Green process innovation, green product innovation, leverage, and corporate financial performance; evidence from system GMM.

Natural resource usage has produced various environmental challenges. Green process innovation has been considered a viable option that can help both industry and society. This study investigates the impact of green process innovation and green product innovation on corporate financial performance. We based our findings on a sample of 280 listed non-financial firms operating in South Asia. Information was gathered from firms' annual and CSR reports from 2012 to 2022. This study's data was analyzed using a two-step dynamic panel system GMM, correlation analysis, multicollinearity diagnostic tests, and descriptive statistics. Corporate financial performance is measured with ROA, ROE and Tobin's Q. Overall findings of the study show that green innovation has a significant positive impact on all measures of financial performance. Investing in the innovation of green products and green process can assist businesses in avoiding environmental concerns and regulatory penalties, while also assisting them in establishing new market prospects and achieving new levels of success with their green products. In addition, developing products that are friendly to the environment is tightly connected to expanding green competencies, promoting a company's green image, and improving the company's financial performance. Particularly useful for policymakers in developing countries, the study's findings can be used to introduce paradigm-shifting legislation and penalties that speed up business adoption of green process innovation.

Morphological, Mineralogical, and Biochemical Characteristics of Particulate Matter in Three Size Fractions (PM10, PM2.5, and PM1) in the Urban Environment.

Air pollution in megacities is increasing due to the dense population index, increasing vehicles, industries, and burning activities that negatively impact human health and climate. There is limited study of air pollution in many megacities of the world including Pakistan. Lahore is a megacity in Pakistan in which the continuous investigation of particulate matter is very important. Therefore, this study investigates particulate matter in three size fractions (PM1, PM2.5, and PM10) in Lahore, a polluted city in south Asia. The particulate matter was collected daily during the winter season of 2019. The average values of PM1, PM2.5, and PM10 were found to be 102.00 ± 64.03, 188.31 ± 49.21, and 279.73 ± 75.04 µg m-3, respectively. Various characterization techniques including X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) combined with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) were used. FT-IR and XRD techniques identified the minerals and compounds like quartz, peroxides, calcites and vaterite, feldspar group, kaolinite clay minerals, chrysotile, vaterite, illite, hematite, dolomite, calcite, magnesium phosphate, ammonium sulfate, calcium iron oxide, gypsum, vermiculite, CuSO4, and FeSO4. Morphology and elemental composition indicated quartz, iron, biological particles, carbonate, and carbonaceous particles. In addition, various elements like C, O, B, Mg, Si, Ca, Cl, Al, Na, K, Zn, and S were identified. Based on the elemental composition and morphology, different particles along with their percentage were found like carbonaceous- (38%), biogenic- (14%), boron-rich particle- (14%), feldspar- (10%), quartz- (9%), calcium-rich particle- (5%), chlorine-rich particle- (5%), and iron-rich particle (5%)-based. The main sources of the particulate matter included vehicular exertion, biomass consumption, resuspended dust, biological emissions, activities from construction sites, and industrial emissions near the sampling area.

Enhancement in the efficiency of heat recovery in a Williamson hybrid nanofluid over a vertically thin needle with entropy generation.

The purpose of the present research is to conduct an examination of entropy generation in a 2D magneto Williamson hybrid nanofluid flow that contains cobalt ferrite and titanium oxide nanoparticles and undergoes surface-catalyzed reactions through a thin vertical needle. The consequences of joule heating and viscous dissipation are considered to elaborate the features of heat transport. Further, the influence of thermal stratification, thermal radiation, and homogeneous-heterogeneous reaction is also taken into account. Through the application of appropriate similarity variables, the dimensionless system of coupled ordinary differential equations is achieved. The coupled system of equations is numerically solved by the usage of the bvp4c technique in the MATLAB algorithm. The current investigation also compared the existing outcomes with the available literature, which shows great harmony between the two. The consequences of the physical parameters are discussed graphically and with numerical data. It is worth noting that larger values of homogeneous reaction strength and the surface-catalyzed parameter diminish the concentration field. Further, the velocity distribution and their related momentum boundary layer thickness, diminishes with the enlargement of the Weissenberg parameter.

Pashto Handwritten Invariant Character Trajectory Prediction Using a Customized Deep Learning Technique.

Before the 19th century, all communication and official records relied on handwritten documents, cherished as valuable artefacts by different ethnic groups. While significant efforts have been made to automate the transcription of major languages like English, French, Arabic, and Chinese, there has been less research on regional and minor languages, despite their importance from geographical and historical perspectives. This research focuses on detecting and recognizing Pashto handwritten characters and ligatures, which is essential for preserving this regional cursive language in Pakistan and its status as the national language of Afghanistan. Deep learning techniques were employed to detect and recognize Pashto characters and ligatures, utilizing a newly developed dataset specific to Pashto. A further enhancement was done on the dataset by implementing data augmentation, i.e., scaling and rotation on Pashto handwritten characters and ligatures, which gave us many variations of a single trajectory. Different morphological operations for minimizing gaps in the trajectories were also performed. The median filter was used for the removal of different noises. This dataset will be combined with the existing PHWD-V2 dataset. Various deep-learning techniques were evaluated, including VGG19, MobileNetV2, MobileNetV3, and a customized CNN. The customized CNN demonstrated the highest accuracy and minimal loss, achieving a training accuracy of 93.98%, validation accuracy of 92.08% and testing accuracy of 92.99%.

Customer Analysis Using Machine Learning-Based Classification Algorithms for Effective Segmentation Using Recency, Frequency, Monetary, and Time.

Customer segmentation has been a hot topic for decades, and the competition among businesses makes it more challenging. The recently introduced Recency, Frequency, Monetary, and Time (RFMT) model used an agglomerative algorithm for segmentation and a dendrogram for clustering, which solved the problem. However, there is still room for a single algorithm to analyze the data's characteristics. The proposed novel approach model RFMT analyzed Pakistan's largest e-commerce dataset by introducing k-means, Gaussian, and Density-Based Spatial Clustering of Applications with Noise (DBSCAN) beside agglomerative algorithms for segmentation. The cluster is determined through different cluster factor analysis methods, i.e., elbow, dendrogram, silhouette, Calinsky-Harabasz, Davies-Bouldin, and Dunn index. They finally elected a stable and distinctive cluster using the state-of-the-art majority voting (mode version) technique, which resulted in three different clusters. Besides all the segmentation, i.e., product categories, year-wise, fiscal year-wise, and month-wise, the approach also includes the transaction status and seasons-wise segmentation. This segmentation will help the retailer improve customer relationships, implement good strategies, and improve targeted marketing.

MHD Double-Diffusive Carreau Fluid Flow through a Porous Medium with Variable Thermal Conductivity and Suction/Injection.

In this article, we consider the effects of double diffusion on magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) Carreau fluid flow through a porous medium along a stretching sheet. Variable thermal conductivity and suction/injection parameter effects are also taken into the consideration. Similarity transformations are utilized to transform the equations governing the Carreau fluid flow model to dimensionless non-linear ordinary differential equations. Maple software is utilized for the numerical solution. These solutions are then presented through graphs. The velocity, concentration, temperature profile, skin friction coefficient, and the Nusselt and Sherwood numbers under the impact of different parameters are studied. The fluid flow is analyzed for both suction and injection cases. From the analysis carried out, it is observed that the velocity profile reduces by increasing the porosity parameter while it enhances both the temperature and concentration profile. The temperature field enhances with increasing the variable thermal conductivity and the Nusselt number exhibits opposite behavior.

Natural bio-convective flow of Maxwell nanofluid over an exponentially stretching surface with slip effect and convective boundary condition.

The under-consideration article mainly focuses an unsteady three-dimensional Maxwell bio-convective nanomaterial liquid flow towards an exponentially expanding surface with the influence of chemical reaction slip condition. The feature of heat transport is achieving in the existenceof convective boundary condition and variable thermal conductivity. With the help of similarity variables, the flow form of equations is turned into a nonlinear form of coupled ODEs. The numerical solutions are calculated by adopting bvp4c function of MATLAB. Impact of distinct characteristics on the temperature, velocity microorganism and concentration field is graphically evaluated. Moreover, physical quantities are observed via graphs and tabulated data in details. It has been seen by the observation that the involvement of unsteadiness parameter restricts the change of laminar to turbulent flow. Further, for increasing velocity slip parameter velocity component in both directions shows lessening behavior. The Nusselt number exhibits diminishing behavior for larger values of Deborah number, and it shows the opposite behavior for larger values of convective parameter.

Time fractional analysis of channel flow of couple stress Casson fluid using Fick's and Fourier's Laws.

This study aim to examine the channel flow of a couple stress Casson fluid. The flow is generated due to the motion of the plate at [Formula: see text], while the plate at [Formula: see text] is at rest. This physical phenomenon is derived in terms of partial differential equations. The subjected governing PDE's are non-dimensionalized with the help of dimensionless variables. The dimensionless classical model is generalized by transforming it to the time fractional model using Fick's and Fourier's Laws. The general fractional model is solved by applying the Laplace and Fourier integral transformation. Furthermore, the parametric influence of various physical parameters like Casson parameter, couple stress parameter, Grashof number, Schmidt number and Prandtl number on velocity, temperature, and concentration distributions is shown graphically and discussed. The heat transfer rate, skin friction, and Sherwood number are calculated and presented in tabular form. It is worth noting that the increasing values of the couple stress parameter [Formula: see text] deaccelerate the velocity of Couple stress Casson fluid.

Blasius-Rayleigh-Stokes Flow of Hybrid Nanomaterial Liquid Past a Stretching Surface with Generalized Fourier's and Fick's Law.

The effect of Stefan blowing on the Cattaneo-Christov characteristics of the Blasius-Rayleigh-Stokes flow of self-motive Ag-MgO/water hybrid nanofluids, with convective boundary conditions and a microorganism density, are examined in this study. Further, the impact of the transitive magnetic field, ablation/accretion, melting heat, and viscous dissipation effects are also discussed. By performing appropriate transformations, the mathematical models are turned into a couple of self-similarity equations. The bvp4c approach is used to solve the modified similarity equations numerically. The fluid flow, microorganism density, energy, and mass transfer features are investigated for dissimilar values of different variables including magnetic parameter, volume fraction parameter, Stefan blowing parameter, thermal and concentration Biot number, Eckert number, thermal and concentration relaxation parameter, bio-convection Lewis parameter, and Peclet number, to obtain a better understanding of the problem. The liquid velocity is improved for higher values of the volume fraction parameter and magnetic characteristic, due to the retardation effect. Further, a higher value of the Stefan blowing parameter improves the liquid momentum and velocity boundary layer thickness.

Experimental and theoretical analyses of nano-silver for antibacterial activity based on differential crystal growth temperatures.

The modulation of antimicrobial properties of nanomaterials can be achieved through various physical and chemical processes, which ultimately affect subsequent properties. In this study, the antibacterial potential of nano-silver was investigated at 0.5, 1.0, 2.0, and 3.0 g/L, and its differential temperature synthesis was achieved at 20, 50, and 70 °C using the solvent evaporation method. Nano-silver particles exhibited FCC (octahedral) crystalline structure with crystallite sizes ranging between 28 and 39 nm calculated using XRD analysis. Moreover, irregular and non-uniform surface morphology was evident from SEM micrographs. The UV-Vis absorbance spectrum of nano-silver exhibited wave maxima at 433 nm, while the FTIR analysis depicted different modes of vibration indicating the CH, OH, C≡C, C-Cl, and CH2 functional groups attached to the surface. Lastly, nano-silver caused prominent inhibition (12.5 mm) in the Escherichia coli growth, particularly at 70 °C synthesis temperature and 3.0 g/L dose. It is concluded that both the nano-silver crystal growth temperature and dose contributed substantially to bacterial growth inhibition linked with subsequent size, shape-dependent properties.

Pegylated Eu-enabled submicron alumina spheres as potential theranostics agent RD cell line as model.

OBJECTIVES: This study is aimed to synthesis and evaluate PEGylated Eu enabled spherical alumina submicron particles (s-Al2O3:Eu) for potential theranostic applications. METHODS: This study is bisected into two parts, a) synthesis of PEGylated Eu enabled spherical alumina submicron particles (s-Al2O3:Eu), and b) characterization of the synthesized particles to determine their efficacy for potential theranostic applications.The synthesis of the particles involved the following steps. In the first step, s-Al2O3:Eu is synthesized using solvothermal synthesis. In the next step, the particles undergo post synthesis water-ethanol treatment and calcination. The surface of the synthesized s-Al2O3:Eu particles is then coated by PEG to increase its biocompatibility.Once the particles are prepared, they are characterized using different techniques. The microstructure, composition and structure of the particles is characterized using SEM, EDX and XRD techniques. The detection of the functional groups is done using FTIR analysis. The photoluminescence emission spectrum of s-Al2O3:Eu is studied using Photoluminescence spectroscopy. And, finally, the biocompatibility is studied using MTT assay on RD cell lines. RESULTS: The microstructure analysis, from the micrographs obtained from SEM, shows that the spherical alumina particles have a submicron size with narrow size distribution. The compositional analysis, as per EDX, confirms the presence of Oxygen, Aluminum and Europium in the particles. While, XRD analysis of s-Al2O3:Eu confirms the formation of alpha alumina phase after calcination at 700 °C. Emission peaks, obtained by Photoluminescence emission spectroscopy, show that the optimum emission intensities correspond to the transition from 5D0 to 7Fj orbital of Eu+3. FTIR analysis confirms the successful coating of PEG. Finally, a cell viability of more than 86% is observed when the biocompatibility of the particles is studied, using MTT assay on RD cell lines. CONCLUSIONS: s-Al2O3:Eu with narrow distribution are successfully synthesized. Structural and functional characterizations support the suitability of s-Al2O3:Eu as potential theranostic agent.

Erratum: Alnowibet et al. Healthcare Human Resources: Trends and Demand in Saudi Arabia. Healthcare 2021, 9, 955.

Some details of the authors' names, affiliations, and email addresses were incorrect in the original version of the article [...].

Green Synthesis of CeO2 Nanoparticles from the Abelmoschus esculentus Extract: Evaluation of Antioxidant, Anticancer, Antibacterial, and Wound-Healing Activities.

Metal oxide nanoparticles synthesized by the biological method represent the most recent research in nanotechnology. This study reports the rapid and ecofriendly approach for the synthesis of CeO2 nanoparticles mediated using the Abelmoschus esculentus extract. The medicinal plant extract acts as both a reducing and stabilizing agent. The characterization of CeO2 NPs was performed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy (UV-Vis), and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The in vitro cytotoxicity of green synthesized CeO2 was assessed against cervical cancerous cells (HeLa). The exposure of CeO2 to HeLa cells at 10-125 µg/mL caused a loss in cellular viability against cervical cancerous cells in a dose-dependent manner. The antibacterial activity of the CeO2 was assessed against S. aureus and K. pneumonia. A significant improvement in wound-healing progression was observed when cerium oxide nanoparticles were incorporated into the chitosan hydrogel membrane as a wound dressing.

Healthcare Human Resources: Trends and Demand in Saudi Arabia.

This paper estimates the impact of policies on the current status of Healthcare Human Resources (HHR) in Saudi Arabia and explores the initiatives that will be adopted to achieve Saudi Vision 2030. Retrospective time-series data from the Ministry of Health (MOH) and statistical yearbooks between 2003 and 2015 are analyzed to identify the impact of these policies on the health sector and the number of Saudi and non-Saudi physicians, nurses and allied health specialists employed by MOH, Other Government Hospitals (OGH) and Private Sector Hospitals (PSH). Moreover, multiple regressions are performed with respect to project data until 2030 and meaningful inferences are drawn. As a local supply of professional medical falls short of demand, either policy to foster an increase in supply are adopted or the Saudization policies must be relaxed. The discrepancies are identified in terms of a high rate of non-compliance of Saudization in the private sector and this is being countered with alternative measures which are discussed in this paper. The study also analyzed the drivers of HHR demand, supply and discussed the research implications on policy and society. The findings suggest that the 2011 national Saudization policy yielded the desired results mostly regarding allied health specialists and nurses. This study will enable decision-makers in the healthcare sector to measure the effectiveness of the new policies and, hence, whether to continue in implementing them or to revise them.

Sustainable production and waste management policies for COVID-19 medical equipment under uncertainty: A case study analysis.

Unfortunately, an abrupt corona-virus disease (COVID-19) outbreak brought a drastic change in human lives. Almost every sector of human-beings and their related activities are severely infected and affected by this COVID-19 pandemic. As days are passing, the impact of the COVID-19 epidemic is going to be more severe. The fundamental needs for personal protective equipment (PPEs) are rising drastically all over the world. In India, many non-pharmaceutical companies or organizations such as automobile companies are engaged in producing the PPEs at a very marginal rate. Thus this paper proposes a modeling and optimization framework for sustainable production and waste management (SPWM) decision-making model for COVID-19 medical equipment under uncertainty. To quantify the uncertainties among parameter values, we have taken advantage of the intuitionistic fuzzy set theory. A robust ranking function is presented to obtain a crisp version of it. Furthermore, a novel interactive intuitionistic fuzzy programming approach is developed to solve the proposed SPWM model. An ample opportunity to generate the desired solution sets are also depicted. The performance analysis based on multiple criteria such as savings from baseline, co-efficient of variations, and desirability degrees is also introduced. Practical managerial implications are also discussed based on the significant findings after applying to the real case study data-set. Finally, conclusive remarks and the future research direction are also addressed on behalf of the current contributing study.

Erratum: Arshad, N., et al. Super Hydrophilic Activated Carbon Decorated Nanopolymer Foam for Scalable, Energy Efficient Photothermal Steam Generation, as an Effective Desalination System. Nanomaterials 2020, 10, 2510.

The authors wish to make the following corrections to this paper [...].

Mathematical modeling and experimental analysis of the efficacy of photodynamic therapy in conjunction with photo thermal therapy and PEG-coated Au-doped TiO2 nanostructures to target MCF-7 cancerous cells.

Some nanoscale morphologies of titanium oxide nanostructures blend with gold nanoparticles and act as satellites and targeted weapon methodologies in biomedical applications. Simultaneously, titanium oxide can play an important role when combined with gold after blending with polyethylene glycol (PEG). Our experimental approach is novel with respect to the plasmonic role of metal nanoparticles as an efficient PDT drug. The current experimental strategy floats the comprehensive and facile way of experimental strategy on the critical influence that titanium with gold nanoparticles used as novel photosensitizing agents after significant biodistribution of proposed nanostructures toward targeted site. In addition, different morphologies of PEG-coated Au-doped titanium nanostructures were shown to provide various therapeutic effects due to a wide range of electromagnetic field development. This confirms a significantly amplified population of hot electron generation adjacent to the interface between Au and TiO2 nanostructures, leading to maximum cancerous cell injury in the MCF-7 cell line. The experimental results were confirmed by applying a least squares fit math model which verified our results with 99% goodness of fit. These results can pave the way for comprehensive rational designs for satisfactory response of performance phototherapeutic model mechanisms along with new horizons of photothermal therapy (HET) and photodynamic therapy (HET) operating under visible and near-infrared (NIR) light.

Manganese-doped cerium oxide nanocomposite as a therapeutic agent for MCF-7 adenocarcinoma cell line.

The preparation of a manganese-doped cerium oxide (Mn:CeO2) nanocomposite via hydrothermal route is described. Cubic fluorite structure of single phase was exhibited by studying structural analysis through x-ray diffraction (XRD) technique and morphological analysis was conducted by scanning electron microscope. Surface analytic technique of energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (EDX) was conducted to analyze the relative amount of any impurity and doping. Structural changes due to manganese doping such as increment in production of vacancies of oxygen within crystal of cerium oxide, and reduction in size of crystallite and constant of lattice was observed in our research study. Moreover, the Mn:CeO2 nanocomposite demonstrates differential cytotoxicity against MCF-7 adenocarcinoma cell line, which renders it a promising candidate for targeted cancer therapy. The anti-tumorous activity of the cerium oxide nanocomposite was significantly enhanced with doping of manganese, which is directly linked with the generation of highly reactive oxygen facets. The experimental results are supported by a mathematical model that confirms a confidence level of 95%. This research has paved the way for many utilities in therapeutics and magnetic resonance imaging diagnostics through new observations, and hence verified their math model.

Green thin film for stable electrical switching in a low-cost washable memory device: proof of concept.

Low-cost and washable resistive switching (RS) memory devices with stable retention and low operational voltage are important for higher speed and denser non-volatile memories. In the case of green electronics, pectin has emerged as a suitable alternative to toxic metal oxides for resistive switching applications. Herein, a pectin-based thin film was fabricated on a fluorine-doped tin oxide glass substrate for RS mechanism. The presence of sp3-C groups with low binding energy corresponds to tunable charged defects and the oxygen vacancies confirmed by the O 1s spectra that plays a decisive role in the resistive switching mechanism, as revealed by X-ray photoemission spectroscopy (XPS). The surface morphology of the pectin film shows homogeneous growth and negligible surface roughness (38.98 ± 9.09). The pectin film can dissolve in DI water (10 minutes) owing to its ionization of carboxylic groups, that meet the trends of transient electronics. The developed Ag/pectin/FTO-based memory cell exhibits stable and reproducible bipolar resistive switching behavior along with an excellent ON/OFF ratio (104) and negligible electrical degradation was observed over 30 repeated cycles. Hence, it appears to be a valuable application for green electronics. Indeed, biocompatible storage devices derived from natural pectin are promising for high-density safe applications for information storage systems, flexible electronics, and green electronics.

Super Hydrophilic Activated Carbon Decorated Nanopolymer Foam for Scalable, Energy Efficient Photothermal Steam Generation, as an Effective Desalination System.

Clean water scarcity is still an intense, prolonged global issue that needs to be resolved urgently. The solar steam generation has shown great potential with a high energy conversion efficiency for clean water production from seawater and wastewater. However, the high evaporation rate of water cannot be preserved due to the inevitable fouling of solar absorbers. Herein, a self-floatable and super hydrophilic solar-driven steam generator composed of activated carbon coated melamine foam (ACM). The deposited ACM photothermal layer exhibits outstanding solar absorption (92%) and an efficient evaporation rate of 1.27 kg m-2 h-1, along with excellent photothermal conversion efficiency (80%) as compared to commercially available primitive solar stills. The open porous assembly of melamine foam equipped with 80% flexibility (0.8 MPa) enabled smooth water transport and sustain heat accumulation within the matrix. The thermal insulation of ACM is 10 times greater than pure water. Moreover, open porous assembly of designed solar-powered steam generator rejects salt ions as well as volatile organic compounds efficiently. The low-cost and facile fabrication of photothermal based water production presents a potential solution to single step drinking water supply from various resources of the sea, the lakes and mixtures of emulsified oil and industrial wastewater.