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Global concern over socioeconomic activities' environmental impact is undeniable, given their implications for climate and human welfare. In our study, we analyze Pakistan's landscape, with emphasis on the effects of electricity generation and consumption (both symmetric and asymmetric), energy trade, and the role of information and communication technology (ICT). We harnessed data from 1993 to 2020, sourced from World Development Indicators, Climate Watch, and the USA EIA. Our analysis involved application of the Nonlinear Autoregressive Distributed Lag model and the Autoregressive Distributed Lag bounds testing methods. Our results reveal that electricity consumption, whether experiencing positive or negative shocks, exhibits a tendency to elevate emissions over the long term. Similarly, shocks in electricity generation from fossil fuels, whether positive or negative, have adverse environmental consequences both in the short and long run. A negative shock in electricity generation from renewable and alternative sources triggers environmental degradation. Remarkably, nuclear energy plays a pivotal role in bolstering environmental sustainability in Pakistan. Conversely, we identified factors contributing to ecological degradation, including imports of coal, crude oil, metallurgical coke, and ICT usage, in the long run. Equally, trade and natural resources rent emerge as mitigating factors over time. Ultimately, our study underscores the importance of diversifying the energy mix, with a particular emphasis on expanding the renewable sources for reducing emissions and fostering environmental sustainability in Pakistan. Additionally, our research suggests that leveraging natural resources rent and trade capabilities can pave the way for an eco-friendlier future in the country. This study assesses the environmental impact of electricity generation by source, electricity consumption, energy trade, and ICTs in Pakistan. The findings confirm that both positive and negative shocks in fossil fuel electricity generation and consumption detrimentally affect the environment. Coal, crude oil, metallurgical coke imports, and ICTs degrade the environment, while nuclear electricity generation, natural resources rent, and trade improve it. Integrating energy diversification with focus on promoting renewable energy sources has the potential to significantly reduce emissions and advance long-run environmental sustainability. Strategically utilizing natural resources rent and trade capabilities can aid in establishing an environmental sustainability in Pakistan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we investigate Quantum Long Short-Term Memory and Quantum Gated Recurrent Unit integrated with Variational Quantum Circuits in modeling complex dynamical systems, including the Van der Pol oscillator, coupled oscillators, and the Lorenz system. We implement these advanced quantum machine learning techniques and compare their performance with traditional Long Short-Term Memory and Gated Recurrent Unit models. The results of our study reveal that the quantum-based models deliver superior precision and more stable loss metrics throughout 100 epochs for both the Van der Pol oscillator and coupled harmonic oscillators, and 20 epochs for the Lorenz system. The Quantum Gated Recurrent Unit outperforms competing models, showcasing notable performance metrics. For the Van der Pol oscillator, it reports MAE 0.0902 and RMSE 0.1031 for variable x and MAE 0.1500 and RMSE 0.1943 for y; for coupled oscillators, Oscillator 1 shows MAE 0.2411 and RMSE 0.2701 and Oscillator 2 MAE is 0.0482 and RMSE 0.0602; and for the Lorenz system, the results are MAE 0.4864 and RMSE 0.4971 for x, MAE 0.4723 and RMSE 0.4846 for y, and MAE 0.4555 and RMSE 0.4745 for z. These outcomes mark a significant advancement in the field of quantum machine learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The agricultural sector faces the dual challenge of enhancing crop productivity and mitigating environmental impacts. Optimizing nutrient management is vital for sustainable agriculture, particularly in sloping terrains like the Himalayan region, where damaged soils require restoration. This study explores the synergistic effects of urea, poultry manure, and zeolite on wheat growth and yield in degraded mountainous soils. A total of twelve treatments were implemented in a randomized complete block design, replicated three times. The treatments included a control (T1); urea nitrogen at 120 kg N ha−1 (UN120) (T2); poultry manure (PM) at 120 kg N ha−1 (T3); zeolite-1 (Z1) at 5 t ha−1 (T4); zeolite-2 (Z2) at 5 t ha−1 (T5); UN120 + Z1 (T6); PM + Z1 (T7); UN120 + Z2 (T8); PM + Z2 (T9); ½ UN + ½ PM + Z1 (T10); ½ UN + ½ PM + Z2 (T11); and ½ UN + ½ PM + ½ Z1 + ½ Z2 (T12). The UN120 treatment demonstrated significant improvements in wheat growth, with notable increases in shoot length (79.7%), shoot fresh weight (50.8%), root length (50.6%), chlorophyll content (53.6%), and leaf area (72.5%) compared to the control. Wheat yield and its components experienced significant improvements when treated with urea nitrogen (UN) and zeolites. Among these treatments, UN120 exhibited the highest efficacy. Nutrient content analysis revealed substantial increases in shoot nitrogen (70.6%), phosphorus (33.3%), and potassium (15.6%) with UN120 treatment compared to the control. The concoction of UN and PM with zeolites further enhanced nutrient levels. Integrating mineral nitrogen sources with organic amendments and zeolites proved effective in enhancing wheat productivity in degraded mountainous soils. Despite positive results, further research is essential for widespread recommendations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Integrated nutrient management is an environment friendly approach of plant nutrition being used for crop productivity and improvement in soil quality on sustainable basis. A three-year multi-location experiment was conducted to estimate the spice quality of saffron subjected to the integration of organic and inorganic nitrogen sources. At each location, the experiment was laid out in randomized complete block design. The treatments were T1 = control (without organic/inorganic N source/amendment); T2 = Full recommended nitrogen (i.e. urea fertilizer @ equivalent to 100 kg N ha−1; UN100); T3 = Poultry manure (PM) @ equivalent to 100 kg total N ha−1 (i.e. PM100); T4 = Farm yard manure (FYM) @ equivalent to 100 kg total N ha−1 (i.e. FYM100); T5 = PM50+FYM50; T6 = UN75 + PM25; T7 = UN50 + PM50; T8 = UN25 + PM75; T9 = UN75 + FYM25; T10 = UN50 + FYM50; T11 = UN25 + FYM75 and T12 = UN50 + PM25+ FYM25. Among treatments, poultry manure (100%) and urea nitrogen with poultry manure (UN50 + PM50) significantly affected the quality attributes of saffron. On the other hand, among sites, the crocin, picrocrocin and saffranal contents were in order of Khaigala (23.81% crocin, 20.01% picrocrocin and 0.27% saffranal) >Trarkhel (19.04% crocin, 16.99% picrocrocin and 0.25% saffranal) and > Abbaspur (17.80% crocin, 15.45% picrocrocin and 0.23% saffranal). Similarly, among years, the crocin, picrocrocin and saffranal contents were significantly higher in the third year compared to the first and second year. In conclusion, the integration of organic nitrogen sources with inorganic nitrogen has the potential to improve saffron quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study is to identify sugareane genotypes that eombine high yield and stability aeross environments to identify best potential eultivars of sugareane for a region during the years 201718 and 2018-19. Fourteen sugareane genotypes under varietal development programme of Sugareane Research Institute, Faisalabad were evaluated in two different loeations of northern region in Punjab, Pakistan for their yield response and stability in that eeology, The research trials was earried out in randomized eomplete bloek design with three replieates. The sugareane genotype S2005-US-54 stand best performer by aehieving eane yield of 122 t/ha and sugar yield of 15.52 t/ha at Bhalwal, while sugareane genotype CPF-253 and CPF-252 produeed high eane yield of 129 t/ha, 125 t/ha and sugar yield of 16.69 t/ha, 15.25 t/ha at Chelianwala respeetively. The adaptability and stability studies of fourteen genotypes eoneluded that CPF-253, S2005-US-54, CPF-252 produeed the highest eane yield of 123.5 t/ha, 121.5 t/ha, 115t/ha respeetively and most of the produetive genotypes being high yielding ability was best suited for planting in northern agro-eeologies in Punjab. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, cesium lead halide perovskites such as CsPb 2 Br 5 and CsPbBr 3 have drawn the attention of researchers because of their unique optical, electronic, and chemical properties. To improve the photo and/or chemical performance of such CsPb 2 Br 5 (termed as CPB hereafter), we have realized multiple facile routes for its combination with UV-active TiO 2 nanoparticles. Resultantly developed binary nanocomposites of TiO 2 , CPB perovskites and TiO 2 /CPB-nanocomposite (TiO 2 /CPB-NC) offered a meaningful photochemical contrast between pseudo-successive ionic layer adsorption and reaction (p -SILAR) and electrostatic self-assembly methods for targeting photocatalytic degradation of toxic dyes under solar irradiation and resulted significant performance as reactant for oxygen evolution (OER) as revealed by extensive electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). In parallel to extensive material-based characterization using SEM, XRD, and UV Vis. etc, the study was further extended to the theoretical investigation of the structure of CsPb 2 Br 5 , and antibacterial activity against gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria namely Escherichia coli (E. coli) and Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus). RhB degradation of TiO 2 increased from 13% to 58% by deposition of CPB, in parallel to 100% inhition zone growth. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The two-parameter Mittag–Leffler function E α , β is of fundamental importance in fractional calculus, and it appears frequently in the solutions of fractional differential and integral equations. However, the expense of calculating this function often prompts efforts to devise accurate approximations that are more cost-effective. When α > 1 , the monotonicity property is largely lost, resulting in the emergence of roots and oscillations. As a result, current rational approximants constructed mainly for α ∈ (0 , 1) often fail to capture this oscillatory behavior. In this paper, we develop computationally efficient rational approximants for E α , β (− t) , t ≥ 0 , with α ∈ (1 , 2) . This process involves decomposing the Mittag–Leffler function with real roots into a weighted root-free Mittag–Leffler function and a polynomial. This provides approximants valid over extended intervals. These approximants are then extended to the matrix Mittag–Leffler function, and different implementation strategies are discussed, including using partial fraction decomposition. Numerical experiments are conducted to illustrate the performance of the proposed approximants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The composites containing various iron compounds and highly microporous carbon spheres were produced and investigated for structural and magnetic properties. Iron citrate, nitrate and chloride were used to prepare samples and the obtained products contained iron, iron carbide or magnetite. All the produced samples were characterized by high porosity and good magnetic properties. The coupling of the high porosity of carbon spheres with magnetic properties of iron compounds provides a potential application of the composites to removal of impurities from water, followed by a magnetic separation of the sorbent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the design and analysis of a metamaterial-based wideband microwave absorber in the C- and X-band, comprised of lumped resistors, having thicknesses of the order of 0.05 λ mm. The structure was micro-machined on the FR-4 sheet in a periodically arranged array of 15 × 15 unit cells. These unit cells have a dimension of 12 × 12 mm each. The proposed absorber design presents excellent broadband absorption characteristics with relative bandwidth (RBW) of 85.05% covering a bandwidth of 8.02 GHz ranging from 5.42 to 13.44 GHz. The absorption mechanism has been explained with the help of characteristic impedance and surface current densities in the operating region. The designed absorber shows polarization angle independency and wide incidence angle stability for the incident microwaves. The results of the prototype are compared with the simulated results illustrating excellent compatibility with the simulation results. Absorber structure may find its potential use in camouflage applications during war times. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]