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Background: Globally, over 81 million people use e-cigarettes, and the majority of them are young adults. Using e-cigarettes causes different types of adverse health effects both in adults and elderly people. Over time, using e-cigarettes has detrimental consequences on lung function, brain development and numerous other illnesses. Methods: This study employed a mixed-methods conducted between June and September 2023, comprising two phases: Geographical Information System (GIS) mapping of available e-cigarette point-of-sale (POS) locations and conducting 15 in-depth interviews (IDIs) with e-cigarette retailers, along with 5 key informant interviews (KIIs) involving tobacco control activists and policy experts. ArcGIS was employed for spatial analysis, creating distribution and type maps, and buffer and multi-buffer ring analyses were conducted to assess proximity to hospitals and academic institutions. Data analysis involved descriptive statistics for GIS mapping and qualitative analysis for interview transcripts, utilizing a priori codebook and thematic analysis. Results: A total of 276 POS were mapped in the entire Dhaka city. About 55 POS were found within 100m distance from academic institutions in Dhaka city, which offers the easy accessibility of young generations to e-cigarettes. The younger generation is becoming the major target for e-cigarettes because of their alluring flavors, appealing looks, and variation in flavors. Sellers have been using different marketing tactics such as postering, offering discounts and using internet marketing on social media. Moreover, they try to convince the customers by saying that e-cigarettes are 'not harmful' or 'less harmful'. However, retailers were mostly taking e-cigarettes from local wholesalers or distributors. Customers buy these products both from in-store and online services. Due to the absence of laws and regulations on e-cigarettes in Bangladesh, the availability, marketing, and selling of e-cigarettes are increasing alarmingly. Conclusion: E-cigarette retail shops are mostly surrounded by academic institutions, and it is expanding. Besides, frequent exposure, easy accessibility, and tactful promotion encourage the younger generations to consume e-cigarettes. The government should take necessary control measures on manufacturing, storage, advertising, promotion, sponsorship, marketing, distribution, sale, import, and export in order to safeguard the health and safety of young and future generations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fire is one of the most undesirable events onboard a ship. The engine room is one of the most critical spaces in the ship in terms of fire protection, as it includes machinery, hydrocarbon fuel systems, and different electrical equipment. With the phasing out of Halon 1301 as a fire suppressant over recent decades, there has been an intensive effort to explore the efficacy of water-mist spray in mitigating fires within machinery spaces. This exploration entails a comprehensive investigation through experimental and simulation studies aimed at identifying suppression mechanisms and evaluating their effectiveness. While experimental setups typically encompass measurements of gas temperature, thermal radiation heat flux, oxygen concentration, and fire extinction time, limited attention has been paid to quantifying the heat release rate (HRR), a crucial indicator of fire magnitude. Furthermore, research into shielded fire scenarios remains sparse, despite their significance in maritime fire dynamics. Addressing shielded fires with water mist proves particularly challenging due to the potential obstruction impeding the direct interaction between the fire source and the water droplets. In the existing literature, most of the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modelling of fires and suppression was performed using a Fire Dynamics Simulator (FDS). Alternate studies were performed using FireFOAM. and very few employed FLUENT and other analogous software codes. In the majority of reported computational studies, the determination of HRR was typically relied upon for its calculation derived from the measured data of fuel mass loss rate. Moreover, certain studies were undertaken for numerical simulations without conducting thorough model validation, either by omitting validation altogether or solely validating against dry fire experiments (i.e., without water-mist suppression). This critical review of the literature has identified several notable research gaps in the context of extinguishing hydrocarbon fires utilising water-mist spray, warranting further investigations. Additionally, this review paper highlights recent advancements in both experimental and numerical investigations pertaining to the efficacy of water-mist fire-suppression systems in enclosed spaces regarding hydrocarbon fires. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The production of neutron-deficient transactinide isotopes using cold fusion reactions has been studied in recent experiments with the Berkeley Gas-filled Separator (BGS). These experiments were part of a systematic study of using odd-Z projectile reactions for heavy element synthesis. Targets of 208Pb were bombarded with projectiles of 64Ni, 65Cu, and 55Mn to produce 271Ds, 272-111, and isomers of 262Bh, respectively. The excitation function of the 208Pb(64Ni,n)271Ds reaction was measured and seven atoms of 271Ds were produced. This result was used to estimate the optimum beam energy for the 208Pb(65Cu,n) reaction, and one decay chain of 272-111 was observed. Lastly, the excitation function of the 208Pb(55Mn,n)262Bh reaction was measured and preliminary results will be presented. These results will be characterized in terms of the performance and use of the BGS for heavy element production.

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Acinetobacter baumannii is one of the most common nosocomial infections causing pathogens. Multidrug-resistant (MDR) A. baumannii is a growing concern to the healthcare system in Bangladesh, necessitating the elucidation of the genetic characteristics of this species. Five MDR, biofilm-forming A. baumannii strains isolated from clinical samples in Dhaka, Bangladesh, underwent a comprehensive whole-genome shotgun sequencing. In silico analyses determined strain types, antibiotic resistance, and virulence genes. The phylogenomic and pan-genome comparative analysis included the study samples along with an additional 15 Bangladeshi A. baumannii strains collected from the public database. The antibiotic-resistant profile showed that all the strains were resistant to meropenem. Two strains were resistant to polymyxin B up to 64 µg/ml. The average draft genome size of the strains was 3.93 Mbp, with about 39% GC content. Multilocus sequence typing characterized the strains as ST1, ST2, ST164, and ST623. All strains carried different classes of β-lactamase genes, including the carbapenem hydrolyzing enzyme coding genes blaoxa-23 and blaoxa-51. One of the five strains studied harbored blaNDM-9 and blaNDM-23 genes. The phosphotransferase group of aminoglycosides modifying enzymes was the most common. All the strains had relatively similar virulence profiles. Pan-genome analysis revealed 1944 core and 1302 unique genes. Phylogenomic analysis revealed the distribution of these strains in different clusters with other MDR strains isolated worldwide. The study results suggest the implementation of antibiotic stewardship and genomic surveillance of MDR A. baumannii to control the spread of antibiotic resistance in Bangladesh. [ J Adv Biotechnol Exp Ther 2025; 8(1.000): 64-78]

This study discusses the industrial training programme at the University of Malaya in Malaysia, specifically the issues that need to be addressed in order to enhance the employability skills of graduates. Findings from the feedback obtained from trainees and organizations in the 2008/2009 academic session were examined in terms of the extent to which trainees felt they were prepared for their training, and the extent to which the tasks given to them during their training were appropriate. Further, trainees' self-rating of particular skills and industry's rating of the trainees were also examined. The feedback is discussed in the context of the need to equip graduates with employability skills, an issue facing Higher Education Providers worldwide. The findings indicate that most of the students were prepared to face the world of work. However, there were several issues which needed attention. These included the need to address the possible mismatch between the tasks assigned to trainees and their areas of study, and the need to enhance English language competency and particular soft skills throughout their degree programme. Continuous input from industry is also necessary to ensure that the training benefits all parties and contributes to the employability skills of trainees.

This paper analyses the decadal variability of the Mean Sea Level (MSL) trend for the Mediterranean Sea and three subregions using a combination of satellite altimetry, tide gauges and reanalyses datasets for the past 30 years (1993–2022). These estimates indicate a decadal variability of the MSL across the analysed period, and a trend slowdown in the 2013–2022 decade compared to previous periods. While the overall trend remains positive across the Mediterranean basin, regional differences are evident. The Western Mediterranean shows an accelerating trend, consistent with global sea level rise, while the Eastern Mediterranean has experienced a decadal slowdown, particularly in the semi-enclosed Adriatic and Aegean Seas, where negative trends are observed. This slowdown is attributed to the combined effects of changes in the water cycle and the balancing of thermal and haline steric components. A key driver of this trend is increased evaporation, which is not offset by precipitation, runoff, or transport through the Straits. These results underscore the significance of the Mediterranean’s water budget in influencing sea level trends and highlight the complexity of modelling and interpreting decadal sea level changes. The findings suggest that continued monitoring and a better understanding of regional water budgets are crucial for refining future projections and developing effective climate adaptation strategies for the Mediterranean coastal areas.

Abstract This study utilizes Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) to examine subsidence along the coastal strip of the Miami barrier islands from 2016 to 2023. Using Sentinel‐1 data, we document vertical displacements ranging from 2 to 8 cm, affecting a total of 35 coastal buildings and their vicinity. About half of the subsiding structures are younger than 2014 and at the majority of them subsidence decays with time. This correlation suggests that the subsidence is related to construction activities. In northern and central Sunny Isles Beach, where 23% of coastal structures were built during the last decade, nearly 70% are experiencing subsidence. The majority of the older subsiding structures show sudden onset or sudden acceleration of subsidence, suggesting that this is due to construction activities in their vicinity; we have identified subsidence at distance of 200 m, possibly up to 320 m, from construction sites. We attribute the observed subsidence to load‐induced, prolonged creep deformation of the sandy layers within the limestone, which is accelerated, if not instigated, by construction activities. Distant subsidence from a construction site could indicate extended sandy deposits. Anthropogenic and natural groundwater movements could also be driving the creep deformation. This study demonstrates that high‐rise construction on karstic barrier islands can induce creep deformation in sandy layer within the limestone succession persisting for a decade or longer. It showcases the potential of InSAR technology for monitoring both building settlement and structural stability.

Among the various methods used to produce metal fibers, one efficient approach involves processing metal staple fibers (type 1.4113) through a steel wool or planing process. In this method, thick metal wire is pulled through a toothed profiled die to create thin, sharp-edged, and flexible wire shavings. A process chain for spinning such planed metal staple fibers into metal spun yarns, including stretch breaking, drawing, flyer and ring spinning, has already been developed. However, the inherent low elongation and brittle behavior of the material often result in fiber damage during the multiple drawing stages, leading to the formation of short fibers and significant dust in the products. To address these challenges, a new single-stage short staple spinning process has been developed to minimize fiber damage and enable the flexible production of high-performance 100% metal staple spun yarn. The spinning module incorporates a delivery, non-crimping, twisting, and winding units, all of which are modularly designed, manufactured, and driven by individual servo motors. Following the commissioning of the spinning module, uniform and reproducible metal-spun yarn with defined properties and scalable yarn counts (1000–2500 tex) was produced and thoroughly characterized to understand the potential of metal-spun yarn. This study presents the potential of the new spinning process to revolutionize metal fiber production, providing a reliable and high quality solution for demanding industrial applications such as automotive brake pads, high-efficiency burners, electromagnetic shielding, heat pipes, cut-resistant gloves, etc.

Here, the draft genome sequence of a multi-drug resistant (MDR) Serratia marcescens strain BMD28, isolated from a clinical source from Dhaka, Bangladesh, has been reported. The sequence raw read files were generated using Illumina sequencing technology utilizing genomic DNA from the pure culture of this strain. The strain has a genome size of around 5.4 million base pairs, a GC content of 59.70 %, and 5,141 coding sequences. We conducted genomic studies using several bioinformatics tools focusing on resistance genes, virulence factors, toxin-antitoxin systems, and pangenome analysis. Strain BMD28 harbored the blaNDM-7 gene in an IncX3 plasmid. A phylogenomic study with S. marcescens strains isolated worldwide revealed that our strain is in the same clade as other strains reported in Bangladesh. The data can be used primarily to understand the genomic content, epidemiology, and evolution of S. marcescens in Bangladesh. The genome sequence data of BMD28 has been deposited in the NCBI database under BioSample accession number SAMN41260295.