Search Results (689)

In today’s dynamic and uncertain environment, supply chains are increasingly vulnerable to disruptions that can negatively impact operational efficiency, cost management, and customer satisfaction. Ensuring supply chain resilience and continuity has become a critical challenge for businesses. This review addresses the pressing issue of supply chain risk management by evaluating cutting-edge solutions that enhance visibility, agility, and responsiveness. Through a comprehensive analysis of literature from 2009 to 2024, sourced from Web of Science, Scopus, and Google Scholar, this study identifies key methodologies, technologies, and frameworks designed to mitigate supply chain risks. The findings of the study highlight the revolutionary potential of IoT sensors, machine learning algorithms, and digital twins for proactive risk assessment and mitigation, offering a pathway to safeguard supply networks in the face of uncertainty. Full article

In today’s digital era, the abundance of online services presents users with a daunting array of choices, spanning from streaming platforms to e-commerce websites, leading to decision fatigue. Recommendation algorithms play a pivotal role in aiding users in navigating this plethora of options, among which collaborative filtering (CF) stands out as a prevalent technique. However, CF encounters several challenges, including scalability issues, privacy implications, and the well-known cold start problem. This study endeavors to mitigate the cold start problem by harnessing the capabilities of natural language processing (NLP) applied to user-generated reviews. A unique methodology is introduced, integrating both supervised and unsupervised NLP approaches facilitated by sci-kit learn, utilizing benchmark datasets across diverse domains. This study offers scientific contributions through its novel approach, ensuring rigor, precision, scalability, and real-world relevance. It tackles the cold start problem in recommendation systems by combining natural language processing (NLP) with machine learning and collaborative filtering techniques, addressing data sparsity effectively. This study emphasizes reproducibility and accuracy while proposing an advanced solution that improves personalization in recommendation models. The proposed NLP-based strategy enhances the quality of user-generated content, consequently refining the accuracy of Collaborative Filtering-Based Recommender Systems (CFBRSs). The authors conducted experiments to test the performance of the proposed approach on benchmark datasets like MovieLens, Jester, Book-Crossing, Last.fm, Amazon Product Reviews, Yelp, Netflix Prize, Goodreads, IMDb (Internet movie Database) Data, CiteULike, Epinions, and Etsy to measure global accuracy, global loss, F-1 Score, and AUC (area under curve) values. Assessment through various techniques such as random forest, Naïve Bayes, and Logistic Regression on heterogeneous benchmark datasets indicates that random forest is the most effective method, achieving an accuracy rate exceeding 90%. Further, the proposed approach received a global accuracy above 95%, a global loss of 1.50%, an F-1 Score of 0.78, and an AUC value of 92%. Furthermore, the experiments conducted on distributed and global differential privacy (GDP) further optimize the system’s efficacy. Full article

Ensuring the security of picture data on a network presents considerable difficulties because of the requirement for conventional embedding systems, which ultimately leads to subpar performance. It poses a risk of unauthorized data acquisition and misuse. Moreover, the previous image security-based techniques faced several challenges, including high execution times. As a result, a novel framework called Graph Convolutional-Based Twofish Security (GCbTS) was introduced to secure the images used in healthcare. The medical data are gathered from the Kaggle site and included in the proposed architecture. Preprocessing is performed on the data inserted to remove noise, and the hash 1 value is computed. Using the generated key, these separated images are put through the encryption process to encrypt what they contain. Additionally, to verify the user’s identity, the encrypted data calculates the hash 2 values contrasted alongside the hash 1 value. Following completion of the verification procedure, the data are restored to their original condition and made accessible to authorized individuals by decrypting them with the collective key. Additionally, to determine the effectiveness, the calculated results of the suggested model are connected to the operational copy, which depends on picture privacy. Full article

Chromium is an essential element in various industrial processes, including stainless steel production, electroplating, metal finishing, leather tanning, photography, and textile manufacturing. However, it is also a well-documented contaminant of aquatic systems and agricultural land, posing significant economic and health challenges. The hexavalent form of chromium [Cr(VI)] is particularly toxic and carcinogenic, linked to severe health issues such as cancer, kidney disorders, liver failure, and environmental biomagnification. Due to the high risks associated with chromium contamination in potable water, researchers have focused on developing effective removal strategies. Among these strategies, biosorption has emerged as a promising, cost-effective, and energy-efficient method for eliminating toxic metals, especially chromium. This process utilizes agricultural waste, plants, algae, bacteria, fungi, and other biomass as adsorbents, demonstrating substantial potential for the remediation of heavy metals from contaminated environments at minimal cost. This review paper provides a comprehensive analysis of various strategies, materials, and mechanisms involved in the bioremediation of chromium, along with their commercial viability. It also highlights the advantages of biosorption over traditional chemical and physical methods, offering a thorough understanding of its applications and effectiveness. Full article

This numerical study investigates the impact of the reaction temperature, molar ratio of CH₄:CO₂, and catalyst porosity (ε_p) on the H₂ yield and H₂ selectivity during biogas dry reforming over a Ni/Cr catalyst. Using COMSOL Multiphysics, we conducted detailed simulations to elucidate the underlying reaction characteristics. Our findings reveal that increasing ε_p from 0.1 to 0.95 significantly provides a 5 times increase in H₂ production and a 2.3% increase in H₂ selectivity while simultaneously reducing CO selectivity by 2.3%. This effect is attributed to the improved mass transfer within the catalyst bed, leading to more efficient reactant conversion and product formation. Additionally, we observed a strong correlation between higher reaction temperatures and increased H₂ yield and H₂ selectivity. By optimizing these operational parameters, our results suggest that Ni/Cr catalysts can be effectively employed for the sustainable production of H₂ from biogas. Full article

Hyperbolic discounting is a psychological phenomenon in which individuals prioritize smaller immediate rewards over larger future rewards. Time-inconsistent behavior is deemed irrational as it negatively impacts savings and investment, investment in financial knowledge, and long-term financial and personal well-being. This study hypothesizes that improving financial knowledge, promoting positive financial behavior, and fostering a future-oriented financial attitude can mitigate hyperbolic discounting bias and that these three components of financial literacy enable investors to make long-term economic decisions maximizing utility. We analyzed the responses of 114,170 active investors in Japan to examine the interactions between financial knowledge, behavior, and attitude. Our findings reveal a strong negative relationship between these dimensions and hyperbolic discounting, underscoring their crucial role in shaping individuals’ intertemporal preferences. For researchers, our results highlight the need to integrate multidimensional aspects of financial literacy into investigations of intertemporal discounting behaviors. Policymakers should implement holistic financial education programs that improve knowledge, transform behavior, and shape attitudes. Financial institutions and advisors should prioritize programs that mitigate hyperbolic discounting tendencies among clients. This study represents a significant advancement in the research on financial literacy, offering a comprehensive framework for future studies and practical applications aimed at improving financial decision-making outcomes. Full article

Disorders affecting the neurological and musculoskeletal systems represent international health priorities. A significant impediment to progress in trials of new therapies is the absence of responsive, objective, and valid outcome measures sensitive to early disease changes. A key finding in individuals with neuromuscular and musculoskeletal disorders is the compositional changes to muscles, evinced by the expression of fatty infiltrates. Quantification of skeletal muscle composition by MRI has emerged as a sensitive marker for the severity of these disorders; however, little is known about the composition of healthy muscles across the lifespan. Knowledge of what is ‘typical’ age-related muscle composition is essential to accurately identify and evaluate what is ‘atypical’. This innovative project, known as the MuscleMap, will achieve the first important steps towards establishing a world-first, normative reference MRI dataset of skeletal muscle composition with the potential to provide valuable insights into various diseases and disorders, ultimately improving patient care and advancing research in the field. Full article

Lysosomal acid lipase (LAL) is the only known enzyme that degrades cholesteryl esters and triglycerides at an acidic pH. In LAL deficiency (LAL-D), dysregulated expression of matrix metalloproteinase 12 (MMP-12) has been described. The overexpression of MMP-12 in myeloid lineage cells causes an immune cell dysfunction resembling that of Lal knockout (Lal KO) mice. Both models develop progressive lymphocyte dysfunction and expansion of myeloid-derived suppressor (CD11b+ Gr-1+) cells. To study whether MMP-12 might be a detrimental contributor to the pathology of LAL-D, we have generated Lal/Mmp12 double knockout (DKO) mice. The phenotype of Lal/Mmp12 DKO mice closely resembled that of Lal KO mice, while the weight and morphology of the thymus were improved in Lal/Mmp12 DKO mice. Cytological examination of blood smears showed a mildly reversed lymphoid-to-myeloid shift in DKO mice. Despite significant decreases in CD11b+ Ly6G+ cells in the peripheral blood, bone marrow, and spleen of Lal/Mmp12 DKO mice, the hematopoietic bone marrow progenitor compartment and markers for neutrophil chemotaxis were unchanged. Since the overall severity of LAL-D remains unaffected by the deletion of Mmp12, we conclude that MMP-12 does not represent a viable target for treating the inflammatory pathology in LAL-D. Full article

Soil carbon sequestration is an important process of the terrestrial carbon cycle, and even slight changes in soil carbon will trigger drastic variations in the global carbon pool. In this study, we used the CiteSpace software to analyze the development of research on soil organic carbon (SOC) and its current status from various perspectives, with the goal of revealing research hotspots and trends of SOC. A total of 3909 studies published between 2014 and 2023 were included in the analysis. Results show that China and the USA lead with a significant number of publications on SOC, which underscores their considerable interest in the subject. France and the USA exhibit a very high international influence in this field, with their intermediary centrality reaching up to 0.3 and 0.21, respectively. Among institutions, the Chinese Academy of Sciences is the largest contributor in terms of the number of publications, with a high centrality of 0.09, indicating this institution has built close collaboration and significant influence in this field. Kuzyakov Yakov achieved the highest publication record, with Lal Rattan sharing the second position. The hotspots in SOC can be summarized into the following aspects: conservation tillage, carbon sequestration, microbial biomass, and driving forces. The research focus has gradually shifted from macroscopic trends to explanations based on micro-level biological dynamics. Driving forces such as soil type, land use, and environmental conditions have a significant impact on the quantity, turnover, and spatiotemporal distribution of SOC. We highlighted that more attention should be paid to the mechanism of SOC transformation and stabilization, which is essential for developing more precise models of carbon cycling in the soil and for formulating effective strategies to maintain sustainable agriculture and mitigate climate change. Full article

In spite of the detrimental effects of climate change and decreasing resource efficiency, maize farming is essential to the world’s food and nutritional security. With regard to sustainable maize farming in this environment, conservation agriculture (CA) offers a framework that holds promise in terms of low soil disturbance, perennial soil cover, and sustainable crop rotation. In order to acquire more profound information on the research advancements and publication patterns related to maize under CA scenarios, a bibliometric analysis was conducted. This involved utilizing René Descartes’s Discourse Framework to extract and screen 2587 documents spanning the years 2001 to 2023 from the Dimensions.ai database. The mapping showed that different stakeholders were becoming more interested in maize research under various CA pathways, with a greater emphasis on reaching the second sustainable development target, or “zero hunger”. The most influential journals were “Soil and Tillage Research” and “Field Crops Research”, with 131 and 85 papers with 6861 and 6186 citations, respectively. The performance analysis found “Christian L. Thierfelder” and “Mangi Lal Jat” as the eminent researchers in the areas of maize research under CA. Thus, the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI) were identified as the important institutions in conducting research pertaining to maize under CA systems, while the United States, India, and Mexico emerged as prominent countries with notable collaboration efforts for imparting research under the given scenarios. Three thematic clusters delineating keywords from three distinct sections—key drivers, objectives, and methodology—were identified through co-word analysis using word clouds, tree maps, and thematic networking of the keywords from the abstract and titles of screened publications. These thematic clusters highlighted the growing emphasis on region-specific studies under CA, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa and the Indo-Gangetic plain, to enhance the resilience of the agri-food system. Therefore, mapping maize’s potentialities within the CA framework has revealed the field’s dynamic nature and offers insightful information to researchers and policymakers that could help them plan future studies and cooperative initiatives aimed at boosting the productivity and sustainability of maize-based systems under the CA framework. Full article

Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.), the second most important vegetable crop globally, faces a significant threat from various viral diseases. A newly emerging disease, characterised by distinctive shoestring symptoms on leaves and the development of unripe, small, and hard fruit, poses a serious challenge to tomato cultivation in India. An initial survey in an experimental field revealed more than 50% of the plants displayed symptoms of the shoestring disease, resulting in substantial reductions in fruit yield and quality. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and molecular analyses identified an isolate of the tomato mottle mosaic virus (ToMMV) in the affected plants. When the partially purified virus was mechanically inoculated into tomato cv. Pusa Ruby plants, it reproduced the characteristic shoestring symptoms, confirming its causal relationship with the disease. Notably, the present shoestring isolate of ToMMV (ToMMV-Tss) was found to induce similar shoestring symptoms in most of the major commercial tomato varieties when inoculated under controlled experimental conditions in the glasshouse, indicating its aggressive nature. Host range studies demonstrated that the ToMMV-Tss can infect several solanaceous species, while cucurbitaceous hosts remained unaffected. Moreover, the virus was found to be seed-transmissible, with a small percentage of seedlings from infected plants displaying symptoms. These findings underscore the significant impact of ToMMV on tomato production in India and emphasise the need for reliable diagnostic tools and effective management strategies to curb the spread and mitigate the impact of this virus on commercial tomato cultivation. Full article

The existing treatments against Trypanosoma evansi are faced with several drawbacks, such as limited drug options, resistance, the relapse of infection, toxicity, etc., which emphasizes the necessity for new alternatives. We synthesized novel metal-based antiparasitic compounds using chitosan, hydroxychloroquine (HC), and ZnO nanoparticles (NPs) and characterized them for size, morphology, chemical interactions, etc. Molecular docking and protein interaction studies were performed in silico to investigate the inhibitory effects of HC, zinc-ligated hydroxychloroquine (HCZnONPs), and chitosan-zinc-ligated hydroxychloroquine (CsHCZnONPs) for two key proteins, i.e., heat shock protein 90 (Hsp90) and trypanothione reductase associated with T. evansi. In vitro trypanocidal activity and the uptake of zinc ions by T. evansi parasites were observed. The formulation was successfully synthesized, as indicated by its size, stability, morphology, elemental analysis, and functional groups. CsHCZnO nanoparticles strongly inhibit both Hsp90 and trypanothione reductase proteins. The inhibition of Hsp90 by these nanoparticles is even stronger than that of trypanothione reductase when compared to HC and HCZnONPs. This suggests that the presence of polymer chitosan enhances the nanoparticles’ effectiveness against the parasite. For the first time, CsHCZnO nanoparticles exhibited trypanocidal activity against T. evansi, with complete growth inhibition being observed at various concentrations after 72 h of treatment. Fluorescent microscopy using FluoZin-3 on T. evansi culture confirmed the presence of zinc on the surface of parasites. This innovative approach has shown promising results in the quest to develop improved antiparasitic compounds against T. evansi with enhanced effectiveness and safety, highlighting their potential as therapeutic agents against trypanosomiasis. Full article

(1) Background: The demand for body-contouring procedures has surged, with lipolysis emerging as a common technique for excess fat removal. Laser-assisted lipolysis (LAL) has gained attention as a potential alternative to surgical fat removal (SFR), offering perceived advantages in safety and efficacy. However, the comparative benefits of LAL and SFR remain uncertain. (2) Objective: To conduct a review of the existing literature comparing the efficacy, safety, and patient satisfaction of LAL and SFR. (3) Methods: A comprehensive search of major electronic databases was conducted to identify studies comparing LAL and SFR for body-contouring procedures. Studies were included if they were published in English, involved human subjects, and reported outcomes for LAL and SFR. All studies were classified according to the Oxford Center for Evidence-Based Medicine evidence hierarchy (4) Results: LAL may not be a safer and more effective option than SFR. However, the evidence for these differences was limited by the quality of the studies and the heterogeneity of the results. (5) Conclusions: This review suggests that LAL may not be a safer and more effective option than SFR for body-contouring procedures because LAL is associated with higher risks of complications such as burns and scarring, whereas SFR offers a more established safety profile and consistent efficacy. Full article

Background/Objectives: Orthorexia Nervosa (ON) is an emerging behavioral pattern characterized by an obsessive focus on healthy eating. Despite its prevalence, ON lacks formal diagnostic criteria in major classification systems like the DSM-5 and the ICD-10. This study aims to investigate the impact of socio-cultural attitudes towards body image and the role of social media on the risk of ON among female football players from Poland, Turkey, and India. This study hypothesizes that socio-cultural pressures and media usage significantly influence the risk of developing ON, particularly in cultures more exposed to Western beauty ideals. Methods: The study was conducted from May to August 2024, employing the Computer-Assisted Web Interview method. A total of 142 female football players aged 16–36 from Poland, Turkey, and India participated. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire that included demographic information and health metrics, the Socio-Cultural Attitudes Towards Appearance Questionnaire, and the Duesseldorf Orthorexia Scale. Statistical analyses included an ANOVA, the Kruskal–Wallis test, the chi-square test, and Pearson’s correlation coefficient. Results: The study found that nearly half of the participants were at risk of or presented with ON, with the highest prevalence being among Indian athletes. Statistically significant relationships were observed between the risk of ON and factors such as age, dietary exclusions, social media usage, and sources of nutritional information. However, no significant correlation was found between socio-cultural attitudes and the risk of ON, suggesting that other factors may play a more critical role. Conclusions: While socio-cultural pressures and media use are contributing factors to the risk of ON, psychological factors and individual behaviors appear to be equally, if not more, significant. This study highlights the importance of targeted educational programs and psychological support for young athletes, with a focus on promoting healthy dietary practices and positive body image perceptions across varying cultural contexts. Additionally, the results suggest the need for further research into the specific psychological and behavioral mechanisms underlying ON. Full article

The lid-driven cavity flow problem stands as a widely recognized benchmark in fluid dynamics, serving to validate CFD algorithms. Despite its geometric simplicity, the lid-driven cavity flow problem exhibits a complex flow regime primarily characterized by the formation of vortices at the centre and corners of the square domain. This study evaluates the accuracy of the 2D velocity-driven adaptive mesh refinement (2D VDAMR) method in estimating vortex centres in a steady incompressible flow within a 2D square cavity. The VDAMR algorithm allows for an arbitrary number of finite mesh refinements. Increasing the number of successive mesh refinements results in more accurate outcomes. In this paper, the initial coarse uniform grid mesh was refined ten times for Reynolds numbers $100\le Re\le 7500$. Results show that VDAMR accurately identifies vortex centres, with its findings closely aligning with benchmark data from six literature sources. Full article