communication distance and cluster node density are the major sources in the formation of energy and coverage holes. To overcome these deficiencies, we propose a new hybrid approach of static clustering and dynamic selection of cluster heads. We also conduct a comprehensive energy consumption analysis of our technique with selected existing ones. Simulation results show that the proposed technique is relatively better in terms of energy holes minimization and network lifetime prolongation.

Desmoid tumors are benign neoplasms of fibroblasts characterized by local invasiveness. They often recur after surgical resection. They constitute about 3.5% of all fibrous tissue tumors and 0.03% of all neoplasms. Paraspinal desmoid tumors are rare and only few cases have been reported in the literature. We present an 18-year-old female presenting with a paraspinal mass. Patient had a history of trauma at the same site one year back. FNA (Fine needle aspiration) was done and a diagnosis of benign fibroblastic lesion was made which was later confirmed on histopathology. We present this case on account of its rarity and its importance in the differential diagnosis of post traumatic paraspinal masses.

A well-designed polarimeter is integral to the realization of the highly sensitive atomic magnetometer. Amongst various detection schemes, optical polarimetry based on Faraday modulator is most commonly used owing to its angular sensitivity at low-frequency range. The multilayered solenoid coil is the key component of Faraday effect based optical detection system. This paper primarily deals with design and analysis of multilayered coil of Faraday modulator. All deterministic parameters that affect the optimum design have been identified and analyzed. Mathematical expressions have been obtained for axial field homogeneity; modulation depth and power dissipation manifesting direct dependence on coil geometry. The design parameters of the coil are optimized with respect to axial magnetic field homogeneity over region of interest and reduced power losses with suitable geometric construction. The influence of different geometrical and electromagnetic parameters on optimum design has been highlighted and guidelines for design procedure are given. Theoretical results have been compared with simulation and experimental results. The mathematical formulation could be implemented in a computer program for recurrence design and to assist the realization of an optimized design of Faraday modulator coil.