Abu Dhabi University

Alkaline water electrolysis (AWS) is a promising technology for hydrogen production, but the low performance of oxygen evolution reaction (OER) electrodes leads to high energy consumption. Enhancing OER efficiency is essential for reducing energy barriers and improving system performance. In this study, it develops a composite catalyst of PrBa0.5Sr0.5Co1.5Fe0.5O5+δ and IrO2 (PBSCF‐Ir), with a surface area of 18.68 m²g⁻¹. The PBSCF‐Ir composite exhibits a low overpotential of 312 mV at 10 mA cm⁻² and stability over 300 h. In water splitting tests, it achieves a lower cell voltage (1.95 V at 500 mA cm⁻²) compared to pure IrO2. X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy reveals a 1 eV blueshift in Co 2p energy levels, indicating modified electronic structures. Density functional theory calculations show that IrO2 shifts the d‐band centers of Co and Fe, enhancing electrophilicity, OH⁻ affinity, and OER activity. This study highlights the PBSCF‐Ir composite as an efficient and durable catalyst for AWS, thereby addressing the need for sustainable hydrogen production.

Neurological disorders, such as stroke, spinal cord injury, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, result in significant motor function impairments, affecting millions of individuals worldwide. To address the need for innovative and effective interventions, this study investigates the efficacy of electromyography (EMG) decoding in improving motor function outcomes. While existing literature has extensively explored classifier selection and feature set optimization, the choice of preprocessing technique, particularly time-domain windowing techniques, remains understudied posing a significant knowledge gap. This study presents upper limb movement classification by providing a comprehensive comparison of eight time-domain windowing techniques. For this purpose, the EMG data from volunteers is recorded involving fifteen distinct movements of fingers. The rectangular window technique among others emerged as the most effective, achieving a classification accuracy of 99.98% while employing 40 time-domain features and a L-SVM classifier, among other classifiers. This optimal combination has implications for the development of more accurate and reliable myoelectric control systems. The achieved high classification accuracy demonstrates the feasibility of using surface EMG signals for accurate upper limb movement classification. The study’s results have the potential to improve the accuracy and reliability of prosthetic limbs and wearable sensors and inform the development of personalized rehabilitation programs. The findings can contribute to the advancement of human-computer interaction and brain-computer interface technologies.

In recent years, the synthesis of metal-doped hydroxyapatite nanoparticles has been extensively studied and recognized as a nontoxic and efficient method applicable in the biomedical field. In this study, we synthesized and characterized cationic-substituted hydroxyapatite to investigate its dual action in anticancer and antibacterial therapies, which showed efficient cytotoxicity of doped hydroxyapatite (HAp) on the human liver carcinoma cell line (Hep G2) and enhanced antibacterial effect on Staphylococcus aureus and Micrococcus luteus bacterial strains. Nano-hydroxyapatite was prepared by co-precipitation technique with doping of various concentrations (x = 0, 0.7, 0.9) of nickel Ni²⁺ and zinc Zn²⁺ with the chemical formula (Ca)10−xMx(PO4)6(OH)2 where M = Ni²⁺, Zn²⁺. Results from the antibacterial investigation specified that Ni²⁺ and Zn²⁺ doped hydroxyapatite have strong 50 ± 0.4 mm and 60 ± 0.5 mm inhibition zones, especially against multidrug-resistant gram-positive S. aureus. The zeta potential of pure hydroxyapatite (HAp), nickel-doped hydroxyapatite (Ni-HAp), and zinc-doped hydroxyapatite (Zn-HAp) nanocomposites were − 3.23 mV, 2.995 mV, and 6.9 mV, respectively. The charge shift from a negative to a positive zeta potential due to cationic substitution indicated substantial changes in the surface interaction potential of the doped hydroxyapatite nanoparticles at particular conditions, which validated enhanced antibacterial and anticancer activity through experimental investigations. In vitro, cytotoxicity screening of pure HAp, Ni²⁺, and Zn²⁺ doped hydroxyapatite against Hepatocellular carcinoma HepG2 cells differentiated and interpreted. The release of nickel and zinc ions with calcium and phosphate enhanced the antibacterial and anticancer activity of doped hydroxyapatite. Zinc-doped hydroxyapatite has a better 69.98 ± 5.79% potential for cytotoxicity anti-cancerous activity evidenced by cell viability studies.

Water pollution by persistent dyes and bacteria has become one of the major environmental concerns. One of the most widely used strategies is the use of supported metal nanoparticles (MNPs) to remove a wide variety of dyes. This work concerns the dispersion of MNPs (M = Ag, Zn, and Cu) on kaolin clay using ultrasonic irradiation. The resulting solids were used as catalysts to reduce methylene blue (MB), methyl orange (MO), and orange G (OG) dyes in a simple and binary system. The obtained results showed that ultrasonic irradiation produced a good dispersion of MNPs with ultrafine sizes. According to XPS and TEM analysis, the MNPs (M = Ag, Cu, and Zn) were well formed. Catalytic tests showed that AgNPs‐modified kaolin (K‐Ag) was the most efficient compared with other catalysts modified by ZnNPs and CuNPs. In all tests, the K‐Ag catalyst was more efficient with MB dye than with azo dyes. It was shown that the reduction of dyes is influenced by the concentration of the starting reactants, the mass of the catalyst, and the nature of the dye used. The rate constants were calculated to be 83.10⁻⁴ and 24.10⁻⁴ s⁻¹ for MB and MO dyes, respectively. For the system containing a mixture of dyes, the K‐Ag catalyst was more selective with MB dye. The reuse of the K‐Ag catalyst showed good results without losing its performance. Antibacterial applications showed that K‐Cu material was the most efficient overall bacteria.

Transformer‐based methods have shown remarkable outcomes in medical image segmentation tasks. Specifically, the Swin Transformer has proven to be an impressive approach for segmentation jobs, demonstrating its potential to further the discipline. Extensive research on integrating Swin Transformer architecture with U‐Net models has shown significant progress toward improving segmentation accuracy. Currently, researchers are looking for innovative methods to improve the challenging segmentation accuracy of enhanced tumor regions due to their heterogeneous and indistinct boundaries. To improve its accuracy, we have proposed a modified version of Swin UNETR, DSA, which is deeper and more focused on extracting global features by an enhanced self‐attention mechanism in the later stages of the encoder. It outperformed the enhancing tumor class with comparative performance for the other two classes. By fine‐tuning some hyperparameters, we achieved SOTA performance for brain tumor segmentation. The proposed deep self‐architecture obtained a mean dice score value of 0.889 and a mean Jaccard score of 0.806, respectively. A comparison was conducted with some recent state‐of‐the‐art techniques, which showed improved accuracy and outperformed the recent best‐performing UNet and transformer architectures.

The social cost of carbon (SCC) serves as a concise measure of climate change’s economic impact, often reported at the global and country level. SCC values tend to be disproportionately high for less-developed, populous countries. Previous studies do not distinguish between urban and non-urban areas and ignore the synergies between local and global warming. High exposure and concurrent socioenvironmental problems exacerbate climate change risks in cities. Using a spatially explicit integrated assessment model, the SCC is estimated at USD$187/tCO2, rising to USD$490/tCO2 when including urban heat island (UHI) warming. Urban SCC dominates, representing about 78%-93% of the global SCC, due to both urban exposure and the UHI. This finding implies that the highest global greenhouse gases (GHGs) emitters also experience the largest economic losses. Global cities have substantial leverage on climate policy at the national and global scales and strong incentives for a swift transition to a low-carbon economy.

A first principles study is used to investigate the physical features of double perovskites oxides (DPOs) X2MoSeO6 (X = Na, Li) using PBEsol-GGA potential in CASTEP. Both materials are found to have stable cubic structure which is established by imaginary values of formation enthalpy (ΔH), and values in stability range of tolerance and octahedral factors. This calculated ΔH value is -6.13 eV for Na2MoSeO6 and − 6.39 eV for Li2MoSeO6. Their mechanical stability is validated through Born stability criteria. The semiconducting nature is seen for Li2MoSeO6 and Na2MoSeO6 with bandgap (Eg) values of 2.679 eV and 2.821 eV, correspondingly that make these DPOs optimal for renewable energy and photonic applications. Optical analysis reveals that both DPOs have optical absorption values of 125,571 cm− 1 at 6 eV Li2MoSeO6 for and 160,071 cm− 1 at 7.75 eV for Na2MoSeO6. Both have reflectivity (R) below 0.3, demonstrating their strong capability to absorb light within this wavelength range. These results establish Li2MoSeO6 and Na2MoSeO6 efficient materials for solar cells and optoelectronic uses.

Liver cirrhosis is posing a global public health concern despite improvements in early diagnosis and therapeutic innovations. The present work evaluates the acute toxicity and prophylactic effects of an O-methylated flavonoid (Ombuin) in thioacetamide (TAA)-induced liver injury in rats and its underlying mechanisms. Thirty Sprague–Dawley rats were aligned into five cages and treated for two months as follows: group A ingested orally 1% CMC + distilled water (i.p.); group B had 1% CMC + 200 mg/kg TAA i.p. (three times weekly); group C had 50 mg/kg silymarin + 200 mg/kg TAA; group D had 30 mg/kg Ombuin + TAA; group E had 60 mg/kg Ombuin + mg/kg TAA. The non-toxic effects of Ombuin were evidenced by the lack of any toxicity incidence in rats ingested with up to 500 mg/kg. The TAA inoculation provoked significant hepatic intoxication confirmed by histopathological indications, alteration of tissue architecture, cellular proliferation, endothelial injury, enlarged hepatic nucleus, cytoplasmic vacuolation, collagen deposition, and elevated necrotizing tissues. The oxidative stress and inflammation process was noticeably initiated following TAA delivery to rats evidenced by down-regulation of SOD, CAT, GPx, and IL- 10, while, up-regulating the MDA and TNF-α and IL- 6 cytokines. TAA injection stimulated cellular proliferation and apoptotic actions in injured liver tissues, indicated by increased proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) and elevated expression of Bcl- 2–associated X (Bax) proteins. Ombuin supplementation showed significant resistance against TAA-mediated hepatotoxicity, reversed those cellular alterations, and restored liver functions. These results demonstrate significant ameliorative effects of Ombuin in TAA hepatotoxic rats, which could be attributed to its anti-apoptotic, antioxidant, and anti-inflammatory potentials, making it a possible viable hepatoprotective agent for inflammatory-related hepatitis.

Postpericardiotomy syndrome (PPS) involves the development of pericardial and pleural effusion following open cardiac surgery. To date, it is not completely understood why it is more likely to develop after atrial septal defect closure. This case-based brief report describes a discrepancy in the conduit and reservoir components of atrial functions by speckle-tracking echocardiography (STE) in a case following atrial septal defect (ASD) closure compared to another case who had a repair of the mitral cleft. This finding was associated with a mild effusion developing in ASD postoperative case. Despite the limited proofs brought by these two cases, it should encourage the implementation of larger cohort studies, testing atrial functions by STE, in patients after ASD closure, and calculating the diagnostic accuracy of different components of atrial functions in predicting PPS development.

Epigenetics is the coordination of gene expression without alterations in the DNA sequence. Epigenetic gene expression is regulated by an intricate system that revolves around the interaction of histone proteins and DNA within the chromatin structure. Histones remain at the core of the epigenetic gene transcription regulation where histone proteins, along with the histone modification enzymes, and the subunits of chromatin remodelers and epigenetic readers play essential roles in regulating gene expression. Histone-related disorders encompass the syndromes induced by pathogenic variants in genes encoding histones, genes encoding histone modification enzymes, and genes encoding subunits of chromatin remodeler and epigenetic reader complexes. Defects in genes encoding histones lead to the expression of abnormal histone proteins. Abnormalities in genes encoding histone modification enzymes result in aberrant histone modifications. Defects in genes encoding subunits of the chromatin remodeler complexes result in defective chromatin remodeling. Defects in genes that code for the epigenetic readers (bromodomain proteins) will hinder their ability to regulate gene transcription. These disorders typically present manifestations that impact the nervous system which is particularly sensitive due to its need for specific patterns of gene expression for neural cell function and differentiation. To date, 72 histone-related disorders have been described including 7 syndromes due to defects in histone genes, 35 syndromes due to histone modifications defects, 26 syndromes due to defects in chromatin remodeling, and 4 due to defects in epigenetic readers. In this review article, the molecular basis of histone structure and function is first explained, followed by a summary of the histone-related syndromes.

Stroke-induced hemiplegia is a major cause of long-term disability, often leading to lower limb deformities and abnormal gait. Ankle-foot orthoses (AFO) have shown effectiveness in improving these conditions, but limited research explores the benefits of combining AFO therapy with balance training. This study aimed to explore the effects of combining balance training exercises with orthotic intervention on various gait characteristics in stroke patients with lower limb paralysis. This randomized controlled trial (RCT) involved 32 patients, 12–18 weeks post-stroke, randomized into two groups: balance training only (n = 16) and balance training with orthotics (n = 16). Gait performance was evaluated at baseline and post intervention using the Timed Up and Go Test (TUG) and 10-Meter Walk Tests. The combination therapy group showed significant improvements in gait parameters. For the 10-Meter Walk Test, the mean pre-intervention speed was 0.31 ± 0.03 m/s, and post-intervention speed was 0.40 ± 0.03 m/s. In the TUG test, mean pre-intervention time was 27.04 ± 2.04 s, and post-intervention time was 20.55 ± 2.30 s (p < 0.05). These improvements were greater than those observed in the balance-only group. The combination of balance training and AFO therapy significantly improves gait in chronic hemiplegic stroke patients. This approach offers a promising rehabilitation strategy to enhance functional mobility and quality of life in stroke survivors.

Sweet lime is one of the globally consumed fruits. However, besides the useful aspects of Citrus limetta, it generates substantial agro‐industrial waste, often discarded without treatment, which can serve as a niche for microbial proliferation, including opportunistic pathogens. The present study isolated microflora from Citrus limetta waste, specifically juice, pulp, and peel samples collected from local markets in Lahore, Pakistan. A total of 48 bacterial strains were isolated. Among them, 18 morphologically distinct strains were characterized using 16S rRNA gene sequencing and phylogenetic analysis. The isolated strains belonged to seven genera: Pantoea, Pseudomonas, Staphylococcus, Microbacterium, Enterobacter, Klebsiella, and Curtobacterium. The phenotypic and biochemical characterization indicated that most strains exhibited pathogenic potential. Antibiotic sensitivity testing indicated resistance to ampicillin in several strains and higher susceptibility to tetracycline and kanamycin. These findings provide critical insights into microbial contamination risks from citrus waste and highlight the importance of waste handling in the framework of the one‐health concept, food safety, and environmental sustainability.

The ankle joint plays important role in performing fundamental activities such as walking and other essential daily tasks. Ankle stabilization and muscle co-contraction are crucial for rehabilitating gait abnormalities, as impaired ankle function disrupts gait, causes pain and inflammation, and hampers recovery. Accurate assessment of muscle co-contraction is crucial for developing effective non-pharmacological interventions. This paper introduces a novel approach using Variational Mode Decomposition (VMD) combined with scalogram visualization technique to analyze surface electromyographic (sEMG) signals from antagonist muscles of the lower limb and assesses muscular co-contraction using the coscalogram function. The present study compares VMD with the Continuous Wavelet Transform (CWT) approach and shows that VMD outperforms CWT in terms of both SNR and RMSE. On average, the increase in SNR in case of VMD (−17.65 ± 8.1dB to 2.98 ± 2.2dB) was greater than that of CWT (−17.65 ± 3.7dB to 1.34 ± 1.5dB). Similarly, the reduction in RMSE with VMD (0.023 ± 0.0029 to 0.017 ± 0.0015) surpassed that achieved with CWT (0.023 ± 0.0027 to 0.020 ± 0.0025). This enhanced accuracy in identifying co-contraction events has the potential to significantly improve clinical assessment and rehabilitation strategies for patients with ankle joint pathologies. To further validate VMD’s effectiveness, we quantitatively assessed co-contraction events by comparing mean peak amplitudes identified using VMD and CWT. Our analysis, which revealed that VMD consistently captured stronger co-contraction events (higher mean peak amplitudes), supports VMD’s superiority in accurately identifying and quantifying ankle muscle co-contraction. These results have significant implications for clinical practice, offering the potential for more precise assessments of ankle joint function and the development of more targeted and effective rehabilitation interventions.

A rapidly developing future technology, wireless sensor networks (WSNs) have promise for a wide range of military and business applications. Potential safety issues could affect WSN technology because it combines wireless communications with processing capacity. A novel networking architecture on the Internet of Things (IoT) called information‐centric networking (ICN) provides more security than standard Internet Protocol (IP) networks. But there are still a lot of security issues it experiences, particularly from internal attacks. Applying trust management technologies is an effective way for security against internal threats. Therefore, an evolutionary particle swarm optimization energy‐efficient trust management scheme (EPSO‐EETMS) is proposed to evaluate the legitimacy of IoT devices and nodes. The data regarding routing pathways using trust can identify various types of attacked solutions. The proposed solution is thoroughly evaluated using some networking parameters, such as the distance between devices, energy use, and information loss during data transmission. These practical factors include energy consumption when transmitting data between nodes, message delivery to previous or subsequent nodes, and distance between two devices. According to the evaluation results, the proposed strategy outperforms standard techniques in terms of response time, authentication delays, and the number of requests from fake nodes. The accuracy of the proposed technique is obtained to be 98.66% for 100 nodes, which is higher than that of existing routing techniques. image

This study investigates the role of internal auditors, external auditors, and key corporate stakeholders in detecting and mitigating creative accounting practices in UAE firms. While prior research has acknowledged the importance of corporate governance mechanisms in financial oversight, limited attention has been given to the specific strategies employed by these governance actors in identifying and reducing manipulative accounting practices. This study addresses this gap by examining the distinct approaches used by internal auditors, external auditors, and stakeholders such as firm owners, board members, and accountants to curb creative accounting. A survey methodology was employed, targeting 222 professionals from internal and external audit offices and corporate entities through purposive sampling. Data were collected through structured questionnaires and subsequently analyzed utilizing Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). The findings indicate that internal auditors (IA) exhibit proactivity through the implementation of forensic auditing techniques, the execution of risk-based audits, and the fortification of internal control mechanisms to identify and prevent financial misstatements. As independent overseers, external auditors (EA) bolster these initiatives by rigorously examining financial statements and detecting discrepancies through sophisticated audit methodologies. Corporate stakeholders, including owners, board members, and accountants, play a crucial role in influencing the integrity of financial reporting by enforcing compliance policies and ensuring accountability. This study contributes to the existing literature by comprehensively analyzing how these governance actors collaborate to enhance financial transparency. The findings present practical recommendations for policymakers, regulators, and corporate entities to strengthen financial oversight frameworks and mitigate the incidence of creative accounting practices in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Background Statins are essential for managing cardiovascular disease (CVD), but adverse effects often lead to treatment discontinuation and non-adherence, underscoring the need for personalized approaches. This study aimed to evaluate the influence of pharmacogenomic (PGx) variants and demographic factors on statin-associated adverse effects in a multiethnic cohort from the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Methods This sub-analysis of the EmHeart Study included 675 patients using rosuvastatin or atorvastatin. Patients were genotyped for SLCO1B1 and ABCG2 actionable variants using real-time PCR. Data on demographics, comorbidities, and statin use were extracted from electronic health records. Adverse events, including statin-associated muscle symptoms (SAMS) and liver enzyme elevation, were tracked over 12 months. Associations were analyzed using chi-square tests and logistic regression. Results Rosuvastatin users carrying the ABCG2 rs2231142 variant had a threefold increased risk of liver enzyme elevation, particularly among East Asian patients (P < 0.005). Atorvastatin users with the SLCO1B1 rs4149056 variant exhibited a twofold increased risk of SAMS, with higher rates observed in females and Arabs (P < 0.05). The combination of rosuvastatin with ezetimibe further exacerbated risks of SAMS and liver enzyme elevation. Conclusion This study highlights the importance of genetic testing and demographic factors, such as ethnicity and gender, in tailoring statin therapy to minimize adverse effects. Despite extensive research on PGx-guided statin prescribing, clinical implementation remains limited. Integrating PGx testing into routine practice and enhancing physician awareness of genetic and demographic risk factors can improve the safety, efficacy, and adherence of lipid-lowering therapies in diverse populations.

Chemotherapeutic resistance is a major obstacle to chemotherapeutic failure. Cancer cell resistance involves several mechanisms, including epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT), signaling pathway bypass, drug efflux activation, and impairment of drug entry. P-glycoproteins (P-gp) are an efflux transporter that pumps chemotherapeutic drugs out of cancer cells, resulting in chemotherapeutic resistance. Several types of long noncoding RNA (lncRNAs) have been identified in resistant cancer cells, including ODRUL, MALAT1, and ANRIL. The high expression level of ODRUL is related to the induction of ATP-binding cassette (ABC) gene expression, resulting in the emergence of doxorubicin resistance in osteosarcoma. lncRNAs are observed to be regulators of drug transporters in cancer cells such as MALAT1 and ANRIL. Targeting P-gp expression using natural products is a new strategy to overcome cancer cell resistance and improve the sensitivity of resistant cells toward chemotherapies. This review validates the inhibitory effects of natural products on P-gp expression and activity using in silico molecular docking. In silico analysis showed that Delphinidin and Asparagoside-f are the most significant natural product inhibitors of p-glycoprotein-1. These inhibitors can reverse multi-drug resistance and induce the sensitivity of resistant cancer cells toward chemotherapy based on in silico molecular docking. It is important to validate that pre-elementary docking can be confirmed using in vitro and in vivo experimental data.