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Synthesis of Coconut Husk-derived Carbon-based Material for Methylene Blue Dye Removal
No full textIndustrial pollution continues to represent a significant environmental challenge, as the reckless discharge of pollutants into water bodies and the atmosphere poses substantial threats to ecological systems and human health. Among the various classes of waterborne contaminants, dyes represent a particularly persistent and hazardous pollutant. Despite the development of numerous wastewater treatment techniques aimed at mitigating dye pollution, many existing methods either generate secondary pollutants or require extended treatment durations, thereby limiting their efficiency and sustainability. In this study, a carbon-based adsorbent was successfully synthesized from coconut husk using a modified Hummer’s method for the effective removal of methylene blue dye from aqueous solutions. Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) analysis confirmed the porous nature of the synthesized material, while Energy-Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (EDX) characterization post-adsorption revealed a compositional shift to 62.51% of carbon, 3.04% of nitrogen, 30.15% of oxygen, 0.70% of sulfur, 0.82% of chlorine and 2.78% of iron. The adsorbent demonstrated a noteworthy methylene blue dye removal efficiency of 67.65% accompanied by an adsorption capacity of 10.15 mg/g and a final solution pH of 10. At an adsorbent dosage of 0.1 mg/L, the removal efficiency was recorded at 41.92%, thereby demonstrating the concentration-dependent nature of the adsorption process. Additionally, an increase in temperature was observed to enhance the adsorption rate, including the endothermic nature of the process. The adsorption kinetics exhibited a gradual increase in dye removal over time, ultimately achieving equilibrium within 24 hours. Isotherm modelling and kinetic studies demonstrated that the adsorption mechanism followed the Langmuir isotherm model, suggesting monolayer adsorption on a homogeneously distributed active surface. The pseudo-second-order kinetic model exhibited the strongest correlation with experimental
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data, thereby substantiating that the adsorption process is predominantly governed by chemisorption. These findings underscore the potential of coconut husk-derived carbon-based material as an effective, cost-effective, and sustainable alternative for the treatment of dye contaminated wastewater
Cultural intelligence and employee innovation performance in foreign trade companies : The role of innovative work behavior
No full textAs globalization intensifies, employees’ ability to navigate diverse cultural contexts becomes increasingly critical for fostering innovation in international trade. This study examines how cultural intelligence (CQ), which encompasses cognitive, metacognitive, motivational, and behavioral dimensions, enhances employee innovation performance (EIP) through innovative work behavior (IWB). Using data from 316 employees in Chinese foreign trade firms, structural equation modeling revealed that all CQ dimensions positively influence IWB, which fully mediates their impact on EIP. The study’s population includes Chinese foreign trade companies operating in six eastern provinces: Shandong, Jiangsu, Shanghai, Zhejiang, Fujian, and Guangdong. Partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) was selected for its robustness in handling complex models with small to moderate sample sizes, as well as its ability to prioritize prediction over theory testing [1]. Participants, recruited from these six eastern Chinese provinces, were chosen due to their economic significance and cultural diversity. The quantitative analysis confirms significant relationships between CQ, IWB, and innovation outcomes, providing a robust framework for managers. By fostering cultural intelligence and innovative behaviors, organizations can effectively leverage their diverse workforce, establishing a sustainable competitive advantage in the global marketplace. These implications are especially relevant in foreign trade contexts, where adaptive and innovative approaches are essential for success. The findings underscore the necessity of fostering CQ to drive innovation in multicultural workplaces. The study advances the theoretical understanding of cross-cultural innovation dynamics and offers actionable strategies for managers in globalized industries
Effects of voltage and temperature on the soft error sensitivity of CMOS memory system
No full textThe sensitivity of systems to soft errors from single event upsets have increased following the trend of downscaling circuitry. This study investigates the effect of parameter variation of voltage and temperature to the critical charge of vulnerable nodes in a 6T SRAM. A current pulse was injected into sensitive nodes of a 6T SRAM to simulate the effects of a single event transient at varying amplitudes to flip the logic state at the node. The parameters of supply voltage and temperature were varied at specified points to observe the effects on the critical charge of the nodes at read and write state. The relationship of the voltage and temperature parameters as well as the degree of fluctuation of the critical charge were then analyzed
Biodegradable Waste Sorbents for Oil Spill Treatment
No full textThe environmental and economic consequences of oil spills make them a worldwide concern. To address this issue, several commercial systems have been developed to mitigate and control oil spills. Among these systems, the utilization
of biodegradable sorbents has emerged as an effective approach. These sorbents have the advantage of being capable of breaking down naturally over time, reducing
the long-term impact of oil spills on the environment. Biodegradable sorbents are emerging as a sustainable and environmentally friendly solution for oil spill treat-
ment. Derived from natural and renewable sources, these sorbents possess the ability to adsorb or absorb oil, facilitating containment and recovery efforts. This chapter
provides an overview of the characteristics, applications, and benefits of biodegradable waste sorbents in oil spill treatment. This chapter highlights various types of
biodegradable sorbents, including natural fiber sorbents, cellulose-based materials, agricultural by-products, mushroom spent substrate, and alginate-based materials.
These sorbents exhibit high oil sorption capacities and can be deployed in oil spill response, shoreline clean-up, marsh and wetland restoration, and controlled treatment
facilities. Biodegradable waste sorbents offer advantages such as reduced dependence
Dual Fusion Net: A Transformer-Based Hybrid Dual model Architecture for Highly Accurate Chili Leaf Disease Classification
No full textChili leaf diseases significantly impact agricultural productivity, demanding advanced and reliable AI-based detection systems for timely intervention. This research introduces Dual Fusion Net, a Transformer-enhanced hybrid dual-model architecture that integrates InceptionV3
and DenseNet121 to achieve highly accurate chili leaf disease classification. The parallel CNN backbones extract multi-scale and densely connected deep features, while a Transformer-based fusion module learns global contextual relationships across disease patterns. Experimental results
demonstrate that Dual Fusion Net outperforms single-model baselines and recent state-of-the-art chili disease classification frameworks. The proposed method achieved an overall accuracy of 98.36%, surpassing standalone InceptionV3 (94.8%) and DenseNet121 (95.6%) as well as recent published models based on EfficientNet, MobileNet, and CNN–Transformer hybrids. Visualization using Grad-CAM and attention maps validates the enhanced interpretability
enabled by the Transformer fusion mechanism. The contributions of this experiment is to development of a novel dual-backbone CNN–Transformer fusion architecture, a significant improvement in classification accuracy over cutting-edge baseline models, and real-time inference
capability suitable for smart agriculture systems. In future the model is lightweight Edge-AI optimization, transformer efficiency enhancement, and federated learning integration for scalable and privacy-preserving agricultural disease monitoring
The Taishōgoto: A Japanese Stringed Musical Instrument of Nagoya
No full textA taishōgoto is a Japanese instrument that combines a guitar and an autoharp with the scale buttons positioned in a piano-like pattern. Its unique design, which combines a strung zither body with a keyboard mechanism akin to a typewriter, makes it relatively easy to achieve precise pitch while generating a rich, bright timbre full of overtones. For open string, the gradient of the partials frequency versus the partials indicates the value of 100.95 (i.e., G2) is half the fundamental frequency i.e.,195 Hz (i.e. G3). For harmonicity (fn/f0) versus the partials number, the gradient of ~0.5 shows that the partials consist of the harmonic and in-harmonics partials. For fret 3, the gradient of the partials frequency versus the partials is 229.46 (i.e., A3#), equivalent to the fundamental frequency (f0) of 232 Hz (A3#). The taishogoto regardless finds practical applications in spite of these limitations. It has been evolved into a variety of genres, such as jazz, world, and folk music, and it continues to be of interest to experimental composers who are experimenting with its unique tonal characteristics. The taishogoto thus has a special place between usefulness and artistry, history and modernity, and innovation and limitation
PSEUDOACROMEGALY: A CASE OF SEVERE INSULIN RESISTANCE WITH ACROMEGALIC FEATURES AND LOW IGF-1
No full textINTRODUCTION/BACKGROUND
Severe insulin resistance (SIR) is typically associated with well-established metabolic conditions such as central obesity, glucose intolerance, hypertension, dyslipidaemia, and metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD). We present a case of SIR with prominent dermatologic and acral manifestations mimicking acromegaly, highlighting the importance of recognizing skin and soft tissue changes as possible indicators of underlying insulin resistance
Random Forest and Extreme Gradient Boosting with Bayesian Hyperparameter Optimization for Landslide Susceptibility Mapping in Penang Island, Malaysia
No full textLandslide susceptibility models often face challenges of overfitting and overestimation. This research focuses on improving the predictive capabilities of the Extreme Gradient Boosting (XGBoost) and Random Forest
(RF) algorithms by applying Bayesian Hyperparameter Optimization (BayesOpt). Penang Island, a region in Malaysia prone to frequent landslides, was chosen as the study area. Ten Landslide Conditioning Factors (LCFs), including elevation, slope angle, NDVI, and proximity to streams and roads, were derived using Geographic Information Systems (GIS). From the total of 886 landslide and non-landslide data points, a 70:30 split was employed for training
and testing, respectively. BayesOpt-RF emerged as the top-performing model among all those assessed with an AUC of 99.50% (Success Rate) and 95.80% (Prediction Rate). RF (SR: 100.00%, PR: 95.60%), XGBoost (SR: 100.00%, PR:
95.20%), and BayesOpt-XGBoost (SR: 96.70%, PR: 93.00%) followed. While BayesOpt did not consistently improve prediction performance, it effectively minimized overfitting and ensured optimal model operation. For effective site
selection, the generated landslide susceptibility maps are significant, infrastructure planning, and disaster mitigation
The Tree, the Compass, and the Mirror: Toward a Sacred Philosophy of History in Sarawak
No full textThis article proposes a sacred philosophy of history grounded in Sarawak’s political memory, symbols, and contemplative traditions. In a post-truth era, where knowledge is frequently distilled into emotion, spectacle, and data, there is an imperative to restore significance in the study, remembrance, and dissemination of history. Guided by Tawhidic epistemology, this paper reimagines history not merely as a record of events, but as a field of signs and responsibilities that connect human life to higher truths. Through the metaphors of the tree (rooted memory), the compass (sacred tradition), and the mirror (collective reflection), it draws on the works of Sarawakian historians such as Sanib Said, Suffian Mansor, and Adibah Yusuf to show that a contemplative, spiritually grounded approach to history already exists within local traditions. The proposal resonates with the metaphysical insights of Muhammad Umar Faruque and responds to Jason Stanley’s critique of political knowledge in the post-truth era. By calling for the reintegration of the humanities and social sciences with science and technology, the article suggests that Sarawak’s unique historical consciousness may offer a path towards restoring meaning, dignity, and balance in education, leadership, and global civilisational discourse