Pak-Austria Fachhochschule: Institute of Applied Sciences and Technology

Madni A., Kousar R., Naeem N., Wahid F.

The use of polymer based composites in the treatment of skin tissue damages, has got huge attention in clinical demand, which enforced the scientists to improve the methods of biopolymer designing in order to obtain highly efficient system for complete restoration of damaged tissue. In last few decades, chitosan-based biomaterials have major applications in skin tissue engineering due to its biocompatible, hemostatic, antimicrobial and biodegradable capabilities. This article overviewed the promising biological properties of chitosan and further discussed the various preparation methods involved in chitosan-based biomaterials. In addition, this review also gave a comprehensive discussion of different forms of chitosan-based biomaterials including membrane, sponge, nanofiber and hydrogel that were extensively employed in skin tissue engineering. This review will help to form a base for the advanced applications of chitosan-based biomaterials in treatment of skin tissue damages.

Subhan F., Hussain Z., Tauseef I., Shehzad A., Wahid F.

During the processing of the fishery resources, the significant portion is either discarded or used to produce low-value fish meal and oil. However, the discarded portion is the rich source of valuable proteins such as collagen, vitamins, minerals, and other bioactive compounds. Collagen is a vital protein in the living body as a component of a fibrous structural protein in the extracellular matrix, connective tissue and building block of bones, tendons, skin, hair, nails, cartilage and joints. In recent years, the use of fish collagen as an increasingly valuable biomaterial has drawn considerable attention from biomedical researchers, owing to its enhanced physicochemical properties, stability and mechanical strength, biocompatibility and biodegradability. This review focuses on summarizing the growing role of fish collagen for biomedical applications. Similarly, the recent advances in various biomedical applications of fish collagen, including wound healing, tissue engineering and regeneration, drug delivery, cell culture and other therapeutic applications, are discussed in detail. These applications signify the commercial importance of fish collagen for the fishing industry, food processors and biomedical sector.

Haghniaz R., Rabbani A., Vajhadin F., Khan T., Kousar R., Khan A.R., Montazerian H., Iqbal J., Libanori A., Kim H., Wahid F.

Increasing antibiotic resistance continues to focus on research into the discovery of novel antimicrobial agents. Due to its antimicrobial and wound healing-promoting activity, metal nanoparticles have attracted attention for dermatological applications. This study is designed to investigate the scope and bactericidal potential of zinc ferrite nanoparticles (ZnFe2O4 NPs), and the mechanism of anti-bacterial action along with cytocompatibility, hemocompatibility, and wound healing properties. ZnFe2O4 NPs were synthesized via a modified co-precipitation method. Structure, size, morphology, and elemental compositions of ZnFe2O4 NPs were analyzed using X-ray diffraction pattern, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and field emission scanning electron microscopy coupled with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. In PrestoBlue and live/dead assays, ZnFe2O4 NPs exhibited dose-dependent cytotoxic effects on human dermal fibroblasts. In addition, the hemocompatibility assay revealed that the NPs do not significantly rupture red blood cells up to a dose of 1000 µg/mL. Bacterial live/dead imaging and zone of inhibition analysis demonstrated that ZnFe2O4 NPs showed dose-dependent bactericidal activities in various strains of Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria. Interestingly, NPs showed antimicrobial activity through multiple mechanisms, such as cell membrane damage, protein leakage, and reactive oxygen species generation, and were more effective against gram-positive bacteria. Furthermore, in vitro scratch assay revealed that ZnFe2O4 NPs improved cell migration and proliferation of cells, with noticeable shrinkage of the artificial wound model. This study indicated that ZnFe2O4 NPs have the potential to be used as a future antimicrobial and wound healing drug.

Ahmad K., Maabreh M., Ghaly M., Khan K., Qadir J., Al-Fuqaha A.

As the globally increasing population drives rapid urbanization in various parts of the world, there is a great need to deliberate on the future of the cities worth living. In particular, as modern smart cities embrace more and more data-driven artificial intelligence services, it is worth remembering that (1) technology can facilitate prosperity, wellbeing, urban livability, or social justice, but only when it has the right analog complements (such as well-thought out policies, mature institutions, responsible governance); and (2) the ultimate objective of these smart cities is to facilitate and enhance human welfare and social flourishing. Researchers have shown that various technological business models and features can in fact contribute to social problems such as extremism, polarization, misinformation, and Internet addiction. In the light of these observations, addressing the philosophical and ethical questions involved in ensuring the security, safety, and interpretability of such AI algorithms that will form the technological bedrock of future cities assumes paramount importance. Globally there are calls for technology to be made more humane and human-centered. In this paper, we analyze and explore key challenges including security, robustness, interpretability, and ethical (data and algorithmic) challenges to a successful deployment of AI in human-centric applications, with a particular emphasis on the convergence of these concepts/challenges. We provide a detailed review of existing literature on these key challenges and analyze how one of these challenges may lead to others or help in solving other challenges. The paper also advises on the current limitations, pitfalls, and future directions of research in these domains, and how it can fill the current gaps and lead to better solutions. We believe such rigorous analysis will provide a baseline for future research in the domain.

Ali A., Shaukat H., Bibi S., Altabey W.A., Noori M., Kouritem S.A.

This paper provides a comprehensive review of the recent progress made in energy harvesting systems for wearable technology. An energy-harvesting system would be a useful strategy to address the issue of powering wearable electronic devices. This review presents different wearable energy harvesting methods based on the human body's heat and mechanical energy. To achieve continuous operation and high performance, reduce the requirement for external sources of energy, and enhance the lifespan of wearable devices, the invention of a sustainable and compatible power supply is required. In the human body, heat and mechanical motions are the two reliable and readily available energy sources. This study highlights the most recent research and advancements in energy harvesting from the human's mechanical motion and heat source. This article provides a detailed overview of the different wearable energy harvesters, their fabrication, working, and output results, which include piezoelectric, electrostatic, triboelectric, electromagnetic, thermoelectric, solar and hybrid wearable energy harvesters. The second part defines wearable energy harvesting using smart systems and artificial intelligence technology. Then the comparison of these energy harvesters is analyzed. Hybrid wearable energy harvesters provide the maximum power densities because they use two combined energy conversions. The advantages, limitations, and future perspectives of wearable energy harvesting technology are also discussed. Lastly, the wearable energy harvesters' market, and general developing and manufacturing cost of each wearable device is also presented functioning as a point of reference to comprehend the cost factors that are taken into account during the development and manufacturing processes.

Rehman E., Rehman S.

Environmental degradation has been identified as a major worldwide concern in recent decades, with CO 2 emissions considered as one of the primary drivers of this catastrophe. This study creatively analyzes the underlying impact of urbanization, population growth, Gross domestic product (GDP) per capita, energy use on CO 2 emissions to mitigate the environmental degradation from the five most populated regions of Asia i.e., China, India, Indonesia, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. To investigate the integrated impact of CO 2 emission and associated factors, a grey relational analysis (GRA) based weights and ranking were estimated for the year 2001 to 2014. Then, utilizing the Conservative minimax approach, we sought to determine which country contributes the most to CO 2 emissions based on weights acquired by Second Synthetic Grey Relational Analysis (SSGRA). The Grey technique for order of preference by similarity to ideal solution (G-TOPSIS) technique was employed for further optimization by prioritizing the explanatory factors that have the greatest influence on CO 2 emissions. The outcomes through GRA techniques discovered that India is a major contributor of carbon emission caused by population growth and economic development. Whereas the use of energy and urbanization are grounded factors of emission for China and Pakistan respectively. The outcomes of the Conservative minimax criterion indicate that India is a leading contributor to carbon emissions in Asia. Also, the unsustainable growth of population and CO 2 emissions indicates a direct causative relationship for environmental damage based on the G-TOPSIS. The findings of the study potentially aid governments and policymakers in making better decisions and investments to mitigate CO 2 emissions while fostering a more environmentally friendly atmosphere. • This paper investigates CO 2 emissions convergence in the Asian region. • Grey relation analysis and G-TOPSIS are utilized as the MCDM approach. • More evidence against India as a major contributor of emissions. • Population growth appeared as the most intensifying factor of the CO 2 emissions.

Haider J., Saeed S., Qyyum M.A., Kazmi B., Ahmad R., Muhammad A., Lee M.

The impurities CO2 and H2S in natural gas (NG) are recognized as major contaminants that exacerbate economic, operational, and environmental losses. Generally, these undesirable impurities are removed using well-established amine-based absorption methods. However, typical methods in this category are cost-intensive, primarily due to their high operating and maintenance costs. The ionic liquids (ILs) are emerging as alternative solvents owing to their lower regeneration costs and non-flammable nature. However, ILs could not attain a significant attention from practitioners due to the lack of effective communication between industry and academia. In this context, a comprehensive review and analysis of specific ILs that can simultaneously remove H2S and CO2 is proposed. This article highlights the major challenges and issues associated with various acid gases removal approaches, particularly IL-based absorption techniques. Recent developments toward solving the major issues associated with absorption using ILs are assessed to highlight areas for further improvement. The acid gas solubility data for ILs are analyzed to evaluate the feasibility and associated major constraints for large-scale process designs using commercial process simulators. Furthermore, the fundamentals for the process systems engineering-based investigations using ILs are also highlighted and evaluated. This study concludes that ILs have the potential to completely replace conventional solvents, have synergistic effects in terms of energy savings, and provide feasible solutions to maintenance-related issues.

Khan B., Naseem R., Muhammad F., Abbas G., Kim S.

Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) implies that the human kidneys are harmed and unable to blood filter in the manner which they should. The disease is designated “chronic” in light of the fact that harm to human kidneys happen gradually over a significant time. This harm can make wastes to build up in your body. Many techniques and models have been developed to diagnos the CKD in early-stage. Among all techniques, Machine Learning (ML) techniques play a significant role in the early forecasting of different kinds ailments. ML techniques have been used for achieving analytical results which is one of the instruments utilize in medical analysis and prediction. In this paper, we employ experiential analysis of ML techniques for classifying the kidney patient dataset as CKD or NOTCKD. Seven ML techniques together with NBTree, J48, Support Vector Machine, Logistic Regression, Multi-layer Perceptron, Naïve Bayes, and Composite Hypercube on Iterated Random Projection (CHIRP) are utilized and assessed using distinctive evaluation measures such as mean absolute error (MAE), root mean squared error (RMSE), relative absolute error (RAE), root relative squared error (RRSE), recall, precision, F-measure and accuracy.The experimental outcomes accomplished of MAE are 0.0419 for NB, 0.035 for LR, 0.265 for MLP, 0.0229 for J48, 0.015 for SVM, 0.0158 for NBTree and 0.0025 for CHIRP. Moreover, experimental results using accuracy revealed 95.75% for NB, 96.50% for LR, 97.25% for MLP, 97.75% for J48, 98.25% for SVM, 98.75% for NBTree, and 99.75% for CHIRP. The overall outcomes show that CHIRP performs well in terms of diminishing error rates and improving accuracy.

Sajjad W., He F., Ullah M.W., Ikram M., Shah S.M., Khan R., Khan T., Khalid A., Yang G., Wahid F.

The current study aimed to fabricate curcumin-loaded bacterial cellulose (BC-Cur) nanocomposite as a potential wound dressing for partial thickness burns by utilizing the therapeutic features of curcumin and unique structural, physico-chemical, and biological features of BC. Characterization analyses confirmed the successful impregnation of curcumin into the BC matrix. Biocompatibility studies showed the better attachment and proliferation of fibroblast cells on the BC-Cur nanocomposite. The antibacterial potential of curcumin was tested against Escherichia coli (E. coli), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P. aeruginosa), Salmonella typhimurium (S. typhimurium), and Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus). Wound healing analysis of partial-thickness burns in Balbc mice showed an accelerated wound closure up to 64.25% after 15 days in the BC-Cur nanocomposite treated group. Histological studies showed healthy granulation tissues, fine re-epithelialization, vascularization, and resurfacing of wound bed in the BC-Cur nanocomposite group. These results indicate that combining BC with curcumin significantly improved the healing pattern. Thus, it can be concluded that the fabricated biomaterial could provide a base for the development of promising alternatives for the conventional dressing system in treating burns.

Al-Ammar E.A., Farzana K., Waqar A., Aamir M., Saifullah, Ul Haq A., Zahid M., Batool M.

In recent years, due to increase in load demand, distribution networks have got substantial attention to get optimized. It is significant to optimally place the distributed generators (DGs) in distribution networks to minimize power losses and voltage drops. However, the DGs incur certain investment and operational costs, and their placement is only viable if these costs overcome energy losses. Therefore, current paper investigates the optimal sizing and placement of DGs in distribution networks with a novel concept to simultaneously minimize total energy cost along with total power loss and average voltage drop. Artificial bee colony (ABC) algorithm is proposed to solve the considered multi-objective problem. The performance of the proposed ABC algorithm is tested with standard algorithms. Newton Raphson load flow (NRLF) analysis is conducted on IEEE 33 and 69-bus radial networks and on CIGRE medium voltage (MV) benchmark grid. Two test cases have been formed and investigated. The results prove that proposed ABC algorithm mostly outperforms other algorithms.