Displaying publications 1 - 20 of 775 in total

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  1. Fulltext 3D hydrogel/ bioactive glass scaffolds in bone tissue engineering: Status and future opportunities
    Aldhaher A, Shahabipour F, Shaito A, Al-Assaf S, Elnour AAM, Sallam EB, et al.
    Heliyon, 2023 Jul;9(7):e17050.
    PMID: 37483767 DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e17050
    Repairing significant bone defects remains a critical challenge, raising the clinical demand to design novel bone biomaterials that incorporate osteogenic and angiogenic properties to support the regeneration of vascularized bone. Bioactive glass scaffolds can stimulate angiogenesis and osteogenesis. In addition, natural or synthetic polymers exhibit structural similarity with extracellular matrix (ECM) components and have superior biocompatibility and biodegradability. Thus, there is a need to prepare composite scaffolds of hydrogels for vascularized bone, which incorporate to improve the mechanical properties and bioactivity of natural polymers. In addition, those composites' 3-dimensional (3D) form offer regenerative benefits such as direct doping of the scaffold with ions. This review presents a comprehensive discussion of composite scaffolds incorporated with BaG, focusing on their effects on osteo-inductivity and angiogenic properties. Moreover, the adaptation of the ion-doped hydrogel composite scaffold into a 3D scaffold for the generation of vascularized bone tissue is exposed. Finally, we highlight the challenges and future of manufacturing such biomaterials.
  2. A CMIP6 multi-model based analysis of potential climate change effects on watershed runoff using SWAT model: A case study of kunhar river basin, Pakistan
    Waheed A, Jamal MH, Javed MF, Idlan Muhammad K
    Heliyon, 2024 Apr 30;10(8):e28951.
    PMID: 38655367 DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e28951
    The hydrological regimes of watersheds might be drastically altered by climate change, a majority of Pakistan's watersheds are experiencing problems with water quality and quantity as a result precipitation changes and temperature, necessitating evaluation and alterations to management strategies. In this study, the regional water security in northern Pakistan is examined about anthropogenic climate change on runoff in the Kunhar River Basin (KRB), a typical river in northern Pakistan using Soil and Water Assessment tool (SWAT) and flow durarion curve (FDC). Nine general circulation models (GCMs) were successfully utilized following bias correction under two latest IPCC shared socioeconomic pathways (SSPs) emission scenarios. Correlation coefficients (R2), Nash-Sutcliffe efficiency coefficients (NSE), and the Percent Bias (PBIAS) are all above 0.75. The conclusions demonstrate that the SWAT model precisely simulates the runoff process in the KRB on monthly and daily timescales. For the two emission scenarios of SSP2-4.5 and SSP5-8.5, the mean annual precipitation is predicted to rise by 3.08 % and 5.86 %, respectively, compared to the 1980-2015 baseline. The forecasted rise in mean daily high temperatures is expected to range from 2.08 °C to 3.07 °C, while the anticipated increase in mean daily low temperatures is projected to fall within the range of 2.09 °C-3.39 °C, spanning the years 2020-2099. Under the two SSPs scenarios, annual runoff is estimated to increase by 5.47 % and 7.60 % due to climate change during the same period. Future socioeconomic growth will be supported by a sufficient water supply made possible by the rise in runoff. However, because of climate change, there is a greater possibility of flooding because of increases in both rainfall and runoff. As a result, flood control and development plans for KRB must consider the climate change's possible effects. There is a chance that the peak flow will move backwards relative to the baseline.
  3. Fulltext A Comparative analysis of PESC and PPSC copolyesters: Insights into viscosity, thermal behavior, crystallinity, and biodegradability
    Kesavan A, Rajakumar T, Karunanidhi M, Ravi A, Vivekanand PA, Kamaraj P, et al.
    Heliyon, 2024 Jan 30;10(2):e24728.
    PMID: 38312566 DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e24728
    The study examined various properties of synthesized copolyesters PESC and PPSC. Inherent viscosities of the copolyesters, measured in 1,4-dioxane at 32 °C, were 0.65 dL/g for PESC and 0.73 dL/g for PPSC. Fourier-Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR) revealed distinct absorption bands associated with ester carbonyl stretching, C-H bending vibration, C-H group symmetry stretching, and C-O stretching vibrations. 1H and 13C Nuclear magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopy were used to identify specific protons and carbon groups in the polymer chain, revealing the molecular structure of the copolyesters. Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) identified the glass transition, melting, and decomposition temperatures for both copolyesters, indicating variations in the crystalline nature of the copolymers. XRD Spectral studies further elaborated on the crystalline nature, indicating that PPSC is less amorphous than PESC. Biodegradation analysis showed that PESC degrades more quickly than PPSC, with degradation decreasing as the number of methylene groups increase. Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) images depicted the surface morphology of the copolyesters before and after degradation, revealing a more roughened surface with pits post-degradation. These findings provide comprehensive insights into the structural and degradable properties of PESC and PPSC copolyesters.
  4. Fulltext A New Image Enhancement and Super Resolution technique for license plate recognition
    Hamdi A, Chan YK, Koo VC
    Heliyon, 2021 Nov;7(11):e08341.
    PMID: 34825077 DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2021.e08341
    License Plate Recognition (LPR) is an important implemented application of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and deep learning in the past decades. However, due to the low image quality caused by the fast movement of vehicles and low-quality analogue cameras, many plate numbers cannot be recognised accurately by LPR models. To solve this issue, we propose a new deep learning architecture called D_GAN_ESR (Double Generative Adversarial Networks for Image Enhancement and Super Resolution) used for effective image denoising and super-resolution for license plate images. In this paper, we show the limitation of the existing networks for image enhancement and image super-resolution. Furthermore, a feature-based evaluation metric called Peak Signal to Noise Ratio Features (PSNR-F) is used to evaluate and compare performance between different methods. It is shown that the use of PSNR-F has a better performance indicator than the classical PSNR-pixel-to-pixel (PSNR-pixel) evaluation metric. The results show that using D_GAN_ESR to enhance the license plate images increases the LPR accuracy from 30% to 78% when blur images are used and increases the accuracy from 59% to 74.5% when low-quality images are used.
  5. Fulltext A bibliometric analysis of emerging adulthood in the context of higher education institutions: A psychological perspectives
    Wider W, Fauzi MA, Gan SW, Yap CC, Akmal Bin Ahmad Khadri MW, Maidin SS
    Heliyon, 2023 Jun;9(6):e16988.
    PMID: 37484333 DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e16988
    In recent years, there has been a rise in studies aimed at better understanding the needs and traits of emerging adults and the role that higher education institutions play in their development and success. Despite the relevance of higher education institutions to the emerging adulthood development, there has been scant work done to synthesise the literature on this topic. A bibliometric method was utilised to retrieve 2484 journal articles from Web of Science (WoS). Utilizing co-citation analysis and co-word analysis, we determined the most influential publications, mapped the knowledge structure, and predicted future trends. The results of the co-citation analysis indicate five clusters, while the co-word analysis indicates four. The results could be used as a roadmap for the future of research on emerging adults by a variety of interested parties, including policymakers, university administrators, funders, and academics.
  6. Fulltext A bibliometric analysis of micro electro mechanical system energy harvester research
    Hamidah I, Pawinanto RE, Mulyanti B, Yunas J
    Heliyon, 2021 Mar;7(3):e06406.
    PMID: 33748478 DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2021.e06406
    Micro Electro Mechanical System (MEMS) energy harvester's research interests have been increasing rapidly, indicating that the topic has given significant contributions to the sustainable development of energy alternatives. Although many research activities have been conducted and reported since several years ago, only limited efforts have been made to analyze the research's impact in this area. In this paper, we report a bibliometric analysis on the research progress in MEMS for energy harvester. VOSviewer software is used to support the analyst that includes the distributions of the publication journals, authors, affiliations and the highly cited papers reporting the progress as well as the frequency of keywords and their relationships found in the search engine. The analysis is mainly aimed to identify the research map based on publication reports. 1772 papers were initially identified and summarized based on the analysis on three focused mainstream research topics in MEMS for alternative energy, such as MEMS energy harvester, power harvesting and energy scavenging, other term analogies to MEMS such as micromachines and microsystem were included in the analysis parameter. As a result, it is found that the study on the MEMS energy harvester is mostly categorized in the engineering field, while China has been conducting the most projects. The Journal MEMS and Journal of Micromechanics and Microengineering have been the most journals publishing reports on MEMS energy harvester's research progress. Based on these analyses, some potential issues in future MEMS energy harvester research have been identified, including the contributions of new materials, the MEMS new structure's involvement, and the optimization of the vibration concepts and principles of MEMS energy harvester. These analyses would give an overview on the progress of the development and improvement in MEMS energy harvester and give a proper guideline for future MEMS research in the energy field.
  7. A bibliometric review analysis into environmental kuznets curve phenomenon: A retrospect and future direction
    Ajmi AN, Bekun FV, Gyamfi BA, Meo MS
    Heliyon, 2023 Nov;9(11):e21552.
    PMID: 38034735 DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e21552
    The present study presents a retrospect into environmental Kuznets curve hypothesis (EKC). The EKC debate is dated over four decade long and worthy of empirical scrutiny. To this end, the present study leverages on over 200 previous studies curated from SCOPUS and Web of science (WOS) core collection database respectively. The present study also presented both literature schematic on the evolution, trends, gaps, and future directions on the EKC debate. This paper endeavors to enhance our comprehension of the inherent paradoxes present in sustainability discourses by delving into the fundamental assumptions underlying the Environmental Kuznets curve (EKC). By conducting a bibliometric analysis, we aim to shed light on the factors contributing to the prominence of thematic keywords within sustainability discourses. This study seeks to provide valuable insights into these dynamics and implications on sustainability debates. Key empirical findings outlines predominant and influential studies and journal outlets on the theme under consideration. The present study bibliometric analysis displays that Ozturk i. with 13 published papers 3153 citations and a link strength of 2, Dogan e. Had 7 papers with 2190 citations with no link strength, Shahbaz. B 7 papers 1347 citations and 1 link strength, Saboori b.7 papers 677 citations 1 strength link and Liu y. 6 papers 582 citations with no link strength. From a policy dimension, the present bibliometric study presents valuable depth on the evolution and development of the EKC phenomenon by identifying's the extant literature leaders, action-step for future studies on environmental sustainability without compromise on economic growth as the EKC theme express the tradeoff between economic growth and environmental degradation. Further insights are rendered in the concluding section.
  8. Fulltext A call to action: Unpacking the challenges to implementing social sustainability initiatives in a developing country city
    Razia S, Abu Bakar Ah SH
    Heliyon, 2023 Aug;9(8):e19085.
    PMID: 37636356 DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e19085
    With cities sprawling and populations booming in developing regions, ensuring social sustainability in urban areas has become more urgent. This study investigates the challenges of implementing social sustainability initiatives for cities in developing countries, focusing on Dhaka as a representative city. A mixed-method approach involving structured questionnaire surveys and key informant interviews was used to collect quantitative and qualitative data. The study identified eighteen challenges to implementing social sustainability initiatives in Dhaka city, including a lack of poor urban governance, an inefficient city management system, a lack of political stability, a long delay in the planning approval process, etc. Additionally, experts identified additional challenges that require attention. The study offers empirical evidence to assist government officials, policymakers, and urban planners overcome these challenges and implement social sustainability effectively. To address the identified challenges, the study recommends revisiting the Structure Plan, Urban Area Plan, Detailed Area Plan, and Urban Sector Policy-2011. It highlights the crucial role of community social workers in mitigating specific issues in socially sustainable urban development. Eventually, the study will contribute to the implementation of SDG-11 in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development by bridging the gap between urbanization and socially sustainable cities.
  9. Fulltext A comparative study on foliage and peels of Hylocereus undatus (white dragon fruit) regarding their antioxidant activity and phenolic content
    Som AM, Ahmat N, Abdul Hamid HA, Azizuddin N
    Heliyon, 2019 Feb;5(2):e01244.
    PMID: 30828665 DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2019.e01244
    Hylocereus undatus foliage is believed to contain antioxidants similar to its peel. Numerous studies have been conducted to determine the total phenolic content (TPC) and antioxidant activity on the Hylocereus undatus pulps and peels; however, similar studies on its foliage have yet to be investigated. In this study, Hylocereus undatus foliage and peels were extracted using two different solvents namely; chloroform and methanol through Folin-Ciocalteu method and Diphenyl-1-Ipicrylhydrazyl (DPPH) free radical scavenging assay for TPC and antioxidant activity, respectively. As for TPC, results revealed that the peels gave higher TPC in both methanol (48.15 mg GAE/100g extract) and chloroform (18.89 mg GAE/100g extract) extractions than foliage (30.3 mg GAE/100g extract and 5.92 mg GAE/100g extract, respectively). However, when a comparison was made between foliage and peels in terms of its scavenging effects in DPPH assay, the peels contained more antioxidants (18.71%) than foliage (38.3%) in the chloroform solvent extracts. This study shows that Hylocereus undatus foliage has a similar antioxidant activity as its peels and is potentially a natural antioxidant in food applications.
  10. Fulltext A comprehensive bibliometric survey of micro-expression recognition system based on deep learning
    Ahmad A, Li Z, Iqbal S, Aurangzeb M, Tariq I, Flah A, et al.
    Heliyon, 2024 Mar 15;10(5):e27392.
    PMID: 38495163 DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e27392
    Micro-expressions (ME) are rapidly occurring expressions that reveal the true emotions that a human being is trying to hide, cover, or suppress. These expressions, which reveal a person's actual feelings, have a broad spectrum of applications in public safety and clinical diagnosis. This study provides a comprehensive review of the area of ME recognition. A bibliometric and network analysis techniques is used to compile all the available literature related to ME recognition. A total of 735 publications from the Web of Science (WOS) and Scopus databases were evaluated from December 2012 to December 2022 using all relevant keywords. The first round of data screening produced some basic information, which was further extracted for citation, coupling, co-authorship, co-occurrence, bibliographic, and co-citation analysis. Additionally, a thematic and descriptive analysis was executed to investigate the content of prior research findings, and research techniques used in the literature. The year wise publications indicated that the published literature between 2012 and 2017 was relatively low but however by 2021, a nearly 24-fold increment made it to 154 publications. The three topmost productive journals and conferences included IEEE Transactions on Affective Computing (n = 20 publications) followed by Neurocomputing (n = 17) and Multimedia tools and applications (n = 15). Zhao G was the most proficient author with 48 publications and the top influential country was China (620 publications). Publications by citations showed that each of the authors acquired citations ranging from 100 to 1225. While publications by organizations indicated that the University of Oulu had the most published papers (n = 51). Deep learning, facial expression recognition, and emotion recognition were among the most frequently used terms. It has been discovered that ME research was primarily classified in the discipline of engineering, with more contribution from China and Malaysia comparatively.
  11. Fulltext A comprehensive photovoltaic study on tungsten disulfide (WS2) buffer layer based CdTe solar cell
    Emon EI, Islam AM, Sobayel MK, Islam S, Akhtaruzzaman M, Amin N, et al.
    Heliyon, 2023 Mar;9(3):e14438.
    PMID: 36950573 DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e14438
    Transition metal di-chalcogenides (TMCDs)-Tungsten disulfide (WS2) exhibit excellent optoelectronic properties such as suitable bandgap, high absorption coefficient, good conductivity, high carrier mobility, etc. to be used as a photovoltaic material for thin-film solar cells. In the present work, we have replaced the traditional buffer CdS and ITO/ZnO window layer in CdTe solar cells with the non-toxic, earth-abundant WS2 buffer and SnO2 window layer, respectively. The SCAPS-1D solar simulator is used to investigate the potentiality of WS2 as buffer material in CdTe solar cells. This numerical study provides a comparison of the performances between the proposed structure: SnO2/WS2/CdTe/Au and the baseline structure: ITO/ZnO/CdS/CdTe/Au. The impacts of the charge carrier generation rate, spectral response, current-voltage characteristics, bulk defect density, defect density at buffer/absorber interface, operating temperature, and capacitance-voltage characteristics on the solar cell performance parameters have also been analyzed. The tolerance level of defect density in WS2 bulk and WS2/CdTe interface are found to be 1017 cm-3 and 1012 cm-3, respectively. The temperature study reveals the poor structural robustness and thermal stability of the proposed cell. The conversion efficiency of the proposed cell has found to be 20.55% at the optimized device structure. Nevertheles, these findings may provide an insight to fabricate viable, environment friendly, and inexpensive CdTe thin-film solar cells.
  12. Fulltext A comprehensive review of flexible cadmium telluride solar cells with back surface field layer
    Ahmad NI, Kar YB, Doroody C, Kiong TS, Rahman KS, Harif MN, et al.
    Heliyon, 2023 Nov;9(11):e21622.
    PMID: 38027707 DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e21622
    Recent advancements in CdTe solar cell technology have introduced the integration of flexible substrates, providing lightweight and adaptable energy solutions for various applications. Some of the notable applications of flexible solar photovoltaic technology include building integrated photovoltaic systems (BIPV), transportation, aerospace, satellites, etc. However, despite this advancement, certain issues regarding metal and p-CdTe remained unresolved. Besides, the fabrication of a full-working device on flexible glass is challenging and requires special consideration due to the unstable morphology and structural properties of deposited film on ultra-thin glass substrates. The existing gap in knowledge about the vast potential of flexible CdTe solar cells on UTG substrates and their possible applications blocks their full capacity utilization. Hence, this comprehensive review paper exclusively concentrates on the obstacles associated with the implementation of CdTe solar cells on UTG substrates with a potential back surface field (BSF) layer. The significance of this study lies in its meticulous identification and analysis of the substantial challenges associated with integrating flexible CdTe onto UTG substrates and leveraging Cu-doped ZnTe as a potential BSF layer to enhance the performance of flexible CdTe solar cells.
  13. Fulltext A comprehensive review of mycotoxins: Toxicology, detection, and effective mitigation approaches
    Khan R, Anwar F, Ghazali FM
    Heliyon, 2024 Apr 30;10(8):e28361.
    PMID: 38628751 DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e28361
    Mycotoxins, harmful compounds produced by fungal pathogens, pose a severe threat to food safety and consumer health. Some commonly produced mycotoxins such as aflatoxins, ochratoxin A, fumonisins, trichothecenes, zearalenone, and patulin have serious health implications in humans and animals. Mycotoxin contamination is particularly concerning in regions heavily reliant on staple foods like grains, cereals, and nuts. Preventing mycotoxin contamination is crucial for a sustainable food supply. Chromatographic methods like thin layer chromatography (TLC), gas chromatography (GC), high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), and liquid chromatography coupled with a mass spectrometer (LC/MS), are commonly used to detect mycotoxins; however, there is a need for on-site, rapid, and cost-effective detection methods. Currently, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA), lateral flow assays (LFAs), and biosensors are becoming popular analytical tools for rapid detection. Meanwhile, preventing mycotoxin contamination is crucial for food safety and a sustainable food supply. Physical, chemical, and biological approaches have been used to inhibit fungal growth and mycotoxin production. However, new strains resistant to conventional methods have led to the exploration of novel strategies like cold atmospheric plasma (CAP) technology, polyphenols and flavonoids, magnetic materials and nanoparticles, and natural essential oils (NEOs). This paper reviews recent scientific research on mycotoxin toxicity, explores advancements in detecting mycotoxins in various foods, and evaluates the effectiveness of innovative mitigation strategies for controlling and detoxifying mycotoxins.
  14. Fulltext A comprehensive review on modelling the adsorption process for heavy metal removal from waste water using artificial neural network technique
    Fiyadh SS, Alardhi SM, Al Omar M, Aljumaily MM, Al Saadi MA, Fayaed SS, et al.
    Heliyon, 2023 Apr;9(4):e15455.
    PMID: 37128319 DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e15455
    Water is the most necessary and significant element for all life on earth. Unfortunately, the quality of the water resources is constantly declining as a result of population development, industry, and civilization progress. Due to their extreme toxicity, heavy metals removal from water has drawn researchers' attention. A lot of scientific applications use artificial neural networks (ANNs) because of their excellent ability to map nonlinear relationships. ANNs shown excellent modelling capabilities for the water treatment remediation. The adsorption process uses a variety of variables, making the interaction between them nonlinear. Selecting the best technique can produce excellent results; the adsorption approach for removing heavy metals is highly effective. Different studies show that the ANNs modelling approach can accurately forecast the adsorbed heavy metals and other contaminants in order to remove them.
  15. Fulltext A cross-cultural comparison of work engagement in the relationships between trust climate - Job performance and turnover intention: Focusing China and Pakistan
    Aman A, Rafiq M, Dastane O
    Heliyon, 2023 Sep;9(9):e19534.
    PMID: 37809562 DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e19534
    While the significance of cross-cultural research has been acknowledged over time, there remains a gap in understanding its relationship with employee outcomes. This study delves into the associations between organizational trust climate (TC) and job performance (JP), as well as turnover intention (TI), seeking to ascertain if work engagement (WE) plays a mediating role. Additionally, the research investigates potential differences in the mediating effect between China and Pakistan. Data gathered from 270 participants in China and 242 in Pakistan were subjected to structural equation modeling (SEM) for analysis. Findings indicated that perceptions of individual WE serve as a bridge between organizational TC and JP, with the effect on JP being notably stronger among the Chinese participants. Moreover, the mediating role of WE in the link between organizational TC and TI was more pronounced for the Pakistani participants. On a practical front, such insights can equip managers with a nuanced understanding of the ripple effect that a trust-infused environment can have on employee engagement, subsequently influencing performance and retention rates.
  16. Fulltext A cross-sectional study of the prevalence, density, and risk factors associated with malaria transmission in urban communities of Ibadan, Southwestern Nigeria
    Awosolu OB, Yahaya ZS, Farah Haziqah MT, Simon-Oke IA, Fakunle C
    Heliyon, 2021 Jan;7(1):e05975.
    PMID: 33521357 DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2021.e05975
    Background: Malaria is a severe global public health challenge that causes significant morbidity and mortality worldwide, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. This study was designed to determine the prevalence, parasite density, and risk factors associated with malaria infection transmission among residents of two urban communities of Ibadan, southwestern Nigeria.

    Materials and methods: A cross-sectional hospital-based study was carried out on 300 participants. Blood samples were obtained. Thick and thin blood films were prepared and viewed using the standard parasitological technique of microscopy. Moreover, data on sociodemographic and environmental variables were obtained using a pre-tested standard questionnaire.

    Results: Of the 300 participants examined, a total of 165 (55.0%) were found positive for Plasmodium falciparum with a mean (S.D) parasite density of 1814.70 (1829.117) parasite/μL of blood. The prevalence and parasite density of malaria infection vary significantly (P < 0.05) with age group. Children <5 years old were more likely to have malaria infection and high parasite densities than adults (p < 0.05). Similarly, in relation to gender, males significantly (P < 0.05) had a higher prevalence (60.2%) and mean (S.D) parasite density of malaria infection [2157.73 (1659.570) parasite/μL of blood] compared to females. Additionally, those without formal education had the highest prevalence (73.0%) and mean (S.D) parasite density of infection [2626.96 (2442.195) parasite/μL of blood]. The bivariate logistic regression analysis shows that age group 6-10 (Crude Odds Ratio, COR 0.066, 95% CI: 0.007-0.635), presence of streams/rivers (COR 0.225, 95% CI: 0.103-0.492), distance from streams/rivers within ≤1 km (COR 0.283, 95% CI: 0.122-0.654) and travel to rural area (COR 4.689, 95% CI: 2.430-9.049) were the significant risk factors.

    Conclusions: Malaria infection is prevalent in the study area and was greatly influenced by traveling activities from the rural areas to urban centers and vice versa. Multifaceted and integrated control strategy should be adopted. Health education on mosquito prevention and chemoprophylaxis before and during travel to rural areas are essential.

  17. Fulltext A data-envelopment analysis-based systematic review of the literature on innovation performance
    Narayanan E, Binti Ismail WR, Bin Mustafa Z
    Heliyon, 2022 Dec;8(12):e11925.
    PMID: 36506397 DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2022.e11925
    Innovation imbued in every sector in every part of the world is essential to growth and development. The National Innovation Systems (NIS) use their resources to support economies in different countries foster a novel environment. Therefore, this study is an attempt to examine the efficiency of NIS as measured by scholars in the past using Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA). Through a systematic literature review, this study aims to show the current dearth of studies on the efficiency of NIS. The literature is categorized accordingly and provides a framework with recommendations for future research. With the advent of technical tools, DEA programming methods other than traditional DEA such as network, relational network, dynamic network, slack based model, and super efficiency DEA have emerged. This enables the calculation of innovation efficiency to be efficient and reliable. As a result, DEA is regarded as a powerful tool for assessing the relative efficiency of NIS, which employs multiple inputs to generate multiple outputs. The results also suggest that future research is needed on the efficiency of innovation by paying more attention to cross-countries studies based on regions, geographical areas, participation in free trade blocs, and a group of tie-up countries involved, especially with comparative analyses regardless of the country classification. Another important observation is that there are few studies that focus on the efficiency of middle- and low-income countries. The comparative analysis of innovation efficiency across income groups enables NIS to benchmark itself against best-in-class innovators and improve their innovation performance and ranking. These findings provide an opportunity to further investigate how NIS add value and sustainability to countries by improving resource management capabilities to improve innovation efficiency.
  18. A decision tree model for accurate prediction of sand erosion in elbow geometry
    Alakbari FS, Mohyaldinn ME, Ayoub MA, Salih AA, Abbas AH
    Heliyon, 2023 Jul;9(7):e17639.
    PMID: 37539270 DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e17639
    Erosion of piping components, e.g., elbows, is a hazardous phenomenon that frequently occurs due to sand flow with fluids during petroleum production. Early prediction of the sand's erosion rate (ER) is essential for ensuring a safe flow process and material integrity. Some models have been applied to determine the ER of the sand in the literature. However, these models have been created based on specific data to require a model for application to wide-range data. Moreover, the previous models have not studied relationships between independent and dependent variables. Thus, this research aims to use machine learning techniques, namely linear regression and decision tree (DT), to predict the ER robustly. The optimum model, the DT model, was evaluated using various trend analysis and statistical error analyses (SEA) techniques, namely the correlation coefficient (R). The evaluation results proved proper physical behavior for all independent variables, along with high accuracy and the DT model robustness. The proposed DT method can accurately predict the ER with R of 0.9975, 0.9911, 0.9761, and 0.9908, AAPRE of 5.0%, 6.27%, 6.26%, and 5.5%, RMSE of 2.492E-05, 6.189E-05, 9.310E-05, and 5.339E-05, and STD of 13.44, 6.66, 8.01, and 11.44 for the training, validation, testing, and whole datasets, respectively. Hence, this study delivers an effective, robust, accurate, and fast prediction tool for ER determination, significantly saving the petroleum industry's cost and time.
  19. Fulltext A deep learning approach for lane marking detection applying encode-decode instant segmentation network
    Al Mamun A, Em PP, Hossen MJ, Jahan B, Tahabilder A
    Heliyon, 2023 Mar;9(3):e14212.
    PMID: 36942238 DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e14212
    A lot of people suffer from disability and death due to unintentional road accidents, which also result in the loss of a significant amount of financial assets. Several essential features of Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) are being incorporated into vehicles by researchers to prevent road accidents. Lane marking detection (LMD) is a fundamental ADAS technology that helps the vehicle to keep its position in the lane. The current study employs Deep Learning (DL) methodologies and has several research constraints due to various problems. Researchers sometimes encounter difficulties in LMD due to environmental factors such as the variation of lights, obstacles, shadows, and curve lanes. To address these limitations, this study presents the Encode-Decode Instant Segmentation Network (EDIS-Net) as a DL methodology for detecting lane marking under various environmental situations with reliable accuracy. The framework is based on the E-Net architecture and incorporates combined cross-entropy and discriminative losses. The encoding segment was split into binary and instant segmentation to extract information about the lane pixels and the pixel position. DenselyBased Spatial Clustering of Application with Noise (DBSCAN) is employed to connect the predicted lane pixels and to get the final output. The system was trained with augmented data from the Tusimple dataset and then tested on three datasets: Tusimple, CalTech, and a local dataset. On the Tusimple dataset, the model achieved 97.39% accuracy. Furthermore, it has an average accuracy of 97.07% and 96.23% on the CalTech and local datasets, respectively. On the testing dataset, the EDIS-Net exhibited promising results compared to existing LMD approaches. Since the proposed framework performs better on the testing datasets, it can be argued that the model can recognize lane marking confidently in various scenarios. This study presents a novel EDIS-Net technique for efficient lane marking detection. It also includes the model's performance verification by testing in three different public datasets.
  20. Fulltext A discursive presentation of community pharmacies: Premises, storage, staff, documentation and legal compliance
    Aziz MM, Alboghdadly A, Rasool MF, Shaalan MS, Goresh HK, Najjar MF, et al.
    Heliyon, 2023 Dec;9(12):e23112.
    PMID: 38144360 DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e23112
    OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to assess compliance with legal requirements, safe medication storage and staffing standards in community pharmacies in Punjab, Pakistan.

    METHOD: We conducted a three-step cross-sectional study using observations, questionnaires and face-to-face interviews in 544 systematically-selected community pharmacies. We used descriptive statistic and one-way ANOVA to assess the data.

    RESULTS: Only 23 (4.2 %) pharmacies had accurate area and only 3.9 % had appropriate walls. In total, 23.3 % had glass-fronted shelves and 38.2 % had a glass door. More than half (53.8 %) had separate narcotics shelves and 43.0 % a separate shelf of expired medicines. Less than half (47.5 %) of the pharmacies were able to maintain hygiene. About 36.2 % of the pharmacies segregated different types of product. Drugs were protected from direct sunlight in most (61.3 %) pharmacies, but the refrigerator was working properly in less than half (43.4 %) and only a very small number (2.4 %) had an alternative power supply for the refrigerator. Only 37 (6.8 %) were able to maintain an appropriate room temperature. The vast majority (93.0 %) displayed a valid drug sale license, but a qualified person/pharmacist was only present in 4.8 %. The average number of employees was 4.2, and more than 71.0 % of staff had 10-12 years of formal education. Only 0.2 % of employees could explain term "PRN", although 57.3 % explained "IV" correctly. About 22.8 % replied correctly about the room temperature but the vast majority (97.6 %) did not know about cold chain temperature. The location of the pharmacy (p-value = 0.045) affected its performance.

    CONCLUSIONS: Noncompliance with legal requirements, unsafe drug storage and limited human resources reflect the poor enforcement of drug laws in Pakistan. The findings suggest that there is a need to strengthen inspection and management of community pharmacies.

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