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The article is dedicated to the study of the models of production of innovations at enterprise and state levels. The shift towards a new technology wave induces a change in systems of division of labour as well as establishment of new forms of cooperation that are reflected both in theory and practice of innovation policy and management. Within the scope of the research question we have studied different generation of innovation process, starting with simple linear models - "technology push" and "market pull" - and ending with a complex integrated model of open innovations. There are two organizational models of innovation production at the enterprise level: start-ups in the early stages of their development and ambidextrous organizations. The former are prone to linear models of innovation process, while the latter create innovation within more sophisticated inclusive processes. Companies that effectuate reciprocal ambidexterity stand out from all the rest, since together with start-ups, research and development centres, elements of innovation infrastructure and other economic agents operating in the same value chain they constitute the core of most advanced forms of national innovation systems, namely Triple Helix and Quadruple Helix systems. National innovation systems - models of innovation production at the state level - evolve into systems with a more profound division of labour that enable "line production" of innovations. These tendencies are closely related to the advent and development of the concept of serial entrepreneurship that transforms entrepreneurship into a new type of profession. International experience proves this concept to be efficient in various parts of the world. Nevertheless, the use of above mentioned models and concepts in national innovation system should be justified by socioeconomic conditions of economic regions, since they determine the efficiency of implementation of certain innovation processes and organizational designs at company and national system level.

A mathematical model is envisaged that discusses the motion of 3D nanofluids (NFs) with anisotropic slip influence magnetic field past a stretching sheet. The heat transportation phenomenon is analysed by melting effect, heat generation, and chemical reaction. The main motivation of this study is to analyse the behaviour of liquid motion and heat transfer (HT) of NFs because this study has huge applications in boiling, solar energy, and micropower generation, which are used in the engineering process. The physical governing partial differential equation is transformed into a coupled non-linear system of ordinary differential equations using suitable appropriate transformations. The translated equations are calculated using Runge–Kutta–Fehlberg method via shooting procedure. The physical characteristics of various parameters on velocities, concentration, and thermal fields are explored in detail. The HT is high in NFs when compared to pure or regular liquids for ascending values of heat source parameter and slip factor. Also, the skin friction coefficients via coordinate axes and rate of Nusselt number were analysed.

Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

This study addresses the urgent need for practical solutions to industrial water contamination. Utilizing Algerian Bentonite as an adsorbent due to its regional prevalence, we focused on the efficiency of the Bentonite/Sodium dodecylbenzene sulfonate (SDBS) matrix in Methylene Blue (MB) removal. The zero-charge point and IR spectroscopy characterized the adsorbent. Acidic pH facilitated SDBS adsorption on Bentonite, achieving equilibrium in 30 min with a pseudo-second-order model. The UPAC and Freundlich model indicated a q max of 25.97 mg/g. SDBS adsorption was exothermic at elevated temperatures. The loaded Bentonite exhibited excellent MB adsorption (pH 3-9) with PSOM kinetics. Maximum adsorption capacity using IUPAC and GILES-recommended isotherms was q max  = 23.54 mg/g. The loaded Bentonite's specific surface area was 70.01 m 2 /g, and the Sips model correlated well with experimental data (R 2  = 0.98). This study highlights adsorption, mainly Bentonite/SDBS matrices, as a promising approach for remediating polluted areas by efficiently capturing and removing surfactants and dyes, contributing valuable insights to address industrial water contamination challenges., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Assessment of activity levels of radionuclides that exist in soil, granite, and charnockite rock samples is very crucial because it exhibits an enhanced elemental concentration of uranium (U) and thorium (Th) contributing higher natural background activity than usual in the environment and it may cause health risk to human health through the external and internal exposure. This study determined the radioactivity levels of 238 U, 232 Th, and 40 K radionuclides in soil, granite, and charnockite rock samples collected from selected fields in Ekiti State, Nigeria using Caesium iodide CsI(Tl) scintillation gamma spectrometer. It also evaluated indices of the radiological parameters consisting of radium equivalent activity (Ra eq ), absorbed dose rate (D R ), annual effective dose equivalent (AEDE), internal hazard index (H in ), and excess lifetime cancer risk (ELCR). The calculated average activity concentrations of 238 U, 232 Th, and 40 K are 30.40 ± 0.71 Bq kg -1 , 3.31 ± 0.05 Bq kg -1 , and 222.25 ± 14.72 Bq kg -1 , respectively, which were lower than their respective world average values. Comparatively, potassium concentrations in these collected samples have a higher value than concentrations of uranium and thorium ( 40 K >  238 U >  232 Th). All the evaluated values of the radiological parameters (except D R ) of the appraised radionuclides were below the global permissible limits. The granite rocks, charnockite rocks, and soils from Ekiti State in Nigeria do not pose any hazardous risk to humans, but continued monitoring is necessary when these materials are used as building materials, which cause long-term radiation exposure., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (© 2023 The Authors.)

Recently, COVID-19 becomes a hot topic and explicitly made people follow social distancing and quarantine practices all over the world. Meanwhile, it is arduous to visit medical professionals intermittently by the patients for fear of spreading the disease. This IoT-based healthcare monitoring system is utilized by many professionals, can be accessed remotely, and provides treatment accordingly. In context with this, we designed an IoT-based healthcare monitoring system that sophisticatedly measures and monitors the parameters of patients such as oxygen level, blood pressure, temperature, and heart rate. This system can be widely used in rural areas that are linked to the nearest city hospitals to monitor the patients. The collected data from the monitoring system are stored in the cloud-based data storage and for the classification our approach proposes an innovative Recurrent Convolutional Neural Network (RCNN) based Puzzle optimization algorithm (PO). Based on the outcome further treatments are made with the assistance of physicians. Experimental analyses are made and analyzed the performance with state-of-art works. The availability of more data storage capacity in the cloud can make physicians access the previous data effortlessly., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (© 2023 The Authors.)

(1) Background: This study aims to comprehensively understand the motivations driving radiographers in five Arab countries to engage in research. (2) Methods: A cross-sectional study employing an anonymous online survey was conducted for 12 weeks from May to July 2023. The study sample consisted of 250 radiographers, with equal representation from Iraq, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Palestine, Sudan, and the United Arab Emirates. (3) Results: Overall, the participants showed limited involvement in research-related activities in all five countries, particularly in presenting at conferences and publishing in peer-reviewed journals. Most participants believed research positively impacts their professional development (34.8%) and patient care and outcomes (40%). The participants perceived professional development (36.4%) as a key motivator for research engagement. A significant majority (81.6%) expressed motivation to start research in clinical practice. A total of 66.8% found research opportunities available during clinical practice. Barriers included time constraints (56%), limited resources (47.2%), and lack of support and skills (33.2% and 32%, respectively). (4) Conclusion: This study emphasises the need for targeted strategies to enhance research engagement among radiographers in the Arab region. Addressing barriers, such as time constraints and resource limitations, while leveraging intrinsic motivators, such as professional development, is crucial for fostering a culture of research-driven excellence in radiography.

The field of cancer nanotheranostics is rapidly evolving, with cyclodextrin (CD)-based nanoparticles emerging as a promising tool. CDs, serving as nanocarriers, have higher adaptability and demonstrate immense potential in delivering powerful anti-cancer drugs, leading to promising and specific therapeutic outcomes for combating various types of cancer. The unique characteristics of CDs, combined with innovative nanocomplex creation techniques such as encapsulation, enable the development of potential theranostic treatments. The review here focuses mainly on the different techniques administered for effective nanotheranostics applications of CD-associated complex compounds in the domain of cancer treatments. The experimentations on various loaded drugs and their complex conjugates with CDs prove effective in in vivo results. Various cancers can have potential nanotheranostics cures using CDs as nanoparticles along with a highly efficient process of nanocomplex development and a drug delivery system. In conclusion, nanotheranostics holds immense potential for targeted drug delivery and improved therapeutic outcomes, offering a promising avenue for revolutionizing cancer treatments through continuous research and innovative approaches., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2023 Bose, Jayawant, Raut, Lakkakula, Roy, Alghamdi, Qusty, Sharma, Verma, Khandaker, Almujally, Tamam and Sulieman.)

Plastic sand paver blocks provide a sustainable alternative by using plastic waste and reducing the need for cement. This innovative approach leads to a more sustainable construction sector by promoting environmental preservation. No model or Equation has been devised that can predict the compressive strength of these blocks. This study utilized gene expression programming (GEP) and multi-expression programming (MEP) to develop empirical models to forecast the compressive strength of plastic sand paver blocks (PSPB) comprised of plastic, sand, and fibre in an effort to advance the field. The database contains 135 results for compressive strength with seven input parameters. The R 2 values of 0.87 for GEP and 0.91 for MEP for compressive strength reveal a relatively significant relationship between predicted and actual values. MEP outperformed GEP by displaying a higher R 2 and lower values for statistical evaluations. In addition, a sensitivity analysis was conducted, which revealed that the sand grain size and percentage of fibres play an essential part in compressive strength. It was estimated that they contributed almost 50% of the total. The outcomes of this research have the potential to promote the reuse of PSPB in the building of green environments, hence boosting environmental protection and economic advantage., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

Numerous factors can contribute to the development of neurodegenerative disorders (NDs), such as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Huntington's disease, and multiple sclerosis. Oxidative stress (OS), a fairly common ND symptom, can be caused by more reactive oxygen species being made. In addition, the pathological state of NDs, which includes a high number of protein aggregates, could make chronic inflammation worse by activating microglia. Carotenoids, often known as "CTs", are pigments that exist naturally and play a vital role in the prevention of several brain illnesses. CTs are organic pigments with major significance in ND prevention. More than 600 CTs have been discovered in nature, and they may be found in a wide variety of creatures. Different forms of CTs are responsible for the red, yellow, and orange pigments seen in many animals and plants. Because of their unique structure, CTs exhibit a wide range of bioactive effects, such as anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects. The preventive effects of CTs have led researchers to find a strong correlation between CT levels in the body and the avoidance and treatment of several ailments, including NDs. To further understand the connection between OS, neuroinflammation, and NDs, a literature review has been compiled. In addition, we have focused on the anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties of CTs for the treatment and management of NDs.

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) offers visual representations of the interior of a body for clinical analysis and medical intervention. The MRI process is subjected to a variety of image processing and machine learning approaches to identify, diagnose, and classify brain diseases as well as detect abnormalities. In this paper, we propose an improved classification method for distinguishing cancerous and noncancerous tumors from brain MRI images by using Log Polar Transformation (LPT) and convolutional neural networks (CNN). The LPT has been applied for feature extraction of rotation and scaling of distorted images, while the integration of CNN introduces a machine learning approach for the tumor classification of distorted images. The dataset was formed with images of seven different brain diseases, and the training set was formed by applying CNN with the extracted features. The proposed method is then evaluated in comparison to state-of-the-art algorithms, showing a definite improvement of the former. The obtained results show that the machine learning approach offers better classification with a success rate of about 96% in both plain brain MR images and rotation- and scale-invariant brain MR images. This work also successfully classified T-1 and T-2 weighted images of neoplastic and degenerative brain diseases. The obtained accuracy is perfected by several kernel procedures, while the combined performance of the two wavelet transformations and a strong dataset make our method robust and efficient. Since no earlier study on machine learning approaches with rotated and scaled brain MRI has come to our attention, it is expected that our proposed method introduces a new paradigm in this research field.

The strong localization of the electric and magnetic fields in metamaterial-based structures has attracted a new era of radiation fields in the microwave range. In this research work, we represent a double split ring enclosed nested meander-line-shaped metamaterial resonator with a high effective medium ratio layered on a dielectric substrate to enhance the sensitivity for the material characterization. Tailoring a metallic design and periodical arrangement of the split ring resonator in a subwavelength range introduced field enhancement and strong localization of the electromagnetic field. The design methodology is carried out through the optimization technique with different geometric configurations to increase the compactness of the design. The CST microwave studio is utilized for the extraction of the scattering computational value within the defined boundary condition. The effective parameters from the reflection and transmission coefficient are taken into account to observe the radiation characteristics for the interaction with the applied electromagnetic spectrum. The proposed metamaterial-based sensor exhibits high sensitivity for different dielectric materials with low permittivity values. The numerical data of the frequency deviation for the different dielectric constants have shown good agreement using the linear regression analysis where the sensitivity is R 2 = 0.9894 and the figure of merit is R 2 = 0.9978.

In just a few years, the efficiency of perovskite-based solar cells (PSCs) has risen to 25.8%, making them competitive with current commercial technology. Due to the inherent advantage of perovskite thin films that can be fabricated using simple solution techniques at low temperatures, PSCs are regarded as one of the most important low-cost and mass-production prospects. The lack of stability, on the other hand, is one of the major barriers to PSC commercialization. The goal of this review is to highlight the most important aspects of recent improvements in PSCs, such as structural modification and fabrication procedures, which have resulted in increased device stability. The role of different types of hole transport layers (HTL) and the evolution of inorganic HTL including their fabrication techniques have been reviewed in detail in this review. We eloquently emphasized the variables that are critical for the successful commercialization of perovskite devices in the final section. To enhance perovskite solar cell commercialization, we also aimed to obtain insight into the operational stability of PSCs, as well as practical information on how to increase their stability through rational materials and device fabrication.

Heavy metal (HM) contaminated soil can affect human health via ingestion of foodstuffs, inhalation of soil dust, and skin contact of soil. This study estimates the level of some heavy metals in soils of industrial areas, and their exposures to human body via dietary intake of vegetables and other pathways. Mean concentrations of Cr, Fe, Cu, Zn, As and Pb in the studied soil were found to be 61.27, 27,274, 42.36, 9.77, 28.08 and 13.69 mg/kg, respectively, while in vegetables the respective values were 0.53, 119.59, 9.76, 7.14, 1.34 and 2.69 mg/kg. Multivariate statistical analysis revealed that Fe, Cu, Zn, and Pb originated from lithogenic sources, while Cr and As are derived from anthropogenic sources. A moderate enrichment was noted by Cr, As, and Pb in the entire sampling site, indicating a progressive depletion of soil quality. The bioaccumulation factor (BCF) value for all the vegetables was recorded as BCF < 1; however, the metal pollution index (MPI) stipulates moderately high value of heavy metal accumulation in the vegetable samples. Hazard Index (HI) of >0.1 was estimated for adults but >1 for children by direct soil exposure, whereas HI < 1 for both children and adults via dietary intake of vegetables. Estimated Total carcinogenic risk (TCR) value due to soil exposure showed safe for adults but unsafe for children, while both the population groups were found to be safe via food consumption. Children are found more vulnerable receptors than adults, and health risks (carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic) via direct soil exposure proved unsafe. Overall, this study can be used as a reference for similar types of studies to evaluate heavy metal contaminated soil impact on the population of Bangladesh and other countries as well.

Both members of the aldo-keto reductases (AKRs) family, AKR1B1 and AKR1B10, are over-expressed in various type of cancer, making them potential targets for inflammation-mediated cancers such as colon, lung, breast, and prostate cancers. This is the first comprehensive study which focused on the identification of phenylcarbamoylazinane-1, 2,4-triazole amides (7a−o) as the inhibitors of aldo-keto reductases (AKR1B1, AKR1B10) via detailed computational analysis. Firstly, the stability and reactivity of compounds were determined by using the Guassian09 programme in which the density functional theory (DFT) calculations were performed by using the B3LYP/SVP level. Among all the derivatives, the 7d, 7e, 7f, 7h, 7j, 7k, and 7m were found chemically reactive. Then the binding interactions of the optimized compounds within the active pocket of the selected targets were carried out by using molecular docking software: AutoDock tools and Molecular operation environment (MOE) software, and during analysis, the Autodock (academic software) results were found to be reproducible, suggesting this software is best over the MOE (commercial software). The results were found in correlation with the DFT results, suggesting 7d as the best inhibitor of AKR1B1 with the energy value of −49.40 kJ/mol and 7f as the best inhibitor of AKR1B10 with the energy value of −52.84 kJ/mol. The other potent compounds also showed comparable binding energies. The best inhibitors of both targets were validated by the molecular dynamics simulation studies where the root mean square value of <2 along with the other physicochemical properties, hydrogen bond interactions, and binding energies were observed. Furthermore, the anticancer potential of the potent compounds was confirmed by cell viability (MTT) assay. The studied compounds fall into the category of drug-like properties and also supported by physicochemical and pharmacological ADMET properties. It can be suggested that the further synthesis of derivatives of 7d and 7f may lead to the potential drug-like molecules for the treatment of colon cancer associated with the aberrant expression of either AKR1B1 or AKR1B10 and other associated malignancies.

The disease may be an explicit status that negatively affects human health. Cardiopathy is one of the common deadly diseases that is attributed to unhealthy human habits compared to alternative diseases. With the help of machine learning (ML) algorithms, heart disease can be noticed in a short time as well as at a low cost. This study adopted four machine learning models, such as random forest (RF), decision tree (DT), AdaBoost (AB), and K-nearest neighbor (KNN), to detect heart disease. A generalized algorithm was constructed to analyze the strength of the relevant factors that contribute to heart disease prediction. The models were evaluated using the datasets Cleveland, Hungary, Switzerland, and Long Beach (CHSLB), and all were collected from Kaggle. Based on the CHSLB dataset, RF, DT, AB, and KNN models predicted an accuracy of 99.03%, 96.10%, 100%, and 100%, respectively. In the case of a single (Cleveland) dataset, only two models, namely RF and KNN, show good accuracy of 93.437% and 97.83%, respectively. Finally, the study used Streamlit, an internet-based cloud hosting platform, to develop a computer-aided smart system for disease prediction. It is expected that the proposed tool together with the ML algorithm will play a key role in diagnosing heart diseases in a very convenient manner. Above all, the study has made a substantial contribution to the computation of strength scores with significant predictors in the prognosis of heart disease.

This research aimed to develop coding metamaterials to reduce the Radar Cross-Section (RCS) values in C- and Ku-band applications. Metamaterials on the macroscopic scale are commonly defined by effective medium parameters and are categorized as analogue. Therefore, coding metamaterials with various multi-layer and cuboid designs were proposed and investigated. A high-frequency electromagnetic simulator known as computer simulation technology was utilised throughout a simulation process. A one-bit coding metamaterial concept was adopted throughout this research that possesses '0' and '1' elements with 0 and π phase responses. Analytical simulation analyses were performed by utilising well-known Computer Simulation Technology (CST) software. Moreover, a validation was executed via a comparison of the phase-response properties of both elements with the analytical data from the High-Frequency Structure Simulator (HFSS) software. As a result, promising outcomes wherein several one-bit coding designs for multi-layer or coding metamaterials manifested unique results, which almost reached 0 dBm 2 RCS reduction values. Meanwhile, coding metamaterial designs with larger lattices exhibited optimised results and can be utilised for larger-scale applications. Moreover, the coding metamaterials were validated by performing several framework and optimal characteristic analyses in C- and Ku-band applications. Due to the ability of coding metamaterials to manipulate electromagnetic waves to obtain different functionalities, it has a high potential to be applied to a wide range of applications. Overall, the very interesting coding metamaterials with many different sizes and shapes help to achieve a unique RCS-reduction performance.

In this study, lead sulfide (PbS) nanoparticles were synthesized by the chemical precipitation method using Aloe Vera extract with PbCl 2 and Thiourea (H 2 N-CS-NH 2 ). The synthesized nanoparticles have been investigated using x-ray diffraction (XRD), UV-Vis, energy-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (EDX), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). XRD and TEM results confirm that the films are in the cubic phase. The crystallite size, lattice constant, micro-strain, dislocation density, optical bandgap, etc. have been determined using XRD and UV-Vis for investigating the quality of prepared nanoparticles. The possible application of these synthesized nanoparticles in the solar cells was investigated by fabricating the thin films on an FTO-coated and bare glass substrate. The properties of nanoparticles were found to be nearly retained in the film state as well. The experimentally found properties of thin films have been implemented for perovskite solar cell simulation and current-voltage and capacitance-voltage characteristics have been investigated. The simulation results showed that PbS nanoparticles could be a potential hole transport layer for high-efficiency perovskite solar cell applications.

This research article describes a modified Coptic cross shaped split ring resonator (SRR) based metamaterial that exhibits a negative permittivity and refractive index with a permeability of nearly zero. The metamaterial unit cell consists of an SRR and modified Coptic cross shaped resonator providing quadruple resonance frequency at 2.02, 6.985, 9.985 and 14.425 GHz with the magnitude of -29.45, -25.44, -19.05, and -24.45 dB, respectively. The unit cell that was fabricated on a FR-4 substrate with a thickness of 1.6 mm has an electrical dimension of 0.074λ × 0.074λ; the wavelength (λ) is computed at the frequency of 2.02 GHz. The computer simulation technology (CST) microwave studio was employed to determine the scattering parameters and their effective medium properties, i.e., permittivity, permeability and refractive index, also calculated based on NRW (Nicolson-Ross-Weir) method through the implementation of MATLAB code. The frequency range of 2.02-2.995 GHz, 6.985-7.945 GHz, 9.985-10.6 GHz, and 14.425-15.445 GHz has been found for negative permittivity. An effective medium ratio (EMR) of 13.50 at 2.02 GHz shows that the proposed unit cell is compact and effective. The lumped component based equivalent circuit model is used to validate with simulation results. The proposed unit cell and its array were fabricated for experimental verification. The results show that the simulation result using CST and high-frequency structure simulator (HFSS) simulator, equivalent circuit model result using advanced design system (ADS) simulator and measurement results match each other better. Its near zero permeability, negative permittivity, negative refractive index, high EMR and simple unit cell design allow the proposed metamaterial to be used for S-, C-, X- and Ku-band satellite applications.

NIMA related Kinases (NEK7) plays an important role in spindle assembly and mitotic division of the cell. Over expression of NEK7 leads to the progression of different cancers and associated malignancies. It is becoming the next wave of targets for the development of selective and potent anti-cancerous agents. The current study is the first comprehensive computational approach to identify potent inhibitors of NEK7 protein. For this purpose, previously identified anti-inflammatory compound i.e., Phenylcarbamoylpiperidine-1,2,4-triazole amide derivatives by our own group were selected for their anti-cancer potential via detailed Computational studies. Initially, the density functional theory (DFT) calculations were carried out using Gaussian 09 software which provided information about the compounds' stability and reactivity. Furthermore, Autodock suite and Molecular Operating Environment (MOE) software's were used to dock the ligand database into the active pocket of the NEK7 protein. Both software performances were compared in terms of sampling power and scoring power. During the analysis, Autodock results were found to be more reproducible, implying that this software outperforms the MOE. The majority of the compounds, including M7, and M12 showed excellent binding energies and formed stable protein-ligand complexes with docking scores of - 29.66 kJ/mol and - 31.38 kJ/mol, respectively. The results were validated by molecular dynamics simulation studies where the stability and conformational transformation of the best protein-ligand complex were justified on the basis of RMSD and RMSF trajectory analysis. The drug likeness properties and toxicity profile of all compounds were determined by ADMETlab 2.0. Furthermore, the anticancer potential of the potent compounds were confirmed by cell viability (MTT) assay. This study suggested that selected compounds can be further investigated at molecular level and evaluated for cancer treatment and associated malignancies., (© 2022. The Author(s).)

Development of satellite and radar applications has been continuously studied to reach the demand in the recent communication technology. In this study, a new oval-square-shaped split-ring resonator with left-handed metamaterial properties was developed for C-band and X-band applications. The proposed metamaterial was fabricated on 9 × 9 × 0.508 mm 3 size of Rogers RO4003C substrate. The proposed metamaterial structure was designed and simulated using Computer Simulation Technique (CST) Microwave Studio with the frequency ranging between 0 to 12 GHz. The simulated result of the proposed design indicated dual resonance frequency at 5.52 GHz (C-band) and 8.81 GHz (X-band). Meanwhile, the experimental result of the proposed design demonstrated dual resonance frequency at 5.53 GHz (C-band) and 8.31 GHz (X-band). Therefore, with a slight difference in the dual resonance frequency, the simulated result corresponded to the experimental result. Additionally, the proposed design exhibited the ideal properties of electromagnetic which is left-handed metamaterial (LHM) behavior. Hence, the metamaterial structure is highly recommended for satellite and radar applications.

Introduction: Medical images are usually affected by biological and physical artifacts or noise, which reduces image quality and hence poses difficulties in visual analysis, interpretation and thus requires higher doses and increased radiographs repetition rate., Objectives: This study aims at assessing image quality during CT abdomen and brain examinations using filtering techniques as well as estimating the radiogenic risk associated with CT abdomen and brain examinations., Materials and Methods: The data were collected from the Radiology Department at Royal Care International (RCI) Hospital, Khartoum, Sudan. The study included 100 abdominal CT images and 100 brain CT images selected from adult patients. Filters applied are namely: Mean filter, Gaussian filter, Median filter and Minimum filter. In this study, image quality after denoising is measured based on the Mean Squared Error (MSE), Peak Signal-to-Noise Ratio (PSNR), and the Structural Similarity Index Metric (SSIM)., Results: The results show that the images quality parameters become higher after applications of filters. Median filter showed improved image quality as interpreted by the measured parameters: PSNR and SSIM, and it is thus considered as a better filter for removing the noise from all other applied filters., Discussion: The noise removed by the different filters applied to the CT images resulted in enhancing high quality images thereby effectively revealing the important details of the images without increasing the patients' risks from higher doses., Conclusions: Filtering and image reconstruction techniques not only reduce the dose and thus the radiation risks, but also enhances high quality imaging which allows better diagnosis., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (© 2021 The Authors.)

The rapid development of industries discharges huge amounts of wastewater that contain surface water. For this reason, we used NiO/polydopamine (NiO/PDA) nanocomposite as an efficient material for the removal of Methyl violet 2B from water. It was synthesized and then characterized by Fourier Transform Infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, X-ray Diffraction (XRD), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Energy Dispersive X-ray (EDX) analysis, Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM), and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET). The EDX analysis confirmed the presence of O, Ni, N, and C. The composite has an average particle size of 18 nm. Its surface area is 110.591 m 2 /g. It was found that the efficiency of dye removal by adsorption on NiO/PDA exceeded that of bare NiO. The adsorption capacity of NiO and NiO/PDA are 126 and 284 mg/g, respectively. The effects of adsorbent dose, dye concentration, and pH on the removal efficiency were examined. The efficiency increased with increasing the adsorbent dose and pH, but dropped from 85 to 73% within 30 min as the initial dye concentration was increased from 0.984 to 4.92 mg/L. Such a drop in the removal efficiency is due to the blocking of the surface-active sites of NiO/PDA, with the high population of dye molecules derived from the continuous increase in dye concentration. The adsorption results of the dye fitted well with the pseudo-second-order kinetics and Langmuir isotherm. The reusability data showed that NiO/PDA was stable across three adsorption-regeneration cycles, thus it can be considered a good recyclable and efficient adsorbent. Because of these results, it can be considered that this method can be applied for the treatment of wastewater.

Introduction: Integrated Positron Emission Tomography (PET) with Computerized tomography (CT) (PET/CT) are widely used to diagnose, stage and track human diseases during whole body scanning. Multi-modality imaging is an interesting area of research that aims at acquiring united morphological-functional image information for accurate diagnosing and staging of the disease. However, PET/CT procedure accompanied with high radiation dose from CT and administered radioactivity. The aim of the present study was to estimate the patients' dose from 18 F-fluorodeoxyglucose imaging (18F-FDG) hybrid PET/CT whole body scan., Materials and Methods: RADAR (Radiation Dose Assessment Resource) software was used to estimate the effective dose for 156 patients (110 (70.5%)) males and 46 (39.5%) female) examined using Discovery PET/CT 710, GE Medical Systems installed at Kuwait Cancer Control Center (KCCC)., Results: The effective dose results presented in this PET/CT study ranged from (1.56-9.94 mSv). The effective dose was calculated to be 3.88 mSv in females and 3.71 mSv in males. The overall breast (female), lung, liver, kidney and thyroid were 7.4, 7.2, 5.2, 4, 3 and 2.9, respectively.For females, the body mass index (BMI) was 28.49 kg/m 2 and for males it was 26.50 kg/m 2 which showed overweight values for both genders. Conclusions: The findings indicate that the effective dose of 18F-FDG in both male and female patients was not substantially different. The study suggested that the risk-benefit proportions of any 18 F-FDG whole body PET/CT scan should be clarified and carefully weighed. Patient's doses are lower compared with previous studies., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (© 2021 The Authors.)

Global agriculture production is under serious threat from rapidly increasing population and adverse climate changes. Food security is currently a huge challenge to feed 10 billion people by 2050. Crop domestication through conventional approaches is not good enough to meet the food demands and unable to fast-track the crop yields. Also, intensive breeding and rigorous selection of superior traits causes genetic erosion and eliminates stress-responsive genes, which makes crops more prone to abiotic stresses. Salt stress is one of the most prevailing abiotic stresses that poses severe damages to crop yield around the globe. Recent innovations in state-of-the-art genomics and transcriptomics technologies have paved the way to develop salinity tolerant crops. De novo domestication is one of the promising strategies to produce superior new crop genotypes through exploiting the genetic diversity of crop wild relatives (CWRs). Next-generation sequencing (NGS) technologies open new avenues to identifying the unique salt-tolerant genes from the CWRs. It has also led to the assembly of highly annotated crop pan-genomes to snapshot the full landscape of genetic diversity and recapture the huge gene repertoire of a species. The identification of novel genes alongside the emergence of cutting-edge genome editing tools for targeted manipulation renders de novo domestication a way forward for developing salt-tolerance crops. However, some risk associated with gene-edited crops causes hurdles for its adoption worldwide. Halophytes-led breeding for salinity tolerance provides an alternative strategy to identify extremely salt tolerant varieties that can be used to develop new crops to mitigate salinity stress., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2021 Razzaq, Saleem, Wani, Abdelmohsen, Alyousef, Abdelbacki, Alkallas, Tamam and Elansary.)

Brassinosteroids (BRs) have emerged as pleiotropic phytohormone owing to their wide function in crop growth and metabolism. Homobrassinolide (HBR) being an analogue of BRs is known to improve the growth, yield and quality parameters in many crop plants. Thus, an evaluation study was conducted for two years (2018 and 2019) to elucidate the performance of tomato plants ( Solanum lycopersicum L.) to a novel group of phytohormone,HBR. The field experiment comprised of seven treatments with homobrassinolide 0.04% (Emulsifiable Concentrate) EC at four different concentrations (0.06, 0.08, 0.10 and 0.12 g active ingredient (a.i.) ha -1 ) and two well-known growth promoters viz., Gibberellic acid (GA), Naphthalene Acetic Acid (NAA) along with the untreated control. Plant height and chlorophyll concentration were found significantly different in both years of experiment as well as among the different treatments. HBR at 0.12 g a.i. ha -1 was found better with maximum number of fruits (77.36 plant -1 ), fruit length (6.72 cm), fruit breadth (6.45 cm) and fruit weight (80.52 g) over other concentrations and treatments. Fruit yield was more pronounced in the plots treated with plant growth regulators compared to untreated control. However, significantly higher fruit yield of 91.07 t ha -1 (62.58 t ha -1 with untreated control) along with improved quality traits viz., fruit firmness (4.11 kg cm -2 ), ascorbic acid content (24.09 mg 100 g -1 ), total soluble solids (4.43°Brix) and keeping quality (12.50 days) was recorded in 0.12 g a.i. ha -1 HBR treated plots. Thus, it can be inferred that HBRapplication would be a better option to enhance growth, yield as well as quality traits in tomato., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (© 2021 The Author(s).)

Agriculture in a water-limited environment is critically important for today and for the future. This research evaluates the impact of deficit irrigation in different planting methods on the physio-morphological traits, grain yield and WUE of maize ( Zea mays L.). The experiment was carried out in 2015 and 2016, consisting of three planting methods (i.e., BBF, SNF, and DWF) and four irrigation levels (i.e., I 10D : irrigation once in ten days, I 40 : irrigation at 40% DASM, I 50 : irrigation at 50% DASM, and I 60 : irrigation at 60% DASM). The results reveal that varying degrees of water stress due to planting methods and irrigation levels greatly influenced the maize physio-morphological traits and yield attributes. The combined effect of DWF + I 50 benefited the maize in terms of higher leaf area, RWC, SPAD values, CGR, and LAD, followed by the SNF method at 60 DAS. As a result, DWF + I 50 and SNF + I 50 had higher 100 grain weight (30.5 to 31.8 g), cob weight (181.4 to 189.6 g cob -1 ) and grain yield (35.3% to 36.4%) compared to other treatments. However, the reduction in the number of irrigations (24.0%) under SNF + I 50 resulted in a 34% water saving. Thus, under a water-limited situation in semi-arid tropics, the practice of the SNF method + I 50 could be an alternative way to explore the physio-morphological benefits in maize.

Vegetable soybean production is dependent on the development of vegetable type varieties that would be achieved by the use of germplasm to evolve new agronomically superior yielding vegetable type with beneficial biochemical traits. This can be accomplished by a better understanding of genetics, which is why the research was conducted to reveal the quantitative genetics of vegetable soybean genotypes. Genetic variability of main morphological traits in vegetable soybean genotypes and their divergence was estimated, as a result of the magnitude of genotypic variation (GV), and phenotypic variation (PV) of traits varied among the genotypes. All traits showed high heritability ( h 2 ) associated with high genetic advance percentage mean (GAM). Therefore, these variable traits are potential for genetic improvement of vegetable type soybean. Genetic diversity is the prime need for breeding, and the magnitude of genetic diversity values were maximized among specific genotypes. Eight clusters were found for all genotypes; cluster VIII and cluster I were considered to have the most diversity. Cluster VIII consisted of two genotypes (GM-6 and GM-27), based on the mean outcomes of the high yield attributing traits. Hence, these two (GM-6, GM-27) genotypes can be advanced for commercial cultivation; furthermore, other genotypes can be used as source of breeding lines for genetic improvement of vegetable soybean.

Background: Among the different cancers found in women, breast cancer is the most common. Breast cancer-related lymphedema is a serious health complication affecting the quality of life and sleep quality. This study evaluates the quality of life and sleep quality among Saudi women with different stages of lymphedema following the treatment of breast cancer., Methods: This cross-sectional correlational study included 163 Saudi women with breast cancer-related lymphedema (Stages I-III), aged 28 to 56 years. From the patients identified for this study, women who suffered from mental and psychological dysfunctions or other malignant disorders were excluded. Copies of structured questionnaires were given to each participant during their visits to outpatient physiotherapy clinics. Quality of life was assessed using a valid questionnaire (EORTC QLQ-C30), while sleep quality was assessed using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI). The differences between the different lymphedema stages have been assessed., Results: Of the total number of participants 27 women had been diagnosed with stage I lymphedema, 84 women had been diagnosed with stage II lymphedema, and 52 women had been diagnosed with stage III lymphedema. All participants have shown low scores on both EORTC QLQ-C30 and PSQI. While analyzing the differences between the 3 stages of lymphedema with the Kruskal-Wallis test, noteworthy statistical differences between the 3 stages of lymphedema ( P  < .05) have been found. The Stage III lymphedema patients have been shown the lowest quality of life values in all scales when compared with the stage I and stage II lymphedema patients. For PSQI scores, the stage III lymphedema patients worse values than the stage I and stage II lymphedema patients ( P  < .05)., Conclusion and Recommendations: Both quality of life and quality of sleep have significantly decreased in Saudi women with different stages of breast cancer-related lymphedema. Quality of life and quality of sleep are the worst in stage III lymphedema patients. Future research should consider repeat and enlarge these results as well as assess the risk factors that affect the quality of life and quality of sleep among Saudi women suffering from breast cancer-related lymphedema.

The optical constants of Para-Toluene sulfonic acid-doped polyaniline (PANI), PANIchitosan composites, PANI-reduced graphene-oxide composites and a ternary composite comprising of PANI, chitosan and reduced graphene-oxide dispersed in diluted p-toluene sulfonic acid (PTSA) solution and N -Methyl-2-Pyrrolidone (NMP) solvent have been evaluated and compared. The optical constant values were extracted from the absorbance spectra of thin layers of the respective samples. The potential utilization of the materials as the active sensing materials of surface plasmon resonance biosensors has also been assessed in terms of the estimated value of the penetration depth through a dielectric medium. The results show a reasonable dependence of the optical constant parameters on the solvent type. Higher real part refractive index ( n ) and real part complex dielectric permittivity ( ε ') values were observed for the samples prepared using PTSA solution, while higher optical conductivity values were observed for the NMP-based samples due to their relatively higher imaginary part refractive index ( k ) and imaginary part complex dielectric permittivity ( ε ″) values. In addition, NMP-based samples show improvement in terms of the penetration depth through a dielectric medium by around 9.5, 1.6, 4.4 and 2.9 times compared to PTSA-based samples for the PANI, PANI-chitosan, PANI-RGO and the ternary composites, respectively. Based on these, it is concluded that preparation of these materials using different dispersion solvents could produce materials of different optical properties. Thus, the variation of the dispersion solvent will allow the flexible utilization of the PANI and the composites for diverse applications.