Non-terrestrial Network (NTN), utilizing highaltitude platforms (HAP)-based free-space optical (FSO) backhaul and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) for last-mile access, is a feasible and promising architecture to achieve high data rate and seamless network coverage in the future 6G era. Effective resource allocation emerges as a pivotal concern for such networks. This paper addresses the data allocation issue for FSO backhaul from the HAP to multiple UAV-mounted base stations (BSs) under the constraints of ground users’ requested data rates. We introduce frame allocation schemes (FAS), including rate adaptation with constraints (RAC)- and rate/power adaptation (RPA)-aided FAS. The key idea of these schemes is to allocate data frames effectively based on UAV’s turbulence channel conditions, which aims to (i) guarantee the quality of services (QoS), (ii) retain both latency and throughput fairness, and (iii) minimize the transmitted power. Furthermore, the performance of these schemes is also analyzed under the impact of imperfect channel state information (CSI). We newly derive the channel probability density function (PDF) and the cumulative density function (CDF), considering the imperfect CSI due to channel estimation and quantization errors. Capitalizing on the derived PDF and CDF, different performance metrics are analytically obtained, incorporating combined effects of cloud coverage, transceiver misalignment, Fisher-Snedecor F turbulence, and angle-of-arrival (AoA) fluctuations. Numerical results demonstrate the effectiveness of our design proposals over the state-of-the-art. Finally, Monte Carlo simulations are employed to validate the analysis.

Introduction: Malignant Melanoma (MM), caused by UV radiation-induced DNA damage, is the most invasive form of skin cancer and has an increasing incidence worldwide. The hallmarks of MM include the presence of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and excessive proliferation of tumour cells. Many treatments are available or under investigation as anticancer therapeutics such as cell therapy, immunotherapy, gene therapy and nanotechnology-based strategies but they all have severe complications and side effects that limit their wider use. Methods: The present in vitro study has evaluated the genotoxic and cytotoxic effects of Se and CBSC-derived exosomes, individually and in combination, on lymphocytes from MM patients and healthy controls, and on the CHL-1 melanoma cell line. The comet assay and cell counting kit-8 (CCK-8) assay were used to measure genotoxicity and cytotoxicity, respectively, in all cell types. Molecular mechanisms underlying the observed effects were explored using transcriptional and protein expression profiling of key cell cycle and apoptosis genes, by employing the RT qPCR and Western blotting techniques. Conclusion: Selenium displays antioxidant and genoprotective effects in human lymphocytes, especially in MM patients. Both Se (10 μM) and CBSC-derived exosomes (120 μL) are well tolerated in lymphocytes, but show significant genotoxicity and cytotoxicity towards the CHL-1 cell line, with combined administration exhibiting a synergistic effect.

There is an urgent need to find novel anticancer therapeutics with different mechanisms of action than platinum-containing drugs, particularly for patients who relapse after having been initially treated with a platinum-containing chemotherapy regimen. This chemoresistance phenomena, along with the serious side effects observed with cisplatin, have led research in Medicinal Inorganic Chemistry to using other precious metals for the design of novel anticancer therapeutics. This work reports on the synthesis and characterisation of a series of organometallic drug candidates based on ruthenium, osmium, rhodium, and iridium, followed by investigation of their cancer-inhibiting properties via in vitro and in vivo studies. The cytotoxicity of these complexes against various human cancer cell lines is presented, as well as preliminary studies on their possible modes of action, determined via gene expression studies, cell cycle and apoptosis analysis, reactive oxygen species detection and mitochondrial-membrane potential assays. In addition, to confirm the surprising absence of in vitro toxicity against normal cells exhibited by some compounds, studies on ex vivo/in vitro isolated human lymphocytes from healthy individuals, have been conducted. One lead molecule has been progressed to in vivo studies in mice and toxicity and efficacy were assessed with a series of assays including determination of the maximum tolerated dose and pharmacodynamic studies. Structural modifications of the lead molecule with water-soluble phosphines were subsequently undertaken, with the aim to improve the stability and solubility of the parent 16-electron specie, and evaluations of the biological activity of these novel complexes are presented.

Petroleum discovery has been described as a ‘blessing’ and a ‘curse’ for Nigeria. Whilst oil wealth has been a boon to the economy, oil-companies' unwillingness to be ‘sustainably responsible’ to their resource-host-communities has resulted in multiple problems. This study, focusing on Nigeria's petroleum industry, confirms a framework with genuine potential to favourably impact the industry by validating shared dependency and exploring the relationship between two knowledge areas: corporate governance and sustainability. From the standpoint of resource-host-community ‘risks-and-impacts’, the study's overarching goal is to strengthen the oil-companies'/industry's ability to deliver their businesses on time, within/on budget, and at design capacity. A case study of three oil-companies was used, adopting a qualitative (interpretive) research technique. Study finds that in a turbulent business environment, aligning corporate governance with sustainability and managing oil-companies and their resource-host-community relationships is one attempt to deal with the induced-risks. By analysing the distinction between academic and practitioner research, as well as the tensions from this division, the study shows that a hybrid research merging theoretical and practice-guided study is feasible. The study also contributes to stakeholder theory by offering an empirical description of how resource-host-communities’ impact oil-companies decision-making processes with the potential for collaboration, and to breed and engender trust and unanimity. The findings show that stakeholder theory could be used to solve a variety of organisational problems plaguing the industry. This is the first study in the industry emphasizing the relevance of involving resource-host-communities in Joint-Management-Stakeholder-Committees (JMSCs) concept, demonstrating the influence and practical significance in governance.

This paper explores how using mobile money services affects food security and nutritional status of households in Tanzania. This study uses data obtained from three waves of the Tanzanian National Panel Surveys and the instrumental variable (IV) approach. The evidence from this paper shows that using mobile money services resulted in household's enhanced nutritional and food security status. Households' receipt of remittances is the main pathway in which using mobile money services influences the food security and nutritional outcomes among households in Tanzania.

Twin-screw granulation has emerged as a key process in powder processing industries and in the pharmaceutical sector to produce granules with controlled properties. This comprehensive review provides an overview of the simulation techniques and approaches that have been employed in the study of twin-screw granulation processes. This review discusses the major aspects of the twin-screw granulation process which include the fundamental principles of twin-screw granulation, equipment design, process parameters, and simulation methodologies. It highlights the importance of operating conditions and formulation designs in powder flow dynamics, mixing behaviour, and particle interactions within the twin-screw granulator for enhancing product quality and process efficiency. Simulation techniques such as the population balance model (PBM), computational fluid dynamics (CFD), the discrete element method (DEM), process modelling software (PMS), and other coupled techniques are critically discussed with a focus on simulating twin-screw granulation processes. This paper examines the challenges and limitations associated with each simulation approach and provides insights into future research directions. Overall, this article serves as a valuable resource for researchers who intend to develop their understanding of twin-screw granulation and provides insights into the various techniques and approaches available for simulating the twin-screw granulation process.

This investigation reports the first study to predict natural gas hydrate formation using both Aspen HYSYS® and HydraFlash software for various gas compositions and thermodynamic inhibitors (monoethylene glycol [MEG] concentrations at 10, 20, 30, and 40 wt.% and methanol concentrations at 10 and 20 wt.%). The simulated predictions are compared with the results of the experimental data in the literature. It has been shown that HydraFlash software can accurately predict hydrate formation conditions for a given industrial case, without having to carry out costly experimental work. This work also evaluated the effect of inhibitors and it appears that inhibitor type and concentration are determined according to condition of gas composition. MEG is consequently selected as the most ideal hydrate inhibitor for the industrial case. This also was confirmed through COSMO-RS studies in which the sigma profile and sigma potential of the considered inhibitors were obtained and presented using density functional (DFT) calculations to verify the hydrogen bonding affinities of the inhibitors to water molecules. HydraFlash was utilized to predict the dissociation conditions of hydrates under the influence of a high concentration of MEG inhibition, reaching up to 40 wt.% at 313 K and a pressure of 311.1 bar. Finally, it is shown that both software packages are quite accurate and useful tools for the prediction of hydrate for simple systems. However, HydraFlash can simulate more complex systems, including different types of salts at higher pressures. Investigation results indicate insightful guidance for accurately predicting hydrate dissociation under simulated conditions.

Machine learning (ML) is increasingly employed for automating complex tasks, specifically in autonomous driving. While ML applications bring us closer to fully autonomous systems, they simultaneously introduce security and safety risks specific to safety-critical systems. Existing methods of software development and systems based on ML are fundamentally different. Moreover, the existing certification methods for automotive systems cannot fully certify the safe operation of ML-based components and subsystems. This is because existing safety certification criteria were formulated before the advent of ML. Therefore, new or adapted methods are needed to certify ML-based systems. This article analyses the existing safety standard, ISO26262, for automotive applications, to determine the certifiability of ML approaches used in low-risk automotive applications. This will contribute towards addressing the task of assuring the security and safety of ML-based autonomous driving systems, particularly for low-risk automotive applications, to gain the trust of regulators, certification agencies, and stakeholders.

Ligands like alkanethiol (e.g. dodecanethiol, hexadecanethiol, etc.) and polymers (e.g. poly(vinyl pyrrolidone), polyethylene glycol-thiol) capped to the gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) are widely used in biomedical field as drug carriers and as promising materials for probing and manipulating cellular processes. Ligand functionalised AuNPs are known to interact with the pulmonary surfactant (PS) monolayer once reaching the alveolar region. Therefore, it is crucial to understand the interaction between AuNPs and PS monolayers. Using coarse-grained molecular dynamics simulations, the effect of ligand density, and ligand length have been studied for two classes of ligands on a PS model monolayer consisting of DPPC, POPG, cholesterol and SP-B (mini-peptide). The ligands considered in this study are alkanethiol and polyethylene glycol (PEG) thiol as examples of hydrophobic and hydrophilic ligands, respectively. It was observed that the interaction between AuNPs and PS changes the biophysical properties of PS monolayer in compressed and expanded states. The AuNPs with hydrophilic ligand, can penetrate through the monolayer more easily, while the AuNPs with hydrophobic ligand are embedded in the monolayer and participated in deforming the monolayer structure particularly the monolayer in the compressed state. The bare AuNPs hinder to lower the monolayer surface tension value at the interface, however introducing ligand to the bare AuNPs or increasing the ligand length and density have an impact of lowering of monolayer surface tension to a minor extent. The simulation results guide the design of ligand protected NPs as drug carriers and can identify the nanoparticles' potential side effects on lung surfactant.

Therapeutic microbubbles (thMBs) contain drug-filled liposomes linked to microbubbles and targeted to vascular proteins. Upon the application of a destructive ultrasound trigger, drug uptake to tumour is improved. However, the structure of thMBs currently uses powerful non-covalent bonding of biotin with avidin-based proteins to link both the liposome to the microbubble (MB) and to bind the targeting antibody to the liposome-MB complex. This linkage is not currently FDA-approved, and therefore, an alternative, maleimide-thiol linkage, that is currently used in antibody-drug conjugates was examined. In a systematic manner, vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 2 (VEGFR2)-targeted MBs and thMBs using both types of linkages were examined for their ability to specifically bind to VEGFR2 in vitro and for their ultrasound imaging properties in vivo. Both showed equivalence in the production of the thMB structure, in vitro specificity of binding and safety profiles. In vivo imaging showed subtle differences for thMBs where biotin thMBs had a faster wash-in rate than thiol thMBs, but thiol thMBs were longer-lived. The drug delivery to tumours was also equivalent, but interestingly, thiol thMBs altered the biodistribution of delivery away from the lungs and towards the liver compared to biotin thMBs, which is an improvement in biosafety.