Increasing risk of glacial lake outburst floods as a consequence of climate change in the Himalayan region

The greater Himalayan Mountains host the largest snow covered area outside the polar regions and serves as the source for some of the major fluvial systems of the world. The region acts as the lifeline for approximately 10% of the world’s population. The terrain is geologically active, highly susceptible to climate change processes and plays a significant role in global hydro-meteorological cycles and biodiversity. With the increasing impacts of climate change to the glaciers and ice caps during the past few decades, people living in the Himalayas have become vulnerable to a higher risk of floods, avalanches and glacial lake outburst floods(GLOFs). This study reviewed the work carried out by earlier researchers to understand the history and science of GLOFs and their potential risk to the communities in the Himalayanbelt, particularly in Pakistan

Decentralized document version control using ethereum blockchain and IPFS

In this paper, we propose a blockchain-based solution and framework for document sharing and version control to facilitate multi-user collaboration and track changes in a trusted, secure, and decentralized manner, with no involvement of a centralized trusted entity or third party. This solution is based on utilizing Ethereum smart contracts to govern and regulate the document version control functions among the creators and developers of the document and its validators. Moreover, our solution leverages the benefits of IPFS (InterPlanetary File System) to store documents on a decentralized file system. The proposed solution automates necessary interactions among multiple actors comprising developers and approvers. Smart contracts have been developed using Solidity language, and their functionalities were tested using the Remix IDE (Integrated Development Environment). The paper demonstrates that our smart contract code is free of commonly known security vulnerabilities and attacks. The code has been made publically available at Github

Evaluation of ultra-wideband in vivo radio channel and its effects on system performance

This paper presents bit‐error‐rate (BER) performance analysis and improvement using equalizers for an in vivo radio channel at ultra‐wideband frequencies (3.1 GHz to 10.6 GHz). By conducting simulations using a bandwidth of 50 MHz, we observed that the in vivo radio channel is affected by small‐scale fading. This fading results in intersymbol interference affecting upcoming symbol transmission, causing delayed versions of the symbols to arrive at the receiver side and causes increase in BER. A 29‐taps channel was observed from the experimentally measured data using a human cadaver, and BER was calculated for the measured in vivo channel response along with the ideal additive white Gaussian noise and Rayleigh channel models. Linear and nonlinear adaptive equalizers, ie, decision feedback equalizer (DFE) and least mean square (LMS), were used to improve the BER performance of the in vivo radio channel. It is noticed that both the equalizers improve the BER but DFE has better BER compared to LMS and shows the 2‐dB and 4‐dB performance gains of DFE over the LMS at Eb/No = 12 dB and at Eb/No = 14 dB, respectively. The current findings will help guide future researchers and designers in enhancing systems performance of an ultra‐wideband in vivo wireless systems

(2Z)-2-(4-Methyl­phen­yl)-3-(2-naphth­yl)prop-2-enenitrile

In the title compound, C20H15N, the dihedral angle between the naphthalene and benzene rings is 60.30 (16)°. The crystal packing features very weak inter­molecular C—H⋯π inter­actions

Effect of farm yard manure and planting densities on growth, yield and quality of okra under natural farming

A field study was conducted to investigate the effect of farm yard manure and planting densities (P x P 10, 15, 20 and 25 cm and R x R 60 cm) under natural farming condition at National Agricultural Research Centre, Islamabad during 2016. The land was incorporated with well rotten farm yard manure (FYM) @ 25 t ha-1 in respective plots (4 x 8 meter) one week before bed preparation and mixed thoroughly in the soil. Seeds of okra (Abelmoschus esculentus L., var. Pusa Green) were sown according to the plan following split plot design with four replications. The crop was allowed to stand till maturity and data on growth traits were recorded. Among plant densities, 10 and 15 cm P x P and FYM incorporation @ 25 t ha-1 produced comparable fresh pod yield (11.22 and 10.97 t ha-1, respectively) which was 25 and 24 % higher than that of without FYM application. Dense populated crop i.e., 10 and 15 cm P x P performed better than rest of planting densities through improved fresh pod yield with comparatively improved quality. Dense populated treatment (P x P 10 cm) and FYM application @ 25 t ha-1 produced better quality fruits with less crude fiber content (9.89 %) and higher moisture content (79.14%) as compared to without FYM application (10.93 and 77.49 %) respectively that indicates more accumulation of dry matter content in fruits

Prevalence of Muscle Dysmorphia and Associated Health Activities in Male Medical Students in Karachi, Pakistan

Background: Muscle Dysmorphia (MD) is a subtype of body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) and is currently classified under anxiety disorders (subheading: Obsessive-compulsive disorder) in DSM 5. MD is hypothesized to affect the self-esteem and social outlook of the younger generation. MD shows a higher rate in males and may influence their self-confidence rendering them more prone towards using steroids, supplementary proteins and other drugs to alter their physical outlooks as shown in previous studies. This problem has been on the rise lately due to revolutionary advancement in the media and film industry and the abrupt changes about the standards of physical good looks and body shapes. With the lack of studies done in our population, our study will be helpful to consider the prevalence of the disease in our setting and increase awareness in the general public and clinicians. We hope to help clinicians/ therapists find better options in managing the disease. Materials: We performed a cross-sectional study with a sample size of 246 medical school students in Karachi to collect data through self-administered questionnaires. We used the DSM 5 criteria for the diagnosis of BDD and additional questions on the presence of MD. Nutritional habits, exercise routines, use of supplements and drugs were also obtained for exploratory analysis. Results: Our study predicted the prevalence of MD to be 25%. Other main findings included statistical significant associations between MD and the thoughts and practice of steroid use for muscularity. Conclusion: MD is an underdiagnosed and often unrecognized disease that we believe has significant consequences for the young male population. Further work is needed on this in our part of the world. Our research, we believe, can be a stepping stone for further studies that would incorporate wider populations

Growth and yield of garlic (Allium Sativum L.) influenced by Zn and Fe application

A pot experiment was conducted to investigate the effect of Zn and Fe application on growth and yield of garlic (Allium sativum L.) var. Desi Sufaid at National Agricultural Research Centre, Islamabad during Rabi season 2018-2019. Eight kilogram of sandy clay loam soil was filled in the pots. Four garlic cloves were sown in each pot. The treatments of Zn, Fe and their mixture (1:1 ratio) @ 5 kg ha-1 along with basal dose of N, P and K (100, 75 and 50 mg kg-1) fertilizer were applied at sowing following complete randomized design with three replications. The plants were allowed to stand till maturity and data on growth traits like plant height (cm), pseudo stem diameter (cm), leaf length (cm), leaves plant-1, bulb diameter (cm), cloves (bulb-1), clove weight (g) and bulb yield (g plant-1) were recorded at harvest. The mean data were analyzed statistically. The highest growth attributes like plant height, number of leaves per plant, bulb diameter, cloves, clove weight and bulb yield were harvested with micronutrients (Zn and Fe) along with basal dose of N, P and K (100, 75 and 50 mg kg-1) application which were significantly higher as compared to control. Though, all the treatments showed positive effect through growth characteristics and yield, however, the mixture of Zn and Fe application produced comparable garlic yield among all the treatments which was 6 and 4 (%) higher than that of sole application of Zn and Fe, respectively. Significant improvement in Zn and Fe concentration in garlic plant tissues was observed with the application of Zn and Fe respectively. Overall the combination of both micronutrients performed better than rest of the treatments through improved growth traits and bulb yield

Combustion and explosion characteristics of pulverised wood, valorized with mild pyrolysis in pilot scale installation, using the modified ISO 1 m(3) dust explosion vessel

Featured Application Design of explosion safety measures for torrefaction installations and design of pulverized-fired burners for biocoal. Biomass is a renewable energy source with great potential worldwide and in the European Union. However, valorization is necessary to turn many types of waste biomass into a tradable commodity that has the potential to replace coal in power plants without significant modifications to firing systems. Mild pyrolysis, also known as torrefaction, is a thermal valorization process of low-quality biomass that could be suitable for such a purpose. In this work, typical Spruce-Pine-Fir residues from a sawmill were tested in terms of the explosion and flame propagation properties. The ISO 1 m(3) dust explosion vessel was used, with a modified and calibrated dust dispersion system that could cope with very coarse particles. The deflagration index, K-st, was higher for the torrefied sample, with a peak at 36 bar m/s compared with 27 for the raw biomass. The peak flame speeds were similar for both samples, reaching 1 m/s. The peak P-max/P-i was between 7.3 and 7.4 bar for both untreated and torrefied biomass. The mechanism for coarse particle combustion is considered to be influenced by the explosion-induced wind blowing the finer fractions ahead of the flame, which burns first, subsequently devolatilizing the coarser fractions.Web of Science1224art. no. 1292

Ethyl (Z)-2-cyano-3-(9-ethyl-9H-carbazol-3-yl)prop-2-enoate

In the title compound, C20H18N2O2, weak inter­molecular C—H⋯O and C—H⋯N inter­actions generate a chain that runs parallel to the b axis and incorporates C(7) and R 2 2(15) graph-set motifs. The supra­molecular aggregation is completed by the presence of weak C—H⋯π inter­actions

4-(2-Methoxy­benzyl­idene)-2-phenyl-1,3-oxazol-5(4H)-one

The title mol­ecule, C17H13NO3, adopts a Z configuration about the central olefinic bond. The 2-phenyl ring is almost coplanar with the plane of the oxazolone ring system, making a dihedral angle of 2.03 (11)°. The crystal structure is stabilized by π–π inter­actions between the oxazolone ring and phenyl ring of a neighbouring mol­ecule [centroid–centroid distance = 3.550 (3)Å], and by two weak inter­molecular C—H⋯π inter­actions. In addition, the crystal structure exhibits one weak intra­molecular C—H⋯N hydrogen bond