We analyzed the facial features of Chinese children with repaired unilateral cleft lip and palate (UCLP) and compared them with a normal control group using a three-dimensional (3D) stereophotogrammetry camera. This cross-sectional study examined 3D measurements of the facial surfaces of 20 Chinese children with repaired UCLP and 40 unaffected Chinese children aged 7 to 12 years old, which were captured using the VECTRA 3D five-pod photosystem and analyzed using Mirror software. Twenty-five variables and two ratios were compared between both groups using independent t-test. Intra- and inter-observer reliability was determined using ten randomly selected images and analyzed using intra-class correlation coefficient test (ICC). The level of significance was set at p
To evaluate the effect of postoperative corticosteroids on surgical outcome and autotaxin (ATX) levels after microhook ab interno trabeculotomy combined with cataract surgery (μLOT-CS), prospective, consecutive non-randomized case series comparing outcomes of 30 eyes with primary open angle glaucoma was performed. The aqueous ATX, intraocular pressure (IOP) and glaucoma medications were monitored for 3 months postoperatively. An in-vivo mouse μLOT model was generated. In vitro, ATX and fibrotic changes induced by dexamethasone (Dex) treatment following scratch (S) in cultured human trabecular meshwork (hTM) cells were assessed by immunofluorescence, immunoenzymatic assay, and RT-qPCR. Postoperative ATX at 1 week and the number of antiglaucoma medications at 3 months were significantly lower in non-steroid group, and steroid use was the only variable significantly associated with postoperative medications at 3 months in multiregression analyses. In vitro, ATX activity was significantly upregulated in the Dex + S group, and αSMA was significantly upregulated in the Dex and Dex + S groups. Fibronectin and COL1A1 were significantly upregulated in the S group. μLOT-CS decreased IOP and medications in the overall cohort, and non-use of postoperative steroids resulted in a smaller number of postoperative medications. Limiting postoperative steroids in μLOT may minimize IOP elevation and postoperative fibrosis.
The economic burden of influenza is a significant issue within healthcare system, related to higher medical costs particularly among the elderly. Yet, influenza vaccination rates in the elderly in Malaysia were considerably low as it is not part of Malaysia's national immunization program, with substantial mortality and morbidity consequences. Therefore, we conducted a cost-effectiveness analysis of quadrivalent influenza vaccine (QIV) for the elderly in Malaysia compared with the current no-vaccination policy. A static cost-utility model, with a lifetime horizon based on age, was used for the analysis to assess the cost-effectiveness and health outcomes associated with QIV. Univariate and probabilistic sensitivity analyses were performed to test the effects of variations in the parameters. The use of QIV in Malaysia's elderly population would prevent 66,326 potential influenza cases and 888 potential deaths among the elderly, leading to 10,048 potential quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) gained. The QIV would also save over USD 4.4 million currently spent on influenza-related hospitalizations and reduce productivity losses by approximately USD 21.6 million. The ICER per QALY gained from a third-party payer's perspective would be USD 2216, which is lower than the country's gross domestic product per capita. A QIV-based vaccination program in the elderly was found to be highly cost-effective, therefore would reduce the financial burden of managing influenza and reduce pre-mature death related to this disease.
The current work analyzes the effects of concentric ballooned catheterization and heat transfer on the hybrid nano blood flow through diseased arterial segment having both stenosis and aneurysm along its boundary. A fractional second-grade fluid model is considered which describes the non-Newtonian characteristics of the blood. Governing equations are linearized under mild stenosis and mild aneurysm assumptions. Precise articulations for various important flow characteristics such as heat transfer, hemodynamic velocity, wall shear stress, and resistance impedance are attained. Graphical portrayals for the impact of the significant parameters on the flow attributes have been devised. The streamlines of blood flow have been examined as well. The present finding is useful for drug conveyance system and biomedicines.
Radio frequency (RF) magnetron sputtering was used to deposit tungsten disulfide (WS2) thin films on top of soda lime glass substrates. The deposition power of RF magnetron sputtering varied at 50, 100, 150, 200, and 250 W to investigate the impact on film characteristics and determine the optimized conditions for suitable application in thin-film solar cells. Morphological, structural, and opto-electronic properties of as-grown films were investigated and analyzed for different deposition powers. All the WS2 films exhibited granular morphology and consisted of a rhombohedral phase with a strong preferential orientation toward the (101) crystal plane. Polycrystalline ultra-thin WS2 films with bandgap of 2.2 eV, carrier concentration of 1.01 × 1019 cm-3, and resistivity of 0.135 Ω-cm were successfully achieved at RF deposition power of 200 W. The optimized WS2 thin film was successfully incorporated as a window layer for the first time in CdTe/WS2 solar cell. Initial investigations revealed that the newly incorporated WS2 window layer in CdTe solar cell demonstrated photovoltaic conversion efficiency of 1.2% with Voc of 379 mV, Jsc of 11.5 mA/cm2, and FF of 27.1%. This study paves the way for WS2 thin film as a potential window layer to be used in thin-film solar cells.
As synthetic antioxidants that are widely used in foods are known to cause detrimental health effects, studies on natural additives as potential antioxidants are becoming increasingly important. In this work, the total phenolic content (TPC) and antioxidant activity of Ficus carica Linn latex from 18 cultivars were investigated. The TPC of latex was calculated using the Folin-Ciocalteu assay. 1,1-Diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), 2,2'-azinobis-(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) (ABTS) and ferric ion reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) were used for antioxidant activity assessment. The bioactive compounds from F. carica latex were extracted via maceration and ultrasound-assisted extraction (UAE) with 75% ethanol as solvent. Under the same extraction conditions, the latex of cultivar 'White Genoa' showed the highest antioxidant activity of 65.91% ± 1.73% and 61.07% ± 1.65% in DPPH, 98.96% ± 1.06% and 83.04% ± 2.16% in ABTS, and 27.08 ± 0.34 and 24.94 ± 0.84 mg TE/g latex in FRAP assay via maceration and UAE, respectively. The TPC of 'White Genoa' was 315.26 ± 6.14 and 298.52 ± 9.20 µg GAE/mL via the two extraction methods, respectively. The overall results of this work showed that F. carica latex is a potential natural source of antioxidants. This finding is useful for further advancements in the fields of food supplements, food additives and drug synthesis in the future.
In this paper, we report a compact and ultra-wide band antenna on a flexible substrate using the 5-(4-(perfluorohexyl)phenyl)thiophene-2-carbaldehyde compound for microwave imaging. In contrast to other microwave based imaging systems, such as an array of 16 antennas, we proposed a bi-static radar based imaging system consisting of two omnidirectional antennas, which reduces complexity and the overall dimension. The proposed compact antennas are 20 × 14 mm2 and designed for operating at frequencies from 4 to 6 GHz. To allow for implantation into a bra, the electromagnetic performances of the antennas must be considered in bending conditions. In comparison with the recently reported flexible antennas, we demonstrated both electromagnetic performance and imaging reconstruction for bending conditions. For the proof of concept, the electromagnetic performances both at flat and bending conditions have been verified using a homogeneous multilayer model of the human breast phantom. Our results demonstrate that the antenna, even at bending conditions, exhibits an excellent omni-directional radiation pattern with an average efficiency above 70% and average gain above 1 dBi, within the operational frequency band. The comprehensive aim of the realized antenna is to design a biodegradable and wearable antenna-based bra for early breast cancer detection in the future.
In this study, the extraction conditions extracted maximize amounts of phenolic and bioactive compounds from the fruit extract of Ficus auriculata by using optimized response surface methodology. The antioxidant capacity was evaluated through the assay of radical scavenging ability on DPPH and ABTS as well as reducing power assays on total phenolic content (TPC). For the extraction purpose, the ultrasonic assisted extraction technique was employed. A second-order polynomial model satisfactorily fitted to the experimental findings concerning antioxidant activity (R2 = 0.968, P
In this paper, the acoustic impedance property has been employed to predict the ultimate tensile strength (UTS) and yield strength (YS) of pure metals and alloys. Novel algorithms were developed, depending on three experimentally measured parameters, and programmed in a MATLAB code. The measured parameters are longitudinal wave velocity of the metal, density, and crystal structure. 19-samples were considered in the study and divided into 3-groups according to their crystal structure; 7-FCC, 6-BCC, and 6-HCB. X-ray diffraction was used to examine the crystal structure of each sample of each group, while longitudinal wave velocity and metals' density were measured experimentally. A comparison between mechanical properties predicted by the model and the ASTM standards was done to investigate the validity of the model. Furthermore, predicted stress-strain curves were compared with corresponding curves in the pieces literature as an additional validation check. The results revealed the excellence of the model with 85-99% prediction accuracy. The study also proved that if metals are grouped according to their crystal structure, a relation between UTS, YS, and modulus of elasticity (E) properties and wave pressure transmission coefficient (Tr) could be formulated.
This investigation was carried out to explore G × E interaction for yield and its associated attributes in 30 Bambara groundnut genotypes across four environments in tropical Malaysia. Such evaluations are essential when the breeding program's objective is to choose genotypes with broad adaption and yield potential. Studies of trait relationships, variance components, mean performance, and genetic linkage are needed by breeders when designing, evaluating, and developing selection criteria for improving desired characteristics in breeding programs. The evaluation of breeding lines of Bambara groundnut for high yield across a wide range of environments is important for long-term production and food security. Each site's experiment employed a randomized complete block design with three replicates. Data on vegetative and yield component attributes were recorded. The analysis of variance revealed that there were highly significant (p ≤ 0.01) differences among the 30 genotypes for all variables evaluated. A highly significant and positive correlation was identified between yield per hectare and dry seed weight (0.940), hundred seed weight (0.844), fresh pod weight (0.832), and total pod weight (0.750); the estimated correlation between dry weight of pods and seed yield was 1.0. The environment was more important than genotype and G × E in determining yield and yield components.A total of 49% variation is covered by PC1 (33.9%) and PC2 (15.1%) and the genotypes formed five distinct clusters based on Ward hierarchical clustering (WHC) method. The genotypes S5G1, S5G3, S5G5, S5G6, S5G8, S5G7, S5G2, S5G4, S5G10, S5G13, S5G11, and S5G14 of clusters I, II, and III were closest to the ideal genotype with superior yield across the environments. The PCA variable loadings revealed that an index based on dry pod weight, hundred seed weight, number of total pods and fresh pod weight could be used as a selection criteria to improve seed yield of Bambara groundnut.
In a breeding program, studies of genotypic and phenotypic relationships among agricultural crop traits are useful to design, evaluate, and develop selection criteria for desirable traits. Using path coefficient analysis, the present study was executed to estimate the phenotypic, genotypic, and environmental correlation coefficients between yield and yield-related traits and to determine the direct and indirect effects of yield-related traits on yield per plant. A total of 30 genotypes of Vigna subterranea were studied under tropical conditions at two sites over two planting seasons (considered as four environments). The experiment at each site used a randomized complete block design with three replicates. Data were collected on vegetative and yield component attributes. Based on analysis of variance, pooled results showed that there were positive and highly significant differences (p ≤ 0.01) among the 30 genotypes for all attributes studied. Highly significant and positive strong correlation at phenotypic level was observed for dry seed weight (0.856), hundred seed weight (0.754), fresh pod weight (0.789), and total pod weight (0.626) with yield in kg per hectare, while moderate positive correlations were observed for harvest cut (0.360) and days to maturity (0.356). However, a perfect positive correlation was observed for the dry weight of pods with seed yield. In contrast, days to 50% flowering (- 0.350) showed a negative significant relationship with yield per hectare. The dried pod weight attribute (1.00) had a high positive direct effect on yield. Fresh pod weight had the greatest indirect effect on yield per hectare, followed by the number of total pods by dry pod weight. As a result, dry pod weight, hundred seed weight, number of total pods, and fresh pod weight could be used as selection criteria to improve the seed yield of Bambara groundnut (Vigna subterranea).
The stability and high yielding of Vigna subterranea L. Verdc. genotype is an important factor for long-term development and food security. The effects of G × E interaction on yield stability in 30 Bambara groundnut genotypes in four different Malaysian environments were investigated in this research. The experiment used a randomized complete block design with three replications in each environment. Over multiple harvests, yield component traits such as the total number of pods per plant, fresh pods weight (g), hundred seeds weight (g), and yield per hectare were evaluated in the main and off-season in 2020 and 2021. Stability tests for multivariate stability parameters were performed based on analyses of variance. For all the traits, the pooled analysis of variance revealed highly significant (p
As a crop for the new millennium Bambara groundnut (Vigna subterranea [L.] Verdc.) considered as leading legumes in the tropical regions due to its versatile advantages. The main intent of this study was to find out the high yielding potential genotypes and considering these genotypes to develop pure lines for commercial cultivation in Malaysia. Considering the 14 qualitative and 27 quantitative traits of fifteen landraces the variation and genetic parameters namely, variability, heritability, genetic advance, characters association, and cluster matrix were determined. ANOVA revealed significant variation for all the agronomic traits (except plant height). Among the accessions, highly significant differences (P ≤ 0.01) were found for almost all the traits excluding fifty percent flowering date, seed length, seed width. The 16 traits out of the 27 quantitative traits had a coefficient of variation (CV) ≥ 20%. A positive and intermediate to perfect highly significant association (r = 0.23 to 1.00; P
The culture of fast fashion accelerates the consumption rate of individuals but at the expense of significant environmental stress. With a large amount of discarded clothing accumulating in landfills, it is crucial to encourage people to dispose of second-hand clothing (SHC) as sustainably as possible, especially in an emerging economy with large volume consumption. Through a survey of 619 respondents from China, this study explored the factors affecting people's intentions and actual donation behaviors toward SHC. It extends the theory of interpersonal behavior (TIB) with environmental factors to construct a research framework, which included cognitive factors (attitude towards sustainable consumption), social factors (sense of community) and personal factors (perceived hedonic benefit) under TIB and the environment factors refers to problem awareness and ascription responsibility. Partial least squares structural equation modeling was employed to analyze the data. The findings revealed that attitudes toward sustainable consumption, problem awareness, ascription of responsibility, sense of community, and perceived hedonic benefit significantly and positively influenced people's intentions and practices of SHC donation. This study will aid governments and relevant green environmental protection organizations in formulating more precise strategies for sustainable development, and promote relevant research on the sustainable disposal of SHC.
Rapid industrialization, urbanization, global warming, and climate change are compromising surface water quality across the globe. Consequently, water conservation is essential for both environmental sustainability and human survival. This study assesses the water quality of the Jamuna River in Bangladesh at five distinct sites during wet and dry seasons. It employs six global water quality indices (WQIs) and contrasts the results with Bangladesh's Environmental Quality Standard (EQS) and the Department of Environment (DoE) criteria. The WQI models used are the Weighted Arithmetic WQI (WAWQI), British Columbia WQI (BCWQI), Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment WQI (CWQI), Assigned WQI (AWQI), Malaysian WQI (MWQI), and Oregon WQI (OWQI). Fifteen physicochemical parameters were analyzed according to each WQI model's guidelines. The findings reveal that most parameters surpass the standard permissible values. The WQI model results indicate that the average water quality across the five sites falls into the lowest category. A comparison of the WQI models suggests potential correlations between WAWQI and AWQI, as well as between MWQI and OWQI. The straightforward presentation of the WQI models indicates that while the river water requires treatment for household and drinking use, it remains suitable for irrigation. The decline in water quality is likely attributable to human activities, urbanization, municipal waste disposal, and industrial effluents. Authorities must prioritize regular monitoring and assessment of water quality to address the identified challenges. Restoring the water to an acceptable standard will become increasingly difficult without proactive measures.
In this study, single, mix, multilayer Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) electrospun nanofibers with epidermal growth factor (EGF) and fibroblast growth factor (FGF) were fabricated and characterized as a biological wound dressing scaffolds. The biological activities of the synthesized scaffolds have been verified by in vitro and in vivo studies. The chemical composition finding showed that the identified functional units within the produced nanofibers (O-H and N-H bonds) are attributed to both growth factors (GFs) in the PVA nanofiber membranes. Electrospun nanofibers' morphological features showed long protrusion and smooth morphology without beads and sprayed with an average range of 198-286 nm fiber diameter. The fiber diameters decrement and the improvement in wettability and surface roughness were recorded after GFs incorporated within the PVA Nanofibers, which indicated potential good adoption as biological dressing scaffolds due to the identified mechanical properties (Young's modulus) in between 18 and 20 MPa. The MTT assay indicated that the growth factor release from the PVA nanofibers has stimulated cell proliferation and promoted cell viability. In the cell attachment study, the GFs incorporated PVA nanofibers stimulated cell proliferation and adhered better than the PVA control sample and presented no cytotoxic effect. The in vivo studies showed that compared to the control and single PVA-GFs nanofiber, the mix and multilayer scaffolds gave a much more wound reduction at day 7 with better wound repair at day 14-21, which indicated to enhancing tissue regeneration, thus, could be a projected as a suitable burn wound dressing scaffold.
The corrosion inhibition properties of 2-(1,3,4-thiadiazole-2-yl)pyrrolidine (2-TP) on mild steel in a 1 M HCl solution were investigated using weight loss, potentiodynamic polarization, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and open circuit potential (OCP) measurements. In addition, DFT calculations were performed on 2-TP. The polarization curves revealed that 2-TP is a mixed-type inhibitor. The results indicate that 2-TP is an effective inhibitor for mild steel corrosion in a 1.0 M HCl solution, with an inhibition efficiency of 94.6% at 0.5 mM 2-TP. The study also examined the impact of temperature, revealing that the inhibition efficiency increases with an increasing concentration of 2-TP and decreases with a rise in temperature. The adsorption of the inhibitor on the mild steel surface followed the Langmuir adsorption isotherm, and the free energy value indicated that the adsorption of 2-TP is a spontaneous process that involves both physical and chemical adsorption mechanisms. The DFT calculations showed that the adsorption of 2-TP on the mild steel surface is mainly through the interaction of the lone pair of electrons on the nitrogen atom of the thiadiazole ring with the metal surface. The results obtained from the weight loss, potentiodynamic polarization, EIS and OCP measurements were in good agreement with each other and confirmed the effectiveness of 2-TP as a corrosion inhibitor for mild steel in 1.0 M HCl solution. Overall, the study demonstrates the potential use of 2-TP as a corrosion inhibitor in acid environments.
This study introduces an augmented Long-Short Term Memory (LSTM) neural network architecture, integrating Symbolic Genetic Programming (SGP), with the objective of forecasting cross-sectional price returns across a comprehensive dataset comprising 4500 listed stocks in the Chinese market over the period from 2014 to 2022. Using the S&P Alpha Pool Dataset for China as basic input, this architecture incorporates data augmentation and feature extraction techniques. The result of this study demonstrates significant improvements in Rank Information coefficient (Rank IC) and IC information ratio (ICIR) by 1128% and 5360% respectively when it is applied to fundamental indicators. For technical indicators, the hybrid model achieves a 206% increase in Rank IC and an impressive surge of 2752% in ICIR. Furthermore, the proposed hybrid SGP-LSTM model outperforms major Chinese stock indexes, generating average annualized excess returns of 31.00%, 24.48%, and 16.38% compared to the CSI 300 index, CSI 500 index, and the average portfolio, respectively. These findings highlight the effectiveness of SGP-LSTM model in improving the accuracy of cross-sectional stock return predictions and provide valuable insights for fund managers, traders, and financial analysts.
This article investigates heat transfer enhancement in free convection flow of Maxwell nanofluids with carbon nanotubes (CNTs) over a vertically static plate with constant wall temperature. Two kinds of CNTs i.e. single walls carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) and multiple walls carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) are suspended in four different types of base liquids (Kerosene oil, Engine oil, water and ethylene glycol). Kerosene oil-based nanofluids are given a special consideration due to their higher thermal conductivities, unique properties and applications. The problem is modelled in terms of PDE's with initial and boundary conditions. Some relevant non-dimensional variables are inserted in order to transmute the governing problem into dimensionless form. The resulting problem is solved via Laplace transform technique and exact solutions for velocity, shear stress and temperature are acquired. These solutions are significantly controlled by the variations of parameters including the relaxation time, Prandtl number, Grashof number and nanoparticles volume fraction. Velocity and temperature increases with elevation in Grashof number while Shear stress minimizes with increasing Maxwell parameter. A comparison between SWCNTs and MWCNTs in each case is made. Moreover, a graph showing the comparison amongst four different types of nanofluids for both CNTs is also plotted.
This work focused on the novel symmetrical left-handed split ring resonator metamaterial for terahertz frequency applications. A compact substrate material known as Silicon with a dimension of 5 µm was adopted in this research investigation. Moreover, several parameter studies were investigated, such as clockwise rotation, array and layer structure designs, larger-scale metamaterials, novel design structure comparisons and electric field distribution analysis. Meanwhile, two types of square-shaped metamaterial designs were proposed in this work. The proposed designs exhibit double and single resonance frequencies respectively, likely at 3.32 and 9.24 THz with magnitude values of - 16.43 and - 17.33 for the first design, while the second design exhibits a response at 3.03 THz with a magnitude value of - 19.90. Moreover, the verification of these results by adopting High-frequency Structure Simulator software indicates only slight discrepancies which are less than 5%. Furthermore, the initial response of the proposed designs was successfully altered by simply rotating the design clockwise or even increasing the dimension of the design. For instance, the first resonance frequency is shifted to the lower band when the first proposed design was rotated 90°. On the other hand, by increasing the size of the metamaterial, more than nine resonance frequencies were gained in each symmetric design. Furthermore, the symmetric metamaterial with a similar width and length of 10 µm dimension was adopted for both design structures to construct an equivalent circuit model by utilising Advanced Design System software. Finally, both unit cell designs were utilised to explore the absorption performances which exhibit four and five peak points. Overall, the altering behaviour by changing physical properties and compact design with acceptable responses become one of the novelties of this research investigation. In a nutshell, the proposed designs can be utilised in terahertz frequency which gives optimistic or advantageous feedback and is relatively suitable for the adopted frequency range.