: This study was aimed at assessing adaptation and bonding of discontinuous (short) glass fiber-reinforced composite to intraradicular dentin EverX Flow (GC Corporation, Tokyo, Japan), when used as intracanal composite filling and anchorage instead of traditional fiber posts. (2) Methods: Seventy intact extracted human teeth were endodontically treated and randomly divided into 6 groups (n=10), depending on the materials used in the post space. In Group 1, a 2-bottle universal adhesive G2 Bond Universal + EverX Flow were tested. In group 2, a single-component universal adhesive G-Premio Bond + EverX Flow were used. In groups 3 and 4 the same materials are tested, but after cleaning of the canal walls with 17% EDTA and final irrigation with 5.25% NaOCl Ultrasound Activated. In the last three Groups (5-7) traditional prefabricated GC Fiber Posts 1.6 mm silanized with G-Multi Primer for 1 minute are cemented with a dual-cured composite resin cement (GradiaCore), after ultrasonic irrigation in the groups 6 and 7. In each group, 1 mm-thick slices from each sample (n=10) were cut for light microscope and SEM inspection for study materials adaption to the dentin and for measuring push-out strength of post / cemement material to the dentin / prefabricated post. These results were statistically analyzed: as the data distribution was not normal, the Kruskal-Wallis Analysis of Variance by Ranks had to be applied. The level of significance was set at p<0.05. Results: Push-out forces varied between 6.66-8.37 MPa. No statistically significant differences were recorded among the groups. Microscopic examination showed that ultrasonic irri-gation increased adaptation of the materials to the dentin surface. There was a trend of higher bond strength among the tested groups when EverX Flow was used. Also, the type of failure was more often cohesive when ultrasonic irrigation and two-step adhesive system were used. Conclusions: Within the limitations of this in vitro study, it may be concluded that when EverX Flow was used for intracanal anchorage in the post-endodontic recon-struction, similar push-out retentive forces and strength to those of traditional fiber posts cemented with particulate filler resin composite cements were achieved. Although further studies are necessary, EverX Flow represents an effective alternative to traditional fiber post adhesion in particular when used in combination with the two-step adhesive system and ultrasonic activation.

Soil erosion is the major factor that has contributed to the reduction of soil fertility in the highlands of Ethiopia. This factor was reduced by soil and water conservation (SWC) practices. Hence, the study evaluated the effects of SWC practices and slope gradient on soil physicochemical properties in the Agemi watershed of northwestern Ethiopia. Farmland treated by SWC such as stone-faced soil bund (SFSB) and soil bund (SB), untreated farmland and slope gradient were identified in the study area. About 27 soil samples were collected from the treated farmland and untreated farmland with three slope classes, including lower (5-10%), middle (10-15%) and upper slopes (>15%). The soil physicochemical properties were analyzed by two ways analysis of variance (ANOVA) using SAS 9.2. The results of the study showed that the content of sand, clay, total porosity, pH, soil organic matter (SOM), total nitrogen (TN), available phosphorus (AP), exchangeable cations such as Ca²⁺, Mg²⁺, K⁺ and cation exchange capacity (CEC) were significantly affected (p<0.01) by SWC practices and untreated farmland with slope gradients. However, the content of silt, percent of base saturation (PBS) and exchangeable Na were statistically insignificant (p>0.05). Farmland treated with SFSB confirmed higher mean values of soil physicochemical properties than SB and untreated farmland. Moreover, the lower total porosity (TP) and higher bulk density (BD) were recorded on untreated farmland and upper slopes. This study concludes that farmland treated with SFSB improved soil physicochemical properties than farmland treated with SB followed by untreated farmland. Therefore, SFSB should be implemented on farmland to improve soil fertility in the study area.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is significantly dependent on desalinated water and groundwater resource, which is expensive and highly energy intensive. Despite the scarce water resource, only 54% of the recycled water was reused in 2015. In this study, an “Oasis” complex comprised of Sustainable Farming Compartments (SFCs) was proposed for reusing treated wastewater to decrease the ambient temperature of the SFC via an evaporative cooling system. A prototype SFC with half the original scale (width = 1.8 m, depth = 1.5 m, front height = 1.2 m back height = 0.9 m) was designed, built, and tested in an environmentally controlled laboratory and field site to evaluate the feasibility and effectiveness of the SFC under the climatic conditions in Abu Dhabi. Based on the experimental results, the temperature drops obtained from the SFC in the laboratory and field site were 5 ̊C at initial relative humidity of 60% and 7- 15 ̊C at initial relative humidity of 50%, respectively. An energy simulation using dynamic numerical simulations was performed in comparison to the results of the experiment. The energy-based dynamic simulation shows good agreement with the experimental results. The total power consumption of the SFC system was approximately three and a half times lower than that of an electrical air conditioner.

In 2021 the total world cement production was estimated at 4.1 billion tonnes and the annual CO2 emissions from cement plants reached almost 2.8 billion metric tonnes. In the last years many ef-forts have been made for manufacturing low-CO2 cements. In this regard, a great attention has been paid towards calcium sulfoaluminate (CSA) cements for both their peculiar technical prop-erties and the environmentally friendly features mainly related to their manufacturing process. Moreover, the use of blended cements composed by CSA binders and supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs) could represents a powerful tool for both reducing the CO2 footprint and pro-ducing more durable environmentally friendly materials. In this paper, the possibility of using reservoir sediments (RS), calcined at 830°C, as SCMs in blended-CSA cements was investigated. Four binders were submitted to hydration and physico-mechanical tests for curing periods com-prised in the interval 4 hours-56 days. X-ray fluorescence, X-ray diffraction and differential thermal–thermogravimetric analyses were employed as main characterization techniques. It was found that thermally treated RS are very interesting inasmuch as their utilization allows a CSA clinker dilution, thus implying both a decrease of CO2 emissions and a reduction of costs related to CSA cement production.

A saprophytic soil fungus, Aspergillus flavus, produces aflatoxin (toxigenic strains) in the kernels of corn (Zea mays L.) and seeds of many other crops. Many strains of A. flavus do not produce toxigenic aflatoxin, and soil application of these atoxigenic strains is a suppressive control tactic to assist in controlling toxigenic conspecifics. Effects of atoxigenic A. flavus applications on honey bees (Apis mellifera L.) and other bees are unknown, and basic information on bee occurrences in corn fields treated with and without this biological pesticide is needed to inform integrated pest management in corn. Fields with atoxigenic A. flavus applications were compared to nearby control fields in three counties in corn production regions in eastern Texas. In each corn field, twenty bee bowl traps were deployed along four equal transects located between corn rows, with contents of the bowls (i.e. bees) retrieved after 24 hours. Eleven bee genera from four families were collected from corn fields, with only two honey bees collected and zero honey bees observed in transects. The sweat bee genus Agapostemon (primarily composed of the Texas-striped sweat bee A. texanus) was most abundant in corn fields (44% of the total number of bees collected) followed by long-horned bees (Melissodes spp., 24%). The southernmost county (i.e. San Patricio) produced over 80% of the total number of bees collected. Bee communities occurring in corn production fields with applications of atoxigenic A. flavus applications were not significantly different from nearby control fields. While little is known of bee resource use in corn production systems in Texas, the abundant yet variable bee communities across latitudes in this study suggests a need to investigate the influence of farming practices on bee resources in regional corn production systems.

In the era of mounting water scarcity, particularly in arid regions, the agricultural sector is striving to optimize the water resource management practices. Treated wastewater (TWW) has emerged as a viable alternative to freshwater for irrigation, offering a sustainable solution to water conservation. However, ensuring the safety and quality of TWW is paramount to safeguard for both crop health and environmental integrity. Electrical conductivity (EC), a critical factor in assessing TWW suitability for irrigation, can significantly impact crop yields and soil health since it is directly linked to the concentration of dissolved salts and ions. Therefore, this study delves into the development of advanced predictive models for EC assessment by employing supervised machine learning (ML) techniques like the Support Vector Regression (SVR), Adaptive Network-based Fuzzy Inference System (ANFIS), and Multiple Linear Regression (MLR). The TWW samples collected from Al-Qatif area, Saudi Arabia were assessed in the lab through a sensor-based real-time monitoring system integrated with Internet of Things (IoT) network and a multiprobe device. The key water quality parameters assessed involved, temperature (T), pH, Oxidation Reduction Potential (ORP), Resistivity (RES), Total Dissolved Solids (TDS), Salinity and Turbidity which served as the foundation for these models, given their profound influence on and their anticipated impact on EC levels. Following feature selection, two distinct model combinations were identified for the SVR, ANFIS and MLR models. Furthermore, to evaluate prediction performance, four statistical criteria, including coefficient of determination (R²), correlation coefficient (R), mean square error (MSE), and root mean square error (RMSE), were employed. Overall, the comparative performance results proved that ANFIS-M2 indicated the strongest predictive capability with the R² value of 0.99572 and 0.75145 and the RMSE values of 0.00965 and 0.01134, respectively in both calibration and verification stages.

Malaria is endemic in Nigeria and remains a major public health problem, taking its greatest toll on children under age 5 and pregnant women, although it is preventable, treatable, and curable. This study investigates the Impact of socio-economic factors and indoor mosquito control on malaria prevalent among pregnant women in Nigeria using logistic regression. To achieve this, secondary data obtained from 2015 Nigeria Malaria Indicator survey, executed by the National Malaria Elimination Programme (NMEP) and the National Population Commission (NPopC), with a nationally representative sample of more than 8,000 consisting of 7,745 households. The results from the logistic regression with odds ratio revealed that pregnant women are more like to be affected by malaria fever (though not significant) compared to women that are not pregnant. The income levels of the household does not significant reduce the incidence of malaria fever among pregnant women in Niger. Concerning the malaria presenting measure, only dwelling sprayed by private company significantly reduce the incidence of malaria fever among pregnant women (P-value=0.020<0.05) compared to dwelling sprayed by government and NGOs and also to Insecticide Treated Net. Also pregnant women in the urban centers are less likely to have malaria fever compared to pregnant women in rural communities in Nigeria. Also, pregnant women with atleast a secondary school level of education are less likely to be affected by malaria fever compared to pregnant women with no formal education. The fitted logistic model passed the goodness-of-test fit; the classification test for the logistic model was correctly classified at about 67.02%. Therefore, this study recommends that government and NGOs should intensify their efforts in the area of dwelling spraying, awareness campaign of the danger of malaria fever among pregnant women and infants, engaged in effective distribution of insecticide treated net in order to reduce the incidence of malaria fever among pregnant women living in rural communities in Nigeria.

Durability monitoring of insecticide-treated nets (ITNs) containing a pyrethroid in combination with a second active ingredient (AI) must be adapted so that the insecticidal bioefficacy of each AI can be monitored independently. An effective way to do this is to measure rapid knock down of a pyrethroid-susceptible strain of mosquitoes to assess the bioefficacy of the pyrethroid component and to use a pyrethroid-resistant strain to measure the bioefficacy of the second ingredient. To allow robust comparison of results across tests within and between test facilities, and over time, protocols for bioefficacy testing must include either characterisation of the resistant strain, standardisation of the mosquitoes used for bioassays, or a combination of the two. Through a series of virtual meetings, key stakeholders and practitioners explored different approaches to achieving these goals. Via an iterative process we decided on the preferred approach and produced a protocol consisting of characterising mosquitoes used for bioefficacy testing before and after a round of bioassays, for example at each time point in a durability monitoring study. We present the final protocol and justify our approach to establishing a standard methodology for durability monitoring of ITNs containing pyrethroid and a second AI.