| 1. |
- Basit, Abdul, et al.
(författare)
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Structural Modeling on the Determinants of Effectiveness of SOPs Containing COVID-19 in Mass Gatherings
- 2021
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Ingår i: Frontiers in Psychology. - : Frontiers Media SA. - 1664-1078. ; 12
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The study is aimed to analyze the determinants of the effectiveness of SOPs in mass gatherings for containing COVID-19. The overall design of the study involves a literature review, data collection by field survey, structural modeling, and analysis. The study is built on the experts' opinion of a focus group (representing people who recently participated in and are responsible for mass gatherings). The study uses the discussion of the literature review to identify the determinants, interpretive structural modeling (ISM) for developing and analyzing a structural model, and Matrice d'Impacts Croises Multiplication Appliquée a un Classement (MICMAC) for corroboration of results of the ISM/classification of determinants. From the literature review, a list of determinants is generated and verified by a panel of experts. The results of the ISM revealed that the determinants “legal environment of the country,” “practicability of SOPs,” “perceived benefit of adapting SOPs,” and “possibilities of avoiding gathering” occupied the top of the model, therefore, they are less critical determinants, whereas “nature of gathering” occupied the bottom of the model, and is thus the most critical determinant. The remaining determinants form the middle of the model, and are therefore moderately severe. The results of MICMAC show that the determinant “perceived benefit of adapting SOPs” is dependent, “nature of gathering” is independent, and all others are linked. The results of MICMAC implicitly substantiate the findings of the ISM. The overall results of the study show that “nature of gathering” is the key determinant. This research does not require a priori theory since it is a theory-building study that uses an inductive approach. It is based on real data and it is useful for local authorities, organizers, participants (attendees/visitors) of mass gatherings, health officials/regulators, researchers, and the community at large. This study has fundamental importance for planning and preparing for such events while ensuring the minimum risk of COVID-19 transmission.
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| 2. |
- Kondratiuk, Serhii, et al.
(författare)
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Contributions to molecular phylogeny of lichens 4. New names in the Teloschistaceae
- 2022
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Ingår i: Acta Botanica Hungarica. - : Akademiai Kiado Zrt.. - 1588-2578 .- 0236-6495. ; 64:3-4, s. 313-336
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The new genus Kudratoviella for the former Caloplaca zeorina group having the highest level of bootstrap support in the phylogenetic tree of the Teloschistaceae, based on combined dataset of nrITS, 28S nrLSU DNA and 12S SSU mtDNA sequences, which does not belong to any other earlier proposed genera of the subfamily Xanthorioideae, is described. The genus Oceanoplaca Arup, Søchting et Bungartz found to be a new synonym of the genus Loekoeslaszloa S. Y. Kondr., Kärnefelt, A. Thell et Hur, and Villophora onas Søchting, Søgaard et Arup appeared to be new synonym of Raesaeneniana maulensis (S. Y. Kondr. et Hur) S. Y. Kondr., Elix, Kärnefelt et A. Thell. Sixteen new combinations are proposed, i.e. Honeggeria leoncita (for Xanthomendoza leoncita Bungartz et Søchting), Honeggeria wetmorei (for Xanthoria wetmorei S. Y. Kondr. et Kärnefelt), Kudratoviella anularis (for Caloplaca anularis Clauzade et Poelt), Kudratoviella bohlinii (for Caloplaca bohlinii H. Magn.), Kudratoviella rajasthanica (for Caloplaca rajasthanica S. Y. Kondr., Upreti et G. P. Sinha), Kudratoviella scrobiculata (for Caloplaca scrobiculata H. Magn.), and Kudratoviella zeorina (for Caloplaca zeorina B. G. Lee et Hur), Loekoeslaszloa caesioisidiata (for Caloplaca caesioisidiata Arup et van den Boom), Loekoeslaszloa caesiosorediata (for Caloplaca caesiosorediata Arup et van den Boom), Loekoeslaszloa chemoisidiosa (for Oceanoplaca chemoisidiosa Søchting et Bungartz), Loekoeslaszloa isidiosa (for Placodium isidiosum Vain.), Loekoeslaszloa sideritoides (for Oceanoplaca sideritoides Søchting et Bungartz), Raesaeneniana darwiniana (for Villophora darwiniana Søchting, Søgaard et Arup), Raesaeneniana patagonica (for Villophora patagonica Søchting et Søgaard), Raesaeneniana rimicola (for Villophora rimicola Søchting), and Raesaeneniana wallaceana (for Villophora wallaceana Søchting et Søgaard). Iqbalia kashmirensis is for the first time confirmed from South Korea and India on the basis of ‘extraneous mycobiont DNA’ (sensu Kondratyuk et al. 2019 b).
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| 3. |
- Abbasi, Rasha, et al.
(författare)
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IceCube search for neutrinos from GRB 221009A
- 2023
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Ingår i: Proceedings of 38th International Cosmic Ray Conference (ICRC 2023). - : Sissa Medialab Srl.
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- GRB 221009A is the brightest Gamma Ray Burst (GRB) ever observed. The observed extremelyhigh flux of high and very-high-energy photons provide a unique opportunity to probe the predictedneutrino counterpart to the electromagnetic emission. We have used a variety of methods to searchfor neutrinos in coincidence with the GRB over several time windows during the precursor, promptand afterglow phases of the GRB. MeV scale neutrinos are studied using photo-multiplier ratescalers which are normally used to search for galactic core-collapse supernovae neutrinos. GeVneutrinos are searched starting with DeepCore triggers. These events don’t have directionallocalization, but instead can indicate an excess in the rate of events. 10 GeV - 1 TeV and >TeVneutrinos are searched using traditional neutrino point source methods which take into accountthe direction and time of events with DeepCore and the entire IceCube detector respectively. The>TeV results include both a fast-response analysis conducted by IceCube in real-time with timewindows of T0 − 1 to T0 + 2 hours and T0 ± 1 day around the time of GRB 221009A, as well asan offline analysis with 3 new time windows up to a time window of T0 − 1 to T0 + 14 days, thelongest time period we consider. The combination of observations by IceCube covers 9 ordersof magnitude in neutrino energy, from MeV to PeV, placing upper limits across the range forpredicted neutrino emission.
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| 4. |
- Abid, Rabia, et al.
(författare)
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An optimised homomorphic CRT-RSA algorithm for secure and efficient communication
- 2023
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Ingår i: Personal and Ubiquitous Computing. - : Springer. - 1617-4909 .- 1617-4917. ; 27, s. 1405-1418
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Secure and reliable exchange of information between devices is crucial for any network in the current digital world. This information is maintained on storage devices, routing devices, and communication over the cloud. Cryptographic techniques are used to ensure the secure transmission of data, ensuring the user’s privacy by storing and transmitting data in a particular format. Using encryption, only the intended user possessing the key can access the information. During data or essential transmission, the channel should be secured by using robust encryption techniques. Homomorphic Encryption (HE) techniques have been used in the past for this purpose. However, one of the flaws of the conventional HE is seen either in its slow transmission or fast key decryption. Thus, this paper proposes an optimized Homomorphic Encryption Chinese Remainder Theorem with a Rivest-Shamir-Adleman (HE-CRT-RSA) algorithm to overcome this challenge. The proposed Technique, HE-CRT-RSA, utilizes multiple keys for efficient communication and security. In addition, the performance of the HE-CRT-RSA algorithm was evaluated in comparison with the classical RSA algorithm. The result of the proposed algorithm shows performance improvement with reduced decryption time. It is observed that the proposed HE-CRT-RSA is 3–4% faster than the classical Rivest-Shamir-Adleman (RSA). The result also suggests that HE-CRT-RSA effectively enhances security issues of the cloud and helps to decrease the involvement of intruders or any third party during communication or inside the data/server centers.
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| 5. |
- Amjad, Muhammad Raiees, et al.
(författare)
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Carbonate Reservoir Quality Variations in Basins with a Variable Sediment Influx: A Case Study from the Balkassar Oil Field, Potwar, Pakistan
- 2023
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Ingår i: ACS Omega. - : American Chemical Society (ACS). - 2470-1343. ; 8:4, s. 4127-4145
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The carbonate reservoir quality is strongly reliant on the compaction process during sediment burial and other processes such as cementation and dissolution. Porosity and pore pressure are the two main factors directly affected by mechanical and chemical compactions. Porosity reduction in these carbonates is critically dependent on the overburden stress and subsidence rate. A variable sediment influx in younger basins may lead to changes in the reservoir quality in response to increasing lithostatic pressure. Deposition of molasse sediments as a result of the Himalayan orogeny caused variations in the sedimentation influx in the Potwar Basin of Pakistan throughout the Neogene times. The basic idea of this study is to analyze the carbonate reservoir quality variations induced by the compaction and variable sediment influx. The Sakesar Limestone of the Eocene age, one of the proven carbonate reservoirs in the Potwar Basin, shows significant changes in the reservoir quality, specifically in terms of porosity and pressure. A 3D seismic cube (10 km2) and three wells of the Balkassar field are used for this analysis. To determine the vertical and lateral changes of porosity in the Balkassar area, porosity is computed from both the log and seismic data. The results of both the data sets indicate 2–4% porosities in the Sakesar Limestone. The porosity reduction rate with respect to the lithostatic pressure computed with the help of geohistory analysis represents a sharp decrease in porosity values during the Miocene times. Pore pressure predictions in the Balkassar OXY 01 well indicate underpressure conditions in the Sakesar Limestone. The Eocene limestones deposited before the collision of the Indian plate had enough time for fluid expulsion and show underpressure conditions with high porosities.
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| 6. |
- Arshed, Muhammad Asad, et al.
(författare)
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A 16 × 16 Patch-Based Deep Learning Model for the Early Prognosis of Monkeypox from Skin Color Images
- 2024
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Ingår i: Computation. - 2079-3197. ; 12:2
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The DNA virus responsible for monkeypox, transmitted from animals to humans, exhibits two distinct genetic lineages in central and eastern Africa. Beyond the zoonotic transmission involving direct contact with the infected animals’ bodily fluids and blood, the spread of monkeypox can also occur through skin lesions and respiratory secretions among humans. Both monkeypox and chickenpox involve skin lesions and can also be transmitted through respiratory secretions, but they are caused by different viruses. The key difference is that monkeypox is caused by an orthopox-virus, while chickenpox is caused by the varicella-zoster virus. In this study, the utilization of a patch-based vision transformer (ViT) model for the identification of monkeypox and chickenpox disease from human skin color images marks a significant advancement in medical diagnostics. Employing a transfer learning approach, the research investigates the ViT model’s capability to discern subtle patterns which are indicative of monkeypox and chickenpox. The dataset was enriched through carefully selected image augmentation techniques, enhancing the model’s ability to generalize across diverse scenarios. During the evaluation phase, the patch-based ViT model demonstrated substantial proficiency, achieving an accuracy, precision, recall, and F1 rating of 93%. This positive outcome underscores the practicality of employing sophisticated deep learning architectures, specifically vision transformers, in the realm of medical image analysis. Through the integration of transfer learning and image augmentation, not only is the model’s responsiveness to monkeypox- and chickenpox-related features enhanced, but concerns regarding data scarcity are also effectively addressed. The model outperformed the state-of-the-art studies and the CNN-based pre-trained models in terms of accuracy.
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| 7. |
- Azeem, Muhammad, et al.
(författare)
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Combined Economic Emission Dispatch in Presence of Renewable Energy Resources Using CISSA in a Smart Grid Environment
- 2023
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Ingår i: Electronics. - : MDPI. - 2079-9292. ; 12:3
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The geographically spatial and controlled distribution of fossil fuel resources, catastrophic global warming, and depletion of fossil fuel resources have forced us to integrate zero- or low-emissions energy resources, such as wind and solar, in the generation mix. These renewable energy resources are unexhausted, available around the globe, and free of cost. The advancement in wind and solar technologies has caused an appreciable decrease in installed the and global levelized costs of electricity via these sources. Therefore, the penetration of renewable energy resources in the generation mix can provide a promising solution to the above-mentioned problems. The aim of simultaneously reducing fuel consumption in terms of “Fuel Cost” and “Emission” in thermal power plants is called a combined economic emission dispatch problem. It is a combinatorial and multi-objective optimization problem. The solution of this problem is to allocate the load demand and losses on the committed units in such way that the overall costs of the generation and emission of thermal units are reduced, while the legal bounds (constraints) are met. It is a highly non-linear and complex optimization problem. The valve-point loading effect makes this problem non-convex. The addition of renewable energy resources (RERs) adds more complexities to this problem because they are intermittent. In this work, chaotic salp swarm algorithms (CISSA) are used to solve the combined economic emission dispatch problem. Chaos is used as an alternative to randomization for the tuning of the control variable to improve the trait of obtaining global extrema. Different test cases having different combinations of thermal, solar, and wind units are solved using the proposed algorithm. The results show the superiority of this study in comparison to the existent research results in terms of the cost of generation and emissions.
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| 8. |
- Bhutto, Shahzeb, et al.
(författare)
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Effect of banana tree leaves ash as cementitious material on the durability of concrete against sulphate and acid attacks
- 2024
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Ingår i: Heliyon. - : Elsevier. - 2405-8440. ; 10:7
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The construction industry's rapid growth poses challenges tied to raw material depletion and increased greenhouse gas emissions. To address this, alternative materials like agricultural residues are gaining prominence due to their potential to reduce carbon emissions and waste generation. In this context this research optimizes the use of banana leaves ash as a partial cement substitution, focusing on durability, and identifying the ideal cement-to-ash ratio for sustainable concrete. For this purpose, concrete mixes were prepared with BLA replacing cement partially in different proportions i.e. (0 %, 5 %, 10 %, 15 %, & 20 %) and were analyzed for their physical, mechanical and Durability (Acid and Sulphate resistance) properties. Compressive strength, acid resistance and sulphate resistance testing continued for 90 days with the intervals of 7, 28 and 90 days. The results revealed that up to 10 % incorporation of BLA improved compressive strength by 10 %, while higher BLA proportions (up to 20 %) displayed superior performance in durability tests as compared to the conventional mix. The results reveal the potentials of banana leave ash to refine the concrete matrix by formation of addition C–S–H gel which leads towards a better performance specially in terms of durability aspect. Hence, banana leaf ash (BLA) is an efficient concrete ingredient, particularly up to 10 % of the mix. Beyond this threshold, it's still suitable for applications where extreme strength isn't the primary concern, because there may be a slight reduction in compressive strength.
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| 9. |
- Cheema, H. A., et al.
(författare)
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Molnupiravir for the treatment of COVID-19 outpatients : An updated meta-analysis
- 2024
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Ingår i: Journal of Microbiology, Immunology and Infection. - : Elsevier BV. - 1684-1182. ; 57:3, s. 396-402
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: The majority of available data on molnupiravir come from an unvaccinated COVID-19 population. Therefore, we conducted this meta-analysis to integrate evidence from recent randomized controlled trials (RCTs) as well as observational studies stratified by vaccination status to determine the clinical efficacy and safety of molnupiravir in COVID-19 outpatients. Methods: We searched PubMed, Embase, the Cochrane Library, medRxiv, and ClinicalTrials.gov from inception to November 2023. We conducted our meta-analysis using RevMan 5.4 with risk ratio (RR) as the effect measure. Results: We included 8 RCTs and 5 observational studies in our meta-analysis. Molnupiravir reduced the risk of all-cause mortality (RR 0.28; 95% CI: 0.20–0.79, I2 = 0%) but did not decrease the hospitalization rate (RR 0.67; 95% CI: 0.45–1.00, I2 = 53%) in the overall population; in the immunized population, no benefits were observed. Molnupiravir lowered the rate of no recovery (RR 0.78; 95% CI: 0.76–0.81, I2 = 0%) and increased virological clearance at day 5 (RR 2.68; 95% CI: 1.94–4.22, I2 = 85%). There was no increase in the incidence of adverse events. Conclusions: Molnupiravir does not decrease mortality and hospitalization rates in immunized patients with COVID-19. However, it does shorten the disease course and increases the recovery rate. The use of molnupiravir will need to be considered on a case-by-case basis in the context of the prevailing social circumstances, the resource setting, drug costs, and the healthcare burden.
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| 10. |
- Javed, Abdul Rehman, et al.
(författare)
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A Survey of Explainable Artificial Intelligence for Smart Cities
- 2023
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Ingår i: Electronics. - : MDPI. - 2079-9292. ; 12:4
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The emergence of Explainable Artificial Intelligence (XAI) has enhanced the lives of humans and envisioned the concept of smart cities using informed actions, enhanced user interpretations and explanations, and firm decision-making processes. The XAI systems can unbox the potential of black-box AI models and describe them explicitly. The study comprehensively surveys the current and future developments in XAI technologies for smart cities. It also highlights the societal, industrial, and technological trends that initiate the drive towards XAI for smart cities. It presents the key to enabling XAI technologies for smart cities in detail. The paper also discusses the concept of XAI for smart cities, various XAI technology use cases, challenges, applications, possible alternative solutions, and current and future research enhancements. Research projects and activities, including standardization efforts toward developing XAI for smart cities, are outlined in detail. The lessons learned from state-of-the-art research are summarized, and various technical challenges are discussed to shed new light on future research possibilities. The presented study on XAI for smart cities is a first-of-its-kind, rigorous, and detailed study to assist future researchers in implementing XAI-driven systems, architectures, and applications for smart cities
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