Use of agricultural bio-wastes to remove arsenic from contaminated water.

Arsenic (As) is a highly toxic metalloid. High As levels have been recorded in groundwater aquifers at a global scale. This study investigated As level in groundwater of District Vehari and assessed the potential of different agricultural by-products (sugarcane bagasse, cottonseed hulls, soybean hulls, corncobs and rice husk) to remove As from water. The study was carried out in two steps. In the first step, a total of 38 groundwater samples were obtained from Vehari. Groundwater samples were analyzed for total As contents and physicochemical parameters. Results indicated that As content ranged from below detection limit to 49 µg/L in the groundwater samples. The values of hazard quotient and cancer risk were up to 1.5 and 0.0004, respectively, which delineated severe risk of As poisoning. During the second step, six As-contaminated groundwater samples (total As contents: 49, 40, 29, 24, 18, 16 µg/L) were selected to remove As using agricultural by-products. Furthermore, four As solutions (200, 100, 50 and 25 µg/L) were prepared in the laboratory. Results revealed that corncobs and soybean hulls removed, respectively, 98% and 71% As from aqueous mediums after 120 min. Moreover, agricultural by-products were less effective in removing As from groundwater samples than synthetic solutions. The adsorption/removal capacity of by-products was lower at low initial As concentration compared to high initial levels, which needs further studies to explore the underlying mechanisms. Overall, the As removal efficiency of agriculture by-products differed significantly with respect to initial As level, contamination category, type of agricultural by-products and interaction duration. Therefore, these aspects need to be optimized before the possible use of an agricultural by-product as a potential biosorbent.

On Forgotten Topological Indices of Some Dendrimers Structure.

A series of previously conducted experiments pertaining to various chemicals and drugs uncover a natural linkage between the molecular structures and the bio-medical and pharmacological characteristics. The forgotten topological index computed for the molecular structures of various chemical compounds and drugs has proven significant in medical and pharmaceutical fields by predicting biological features of new chemical compounds and drugs. A topological index can be considered as the transformation of chemical structure into a real number. Dendrimers are highly-branched star-shaped macromolecules with nanometer-scale dimensions. Dendrimers are defined by three components: a central core, an interior dendritic structure (the branches), and an exterior surface with functional surface groups. In this paper, we determine forgotten topological indices of poly(propyl) ether imine, porphyrin, and zinc-porphyrin dendrimers.

A graph-theoretic approach to ring analysis: Dominant metric dimensions in zero-divisor graphs.

This article investigates the concept of dominant metric dimensions in zero divisor graphs (ZD-graphs) associated with rings. Consider a finite commutative ring with unity, denoted as R, where nonzero elements x and y are identified as zero divisors if their product results in zero (x.y=0). The set of zero divisors in ring R is referred to as L(R). To analyze various algebraic properties of R, a graph known as the zero-divisor graph is constructed using L(R). This manuscript establishes specific general bounds for the dominant metric dimension (Ddim) concerning the ZD-graph of R. To achieve this objective, we examine the zero divisor graphs for specific rings, such as the ring of Gaussian integers modulo m, denoted as Zm[i], the ring of integers modulo n, denoted as Zn, and some quotient polynomial rings. Our research unveils new insights into the structural similarities and differences among commutative rings sharing identical metric dimensions and dominant metric dimensions. Additionally, we present a general result outlining bounds for the dominant metric dimension expressed in terms of the maximum degree, girth, clique number, and diameter of the associated ZD-graphs. Through this exploration, we aim to provide a comprehensive framework for analyzing commutative rings and their associated zero divisor graphs, thereby advancing both theoretical knowledge and practical applications in diverse domains.

Voriconazole Cyclodextrin Based Polymeric Nanobeads for Enhanced Solubility and Activity: In Vitro/In Vivo and Molecular Simulation Approach.

Hydroxypropyl ß-cyclodextrin (HPßCD) based polymeric nanobeads containing voriconazole (VRC) were fabricated by free radical polymerization using N, N'-methylene bisacrylamide (MBA) as a cross-linker, 2-acrylamide-2-methylpropane sulfonic acid (AMPS) as monomer and ammonium persulfate (APS) as reaction promoter. Optimized formulation (CDN5) had a particle size of 320 nm with a zeta potential of -35.5 mV and 87% EE. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) depicted porous and non-spherical shaped beads. No evidence of chemical interaction was evident in FT-IR studies, whereas distinctive high-intensity VRC peaks were found superimposed in XRD. A stable polymeric network formation was evident in DSC studies owing to a lower breakdown in VRC loaded HPßCD in comparison to blank HPßCD. In vitro release studies showed 91 and 92% drug release for optimized formulation at pH 1.2 and 6.8, respectively, with first-order kinetics as the best-fit model and non-Fickian diffusion as the release mechanism. No evidence of toxicity was observed upon oral administration of HPßCD loaded VRC polymeric nanobeads owing to with cellular morphology of vital organs as observed in histopathology. Molecular docking indicates the amalgamation of the compounds highlighting the hydrophobic patching mediated by nanogel formulation. It can be concluded that the development of polymeric nanobeads can be a promising tool to enhance the solubility and efficacy of hydrophobic drugs such as VRC besides decreased toxicity and for effective management of fungal infections.

Tioconazole-Loaded Transethosomal Gel Using Box-Behnken Design for Topical Applications: In Vitro, In Vivo, and Molecular Docking Approaches.

Tioconazole (TCZ) is a broad-spectrum fungicidal BCS class II drug with reported activity against Candida albicans, dermatophytes, and certain Staphylococci bacteria. We report the use of TCZ-loaded transethosomes (TEs) to overcome the skin's barrier function. TCZ-loaded TEs were fabricated by using a cold method with slight modification. Box-Behnken composite design was utilized to investigate the effect of independent variables. The fabricated TEs were assessed with various physicochemical characterizations. The optimized formulation of TCZ-loaded TEs was incorporated into gel and evaluated for pH, conductivity, drug content, spreadability, rheology, in vitro permeation, ex vivo permeation, and in vitro and in vivo antifungal activity. The fabricated TCZ-loaded TEs had a % EE of 60.56 to 86.13, with particle sizes ranging from 219.1 to 757.1 nm. The SEM images showed spherically shaped vesicles. The % drug permeation was between 77.01 and 92.03. The kinetic analysis of all release profiles followed Higuchi's diffusion model. The FTIR, DSC, and XRD analysis showed no significant chemical interactions between the drug and excipients. A significantly higher antifungal activity was observed for TCZ-loaded transethosomal gel in comparison to the control. The in vivo antifungal study on albino rats indicated that TCZ-loaded transethosomal gel showed a comparable therapeutic effect in comparison to the market brand Canesten®. Molecular docking demonstrated that the TCZ in the TE composition was surrounded by hydrophobic excipients with increased overall hydrophobicity and better permeation. Therefore, TCZ in the form of transethosomal gel can serve as an effective drug delivery system, having the ability to penetrate the skin and overcome the stratum corneum barrier with improved efficacy.

Venous sinus thrombosis after the first dose of Pfizer BioNTech vaccine.

mRNA vaccines including Pfizer BioNTech and Moderna have categorically been considered safe when it comes to preventing COVID-19. However, there is still a small associated risk of thromboembolic phenomenon including venous sinus thrombosis with it and our case report highlights one.We describe a patient who developed severe progressive headache, tinnitus and visual disturbance symptoms post-Pfizer-SARS-CoV-2 vaccination. His medical history included essential tremors, hypertension, type 2 diabetes mellitus, chronic kidney disease stage 3, anxiety, depression and long-term catheterisation. Systemic examination revealed hypotonia, generalised reduced power and central diplopia along with peripheral visual field defect in the left eye. He was extensively investigated, the COVID-19 PCR test was negative and all routine blood tests were in the normal range except a marginally raised D-dimer of 779 ng/mL. CT head was unremarkable. He was also tested for myasthenia gravis; however, acetylcholine receptors antibodies were negative and nerve conduction studies were normal. Subsequent MRI of the brain with venography confirmed venous sinus thrombosis. A 24-hour Holter monitoring test did not reveal any cardiac rate or rhythm abnormality. He was treated with apixaban as per a neurologist's advice. His clinical condition started to improve and was later discharged from the hospital with an outpatient neurologist clinic follow-up.

Efficacy and pitfalls of digital technologies in healthcare services: A systematic review of two decades.

The use of technology in the healthcare sector and its medical practices, from patient record maintenance to diagnostics, has significantly improved the health care emergency management system. At that backdrop, it is crucial to explore the role and challenges of these technologies in the healthcare sector. Therefore, this study provides a systematic review of the literature on technological developments in the healthcare sector and deduces its pros and cons. We curate the published studies from the Web of Science and Scopus databases by using PRISMA 2015 guidelines. After mining the data, we selected only 55 studies for the systematic literature review and bibliometric analysis. The study explores four significant classifications of technological development in healthcare: (a) digital technologies, (b) artificial intelligence, (c) blockchain, and (d) the Internet of Things. The novel contribution of current study indicate that digital technologies have significantly influenced the healthcare services such as the beginning of electronic health record, a new era of digital healthcare, while robotic surgeries and machine learning algorithms may replace practitioners as future technologies. However, a considerable number of studies have criticized these technologies in the health sector based on trust, security, privacy, and accuracy. The study suggests that future studies, on technological development in healthcare services, may take into account these issues for sustainable development of the healthcare sector.

Free convective trickling over a porous medium of fractional nanofluid with MHD and heat source/sink.

Nanofluids are considered as smart fluids that can improve heat and mass transfer and have numerous applications in industry and engineering fields such as electronics, manufacturing, and biomedicine. For this reason, blood-based nanofluids with carbon nanotubes (CNTs) as nanoparticles in the presence of a magnetic field are discussed. The nanofluid traverses the porous medium. The nanofluids move on a vertical plate that can be moved. The free convection heat transfer mode is considered when the heat source and heat fluxes are constant. Convective flows are often used in engineering processes, especially in heat removal, such as geothermal and petroleum extraction, building construction, and so on. Heat transfer is used in chemical processing, power generation, automobile manufacturing, air conditioning, refrigeration, and computer technology, among others. Heat transfer fluids such as water, methanol, air and glycerine are used as heat exchange media because these fluids have low thermal conductivity compared to other metals. We have studied the effects of MHD on the heat and velocity of nanofluids keeping efficiency in mind. Laplace transform is used to solve the mathematical model. The velocity and temperature profiles of MHD flow with free convection of nanofluids were described using Nusselt number and skin friction coefficient. An accurate solution is obtained for both the velocity and temperature profiles. The graph shows the effects of the different parameters on the velocity and temperature profiles. The temperature profile improved with increasing estimates of the fraction parameter and the volume friction parameter. The velocity of the nanofluid is also a de-escalating function with the increasing values of the magnetic parameter and the porosity parameter. The thickness of the thermal boundary layer decreases with increasing values of the fractional parameter.

Nonthermal food processing: A step towards a circular economy to meet the sustainable development goals.

A circular economy promotes a world-friendly style of economic development, and the main aim is a closed-loop cycle of "resource-production-consumption-regeneration" economic activities. A circular economy can assist in implementing sustainable development in the food industry. During conventional food processing, the thermal effects degrade the food residues and make their wastes. Nonthermal processing has emerged as a promising, safe, and effective technique for extracting bioactive compounds from food residues. Nonthermal processing help in implementing a circular economy and meeting the United Nations approved Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Collaboration between food producers and the food chain may make the food industry more circular. This article motivates adopting nonthermal technologies to conserve natural resources, food safety, and energy in different food processing phases to meet SDGs.

Impact of Multifaceted Workplace Bullying on the Relationships between Technology Usage, Organisational Climate and Employee Physical and Emotional Health.

This research article investigates the effect of organisational climate and technology usage on employees' physiological and emotional health damage resulting from face-to-face bullying and cyberbullying at the workplace. Furthermore, we investigated emotional intelligence as a coping strategy to moderate employee physiological and emotional health damage. The research used a quantitative research design. A five-point Likert-scale questionnaire was used to collect data from a multistage sample of 500 officials from Pakistan's four service sectors. Results revealed that organisational climate and technology usage are negatively related to face-to-face bullying and cyberbullying at the workplace. At the same time, workplace bullying adversely affects an employee's emotional and physiological health. However, emotional intelligence can reduce an employee's emotional health damage due to workplace bullying. Thus, we suggest incorporating emotional intelligence training at the workplace to minimise the devastating effects of face-to-face bullying and cyberbullying on employees' physical and emotional health.

Comparative study of heat and mass transfer of generalized MHD Oldroyd-B bio-nano fluid in a permeable medium with ramped conditions.

This article aims to investigate the heat and mass transfer of MHD Oldroyd-B fluid with ramped conditions. The Oldroyd-B fluid is taken as a base fluid (Blood) with a suspension of gold nano-particles, to make the solution of non-Newtonian bio-magnetic nanofluid. The surface medium is taken porous. The well-known equation of Oldroyd-B nano-fluid of integer order derivative has been generalized to a non-integer order derivative. Three different types of definitions of fractional differential operators, like Caputo, Caputo-Fabrizio, Atangana-Baleanu (will be called later as [Formula: see text]) are used to develop the resulting fractional nano-fluid model. The solution for temperature, concentration, and velocity profiles is obtained via Laplace transform and for inverse two different numerical algorithms like Zakian's, Stehfest's are utilized. The solutions are also shown in tabular form. To see the physical meaning of various parameters like thermal Grashof number, Radiation factor, mass Grashof number, Schmidt number, Prandtl number etc. are explained graphically and theoretically. The velocity and temperature of nanofluid decrease with increasing the value of gold nanoparticles, while increase with increasing the value of both thermal Grashof number and mass Grashof number. The Prandtl number shows opposite behavior for both temperature and velocity field. It will decelerate both the profile. Also, a comparative analysis is also presented between ours and the existing findings.

Laplacian and signless laplacian spectra and energies of multi-step wheels.

Energies and spectrum of graphs associated to different linear operators play a significant role in molecular chemistry, polymerisation, pharmacy, computer networking and communication systems. In current article, we compute closed forms of signless Laplacian and Laplacian spectra and energies of multi-step wheel networks Wn,m. These wheel networks are useful in networking and communication, as every node is one hoop neighbour to other. We also present our results for wheel graphs as particular cases. In the end, correlation of these energies on the involved parameters m ≥ 3 and n is given graphically. Present results are the natural generalizations of the already available results in the literature.

Access to clean technologies, energy, finance, and food: environmental sustainability agenda and its implications on Sub-Saharan African countries.

The Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is far lag behind the sustainable targets that set out in the United Nation's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which is highly needed to embark the priorities by their member countries to devise sustainable policies for accessing clean technologies, energy demand, finance, and food production to mitigate high-mass carbon emissions and conserve environmental agenda in the national policy agenda. The study evaluated United Nation's SDGs for environmental conservation and emission reduction in the panel of 35 selected SSA countries, during a period of 1995-2016. The study further analyzed the variable's relationship in inter-temporal forecasting framework for the next 10 years' time period, i.e., 2017-2026. The parameter estimates for the two models, i.e., CO2 model and PM2.5 models are analyzed by Generalized Method of Moment (GMM) estimator that handle possible endogeneity issue from the given models. The results rejected the inverted U-shaped Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) for CO2 emissions, while it supported for PM2.5 emissions with a turning point of US$5540 GDP per capita in constant 2010 US$. The results supported the "pollution haven hypothesis" for CO2 emissions, while this hypothesis is not verified for PM2.5 emissions. The major detrimental factors are technologies, FDI inflows, and food deficit that largely increase carbon emissions in a panel of SSA countries. The IPAT hypothesis is not verified in both the emissions; however, population density will largely influenced CO2 emissions in the next 10 years' time period. The PM2.5 emissions will largely be influenced by high per capita income, followed by trade openness, and technologies, over a time horizon. Thus, the United Nation's sustainable development agenda is highly influenced by socio-economic and environmental factors that need sound action plans by their member countries to coordinate and collaborate with each other and work for Africa's green growth agenda.

Natural disasters and Malaysian economic growth: policy reforms for disasters management.

The natural catastrophic events largely damage the country's sustainability agenda through massive human fatalities and infrastructure destruction. Although it is partially supported the economic growth through the channel of "Schumpeter creative destruction" hypothesis, however, it may not be sustained in the long-run. This study examined the long-run and causal relationships between natural disasters (i.e., floods, storm, and epidemic) and per capita income by controlling FDI inflows and foreign aid in the context of Malaysia, during the period of 1965-2016. The study employed time series cointegration technique, i.e., autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL)-bounds testing approach for robust inferences. The results show that flood, storm, and epidemic disasters substantially decrease the country's per capita income, while FDI inflows and foreign aid largely supported the country's economic growth in the short-run. These results are disappeared in the long-run, where flood and storm disasters exhibit the positive association with the economic growth to support the Schumpeter creative destruction hypothesis. The foreign aid decreases the per capita income and does not maintain the "aid-effectiveness" hypotheses in a given country. The causality estimates confirmed the disaster-led growth hypothesis, as the causality estimates running from (i) storm to per capita income, (ii) epidemic to per capita income, and (iii) storm to foreign aid. The results emphasized for making disaster action plans to reduce human fatalities and infrastructure for sustainable development.

The battle of health with environmental evils of Asian countries: promises to keep.

The objective of the study is to examine the relationship between environmental indicators and health expenditures in the panel of five selected Asian countries, over the period of 2000-2013. The study used panel cointegration technique for evaluating the nexus between environment and health in the region. The results show that energy demand, forest area, and GDP per unit use of energy have a significant and positive impact on increasing health expenditures in the region. These results have been confirmed by single equation panel cointegration estimators, i.e., fully modified ordinary least squares (FMOLS), dynamic OLS (DOLS), and canonical cointegrating regression (CCR) estimators. In addition, the study used robust least squares regression to confirm the generalizability of the results in Asian context. All these estimators indicate that environmental indicators escalate the health expenditures per capita in a region; therefore, Asian countries should have to upsurge health expenditures for safeguard from environmental evils in a region.

Environment and air pollution: health services bequeath to grotesque menace.

The objective of the study is to establish the link between air pollution, fossil fuel energy consumption, industrialization, alternative and nuclear energy, combustible renewable and wastes, urbanization, and resulting impact on health services in Malaysia. The study employed two-stage least square regression technique on the time series data from 1975 to 2012 to possibly minimize the problem of endogeniety in the health services model. The results in general show that air pollution and environmental indicators act as a strong contributor to influence Malaysian health services. Urbanization and nuclear energy consumption both significantly increases the life expectancy in Malaysia, while fertility rate decreases along with the increasing urbanization in a country. Fossil fuel energy consumption and industrialization both have an indirect relationship with the infant mortality rate, whereas, carbon dioxide emissions have a direct relationship with the sanitation facility in a country. The results conclude that balancing the air pollution, environment, and health services needs strong policy vistas on the end of the government officials.

Critical elements in implementations of just-in-time management: empirical study of cement industry in Pakistan.

In recent years, inventory management is continuous challenge for all organizations not only due to heavy cost associated with inventory holding, but also it has a great deal to do with the organizations production process. Cement industry is a growing sector of Pakistan's economy which is now facing problems in capacity utilization of their plants. This study attempts to identify the key strategies for successful implementation of just-in-time (JIT) management philosophy on the cement industry of Pakistan. The study uses survey responses from four hundred operations' managers of cement industry in order to know about the advantages and benefits that cement industry have experienced by Just in time (JIT) adoption. The results show that implementing the quality, product design, inventory management, supply chain and production plans embodied through the JIT philosophy which infect enhances cement industry competitiveness in Pakistan. JIT implementation increases performance by lower level of inventory, reduced operations & inventory costs was reduced eliminates wastage from the processes and reduced unnecessary production which is a big challenge for the manufacturer who are trying to maintain the continuous flow processes. JIT implementation is a vital manufacturing strategy that reaches capacity utilization and minimizes the rate of defect in continuous flow processes. The study emphasize the need for top management commitment in order to incorporate the necessary changes that need to take place in cement industry so that JIT implementation can take place in an effective manner.