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In order to treat the polluted discharge from El-Jadida, Morocco, a method of electrocoagulation using aluminum electrodes was used. This approach was coupled for the first time with high-frequency electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). Significant pollutant abatement was observed after 30 min, at a current density of 190.5 A·m−2, with a specific electrical energy consumption of 1.58 kW·h (per gram of eliminated carbon organic demand (COD)) and specific aluminum consumption of 0.11 g ·g−1: electrocoagulation proved to be particularly effective, achieving 85.7% elimination of COD and a decrease of total dissolved solid (TDS) and electrical conductivity (EC) levels from 2430 mg·L−1to 1773 mg·L−1and from 4230 μS·cm−1to 3210 μS·cm−1, respectively. As for USP and ORP, they decreased from 2.5 to 1.87 and from 244.6 mV to 51 mV, respectively. The inductance of the electrocoagulation system measured by EIS was modeled through an electrical equivalent circuit. When the applied intensity increased, the coagulation resistance increased suddenly when the applied electrical current reached 0.2 A (current density: 95.2 A·m−2). At this point, the rate of COD abatement versusSEEC (specific electrical energy consumption decreases which shows that the EC process should be combined with another process to improve its efficiency, such as ultrasound.

ABSTRACTCyber security is the most studied in recent years by the association of metaheuristic techniques thanks to their ability to solve optimization problems in a limited time and NP-hard problems. The Early Warning System (EWS) can identify malicious exercises and anomalies in the CPS and provide robust network systems protection. In addition, grouping attacks in EWS is important for defining defense policies. Information security in the CPS architecture is about securing information during data aggregation, large-scale processing and sharing in the network environment, especially low-linkage open networks. Motivated by these considerations, we propose a new security approach based on the Artificial Bee Colony (ABC) metaheuristic algorithm to strengthen the security framework of the CPS architecture against the system and within CPS attacks. In this work, we propose a new Early Warning System approach based on metaheuristics. Based on two fundamental concepts of clustering, coherence and separation, an integrated index was proposed based on Davies-Bouldin (DB) and Silhouette Index (SI). An improved ABC algorithm was proposed based on these indices. After having identified two different types of an objective function, based on the above concepts, and after having tested the algorithm on DBSI, the results of the experiments found are auspicious.

Graphical Abstract:

In this paper, using a new identity, we establish some new quantum of Simpson like type inequalities for functions whose q-derivatives are convex. Applications of the results are also given.

This investigation aims to evaluate the co-valorization of olive mill wastewater with other organic residues involving acid pretreatment, co-digestion, pyrolysis, and microalgae cultivation. Phosphoric acid pretreatment (5%, 60°C for 1 h) was used to solubilize the organic matter in a mixture of coffee grounds, orange peel, olive mill wastewater, and cardboard. The acidic treatment led to the production of 328 Nml of biogas/gVS, while the untreated mixture provided 257 Nml of biogas/gVS. The solid digestates were subjected to pyrolysis (500°C for 1 h), providing a biochar yield of approximately 44% for both digestates. Adsorption tests using methylene blue revealed an adsorption capacity of the biochar generated from the digestate of the acid pre-treated mixture of 4 mg/g, which was higher than that of the biochar from the untreated mixture (3.5 mg/g). The liquid digestates were also used as growth media for microalgae. Compared to the reference media (BG11), the use of the digestates-based media resulted in a lower growth rate (0.04 d-1) and biomass (247 mg/L) but significantly higher lipid content (49%). The study shows, therefore, that the use of acid pretreatment had a positive effect on biogas production (solubilization of sugars), on the adsorption efficiency of the biochar (improvement of the porosity of the material), and on the production of lipids from the microalgae which can be destined to biodiesel.

The objective of this work is to carry out a comparison of different materials in the form of a bidirectional carbon fabric and hybrid Kevlar and glass as reinforcements in an epoxy matrix with a loading rate of 30wt%. Two experimental tests have been carried out in order to determine the mechanical properties, such as tensile and Brinell hardness tests. In the case of tensile and Brinell hardness tests, the characterization was performed on two types of composite plates reinforced with Woven Carbon Fiber and Hybrid Woven Kevlar and E-Glass with Epoxy (WCF-HWKG/EPOXY) and Hybrid Woven Kevlar and E-Glass with Epoxy (HWKG/EPOXY). Consequently, it has been observed that the tensile and hardness properties of the hybrid composite material (HWKG/EPOXY) are respectively 36% and 46.43% lower compared to (WCF-HWKG/EPOXY). Based on these findings, the studied materials demonstrate potential applications across various fields, including aeronautics, aerospace, and high-performance automotive sectors.

In this paper, a new integral identity is provided. Based on this equality, Simpson-type dual integral inequalities for functions whose first derivatives are s-convex via Riemann–Liouville fractional integrals are established.

We know many conjugate gradient algorithms (CG) for solving unconstrained optimization problems. In this paper, based on the three famous Liu–Storey (LS), Fletcher–Reeves (FR) and Polak–Ribiére–Polyak (PRP) conjugate gradient methods, a new hybrid CG method is proposed. Furthermore, the search direction satisfies the sufficient descent condition independent of the line search. Likewise, we prove, under the strong Wolfe line search, the global convergence of the new method. In this respect, numerical experiments are performed and reported, which show that the proposed method is efficient and promising. In virtue of this, the application of the proposed method for solving regression models of COVID-19 is provided.

Safe anaesthesia and surgery are a public health imperative. There are few data describing outcomes for children undergoing anaesthesia and surgery in Africa. We aimed to get robust epidemiological data to describe patient care and outcomes for children undergoing anaesthesia and surgery in hospitals in Africa.

The aim of this study is to evaluate the exposure effects to copper-doped zinc oxide nanoparticles (Cu–ZnO NPs) on bivalves through physiological and biochemical multi-markers. To achieve this objective, the selected biological material is the bioindicator mussel Mytilus galloprovincialisused as a sentinel species of marine pollution. The filtration and respiration capacity of the mussel was significantly decreased (p< 0.05) following exposure to Cu–ZnO NPs, reaching a minimum in mussels exposed to 100 µg/L. Superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT) activities, and malondialdehyde (MDA) levels were increased, and the highest values were recorded after exposure to 100 µg/L of Cu–ZnO NPs. In addition, acetylcholinesterase (AChE) activity was reduced to a minimum following exposure to 100 µg/L of Cu–ZnO NPs. The estimation of the toxicity of Cu–ZnO NPs through physiological parameters showed that the impact depends on the considered chemical compound and its concentration. In addition, results highlight the sensitivity threshold of the antioxidant defense system in mussels and confirm the capacity of these contaminants to generate reactive oxygen species and even disrupt the nervous system. Overall, using an integrative approach combining the physiological and biochemical responses represents a good way to understand the relational profile between contaminants and marine organisms that could be part of biomonitoring programs of coastal ecosystems.

The nature of VANET networks makes the network vulnerable to several attacks such as the black hole attack which is part of Denial of Service attacks (DOS). The aim of these attacks is to prohibit users from using one or more services by making the communication unavailable. In this sense and during the routing process, the malicious node tries to acquire the route by forging routing information in order to receive the data and then drops it without transferring it to its destination. In this paper, we propose a novel detection method of such attack during communication in a VANET network. This method is based on a variable control chart which is widely used in the industrial field to monitor the quality of a given process. This method can identify malicious nodes in real time by deploying the monitoring system in each receiving node within the network. Our method is easy to implement and does not require any modification to the 802.11p standard or the routing protocol as we will demonstrate by NS-2 simulations and SUMO microscopic and continuous road traffic simulator using a real map.

The electrode wire feeding mechanism (EWFM) is a closed-loop system that is commonly utilized in power-controlled arc welding machines to achieve better performance for different electrode wire diameters. This study presents parameters self-tuning method based on RBF neural network for active disturbance rejection controller (ADRC) of a welding EWFM and establishes a real-time testing system based on the dSPACE platform. First, an ADRC control strategy is developed to enhance the tracking performance and robustness of a welding EWFM in a multi-source disturbance environment. Second, an RBF-based parameters tuning method is provided to correctly determine and adjust the gains of the suggested ADRC regulator. Finally, to confirm the considered strategy, the real-time tests are conducted. The findings demonstrate that the suggested ADRC regulator with RBF-based gains tuning algorithm has a considerable disturbance rejection capability, small overshoot, fast response, and high precision which can improve the stability and quality of the arc welding process.

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In this paper, by considering the identity established by Luo et al. in [C. Luo, T.-S. Du, M. Kunt and Y. Zhang, Certain new bounds considering the weighted Simpson-like type inequality and applications, J. Inequal. Appl. 2018 2018, Paper No. 332] and under the assumption of the quasi-convexity of the first derivative, we establish some new error estimates of the Simpson-like type inequalities. We also discuss the case where the first derivative satisfies the Hölder condition. At the end, we provide some applications to special means. The obtained results represent a continuation of the above-mentioned paper.

Convexity is a fundamental concept in analysis. Over the past few decades, many significant error bounds have been established for various quadrature rules using different types of convexity. This paper focuses on the Gauss–Radau quadrature formula. Initially, we introduce a novel identity related to 2-point left Radau-type rule. Next, we derive several integral inequalities for functions whose first derivatives are s-convex in the second sense. Finally, we present applications to special means to demonstrate the effectiveness of our results.

The pea leaf weevil, Sitona lineatusL. (Coleoptera: Curculionidae, PLW), is a significant insect pest of pea (Pisum sativumL.) and faba bean (Vicia fabaL.), and it is responsible for serious economic damages. The current study aims to investigate the insecticidal activities of seven essential oil species on S. lineatusadults in the laboratory as well as the most effective ones under growth chamber conditions. Out of the tested essential oils, Lavandula angustifoliaMill. and Mentha arvensisL. oils showed substantial insecticidal activity against S. lineatusadults (100%) by contact activity at a concentration of 1.5% after 1 and 3 h of application, respectively, with an estimated LC50of 0.224 and 0.320% at 72 h after treatment, respectively. L. angustifoliaessential oil also resulted in a significant mortality rate of 70% by ingestion activity, with an LC50of 1.340% at 48 h after application under laboratory condition. The growth chamber bioassays confirmed these significant effects, displaying a mortality rate of 70% at 96 h after application at 1.5%. The gas chromatography–mass spectrometry analysis showed that linalool acetate (32.91%) and linalool (26.69%) dominated the L. angustifoliaessential oil composition. These findings highlighted that L. angustifoliaessential oils are promising agents for the development of biopesticide formulation for the control of S. lineatus, as a safe and ecofriendly alternative compared to chemical insecticides.

In this paper, we proposed a new hybrid conjugate gradient algorithm for solving unconstrained optimization problems as a convex combination of the Dai-Yuan algorithm, conjugate-descent algorithm, and Hestenes-Stiefel algorithm. This new algorithm is globally convergent and satisfies the sufficient descent condition by using the strong Wolfe conditions. The numerical results show that the proposed nonlinear hybrid conjugate gradient algorithm is efficient and robust.

AbstractThe main objective of this study is to analyse the effect of the non-linear behaviour of the soil on the seismic response of a foundation by taking into account the soil-structure interaction. The foundation is square-shaped, and rigid, resting on the surface of a homogeneous semi-infinite soil, and solicited only by the incident harmonic wave SH. However, for higher deformations (during strong earthquakes), the behaviour of the soil will be characterised by a nonlinear behaviour law. The phenomenon of soil nonlinearity due to the seismic excitation imposed on the soil is reflected in the curve of reduction of the normalised shear modulus G/Gmaxand the curve of increase of the normalised hysteretic damping coefficient ξ/ξmaxas a function of the unit shear deformation γ/γr. This behaviour is obtained by the equivalent linear method with the Masing model implemented in the one-dimensional (1D) computational code Caldynasoil. In this study, first, determine the nonlinear behaviour of a soil profile stressed by different levels of seismic accelerations applied at the bedrock level. The Caldynasoil computational code was used to find the variations of the nonlinear dynamic properties of the soil profile for different levels of seismic loading. Secondly, integrating the nonlinear dimensionless properties of the soil in a three-dimensional computational code Fonvib_Wave based on the boundary elements method combined with the theory of thin layers (BEM-TLM) in the frequency domain allows calculating the nonlinear displacements of a surface foundation. The obtained results represent the influence of the nonlinear behaviour of the soil on the vibration modes of a rigid foundation subjected to a shear wave SH as a function of the dimensionless frequency a0, and the angles of incidence θVand θH. The conclusions that may predict from this research have shown the importance of the influence of the nonlinear behaviour of the soil and the angles of incidence of the SH wave on the response of the soil-foundation system compared to the linear case.

Layered double hydroxides MgAl-CO3synthesized by co-precipitation have been used to adsorb and degrade Congo red in aqueous solution. Prepared sample was characterized by scanning electron microscope, Fourier-transform infrared spectra, Brunauer–Emmett–Teller and point of zero charge. The adsorption system provided a value of 22.5 mg/g at natural pH (6.8). The kinetics analysis and isotherms outcomes showed that the adsorption achieve equilibrium adsorption/desorption after 90 min. Which validates that pseudo-second-order is the most accurate fit model. Freundlich isotherm model describes the adsorption isotherms system with R2= 0.98. While the photocatalytic degradation proved that the optimal elimination of Congo red was observed by adding H2O2under UV light. The H2O2added under UV light acts as the generator of OH•. The dissolved Fe3+reacts with H2O2to form a homogeneous Fenton like by producing OH•. The observed degradation decrease after adding Fe3+is explained by the appearance of sludge during the reaction. The Influencing factors of the removal of Congo red have been tested by varying initial pH and H2O2concentrations. The highest degradation was at natural pH (6.8) with C/C0= 0.329. While the H2O2concentration exhibits strong degradation with an amount of 3.3 mmol.

Superoscillation is an extraordinary phenomenon capable of generating small-size focusing spots, which can be used for super-resolution focusing and imaging. Herein, we elaborate on a reconfigurable near-field focusing reflector based on the superoscillation principle, where the focal position and operation frequencies are modulated by the dynamic phase-compensation mechanism of an engineered metamirror. A varactor diode is embedded into each resonant meta-atom, enabling to achieve nearly 340° phase coverage. To validate the proposed reflector, the fabricated metamirror platform is experimentally measured in an anechoic chamber. The results show that the near-field focusing maintains subdiffraction property when the focal distances and frequencies are flexibly driven by the metamirror. Such a focusing reflector holds great integration potential to imaging devices for its tunability, high resolution, and nonnarrowband features.

Propofol is the most commonly used hypnotic agent for the induction and maintenance of general anesthesia. Due to its lipid-based composition, propofol requires a strict handling protocol to avoid an increased risk of extrinsic contamination.

The existence of organic pollutants in water discharges has made wastewater treatment extremely difficult. This is mainly due to the release of various hazardous substances into waterways, which cause significant damage to humans and the aquatic ecosystem. This paper discusses the biosynthesis process of pure ZnO and Ag co-doped ZnO (1%Ag_ZnO and 2%Ag_ZnO). Highly pure nanoparticles (NPs) were obtained by simple and ecological route, through employment of Zn-nitrate as host and Ag-nitrate as dopant and phytochemicals of Zizyphus lotus fruit as reduction agent. The Ag_ZnO NPs were prepared in a one pot synthetic mode (1 and 2% Ag). The obtained samples were characterized by XRD analysis and FTIR spectroscopy which revealed the hexagonal Wurtzite structure of crystals with an average crystallite diameter varying from 16 to 29 nm. The elimination capability of NPs was investigated through the photo-degradation of tartrazine (TR) under solar light irradiation. The operating parameters namely the catalyst dose, initial TR concentration (Co) have been optimized for the TR degradation as function of time. The dye TR was more effectively removed by doped ZnO NPs under solar irradiation. The best performance was obtained with 2%Ag/ZnO, due mainly to the radicals O2·−and ·OH. Results indicated also that the TR removal rate increases with the increase in catalyst load and the decreased in the initial TR concentration.

Sexual selection on fitness-determining traits should theoretically erode genetic variance and lead to low heritability. However, many sexually selected traits maintain significant phenotypic and additive genetic variance, with explanations for this “lek paradox” including genic capture due to condition-dependence, and breaks on directional selection due to environmental sources of variance including maternal effects. Here we investigate genetic and environmental sources of variance in the intrasexually selected green badge of the sand lizard (Lacerta agilis). The badge functions as a cue to male fighting ability in this species, and male–male interactions determine mate acquisition. Using animal models on a pedigree including three generations of males measured over an extensive 9-year field study, we partition phenotypic variance in both badge size and body condition into additive genetic, maternal, and permanent environmental effects experienced by an individual over its lifespan. Heritability of badge size was 0.33 with a significant estimate of underlying additive genetic variance. Body condition was strongly environmentally determined in this species and did not show either significant additive genetic variance or heritability. Neither badge size nor body condition was responsive to maternal effects. We propose that the lack of additive genetic variance and heritability of body condition makes it unlikely that genic capture mechanisms maintain additive genetic variance for badge size. That said, genic capture was originally proposed for male traits under female choice, not agonistic selection. If developmental pathways generating variance in body condition, and/or the covarying secondary sex trait, differ between inter- and intrasexual selection, or the rate at which their additive genetic variance or covariance is depleted, future work may show whether genic capture is largely restricted to intersexual selection processes.

Natural phenomena as well as problems encountered in pure and applied sciences are modeled by ordinary, partial or integral differential equations. Most of these problems have a nonlinear aspect which makes their studies difficult, or even impossible. For this, they must resort to other alternatives; among the methods used is the integral inequalities approach, which allows the study of quantitative and qualitative properties of solutions such as existence, uniqueness, delimitation, oscillation, and stability. In this study, we present some new integral inequalities of the Gronwall–Bellman–Bihari type associated with the fractional derivative of ψ-Hilfer, which represents a strong tool and is applicable in the study of certain differential equations. Several known results are derived and some applications to ordinary differential equations are provided to demonstrate the effectiveness of our finding.

Conjugate gradient methods (CG) are an important class of methods for solving unconstrained optimization problems, especially for large-scale problems. Recently, they have been much studied. In this paper, we propose a new conjugate gradient method for unconstrained optimization. This method is a convex combination of Fletcher and Reeves (abbreviated FR), Polak–Ribiere–Polyak (abbreviated PRP) and Dai and Yuan (abbreviated DY) methods. The new conjugate gradient methods with the Wolfe line search is shown to ensure the descent property of each search direction. Some general convergence results are also established for this method. The numerical experiments are done to test the efficiency of the proposed method, which confirms its promising potentials.

Rare biallelic pathogenic mutations in PCSK1(encoding proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 1 [PC1/3]) cause early-onset obesity associated with various endocrinopathies. Setmelanotide has been approved for carriers of these biallelic mutations in the past 3 years. We aimed to perform a large-scale functional genomic study focusing on rare heterozygous variants of PCSK1to decipher their putative impact on obesity risk.

In this paper, we first prove a new parameterized identity that generates a quadrature rule family similar to Simpson’s second formula, and then we establish some new Simpson-like type inequalities for functions whose first derivatives are s-convex in the second sense, from which we can deduce the famous 38{\frac{3}{8}}-Simpson inequality. We end the article with some applications.

The widespread occurrence of drugs in the aquatic environment has raised concerns over the last decades about the mechanisms to be used to remove these emerging contaminants because of their harmful effects on the water quality and human health. This current research was aimed to explore the preparation of an activated carbon from kernel oil treatment residues of Argania Spinosa for the removal of amoxicillin (AMX) from water. The conditions for synthesizing the activated carbon (AC-RS) were used: an impregnation weight ratio of char to KOH 1:1 at activation temperature of 800 °C for 1 h of activation time, which gave a BET surface area and total pore volume of 1618 m2g−1and 0.763 cm3g−1, respectively. The effect of AMX/AC-RS interactions as well as the operating conditions (time, solution pH, initial concentration, and temperature) on the adsorption capacity was also studied. The adsorption of AMX onto AC-RS, with maximum adsorption capacity of 303.03 mg g−1, is much higher compared to several adsorbents reported in the literature. The high amount of AMX absorbed by AC-RS at pH 6 mainly results from the adsorption sites involved in the electrostatic attraction force, π-π hydrophobic interaction, and hydrogen bonding. The regeneration study ascertained the fact that AC-RS was reusable even after four consecutive cycles and the efficiency remains higher than 70%. Therefore, the optimized batch parameters were employed for the AMX removal in real wastewater, a percentage of 77.2% was obtained.

To propose an intelligent, non-invasive, highly precise, and rapid method to predict the mutation status of the Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor (EGFR) to accelerate treatment with Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitor (TKI) for patients with untreated adenocarcinoma Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer.

Over finite frequency ranges, this study analyzes delay-dependent stability criteria for time-varying delay systems. To develop new delay-dependent stability conditions in finite frequency domains for the continuous time-varying delay systems, we construct an input-output technique for delay-dependent systems utilizing the two-term transformation model paired with Scaled-Small Gain (SSG) approach. Sufficient conditions are obtained and described in terms of linear matrix inequalities (LMIs) constraints based on a novel delay-dependent finite frequency inequality. As an illustration, a numerical example has been supplied to test the correctness of the current approach.

Background: Low confidence in the safety of COVID-19 vaccines was found to be a key promoter of vaccine reluctance especially among youth. Furthermore, young adults are an important demographic for building herd immunity through vaccination. As a result, their reactions to getting COVID-19 vaccines are crucial in our fight against SARS-CoV-2. Objective: The overall goal of this study was to look into the shortterm side effects experienced by Moroccan medical and pharmacy students after receiving COVID-19 vaccines. Methods: A cross-sectional survey-based study to assess the COVID-19 vaccines' short-term AEFIs among Moroccan medical and pharmacy students. The validated questionnaire was delivered in a digital form to explore the side effects (SE) they encountered after the first or the second dose of one of three vaccines namely: AstraZeneca Vaxzevria, PfizerBioNTeck, and SinoPharm vaccines. Results: There were 510 students in total who took part. After the first and second doses, approximately 72 percent and 78 percent of subjects, respectively, reported no SE. The remainder had localized injection site side effects (26%). Fatigue (21%), fever (19%), headache (17%), and myalgia (16%) were the most common systemic adverse effects after the first dose. There were no serious SEs reported. Conclusion: The majority of the reported AEFIs in our data were mild to moderate in intensity and lasted only one or two days. COVID-19 vaccinations are highly likely safe for young adults, according to the findings of this study.

Hereditary spastic paraplegia type 4 is extremely variable in age at onset; the same variant can cause onset at birth or in the eighth decade. We recently discovered that missense variants in SPAST, which influences microtubule dynamics, are associated with earlier onset and more severe disease than truncating variants, but even within the early and late-onset groups there remained significant differences in onset. Given the rarity of the condition, we adapted an extreme phenotype approach to identify genetic modifiers of onset.

In this paper, an intelligent control of the single-phase shunt active filter (SP-SAF) for power quality improvement is proposed. The developed approach is essentially composed of two controllers based on the fuzzy logic theory. The first fuzzy proportional derivative (PD) controller with integral (I) action replacing the standard PI regulator, intervenes in the DC voltage regulation loop of the depollution device. In addition, it effectively participates in the delivery of the reference source current. The second controller represented by a fuzzy hysteresis regulator ensures better control of the filter current. Moreover, it acts as an intelligent governance decision maker of the (DC/AC) converter constituting the filtering system. The strategy offers a source current of sinusoidal shape respecting the imposed international standards and the operation of the treated system under a power factor very close to unity. The effectiveness of the new proposed control strategy has been tested through MATLAB/Simulink software and practically validated via the dSPACE 1104 card under various operating conditions. Finally, the experimental results show that the proposed control paradigm outperformed the existing control schemes.

•RME should be a treatment option in children with SBT and maxillary hypoplasia.•The oropharynx volume increased after rapid maxillary expansion.•Differences in oropharyngeal volume between pre- and post RME in individuals with SDB.