bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
EFFECT OF STOICHIOMETRIC COMPOSITIONS ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF PHASE AND MICROSTRUCTURE IN CALCIA STABILIZED ZIRCONIA CERAMIC
Authors: Durrani S. K. , Qureshi A. H. , Naz S. , Hussain S. Z. , Arif M. , Iqbal M.
Published: January 2025

Calcia stabilized zirconia (CSZ) ceramic material was synthesized with stoichiometric compositions 4, 8, 12 and 16wt.% by mixed oxide reaction using fine homogeneous salts of zirconia and calcia. Powder compacts were sintered at 1950Â°C for 6h in an inert argon atmosphere. The phase identification, purity, crystalline and lattice parameters of cubic CSZ were measured by X-ray diffraction (XRD). Combination of cubic zirconia (Ca0.15Zr0.85O1.85), calcium-zirconium oxide (CaZrO3) and zirconium oxide (ZrO) phases were observed in all compositions. The percent relative densities were measured in order to evaluate the material performance and found to decrease from 85 to 74% with increase of stoichiometeric compositions 4 to 16wt%. These results were in agreement with scanning electron microscopy (SEM) where it was observed that porosity increased with increase of calcia. The co-efficient of thermal expansion was estimated by dilatometry. The results revealed that coefficient of thermal expansion (Î±) decreases with the increase of compositions from 4 to 16wt.% .
Modeling and Empirical Evaluation of Machine Learning Based Load Forecasting Models for Pakistan
Authors: Awan S. M. , Aslam M. , Khan Z. A. , Saleem A.
Published: January 2025

Electric load forecasting (LF) deals with predicting futuristic energy demand of consumers. It is the foremost and important step of energy distribution and generation planning. Machine learning based statistical and artificial intelligence techniques are widely used for LF. Among these, artificial neural networks (ANN) and support vector machines (SVM) emerge as competitive modeling approaches for LF. To further improve the performance of these models, optimization techniques are being used to formulate hybrid LF models. Availability of modern approaches motivated authors to solve the issues with power planning in Pakistan. Hence, we contribute towards proposing machine learning based accurate model of LF on Pakistan power system data set. Several forecasting models are formed using hybrid optimization and model development techniques, which are ranked against their forecasting accuracy and performance. SVM based models performed well and achieved 98.91% accuracy of forecasts. On the other hand, ANN based models showed comparable performance achieving 98.34% accuracy with added ability to avoid over-fitting, and efficiency with improved results.
Degradation of Silicone Rubber Insulators under the Effects of Carbon Smoke, Salt and Cement Deposits
Authors: Amin S. , Choudry M. A. , Azam S.
Published: January 2025

This research was aimed at finding the worst pollutant for silicone rubber insulators. In this study silicone rubber insulators were carbon smoked, salt deposited and cement deposited in real field and then aged for 5000 hours under International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) 5000 hours multi stress aging conditions. The samples were analyzed at different intervals by qualitative (surface morphology, hydrophobicity classification) and quantitative (Leakage Current Measurement, Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) Spectroscopy, Non Soluble Salt Density (NSSD) Measurements) techniques in order to investigate any degradation/ recovery which may occur in them. Silicone rubber insulators have shown excellent resistance to carbon smoke. It means they have also excellent resistance to tracking. The expected life under the effect of carbon smoke or any other carbon based pollutant will be very high. The shortest life is expected when silicone rubber insulator is exposed to salt. The estimated life under salt stress is 18 years. The results indicate that cement and carbon pollution does not affect the performance of SiR insulators to significant extent. During this study all the insulator specimens preserved excellent properties and performance. This work is particularly helpful for those thinking to adopt the silicone insulators for construction of new lines in different polluted environments.
Validation of COOLOD-N2 Code Through Benchmark Calculations of IEA-R1 Reactor
Authors: Badrun N. H. , Altaf M. H. , H. Khan M. J.
Published: January 2025

IEA-R1 reactor core has been modeled in COOLOD-N2 code with the aim to validate and verify the code against the experiment data provided by International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) through coordinated research project (CRP). Fuel cladding temperatures at different locations of an instrumental fuel assembly (IFA) at different operating powers have been calculated under steady state condition by using the COOLOD-N2 code. The calculated temperatures are then verified against the temperatures recorded by thermo couples placed for those locations of IFA in 243 configuration of IEA-R1 reactor. Reasonable agreement has been found between the calculation and experiment for fuel clad temperature which in turn implies the validity of COOLOD-N2 code in the calculation of core thermal hydraulic parameters of research reactors under steady state condition.
A Two Step Emperical Method for the Determination of Effective Thermal Conductivity of Multi-Phase Porous Solids
Authors: Shabbir G.
Published: January 2025

A two step empirical approach is proposed to estimate the effective thermal conductivity of porous solids. The total thermal conductivity of solid phase is calculated by assuming different minerals arranged in â€œparallelâ€. Then the final effective thermal conductivity is calculated by taking in to account the porosity content and an additional empirical parameter related to geometry of pore. It is shown that the effective thermal conductivity of a porous rock can be successfully modeled from the thermal conductivity of constituent mineral phases determined by x-ray diffraction and porosity measurements by standard methods.
Spatial Interpolation of the Frequential Distribution of Thunderstorm and Rainfall over Balochistan, Pakistan
Authors: Sadiq N. , Naz H.
Published: January 2025

Tailored digital database of the Thunderstorm (TS) and Rainfall (RF) activities have been developed to analyze and quantify their distributional impacts through suitable spatial interpolation method (i.e. Inverse Distance to a Power) over the Balochistan province of Pakistan for the period of 1961-2010. The study also incorporates the annual and seasonal analyses. Annual percentage divulge the dominance of TS over RF from April to October while the contrariwise condition is observed for rest of the year. In seasonal analysis it is revealed that in winter the rainfall activity is markedly greater than the thunders while in premonsoon and monsoon the situation is vice versa; post-monsoon unveil the comparable frequencies. The extreme activity of TS and RF is found in June (â‰ˆ45%) and March (â‰ˆ46%), respectively. Akin patterns have been found for the both activities in winter and monsoon while postmonsoon season also alike. Winter rainfall is most active in the western parts of the province with largest value at Nokkundi (â‰ˆ 70%) while north eastern parts acquire least RF activity in post-monsoon particularly Zhob and Kalat (i.e. â‰ˆ 2%).
Diacritics Recognition Based Urdu Nastalique OCR System
Authors: Nazir S. , Javed A.
Published: January 2025

Improvements and new developments in the field of Artificial Intelligence have opened new horizons in the advancement of machines that originally have limited intelligence. As compared to human brain, machines have already better computational speed and storage however there is still much room to improve the capability to acquire and process data and draw conclusions from it on its own. Optical Character Recognition (OCR) deals exclusively with printed designs and hand written text in nature. Plenty of developments have been made in OCR so far in recognition of Latin, Asian, Arabic and Western texts. As far as Urdu is concerned the work is almost non-existent when compared with the languages cited above. One of its main reasons is the use of extremely complex characters of Nastalique style in Urdu. A methodology for the recognition and processing of the diacritics of Nastalique script is presented in this research work. The proposed technique is effective in recognizing cursive texts with invariant font size of 48. A dataset of 6728 main Urdu Nastalique ligatures is used for the testing purposes which shows that this new technique has the capacity to recognize Nastalique ligatures by having an accuracy of 97.40%. The proposed research work also focuses to improve the existing base mark association process of the Urdu OCR system.
Case Study of Energy Saving in an Industrial Setup by Replacing Conventional Bulbs with LED Lights
Authors: Khanam S. , Hanif A.
Published: January 2025

Lighting accounts for roughly one-fifth of global electricity consumption. The demand for energy is increasing day by day with increase in population, change in life style, and change in technology. This growing demand led to energy crisis which is the biggest threat for economic stability for developing countries like Pakistan. This crisis has badly affected the everyday life and industry. To overcome energy shortfall one solution is to focus on energy conservation. Significant energy savings can be achieved by reducing energy consumption by artificial lighting which has potential of energy saving by using efficient lighting technologies such as Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs). A case study is carried out for an industrial setup to compare the performance, suitability and financial effects of conventional bulbs and LED lights in an industrial setup. A new lighting scheme has been designed by using DIALux 4.11 simulation software based on international standards of Illuminating Engineering Society of North America (IESNA).The conventional bulbs on the shop floor has been replaced with LED lights as per software design. After hardware installation it is revealed that by adopting this lighting scheme there is 45% of energy savings and user satisfaction with financial savings of Rs. 912,711 per year having 3.78 years pay back period that justifies use of LEDs as per proposed lightning design for general lighting applications.
Validation of EUREKA-2/RR Code for Analysis of Pulsing Parameters of TRIGA Mark II Research Reactor in Bangladesh
Authors: Altaf M. H. , Badrun N. H. , H. Khan M. J.
Published: January 2025

Some parametric studies on pulsing mode for fresh core of TRIGA Mark II research reactor in AERE, Savar, have been carried out with coupled thermal-hydraulics code EUREKA-2/RR in association with neutronics code SRAC. At the beginning, role of some important parameters in pulsing like delayed neutron fraction (Î²eff) and reactivity insertion have been studied keeping prompt neutron life time (lp) fixed at 33.4 Âµ-sec. After a series of experiments, we found that the pulsing peak that is consistent with the Safety Analysis Report (SAR) is for the delayed neutron fraction (Î²eff) of 0.007 and reactivity insertion of 2$. Study has determined the pulsing peak of the fresh core for this particular condition to be 857.86 MW which is 852 MW according to SAR. Experiment also shows the pulsing peak increases with the increase of reactivity insertion whereas decreases with increase of delayed neutron fraction. With the utilization of the particular values of these parameters, pulsing parameters like prompt energy released, reactor period, pulse width at half maxima, alongwith safety parameters including peak power and clad maximum temperature, have been analyzed. The clad maximum temperature for fresh core is simulated to be 144.54 MW, which is much less than the SAR Value, ensuring the validity of codes and the safety of pulsing in that particular condition.
DIURNAL VARIATION OF NUTRIENTS, WATER QUALITY AND PLANKTON COMPOSITION IN THE HAJAMRO CREEK (INDUS DELTA) DURING NORTH EAST MONSOON PERIOD
Authors: Saleem M. , Aftab J. , Kahkashan S. , Kalhoro N. A. , Ahmad W.
Published: January 2025

Diurnal (24 hours) observations of dissolved nutrients, Chlorophyll-a, water quality (salinity, dissolved oxygen, temperature, pH and suspended solidmatter) were recorded at one site in the Hajamro Creek of Indus Delta during the North East Monsoon period. The zoo- and phyto-plankton were recorded during low and high tides. Primary productivity was measured only during the day time. Dissolved nutrient concentration ranges were NH4 (1.81 ÂµM -12.30 ÂµM), NO3 (0.03 ÂµM -1.48 ÂµM), NO2 (0.04 ÂµM -0.122 ÂµM), PO4 (0.45 ÂµM -1.69 ÂµM), SiO3 (4.84 ÂµM -24.49 ÂµM) and averages were 6.41, 0.28, 0.055, 0.722, 12.12 ÂµM respectively. The suspended load ranged from 36.0 mg/l to 87.8 mg/l, pH from 8.24 to 8.38, temperature from 18.73 oC to 22.37 oC and salinity from 35.995 ppt - 37.062 ppt. Higher Chlorophyll-a concentration was recorded during the high tide in daytime and its range was 0.45 Âµg/l - 1.69 Âµg/l while its average concentration was 1.94 Âµg/l. The moderate value of primary productivity was recorded to be (0.475 g C/m3 /day). Eleven groups of zooplankton were identified. Copepods were the main species which were abundant during high tide. Bivalve, fish eggs, crab and polychaete larvae were observed during low tide. The present study shows that high amounts of suspended solids, dissolved nutrients (phosphate, silicate, nitrate and ammonia) and relatively more salinity in sea water were recorded during low tide. Presence of adequate dissolved nutrients and high turbidity is probably restricting productivity in the Hajamro Creek.
DFT Studies of Indium Nanoclusters, Nanotubes and their Interaction with Molecular Hydrogen
Authors: Hussain A. , Baig M. W. , Mustafa N.
Published: January 2025

Density functional theory calculations have been performed on Indium nanoclusters (Inn, n= 3 to 10) to explore the relative stability among their different isomers and interaction with H2. Geometry optimizations starting from initial candidate geometries were performed for each cluster size, so as to determine a few low energy isomers for each size. Clusters with planar configuration and high symmetry are found to be more stable. For n=8, there comes transition from 2D to 3D structures. Energetically favorable isomers of indium nanoclusters for each size were considered to get H2 adsorbed. In general H2 interaction with these clusters is weak but with those comprising of some odd number of atoms i.e. 5, 7 and 9 is considerable. Indium nanotube also indicates H2 adsorption but Eads increases many folds on introduction of defect in the tube. On the basis of DFT investigations, it is suggested that apparently indium nanoclusters and tubes of specific size seem better candidates for materials to store hydrogen.
Dielectric Characterization of XAl2O4 (X = Mg, Zn, Ni) Spinel Ceramics
Authors: Azam M. , Atiq S. , Mustafa G. M. , Riaz S. , Naseem S.
Published: January 2025

Spherical nanoparticles of XAl2O4 (X = Mg, Zn, Ni) ceramics with large surface area and finely distributed grains, were successfully synthesized by sol-gel auto-combustion method. The formation of spinel structure of XAl2O4 nanoparticles was confirmed by X-ray diffraction. Dielectric tangent loss was decreased as the frequency was increased while a slight increase in the dielectric parameters was observed as the temperature was increased, mainly due to the thermally activated charge carriers. The behavior of real and imaginary parts of impedance has also been discussed which confirms the results from the tangent loss plot. Energy dispersive Xray spectroscopy gives the true stoichiometric at% and wt% contents of various elements present in the samples. The grain size of the synthesized sample range from 20-70 nm and were obtained when the samples were sintered at 900 ÂºC for 4 hrs.
Assessment of Radiation Dose and Excessive Life Time Cancer Risk from the Exposed Sandstones of Siwalik Rocks System in the Tamman Area of Pakistan
Authors: Qureshi A. A. , Manzoor S. , K. Jadoon I. A. , Waheed A. , Rana A. N.
Published: January 2025

Siwalik System of rocks is exposed all along the Himalayan foothills from Assam to Baluchistan for about 4000 km. The Siwalik System of rocks is composed of sandstones and shales. Intermittent uranium mineralization is known in Siwalikâ€™s sandstones in India and Pakistan and is productive uranium horizon in Pakistan. Specific activities of 226Ra, 232Th and 40K were measured in the Siwalikâ€™s sandstones exposed in Tamman area using high purity (HPGe) ï§- ray spectrometer. The average activity concentration of 226Ra, 232Th and 40K was found to be 15.93, 25.58 and 450.97 Bqkg-1 respectively. The radiation indices were also assessed which are well below the worldâ€™s averages. The outdoor and indoor excessive life time cancer risk was calculated as 0.18x10-3 and 1.35 x10-3 . The Siwalikâ€™s sandstones have no excessive life time cancer risk to the local population and sand derived from the Siwalikâ€™s sandstone is a safe building material.
Optimized k-Nearest Neighbor Search with Range Query
Authors: Rehman M. , Ahmad T.
Published: January 2025

K-Nearest Neighbor search is used extensively in fields like computer vision, DNA specification, object recognition and many more. Online map applications are also used tremendously due to the advances in Geographic Information System (GIS) data. These geospatial objects can be retrieved by using spatial range query. In our proposed work we find the nearest neighbors across any query point q, using an over estimated value of k. The Range Query calculated area is used to estimate the number of k neighbors. If the initial value of k doesnâ€™t reveal all the nearest neighbors inside R, the value of k is multiplied with a constant factor epsilon. In this way all the nearest neighbors inside R are retrieved with in 1 or 2 iterations. The computational complexity of the proposed algorithm turns out to be O(n), compared to the complexity of Density Based Range Query algorithm i.e., O log(n2 + n). This makes our proposed algorithm a more optimized solution.
Air Quality Assessment of Faisalabad and Gujranwala Cities of Pakistan: Application of Pollution Indices
Authors: Faiz Y. , Waheed S. , Siddique N.
Published: January 2025

Urban air quality of industrial cities of Pakistan, namely Gujranwala and Faisalabad was assessed in terms of pollution level indicators such as pollution load index (PLI), geoaccumulation index (Igeo), pollution index (PI) and integrated pollution index (IPI). It was found that both cities have elevated metal concentrations indicating heavy to extreme contamination for most of the sites. Local anthropogenic activities and elevated geo-accumulation indices for different suite of elements were used to indicate possible pollutant sources in these two industrial cities to be traffic derived emissions, suspended soil, road dust, construction materials, fossil fuel and industrial emissions, tanneries, chrome plating units and metal smelters. Comparison of the pollution indices shows that Ba, Br, Ca, Cd, Na, Pb, Sb and Zn have mean PLI, Igeo, PI and IPI for both cities which are in the highly polluted category. Cu, La, Sc, V and Zr have pollution indices corresponding to high or extreme levels in Faisalabad only while Cr and Ti are highly polluting only in Gujranwala. In Faisalabad and Gujranwala it was found that 91.43 % and 85.29 % respectively of the PI data occurs in high level of pollution implying that to some extent Faisalabad is more polluted as compared to Gujranwala.
Analysis of Fin Tip Temperature and Fin Efficiency for Different Fingeometries and Materials Using Abaqus
Authors: Imran S. , Noor F. , Ali H. , Hussain A. , Ali Z. , Shad R.
Published: January 2025

Fins are widely used in various engineering applications to enhance the rate of heat transfer. The effect of fin geometry and its material on the fin efficiency and the amount of heat transferred are investigated in this study. Rectangular and triangular fin geometries have been considered and two fin materials, aluminum and carbon steel, have been selected. It is found numerically that the fin tip temperature and the fin efficiency are decreased with the increase of the convective heat transfer coefficient. ABAQUS has been used to conduct this numerical study.
Study of Textural and Petrographic Features in Mansehra Granite, Pakistan: Implications on Gamma Radioactivity and Dose Rates
Authors: Anees M. , Wajid A. A. , Qureshi A. A. , Jadoon I. A. K. , Manzoor S. , Atique A. , Masood A.
Published: January 2025

Assessment of natural radionuclides and annual effective dose rate in Granite from Mansehra Pakistan has been carried out in this work. Overall, Mansehra Granite possess porphyritic fabric with primary minerals observed in petrography include quartz, microcline, plagioclase, biotite, muscovite etc. The study area was categorized into four zones on the basis of megascopic and microscopic features of the granite. One of the zones contained higher proportions of dark minerals like biotite, zircon, magnetite and tourmaline. This zone yielded slightly higher values of specific activities of 226Ra, 232Th and 40K; i.e. 29.27, 51.89 and 942.66 Bq kg-1 respectively and annual effective dose rate of 0.96 mSv y-1 . When comparing with the average values of specific activities of 226Ra, 232Th and 40K and total annual effective dose from granite from around the world it was found that overall, Mansehra granite does not pose a radiological hazard. Mansehra Granite is found to be safe and can be used as a building material. It is however, emphasized that construction of basements in the area of high activity should be avoided and granite from such areas may be used on a limited scale.
Heterogeneous Catalytic Degradation of Nitro-aromatic Compound using Highly Defect Spongy Surface Palladium Nanocatalyst
Authors: Balouch A. , Shah M. T. , Pathan A. A. , Mahar A. M. , . Abdullah , Sabir S. , Umar A. A. , Samoon M. K.
Published: January 2025

Palladium nanoparticles (PdNPs) were successfully grown on an indium tin oxide (ITO) surface using a one-pot liquid phase deposition method. After the growth for 2 h, thick coat of PdNPs was observed on the ITO surfaces. Palladium nanoparticles exhibited spherical fibrous crystallike appearance and tend to stick with each other and form flower like structure. After successful synthesis PdNPs were effectively applied as catalyst for degradation of Nitro-aromatic compound.
Merging Assistance Function with Task Distribution Model to Enhance User Performance in Collaborative Virtual Environment
Authors: Khalid S. , Ullah Sehat , Alam A.
Published: January 2025

Collaborative Virtual Environments (CVEs) falls under Virtual Reality (VR) where two or more users manipulate objects collaboratively. In this paper we have made some experiments to make assembly from constituents parts scattered in Virtual Environment (VE) based on task distribution model using assistance functions for checking and enhancing user performance. The CVEs subjects setting on distinct connected machines via local area network. In this perspective, we consider the effects of assistance function with oral communication on collaboration, co-presence and users performance. Twenty subjects performed collaboratively an assembly task on static and dynamic based task distribution. We examine the degree of influence of assistance function with oral communications on userâ€™s performance based on task distribution model. The results show that assistance functions with oral communication based on task distribution model not only increase user performance but also enhance the sense of copresence and awareness.
Content Based Image Retrieval using Improved Local Tetra Pattern and Neural Network
Authors: Shabbir Z. , Arshad I. , Raja G. , Khan A. K.
Published: January 2025

Because of the exponential increase in digital images, image databases have grown to a much large volume that retrieval of required images from these databases is a very difficult task. Image retrieval can also be practiced via human annotation but it cannot be trusted. So, now a days, a more relied and effective method to retrieve relevant images from a large databse is Content Based Image Retrieval (CBIR). These days, main focus is to achieve a more accurate CBIR algorithm so that retrieval efficiency can be increased. In this paper, we have proposed a CBIR algorithm which retrieves images from database with increased precision. For feature extraction, we have used Improved Local Tetra Patterns which is a texture descriptor and based on the direction of pixel. Direction of all the pixels in an image is calculated; based on direction of each pixel, an 8-bit pattern is achieved which is further divided into 7 binary patterns and 1 magnitude pattern. For experimental purposes, we have used Corel database which has been used by most researchers. After performing experiment on the said dataset, improved precision rates were observed when proposed technique was compared with some previous approaches. Average precision observed in our experiment was 82%.
A Comparative Study of AG*-groupoidsy
Authors: Ahmad I. , Naz R. , Rashad M. , Khan A.
Published: January 2025

A magma satisfying the identityis called an LA-semigroup or AG-groupoid. We investigate the concept of AG*-groupoid, as a subclass of AG-groupoids and establish some relations of AG*-groupoids with other known subclasses of AG-groupoid, like: Stein, Stein*, Jordan and Schroder AG-groupoids. Furthermore, we use the latest computational techniques of Mace-4 and Prover-9 to provide various examples and counterexamples for our relevant investigation.
A Hybrid Software Architecture Evaluation Method for Dynamic System Development Method
Authors: Awan R. , Muhammad S. S. , Fahiem M. A. , Awan S.
Published: January 2025

Quality is an important paradigm while delivering software. Past traditional models have many problems. Agile process models overcome these problems, but these models are facing many challenges. The main challenge is the absence of proper Software Architecture Evaluation Method (SAEM) for agile models. It is essential to improve quality of agile models because these methods are lacking quality requirement, well defined software architecture and verified design. Without proper evaluation, these models suffer from severe quality and maintenance issues. Architecture evaluation is known as a standard to evaluate the quality of product. This study focuses on the development of a hybrid SAEM for agile process model. Dynamic System Development Method (DSDM) is a framework of agile methodology. This framework delivers a quality product in a short time. It is very important to improve quality of DSDM phases. Pre-project, project life-cycle and post-project are the phases of DSDM. It is required to apply a hybrid SAEM in phases of DSDM. By applying a hybrid SAEM on DSDM, the quality of DSDM phases may be improved. This improvement may be in term of quality attributes which are well defined in early life cycle. Furthermore, the quality attribute requirements are best satisfied due to well-formed software architecture design. A survey has been conducted in the software industry to validate this model.
Improved Scalable Recommender System
Authors: Ishtiaq S. , Majeed N. , Maqsood M. , Javed A.
Published: January 2025

Recommender systems are known for their ability to recommend items which are new to the user by having some synchronization with user’s personal interest. The importance of recommender systems leads to the creation of new approaches that can produce accurate results. As data became large it results in scalability issues. In this work, we have suggested a scalable technique using different methods that work in a sequential manner. A novel centroid selection for clustering based recommender system is proposed. SVD and user representatives are used to handle scalability issues. Experiments on proposed approach with standard datasets showed great improvement in scalability and slight better accuracy
Effect of Input-Output (IO) Buffering to Minimize Flow Control Blocking in Software Defined Networkinga
Authors: Lali M. I. , Bilal M. M. , Nawaz M. S. , Deen M. , Shahzad B. , Khaliq S.
Published: January 2025

Software Defined Networking (SDN) is a new network technology that tries to overcome the shortcomings and problems in traditional networks. By centralizing the network state in control layer, SDN architecture makes it easier to define and enforce consistent policies across the network. By separating data plane from control plane, dynamic requirements of complex networks can be easily manage through SDN. For future networks, SDN is already playing a significant role. SDN offers robustness, flexibility, vendor's independent platform and consistent policies across the network. In this article, we analyze different Input-Output (IO) buffering strategies which effect flow control blocking in SDN. We evaluate the performance of three different IO buffering strategies: single buffering, double buffering and ring buffering. Analyses of three IO buffering strategies are carried out in terms of two network parameters: latency and packet delivery ratio (PDR). Our results show that in terms of latency, ring buffering performs much better than single and double buffering for varying number of hosts and switches in a network. Furthermore, PDR is significantly minimized by use of buffers during network congestion in SDN.
Development of a Typical Hourly Electricity Consumption Profile for Student Residence Halls Based on Central Tendency Method
Authors: Amber K. P. , Aslam W. , Bashir M. A.
Published: January 2025

Actual measured hourly electricity consumption profile (HEP) helps the building engineer in numerous ways, e.g. for the optimum and accurate sizing of a solar PV for their building, for identifying abnormal peaks and drops, for negotiating with utility supplier etc. Conventional electricity meters do not have features to provide hourly consumption; instead these provide daily or monthly consumption. In such situation, it becomes difficult to make a precise estimate of building’s hourly consumption and a reliable and quick method is desired to estimate hourly consumption. Using four years of measured hourly electricity consumption data for three residence halls, this paper aims to use the central tendency method to develop a dimensionless typical HEP for this building category. Based on the skewed nature of hourly data distributions, median was selected as suitable measure of central tendency. Therefore, using the hourly median values, a typical HEP was developed. The proposed HEP was tested and compared with the actual HEPs of three other similar buildings and it was found that the estimated HEPs matched very well with actual HEPs with a maximum hourly RMSE of 0.9%. Finally, limitations of the proposed HEP are discussed and some recommendations are made in this regard.
Analysis of Effect of Aluminized CANFO on Fragmentation and Economics of Quarry Blast
Authors: Shoukat M. R. , Akram M. , Hayat M. B. , Saqib S. , Waqas M.
Published: January 2025

Reducing the explosive cost for drilling and blasting operations conducted at limestone quarries is a major concern for every mine operator. In Pakistan, to reduce explosive cost, Calcium Ammonium Nitrate with Fuel Oil (CANFO) is commonly used in explosive column charge in place of Ammonium nitrate fuel oil (ANFO). However, fragmentation of the blast has to be compromised over cost reduction. Hence it is desired to enhance the performance of CANFO. In this study, Aluminum (AL) is added into Calcium Ammonium Nitrate (CAN) to analyze its effect on fragmentation and economics of blast at a limestone quarry. Experimental shots were held using rectangular drilling pattern (current practice), using CANFO and ALCANFO in separate shots, while all other blast design factors were kept constant. Post blast analysis for all shots was done in terms of fragmentation and cost. The shots using ALCANFO proved to be better fragmentation wise, and also assured a saving of 1.6% in drilling and blasting costs.
Provenance Analysis and Diagenetic Control of Early Cambrian Kussak Formation, Upper Indus Basin, Pakistan
Authors: Pervaiz R. , Umar M. , Wajid A.A. , Khan J.K. , Israr A. , Rehman S.U. , Pervaiz A.
Published: January 2025

Petrographic study of sedimentary rocks can be used to determine provenance and diagenetic histories. Thirty samples from Kussak Formation were collected from Khewra Gorge, Eastern Salt Range, Pakistan, for petrographic studies. Petrographic analysis revealed that Kussak Formation consists of quartz with mean value of 85.2%, while feldspar accounts for no more than 3% of total grains. Lithic fragments and a variety of heavy minerals were observed in traces and cumulatively amounts to 2.5%. Silica, calcite, and iron oxide, as cementing materials, were also detected in sandstone and contribute 4% overall. The amount of Monocrystalline quartz is computed to be more abundant than polycrystalline quartz. Based on McBride classification, sandstone of Kussak Formation is classified as quartz arenite. Higher quartz content most likely places the source of Kussak Formation in the Indian Shield. Compaction, iron oxide cementation, calcite cementation, replacement, dissolution, precipitation of silica as overgrowth and alteration of framework grains are the prominent diagenetic modifications, which were observed and analyzed in Kussak Formation. Deep burial, high pressure and temperature regime, as evident from quartz overgrowths and grain fracturing, point towards final phase of diagenesis for Kussak Formation.
Induced Averaging Aggregation Operators with Interval Pythagorean Trapezoidal Fuzzy Numbers and their Application to Group Decision Making
Authors: Shakeel M. , Rahman K. , Khan M.S. A. , Ullah Murad
Published: January 2025

Pythagorean fuzzy number is a new tool for uncertainty and vagueness. It is a generalization of fuzzy numbers and intuitionistic fuzzy numbers. This paper deal with induced interval Pythagorean trapezoidal fuzzy numbers. In this paper we introduce induced interval Pythagorean trapezoidal fuzzy numbers and some operation on I-IPTFN, and we also define different types of operators for aggregating induced interval Pythagorean trapezoidal fuzzy numbers. We present induced interval Pythagorean trapezoidal fuzzy ordered weighted averaging (I-IPTFOWA) operator and induced interval Pythagorean trapezoidal fuzzy hybrid averaging (I-IPTFHA) operator. Finally we develop a general algorithm for group decisionmaking problem.
Progressive Collapse of RC Frame Under Different Levels of Damage Scenarios
Authors: Ilyas U. , Farooq S. H. , Qazi A. U. , Ilyas M.
Published: January 2025

Progressive Collapse analysis of Reinforced Concrete (RC) frame was carried out using commercial software i.e. SAP2000. The RC frame consisting of nine stories was selected and designed as per Pakistan Building Code. Two damage patterns were considered for the progressive collapse analysis; damage at corner column and damage at edge column. The General Services Administration loading criterion is followed to carry out Linear Static Analysis with 40%, 80% and fully damaged scenarios. In addition to Linear Static Analysis, Nonlinear Linear Static Analysis and Nonlinear dynamic Analysis was also carried out to assess the vulnerability of the structure exposed to progressive collapse. After that results were analyzed to determine the nature and intensity of structural damage due to column failure. It was found that edge column with longer spans has more damage potential as compared with smaller spans in Linear Static Analysis. However, in Non Linear Static Analysis and Non Linear Dynamic Analysis, the hinges are at their initial stages in all cases and progressive collapse is less critical. Therefore, Linear Static Analysis based on General Services Administration guidelines is more conservative than Nonlinear Linear Static Analysis and Non Linear Dynamic Analysis.
Statistical Analysis Approach to Determine Language Quality of Students’ Responses Using WorldNet Similarity Techniques
Authors: Ullah Farhan , Farhan M. , Malik K. R. , Iqbal M. M. , Ibrar M. , Rahman Z.
Published: January 2025

This study aims to electronically assessed (e-assessment) students’ replies in response to teachers’ question. It can be useful to systematize the question answering context regarding matching text semantically through WordNet semantic similarity techniques. WordNet is a lexical database of words’ synonyms. It uses group of synonyms called synsets for semantical operation of English text. For this purpose, a new methodology is proposed to automate e-assessment in the field of education. The collected dataset contains 210 pairs of words extracted from different undergraduate students’ replies in contradiction of teacher’s question statement. Further WordNet similarity measures i.e. Path Length, Lin, Wu &Palmer and Hirst & Onge are used to compute the semantic relatedness score. In the pilot study 42 pair of words were extracted from 8 students’ replies, which are marked using semantic similarity measures and equated with teacher’s marks. Teachers are provided with four boxes of the mark while our developed method provides a precise measure of marks. The experiment is shown with comprehensive dataset resulting with words’ frequencies in similarity measures.
Application of Multi-Layer Feed Forward Neural Network (MLFNN) for the
Authors: Mahmood M.F. , Ahmad Z.
Published: January 2025

The geophysical formation evaluation plays a fundamental role in hydrocarbon exploration. Porosity is one of the main parameters that determine the amount of oil present in a rock formation. Accurate determination of porosity is a difficult problem due to failure in understanding of spatial porosity parameter distribution. Multi-layer feed forward neural network (MLFN) proved to be a powerful tool for mapping porosity across the whole field and proved to be a powerful tool for mapping complicated relationships in reservoir. In MLFN three layers are involved that is an input layer, an output layer and a variable number of hidden layers. Input for training eight external attributes are used which are P-impedance, S-impedance, density, fluid, lithology impedance, lamda-rho, mu-rho, and Vp/Vs. Five nodes are used in hidden layer and one output node for mapping total porosity of Badin gas field. In this study 3D cube of Badin field and 3 wells are used. The findings proved competence of multi-layer feed forward neural network in the porosity prediction process with an average error of 0.014 [v/v] and the correlation coefficient of 0.91 and helped in studying the lateral variations in the porosity along the reservoir. The A sands show same porosity values along both the well locations, while for B sand the porosity value decreases from Zaur-01 to Chakri-01 well while for C sand the porosity value increases from Zaur-01 to Chakri-01 well.
Adapting Agile Practices to Improve the Quality of Small and Medium Scale Organizations
Authors: Naseer H. , Hafeez Y. , A. Arshad W. A.
Published: January 2025

Most of the Software industries are demonstrating absorption in Software Process Improvement (SPI)in Small and Medium Enterprises. In the modern world, software development and improvement is animportant area that permits organizations to develop applications in house. Traditionally, waterfallsystem is used to administer software development. The traditional, waterfall model counted uponlinear, sequential stages, well explained features, sign of documentation and widespread coverage. Theoutcome of the study is to formulate a holistic model for customization of agile practices for small andmedium organizations. This paper has demonstrated a case study emphasizing on tailoring agilemethods including tailored XP (extreme programming) focusing Small and Medium Enterprise (SME)for software process improvement. This framework is for software processes being implemented bySME merging agile methods XP, Scrum and defines the handover in pre-transition and post order.
Picture Fuzzy Linguistic Sets and Their Applications for Multi-Attribute Group
Authors: Ashraf S. , Mehmood T. , Abdullah S. , Khan Q.
Published: January 2025

Â Having encouraged by the linguistic term in decision models, it is proposed a method of multi attribute group decision making. This amalgamates the idea of picture fuzzy sets and linguistic term sets to discourse the situations where the real-life problems fail to express in numerical form. Firstly, it is introduced the concept of picture fuzzy linguistic number and comparison rules for ranking the alternatives are discussed. Further the aggregation operators based on picture fuzzy linguistic information are introduced. Finally, it is introduced a technique to obtain satisfactory results about real-life complex problems, and it is given a descriptive example to discuss the reliability and effectiveness of the suggested technique by using group decision criteria. Subject classification: 03E72
Impact of Sewage Water Irrigation on Soil and Radish (Raphanus sativus L.) with Respect to Heavy Metals in Tarlai, Islamabad
Authors: Zeeshan M. , Shehzadi S.
Published: January 2025

With increasing population and urbanization, the sewage water generated by domestic, industrial and commercial sources has increased. In the Urban areas, sewage water is used as a source of irrigation water as it contains organic and inorganic elements essential for plant growth. However, sewage water may also contain heavy metals which contaminate the soil and toxic for plants which is a potential health risk to consumers.  For this purpose, a study was conducted at Tarlai farms, Islamabad, Pakistan in 2016 to observe the impact of sewage water on heavy metals (Pb, Cd, As) content in soil and its accumulation in radish. The sewage water, soil and radish samples were collected at 7, 14, 20, 40 and 60 days after sowing (DAS) from farmer’s field where use of sewage water for irrigation purpose is a regular practice for many years. The samples were analyzed using Atomic Absorption Spectrometry (AAS) and Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectrometry (ICP-OES). The physico- chemical analysis of experimental soil at 0-15 cm depth indicate that it is sandy clay loam in texture, alkaline in reaction, non-saline with 0.08% total nitrogen and 1.8% organic matter. The results show that the concentration of heavy metals in sewage water and soil are in safe limits. However, in radish, the concentrations of heavy metals (Pb and Cd) are above than the permissible levels set by the World Health Organization (WHO). The highest concentrations of Pb (1.0 mg kg-1) and Cd (0.65 mg kg-1) in radish are found at 7 DAS while maximum level of As (0.42 mg kg-1) is recorded at 40 DAS. The levels of heavy metals in radish plant is found in the order of Pb > Cd > As.
An Efficient Scheme for Automatic Pill Recognition Using Neural Networks
Authors: Chughtai R. , Raja G. , Mir J. , Shaukat F.
Published: January 2025

An efficient scheme, capable of extracting key pill features, for an automatic pill recognition is proposed.The devised system involves a number of processes which starts with the thresholding applied to theinput query pill image for extraction of the shape feature vector and generation of mask images. Theextracted shape feature vector is used for shape recognition through a trained neural network.Information regarding the color and size of the pill is obtained by using the mask images and shapeinformation. For pill imprint extraction, a modified stroke width transform (MSWT) and two-stepsampling is applied. The extracted pill query features are compared with the feature values of the createddatabase for recognition of the pill and its purpose. The proposed method is evaluated on a dataset of2500 images and achieves an accuracy of 98% which shows the supremacy of the proposed method incomparison to the other similar pill recognition systems.
Embracing the One Health Paradigm for Public Health Transformation
Authors: Sobur Kazi Abdus
Published: January 2025

The One Health approach recognizes the deep connections between human, animal, and environmental health. It provides a powerful framework for addressing global health challenges like zoonotic diseases, antimicrobial resistance (AMR), and environmental changes. By integrating efforts across disciplines, it has proven effective in reducing disease outbreaks, improving surveillance, and mitigating AMR. Examples like rabies control through animal and human vaccination demonstrate the potential of this collaborative model. The One Health paradigm is essential for addressing the interconnected health challenges of our time. By fostering interdisciplinary collaboration, integrating knowledge across domains, and focusing on prevention, One Health offers a transformative approach to public health. Investing in One Health strategies including infrastructure development, policy reform, and research advancements is critical to building resilient systems that can prevent and respond to emerging threats, ensuring a healthier, sustainable future for all.
Addressing Mental Health Challenges in Children: Sansamwenje Community, Isoka District, Zambia
Authors: Nsekwila Kelvin
Published: January 2025

Children in Sansamwenje Community, Isoka District, Zambia, face significant mental health challenges, stemming from adverse conditions such as premature exposure to adulthood responsibilities, fractured family structures, social inferiority, caretaking roles, and child-headed households. These stressors undermine their mental well-being, resilience, and capacity for academic and personal growth. Addressing this critical issue, this study explores the application of the SuperBetter Toolkit, an innovative gamified framework designed to enhance mental health and resilience among children. The toolkit is structured into three progressive levels: Social and Emotional Learning, which fosters emotional awareness and self-regulation; SuperBetter, which introduces gamified elements like challenges, power-ups, and quests to contextualize struggles and promote active problem-solving; and SuperBetter Children for Health, which empowers children to apply these principles to real-world health challenges, fostering self-efficacy and resilience. This study utilized qualitative and participatory methods, engaging children, educators, and caregivers in the implementation and evaluation of the program over 12 months. Key findings include improved emotional regulation, increased self-esteem, and enhanced problem-solving abilities among participants. Children reported feeling more confident in addressing challenges, while caregivers observed noticeable improvements in behavior and well-being. The study concludes that the SuperBetter Toolkit offers a practical and scalable approach to addressing mental health challenges in resource-constrained communities. By combining emotional learning with gamification, the program provides a unique, child-centered framework that not only enhances mental health outcomes but also fosters resilience and community-driven problem-solving. Further research is recommended to expand its implementation across similar contexts.
The electrogenicity of the Na+/K+-ATPase poses challenges for computation in highly active spiking cells
Authors: Weerdmeester Liz , Schleimer Jan-Hendrik , Schreiber Susanne
Published: January 2025

The evolution of the Na
+
/K
+
-ATPase laid the foundation for ion homeostasis and electrical signalling. While not required for restoration of ionic gradients, the electrogenicity of the pump (resulting from its 3:2 stoichiometry) is useful to prevent runaway activity. As we show here, electrogenicity also comes with disadvantageous side effects: (1) an activity-dependent shift in a cell’s baseline firing and (2) interference with computation, disturbing network entrainment when inputs change strongly. We exemplify these generic effects in a mathematical model of the weakly electric fish electrocyte, which spikes at hundreds of Hz and is exposed to abrupt rate changes when producing behaviourally-relevant communication signals. We discuss biophysical strategies allowing cells to mitigate the consequences of electrogenicity at additional metabolic cost and postulate an interesting role for a voltage-dependence of the Na
+
/K
+
-ATPase. Our work shows that the pump’s electrogenicity opens an additional axis of vulnerability that is likely to play a role in brain disease.