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Fulltext Requirements, Deployments, and Challenges of LoRa Technology: A Survey

Ayoub Kamal M, Alam MM, Sajak AAB, Mohd Su'ud M

Comput Intell Neurosci, 2023;2023:5183062.
PMID: 36654727 DOI: 10.1155/2023/5183062

LoRa is an ISM-band based LPWAN communication protocol. Despite their wide network penetration of approximately 20 kilometers or higher using lower than 14 decibels transmitting power, it has been extensively documented and used in academia and industry. Although LoRa connectivity defines a public platform and enables users to create independent low-power wireless connections while relying on external architecture, it has gained considerable interest from scholars and the market. The two fundamental components of this platform are LoRaWAN and LoRa PHY. The consumer LoRaWAN component of the technology describes the network model, connectivity procedures, ability to operate the frequency range, and the types of interlinked gadgets. In contrast, the LoRa PHY component is patentable and provides information on the modulation strategy which is being utilized and its attributes. There are now several LoRa platforms available. To create usable LoRa systems, there are presently several technical difficulties to be overcome, such as connection management, allocation of resources, consistent communications, and security. This study presents a thorough overview of LoRa networking, covering the technological difficulties in setting up LoRa infrastructures and current solutions. Several outstanding challenges of LoRa communication are presented depending on our thorough research of the available solutions. The research report aims to stimulate additional research toward enhancing the LoRa Network capacity and allowing more realistic installations.
Effect of Short-Term Ageing Treatment on Bending Force Behavior of Commercial Nickel-Titanium Archwire

Munir A, Razali MF, Hassan MH, Franz G

Materials (Basel), 2023 Jan 21;16(3).
PMID: 36770015 DOI: 10.3390/ma16031008

Superelastic nickel-titanium (NiTi) archwires have become the preferred archwire for orthodontic alignment and the levelling stage due to their ability to exert a light force on teeth throughout a wide range of tooth movement. The magnitude and trend of the force exerted on the malposed tooth is influenced by the orthodontist's consideration of the size and geometry of the NiTi archwire during orthodontic therapy. In this work, a novel approach of a short-term ageing treatment was utilized to modify the magnitude and trend of the bending force of a commercial superelastic NiTi archwire. The bending behavior of the superelastic NiTi archwire was altered by subjecting it to different temperatures in an ageing treatment for 15 min. The bending behavior of the aged NiTi archwire was examined using a three-point and three-bracket setup. The commercial NiTi archwire's bending forces in both the three-point and three-bracket configurations were successfully altered by the 15 min ageing treatment. During unloading in the three-bracket arrangement, the NiTi archwires aged at 490 °C or 520 °C exhibited a lower magnitude and more consistent force compared to the NiTi archwires aged at 400 °C or 430 °C. Ageing the archwire for 15 min at 490 °C produced a suitable size of Ni4Ti3 precipitate, which makes the wire more flexible during bending and reduces the unloading force in the three-bracket bending configuration. The short-term aged NiTi archwire could be used to enhance the force delivery trend to the malposed tooth by lowering the amplitude of the force delivered and sustaining that force throughout the orthodontic treatment duration.
The impact of CO2 emissions on economic growth: evidence from selected higher CO2 emissions economies

Azam M, Khan AQ, Bin Abdullah H, Qureshi ME

Environ Sci Pollut Res Int, 2016 Apr;23(7):6376-89.
PMID: 26620862 DOI: 10.1007/s11356-015-5817-4

The main purpose of this work is to analyze the impact of environmental degradation proxied by CO2 emissions per capita along with some other explanatory variables namely energy use, trade, and human capital on economic growth in selected higher CO2 emissions economies namely China, the USA, India, and Japan. For empirical analysis, annual data over the period spanning between 1971 and 2013 are used. After using relevant and suitable tests for checking data properties, the panel fully modified ordinary least squares (FMOLS) method is employed as an analytical technique for parameter estimation. The panel group FMOLS results reveal that almost all variables are statistically significant, whereby test rejects the null hypotheses of non cointegration, demonstrating that all variables play an important role in affecting the economic growth role across countries. Where two regressors namely CO2 emissions and energy use show significantly negative impacts on economic growth, for trade and human capital, they tend to show the significantly positive impact on economic growth. However, for the individual analysis across countries, the panel estimate suggests that CO2 emissions have a significant positive relationship with economic growth for China, Japan, and the USA, while it is found significantly negative in case of India. The empirical findings of the study suggest that appropriate and prudent policies are required in order to control pollution emerging from areas other than liquefied fuel consumption. The ultimate impact of shrinking pollution will help in supporting sustainable economic growth and maturation as well as largely improve society welfare.
Urbanization and energy consumption effects on carbon dioxide emissions: evidence from Asian-8 countries using panel data analysis

Abbasi MA, Parveen S, Khan S, Kamal MA

Environ Sci Pollut Res Int, 2020 May;27(15):18029-18043.
PMID: 32170610 DOI: 10.1007/s11356-020-08262-w

The developing world is facing pivotal challenges in recent times. Among these, global warming has ominous repercussions on every segment of society, thus tracing its underlying causes is imperative. This research attempts to investigate the impact of urbanization and energy consumption on carbon dioxide emissions (CO2) for a panel of 8 Asian countries (Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka) over the period 1982 to 2017. The analyses are executed using panel co-integration and Granger causality techniques. The main findings of panel co-integration reveal a long-run relationship between urbanization, energy consumption, and CO2 emissions. Furthermore, the results indicate a positive and significant impact of urbanization and energy consumption on CO2 emissions, indicating that urban development and high energy consumptions are barriers to improve environmental quality in the long run. The results also highlight bi-directional causality between energy consumption and urbanization, while unidirectional causality exists between energy consumption and CO2 emissions. Based on the obtained results, this study offers useful policy implications for plummeting carbon emissions.
Does foreign direct investment asymmetrically affect the mitigation of environmental degradation in Malaysia?

Faheem M, Hussain S, ArsalanTanveer, Safdar N, Anwer MA

Environ Sci Pollut Res Int, 2022 Jan;29(5):7393-7405.
PMID: 34476703 DOI: 10.1007/s11356-021-16231-0

In this modern era, the global warming issue has been on the front burner of almost all countries including Malaysia. This study utilizing time series data spanning from 1970 to 2018. To this end, a linear and nonlinear autoregressive distributed lag model was conducted to reveal the foreign direct investment-growth-environment nexus. The conclusion validates the existence of the pollution haven hypothesis in Malaysia. Specifically, the empirical results of the linear autoregressive distributed lag model indicate that foreign direct investment and real gross domestic product have a significant positive impact on CO2 emission while carbon damage cost and the interaction term of foreign direct investment and carbon damage cost have a negative impact in the long run and short run. To find the asymmetric behavior of the foreign direct investment our study employed a nonlinear autoregressive distributed lag model. The findings confirmed the asymmetry association of foreign direct investment with CO2 emission. Interestingly, our results of the interaction term in both models are significant with a negative sign that shows the mediating effect of carbon damage cost that converts the positive effect of foreign direct investment on CO2 emission to negative. Thus, it is vital to reinforce the use of significant regulation as the Malaysian economy opens up to attract more foreign direct investment.
Fulltext The COVID-19 impact on air condition usage: a shift towards residential energy saving

Aliero MS, Pasha MF, Toosi AN, Ghani I

Environ Sci Pollut Res Int, 2022 Dec;29(57):85727-85741.
PMID: 35001275 DOI: 10.1007/s11356-021-17862-z

The enforcement of the Movement Control Order to curtail the spread of COVID-19 has affected home energy consumption, especially HVAC systems. Occupancy detection and estimation have been recognized as key contributors to improving building energy efficiency. Several solutions have been proposed for the past decade to improve the precision performance of occupancy detection and estimation in the building. Environmental sensing is one of the practical solutions to detect and estimate occupants in the building during uncertain behavior. However, the literature reveals that the performance of environmental sensing is relatively poor due to the poor quality of the training dataset used in the model. This study proposed a smart sensing framework that combined camera-based and environmental sensing approaches using supervised learning to gather standard and robust datasets related to indoor occupancy that can be used for cross-validation of different machine learning algorithms in formal research. The proposed solution is tested in the living room with a prototype system integrated with various sensors using a random forest regressor, although other techniques could be easily integrated within the proposed framework. The primary implication of this study is to predict the room occupation through the use of sensors providing inputs into a model to lower energy consumption. The results indicate that the proposed solution can obtain data, process, and predict occupant presence and number with 99.3% accuracy. Additionally, to demonstrate the impact of occupant number in energy saving, one room with two zones is modeled each zone with air condition with different thermostat controller. The first zone uses IoFClime and the second zone uses modified IoFClime using a design-builder. The simulation is conducted using EnergyPlus software with the random simulation of 10 occupants and local climate data under three scenarios. The Fanger model's thermal comfort analysis shows that up to 50% and 25% energy can be saved under the first and third scenarios.
Fulltext Do geopolitical risk and energy consumption contribute to environmental degradation? Evidence from E7 countries

Husnain MIU, Syed QR, Bashir A, Khan MA

Environ Sci Pollut Res Int, 2022 Jan 30.
PMID: 35094268 DOI: 10.1007/s11356-021-17606-z

Environmental degradation is frequently cited as one of the eminent issues in the modern era. To limit environmental degradation, prior literature discerns several macroeconomic, socio-economic, and institutional factors that affect environmental degradation. However, the relationship between geopolitical risk and environmental degradation is understudied in the previous literature. To fill this gap, the inquiry at hand aims to scrutinize the influence of geopolitical risk on environmental degradation for E7 countries while controlling the effect of renewable energy, non-renewable energy, and GDP. Further, we utilize both the ecological footprint and CO2 emissions as proxies of environmental degradation and employ second-generation panel methods for robust findings. In addition to this, the present study uses augmented mean group (AMG) estimator to provide long-run relationship among the selected variables. The findings from the AMG estimator expound that there exists environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) for E7 countries. Moreover, renewable energy ameliorates environmental quality because it plunges both ecological footprint and CO2 emissions. On the contrary, non-renewable energy consumption escalates both ecological footprint and CO2 emissions. Finally, geopolitical risk tends to decrease CO2 emissions as well as ecological footprint. Our findings deduce a few policy implications to replenish environmental quality. For instance, the share of renewables in the energy mix should be surged to ameliorate the environmental quality. Further, to control both the geopolitical risk and environmental degradation at the same time, policymakers should put forward reforms and initiatives (e.g., policies to escalate R&D, technological innovations, and tax exemptions on imports of renewables) that can help to improve environmental quality without affecting geopolitical risk. At times of low geopolitical risk, environmental degradation will surge; therefore, the rate of environmental control taxes should be increased by the policymakers.
How do financial fragility and ICT penetration affect renewable energy consumption and green growth in top-polluting economies?

Akram MW, Ahmed D, Trunina A, Hamid K, Hafeez M

Environ Sci Pollut Res Int, 2023 Mar;30(13):38810-38818.
PMID: 36586019 DOI: 10.1007/s11356-022-24978-3

Green growth is an extension of traditional economic growth. Financial fragility and ICT penetration are important pillars of green growth sustainability. However, very limited studies have explored this association and provided conflicting results. Thus, our study intends to fill this vacuum by exploring the impact of financial fragility and ICT penetration on renewable energy consumption and green growth for the top five polluting economies over the period 1996-2020. In this study, financial fragility is measured by bank costs and bank non-performing loans. Panel ARDL technique is used to find out long-run and short-run results estimates. Financial fragility reduces renewable energy consumption and green growth in the long run. However, internet penetration enhances renewable energy consumption and green growth in the long run. Our findings suggest imperative policy implications for the green economy.
Safety climate and safety behaviors: Adapting and validating a positively worded safety climate scale through the time-lagged approach

Mirza MZ, Memon MA, Javaid MU, Arshad R

Work, 2023 Sep 28.
PMID: 37781850 DOI: 10.3233/WOR-230150

BACKGROUND: Contemporary literature raises serious questions about the inclusion of negatively worded items in the safety climate scale. Despite these reservations, limited efforts have been made to address this shortcoming.
OBJECTIVE: The present study aims to adapt and empirically validate the ten-items group-level safety climate scale with the purpose of replacing negatively worded items with positively worded ones after a thorough validation process. The present study is one of the first to propose an empirically validated group-level safety climate scale that uses positive items to measure the safety climate construct.
METHODS: Study 1 was conducted using a sample of 135 participants. Study 2 used a time-lagged approach to validate the scale, with a sample of 173 production workers from six oil and gas organizations in Malaysia. The Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) method was used to test the hypothesized relationships.
RESULTS: In Study 1, the results of the exploratory factor analysis showed good reliability for the revised scale. In Study 2, the results of the PLS-SEM analysis demonstrated a positive relationship between safety climate and safety behaviors, thereby validating the revised and translated scale of safety climate.
CONCLUSION: The revised safety climate scale will not only improve data quality, but it will also increase response rates. Additionally, the revised scale will assist managers in understanding the true perceptions of safety climate in their organization, regardless of the cultural context in which the scale is used.
Rice Nutraceuticals and Bioactive Compounds: Extraction, Characterization and Antioxidant Activity: A Review

Zubair M, Anwar F, Arshad I, Malik S, Zafar MN

Comb Chem High Throughput Screen, 2023;26(15):2625-2643.
PMID: 37183472 DOI: 10.2174/1386207326666230512144834

Rice (Oryza sativa L.), a cereal grass, belongs to the genus Oryza from the family Poaceae, which encompasses twenty-five species cultured in many countries of Asia, and partly in the rest of the world. From these species, two viz. Oryza sativa (O. sativa) Asian rice and Oryza glaberrima (O. glaberrima) African rice are commonly found and the most widely consumed staple food by a large part of the human population in the world, especially in Asia due to their nutritional and nutraceutical prospects. Rice, a popular source of carbohydrates, also contains a good amount of dietary fiber, minerals (Ca, Zn, Se, P, K, Mg, Fe, and Mn), protein and vitamin B along with several other medicinally important bioactives such as tocols (α-tocopherols and α-tocotrienols) (ßsitosterol) phenolic acids, flavonoids (apiginine), and oryzanol (24-Methylenecylcoartanyl transferulate). Rice bran is a byproduct of the rice polishing industry and is valuable in terms of containing 15-20% high-value oil. Because of the natural antioxidants present in rice, several medicinal benefits and biological properties can be attributed to rice consumption. The nutrient profile of rice varies based on several factors, such as grains (white, brown, red, and black/purple), the extent of polishing, and the preparation method. Considering the importance of rice as a traditional diet rich in high-value bioactives, together with the existing gap of related information, it is worthwhile to assemble a comprehensive review that focuses on the detailed profile of valuable nutrients and high-value phytochemicals and biological activities of rice to explore its functional food and nutraceutical applications. This review attempts to provide collective information on the essential rice cereal for its nutritional and antioxidant potential.
Fulltext Ensemble learning for multi-class COVID-19 detection from big data

Kaleem S, Sohail A, Tariq MU, Babar M, Qureshi B

PLoS One, 2023;18(10):e0292587.
PMID: 37819992 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0292587

Coronavirus disease (COVID-19), which has caused a global pandemic, continues to have severe effects on human lives worldwide. Characterized by symptoms similar to pneumonia, its rapid spread requires innovative strategies for its early detection and management. In response to this crisis, data science and machine learning (ML) offer crucial solutions to complex problems, including those posed by COVID-19. One cost-effective approach to detect the disease is the use of chest X-rays, which is a common initial testing method. Although existing techniques are useful for detecting COVID-19 using X-rays, there is a need for further improvement in efficiency, particularly in terms of training and execution time. This article introduces an advanced architecture that leverages an ensemble learning technique for COVID-19 detection from chest X-ray images. Using a parallel and distributed framework, the proposed model integrates ensemble learning with big data analytics to facilitate parallel processing. This approach aims to enhance both execution and training times, ensuring a more effective detection process. The model's efficacy was validated through a comprehensive analysis of predicted and actual values, and its performance was meticulously evaluated for accuracy, precision, recall, and F-measure, and compared to state-of-the-art models. The work presented here not only contributes to the ongoing fight against COVID-19 but also showcases the wider applicability and potential of ensemble learning techniques in healthcare.
Fulltext Rampart of Health-Specific Leadership and Social Support of Colleagues to Overcome Burnout in an Emotionally Demanding Situations: The Mediating Role of Stress

Javaid MU, Rehman N, Mirza MZ, Ibrahim AM

J Healthc Leadersh, 2023;15:121-128.
PMID: 37465199 DOI: 10.2147/JHL.S420584

INTRODUCTION: Past studies have neglected the role of resources that enhance motivation, such as health-specific leadership (H-SL) and social support colleagues (SSC), in dealing with the prerequisites of psychological health of workers, especially the duo of stress and burnout.
OBJECTIVE: This empirical study aimed to identify the impact of psychosocial job demands (emotional demands) and psychosocial job resources (health-specific leadership and social support of colleagues) on the psychological health (stress, burnout) of 284 Malaysian industrial workers (who participated both times).
METHODS: The Hierarchical regression analysis was employed to examine all study hypotheses and a time lagged study design was used with a lag of three months between T1 and T2 for data collection.
RESULTS: The survey data found a significant impact of emotional demands on stress and burnout, while we found insignificant findings of health-specific leadership and social support from colleagues on workers' psychological health.
FUTURE DIRECTIONS: Future studies should consider the different formations of psychosocial job resources and higher dimensions of health promotion leadership.
Detection of Enterocytozoon hepatopenaei (EHP) (microsporidia) in several species of potential macrofauna-carriers from shrimp (Penaeus vannamei) ponds in Malaysia

Wan Sajiri WMH, Kua BC, Borkhanuddin MH

J Invertebr Pathol, 2023 Jun;198:107910.
PMID: 36889458 DOI: 10.1016/j.jip.2023.107910

Infection by the microsporidian parasite Enterocytozoon hepatopenaei (EHP) has become a significant problem in the shrimp cultivation industry in Asian countries like Thailand, China, India, Vietnam, Indonesia, and Malaysia. The outbreak of this microsporidian parasite is predominantly related to the existence of macrofauna-carriers of EHP. However, information about potential macrofauna-carriers of EHP in rearing ponds is still limited. In this study, the screening of EHP in potential macrofauna-carriers was conducted in farming ponds of Penaeus vannamei in three states in Malaysia, namely Penang, Kedah, and Johor. A total of 82 macrofauna specimens (phyla: Arthropoda, Mollusca, and Chordata) were amplified through a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay targeting genes encoding spore wall proteins (SWP) of EHP. The PCR results showed an average prevalence of EHP (82.93%) from three phyla (Arthropoda, Mollusca and Chordata). The phylogenetic tree generated from the macrofauna sequences was revealed to be identical to the EHP-infected shrimp specimens from Malaysia (MW000458, MW000459, and MW000460), as well as those from India (KY674537), Thailand (MG015710), Vietnam (KY593132), and Indonesia (KY593133). These findings suggest that certain macrofauna species in shrimp ponds of P. vannamei are carriers of EHP spores and could be potential transmission vectors. This study provides preliminary information for the prevention of EHP infections that can be initiated at the pond stage by eradicating macrofauna species identified as potential vectors.
Fulltext Unlocking the secrets of exchange rate determination in Malaysia: A Game-Changing hybrid model

Butt S, Ramzan M, Wong WK, Chohan MA, Ramakrishnan S

Heliyon, 2023 Aug;9(8):e19140.
PMID: 37636448 DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e19140

Nominal exchange rate determination is a puzzling phenomenon throughout the literature. Thus, the study aims to analyze the nominal exchange rate determination with a hybrid approach of macroeconomic and microstructure determinants, i.e., interest rate differential, oil price, order flow, and bid-ask spread over the long- and short-run horizons in the context of Malaysia. The dataset consists of high-frequency daily data from 2010 to 2017, employing a nonlinear ARDL approach. The results indicate that the bid-ask spread and interest rate differential were found to be key determinants of exchange rate dynamics in the long and short run. The findings show strong evidence of long-run asymmetry in the interest rate differential, while short-run asymmetry effects exist between microstructure determinants and the exchange rate. In addition, it indicates that the bid-ask spread holds informative content to explain the dynamics of the exchange rate in Malaysia. Additionally, the negative changes in the oil price could potentially act as macroeconomic news announcements and the bid-ask spread as liquidity determinants in Malaysia, which play a significant role in exchange rate determination. The study concluded that the prominent short-run asymmetry effects captured in cumulative order flow and bid-ask spread While a long-run asymmetry exists between the oil price and exchange rate in Malaysia. The empirical results allow for long-run and short-run asymmetric pricing impacts of a hybrid approach on the nominal exchange rate in Malaysia. This study is helpful in providing policy direction and practical implications for monetary authorities and market dealers. The bid-ask spread and oil price could be considered influential exchange rate determinants in the short run in Malaysia.
A Recent Digitalization in Recycling Industry Attaining Ecological Sustainability: A Comprehensive Outlook and Future Trend

Khan SAR, Umar M, Yu Z, Nawaz MT

Environ Sci Pollut Res Int, 2023 Oct;30(47):103760-103775.
PMID: 37695483 DOI: 10.1007/s11356-023-29537-y

The management of waste through dual way of recycling (i-e offline and online) is assumed to have a key role in attaining ecological sustainability and enabling circular practices. The research on online recycling is gaining evolution in recent age. Prior literature on the current research theme has failed to provide a comprehensive outlook and future trend. Therefore, the current research intends to elaborate the current research scenario linked with online recycling by critically scrutinizing the prior research over the last 41 years. A comprehensive analysis was conducted using the Scopus database, retrieving a total of 866 articles. These articles were selected to provide a conceptual overview and understanding of the fundamental research conducted in the field. By employing bibliometric analysis this research provides comprehensive detail about evolution, mapping of publications and prominent trends from the year 1981 to 2022 to understand the practices and future trends of online recycling research. The outcomes elucidated that there is exponential increase in research publications relating to online recycling over the last five years. The most influential producer of online recycling research are China, United Kingdom and United States. Chinese Universities has the highest number of publications among all the countries across globe. Moreover, the current research trend is focused on technology based circular economy, industrial ecology, bio-based waste management, dual channel recycling, municipal waste, waste from electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE), environmental impact and lifecycle assessment. Hence, the prominent research perspective and highlighted features could offer recommendation for upcoming studies to contribute in literature and help practitioners, policymakers and professionals move towards circular practices.
Fulltext Harnessing the power of AI: Advanced deep learning models optimization for accurate SARS-CoV-2 forecasting

Tariq MU, Ismail SB, Babar M, Ahmad A

PLoS One, 2023;18(7):e0287755.
PMID: 37471397 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0287755

The pandemic has significantly affected many countries including the USA, UK, Asia, the Middle East and Africa region, and many other countries. Similarly, it has substantially affected Malaysia, making it crucial to develop efficient and precise forecasting tools for guiding public health policies and approaches. Our study is based on advanced deep-learning models to predict the SARS-CoV-2 cases. We evaluate the performance of Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM), Bi-directional LSTM, Convolutional Neural Networks (CNN), CNN-LSTM, Multilayer Perceptron, Gated Recurrent Unit (GRU), and Recurrent Neural Networks (RNN). We trained these models and assessed them using a detailed dataset of confirmed cases, demographic data, and pertinent socio-economic factors. Our research aims to determine the most reliable and accurate model for forecasting SARS-CoV-2 cases in the region. We were able to test and optimize deep learning models to predict cases, with each model displaying diverse levels of accuracy and precision. A comprehensive evaluation of the models' performance discloses the most appropriate architecture for Malaysia's specific situation. This study supports ongoing efforts to combat the pandemic by offering valuable insights into the application of sophisticated deep-learning models for precise and timely SARS-CoV-2 case predictions. The findings hold considerable implications for public health decision-making, empowering authorities to create targeted and data-driven interventions to limit the virus's spread and minimize its effects on Malaysia's population.
Behavior-based safety program for process industries

Rashid MI, Athar M, Noor F, Hussain A

Int J Occup Saf Ergon, 2023 Dec;29(4):1440-1450.
PMID: 36221985 DOI: 10.1080/10803548.2022.2135282

Objectives. This article describes the reduction of unsafe behaviors observed at a fertilizer complex by implementation of a behavior-based safety (BBS) program via a behavior observation form developed by a multidisciplinary team. Methods. Six observation categories, i.e., position of people, reaction of people, personal protective equipment (PPE), tools used, operating procedures and housekeeping, are used to monitor safe and unsafe behaviors for a period of 18 months. Results. Safe behaviors increased from 57 to 70% and unsafe behaviors reduced from 40 to 26%. Behaviors of employees working in various sections of fertilizer complex such as ammonia, urea, utility, bagging/shipping and workshop were also observed. Non-compliance with PPE, housekeeping and standard operating procedures was also monitored in individual sections. Non-operational areas including the administration block, housing colony, maintenance workshop, warehouse, fire station and electrical substation were also observed. Among these, the maximum unsafe behaviors are for the housing colony and minimum for the electrical substation. Conclusion. It has been concluded that working on the housing colony, administration block and fire station areas will address 74% unsafe behaviors of non-operational areas. For practical applications, worldwide industries can implement this BBS program to enhance BBS, thus reducing unsafe behaviors and increasing employee morale.
Fulltext Relationship Between Problematic Social Media Usage and Employee Depression: A Moderated Mediation Model of Mindfulness and Fear of COVID-19

Majeed M, Irshad M, Fatima T, Khan J, Hassan MM

Front Psychol, 2020;11:557987.
PMID: 33391075 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.557987

Social media plays a significant role in modern life, but excessive use of it during the COVID-19 pandemic has become a source of concern. Supported by the conservation of resources theory, the current study extends the literature on problematic social media usage during COVID-19 by investigating its association with emotional and mental health outcomes. In a moderated mediation model, this study proposes that problematic social media use by workers during COVID-19 is linked to fear of COVID-19, which is further associated with depression. The current study tested trait mindfulness as an important personal resource that may be associated with reduced fear of COVID-19 despite problematic social media use. The study collected temporally separate data to avoid common method bias. Pakistani employees (N = 267) working in different organizations completed a series of survey questionnaires. The results supported the moderated mediation model, showing that problematic social media use during the current pandemic is linked to fear of COVID-19 and depression among employees. Furthermore, trait mindfulness was found to be an important buffer, reducing the negative indirect association between problematic social media use and depression through fear of COVID-19. These results offer implications for practitioners. The limitations of this study and future research directions are also discussed.
Fulltext Retracted: Luciferase-transfected colon adenocarcinoma cell line (DLD-1) for use in Orthotopic Xenotransplantation studies

Siddique MR, Shynder S, Ashraf MA, Yusoff I, Wajid A

Chem Cent J, 2012 Jul 18;6(1):69.
PMID: 22809083 DOI: 10.1186/1752-153X-6-69

BACKGROUND: Renilla Luciferase reporter gene (rLuc) GL4.82 and GL4.13 promoter are key player in transfection, but precise knowledge of its targets in colon cancer remains limited. The aim of this study was to characterize the best transfection technique to produce a stable transfected colon DLD1 (colorectal adenocarcinoma cell line), therefore imaging based approaches were employed.
RESULTS: DLD1 cells were transfected with a Plasmid (SV40-RLuc) carrying Renilla luciferase under the control of the SV-40 promoter, by using two different transfection techniques. Cells expressing the required DNA were isolated after antibiotic (Puramycin) selection. Clones of DLD-1/SV40-RLuc were produced using two different techniques (96 well plates and Petri dish) and their florescence intensity was recorded using IVIS machine (Calliper Life Sciences, Hopkinton, USA). Both techniques were characterized with the help of serial dilution technique. Results from this study substantiated that electroporation is the best. As expected, clones varied in their specific luciferase activity along with the dilutions. With the increase in cell concentration increase in intensity of florescence was recorded.
CONCLUSIONS: Based on the results we are confident that this transfected cell line DLD-1/SV40-RLuc (colorectal adenocarcinoma cell line) is the best for further Orthotopic Xenotransplantation Studies and in-vivo experiments as well. Investigation shows that DLD1/SV-rLuc cells have gained little bit resistance against both drugs therefore further study is suggested to know the reasons.
Fulltext Negative correlation between age of subjects and length of the appendix in Bangladeshi males

Bakar SM, Shamim M, Alam GM, Sarwar M

Arch Med Sci, 2013 Feb 21;9(1):55-67.
PMID: 23515519 DOI: 10.5114/aoms.2013.33349

INTRODUCTION: The anatomy of the vermiform appendix shows variations in its macroscopic dimensions some of which have potential to influence the clinical aspects of the appendix. Anatomical studies on the appendix using people in Bangladesh as a sample are limited and fall short of producing any standardized anthropometric data. This study is predominantly a cross-sectional observational study which also uses some statistical analysis to understand the relationships amongst variables.
MATERIAL AND METHODS: Fifty-six adult male postmortem appendices and adnexa were examined for macroscopic features. Possible interrelationships among the variables were assessed through statistical analysis. The age of the samples ranged from 18 to 67 years. The most common position of the appendix was retrocolic (53.57%) followed by pelvic (30.35%), postileal (12.5%), and subcaecal (3.5%).
RESULTS: In most cases (62.5%) the mesoappendix did not reach the tip of the appendix. The appendicular length varied from 6.00 cm to 16.30 cm with mean (± SD) and median value of 10.21 ±2.50 cm and 10.00 cm respectively. The base of the appendix was 1.90 to 3.80 cm away from the ileocaecal junction. The other macroscopic measurements of the appendix were taken at the base, at the midzone and at the tip of the appendix and the mean of the three measurements was considered as the overall value. Thus, the overall external diameter varied between 0.32 cm and 0.83 cm. Assessment of possible correlations amongst different variables revealed a significant negative correlation between the age of the subjects and the length of the appendix.
CONCLUSIONS: The data of the present study may provide a baseline along with some previous data in the standardization of the anthropometric information regarding the vermiform appendix of Bangladeshi males.

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