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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]

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]

Biofortification in crops is an effective and sustainable approach to reduce global malnutrition. Groundnut (Arachis hypogea L.) is inherently low in micronutrients, especially iron. A greenhouse study was conducted to evaluate the effect of siderophore producing bacterial strains (SPBs) on growth, yield and iron content of groundnut. Three efficient SPBs identified as Bacillus subtilis and their consortia were used alone and with soil or foliar applied iron. The results revealed that the inoculation of SPBs alone and combination with soil applied Fe, showed maximum relative increase of 63 and 86 percent in shoot fresh and dry weight respectively. Likewise, the number of pods plant−1, pod weight plant−1, 20 pod length and 100 kernel weight of groundnut were increased significantly in response to sole application SPBs and their combinations with soil applied (SA) or foliar applied (FA) iron. Moreover, nutrient (N, P, K, Zn & Fe) concentrations in kernel and straw were also showed significant differences in all treatments. Findings further revealed that the combined application of SPBs + Fe-SA increased total Fe-uptake of groundnut between 24.14 to 49.75 percent while for SPBs + Fe-FA treatment this increase varied between 14.73 to 45.72 percent (over to the SPBs alone) The overall results indicated that SPBs have the potential to increase growth, yield and nutrient contents of groundnut which advocate that microbial-mediated Fe biofortification of groundnut could be a promising strategy to ameliorate Fe deficiency-induced disordering in human beings especially in developing countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Iron is indispensable for the growth and metabolism of all living organisms but its availability in soil is limited due to very low solubility of dominant ferric iron (Fe3+). Plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPRs) have the ability to synthesize low molecular weight siderophores having high affinity for iron. Considering the siderophore-producing ability of PGPRs, a study was designed to isolate potential siderophore-producing bacteria from the rhizosphere of groundnut grown in the Potohar region. A total of 120 (MGS-1 to MGS-120) different bacterial isolates were obtained and screened for siderophore production. Under the quantitative estimation of siderophores, the maximum (73%) siderophore production was observed in MGS-14 followed by MGS-11 (69%) and MGS-91 (68%). Furthermore, these isolates were used for the incubation study which was conducted to evaluate the effect of SPB isolates on iron release in the soil. The soil was incubated at 28°C for 96 days and field capacity was maintained with distilled water from time to time. The results of the study revealed that the three SPB isolates (MGS-11, MGS-14, and MGS-91) which produced maximum siderophore units (>60% SU) showed an increase in iron release and 82%, 71%, and 69% over control on 32nd day of incubation, respectively. Moreover, the efficient bacterial isolates were characterized through 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis. The identified bacterial isolates were Bacillus subtilis, Bacillus halotolerans, and Bacillus safensis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Organic amendments in the soil perform better than synthetic fertilizers in regards to soil fertility and sustainable crop productivity. Experiments were conducted to compare the effects of organic and synthetic fertilizers on soil fertility and wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) productivity. Soil fertility and protein contents of wheat grains (13.2% and 13.3% during 2005–06 and 2006–07, respectively) were improved by organic amendments. However, synthetic fertilizer (at the rate of 150, 100, and 60 kg ha−1 N, P2O5, and K2O, respectively) applications resulted in the maximum grain yield (4.05 and 4.46 t ha−1 during 2005–06 and 2006–07, respectively). The observed and simulated soil organic carbon (SOC) reasonably agreed during RothC model validation (R2 = 0.99). Economic analysis showed the maximum net profit and relative increase in income ($729 US ha−1 and 309%, respectively) from inorganic treatment. Application of synthetic fertilizers increased grain yield and farm profit while organic manure enhanced grain quality. The RothC model had potential for determining the SOC in organic farming under arid environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study provided an insight on improving soil-plant micronutrients availability in response to poultry manure (PM), wheat milling residues (WMR) and urea N (UN) and their integration in wheat-soybean cropping system. The treatments were: control; poultry manure full, PM100; wheat milling residues full, WMR100; urea N full, UN100; PM half and WMR half, PM50+WMR50; UN50+PM50; UN50+WMR50; UN50+PM25+WMR25. All amendments were added at the rate or equivalent to 100 kg total N ha-1. Results indicated that the integrated treatments increased Cu, Fe, Mn and Zn uptake of wheat by 35.7-103%, 48.4-111.1%, 85.2-267.0% and 33.8-128.2%, respectively over control. In soybean the corresponding increase in micronutrient uptake (Cu, Fe, Mn and Zn) was 18.3-60.3%, 27.5-87.4%, 14.1-54.6% and 13.2-58.0% in integrated treatments. The post-harvest soil analysis indicated 2 to 3-fold increase in micronutrient content with highest values in PM100 i.e., 2.66 mg kg−1 for Cu, 14.41 mg kg−1 for Fe, 18.58 mg kg−1 for Mn and 2.44 mg kg−1 for Zn, respectively. The results showed that the PM either alone or in integrated with WMR and UN can be an effective management strategy for improving micronutrient content of soil-plant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the effects of change in cycle pressure ratio and maximum cycle temperature as well as the change in refrigerant in organic Rankine cycle (ORC) on energy and exergy performance of biomass-driven triple-power cycle. The results show that both first and second law efficiencies of the proposed triple-power cycle decreases with the increase in pressure ratio and increases with the increase in the maximum cycle temperature. The effect of change in the refrigerant in ORC is found to be marginal. Second law assessment of the cycle reveals that combustor, heat recovery steam generator (HRSG), and gasifier are the three main sources of irreversibility, where it is shown that out of the 100% fuel exergy input; around 25% of exergy is destructed in the combustor, 19% in HRSG, and 7.6% in the gasifier. Investigations show that the triple-power cycle has better thermodynamic performance than the combined power cycle driven by biomass. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we discuss new split-step methods for solving systems of Itô stochastic differential equations (SDEs). The methods are based on aL-stable (strongly stable) second-order split Adams–Moulton Formula for stiff ordinary differential equations in collusion with Milstein methods for use on SDEs which are stiff in both the deterministic and stochastic components. TheL-stability property is particularly useful when the drift components are stiff and contain widely varying decay constants. For SDEs wherein the diffusion is especially stiff, we consider balanced and modified balanced split-step methods which posses larger regions of mean-square stability. Strong order convergence one is established and stability regions are displayed. The methods are tested on problems with one and two noise channels. Numerical results show the effectiveness of the methods in the pathwise approximation of stiff SDEs when compared to some existing split-step methods. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In this paper, combined first and second law approach is applied to investigate the effects of percent excess air and ambient temperature on the energy and exergy efficiency of the hydrogen-fuelled homogeneous charge compression ignition engine. A maximum energy efficiency of 45% and an exergy efficiency of 37% are obtained at the excess air of 25%. A narrow range of 42–40% energy efficiency and a wide range of 25–45% exergy efficiency were achieved between the 20–40% excess air and an ambient temperature of 300 K. Close range of variation for energy efficiency (48–44%) and exergy efficiency (32–36%) were achieved between the ambient temperatures of 13°C and 41°C. Exergy analysis indicates that 52% of the fuel hydrogen exergy is destroyed due to various irreversible processes of the engine, around 40% is available as a useful work output, and 7.83% is lost via engine exhaust. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Besides affecting basic processes in receiver plants, allelopathy can also provoke cross-stress response. The prime mechanism behind allelopathic stress is induced oxidative damage. This study was conducted to evaluate the role of pre-sowing seed treatments, viz., hydro-priming and osmo-hardening (CaCl2), in mitigating allelopathic stress of sorghum [Sorghum bicolor(L.) Moench] on hybrid maize (Zea maysL.). Aqueous extract of sorghum was prepared in distilled water (1:10 w/v ratio) and five concentrations (0, 25%, 50%, 75%, and 100%) were used. Non-treated maize seeds and distilled water-treated seeds were maintained as control and positive control, respectively. Aqueous sorghum extracts exhibited phytotoxicity to maize by inhibiting and delaying maize emergence and suppressing seedling growth, although the magnitude of suppression was far less in the case of hydro-primed and osmo-hardened seeds. Pre-sowing seed treatments activated the antioxidant enzymes and helped ameliorate the allelopathic stress evoked by exposure to sorghum extract. Although the effect of both the pretreatments was found to be stimulatory, osmo-hardening with CaCl2was more effective in improving most of the studied attributes at all extract concentrations. The study suggests that pre-sowing seed treatments can be exploited to alleviate allelopathic stress on maize via the induction of enzymatic antioxidants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Four different arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi, Glomus aggregatum, Glomus fasciculatum, Glomus intraradices and Glomus mosseae, were used alone and in combinations with Bacillus subtilis to evaluate their capability to increase the productivity of geranium. Mycorrhizal treatment increased the growth and total biomass invariably over non-mycorrhizal control plants. In AM alone treatment, the best result was obtained for G. mosseae treatment, where 380.9 and 335.3 g fresh herb yield per pot was recorded in 2005–2006 and 2006–2007, respectively, an increase of 75.3 and 85.9% over controls. Plants inoculated with B. subtilis alone yielded 287.8 and 252.3 g fresh herb, an increase of 32.4 and 39.9% over uninoculated controls. However, B. subtilis in combination with G. mosseae produced the highest herb yield, i.e. 410.8 and 347.8 g herbs pot−1, an increase of 89.4 and 92.9% over untreated controls. The field experimental data validated the results of the pot experiment. Treatment with G. mosseae alone increased herb yield by 49.4%, whereas in combination with B. subtilis, it increased herb yield by 59.5%. Treatment with AM fungi and B. subtilis did not affect the essential oil content of the plant, but total oil yield was significantly increased because of the increase in biomass production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The electrical engineering (ELE) program at the American University of Sharjah (AUS) is designed to fulfill the ABET criteria. Several assessment tools are used to qualitatively and quantitatively measure the level of achievement of the program's educational objectives and outcomes. These tools include alumni, employer, and graduate advisor surveys. Results of such surveys are used to continuously improve the program curriculum, design activities, and the overall educational experience of the students. We believe that the techniques utilised in this process are crucial to the level of success that the ELE program at AUS has achieved over a relatively short-time frame. This has been reflected in the excellent academic reputation of AUS in the Middle East. Furthermore, the ELE program at AUS has received ABET accreditation in 2006 for a period of six years, which makes it the first ELE program to be fully accredited by ABET outside the USA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This report provides information and summary data for manuscripts submitted, acceptance rates and review times for the I International Journal of Computer Mathematics (IJCM) i from 1st January 2018 to 30th June 2019. All submissions to I IJCM i are processed via ScholarOne Manuscripts at http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/commat. I IJCM i continues to screen papers for originality using the CrossRef Similarity Check™ software to screen papers for unoriginal material. [Extracted from the article]

Additive manufacturing (AM) of metallic alloys offers a new avenue to print objects having complex geometries. This exclusive benefit of AM has made it an alternative route to conventional manufacturing. Importantly, additively manufactured (AMed) alloys often exhibit improved microstructures, which may provide better properties. The microstructure of an alloy can be tuned by controlling the processing parameters. This study includes an overview of the processing parameters that can influence the microstructural, mechanical, and corrosion properties of AMed alloys. Moreover, the effects of heat treatment on AMed alloys are also discussed. Among various processing parameters, it is observed that the laser power significantly influences the microstructure. The microstructures produced with high laser power are similar to heat-treated samples for 316L stainless steel (SS) and Ti6Al4V. Similarly, variation in scanning speed results in distinct morphology of grains in Ti6Al4V. Moreover, different AM processes, such as SLM and EBM, produce coarse and fine β grains, respectively, in Ti6Al4V. The fabrication of AlSi10Mg yields various sizes of melt pool due to different scanning strategies. Furthermore, mechanical properties such as microhardness is higher and the yield strength is lower for Ti6Al4V fabricated at lower laser power. The corrosion behavior of SLMed Ti6Al4V is different on the perpendicular and parallel planes to the build direction. Due to the increase in grain size after heat treatment, the corrosion resistance of AMed Ti6Al4V and AlSi10Mg is reduced. In contrast, heat treatment applied on 316L, Ti6Al4V, AlSi10Mg, and Inconel 718 is beneficial for mechanical properties. After the development of materials with optimized processing parameters, the research should be conducted on replacement of the wrought alloys with the AMed alloys. It is expected that new applications such as fuel cells and biomedical devices will utilize the AM technology to build parts in the recent future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The enhancement in both frequency and intensity of high temperature, besides its large variability will result in up to 40% yield reduction in rice by the end of 21st century. Vegetative growth in rice continues with day time temperature up to 40°C but development of florets is extremely sensitive to temperature higher than 35°C. The effect of night time temperature stress is even more adverse than day. Heat stress results in deprived anther dehiscence, impaired pollination and abnormal pollen germination that cause floret sterility. The decrease in pollen viability is presumably caused by imbalance in proteins expression, abandoned biosynthesis, partitioning and translocation of soluble sugars, imbalance in phytohormones release, and loss of pollen water content. Rice responds to heat stress by adjusting various physiochemical mechanisms viz., growth inhibition, leaf senescence and alteration in basic physiological processes. Antioxidant enzymes, calcium and iron also play an important role in managing heat stress. Response of rice to heat stress varies with plant ecotype, growth stage, heat intensity and time of stress application. High temperature stress can be managed by developing heat-tolerant genotypes. Rice breeding and screening may be based on anther dehiscence, pollen tube development and pollen germination on stigma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tubular solar still (TSS) is drawing more attention from researchers due to its compact design with many advantages. This study developed a 3-dimensional, 2-phase numerical model tubular for solar still with a parabolic concentrator solar tracking system (PCST-TSS) to study its performance with a negative static pressure caused by a static water column. The developed model can calculate the amount of freshwater production and the gas mixture phase's temperature. The model was validated by comparing the simulation results, e.g. for water temperature, vapor temperature, and distillate output, with real-field experimental results. Results showed a significant enhancement of the PCST-TSS performance under negative static pressures. Reducing the operating pressure from 100 to 40 kPa enhanced the productivity and thermal efficiency of the PCST-TSS by 53.2% and 57.4%, respectively. Moreover, the CPL was decreased to a very competitive cost of $0.00557 at 40 kPa. The device productivity reached 7.2 L/m2day, which is suitable for the essential water needs of one person in small communities and remote areas without infrastructure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Effect of poultry manure (PM) and four inorganic phosphorus (P) fertilizers sources, i.e., diammonium phosphate (DAP), single super phosphate (SSP), nitrophos (NP) and triple super phosphate (TSP) on crop production and P utilization efficiency (PUE) of maize was studied. Both inorganic P fertilizers and PM applied alone or combined in 50:50 proportions at equivalent rate of 90 kg P2O5ha−1. Results indicated that inorganic P sources with PM significantly increased plant height, leaf area and chlorophyll content. Average values showed that combined application of inorganic P with PM increased grain yield by 19 and 41% over inorganic P and PM alone, respectively. Similarly, increase in P-uptake due to the combined application of inorganic P + PM was 17% compared to sole inorganic P. Phosphorus utilization efficiency of inorganic P was increased with PM and the highest PUE was recorded in DAP + PM. Generally, combination of DAP + PM proved superior over the remaining P fertilizers. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

A restricted dietary range and a deficit of essential minerals such as zinc (Zn) characterize the diets of under-nourished people. Zn deficiency is a global nutritional problem and intensity of the issue is even severe in developing countries. Cereal grains are key to fulfill a person’s daily energy requirements, but they have very low grain Zn concentrations, especially when grown in Zn-deficient soils. Zinc deficiency can be addressed in several ways viz., nutritional diversification, food enrichment and biofortification. Several limitations regarding nutritional diversification and food enrichment favored Zn biofortification as a perpetual solution of malnutrition. Among the potential biofortification options to rectify Zn deficiency, plant breeding approaches and agronomic biofortification offers major advantage. Current review appraised the possible role of Zn in plants, its uptake, translocation and partitioning efficiencies in cereal grains that is driven by various agronomic, breeding and biotechnological approaches. Moreover, review also discussed Zn application methods, Zn-phosphate hostility and indicators of Zn bioavailability which may improve Zn-use efficiency in rice. There is a genuine need to integrate Zn in rice production systems by using agronomic and conventional breeding tools. Likewise, agronomic biofortification is economically sustainable and practically adoptable solution to overcome the Zn deficiency issue in rice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]