Integrating Plastic Waste into Concrete: Sustainable Solutions for the Environment.

Plastic waste management has received significant attention in recent decades due to the urgent global environmental crisis caused by plastic pollution. The versatile and durable nature of plastic has led to its widespread usage across various sectors. However, its nonbiodegradable nature contributes to unsustainable production practices, leading to extensive landfill usage and posing threats to marine ecosystems and the food chain.

Restricting family life - an examination of citizens' views on state interventions and parental freedom in eight European countries.

This paper examines the public views - a total of 10,348 persons - on restrictions of personal autonomy of others to protect the interest of children. We use representative country samples of the adult populations of Austria, England, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Norway, and Spain, and ask them to consider an experimental vignette with three different parental conditions: substance abuse, mental health problems, and learning difficulties. The findings display that most people would restrict parental freedom to protect the child, and a stricter restriction when the parent struggles with substance abuse compared to mental health compared to learning difficulties.

Advancements in Perovskite-Based Cathode Materials for Solid Oxide Fuel Cells: A Comprehensive Review.

The high-temperature solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) are the most efficient and green conversion technology for electricity generation from hydrogen-based fuel as compared to conventional thermal power plants. Many efforts have been made to reduce the high operating temperature (>800 °C) to intermediate/low operating temperature (400 °C View Article and Find Full Text PDF

An appraisal of the performance of AI tools for chronic stroke lesion segmentation.

Automated demarcation of stoke lesions from monospectral magnetic resonance imaging scans is extremely useful for diverse research and clinical applications, including lesion-symptom mapping to explain deficits and predict recovery. There is a significant surge of interest in the development of supervised artificial intelligence (AI) methods for that purpose, including deep learning, with a performance comparable to trained experts. Such AI-based methods, however, require copious amounts of data.

Transmissive Polarizer Metasurfaces: From Microwave to Optical Regimes.

Metasurfaces, a special class of metamaterials, have recently become a rapidly growing field, particularly for thin polarization converters. They can be fabricated using a simple fabrication process due to their smaller planar profile, both in the microwave and optical regimes. In this paper, the recent progress in MSs for linear polarization (LP) to circular polarization (CP) conversion in transmission mode is reviewed.

CNN-Based Smoker Classification and Detection in Smart City Application.

To better regulate smoking in no-smoking areas, we present a novel AI-based surveillance system for smart cities. In this paper, we intend to solve the issue of no-smoking area surveillance by introducing a framework for an AI-based smoker detection system for no-smoking areas in a smart city. Moreover, this research will provide a dataset for smoker detection problems in indoor and outdoor environments to help future research on this AI-based smoker detection system.

The predictive value of absolute lymphocyte counts on tumor progression and pseudoprogression in patients with glioblastoma.

Background: Differentiating true glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) from pseudoprogression (PsP) remains a challenge with current standard magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The objective of this study was to explore whether patients' absolute lymphocyte count (ALC) levels can be utilized to predict true tumor progression and PsP.

Methods: Patients were considered eligible for the study if they had 1) GBM diagnosis, 2) a series of blood cell counts and clinical follow-ups, and 3) tumor progression documented by both MRI and pathology.

Deep Ensemble Learning Based Objective Grading of Macular Edema by Extracting Clinically Significant Findings from Fused Retinal Imaging Modalities.

Macular edema (ME) is a retinal condition in which central vision of a patient is affected. ME leads to accumulation of fluid in the surrounding macular region resulting in a swollen macula. Optical coherence tomography (OCT) and the fundus photography are the two widely used retinal examination techniques that can effectively detect ME.

A comprehensive study capturing vision loss burden in Pakistan (1990-2025): Findings from the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) 2017 study.

This study aims to provide estimates, trends and projections of vision loss burden in Pakistan from 1990 to 2025. Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD 2017) was used to observe the vision loss burden in terms of prevalence and Years Lived with Disability (YLDs). As of 2017, out of 207.

Neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio as a predictor of survival in patients with triple-negative breast cancer.

Purpose: Peripheral blood lymphopenia and elevated neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) have been associated with poor outcomes in various malignancies. However, existing literature has largely focused on baseline parameters. The aim of this study is to assess the impact of radiation therapy (RT) and chemotherapy on absolute lymphocyte counts (ALC) and NLR in relation to survival outcomes in patients with triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC).

Recent advances on polysaccharides, lipids and protein based edible films and coatings: A review.

Food is a vital product for the survival of human beings and with passage of time quality concerns of consumers are rising. Edible films and coatings are thin layers applied on food products to protect them and improve their quality. Films/coatings are prepared from naturally occurring renewable sources (polysaccharides, proteins, lipids and composites) which we can eat without disposing them.

Outcomes of High Risk Patients with Febrile Neutropenia at a Tertiary Care Center.

Fever during chemotherapy-induced neutropenia continues to be a major cause of morbidity and mortality in cancer patients. Mortality depends on the duration and degree of neutropenia, bacteremia, sepsis, performance status, comorbidities and other parameters. The highest mortality rates in cancer patients hospitalized with febrile neutropenia (FN) are observed in those with documented infection.

Structure tensor based automated detection of macular edema and central serous retinopathy using optical coherence tomography images.

Macular edema (ME) and central serous retinopathy (CSR) are two macular diseases that affect the central vision of a person if they are left untreated. Optical coherence tomography (OCT) imaging is the latest eye examination technique that shows a cross-sectional region of the retinal layers and that can be used to detect many retinal disorders in an early stage. Many researchers have done clinical studies on ME and CSR and reported significant findings in macular OCT scans.

Automated segmentation of subretinal layers for the detection of macular edema.

Macular edema (ME) is considered as one of the major indications of proliferative diabetic retinopathy and it is commonly caused due to diabetes. ME causes retinal swelling due to the accumulation of protein deposits within subretinal layers. Optical coherence tomography (OCT) imaging provides an early detection of ME by showing the cross-sectional view of macular pathology.

Awareness of autism in primary school teachers.

Objective. To assess the knowledge and perception of primary school teachers regarding autism in private and public schools of Karachi, Pakistan. Methods.