Search Results (221)

Speech is the most common means of communication in humans. Any defect in accurate speech production ability results in the development of speech sound disorder (SSD), a condition that can significantly impair an individual’s academic performance, social interactions, and relationships with peers and adults. This study investigated the genetic basis of SSD in three Pakistani families. We performed family-based genome-wide parametric linkage analysis and homozygosity mapping in three consanguineous families with SSD from the Punjab province of Pakistan. The Test for Assessment of Articulation and Phonology in Urdu (TAAPU) was used to analyze the speech articulation data and determine the Percentage Correct Consonants (PCC) score. The PCC score defined the affected and unaffected individuals in each family. Parametric linkage analysis revealed a linkage to chromosome 5 (5q21.3-5q23.1) with a significant logarithm of the odds (LOD) score of 3.13 in a Pakistani family with specific language impairment-97 (PKSLI-97) under an autosomal recessive mode of inheritance. The other two families showed a suggestive linkage at 6p22.1, 14q12, and 16q12.1 under the recessive mode of inheritance. Interestingly, homozygosity mapping showed a loss of heterozygosity in the linkage region at 5q15-5q23.1, shared among seven affected (mostly in the younger generation) and one unaffected individual of PKSLI-97. Our analysis identified the 6p22 locus previously implicated in dyslexia, childhood apraxia of speech (CAS), and language impairment, confirming the role of KIAA0319 and DCDC2 in this locus. These findings provide statistical evidence for the genomic regions associated with articulation disorder and offer future opportunities to further the role of genes in speech production. Full article

The objective of the present study was to investigate the impact of MgO 0.5 g/kg loaded in different organic waste materials on the properties of the modified biochars obtained. The waste materials included tea waste, wood waste, water chestnut peel, and pomegranate peel, which were used to create tea waste MgO-modified biochar (TWMgO-MBC), wood waste MgO-modified biochar (WSMgO-MBC), water chestnut peel MgO-modified biochar (WCMgO-MBC), and pomegranate peel MgO-modified biochar (PPMgO-MBC). All the MgO-modified biochars were prepared at 600 °C for 2 h and applied at 0.5 and 1% doses for the immobilization of Ni, Cu, Pb, and Cr in stone crushing and mining-polluted soil and the reduction in their uptake by pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum) plant. The greatest fresh and dry biomasses were observed at 45.04% and 31.29%, respectively, with the application of TWMgO-MBC 1% in stone-crushing-polluted soil. The highest degree of immobilization of Ni (76.67%) was observed for the WSMgO-MBC 1% treatment, Cu (73.45%) for WCMgO-MBC 1%, Pb (76.78%) for WSMgO-MBC 1%, and Cr (70.55%) for WCMgO-MBC 1%, in comparison with the control. The maximum uptake of Ni, Cu, Pb, and Cr in the shoot of pearl millet was reduced by 78.43% with WSMgO-MBC 1%, 75.06% with WSMgO-MBC 1%, 90.81% with WCMgO-MBC 1%, and 85.71% with WSMgO-MBC 1% as compared with the control. The greatest reduction in Ni, Cu, Pb, and Cr in the root of pearl millet was observed at 77.81% with WSMgO-MBC 1%, 68.09% with WCMgO-MBC 1%, 84.03% with WCMgO-MBC 1%, and 88.73% with WCMgO-MBC 1%, in comparison with the control. The present study demonstrated that the TWMgO-MBC 1% treatment was highly effective for improving plant growth, while the WSMgO-MBC 1%, and WCMgO-MBC 1% treatments were found to be highly effective for immobilizing heavy metals in polluted soils, thus facilitating safe crop cultivation. Future studies should concentrate on the long-term application of MgO-modified biochars for the remediation of multimetal-polluted soils. Full article

In this research paper, we establish geometric inequalities that characterize the relationship between the squared mean curvature and the warping functions of a doubly warped product pointwise bi-slant submanifold. Our investigation takes place in the context of locally conformal almost cosymplectic manifolds, which are equipped with a quarter-symmetric metric connection. We also consider the cases of equality in these inequalities. Additionally, we derive some geometric applications of our obtained results. Full article

Because there are a few typos in the supersymmetry-breaking sfermion masses and trilinear soft term, regarding the current Large Hadron Collider (LHC) and dark matter searches, we revisit a three-family Pati–Salam model based on intersecting D6-branes in Type IIA string theory on a ${\mathbf{T}}^{\mathbf{6}}/({\mathbb{Z}}_{\mathbf{2}}\times {\mathbb{Z}}_{\mathbf{2}})$ orientifold with a realistic phenomenology. We study the viable parameter space and discuss the spectrum consistent with the current LHC Supersymmetry searches and the dark matter relic density bounds from the Planck 2018 data. For the gluinos and first two generations of sfermions, we observe that the gluino mass is in the range [2, 14] TeV, the squarks mass range is [2, 13] TeV and the sleptons mass is in the range [1, 5] TeV. We achieve the cold dark matter relic density consistent with 5$\sigma$ Planck 2018 bounds via A-funnel and coannihilation channels such as stop–neutralino, stau–neutralino, and chargino–neutralino. Except for a few chargino–neutralino coannihilation solutions, these solutions satisfy current nucleon-neutralino spin-independent and spin-dependent scattering cross-sections and may be probed by future dark matter searches. Full article

Background: “Ghosting” refers to the practice of abruptly cutting off all contact with a person with whom you have been in constant correspondence. The break comes without warning and without understandable provocation. The term most commonly applies to online romantic relationships. The motives for and effects of ghosting have been studied, and validated research questionnaires have been developed; however, there are no such questionnaires available for Urdu speakers. The purpose of this study was to adapt the “Ghosting Questionnaire (GQ)” for use in Pakistan and India, two of the world’s most populous countries—a process that involves translation, adaptation, and validation. Methods: The study’s methodology involved translating the GQ into Urdu using both forward and backward translation techniques. Convergent validity, test–retest reliability, internal consistency, confirmatory factor analysis, and goodness of fit were all components of the psychometric analyses. Conclusions: The Urdu version of the GQ demonstrated a good internal consistency, with the Cronbach’s alpha and McDonald’s omega both exceeding 0.90. It also showed a high test–retest reliability—(0.96). The one-factor structure was confirmed by the confirmatory factor analysis, which agreed with the original English version of the GQ. Full article

Understanding electrochemical reactions at the surface of electrodes requires the accurate calculation of key parameters—the transfer coefficient (α), diffusion coefficient (D₀), and heterogeneous electron transfer rate constant (k⁰). The choice of method to calculate these parameters requires careful consideration based on the nature of the electrochemical reaction. In this study, we conducted the cyclic voltammetry of paracetamol to calculate the values of these parameters using different methods and present a comparative analysis. Our results demonstrate that the E_p − E_p/2 equation for α and the modified Randles–Ševčík equation for D₀ is particularly effective for the calculations of these two parameters. The Kochi and Gileadi methods are reliable alternatives for the calculation of k⁰. Nicholson and Shain’s method using the equation k⁰ = Ψ(πnD₀Fν/RT)^1/2 gives the overestimated values of k⁰. However, the value of k⁰ calculated using the plot of ν^−1/2 versus Ψ (from the Nicholson and Shain equation, where ν is scan rate) agrees well with the values calculated from the Kochi and Gilaedi methods. This study not only identifies optimal methodologies for quasi-reversible reactions but also contributes to a deeper understanding of electrochemical reactions involving complex electron transfer and coupled chemical reactions, which can be broadly applicable in various electrochemical studies. Full article

Let m and n be fixed positive integers. Suppose that $\mathcal{A}$ is a von Neumann algebra with no central summands of type $I_1$, and $L_m:\mathcal{A}\to \mathcal{A}$ is a Lie-type higher derivation. In continuation of the rigorous and versatile framework for investigating the structure and properties of operators on Hilbert spaces, more facts are needed to characterize Lie-type higher derivations of von Neumann algebras with local actions. In the present paper, our main aim is to characterize Lie-type higher derivations on von Neumann algebras and prove that in cases of zero products, there exists an additive higher derivation ${\varphi }_m:\mathcal{A}\to \mathcal{A}$ and an additive higher map ${\zeta }_m:\mathcal{A}\to Z(\mathcal{A})$, which annihilates every ${(n-1)}^{th}$ commutator $p_n({\mathfrak{S}}_1,{\mathfrak{S}}_2,\cdots ,{\mathfrak{S}}_n)$ with ${\mathfrak{S}}_1{\mathfrak{S}}_2=0$ such that $L_m(\mathfrak{S})={\varphi }_m(\mathfrak{S})+{\zeta }_m(\mathfrak{S})forall\mathfrak{S}\in \mathcal{A}.$ We also demonstrate that the result holds true for the case of the projection product. Further, we discuss some more related results. Full article

In a conventional speech emotion recognition (SER) task, a classifier for a given language is trained on a pre-existing dataset for that same language. However, where training data for a language do not exist, data from other languages can be used instead. We experiment with cross-lingual and multilingual SER, working with Amharic, English, German, and Urdu. For Amharic, we use our own publicly available Amharic Speech Emotion Dataset (ASED). For English, German and Urdu, we use the existing RAVDESS, EMO-DB, and URDU datasets. We followed previous research in mapping labels for all of the datasets to just two classes: positive and negative. Thus, we can compare performance on different languages directly and combine languages for training and testing. In Experiment 1, monolingual SER trials were carried out using three classifiers, AlexNet, VGGE (a proposed variant of VGG), and ResNet50. The results, averaged for the three models, were very similar for ASED and RAVDESS, suggesting that Amharic and English SER are equally difficult. Similarly, German SER is more difficult, and Urdu SER is easier. In Experiment 2, we trained on one language and tested on another, in both directions for each of the following pairs: Amharic↔German, Amharic↔English, and Amharic↔Urdu. The results with Amharic as the target suggested that using English or German as the source gives the best result. In Experiment 3, we trained on several non-Amharic languages and then tested on Amharic. The best accuracy obtained was several percentage points greater than the best accuracy in Experiment 2, suggesting that a better result can be obtained when using two or three non-Amharic languages for training than when using just one non-Amharic language. Overall, the results suggest that cross-lingual and multilingual training can be an effective strategy for training an SER classifier when resources for a language are scarce. Full article

The Internet of Things (IoT) and wireless sensor networks (WSNs) have evolved rapidly due to technological breakthroughs. WSNs generate high traffic due to the growing number of sensor nodes. Congestion is one of several problems caused by the huge amount of data in WSNs. When wireless network resources are limited and IoT devices require more and more resources, congestion occurs in extremely dense WSN-based IoT networks. Reduced throughput, reduced network capacity, and reduced energy efficiency within WSNs are all effects of congestion. These consequences eventually lead to network outages due to underutilized network resources, increased network operating costs, and significantly degraded quality of service (QoS). Therefore, it is critical to deal with congestion in WSN-based IoT networks. Researchers have developed a number of approaches to address this problem, with new solutions based on artificial intelligence (AI) standing out. This research examines how new AI-based algorithms contribute to congestion mitigation in WSN-based IoT networks and the various congestion mitigation strategies that have helped reduce congestion. This study also highlights the limitations of AI-based solutions, including where and why they are used in WSNs, and a comparative study of the current literature that makes this study novel. The study concludes with a discussion of its significance and potential future study topics. The topic of congestion reduction in ultra-dense WSN-based IoT networks, as well as the current state of the art and emerging future solutions, demonstrates their significant expertise in reducing WSN congestion. These solutions contribute to network optimization, throughput enhancement, quality of service improvement, network capacity expansion, and overall WSN efficiency improvement. Full article

The production and consumption of energy must be converted to renewable alternatives in order to meet climate targets. During the past few decades, solar photovoltaic systems (PVs) have become increasingly popular as an alternative energy source. PVs generate electricity from sunlight, but their production has required governmental support through market interventions due to their lack of competitiveness on the energy market. Despite 40 years of attempts to establish PV technology through such interventions, the aim of this paper is to find out what general conclusions can be drawn regarding different technologies. Our study examines peer-reviewed studies from the start of PV technology up to 2023 to answer these questions. The literature indicates that not only developed countries but also developing and emerging nations possess significant potential to mitigate the adverse effects of climate change by adopting renewable energy sources. Leading market players can offer support to these less developed countries by subsidizing both equipment and installation processes. As a result, this initiative can contribute to sustainable development on our planet. Full article

This study assessed the usability of the smartphone app, named “Raabta” from the perspective of pregnant women at high risk of preeclampsia to improve the Raabta app for future implementation. Think-aloud and task-completion techniques were used with a purposive sample of 14 pregnant women at high risk of preeclampsia. The sessions were audio-recorded and later professionally transcribed for thematic analysis. The study generated learnings associated with four themes: improving the clarity of instructions, messaging, and terminology; accessibility for non-tech savvy and illiterate Urdu users; enhancing visuals and icons for user engagement; and simplifying navigation and functionality. Overall, user feedback emphasized the importance of enhancing the clarity of instructions, messaging, and terminology within the Raabta app. Voice messages and visuals were valued by users, particularly among the non-tech savvy and illiterate Urdu users, as they enhance accessibility and enable independent monitoring. Suggestions were made to enhance user engagement through visual improvements such as enhanced graphics and culturally aligned color schemes. Lastly, users highlighted the need for improved navigation both between screens and within screens to enhance the overall user experience. The Raabta app prototype will be modified based on the feedback of the users to address the unique needs of diverse groups. Full article

River water quality is of utmost importance because the river is not only one of the key water resources but also a natural habitat serving its surrounding environment. In a bid to address whether it has a qualified quality, various analytics are required to be considered, but it is challenging to measure all of them frequently along a river reach. Therefore, estimating water quality index (WQI) incorporating several weighted analytics is a useful approach to assess water quality in rivers. This study explored applications of ten machine learning (ML) models to estimate WQI for the Southern Bug River, which is the second-longest river in Ukraine. The ML methods considered in this study include artificial neural networks (ANNs), Support Vector Regressor (SVR), Extreme Learning Machine, Decision Tree Regressor, random forest, AdaBoost (AB), Gradient Boosting Regressor, XGBoost Regressor (XGBR), Gaussian process (GP), and K-nearest neighbors (KNN). Each data measurement consists of nine analytics (NH₄, BOD₅, suspended solids, DO, NO₃, NO₂, SO₄, PO₄, Cl), while the quantity of data is more than 2700 data points. The results indicated that all ML models demonstrate satisfactory performance in predicting WQI. However, GP outperformed the other models, followed by XGBR, SVR, and KNN. Furthermore, ANN and AB demonstrated relatively weaker performance. Moreover, a reliability assessment conducted on both training and testing datasets also confirmed the results of the comparative analysis. Overall, the results enhance the assertion that ML models can sufficiently predict WQI, thereby enhancing water quality management. Full article

Nanomaterials have been the focus of intense study and growth in the modern era across the globe because of their outstanding qualities, which are brought about by their nanoscale size; for instance, increased adsorption and catalysis capabilities plus significant reactivity. Multiple investigations have verified the fact that nanoparticles may successfully remove a variety of pollutants from water, and, as a result, they have been utilized in the treatment of both water and wastewater. Therefore, the current research intent is to examine the nonlinear heat source/sink influence on the 3D flow of water-based silver nanoparticles incorporated in an Eyring–Powell fluid across a deformable sheet with concentration pollutants. Silver particles have been used intensively to filter water, due to their potent antibacterial properties. The leading equations involving partial differential equations are renewed into the form of ordinary ordinary differential equations through utilizing the appropriate similarity technique. Then, these converted equations are solved by utilizing an efficient solver bvp4c. Visual displays and extensive exploration of the different impacts of the non-dimensional parameters on the concentration, temperature, and velocity profiles are provided. Also, the important engineering variables including skin friction, the rate of heat, and mass transfer are examined. The findings suggest that the mass transfer rate declines due to pollutant parameters. Also, the results suggest that the friction factor is uplifted by about 15% and that the heat transfer rate, as well as the mass transfer rate, declines by about 21%, due to the presence of the nanoparticle volume fraction. We believe that these results may improve the flow rate of nanofluid systems, improve heat transfer, and reduce pollutant dispersal. Full article

The traditional use of Mirabilis jalapa L. roots to enhance male sexual performance prompted us to assess the in silico, in vitro, and in vivo aphrodisiac activities of its hydroethanolic extract using normal male rats. Spectroscopic characterization indicated the presence of ß-D-glucopyranoside, methyl-1,9-benzyl-2,6-dichloro-9H-purine, and Bis-(2-ethylhexyl)-phthalate; these compounds have a significant inhibitory effect on the phosphodiesterase-5 (PDE-5) enzyme in silico evaluation and minerals (including zinc, cadmium, and magnesium). Other phytochemical analyses revealed the presence of phenolic compounds and flavonoids. These phytochemicals and minerals may contribute to the aphrodisiac activities of the extract. Additionally, the in vivo study revealed that the administration of M. jalapa root extract (300 mg/kg) significantly enhanced (p < 0.01, p < 0.03) mount, intromission, and ejaculation frequencies while significantly (p < 0.05) decreasing the mount and intromission latencies, as well as the post-ejaculatory interval time, in comparison with the standard drugs sildenafil and ginseng, resulting in enhanced erection and sexual performance in the rats. Furthermore, the extract significantly (p < 0.05) increased penile reflexes and also elevated the levels of testosterone and luteinizing hormones. Extract (300 mg/kg) significantly (p < 0.05) inhibited the PDE-5 enzyme in an in vitro study. Concludingly, the comprehensive findings of this study suggest that a standardized herbal extract derived from M. jalapa roots alleviates erectile dysfunction and premature ejaculation in male rats. M. jalapa root extract proved to be an alternative treatment for erectile dysfunction and premature ejaculation. Full article