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Hybrid organic-inorganic perovskite solar cells (PSCs) are considered to be the most promising third-generation photovoltaic (PV) technology with the most rapid rate of increase in the power conversion efficiency (PCE). To date, their PCE values are comparable to the established photovoltaic technologies such as crystalline silicon. Intensive research activities associated with PSCs have been being performed, since 2009, aiming to further boost the device performance in terms of efficiency and stability via different strategies in order to accelerate the progress of commercialization. The emerging 2D black phosphorus (BP) is a novel class of semiconducting material owing to its unique characteristics, allowing them to become attractive materials for applications in a variety of optical and electronic devices, which have been comprehensively reviewed in the literature. However, comprehensive reviews focusing on the application of BP in PSCs are scarce in the community. This review discusses the research works with the incorporation of BP as a functional material in PSCs. The methodology as well as the effects of employing BP in different regions of PSCs are summarized. Further challenges and potential research directions are also highlighted.

Currently, the population of older adults is growing at a rapid rate. The number of older adults in America is similarly represented in the justice system with the number of older adults aged 56 an...

Lake Michigan rose to record high water levels in the 2010s; during this time, some coastal sites experienced habitat loss rates an order of magnitude higher than during previous high water periods throughout the 20th century. The high magnitude and rapid rate of rise observed during the 2012–2020 period in combination with a slight increase in the percentage of storm waves likely accelerated habitat loss rates beyond levels that were observed over the past century. Our data suggest that rapid and relatively large changes from low water levels to high water levels are the main driver of large erosional losses, as the coastal system shifts abruptly from one water-level regime to another. One likely impact of climate change on Great Lakes’ water level is an increase in the variability of fluctuations, thus more scenarios of abrupt and rapid water-level rise and associated habitat loss are expected in the future. We propose that the unprecedented habitat loss observed during the 2012–2020 timeframe will become the new normal in the coming century as enhanced variability in water levels facilitates sustained coastal land loss.

In the past decade a plethora of drugs with similar effects to controlled psychoactive drugs, like cannabis, amfetamine (amphetamine), or lysergic acid diethylamide, have been synthesized. These drugs can collectively be classified under the term new psychoactive substances (NPS) and are used for recreational purposes. The novelty of the substances, alongside the rapid rate of emergence and structural variability, makes their detection as well as their legal control highly challenging, increasing the demand for rapid and easy-to-use analytical techniques for their detection and identification. Therefore, interest in ambient ionization mass spectrometry applied to NPS has grown in recent years, which is largely because it is relatively fast and simple to use and has a low operating cost. This review aims to provide a critique of the suitability of current ambient ionization techniques for the analysis of NPS in the forensic and clinical toxicology fields. Consideration is given to analytical performance and ease of implementation, including ionization efficiency, selectivity, sensitivity, quantification, analyte chemistry, molecular coverage, validation, and practicality.

With an advancement in artificial intelligence (AI) applications, the use of smart imaging devices has been increased at a rapid rate. Recently, many researchers have utilized deep learning models such as convolutional neural networks (CNN) for image classification models. Compared to the traditional machine learning models, CNN does not require any kind of handcrafted features. It utilizes various filters to extract the potential features of images automatically. Inspired from this, in this paper, we have proposed a novel fruit classification model which utilizes the features of CNN, Long short Term Memory (LSTM) and Recurrent Neural Network (RNN) architectures. Type-II fuzzy enhancement is also used as pre-processing tool to enhance the images. Additionally, to tune the hyper-parameters of the proposed model, TLBO-MCET is also utilized. Extensive experiments are drawn by considering the existing and the proposed fruit classification models. Comparative analysis reveals that the proposed model outperforms the competitive fruit classification models.

Infrared (IR) thermographic assessment of ocular surface temperature (OST) is gaining interest as an adjuvant method to evaluate the ocular surface. It is a quick, non-invasive test that causes minimal, if any, discomfort to patients. The purpose of this article was to summarize research on how OST relates to tear film parameters and dry eye disease (DED). PubMed, Google Scholar, and Scopus searches for specific terms were carried out and eligible articles reviewed. OST of the central cornea is ~34-35°C when measured as a single time-point (typically right after a blink). Dynamically, OST values decrease over time at a rate of ~ −0.01 °C/s in healthy eyes. Single time-point OST values are impacted by temperature, with positive correlations noted with both ambient (1°C↓ results in ~0.16°C↓ in OST) and body (1°C↑ results in ~0.98°C↑ in OST) temperature. Single time-point OST values are also impacted by tear parameters, with negative correlations noted with tear break-up time (TBUT; r=−0.61) and positive correlations with lipid layer thickness (~r=0.50). Dynamically, the rate of OST cooling over the interblink period correlates with various tear parameters including Schirmer’s test scores (r=−0.39), tear meniscus height (r=−0.52) and the rate of tear film break-up (r=−0.74). These data imply that OST decreases more rapidly in individuals with greater tear production, larger tear volumes, and shorter tear break-up times (faster rates of tear film break-up). There are discrepancies in relationships between OST and DED across studies, which is not surprising given that DED encompasses a number of different phenotypic presentations. However, most studies found that OST decreases at a more rapid rate in DED vs. control groups. As such, cooling rate may have utility as a screening tool in DED in combination with established point-of-care tests.

CO2 emission are seen as an urgent problem in emerging economies because these countries are in the process of economic growth, trade liberalization and receiving foreign investment at a rapid rate, which puts pressure on the environment or causes pollution if not strictly controlled. This article examines the relationship between economic openness (free trade and foreign direct investment inflows) on CO2 emission under the influence of institution in these countries. The study mentions some hypotheses of "pollution heaven" or "pollution halo" as well as presents hypotheses related to environmental problems such as Kuznets environmental curve theory and STIRPAT model.Keywords: Economic openness, CO2 emission and institution.JEL Classifications: C33, F15, Q56DOI: https://doi.org/10.32479/ijeep.10718

Sustainable consumption and organic food demand are increasing at a rapid rate in emerging economies. This research studies the repurchase intention toward organic food in the Indian context and em...

Salt-affected areas are increasing at a rapid rate that are decreasing agricultural productivity. For this purpose, 6 salt-tolerant and 3 salt-sensitive parents were crossed in a Line × Tester fash...

The Gulf coast is losing land to erosion at a rapid rate. Applying the planned risk information seeking model (PRISM; Kahlor, L. (2010). PRISM: A planned risk information seeking model. Health Comm...

Pekanbaru is the largest cities in Riau province with a very rapid rate of economic growth. This is affecting the business in the hotel sector developing rapidly in the city of Pekanbaru. Augmented Reality (AR) is an innovation that combines virtual and real objects. In this era, people tend to like applications with interactive visual displays. The application of AR technology in the form of LBS on hotels in the city of Pekanbaru based on android is expected to help immigrants or people who need hotel information when visiting the city of Pekanbaru. Users can search for hotels by tracking from the AR camera on the application and knowing the distance and route to get to the hotel. Testing of this application is done by Usability Testing through questionnaires and Blackbox Testing to test functional suitability. Based on the results of the questionnaire found that the application meets the criteria of usability testing where 78,67% of respondents agreed that the application is easy to understand. 71,3% of respondents agreed that the application has an efficient function. 76% of respondents agreed that the appearance of the application is easy to remember. 78,92% of respondents agreed that the application runs well without an error. 72,12% of respondents agreed that the application meets user satisfaction and 82,67% of users would suggest this application as a medium of hotel information in the city of Pekanbaru. Based on the results of Blackbox testing, the application can run smoothly according to existing functional needs.

The automotive industry is going through a transformation. Disruptive technologies and tools are shifting the business model from one of automobiles to one of mobility. To accomplish this shift, automotive companies are embracing acquisitions and partnerships. In a time when the consumer electronics industry is delivering new products to market at a rapid rate, automotive manufacturers must identify ways of getting new products and features to customers faster and with high quality to maintain or increase market share. We provide an analysis of interviews with global automotive company professionals to understand the impact that quality requirements have on innovation and the advanced product design process. The research contributes to the literature on innovation and quality, identifying organizational behaviors and practices that facilitate or obstruct the development of high quality fast-to-market innovations, particularly in the area of mobility.

Cities are densifying at a rapid rate, and accordingly, are constructing high-rise buildings to accommodate more people. The aim of this study was to quantify the physiological and psychological im...

Developing nations including India are witnessing a very rapid rate of urbanization, leading to severe worsening of urban environment due to pollutants. Poor planning of cities is major issue and a...

Air shopping volumes have been growing at a rapid rate over the past decade. The four components of air shopping are schedule generation, itinerary selection, booking class availability and itinerary pricing. Booking class availability is the most volatile and this paper discusses the impact of revenue management, inventory control and booking class availability on air shopping.

Developing cathode materials of high capacity and rapid rate ability is crucial to aqueous Zn-based batteries. Herein, we demonstrate Co0.8Al0.2-layered double hydroxide (LDH) nanosheets arrays as ...

Graphene is a very promising material platform for the mitigation of supersonic and hypersonic impacts due to its capability to delocalize impact energy at an exceptionally rapid rate. However, the...

Strong economic growth after the 2008-2009 financial crisis led to a rapid rate of real convergence in Malta. This article compares Malta’s real convergence process with that of other EU27 economies post-financial crisis. A growth accounting framework is used to decompose the sources of growth and convergence from a supply-side perspective. The EU evidence of convergence is mixed. Malta’s convergence since 2010 was driven by a higher utilization of labor. The cross-country comparison identifies three important lessons for a country’s convergence process: one, the perils associated with rapid growth driven by the accumulation of imbalances; two, the need for a flexible adjustment process following an economic shock; and three, EU and euro area memberships are no panacea for real convergence, without institutions that are conducive to technological adoption and productivity growth.

International audience; Sex categorization is essential for mate choice and social interactions in many animal species. In humans, sex categorization is readily performed from the face. However, clear neural markers of face-sex categorization, i.e., common responses to widely variable individuals from one sex, have not been identified so far in humans. To isolate a direct signature of rapid and automatic face-sex categorization generalized across a wide range of variable exemplars, we recorded scalp electroencephalogram (EEG) from 32 participants (16 females) while they were exposed to variable natural face images from one sex alternating at a rapid rate of 6 Hz (i.e., 6 images per second). Images from the other sex were inserted every 6th stimulus (i.e., at a 1-Hz rate). A robust categorization response to both sex contrasts emerged at 1 Hz and harmonics in the EEG frequency spectrum over the occipito-temporal cortex of most participants. The response was larger for female faces presented among male faces than the reverse, suggesting that the two sex categories are not equally homogenous. This asymmetrical response pattern disappeared for upside-down faces, ruling out the contribution of low-level physical variability across images. Overall, these observations demonstrate that sex categorization occurs automatically after a single glance at natural face images and can be objectively isolated and quantified in the human brain within a few minutes.

South Africa has seen a rapid rate of new household formation since 1994. The same period has also seen an impressive roll-out of housing and services. These interact since new household formation ...

Land subsidence is one of the most hazardous phenomena. Rapid rate subsidence corresponds to human activities such as subsurface withdrawal. Therefore, local changes in surface elevation and its as...

Because of the increasing use of herbal essential oils (EO) in pharmacology, medicine, and food processing, global EO production grows at a rapid rate, generating large amounts of plant residues wo...

The objectives of this paper are to provide an update on work done and the development of knowledge on Irish compressible soils since Eamon Hanrahan9s book on the topic. Eamon subdivided these soils into three categories; namely, alluvial, estuarine and lake-bed deposits, and he termed them ‘troublesome soils’. A brief background geology will initially be presented. The complexity of the deposits both on a macro- and micro-scale will be highlighted. Sites that have been well studied will be summarized and the engineering solutions used to construct on these sites will be reviewed. Although work on these sites presents a significant engineering achievement, some important lessons were learned. The remainder of the paper deals with how these lessons might be addressed in the future; for example, how to use modern ground investigation techniques to best characterize these complex deposits and what are the best techniques for examining important detailed aspects of 1D consolidation behaviour such as the identification of the apparent preconsolidation stress, the sometimes rapid rate of consolidation and creep, and also how to characterize the undrained shear strength of the soils. The work will be benchmarked against experience of the behaviour of Scandinavian soft soils.

In order to harness the functionality of metals, nature has evolved over billions of years to utilize metalloproteins as key components in numerous cellular processes. Despite this, transition metals such as ruthenium, palladium, iridium, and gold are largely absent from naturally occurring metalloproteins, likely due to their scarcity as precious metals. To mimic the evolutionary process of nature, the field of artificial metalloenzymes (ArMs) was born as a way to benefit from the unique chemoselectivity and orthogonality of transition metals in a biological setting. In its current state, numerous examples have successfully incorporated transition metals into a variety of protein scaffolds. Using these ArMs, many examples of new-to-nature reactions have been carried out, some of which have shown substantial biocompatibility. Given the rapid rate at which this field is growing, this review aims to highlight some important studies that have begun to take the next step within this field; namely the development of ArM-centered drug therapies or biotechnological tools.

The demand for optical components such as microlenses has been growing at a rapid rate in recent years. While conventional methods for manufacturing these components are well known, they are often time-consuming, detrimental for the environment and unable to keep up with the increasing demand. To overcome these issues, the technique of three-dimensional (3D) inkjet printing has attracted much attention. The aim of this review was to investigate the 3D inkjet printing process as a technique for the fabrication of microlenses and identify the key components and methodologies which can be used to control the properties of the resultant microlenses. 3D Inkjet printing was identified as a viable alternative for the production of microlenses owing to its high flexibility, scalability and efficiency as well as its ability to produce good quality products. Substrate modification was shown as a key method by which the geometric and optical properties of microlenses can be controlled. Organic materials such as acrylates and epoxies, and hybrid materials such as siloxanes were shown to be the most common base materials in photo-crosslinkable inkjet formulations and the effects of incorporation of organic compounds and inorganic nanoparticles on the material refractive index were studied.

California's Central Valley is responsible for $17 billion of annual agricultural output, producing 1/4 of the nation’s food. However, land in the Central Valley is sinking at a rapid rate (as much...

Perfluorinated carbon atoms in a diether linkage are common in commercial anesthetics, drugs, fungicides, and insecticides. An important chemical group comprising perfluorodiethers is the 2,2-fluoro-1,3-benzodioxole (DFBD) moiety. The fluorine atoms stabilize the molecule by mitigating against metabolism by humans and microbes, as used in drugs and pesticides, respectively. Pseudomonas putida F1 catalyzed defluorination of DFBD at an initial rate of 2,100 nmol/h per mg cellular protein. This is orders of magnitude higher than previously reported microbial defluorination rates with multiply fluorinated carbon atoms. Defluorination rates declined after several hours, and the medium darkened. Significant defluorination activity was observed with cells grown on toluene but not l-arginine. Defluorination required only toluene dioxygenase. Pseudomonas and recombinant Escherichia coli cells expressing toluene dioxygenase oxidized DFBD to DFBD-4,5-dihydrodiol. The dihydrodiol could be oxidized to 4,5-dihydroxy-DFBD via the dihydrodiol dehydrogenase from P. putida F1. The dihydrodiol dehydrated with acid to yield a mixture of 4-hydroxy-DFBD and 5-hydroxy-DFBD. All those metabolites retained the difluoromethylene group; no fluoride or dark color was observed. The major route of DFBD-4,5-dihydrodiol decomposition produced fluoride and 1,2,3-trihydroxybenzene, or pyrogallol, and that was shown to be the source of the dark colors in the medium. A mechanism for DFBD-4,5-dihydrodiol transformation to two fluoride ions and pyrogallol is proposed. The Pseudomonas genome database and other databases revealed hundreds of bacteria with enzymes sharing high amino acid sequence identity to toluene dioxygenase from P. putida F1, suggesting the mechanism revealed here may apply to the defluorination of DFBD-containing compounds in the environment. IMPORTANCE There are more than 9,000 polyfluorinated compounds developed for commercial use, some negatively impacting human health, and they are generally considered to be resistant to biodegradation. Only a limited number of studies have identified microbes with enzymes sufficiently reactive to defluorinate difluoromethylene carbon groups. The present study examined one important group of commercial fluorinated chemicals and showed its rapid defluorination by a bacterium and its key enzyme, a Rieske dioxygenase. Rieske dioxygenases are common in environmental bacteria, and those closely resembling toluene dioxygenase from Pseudomonas putida F1 are candidates for biodegradative defluorination of the common 2,2-fluoro-1,3-benzodioxole (DFBD) moiety.

Population monitoring is fundamental for informing management decisions aimed at reducing the rapid rate of global biodiversity decline. Herpetofauna are experiencing declines worldwide and include species that are challenging to monitor. Raw counts and associated metrics such as richness indices are common for monitoring populations of herpetofauna; however, these methods are susceptible to bias as they fail to account for varying detection probabilities. Our goal was to develop a program for efficiently monitoring herpetofauna in southern Texas. Our objectives were to (1) estimate detection probabilities in an occupancy modeling framework using trap arrays for a diverse group of herpetofauna and (2) to evaluate the relative effectiveness of funnel traps, pitfall traps, and cover boards. We collected data with 36 arrays at 2 study sites in 2015 and 2016, for 2105 array-days resulting in 4839 detections of 51 species. We modeled occupancy for 21 species and found support for the hypothesis that detection probability varied over our sampling duration for 10 species and with rainfall for 10 species. For herpetofauna in our study, we found 14 and 12 species were most efficiently captured with funnel traps and pitfall traps, respectively, and no species were most efficiently captured with cover boards. Our results show that using methods that do not account for variations in detection probability are highly subject to bias unless the likelihood of false absences is minimized with exceptionally long capture durations. For monitoring herpetofauna in southern Texas, we recommend using arrays with funnel and pitfall traps and an analytical method such as occupancy modeling that accounts for variation in detection.

Medical journal content continues to expand at a rapid rate. This is promising for the future of innovation and patient care but challenging for clinicians and scientists. We feature new journals, new social media platforms, educational advertisements, illuminating Letters to the Editor and enlightening Author Replies, Podcasts, Visual Abstracts, and Infographics. This is a developmental time for medical journal publication.

The children and adolescents of today’s generation are growing up in a media-saturated world. Digital media use has become the most common sedentary leisure time activity among children and adolescents. In the past decade, the development of mobile and digital technologies has taken place at such a rapid rate that researchers have had difficulties reporting evidence within limited timeframes. Growing evidence indicates that screen media usage by teenagers and pre-adolescents has deleterious ramifications on mental wellbeing. In addition to the benefits of screen media for exposure to a wide range of information and quick communication, the use of screen media has been correlated with adverse physical, psychological and social health consequences. This study focuses on the increasing use of screen media and their consequences on the various aspects of mental health of adolescents and preadolescents.

Intelligent gadgets for example smartphones, tablet phones, and personal digital assistants play an increasingly important part in our lives and have become indispensable in our everyday routines. As a result, the market for mobile apps tends to grow at a rapid rate, and mobile app utilization has long eclipsed that of desktop software. The applications based on these smartphones are becoming vulnerable due to the use of open-source operating systems in these smart devices. These applications are vulnerable to smartphones because of memory leaks; they can steal personal data, hack our smartphones, and monitor our private activity, giving anyone significant financial loss. Because of these issues, smartphone security plays a vital role in our daily lives. The Play Store contains unrated applications which any unprofessional developer can develop, and these applications do not pass through the rigorous process of testing and analysis of code leaks. The existing developed system does not include a stringent procedure to examine and investigate source code to detect such vulnerabilities among mobile applications. This paper presented a dynamic analysis-based robust system for Source Code Analysis of Mobile Applications for Privacy Leaks using a machine learning algorithm. Furthermore, our framework is called Source Code Analysis of Mobile Applications (SCA-MA), which combines DynaLog and our machine learning-based classifier for Source Code Analysis of Mobile Applications. Our dataset will contain around 20000 applications to test and analyze vulnerabilities. We will perform dynamic analysis and separate the classification of vulnerable applications and safe applications. Our results show that we can detect vulnerabilities through our proposed system while reviewing code and provide better results than other existing frameworks. We have evaluated our large dataset with the pervasive way so we can detect even small privacy leak which can harm our app. Finally, we have compared results with existing methods, and framework performance is better than other methods.

Niespolo et al. (1) report 230Th/238U “burial ages” for ostrich eggshell fragments from a 3.8-m-thick Middle Stone Age (MSA) sequence at Ysterfontein 1 shelter, west coast of South Africa (2). The ages are in expected stratigraphic order and imply that the entire 3.8-m sequence accumulated in as little as 2,300 y around 115,000 y ago. The authors believe they have identified the oldest firmly dated evidence for systematic human exploitation of coastal resources and that the remarkably rapid rate of deposition means that local MSA people were exploiting coastal resources as intensively as … [↵][1]1Email: rklein{at}stanford.edu. [1]: #xref-corresp-1-1

Massive hemoptysis is generally used to describe the expectoration of a large amount of blood and/or a rapid rate of bleeding, although the precise thresholds that constitute massive hemoptysis are controversial. Unfortunately, few options exist for the treatment of active bleeding from benign airway lesions. This case report highlights a challenging clinical situation where placement of an Amplatzer occlusion device over a proximal bleeding vessel resulted in cessation of hemorrhage until vascular embolization could be performed. The use of the Amplatzer occlusion device within the airways can be an effective intervention to aid in the treatment of massive hemoptysis.

like even a short time from now, such as in five or ten years (Banerjee, Loukaitou-Sideris, 2011; Carmona, Tiesdell, Heath, Oc, 2010; Carmona, 2014; Friedmann, 2010). A theme that will very probably be prominent in urban design studies will be that of urban health, as it intersects many questions that are central in the disciplines studying built environments at different scales (Saunders, 2017; Sepe, 2019). The first part of the present essay will focus on research on urban health, the other on aspects relative to the teaching of this subject.

The field of learning analytics is progressing at a rapid rate. New tools, with ever-increasing number of features and a plethora of datasets that are increasingly utilized demonstrate the evolutio...

Vehicle automation is developing at a rapid rate worldwide. However, even lower levels of automation, such as SAE Level-1, are expected to reduce drivers’ workload by controlling either speed or lane position. At the same time, however, drivers’ engagement in secondary tasks may make up for this difference in workload displaced by automation. Previous research has investigated the effects of adaptive cruise control on driving performance and workload, but little attention has been devoted to lane keeping systems (LKS). In addition, the influence of secondary cognitive tasks on Level-1 driving performance is also not well understood. The goal of this study was to examine the effects of secondary cognitive tasks on driving performance and perceived workload while using LKS. Nine participants drove a simulated vehicle in manual and LKS modes, while maintaining a specific headway and performing a secondary cognitive (n-back) task with varying levels of difficulty. Results showed that standard deviation of headway and NASA-TLX workload scores were significantly higher during the most difficulty secondary task. Also, LKS was not found to improve driving performance nor reduce perceived workload. This paper highlights potential performance costs and benefits associated with LKS technology and proposes directions for future research.

Adolescent hookah pipe use is increasing at a rapid rate, thus posing a major public health concern globally. The hookah pipe is a gateway substance to other substances that may be more harmful. Yet, at present, little is known about why adolescents are so drawn to this mechanism. It is this gap that this study attempted to fill. This study, therefore, aimed to review the determinants of adolescent hookah pipe use. An electronic search of 12 databases identified studies investigating determinants of adolescent hookah pipe use. Twenty-five studies sampling a total of 88,988 adolescents who use the hookah pipe were included. This study found that adolescent hookah pipe use is determined by an interplay of family factors, peer/friends factors, individual factors, school factors, the actual hookah pipe mechanism, advertisements, and awareness of hookah pipe lounges or bars. Prevention and early intervention strategies aimed at reducing adolescent hookah pipe use is needed.

During the last 6 months of life, 75% of older adults with preexisting serious illness, such as advanced heart failure, lung disease, and cancer, visit the emergency department (ED). ED visits often mark an inflection point in these patients' illness trajectories, signaling a more rapid rate of decline. Although most patients are there seeking care for acute issues, many of them have priorities other than to simply live as long as possible; yet without discussion of preferences for treatment, they are at risk of receiving care not aligned with their goals. An ED visit may offer a unique "teachable moment" to empower patients to consider their ability to influence future medical care decisions. However, the constraints of the ED setting pose specific challenges, and little research exists to guide clinicians treating patients in this setting. We describe the current state of goals-of-care conversations in the ED, outline the challenges to conducting these conversations, and recommend a research agenda to better equip emergency physicians to guide shared decisionmaking for end-of-life care. Applying best practices for serious illness communication may help emergency physicians empower such patients to align their future medical care with their values and goals.

Since the description of femoroacetabular impingement (FAI) by Ganz in 2003, our understanding of the pathophysiology, management options, and outcomes has evolved and literature continues to be generated on this condition at a rapid rate. FAI has been identified as a primary source of hip pain as well as a generator of secondary osteoarthritis. Improvements in the radiographic detection of cam and pincer morphologies as well as a better understanding of the structural impact of these morphologies have led to improved preoperative planning. Advancements in hip arthroscopy techniques have also led to a higher rate of arthroscopic management of this condition over the initially described open surgical dislocation technique. While arthroscopic management of this condition has become the most common form of surgical management for FAI, inadequate bony resection has been shown to be a frequent source of revision surgery. Therefore, roles for open surgical dislocation and combined mini-open approaches remain, particularly in cases where concern for the inability to fully access the morphology arthroscopically exists.

The drying of lignite is a very significant topic due to its high economic value. However, fragmentation and pulverization of lignite during drying are also important factors because they affect the operation of the dryer. The aim of this study was to analyze the drying behavior of single lignite particle, as well as the development of both surface and internal cracks by image processing and micro-CT scanning. The results showed that the drying curve of single lignite particle can be divided into three stages, namely, a rapid drying stage (I), a transitional drying stage (II) and a drying equilibrium stage (III). The surface cracking rate increases with increasing drying temperature, and the number of surface cracks increases at the same time. Crack rate (CR) increases continuously in rapid drying stage (I) and transitional drying stage (II) when the drying temperature is 80 °C. For higher drying temperature (110, 140, and 170 °C), CR increases continuously in the rapid drying stage (I) and reaches the maximum near the end of the rapid drying stage (I). CR changes more smoothly in the transitional drying stage (II), and decreases slightly at the end of this stage. A small number of cracks appear near the surface at the beginning of drying. As the drying proceeds, the number of internal cracks increases and cracks develop towards the core. The crushing strength (CS) of single lignite particle, based on the definition in this paper, shows no clear dependence on drying temperature. The drying temperature might affect the moisture content in the sample, thus affecting the CS. Fragmentation is more likely to occur at high temperatures due to the rapid rate of water removal.

A key aspect of medical, public health, and diagnostic microbiology laboratories is the accurate identification and rapid reporting and communication to medical staff regarding patients with infectious agents of clinical importance. Microbial taxonomy continues to change at a very rapid rate in the era of molecular diagnostics including whole genome sequencing. This update focuses on taxonomic changes and proposals that may be of medical importance for years 2017 and 2018.

For the clinical delivery of immunotherapies it is anticipated that cells will be cryopreserved and shipped to the patient where they will be thawed and administered. An established view in cellular cryopreservation is that following freezing, cells must be warmed rapidly (≤5 minutes) in order to maintain high viability. In this study we examine the interaction between the rate of cooling and rate of warming on the viability, and function of T cells formulated in a conventional DMSO based cryoprotectant and processed in conventional cryovials. The data obtained show that provided the cooling rate is −1 °C min−1 or slower, there is effectively no impact of warming rate on viable cell number within the range of warming rates examined (1.6 °C min−1 to 113 °C min−1). It is only following a rapid rate of cooling (−10 °C min−1) that a reduction in viable cell number is observed following slow rates of warming (1.6 °C min−1 and 6.2 °C min−1), but not rapid rates of warming (113 °C min−1 and 45 °C min−1). Cryomicroscopy studies revealed that this loss of viability is correlated with changes in the ice crystal structure during warming. At high cooling rates (−10 °C min−1) the ice structure appeared highly amorphous, and when subsequently thawed at slow rates (6.2 °C min−1 and below) ice recrystallization was observed during thaw suggesting mechanical disruption of the frozen cells. This data provides a fascinating insight into the crystal structure dependent behaviour during phase change of frozen cell therapies and its effect on live cell suspensions. Furthermore, it provides an operating envelope for the cryopreservation of T cells as an emerging industry defines formulation volumes and cryocontainers for immunotherapy products.

This pre-print is deposited under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 2.5 Canada License. This means that anyone may distribute, adapt, and build upon the work for non-commercial purposes, subject to full attribution. Permission has been granted by Emerald Publishing Ltd. for this version to appear here. If you wish to use this manuscript for commercial purposes, please contact permissions@emerald.com. The version of record is available at https://doi.org/10.1108/JMLC-10-2017-0061., There has been an increase use of mobile money involving retail users and financial institutions (Scobey-Thal, 2015). In 2015, the GSMA (an organization that represent the interests of mobile operators worldwide) states that there are more than 411 million mobile money accounts around the world. Furthermore, mobile money accounts have penetrated 85% of countries, often where a majority of the population do not have access to a formal financial institution (GSMA, 2015). Cisco Systems Inc. (2017) estimates that by 2021, more people will have access to mobile phones than there will be access to running water. Given the enormous growth in the mobile market, it is internationally recognised that this penetration should be capitalised on in the form of financial inclusion. However, with such benefits, come new challenges and the success of mobile money depends on the industry’s ability to adjust to a rapidly changing financial landscape (GSMA, 2015). A combination of exponential mobile growth and emerging financial services creates new opportunities for criminals to exploit vulnerabilities in the system. Although there have not been many cases of mobile money laundering, it is important to consider the potential to commit fraudulent activities. Technology advancements continue to change the very architecture of financial services by becoming complex value chain networks. As these services continue to diversify, there is an urgent need for more adaptive and fluid regulation (Braithwaite, 2013) to identify, address and mitigate threats as they arise (Lokanan, 2017). As a result, anti-money laundering (AML) and counter terrorist financing (CTF) regimes remain operationally fluid, whilst accrediting global financial integrity. This concern lays the foundation for our research question: What can be done to mitigate anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing threats posed by mobile money? In this regard, the purpose of the paper is to explore the various characteristics of mobile money that presents a threat to anti-money laundering and counter terrorist financing regimes. The rest of the paper proceeds as follows. First, we conduct a literature review on mobile money. Second, we described the methodology used to identify the main themes in the study. Third, we conducted an analysis of the themes identified in relations to the three stages of money laundering and law enforcement. In this section, we assess the varying threats associated with the mobile money. Finally, we conclude the paper with recommendations on how the threats associated with mobile money can be mitigated.

This study was carried out to assess the potential of crushed glass as a filter medium in high rate filtration. Waste glass collected from a glass manufacturing industry was crushed using hammer mill and sorted into different particle sizes (0.300 mm, 0.425 mm, 0.550 mm, 1.18 mm and 2.36 mm). The gravel layer was between 2.36 mm to 4.75 mm. The glass were arranged in layers and used as the filter bed for the water filtration process. The depth of each medium was set at 800 mm with a constant flow rate of 0.0275 l/s, and the experimental run of 4 hours. The flow rate, turbidity and head at the ports were monitored at every 30 minutes interval. Glass shows a tremendous decrease in filtration rate with time compared to sand and also a higher headloss developed. At 2.5 hours, glass had attained a turbidity of 0 NTU while sand at 3.5 hours. The results show an increase in filtration efficiency in glass compared to sand which suggests that crushed glass could be used conveniently as a medium for rate of filtration.

Image quality assessment (IQA) algorithms aim to predict perceived image quality by human observers. Over the last two decades, a large amount of work has been carried out in the field. New algorithms are being developed at a rapid rate in different areas of IQA, but are often tested and compared with limited existing models using out-of-date test data. There is a significant gap when it comes to large-scale performance evaluation studies that include a wide variety of test data and competing algorithms. In this work we aim to fill this gap by carrying out the largest performance evaluation study so far. We test the performance of 43 full-reference (FR), seven fused FR (22 versions), and 14 no-reference (NR) methods on nine subject-rated IQA datasets, of which five contain singly distorted images and four contain multiply distorted content. We use a variety of performance evaluation and statistical significance testing criteria. Our findings not only point to the top performing FR and NR IQA methods, but also highlight the performance gap between them. In addition, we have also conducted a comparative study on FR fusion methods, and an important discovery is that rank aggregation based FR fusion is able to outperform not only other FR fusion approaches but also the top performing FR methods. It may be used to annotate IQA datasets as a possible alternative to subjective ratings, especially in situations where it is not possible to obtain human opinions, such as in the case of large-scale datasets composed of thousands or even millions of images.

In this paper, we discuss machine learning methods for classifying gross kicking activity for the term and preterm infants. We examine different combinations of sensors to determine the relative importance of each sensor to gross activity detection. In addition, we discuss methods to correlate infant age to the amount of time an infant performs unilateral vs bilateral kicking and time an infant is at rest. For preterm infants, we examine this same relationship using birth age and adjusted age. From this comparison, we aim to determine which age is a better predictor for movement breakdown. For gross activity recognition, it was determined that a sensor placed on the thigh was less important to overall recognition than a sensor placed on the foot or shin. In addition, a sensor placed on the foot tended to be the most accurate on its own while the thigh sensor tended to be the least accurate. For the relationship between infant age and movement breakdown, it was determined that the amount of time spent at rest increases as age increases. Furthermore, the amount of time spent performing bilateral kicking decreases at a more rapid rate than unilateral kicking as age increases. Finally, we examine how this relationship changes over time for infants observed over multiple months.

Malaysian population has been increasing at a rate of 2.4% per year or about 600,000 per year since 1994. With this population growth, the municipal solid waste (MSW) generation also rises, which makes municipal solid waste management important. Changes in municipal solid waste generation rates are mostly caused by socioeconomic characteristics of a population and facilities, which are provided by the various departments. Malaysian solid waste contains a very high amount of organic waste and consequently has high moisture content and a bulk density above 200kg/m3. Nowadays, the only way used for the managing and discarding of MSW in Malaysia is landfilling. The disposal of wastes through landfilling is becoming more complicated because vacant landfill sites are filling up at a very rapid rate. This article aims to shed light on the origins of food waste, both pre-consumer and post-consumer. Secondly, the impacts and challenges of cutting down on food waste produced in IIUM Kuantan Campus will also are discussed. 208On top of that, this article will propose a new system which is by using a composting machine to manage food waste with proper management and cleans.

Adoptive cell therapy has significantly impacted the immuno-oncology landscape. The number of strategies currently in preclinical and clinical development is increasing at a rapid rate. Indeed, we are experiencing a transformative movement in cancer care as we shift toward highly personalized treatments designed to confront the specific challenges of each cancer. Advancements in genetic engineering methods and single-cell profiling technologies provide a level of understanding of the interactions between the immune system and cancer never before achieved. This knowledge, in turn, can be applied to the design and engineering of effective cancer-fighting treatments. As these promising new therapies progress toward clinical application, it becomes evident that we must develop robust methods for production and validation of cellular products to ensure consistency, safety, and efficacy, irrespective of cell type or indication. Herein, we provide an overview of the innovative approaches guiding the new generation of cell therapies and describe the benefits and challenges associated with emerging autologous and allogeneic platforms. Moreover, we discuss important considerations pertaining to process development, cost of goods, and manufacturing, and highlight their impact on the transfer of therapies from bench to bedside.