The application of multiphysics models and soft computing techniques is gaining enormous attention in the construction sector due to the development of various types of concrete. In this research, an improved form of supervised machine learning, i.e., multigene expression programming (MEP), has been used to propose models for the compressive strength (fc'), splitting tensile strength (fSTS), and flexural strength (fFS) of sustainable bagasse ash concrete (BAC). The training and testing of the proposed models have been accomplished by developing a reliable and comprehensive database from published literature. Concrete specimens with varying proportions of sugarcane bagasse ash (BA), as a partial replacement of cement, were prepared, and the developed models were validated by utilizing the results obtained from the tested BAC. Different statistical tests evaluated the accurateness of the models, and the results were cross-validated employing a k-fold algorithm. The modeling results achieve correlation coefficient (R) and Nash-Sutcliffe efficiency (NSE) above 0.8 each with relative root mean squared error (RRMSE) and objective function (OF) less than 10 and 0.2, respectively. The MEP model leads in providing reliable mathematical expression for the estimation of fc', fSTS and fFS of BA concrete, which can reduce the experimental workload in assessing the strength properties. The study's findings indicated that MEP-based modeling integrated with experimental testing of BA concrete and further cross-validation is effective in predicting the strength parameters of BA concrete.
Thymidine phosphorylase (TP) over expression plays role in several pathological conditions, such as rheumatoid arthritis, chronic inflammatory diseases, psoriasis, and tumor angiogenesis. The inhibitor of this enzyme plays an important role in preventing the serious threat due to over expression of TP. In this regard, a series of seventeenanalogs of 3-formylcoumarin (1-17) were synthesized, characterized by 1HNMR and EI-MS and screened for thymidine phosphorylaseinhibitory activity. All analogs showed a variable degree of thymidine phosphorylase inhibition with IC50 values ranging between 0.90 ± 0.01 and 53.50 ± 1.20 μM when compared with the standard inhibitor 7-Deazaxanthine having IC50 value 38.68 ± 1.12 μM. Among the series, fifteenanalogs such as 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 15, 16 and 17 showed excellent inhibition which is many folds better than the standard 7-Deazaxanthine whiletwo analogs 13 and 14 showed good inhibition. The structure activity relationship (SAR) was mainly based upon by bring about difference of substituents on phenyl ring. Molecular docking study was carried out to understand the binding interaction of the most active analogs.
The objective of the study is to examine the impact of natural disasters on external migration, price level, poverty incidence, health expenditures, energy and environmental resources, water demand, financial development, and economic growth in a panel of selected Asian countries for a period of 2005-2017. The results confirm that natural disasters in the form of storm and flood largely increase migration, price level, and poverty incidence, which negatively influenced country's economic resources, including enlarge healthcare expenditures, high energy demand, and low economic growth. The study further presented the following results: i) natural resource depletion increases external migration, ii) FDI inflows increase price level, iii) increase healthcare spending and energy demand decreases poverty headcount, iv) poverty incidence and mortality rate negatively influenced healthcare expenditures, v) industrialization increases energy demand, and vi) agriculture value added, fertilizer, and cereal yields required more water supply to produce greater yield. The study emphasized the need to magnify the intensity of natural disasters and create natural disaster mitigation unit to access the human and infrastructure cost and attempt quick recovery for global prosperity.
Building upon the job demands-resources (JD-R) theory, this research offers an in-depth exploration of the mechanisms by which idiosyncratic deals (I-deals), such as personalized work arrangements, can enhance academics' psychological empowerment (PE) and hence affect their work engagement. This study's purpose was to investigate whether PE mediates the relationships between task and work responsibilities I-deals, flexibility I-deals, and work engagement among academics in higher education and whether the mediating effects are moderated by academics' internal locus of control. Using an online platform, the survey questionnaire was sent to 650 academics working in higher education. The results reveal that task and work responsibilities I-deals and flexibility I-deals, are positively associated with the academics' work engagement and that PE mediates those relationships. Additionally, the internal locus of control strengthens the positive relationship between task and work responsibilities I-deals and PE, and it enhances the indirect effect of task and work responsibilities I-deals on academics' work engagement through PE. Though, this study did not find the moderating effect of internal locus of control on the flexibility I-deals-PE relationship; however, the results indicate that internal locus of control boosts the indirect effect of flexibility I-deals on academics' work engagement through PE.
Fiber-reinforced polymers (FRP) are widely utilized to improve the efficiency and durability of concrete structures, either through external bonding or internal reinforcement. However, the response of FRP-strengthened reinforced concrete (RC) members, both in field applications and experimental settings, often deviates from the estimation based on existing code provisions. This discrepancy can be attributed to the limitations of code provisions in fully capturing the nature of FRP-strengthened RC members. Accordingly, machine learning methods, including gene expression programming (GEP) and multi-expression programming (MEP), were utilized in this study to predict the flexural capacity of the FRP-strengthened RC beam. To develop data-driven estimation models, an extensive collection of experimental data on FRP-strengthened RC beams was compiled from the experimental studies. For the assessment of the accuracy of developed models, various statistical indicators were utilized. The machine learning (ML) based models were compared with empirical and conventional linear regression models to substantiate their superiority, providing evidence of enhanced performance. The GEP model demonstrated outstanding predictive performance with a correlation coefficient (R) of 0.98 for both the training and validation phases, accompanied by minimal mean absolute errors (MAE) of 4.08 and 5.39, respectively. In contrast, the MEP model achieved a slightly lower accuracy, with an R of 0.96 in both the training and validation phases. Moreover, the ML-based models exhibited notably superior performances compared to the empirical models. Hence, the ML-based models presented in this study demonstrated promising prospects for practical implementation in engineering applications. Moreover, the SHapley Additive exPlanation (SHAP) method was used to interpret the feature's importance and influence on the flexural capacity. It was observed that beam width, section effective depth, and the tensile longitudinal bars reinforcement ratio significantly contribute to the prediction of the flexural capacity of the FRP-strengthened reinforced concrete beam.
Background Community pharmacies are integral to the healthcare system, actively contributing to patient safety through accurate dispensing, education, collaboration, monitoring, and the implementation of safety protocols. Their accessibility and role as medication experts make them key partners in promoting positive health outcomes for individuals and communities. Objective The current study will evaluate the patient safety culture (PSC) among community pharmacies in Karachi, Pakistan. Additionally, this study will measure the association between patient safety culture in community pharmacies and the demographic characteristics of the pharmacy staff. Methods A cross-sectional survey of pharmacy staff was conducted using a survey instrument developed by the US Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). Demographic variables and assessments of safety culture in pharmacies were studied. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Results Among the 102 participants, positive responses ranged from 30% to 87.5%. The highest positive response was for the dimension "mistakes in communication" (86.3%), followed by "communication across shifts" (82.2%) and "communication openness" (81.7%). The dimensions "overall perceptions of patient safety" and "response to mistakes" had the lowest positive responses (56.0% and 60.9%, respectively). Furthermore, many staff did not regularly record the errors, even if they impacted the practices. Conclusion There was an overall unfavorable perception of patient safety culture among the surveyed pharmacies of Karachi, Pakistan. However, the communication dimensions showed the highest positive response. There is a strong need to improve the overall perception of patient safety among the staff and develop an optimistic response to mistakes.
In the current study we explored the occurrence of adverse drug reactions (ADRs) to antiretroviral therapy among human immune-deficiency virus (HIV)/AIDS patients. We concluded an observational retrospective study in all patients who were diagnosed with HIV infection and were receiving highly active antiviral therapy from Jan. 2007 to Dec. 2012 at Hospital Pulau Pinang, Malaysia. Patient socio-demographic details along with clinical features and susceptible ADRs were observed during the study period. Out of 743 patients, 571 (76.9%) were men, and 172 (23.1%) were women. Overall 314 (42.2%) patients experienced ADRs. A total of 425 ADRs were reported, with 311 (73.1%) occurring in men and 114 (26.8%) in women, with a significant statistical relationship (P value (P) = 0.02, OR = 1.21). Overall 239 (56.2%) ADRs were recorded among Chinese, 94 (22.1%) in Malay, and 71 (16.7%) in Indian patients, which had a statistically significant association with ADRs (P = 0.05, OR = 1.50). Out of a total 425 among ADRs, lipodystrophy was recorded in 151 (35.5%) followed by skin rashes in 80 (18.8%), anemia in 74 (17.4%), and peripheral neuropathy in 27 (6.3%) patients. These findings suggest a need of intensive monitoring of ADRs in HIV treatment centres across Malaysia.
Southern Thailand has been experiencing a large chikungunya virus (CHIKV) outbreak since October 2018. Given the magnitude and duration of the outbreak and its location in a popular tourist destination, we sought to determine international case exportation risk and identify countries at greatest risk of receiving travel-associated imported CHIKV cases. We used a probabilistic model to estimate the expected number of exported cases from Southern Thailand between October 2018 and April 2019. The model incorporated data on CHIKV natural history, infection rates in Southern Thailand, average length of stay for tourists, and international outbound air passenger numbers from the outbreak area. For countries highly connected to Southern Thailand by air travel, we ran 1000 simulations to estimate the expected number of imported cases. We also identified destination countries with conditions suitable for autochthonous CHIKV transmission. Over the outbreak period, we estimated that an average of 125 (95% credible interval (CrI): 102-149) cases would be exported from Southern Thailand to international destinations via air travel. China was projected to receive the most cases (43, 95% CrI: 30-56), followed by Singapore (7, 95% CrI: 2-12) and Malaysia (5, 95% CrI: 1-10). Twenty-three countries were projected to receive at least one imported case, and 64% of these countries had one or more regions that could potentially support autochthonous CHIKV transmission. The overall risk of international exportation of CHIKV cases associated with the outbreak is Southern Thailand is high. Our model projections are consistent with recent reports of CHIKV in travelers returning from the region. Countries should be alert to the possibility of CHIKV infection in returning travelers, particularly in regions where autochthonous transmission is possible.
The current coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is one of the international crises and researchers are working collaboratively to develop a safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine. The World Health Organization recognizes vaccine hesitancy as the world's top threat to public health safety, particularly in low middle-income countries. Vaccine hesitancy can be due to a lack of knowledge, false religious beliefs, or anti-vaccine misinformation. The current situation regarding anti-vaccine beliefs is pointing towards dreadful outcomes. It raises the concern that will people believe and accept the new COVID-19 vaccines despite all anti-vaccine movements and COVID-19-related myths and conspiracy theories. This review discusses the possible detrimental impacts of myths and conspiracy theories related to COVID-19 and vaccine on COVID-19 vaccine refusals as well as other vaccine programs.
Toxoplasma gondii is a protozoan parasite that can infect all mammals, serving as intermediate hosts. The cause of congenital toxoplasmosis is transplacental transmission of the parasite to the foetus, resulting in wide range of manifestations from mild chorioretinitis to miscarriage. Its frequency can be reduced by early screening of pregnant women which is based mainly on tests for anti-Toxoplasma antibodies. We collected serum samples of 594 pregnant women (subjects) after taking their consent over a period of two years (2016-2018) and analyzed them for anti-Toxoplasma IgG by ELISA. The positive samples were then analyzed for IgG avidity test which could differentiate between recent and past infections. The seroprevalence was also correlated with the age of the subjects and their contact with cats. 162 subjects were found positive out of which only three showed a recent infection. After following up until delivery, one of them delivered a baby who had jaundice and was diagnosed with anti-Toxoplasma IgM at birth. The foetus of the second subject died in-utero, while the third woman delivered a normal baby after being given spiramycin when diagnosed with toxoplasmosis in the first trimester. It was found that most of the positive subjects had frequent contact with cats. Invasion of the parasite during third trimester resulted in death in-utero and jaundice. Most common cause of pregnancy wastage during our study was spontaneous abortions while pregnancy loss due to congenital anomalies was rare.