Assessing the Impact of Heat Mitigation Measures on Thermal Performance and Energy Demand at the Community Level: A Pathway Toward Designing Net-zero Energy Communities

In the context of escalating global energy demands, urban areas, specifically the building sector, contribute to the largest energy consumption, with urban overheating exacerbating this issue. Utilizing urban modelling for heat-mitigation and reduction of energy demand is crucial steps towards a sustainable built-environment, complementing onsite energy generation in the design and development of Net-zero Energy (NZE) Settlement, especially in the context of Australian weather conditions. Addressing a significant gap in existing literature, this study offers empirical analysis on the climate and energy efficacy of integrated heat mitigation strategies applied in 14 neighbourhood typologies located in Sydney, Australia. Examining the application of cool materials on roads, pavements, and rooftops, alongside urban vegetation enhancement, the analysis demonstrates scenario effectiveness on heat mitigation that leads to reduce ambient temperature and energy demands along with CO2 emissions within the neighbourhoods. Considering building arrangement, built-area ratio, building height, and locations, ENVI-met and CitySim are utilized to assess the heat-mitigation and the energy demand of neighbourhoods, respectively. Results indicate that mitigation measures can lead up to a 2.71 °C reduction in ambient temperature and over 25% reduction in Cooling Degree Hours, with a 34.34% reduction in cooling energy demand and overall energy savings of up to 12.49%. In addition, the annual energy-saving yields a CO2 reduction of approximately 141.12 tonnes, where additional vegetation further amplifies these reductions by enhancing CO2 absorption. This study showcases the pathway towards achieving NZE goals in climates similar to that of Australia, highlighting significant benefits in heat-mitigation, environmental impact, and energy-savings

EFFECTS OF AEROBIC TRAINING ON TARGETED HEART RATE ZONE

Reduced targeted heart rate zone is an indication of fitness of an athlete andReduced targeted heart rate zone is an indication of fitness of an individualand the main purpose of the current study was to investigate the “effects ofaerobic training on targeted heart rate zone among college students”. Thestudy was experimental in nature. The population of the study comprised of allthose students (male) who were boarding in hostel with age range 18-22 yearsof Government Post Graduate College Karak, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP),Pakistan. The sample of fifty (n-50) healthy, sedentary, and volunteer subjectsfor the study was determined through Physical Activity ReadinessQuestionnaire (PAR-Q). Resting heart rate of each subject was taken bydigital heart rate monitor as pre-test. Targeted heart rate zone was calculatedthrough the formula [(220-age-RHR) x percentage of intensity+ RHR]. Thesubjects were randomly divided into two equal groups each of 25 subjects. Theexperimental group underwent aerobic training at moderate intensity (50% to70% of the Maximum Heart Rate) for eight weeks while the control groupcarried on their routine life activities. There were four training sessions perweek and each session comprised of 30 minutes besides warm up and warmdown. After eight weeks aerobic training, the post-test of resting heart rate ofeach subject of both group was conducted as the procedure adopted for the prtest. The pre-test data and post-test date was analyzed with the help of SPSSversion 20 by applying the descriptive statistical sources mean, minimum,maximum and standard deviation to show the difference between pre-test andpos-test. The results of the study showed that there was descriptively decreasein targeted heart rate zone of subjects of the experimental group while controlgroup showed no improvement. In light of the findings of the study, it isconcluded that aerobic exercises play important role in the reduction oftargeted heart rate zone and this quality paves the way to show goodperformance in daily physical and sports activities

Tensile strength of woven yarn kenaf fiber reinforced polyester composites

This paper presents the tensile strength of woven kenaf fiber reinforced polyester composites. The as-received yarn kenaf fiber is weaved and then aligned into specific fiber orientations before it is hardened with polyester resin. The composite plates are shaped according to the standard geometry and uni-axially loaded in order to investigate the tensile responses. Two important parameters are studied such as fiber orientations and number of layers. According to the results, it is shown that fiber orientations greatly affected the ultimate tensile strength but it is not for modulus of elasticity for both types of layers. It is estimated that the reductions of both ultimate tensile strength and Young’s modulus are in the range of 27.7-30.9% and 2.4-3.7% respectively, if the inclined fibers are used with respect to the principal axis

Mortality Rate Prediction in the Critically Ill Patients by Using Apache-II Scoring Tool

OBJECTIVES The study’s objective was to implement a methodological approach, "Acute Physiological and Chronic Health Evaluation II (APACHE-II),” to classify critically ill patients based on severity. METHODOLOGY A retrospective study design was conducted at Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital Lahore, Pakistan, from May 2019 to May 2020. A pilot study of 6 months was conducted by reviewing the medical record of 30 adult patients following convenient sampling after the approval of the proposal by ASRB/IRB of Shaukat Khanum hospital. The record of both male and female patients was studied, while no record of paediatric or adult patients outside the ICU was studied. Each patient’s severity score was obtained using the patient’s parameters with the help of the APACHE-II table. RESULTS Among the patients, three out of 30 scored 25, 29 and 30 on APACHE-II. These patients later passed away in ICU. This indicates that the mortality rate increases with an increase in the APACHE-II score. Thus, the scoring system is very beneficial in predicting adult ICU patients' mortality rate. CONCLUSION It is concluded that APACHE II is one of the best severity scoring systems in predicting the critical condition of patients

Phytochemical screening and assessment of pharmacological properties of Swertia chirayita (Roxb. ex fleming) root methanolic extract

Background and Objective: Various parts of medicinal plants have been used to treat specific disorder from ancient times. Swertia chirayita (Roxb. ex Fleming) is a customary folklore medicine, used in the treatment of liver disorders, fevers, dysentery, diarrhea, stomach problems and other disorders. The present study was carried out in order to assess the antioxidant activity, to evaluate the antifungal properties of the plant’s root and to observe anticancer potential of methanolic extract of Swertia chirayita root. Materials and Methods: Phytochemical analysis and different chemical tests for the screening and identification of bioactive chemical constituents in Swertia chirayita methanolic root extract (SCME) were carried out using the standard procedures. The plants were purchased from local herbal market. In vitro determination of antioxidant properties of SCME were conducted using 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH)radical scavenging activity, H2O2 scavenging activity, Beta-carotene bleaching assay, total antioxidant activity by phosphomolybdenum method, azinobis (3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) (ABTS) radical cation scavenging activity and hydroxyl radical scavenging activity. Anticancer activity of SCME was determined according to the protocol of brine shrimp lethality test. Antifungal potential was determined by measuring zone of inhibition on Potato Dextrose Agar (PDA) plates. The different concentrations of SCME used were 3.0, 1.5, 0.75 and 0.37 mg mL–1. The data were evaluated as Mean±Standard Deviations of 5 independent experimental responses. The results were analyzed using t-test for independent samples with SPSS version 16.0. Results: Phytochemical analysis of SCME showed that phlobatannins, tannins, saponins and terpenoids were present. The SCME exhibited strong antioxidant activity in a concentration dependent manner for in all six models. The SCME at dose of 3 mg mL–1 caused 100% death rate of brine shrimp after 72 h. The SCME showed potent activity against Aspergillus flavus (87%) followed by Aspergillus niger (88%) while the highest activity was shown against Aspergillus fumigatus (92%). Conclusion: The SCME exhibited strong antioxidant, antifungal and cytotoxic potential. Purification of different bioactive compounds should be carried out and in vivo studies are required for further verification.Scopu

Phytotoxic characterization of crude methanolic extract of Periploca aphylla

Periploca aphylla is traditionally used in the treatment of various ailments. Phytotoxic activity of crude methanolic extract of P. aphylla was tested on the germination of wheat seeds and on the growth of the germinated seedlings. In both the field and plate studies, the extract showed inhibitory effect on the germination of the growth of root and shoot of the seedlings. The inhibition was found to be dose dependent. The higher concentration of 1000 μg/ml showed maximum inhibitory effect on the growth of root and shoots in the studies of plate as well as on fresh and dry weight of wheat plant. Similarly, the herbicidal activity is also dependent on the concentration of extract. In this study, it was found that inhibitory potential of methanolic extract of P. aphylla increased as 1000 >100 >10 μg/ml.Keywords: Phytotoxic activity, herbicidal activity, germination, plates and field studies, Perifloca aphyll

Existence results to a class of hybrid fractional differential equations

This article is devoted to the study of existence results to a class of boundary value problems for hybrid fractional differential equations. A couple of hybrid fixed point theorems for the sum of three operators are used for proving the main results. Examples illustrating the results are also presented

ANTIMICROBIAL EFFICACY OF TAMARIX DIOCA (L.) LEAVES AND FLOWERS

Tamarix dioca (L.) belongs to family Tamaricaceae is traditionally a vital plant used for treatment of various diseases. Efforts were made to investigate the antimicrobial efficiency of T. dioca.There was three concentrations of crude methanolic extracts of 200µg/ml, 100µg/ml and 50 µg/ml were checked against six pathogenic fungi Aspergillus fumigatus, aspergillus flavus, Fusarium solani, Aspergillus niger, Penicillium digitatum and Penicillium tubesulum and six bacterial strains Bacillus subtilis, Enterobactor aerogenes, Escherichia coli, Kliebsiella pneumoniae, Salmonella typhi and Staphylococcus aureus. It was noted that Percentage inhibition in the growth of fungi and bacteria was dosage dependent. Terbinafine a standard antifungal drug, 10mg/ml and Cefexime 10mg/ml (antibacterial) were used as a positive control. The results were compared with control and most of the results were found significant. Maximum inhibition was showed by T. dioca against fungal strain A. niger (74%) and bacterial strain K. pneumoniae (48%). It can be use as powerful antimicrobial agent in near fture