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The aims of this study were to: 1) determine whether 2D and 3D feature tracking cardiac magnetic resonance (FT-CMR) are equivalent in patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), 2) compare 3D FT-CMR values in HCM and healthy volunteers and 3) compare FT-CMR in most frequent HCM phenotypes.

This paper proposes an enhanced transient control strategy for Virtual synchronous generators (VSGs) to address the challenges faced by grid-connected inverters, including DC-side voltage fluctuations, overcurrent, active power dynamic oscillations, and frequency overshoots during transient processes. Firstly, an active closed-loop small-signal model of the optical storage VSG is developed, and the effects of inertia and damping on the system stability are analyzed. Then, the power angular transient characteristics of the VSG are investigated, and the active power deviation factor is introduced to enhance the transient stability. The proposed strategy categorizes the operating phases according to the angular frequency deviation, the active power deviation, and the rate of change of these deviations while preserving the power angle characteristics of the VSG. By adaptively optimizing these parameters, the DC-side voltage fluctuations and overcurrent are effectively suppressed, and the active power and frequency overshoots are reduced. Simulation results verify the effectiveness of the strategy, with active power overshoot reduced by 9.43 %, voltage fluctuation reduced by 8.97 %, and frequency fluctuation stabilized within ±0.13 Hz. These improvements greatly enhance the dynamic performance of the optical storage microgrid and ensure grid stable operation in complex environment.

Indonesia is an agricultural country and its agricultural sector which important in meeting food needs. On its journey, the agricultural sector in Indonesia is developing to improve the quality and production of food needs. Then, the fertilizer process has an important role in increasing the production of agricultural products, and the government needs to implement policies to subsidize the price of fertilizers for fertilizer distributors and arrange the regulations underlying the policy. If the fertilizer trade for fertilizer distributors is based on more than clear regulations, how can Indonesia's agricultural journey run. Thus, this study aims to attempt to describe the criminal liability of fertilizer trade based on court decisions at the first level up to the cassation level (namely, Decision Number. 137/pid.sus/2020/PN.Btg, Court of Appeal (Number. 487/Pid.Sus/2020/PT SMG and Cassation Decision Number. 78/Pid.Sus/2022). This study is normative research with a case approach, requiring secondary data in legal documents and references relevant to the subject matter. Data were collected by identification and inventory and then analyzed using the basic principles of criminal law. The novelty is fulfilling criminal liability is not enough regarding the psychological aspects (adult, healthy mind). However, it must also fulfill the normative measure of the act. The results showed that the defendant in the first instance and appellate level decisions were able to take liabilitybut was not sentenced because the element of the action in the prosecutor's charge, which stated "conducting trading business activities without having a license in the field of trade granted by the Ministry" was not fulfilled/proven, because the defendant had a trading business license (SIUP) issued by the Integrated Investment and Licensing Agency Number: 519/054/2014 dated June 04, 2014, under the name of the Agricultural Facilities and Organic Fertilizer Shop "Tani Jaya." The cassation verdict of the defendant can be held responsible and sentenced to punishment because measures from the psychological aspect are fulfilled. The measurements are from the normative aspect demanded by the public prosecutor, especially the elements that are also fulfilled. It can be consluded that based on the court's decision to measure the perpetrator's liability for a criminal offense, two measures must be met in imposing punishment.

Hepatitis B and Dengue virus infections carry significant public health implications due to their potential to cause illness and death. This study focused on examining the prevalence of these infections among young adults seeking care at a secondary health facility at Olabisi Onabanjo University. Ninety samples obtained from study participants underwent screening using Enzyme-linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) for both HBsAg and Dengue IgM. The participants, predominantly female, were aged between 15 and 30 years. The analysis revealed a 13.3% prevalence of Dengue IgM, a 4.5% prevalence of HBsAg, and a 4.4% prevalence for both infections. Regarding age distribution, the highest prevalence occurred among participants aged 15-20 years for both single infections and the co-occurrence of Hepatitis B and Dengue viral infections. Examining gender distribution, female participants exhibited higher seropositivity across all infection categories. Although not statistically significant, these findings lay the groundwork for a comprehensive surveillance study on the Hepatitis B and Dengue viral infections in young adults. This study provides valuable insights into the prevalence patterns of Hepatitis B and Dengue virus, offering a basis for further research and public health interventions in this population.

Iptycenes are common building blocks for the small-molecules or polymer-based chemosensors and fluorophores. In addition, iptycene derivatives are widely presented in polymers of intrinsic microporosity (PIMs) as materials for the separation and purification technologies. In this manuscript we wish to report a mechanochemical approach to pentiptycene-based polyesters and polycarbonates as, possibly, new representatives of PIMs. Our approach involves the polycondensation reaction between 5,7,12,14-tetrahydro-5,14:7,12-bis([1,2]benzeno)pentacene-6,13-diol (pentiptycene-6,13-diol) and triphosgene or oxalyl chloride under ball-milling conditions. The obtained polymers were characterized by means of 1H NMR- and IR-spectroscopy. As the last step, the fluorescence “turn-off” response of pentiptycene-6,13-diol and two pentiptycene-based polymers towards nitroanalytes (2,4-dinitrotioluene (DNT) and 2,4,6-trinitrophenole (picric acid, PA)) was investigated, and Stern-Volmer constants as high as 1o4 M–1 were observed.

The integration of advanced control systems in prostheses necessitates the accurate identification of human locomotion activities, a task that can significantly benefit from EEG-based measurements combined with machine learning techniques. The main contribution of this study is the development of a novel framework for the recognition and classification of locomotion activities using electroencephalography (EEG) data by comparing the performance of different machine learning algorithms. Data of the lower limb movements during level ground walking as well as going up stairs, down stairs, up ramps, and down ramps were collected from 10 healthy volunteers. Time- and frequency-domain features were extracted by applying independent component analysis (ICA). Successively, they were used to train and test random forest and k-nearest neighbors (kNN) algorithms. For the classification, random forest revealed itself as the best-performing one, achieving an overall accuracy up to 92%. The findings of this study contribute to the field of assistive robotics by confirming that EEG-based measurements, when combined with appropriate machine learning models, can serve as robust inputs for prosthesis control systems.

Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) plays an important role in industry; however, due to its uncontrolled accumulation in the environment, the methods for its utilization are of high demand. Herein we wish to report an approach for the utilization of PVC via its use as a carrier for some azole-based drugs, such as 2-mercaptobenzothiazole (multi-activity drug), 4-oxo-1,4-dihydropyrazolo[5,1-c]-1,2,4-triazine-3,8-dicarboxylic acid diethyl ester (antidiabetic drug) and 5-methyl-6-nitro-7-oxo-1,2,4-triazolo[1,5-a]pyrimidinide (antiviral drug). The abovementioned approach involves the reaction between PVC and potassium or sodium salts of these azole-based drugs either in solution or under ball-milling conditions. The as-obtained PVCs modified with azole-based drugs were isolated for the first time and characterized by means of 1H NMR-spectroscopy as well as gel-permeation chromatography (GPC).

In this study, the steady 2D flow of micropolar fluid via a vertical surface is taken into account. The magnetohydrodynamics applied normally to the flow direction at a vertical surface in the presence of temperature-dependent attributes. The effect of the chemical reaction under the generalized Fourier–Fick law is considered to investigate the heat transference rate at the vertical sheet. Under the flow assumptions, the boundary layer approximations were applied to the nonlinear differential equations and partial differential equations were obtained. The use of similarity modifications allows for a reduction in the number of partial differential equations. The resulting ordinary differential equations are then resolved numerically using a technique known as the homotopy analysis method. The results reveal that microparticle suspensions have a significant impact on the flowing domain when varied fluid characteristics are utilized. The effect of potential factors on flow, micro-rotation velocities, temperature, drag force factor, and heat transport rate is investigated. The obtained results show that the velocity profile and micropolar function increase for larger values of micropolar parameters. Drag force effects are also seen, and required outcomes are observed to be in outstanding accord with the available literature. Significant results of this work were toward the velocity function, which gets reduced with increasing magnetic field parameter values, but the velocity function enhances for higher values of β\beta and λ\lambda . On temperature distribution, it decreased for higher values of ϵ1{{\epsilon }}_{1} and temperature profile declines due to higher values of Pr\text{Pr}, γ2{\gamma }_{2} and γ1{\gamma }_{1} or both cases of δ>0\delta \gt 0 and δ

Objective In developing countries, malnutrition is a noteworthy concern related to the well-being of people, and this study aimed to determine the factors that affect malnutrition among children below 5 years in Ghana.Design The study used a secondary data source, specifically the Ghanaian Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey Six (MICS 6), which was conducted by the Ghana Statistical Service in 2017–2018. The MICS data are hierarchical, as children are categorised within households, and households are further grouped within a higher cluster, violating the independence assumption that must be addressed in the analyses. This study used a Bayesian multilevel ordinal logistic regression to model, identify and analyse the factors linked to child malnutrition in Ghana.Setting The setting of the study was the household level across the previous 10 administrative regions in Ghana.Participants Data for 8875 children under 5 years were used for the study. The data were gathered from households in all 10 administrative regions of Ghana using a sampling procedure consisting of stratification and random selection to ensure national representation.Results The results showed that the Northern Region of Ghana had the highest occurrence rate of severe and moderate malnutrition, and factors such as the count of children’s books or picture books, whether the child experienced fever in the last 2 weeks, age and sex of the child, and the child’s household wealth index quintile were strongly linked to malnutrition among Ghanaian children.Conclusion These findings underscore the intricate interplay of factors contributing to child nutrition in Ghana and suggest that addressing malnutrition necessitates a comprehensive approach that considers factors such as access to healthcare and reading materials, household wealth, and other social and environmental factors.

Keterangan saksi merupakan salah satu alat bukti yang sah dan sangat penting dalam setiap perkara pidana. Pentingnya hal tersebut dapat dilihat dari banyaknya kasus yang tidak dapat diselesaikan karena kurangnya alat bukti, terutama keterangan saksi. Ancaman kekerasan dan intimidasi yang sering diterima oleh saksi dan korban menjadi alasan utama mengapa banyak dari mereka yang tidak mau terlibat langsung dalam memberikan keterangan atas tindak pidana yang terjadi. Penelitian ini menggunakan metode yuridis empiris dengan teknik pengumpulan data melalui wawancara dan studi kepustakaan. Penelitian ini menyimpulkan bahwa implementasi kebijakan perlindungan saksi dan korban diawali dengan pemberlakuan Undang-Undang Nomor 31 Tahun 2014 tentang Perlindungan Saksi dan Korban. Dalam implementasinya, kebijakan perlindungan saksi dan korban di Indonesia didasarkan pada konsep perlindungan hukum terhadap saksi di Amerika Serikat sebagai model acuan. Meskipun telah ada regulasi yang mengatur tata cara pengajuan perlindungan saksi dan korban, namun masih terdapat beberapa kendala dalam perlindungan saksi dan korban. Beberapa kendala tersebut antara lain adalah posisi Lembaga Perlindungan Saksi dan Korban (LPSK) yang masih berpusat di ibu kota, sehingga akses dan pelayanan terhadap saksi dan korban di daerah terkadang kurang maksimal. Translated with DeepL.com (free version)Witness statement is one of the legal evidence and is very important in every criminal case. Its importance can be seen from the number of cases that cannot be resolved due to lack of evidence, especially witness statement. Threats of violence and intimidation that are often received by witnesses and victims are the main reasons why many of them do not want to be directly involved in providing testimony on criminal acts that occur. This research uses empirical juridicial method with data collection techniques through interviews and literature studies. The research concluded that the implementation of witness and victim protection policy begins with the implementation of Law No. 31/2014 on Witness and Victim Protection. In its implementation, witness and victim protection policy in Indonesia is based on the concept of legal protection of witnesses in the United States as a model of reference. Although there are regulations governing the procedures for applying for witness and victim protection, there are still several obstacles to witness and victim protection. Some of these obstacles include the position of the Witness and Victim Protection Agency (LPSK) which is still centered in the capital city, so that access and services for witnesses and victims in the regions are sometimes less than optimal.

Abstract Millimeter wave (mm-Wave) wireless communication systems require high gain antennas to overcome path loss effects and thereby enhance system coverage. This paper presents the design and analysis of an antenna array for high gain performance of future mm-wave 5G communication systems. The proposed antenna is based on planar microstrip technology and fabricated on 0.254 mm thick dielectric substrate (Rogers-5880) having a relative permittivity of 2.2 and loss tangent of 0.0009. The single radiating element used to construct the antenna array is a microstrip patch that has a configuration resembling a two-pronged fork. The single radiator has a realized gain of 7.6 dBi. To achieve the gain required by 5G base stations, a 64-element array antenna design is proposed which has a bore side gain of 21.2 dBi at 37.2 GHz. The 8 × 8, 8 × 16, and 8 × 32 antenna array designs described here were simulated and optimized using CST Microwave Studio, which is a 3D full-wave electromagnetic solver. The overall characteristics of the array in terms of reflection-coefficient and radiation patterns makes the proposed design suitable for mm-Wave 5G and other communication systems.

طرح العلامة محمد مهدي الآصفي افكار تجديدية و ابداعية في مجالات مختلفة علمية و فكرة اصيلة و هو ابدع فيها و من هذه العلوم الإسلامية الحوزوية، كالتفسير وعلوم القرآن وعلم الفقه ومستجداته وعلم أصول الفقه والسلوك وعلم الاخلاق واثارهما في تربية الفرد والمجتمع، والعلوم الاسلامية الانسانية كعلم التاريخ وفلسفته، وعلم السياسة، وعلم الاجتماع والتربية وقد مزج العلامة الآصفي في طرحه الفكري وبيانه العلمي بين منهجين: المنهج الحوزوي المعتمد على التحليل والتدبر والتأمل العميقين، والفهم الدقيق والمنهج الاكاديمي في التنظير للعلوم الاسلامية الانسانية والمعارف العلمية الجديدة، و زاوج بين هذا وذاك فكانت الثمار والنتائج كبيرة، كما ان ملكاته العلمية مكنته من الحصول على درجة الاجتهاد، في المجال الحوزوي وكذلك شهادة الماجستير في العلوم الاكاديمية ولم تختصر ابداعاته على الفكرة بل تعدتها الى المنهج والاسلوب، اما المنهج فتميز منهج العلامة بالتتبع الواسع والاحاطة الكاملة بالفكرة وكذلك التعمق الكبيرو التأمل الطويل فيها و الاستفادة من المنهج الحوزوي الدقيق والاكاديمي الناجح والمزج بينهما في استخلاص الفكرة الناجحة والاسلوب الشيق والمطلب الواضح و في هذا المقال نتناول مجالين مهمين طرحمها العلامة و ابدع فيهما و جدد و هما المجال الفقهي و المجال الاصولي و يختصر المقالة علي هذين المجالين

Studies on the length-weight relationship (LWR) are crucial for understanding the growth, health, and ecological dynamics of fish and cephalopod populations. This study investigates how weight varies relative to its length. There have been limited studies on LWR in cephalopods, especially in Malaysia. This research aimed to explore the size frequency, length-weight relationship and relative condition factor of Uroteuthis duvaucelii and Sepioteuthis lessoniana in Langkawi Island. The samples were caught using squid cast net with a mesh size of 1.0 to 1.5 inch. Linear regression analysis was used to established the LWR of the species. Maximum mantle length for U. duvaucelii was recorded to be 213 mm long, and 98 mm for S. lessoniana. The growth coefficient b values calculated for U. duvaucelii and S. lessoniana were 2.068 and 2.3839, respectively, indicating negative allometric growth in this region. The mean relative condition factor (Kn) obtained for U. duvaucelii and S. lessoniana was similar, approximately 1.0 ± 0.1 suggesting favorable life conditions. The findings from this study are valuable in managing and conserving these species in Langkawi Island, Kedah.

This study aims to identify the role of co-teachers and supervisors of learning tools development toward the success of field practice students of professional education teachers at the middle and high school levels. The population in this study were all students of the Middle and High School Level of Professional Education Teacher Class of 2022, Faculty of Teacher Training and Education, University of Mataram. The sample used was students of Professional Education Teachers at the Middle and High School level, including English, Mathematics, and Civics majors, which were taken using a proportional random sampling technique. The variables consisted of the independent variables, which are the effectiveness of assistant teachers (X1) and supervisors (X2) in the development of learning tools, as well as the dependent variable, which is the success of the Field Practice of Middle and High School Teacher Professional Education Students (Y). Thus, the results show that the role of the development of learning tools by assistant teachers and supervisors in the success of Field Experience Practice for Middle School Teacher Professional Education students proved to be effective, with 51.7% for the English Department, 48.7% for the Mathematics Department, and 53.9% for the Civics Department.

تهدف الدراسة إلى تحليل واقع التوزيع المكاني للمواقع السياحية الدينية والعوامل المحددة لها في مدينتي النجف وكربلاء المقدستين, إذ تُعد المدينتين من ابرز المدن الدينية في العراق ، فهي تمثل حاضرة عمرانية ودينية مهمة, نظراً لما تمتلكه من مقومات سياحية, ولا سيما مقومات السياحة الدينية متمثلة بمرقد الإمام علي (u)، بالإضافة الى مراقد الأولياء والصالحين في مدينة النجف، ومرقدي الإمامين الحسين والعباس(u), ومراقد الأولياء الصالحين في مدينة كربلاء, وهذه المزايا انعكست على حياة المسلمين مما جعل عملية توافد السائحين في زيادة مستمرة

In this work, we have successfully fabricated Sr-doped porous LaFeO3 samples via sol–gel method. The results reveal that Sr2+ cation is effectively doped into LaFeO3 crystal lattice substituting La3+ cation. The visible light catalytic performance of the materials was evaluated by the degradation of 2,4-dichlorophenol (2,4-DCP) and Rhodamine B (RhB). The amount-optimized Sr-doped porous LaFeO3 sample exhibited outstanding visible-light catalytic performance for the degradation of the model pollutants compared to the porous LaFeO3 alone. The enhanced performance was accredited to the enlarged surface area, absorption extension via the surface states of the introduced Sr2+ below the conduction band bottom of LaFeO3, and promoted charge carrier’s separation as confirmed by various experiments. Experiments of radical trapping reveal that •OH species are dominant intermediate oxidants involved in the oxidation of 2,4-DCP and RhB over the optimized sample. This research will provide new routes for environmental remediation based on the LaFeO3 semiconductor.

يتجه هذا البحث إلى تقديم تحليل لواقع النشاط السياحي في محافظتي النجف وبابل، وتم اختيار عام (2018) كأخر سنة، أمكن الحصول على بياناتها كاملة من الجهات المختصة، حيث سنستعرض المؤشرات الإجمالية لنشاط الفنادق ومجمعات الإيواء السياحي في المحافظتين من خلال (عدد العاملين، الأجور والمزايا، الإيرادات، المصروفات) إذ سيتم استخراج صافي الأرباح لكلتا المحافظتين من القطاع السياحي، وسيتم تحديد مدى فاعلية النشاط السياحي في منطقة الدراسة ووجه المقارنة فيما بينهما باستخدام عدة مؤشرات للكفاءة الاقتصادية ومنها مؤشر (وحدة الأجر، عائد رأس المال، العدالة الاجتماعية، النشاط الاقتصادي، كفاءة الإدارة السياحية)، والذي سيساعدنا في معرفة أي المحافظتين أكثر كفاءة اقتصادياً وسياحياً.

Abstract Background Heavy metals are well documented to induce reproductive toxicity. This study was designed to investigate the role of vitamin E and quercetin on reproductive toxicity mediated by lead acetate in male Wistar rats. Thirty male adult Wistar rats were grouped into six (n = 5 per group) as follows: Group 1 (Control); Group 2 and 3 were administered with 100 mg/kg vitamin E and quercetin, respectively; Group 4 was administered with 30 mg/kg lead acetate; Groups 5 and 6 received lead acetate with vitamin E and lead acetate with quercetin, respectively. Results Lead acetate significantly increased (p

In this study, we extend Codeço’s classical SI-B epidemic and endemic model from a deterministic framework into a stochastic framework. Then, we formulated it as a stochastic differential equation for the number of infectious individuals It under the role of the aquatic environment. We also proved that this stochastic differential equation (SDE) exists and is unique. The reproduction number, R0, was derived for the deterministic model, and qualitative features such as the positivity and invariant region of the solution, the two equilibrium points (disease-free and endemic equilibrium), and stabilities were studied to ensure the biological meaningfulness of the model. Numerical simulations were also carried out for the stochastic differential equation (SDE) model by utilizing the Euler-Maruyama numerical method. The method was used to simulate the sample path of the SI-B stochastic differential equation for the number of infectious individuals It, and the findings showed that the sample path or trajectory of the stochastic differential equation for the number of infectious individuals It is continuous but not differentiable and that the SI-B stochastic differential equation model for the number of infectious individuals It fluctuates inside the solution of the SI-B ordinary differential equation model. Another significant feature of our proposed SDE model is its simplicity.

Steel plate shear walls (SPSWs) are a robust lateral load resistance structure because of their high ductility and efficient energy dissipation when subjected to seismic loads. This research investigates the seismic performance of an innovative infill web strip (IWS-SPSW) and a typical unstiffened steel plate shear wall (USPSW). As a result, two 1:3 scale specimens of an IWS-SPSW and USPSW with a single story and a single bay were built and subjected to a cyclic lateral loading methodology. In the prototype, semi-rigid end-plate connectors for the beam-to-column connections were utilized. The test result of IWS-SPSW showed outstanding ductility and shear load-bearing capacity without cracks or damage. Additionally, the IWS-SPSW exhibited strong energy dissipation without substantial beam-column connection distortion. USPSW showed excellent shear load-bearing capacity, low ductility, extensive infill plate corner tearing, and large infill web plate cracks. The FE models were developed and verified against experimental data. It has been shown that the infill web strips can affect the high performance and overall energy dissipation of an SPSW system. In addition, a parametric study was conducted to investigate the infill web strip material properties, such as steel strength and thickness, that can significantly enhance the system’s seismic performances.

L-shaped concrete-filled steel tubular (CFST) columns represent a valuable structural element with an L-shaped cross-section, primarily employed in the corner columns of framed structures. These columns offer several advantages, including space efficiency by avoiding column protrusion, robust mechanical properties, high load-bearing capacity, ductility, and efficient utilization of internal building space. This article presents the outcomes of an experimental investigation into the seismic behavior of L-shaped CFST columns. The experimental study investigated the seismic performance of nine L-shaped CFST columns while considering different cross-sectional dimensions, their combinations, and varying levels of confinement. The results obtained from this study indicate that L-shaped CFST columns possess favorable seismic performance characteristics. However, there exists the potential for significant improvement by modifying certain parameters. Enhancements in seismic performance were observed when increasing the cross-sectional dimensions of the column and the length of its legs. The use of steel tubes and the provision of adequate confinement also demonstrated notable benefits. Moreover, the better arrangement of steel tubes within the column positively influenced seismic performance. These findings can potentially inform and enhance the design of L-shaped CFST columns, rendering them more resilient to seismic forces.

As social work instructors, we have observed students increasingly wanting to engage in critical conversations about mandated reporting. Few resources are available to support instructors in facilitating these conversations. This teaching note offers content and lesson plans for exploring mandated reporting as a moral duty, a harm, an ethical dilemma, and a legal mandate in the classroom. Together, these pedagogical tools can help instructors embrace nuance as a practice for teaching about mandated reporting.

Fire disaster preparedness (FDP) is of paramount importance in preventing the globe’s most prevalent disaster. This has been a big issue for developing nations. The study investigated FDP among residents in a high-income community of a part in Southwestern Nigeria. The aim of the study was to identify the preparedness of residents regarding fire disasters in residential buildings in Parakin, Ife Central Local Government Area of Osun State, Nigeria. To achieve the objectives, a quantitative study was carried out, primary data was sourced from structured, self-administered questionnaires. 80 buildings was purposively selected for the study. Affiliated literature was reviewed. Descriptive statistical tools such as frequency distribution and percentage was used in analysing the data. Chi-square tests at a significance level of 0.05 was done. SPSS version 23.0 was used in analysing all the data. Findings revealed that FDP is very low in the study area as respondents have very little or no firefighting facilities or gadgets, awareness, training about FDP. Chi-square tests revealed that there was no statistical significance between age of respondents and preparedness, ownership of home and preparedness, education and preparedness and sex and preparedness. It was established that preparedness for fire is very low. The study, however, recommended the provision of active and passive fire protection facilities in buildings, proper training of building users on FDP, enabling laws are also needed to promote the installation of fire protection, prevention, detection and suppression.

Karun Neupane,1 Ahsan Wahab,2 Adeel Masood,3 Tehniat Faraz,4 Saman Bahram,5 Hamid Ehsan,6 Abdul Hannan,7 Faiz Anwer8 1Department of Internal Medicine, Manipal College of Medical Sciences, Pokhara, Gandaki, Nepal; 2Department of Internal Medicine, Baptist Medical Center South/University of Alabama at Birmingham, Montgomery, AL, USA; 3Department of Internal Medicine, Tidal Health Peninsula Regional, Salisbury, MD, USA; 4Department of Biochemistry, Dow University of Health Sciences, Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan; 5Department of Internal Medicine, Dow University of Health Sciences, Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan; 6Department of Biomedic Sciences/Biohazardous Threat Agents & Emerging Infectious Diseases, Georgetown University, Washington, DC, USA; 7Department of Hematology/Oncology, Simmons Cancer Institute at Southern Illinois University School of Medicine, Springfield, IL, USA; 8Department of Hematology/Oncology, Cleveland Clinic Taussig Cancer Institute, Cleveland, OH, USACorrespondence: Karun NeupaneDepartment of Internal Medicine, Manipal College of Medical Sciences, Phulbari, Pokhara, Gandaki, 33700, NepalEmail krn.neupane49@gmail.comAbstract: Treatment options are limited for multiple myeloma patients who have developed four/five drug-refractory disease. Selinexor (Sel) and belantamab mafodotin (belamaf) were recently approved by the US FDA for treatment of RRMM. The toxicity profile of these drugs is a concern since these agents are used in patients who have already undergone multiple lines of treatment. In this review, we discuss the toxicity profile and strategies for the management of toxicities of Sel and belamaf for the treatment of RRMM. We conducted a comprehensive literature search on PubMed, Embase, Cochrane, and Clinicaltrials.gov using the terms “selinexor”, “belantamab”, “belamaf”, and “multiple myeloma” without applying any limitations based on the date of the study, language, or country of origin. The most common hematological toxicity associated with these two drugs is thrombocytopenia. Cytopenias, constitutional symptoms, gastrointestinal effects, and hyponatremia are the major toxicities of Sel. Keratopathy and anemia are the major toxicities of belamaf. Treatment modifications and dose interruption are usually needed when side effects are more than grade II. As these are newer drugs with limited data, continuous surveillance and monitoring are warranted during the treatment course with early mitigation strategies.Keywords: hematological malignancy, treatment, safety, ocular toxicity, relapsed and refractory multiple myeloma

Speech emotion recognition (SER) is a challenging task in human–computer interaction (HCI) systems. One of the key challenges in speech emotion recognition is to extract the emotional features effectively from a speech utterance. Despite the promising results of recent studies, they generally do not leverage advanced fusion algorithms for the generation of effective representations of emotional features in speech utterances. To address this problem, we describe the fusion of spatial and temporal feature representations of speech emotion by parallelizing convolutional neural networks (CNNs) and a Transformer encoder for SER. We stack two parallel CNNs for spatial feature representation in parallel to a Transformer encoder for temporal feature representation, thereby simultaneously expanding the filter depth and reducing the feature map with an expressive hierarchical feature representation at a lower computational cost. We use the RAVDESS dataset to recognize eight different speech emotions. We augment and intensify the variations in the dataset to minimize model overfitting. Additive White Gaussian Noise (AWGN) is used to augment the RAVDESS dataset. With the spatial and sequential feature representations of CNNs and the Transformer, the SER model achieves 82.31% accuracy for eight emotions on a hold-out dataset. In addition, the SER system is evaluated with the IEMOCAP dataset and achieves 79.42% recognition accuracy for five emotions. Experimental results on the RAVDESS and IEMOCAP datasets show the success of the presented SER system and demonstrate an absolute performance improvement over the state-of-the-art (SOTA) models.

This study examines the relationship between the financial socialization agents, attitude toward money, and financial literacy with the mediating role of financial self-efficacy and the moderating role of mindfulness. The self-administered questionnaire was used for data collection from higher education institutions using the convenience sampling method because the sampling frame was not available. The data were tested using partial least square structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) in smart PLS. The results indicated a positive relationship between financial self-efficacy, financial socialization agents, attitude toward money, mindfulness, and financial literacy. The finding of mediation analysis suggests the significant mediation effect of financial self-efficacy between attitude toward money and financial social agents with financial literacy. The mediation of financial self-efficacy between attitude toward money and financial literacy has the greatest impact which indicates that students with positive attitude and self-efficacy create high financial literacy. Whereas mindfulness positively moderates the relation of attitude toward money and financial literacy and negatively moderates the relation of financial self-efficacy and financial literacy while mindfulness does not moderate the relation of financial socialization agents and financial literacy. The findings of this research are of use to different stakeholders who are users or regulators of financial institutions because enhancing financial literacy has become a priority.

Fruits with antioxidant enrichment can be an economically affordable supplement for mitigating oxidative damage prone spermatozoa membrane pathologies. Computer-assisted sperm analyzer and oxidative status were utilized to evaluate the impact of watermelon (Citrullus lanatus) fortification of dextrose saline as diluent for rooster semen and fertility response of hens inseminated. Watermelon juice and dextrose saline were used to formulate diluent of 7 treatments consisting of unextended semen (positive control), 10%, 20%, 30%, 40%, 50% and only dextrose saline (negative control) designated as Treatments 1–7. Pooled semen was obtained from fertile roosters and equilibrated with diluents at ratio 1:2 in the various treatments and were evaluated using computer software coupled microscope and seminal oxidative status assay. 168 laying hens randomly divided into 7 treatment of 8 replicates and 3 hen per replicate. Hen were everted, and semen (2 × 108 Spermatozoa) deposited intra-vagina and eggs collected over 8 weeks to assess fertility and hatchability of eggs laid. The result obtained revealed that watermelon-dextrose saline rooster semen diluent enhanced progressive motility, sperm kinetics and lowered non-progressive motility in T2–T6 compared to T7 over the 3 hours of evaluation. Watermelon addition to rooster semen diluent enhance the antioxidant capacity of rooster semen and lowered lipid peroxide generation. The percentage fertility was highest in T3 (81.01%) and T4 (81.24%) with lowest value obtained in T7 (73.46%). The hatchability of eggs set of hens inseminated with undiluted semen (71.46%) was lower than values for hens inseminated with watermelon inclusive extended semen (75.71%–80.39%). The optimal inclusion of 30%–40% watermelon in dextrose saline diluent enhance rooster semen kinetics, seminal oxidative stability and egg fertility.

This paper presents a metasurface based multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) antenna with a wideband operation for millimeter-wave 5G communication systems. The antenna system consists of four elements placed with a 90 degree shift in order to achieve a compact MIMO system while a $2\times 2$ non-uniform metasurface (total four elements) is placed at the back of the MIMO configuration to improve the radiation characteristics of it. The overall size of the MIMO antenna is $24\times 24$ mm2 while the operational bandwidth of the proposed antenna system ranges from 23.5-29.4 GHz. The peak gain achieved by the proposed MIMO antenna is almost 7dB which is further improved up to 10.44 dB by employing a $2\times 2$ metasurface. The total efficiency is also observed more than 80% across the operating band. Apart from this, the MIMO performance metrics such as envelope correlation coefficient (ECC), diversity gain (DG), and channel capacity loss (CCL) are analyzed which demonstrate good characteristics. All the simulations of the proposed design are carried out in computer simulation technology (CST) software, and measured results reveal good agreement with the simulated one which make it a potential contender for the upcoming 5G communication systems.

Hamid Ehsan,1 Ahsan Wahab,2 Muhammad Ammar Shafqat,3 Muhammad Khawar Sana,4 Farhan Khalid,4 Syed Maaz Abdullah,4 Ali Jaan,4 Muhammad M Sheikh,5 Ahmad Muneeb,5 Sajid Ehsan,6 Ali Younas Khan,7 Raheel Iftikhar,8 Faiz Anwer9 1Biohazardous Threat Agents and Emerging Infectious Diseases, Georgetown University, Washington, DC, USA; 2University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA; 3Department of Internal Medicine, Pakistan Kidney and Liver Institute and Research Center, Lahore, Pakistan; 4Department of Internal Medicine, King Edward Medical University, Lahore, Pakistan; 5Department of Internal Medicine, Faisalabad Medical University, Faisalabad, Pakistan; 6Department of Internal Medicine, Anne Arundel Medical Center, Annapolis, MD, USA; 7Department of Internal Medicine, St. Joseph Mercy Hospital, Oakland, Pontiac, MI, USA; 8Department of Hematology/Oncology, Armed Forces Bone Marrow Transplant Center/NIBMT, Rawalpindi, Pakistan; 9Department of Hematology/Oncology, Cleveland Clinic, Taussig Cancer Center, Hematology-Oncology, BMT, Cleveland, OH, USACorrespondence: Hamid EhsanMD, FACP MUMH, Department of Medicine, 201 E. University Parkway, Baltimore 21218, USATel +19172875423Fax +14105542184Email he150@georgeotown.eduAbstract: The blood transfusion (BT) system in Pakistan is fragmented, demand-driven and depends on weakly regulated transfusion practices. There is a considerable possibility that transfusion-transmissible infections (TTIs) are contributing to the current epidemic of hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) (affecting 7.4% of the general population) in the country. To study this issue, we conducted a systematic review to identify articles related to TTIs and transfusion safety in Pakistan from January 1, 2010 to January 31, 2020. A review of 33 articles met the final criteria for qualitative synthesis. Analysis of these studies showed a cumulative frequency of HBV 2.04%, HCV 2.44%, HIV 0.038%, syphilis 1.1% and malaria 0.11%. The frequency of coinfections among blood donors varied from 0.0099% to 0.35%. The highest number of coinfections were HCV and syphilis, followed by HCV and HBV infections. Syphilis and malaria were tested in only 38% and 46% of all the blood donations in one study. The rate of voluntary non-remunerated donations (VNRDs) was less than 13%, and male donors were 95% to 100% in these studies. There was a significant difference in the frequency of HBV and HCV in VNRDs (0.48%) as compared to replacement donors (RDs) (4.15%). In short, this review shows a high frequency of TTIs, especially HBV, HCV and syphilis in the blood donor population in Pakistan. There is a high dependency on RDs, minimal use of healthy voluntary blood donation practices, inadequate screening of high-risk donors, repeated collections of the blood from RDs, poor quality of screening methods and limited knowledge of donor health. Without standardized safe transfusion practices, there will be an ongoing increase in transmission of TTIs, especially HBV, HCV, syphilis, and HIV leading to a significant adverse public health impact.Keywords: transfusion-transmitted infections, hepatitis B, hepatitis C, HIV, syphilis, malaria

Asma Iqbal,1 Muhammad Zaman,1,2 Muhammad Wahab Amjad,3 Sharjeel Adnan,1 Maria Abdul Ghafoor Raja,3 Syed Farhan Haider Rizvi,1 Mian Waqar Mustafa,2 Umer Farooq,2 Ghulam Abbas,4 Shahid Shah4 1Faculty of Pharmacy, The University of Lahore, Lahore, Pakistan; 2Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Central Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan; 3Faculty of Pharmacy, Northern Border University Rafha, Rafha, Saudi Arabia; 4Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Government College University Faisalabad, Faisalabad, PakistanCorrespondence: Muhammad ZamanFaculty of Pharmacy, University of Central Punjab, Lahore, PakistanTel +92 3006095928Email m.zaman2157@gmail.comIntroduction: Organ transplantation is a critically important procedure, which requires immune modulation by using immunosuppressants. Development of nanoparticles is an emerging and beneficial engineering process to increase the dissolution rate of poorly soluble immunosuppressants as well as to provide controlled release for better therapeutic outcomes.Method: Currently, the nanoprecipitation method was employed to fabricate β-cyclodextrin (βCD) facilitated mycophenolate mofetil (MMF)-loaded solid lipid nanoparticles (SLNPs). The prime objectives of the study included, improvement of the dissolution profile of poorly aqueous soluble drug and controlled release from the SLNs to provide steady state drug concentration. Drug release from the prepared SLNs was assessed in two different media, ie, acidic buffer at pH 1.2 and phosphate buffer at pH 7.2 using USP dissolution apparatus for 12 h, followed by the evaluation of drug release mechanism and pattern by applying kinetic models.Results: Justifiably, in acidic medium, the release was found to be 12% more (68%) in comparison to that in basic medium (56%). However, in both dissolution media, drug release was independent of initial concentration (R2> 0.95) with non-Fickian type of diffusion mechanism. The outcomes of the study have exhibited that prepared formulations were in nanosized range (80– 170 nm) with a net charge of ± 23 charge on their surface. They possessed fairly uniform surface with acceptable polydispersity index (0.23± 0.09). Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis illustrated that the nanoparticles had uniform particle size and shape.Discussion: The findings show potential applications of the nanoparticles and the method for the development of SLNPs in controlled release of MMF for better therapeutic outcomes. Conclusively, the prepared SLNPs were well designed in nanosized ranges and justifying the once daily controlled release formulation dose of MMF to enhance patient compliance.Keywords: mycophenolate mofetil, β-cyclodextrin, stearic acid, nanoparticles, controlled release, nanoprecipitation method

Background and objective: Plant-based fermented foods containing favorable micro-organisms have been used to improve diets. Starter microorganisms may produce toxic compounds that are hazardous to consumers. Brine shrimp lethality test is a convenient and appropriate assay to check toxicity of samples. The aim of this study was to investigate toxicity of pasteurized coconut beverages at 70°C, 80°C and 90°C for 25, 15 and 5 min, respectively, and unpasteurized coconut beverages fermented by Lactococcus lactis against Artemia salina nauplii. Material and methods: After extraction of coconut beverages fermented by Lactococcus lactis using methanol, cytotoxicity was assessed using (lethality concentration). Newly 10 hatched Artemia salina nauplii were transferred into various concentrations (in replicates) of the fermented sample extracts. After 24 h, survived Artemia salina nauplii were counted and lethality concentration was assessed. The brine shrimp lethality test was used to investigate sample toxicity at various doses from 1 to 500 µg ml-1 at various time intervals. Results and conclusion: The fermented extracts included low larvicidal potential against Artemia salina nauplii. Correlations were reported between the extract doses and percentage mortality of nauplli brine shrimp. The pasteurized fermented extracts were less toxic and cheaper. Interestingly, starter culture, fermentation, thermal treatment and time contributed to breaking down of hydrolysable tannins and larger polyphenolic compounds, producing smaller compounds with lower toxicity responses in brine shrimp lethality test. The four probiotics beverage extracts included non-cytotoxic activity as presented by low mortalities in brine shrimp lethality test. In conclusion, these extracts can be used to justify probiotic production of beverages. Conflict of interest: The authors declare no conflict of interest.

This research assessed community involvement in infrastructure development in Ogun State's Yewa South Local Government Area. For countries with poor economies, providing public infrastructure is a difficult endeavour due to the enormous resources needed. The Federal Government of Nigeria has been tackling the slow pace of infrastructural development in the country. Nigeria's inability to adequately manage its resources has resulted in numerous setbacks in the development and management of the country's public infrastructure. A systematic random sampling was adopted for the study and a total number of 195 people were interviewed, and from the result it was established that there is a positive relationship between community participation, sustainability, access and utilisation of public infrastructure. Infrastructural development has a strong relationship to economical growth and the well-being of the poor in any developing society. Similarly, involving the community in infrastructure planning aids in mobilizing sufficient resources from the federal government and the community for the implementation of essential projects. Community participation also help to ensure sustainability of the projects implemented. It was concluded that mass orientation or drive in community participation, and effective resource management must be intensified in order to enhance rapid growth in development of public infrastructure.

يهدف البحث الى معرفة واقع شبكة النقل في مدينة الهندية من خلال طرح المشكلات ، ووضع الحلول المناسبة ، حيث ان أهم ما يميز مدينة الهندية ،هو موقعها الذي يربط بين عدة محافظات وهي مركز مدينة كربلاء ومركز مدينة الحلة، وكذلك محافظة النجف الاشرف ، فبالتالي أدى الى زيادة الحركة المرورية في المدينة ، وبالأخص في أيام المناسبات الدينية لقربها من مدينة كربلاء المقدسة التي تْعد من أهم المراكز الدينية ، لقد تناول البحث خصائص شبكة الشوارع في مدينة الهندية فصنفت الشوارع الى حسب أصنافها وأنماطها ووظيفتها حيث افتقرت المدينة لكثافة الشوارع الرئيسة، واقتصرت على طريق واحد مما أدى الى حصول ضغط عليه ،و ظهرت عدة أنماط في المدينة وكان النمط العضوي سائد في الأحياء القديمة ،أما النمط الشبكي كان الأكبر نسبة من بين الأنماط فظهر في الأحياء التي خضعت الى تخطيط مسبق من الجهات المسؤولة وظهرت الوظيفة الصناعية والتجارية والوظيفة السكنية في اغلب شوارع المدينة

The use of phosphogypsum to prepare phosphorus building gypsum (PBG) is of great value to the resource utilization of phosphogypsum. In this study, PBG was ball-milled to obtain phosphorus building gypsum with good performance, which can meet the requirements of the Chinese standards for first-class building gypsum. Meanwhile, the changes of net slurry physical properties, mechanical properties, and particle size parameters of PBG under different treatment times were analyzed. With the increase of ball milling time, the particle size of PBG decreased rapidly and then stabilized, and the specific surface area gradually increased and then started to rise back. Ball milling can significantly reduce the standard consistency water requirement of phosphogypsum, resulting in a shorter setting time and higher strength of phosphogypsum. In the fixed water consumption test, the effect of ball milling time on the performance of phosphogypsum was small. Compared with sieving, washing, aging, and other means of PBG treatment, ball milling has the advantages of simplicity, environmental protection, and low cost, and it has some practical significance in production.

The efficacy of invermection in treatment of an outbreak of mange Moritanin and local adults caused by Sarcoptes Scabiei Var Carprae mites was studied Invermection was given S/C at a dose rate 0.2 mg/kg. body weight twice at an interval of 14 days for 20 infested Moritanin adults and 20 local adults goats. Invermection was 100% effective, and all goats were in good condition after treatment.

In this study, novel cross-shaped concrete-filled steel tube (CFST) and steel tube (ST) columns were developed. CFST columns have a high load-carrying capacity and excellent performance under seismic conditions, and the construction process is fast. In order to investigate the axial load bearings and failure mechanisms, six specimens of CFST and ST columns were tested under the axial load. Three different forms of CFST were employed in this study; one was an ordinary cross-shaped CFST (OC-CFST), while the other two were executed with significant inner changes; namely, stiffeners cross-shaped CFST (SC-CFST), and multi-cell cross-shaped CFST (MC-CFST) filled with concrete. The other group has the same OC-ST, SC-ST, and MC-ST, but these test subjects were without filled concrete. Through discussion of the failure mechanism, load displacement and load strain correlations are determined. The effects of parameters on ultimate resistance, failure pattern, and ductility index were studied. The axial load-carrying performance of the cross-shaped CFST columns was 75–80% better than that of ST columns; and each ST column displayed cooperative behavior. The finite element model (FEM) was simulated, and the outcomes of the experiments were used to validate it. The load–displacement relationships were established using parametric analysis. Existing design standards were used to calculate CFST column loading capacity. Finally, mathematical formulas were improvised to determine the ultimate load of the cross-shaped CFST column.

Six groups of austenitic 022Cr19Ni10 stainless steel bending specimens with three types of cross-sectional forms were used to study the impact of V-stiffeners on the failure mode and flexural behavior of stainless steel lipped channel beams. These cross-sectional forms included V-stiffeners in the web compression zone at 1/3 height near the compressed flange and no V-stiffeners on the flange, V-stiffeners in the web compression zone at 1/3 height near the compressed flange and V-stiffeners in the middle of the compressed flange, and V-stiffeners on the web at 1/2 height and V-stiffeners in the middle of the compressed and tensioned flange. The findings show that the specimens without a V-stiffener on the flange and with a V-stiffener in the web compression zone at 1/3 height near the compressed flange have a lower ultimate bearing capacity as a result of local–distortional interaction buckling. The test specimen’s flexural bearing capacity will rise with an increase in web height under the same stiffening form and other fixed cross-sectional parameters. Furthermore, the additional V-stiffeners in the middle of the flange effectively lower the width-to-thickness ratio of the stainless steel specimen with a flange that has been V-stiffened, thus increasing the specimen’s bending bearing capacity by 13% and emphasizing the distortional buckling issue. Buckling first manifests in the compression flange and is caused by the stress evolution on the web of the bending specimen, which is constrained by the V-stiffeners. The specimen’s capacity to withstand bending loads can be improved more successfully through the use of V-stiffeners in the web compression zone at 1/3 height close to the compressed flange and V-stiffeners in the middle of the compressed flange. For the test data, a finite element simulation was established, and the results are generally consistent with the test results.

Load forecasting/prediction is a challenging task in the energy markets that require adequate attention in generating stable and reliable load demand to deal with energy management and planning strategies. Accurate load prediction is critical for electrical power systems operations, but nonlinear loads involve high volatility. Forecasting these kinds of complex load characteristics requires highly accurate forecasting devices. It is generally accomplished by constructing models on relative details, including weather and previous data on load demand. This study proposes six decomposition-based evolutionary neural networks for city-scale and building energy forecasting. These evolutionary neural networks have also been trained using historical load data, and weather records are already considered to have a significant effect on energy usage (for example, wind speed, precipitation, dry-dew point temperature, relative humidity, clouds fraction and mean sea level perception). The network structure of the model is built and based on error estimation, trend map, and appropriate method of measuring evolutionary neural networks efficiency. The model's hidden layers and neurons network structure is selected based on recent smart models to enhance its accuracy. Several measures were used to improve performance, such as seasonal smoothing changes, coarse-graining of the humidity ratio, load-oriented day-type classification monitoring, outlier removal, and complex climate information. Results show that used models have a very high fitting accuracy and low error rate for short, medium, and long-term forecasting/planning tasks. These models have the potential to reduce overfitting issues, thereby improving load forecasting efficiency. Further, proposed models may also use for forecasting solar and wind demand. The efficiency of the model compared to the existing two models. Forecast results show superiority and efficiency in short, medium and long-term energy forecasting and offer the ability to manage unbalanced utility loads.

Objective: To investigate the hepatic and reproductive toxicity of dichlorvos and lead acetate on male Wistar rats. Methods: Fifteen adult male Wistar rats (170-190 g) were randomly divided into three groups, with 5 rats in each group. Group 1 received 0.5 mL distilled water orally and served as the control group, while groups 2 and 3 were orally treated with 2 mg/kg body weight (b.w.) dichlorvos and 10 mg/kg b.w. lead acetate, respectively, for 55 days. Epididymal sperm, serum follicle stimulating hormone (FSH), luteinizing hormone (LH), testosterone concentrations, testicular 17 β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase activity (17β-HSD), androgen receptor expression, aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), testicular oxidant and antioxidant enzymes were evaluated with standard methods. Results: Sperm count, motility, morphology, FSH, LH, testosterone levels, 17β-HSD, androgen receptor expression, and catalase activity were significantly reduced in the dichlorvos and lead acetate treated groups as compared with the control group (P

The high surface area of mesoporous silica SBA-15 has been synthesized successfully by hydrothermal treatment with direct addition of PVA, triblock copolymer (P123) as a direct structure agent and tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS) as a precursor. The mesoporous silica SBA-15 have been characterized with nitrogen physisorption, scanning electron microscopy, Fourier transformed infrared spectroscopy, and x-ray diffraction. Measurement of nitrogen sorption indicated that with the addition of PVA, the surface area is increased but the pore volume and pore diameter is not significantly. The short time of hydrothermal treatment (20 h) and using x-ray diffraction, showed that the morphological structure of silica SBA-15 can be changed to a orthorhombic crystal system. The result of the FTIR and SEM-EDX characteristic indicated the functional groups and morphology of the SBA-15 with a narrow pore size distribution. The BET method has exhibited the largest surface area 1726 m2/g, pore volume 1.4 cm3/g, and pore diameter 3.2 nm. It can be suggested that the silica mesoporous SBA-15 will have potential application prospect in catalysis, storage, and adsorbent.