A detailed study on quantification and modeling of drought characteristics using different copula families.

This study delves into analyzing drought patterns in Baluchistan by applying copula-based bivariate probabilistic models complemented by Severity Duration Frequency (SDF) curves. The calculation of the Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) hinges on monthly aggregate precipitation data from ten distinct sites compiled over six-month periods. After evaluating various parametric distributions, the Log-Normal distribution emerges as suitable for modeling drought severity and duration. A range of bivariate copulas is employed to simulate the characteristics of drought severity and duration, which are then compared against observed data. Remarkably, the Gumbel copula classified as an extreme value copula-outperforms its counterparts according to diverse statistical benchmarks. By utilizing the dependence function, we derive the conditional distribution of drought variables: severity and duration. These conditional distributions subsequently inform the calculation of return periods, forming the basis for constructing SDF diagrams at fixed recurrence levels across the study region. The study's finding indicates that a severe drought could occur over the region with higher return periods for a specific duration. The implications of this research are significant, showcasing the potential of copula-based joint modeling techniques to generate frequency curves for drought severity and duration. This development holds promise for effective water resource management and the formulation of strategies to mitigate the impact of drought in vulnerable regions.

Going green! Factors influencing green competitive advantage of Chinese SMEs: a moderated-mediated perspective.

This research observes the impact of environmental corporate social responsibility (CSR) and green supply chain management (GSCM) on green competitive advantage in Chinese manufacturing SMEs. Top management commitment is used as a mediator between environmental CSR, GSCM, and green competitive advantage. Moreover, a pro-environmental business strategy is used as a moderator between top management commitment and green competitive advantage. A simple random sampling technique was used, and 331 questionnaires were part of the final analysis. PLS-SEM is used for hypothesis testing. The results reveal that environmental CSR does not influence green competitive advantage. GSCM, top management commitment, and pro-environmental business strategy significantly measure green competitive advantage. Top management commitment significantly mediates between environmental CSR, GSCM, and green competitive advantage. Finally, a pro-environmental business strategy significantly moderates between top management commitment and green competitive advantage. This study strives to provide insightful information for strategic managers of Chinese manufacturing SMEs to optimize green competitive advantage, including environmental CSR, GSCM, top management commitment, and pro-environmental business strategy in decision-making. This study adds value to the body of knowledge by concentrating on factors that determine green competitive advantage. This initial research integrates environmental CSR, GSCM, top management commitment, pro-environmental business strategy, and green competitive advantage in a single framework using natural resource-based view (RBV). Furthermore, the study would present various implications for managers and lines for future directions.

GC-MS profiling of Bacillus spp. metabolites with an in vitro biological activity assessment and computational analysis of their impact on epithelial glioblastoma cancer genes.

Background: Bacterial metabolites play a crucial role in human health and have proven effective in treating various diseases. In this study, the 16S rRNA method and streaking were employed to isolate and molecularly identify a bacterial strain, with the goal of characterizing bioactive volatile metabolites extracted using nonpolar and polar solvents. Methods: Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis was conducted to identify 29 compounds in the bacterial metabolites, including key compounds associated with Bacillus spp. The main compounds identified included 2-propanone, 4,4-ethylenedioxy-1-pentylamine, 1,2-benzenedicarboxylic acid, 1,1-butoxy-1-isobutoxy-butane, and 3,3-ethoxycarbonyl-5-hydroxytetrahydropyran-2-one. Results: The literature indicates the diverse biological and pharmacological applications of these compounds. Different concentrations of the metabolites from Bacillus species were tested for biological activities, revealing significant inhibitory effects on anti-diabetic activity (84.66%), anti-inflammatory activity (99%), antioxidant activity (99.8%), and anti-hemolytic activity (90%). Disc diffusion method testing also demonstrated a noteworthy inhibitory effect against tested strains. Conclusion: In silico screening revealed that 1,2-benzenedicarboxylic acid exhibited anticancer activity and promising drug-designing properties against epithelial glioblastoma cancer genes. The study highlights the potential of Bacillus spp. as a valuable target for drug research, emphasizing the significance of bacterial metabolites in the production of biological antibacterial agents.

Post-COVID-19's impact on green supply chain management and sustainable E-commerce performance: the moderating role of big data analytics.

This study investigates the relationship between COVID-19 and the adoption of green supply chain management practices (GSCM) in the Pakistani e-commerce industry. It also assesses the impact of these practices on ecological sustainability across three dimensions and explores the role of big data analytics (BDA) in enhancing them after the pandemic. The research utilized partial least squares structural equation modeling to evaluate data and test hypotheses. The research sample was composed of 390 managers operating within Pakistan's e-commerce industry. The study's preliminary findings reveal that COVID-19 has positively influenced the adoption of GSCM practices, which are moderated by BDA. Implementing GSCM has a positive impact on the perceived environmental and social resilience of e-commerce enterprises, but no significant effect on their perceived economic resilience. Additionally, GSCM acts as a mediator in the relationship between the impact of COVID-19 and the perceived environmental and social resilience of e-commerce firms, but not for economic resilience. This research focuses on Pakistan's e-commerce industry and investigates how COVID-19 affects the adoption of eco-friendly supply chain practices. It measures the impact of these practices on ecological sustainability using three dimensions. The study also examines how BDA can improve the adoption of GSCM in e-commerce, offering new insights into sustainability during and post-pandemic. The results recommend that the e-commerce industry can use BDA and GSCM practices to improve e-commerce sustainable performance. This is initial research that integrates COVID-19 impact, BDA, GSCM practices, and e-commerce sustainability in a single framework that was overlooked previously.

Environmental MCS package and green intellectual capital influence environmental performance: a mediated-moderated perspective.

Nowadays, business is not only a financial entity. The environmental impact of rapid business growth necessitates solutions. This study considers natural resource orchestration theory (ROT) to study the impact of the environment management control system (MCS) package and green intellectual capital (IC) on environmental performance through the mediating role of top management support (TMS) and the interaction role of green business strategies. This study employed partial least squares structural equation modeling to analyze 358 questionnaires. Simple sampling was used to collect data from Pakistan manufacturing firms. The results revealed that the environmental MCS package significantly influences environmental performance directly and through TMS mediation. Still, the green IC does not influence environmental performance directly or through mediation in selected industries of Pakistan. Furthermore, the interaction of TMS and green business strategies significantly determines environmental performance. This study suggests managers use the environmental MCS package, green IC, top management support, and green business strategies in decision-making to determine environmental performance of manufacturing firms in Pakistan even though green IC has no influence on environmental performance. This study used natural ROT to impart the managerial role along with bundling firms' resources and strategies (i.e., environmental MCS package, green IC, top management support, and green business strategies) which is ignored in the resource-based view.

Predictive Factors of Outcomes in Acute Subdural Hematoma Evacuation.

OBJECTIVE: This comparative cross-sectional study was conducted in the Departments of Trauma and Neurosurgery, Ayub Teaching Hospital, Abbottabad, Pakistan from September 2021 to February 2022 to study predictive factors of outcomes in acute subdural hematoma evacuation. METHODOLOGY: A total of 101 patients with confirmed diagnosis of acute subdural hematoma (ASDH) who underwent surgical evacuation by consultant neurosurgeon were included in the study. A detailed clinical proforma was designed to document all the clinical and demographic details of these patients at the time of admission. Glasgow Coma Scale outcome score (GOS) was used to assess the outcome of patients after the surgery. Sociodemographic and clinical parameters were associated with outcome of surgery in our study participants. RESULTS: Out of 101 patients, 55 (54.5%) were males and 46 (45.5%) were females. Mean age was 43.66±19.66 years with 7.39 as mean Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) at presentation. Road traffic accident (RTA) 62 (61.4%) was most frequent mechanism of injury followed by fall from height (19.8%) and history of assault (13.9%). In our study, 59 patients had poor outcomes while 42 had good outcomes. Elder age, low GCS at presentation, and use of oral anticoagulant were associated with poor outcomes while pupillary reaction had no effect on the outcome after application of test of significance. CONCLUSION: More than half of the patients managed with surgical evacuation for acute subdural hematoma as per guidelines at our neurosurgical unit had poor outcomes according to Glasgow Coma Scale. In this study, advancing age (>60 years), low GCS score at presentation, and use of oral anticoagulation therapy emerged as significant risk factors for poor outcomes in participants. Pupillary reaction had no effect on outcomes as per this study but this needs further evaluation in future studies.

Synthesis and Characterization of ZIF-67 Mixed Matrix Nanobiocatalysis for CO2 Adsorption Performance.

In this study, ZIF-67-based mixed matrix membrane was synthesized with a solution casting method using tetrahydrofuran as the solvent. The as-synthesized ZIF-67 was characterized using PXRD, TGA, ATR-FTIR, and BET analysis for the surface area measurements. The minimum 3 wt% loading of ZIF-67 was incorporated within a hydrophobic polymer to evaluate the CO2 adsorption performance of ZIF-67. The stability of ZIF-67 in pure water and inorganic solvents was investigated. The maximum CO2 adsorption of the ZIF-67 mixed-matrix membrane (MMM) was 0.5 mmol/g at 273 K, which is higher than that of the pure polymer. The fabricated ZIF-67-based mixed-matrix membrane showed higher CO2 capture even at lower MOF loading using THF. The current study highly recommends the combination of hydrophobic polysulfone and a water-stable ZIF-67 for CO2 capture from wet flue gases.

Fabrication of Novel Agrowaste (Banana and Potato Peels)-Based Biochar/TiO2 Nanocomposite for Adsorption of Cr(VI), Statistical Optimization via RSM Approach.

In this research work, a simple, efficient, and eco-friendly procedure for the biosorption of Cr(VI) ions was studied. A detailed comparative study was performed to check the adsorption efficiency of agrowaste (banana and potato peels)-based adsorbents. Firstly, mixed biosorbent was washed, dried and ground into powder, secondly, biosorbent was pyrolyzed into biochar and thirdly TiO2 nanocomposite (TiO2 NC) biosorbent was made by sonicating using prepared biochar and TiO2 NPs. Titanium dioxide nanoparticles (TiO2 NPs) were synthesized by a green method using Psidium guajava leaf extract. The synthesized adsorbents were characterized by SEM, EDX FT-IR, XRD and UV-visible analysis. The effect of four different factors, i.e., pH of the synthetic metallic solution, time, concentration and adsorbent dosage was studied. The optimum conditions were time (120 min), pH (3), concentration (10 ppm) and adsorbent dosage (1.0 g). The kinetic modeling showed that the adsorption of Cr(VI) ion follows a pseudo second-order mechanism and the Langmuir isotherm model was found to fit better for this study. Response surface methodology (RSM)-based optimized parameters provided optimal parameter sets that better represent the adsorption rate models. The uptake capacity of Cr(VI) from aqueous solution was found to be biomass (76.49 mg/L) ˂ biochar (86.51 mg/L) ˂ TiO2 NC (92.89 mg/L). It can be suggested that the produced TiO2 NC could possibly be an efficient biosorbent for the removal of Cr(IV).