Rickets on the Rise: A Case Series Highlighting the Importance of Growth Monitoring and Nutritional Assessment in Preventing Rickets

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Nutritional rickets, though a preventable condition, continues to show an increased incidence in clinical practice. It is crucial to recognize these cases during early stages in order to prevent the progression from vitamin D deficiency to clinical rickets, with the potential for irreversible complications. This case series describes five pediatric patients in which vitamin D deficiency and rickets was identified by close observation through growth monitoring and nutritional assessment. These workups were conducted due to the initial presentation of failure to thrive in each of these cases, prompting further evaluation to identify the underlying causes of growth faltering. A common theme throughout was normocalcemia, however, it is important to understand that this finding does not rule out the potential for rickets, as both subclinical rickets and stage two compensatory rickets can lead to normal laboratory findings. Therefore, growth faltering should always prompt nutritional assessment because early recognition, growth monitoring, a well-balanced diet with calcium-rich foods, compliance with vitamin D supplementation, and consistent follow-ups are essential to prevent the risk of developing clinical rickets.

From Upgraded Titanium Slag to Modern Metallurgical Slag Engineering: Technologies, Industrial Applications, and Readiness- A Critical Review

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Metallurgical slags are increasingly treated as dynamic secondary resources rather than inert residues, yet the literature remains fragmented across metal recovery, mineral-phase engineering, material valorization, carbon management, and industrial implementation. This structured critical narrative review evaluates a recent core corpus of 111 publications from 2020–2026 and supplements it with selected pre-2020 foundational sources required to establish the historical Upgraded Slag (UGS) lineage in titanium metallurgy. The recent corpus was descriptively coded by primary slag family, evidence function, and implementation maturity; steelmaking/ferrous systems account for 60 studies, copper/fayalitic slags for 16, cross-cutting or mixed systems for 15, ferroalloy/Cr–Mn slags for 7, Ti-bearing slags for 4, and Ni/ferronickel slags for 3. Eighty publications primarily provide mechanistic or product-performance evidence, 13 provide system-assessment evidence, and 12 are reviews or contextual sources. The synthesis distinguishes historical titanium-slag upgrading from the broader family of modern thermal, chemical, redox, physical, hydrometallurgical, carbonation, and electrochemical interventions. It shows that credible upgrading requires more than high recovery: a controllable phase transformation must be coupled with effective separation, qualified metal or material products, a safe and useful residual matrix, and realistic integration with plant infrastructure. Representative industrial evidence is strongest in copper-slag flotation and settling, selected hot-stage steel-slag operations, and heat-recovery applications, whereas many high-value functional-material routes remain laboratory-led. A five-gate framework—value inventory, engineerability, separation and safety, integration, and system performance—is applied to representative routes to connect mechanisms with product specifications, TEA/LCA, and industrial readiness. The resulting perspective positions slag upgrading as site-specific product and process design within circular metallurgy rather than as generic residue reuse.

Use of Sustainable Energies in European Hotels: The DETOCS Project

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Hotel buildings consume large amounts of energy compared to other commercial buildings. However, in the coming years they should try to minimize the use of conventional fuels increasing the use of sustainable energies in order to zero their net-carbon emissions. During the implementation of DETOCS project a survey in several EU regions has been conducted, investigating the use of several sustainable energy technologies in nineteen tourism entities. The results indicated that many sustainable, low- and zero-carbon emission energy technologies have been used in hotels and other tourism entities in European regions. They included, energy saving technologies, renewable energy technologies and low-carbon energy technologies which are mature, reliable and cost-efficient. Among renewable energies solar energy, biomass and geothermal energy are the most popular in tourism entities. The use of these sustainable energy technologies can be transferred in hotels located not only in the regions participating in DETOCS project but also in other EU regions. During the survey tourism entities that were using carbon offsetting schemes to reduce their carbon emissions were not identified. The findings indicate that several, technically feasible and economically attractive, sustainable energy technologies can be used in European tourism industry assisting its decarbonization in accordance with the target of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. The results could be useful to all stakeholders of the tourism industry in all European regions.

Validation and Reliability of the Questionnaire for Assessing the Effectiveness of The Reverse Whole Brain Model

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The use of appropriate teaching methods for students in the classroom is a challenge. The effectiveness of teaching is determined by what methods the teacher uses when teaching. Reverse Whole Brain Model is the result of Sianipar’s thinking in his article in 2025. Sianipar states that the Whole Brain Model has the necessary things for Aphasia students (Sianipar, 2025). The research method is quantitative, using questionnaires as a measurement tool to determine the effectiveness of the Reverse Whole Brain Model. Questionnaires were created by researchers using the Theory of Effective Instruction from Slavin (1994). The data analysis technique is Aiken’s V to test the validity of experts who have assessed existing instruments. The calculated r value of all statement items has a value above 0.304. The calculation of sig. (2-Tailed) of all items has a value of 0.000, which is smaller than 0.05. All items in the questionnaire meet the requirements to be declared valid and suitable for use as a data collection tool. In terms of the validity test, it is greater than 0.60. All items have a value not far from 0.989. From the calculation of this reliability test, it can be concluded that all statement items in the questionnaire are declared reliable to be used.

Comparative Effects of Two Organic Fertilizers, Inorganic Fertilizer, and Their Integrated Application on Growth and Yield of Common Bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) at Kabul Condition

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The sustainable management of soil fertility is essential for improving common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) productivity under the semi-arid conditions of Afghanistan. This study evaluated the comparative effects of two organic fertilizers, inorganic fertilizer (NPK), and their integrated application on the growth and yield performance of common bean during the 2025 growing season at the Research Farm of the Faculty of Agriculture, Kabul University. The experiment was arranged in a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with six fertilizer treatments and three replications. Growth traits, yield components, grain yield, biological yield, and harvest index were analyzed using analysis of variance (ANOVA), and treatment means were separated by Tukey’s HSD test at the 5% probability level. Fertilizer treatments significantly influenced most growth and yield parameters. The integrated application of 50% OF-1 + 50% NPK (T5) consistently produced superior plant growth, increased yield components, and achieved the highest grain yield, biological yield, and harvest index compared with the sole application of organic or inorganic fertilizers and the unfertilized control. The improved performance of the integrated treatment was attributed to enhanced nutrient availability and more efficient nutrient utilization throughout the crop growth period. These findings demonstrate that integrated nutrient management is a sustainable and effective strategy for increasing common bean productivity under semi-arid agroecological conditions. Future studies should evaluate long-term effects of integrated nutrient management under diverse agroecological conditions.

Investigation of Parity Violation in Neutron Resonances: A Comparative Kinematic and Resonance Approach

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Parity violation in neutron resonances is regarded as one of the most sensitive manifestations of weak-interaction effects in complex nuclear systems. Although the weak nucleon–nucleon interaction is significantly weaker than the strong interaction, parity-violating observables in neutron-induced compound-nucleus resonances can be remarkably enhanced due to the specific characteristics of the nuclear energy-level structure. This phenomenon has been interpreted within two main theoretical frameworks: the kinematic approach, which describes parity-violating observables through the interference of neutron scattering amplitudes associated with partial waves of opposite parity, and the resonance approach, which explains the microscopic origin of this enhancement through compound-nucleus formation, weak-interaction-induced mixing of states with opposite parity, and resonant effects.

The aim of this study was to investigate the complementary roles of the kinematic and resonance approaches in explaining parity violation in neutron resonances and to provide a comprehensive interpretation consistent with theoretical and experimental evidence. A systematic review methodology based on the PRISMA 2020 guidelines was employed. Relevant theoretical and experimental studies were identified through comprehensive searches of Google Scholar, INSPIRE-HEP, APS Journals, SpringerLink, ScienceDirect, and arXiv. Eligible studies were selected according to predefined inclusion and exclusion criteria, and the extracted evidence was examined using qualitative comparative analysis. The findings indicate that parity violation in neutron resonances cannot be explained solely in terms of the weak interaction or nuclear structure alone. Rather, the observed enhancement results from the simultaneous contribution of four fundamental factors: the weak interaction, compound-nucleus formation, mixing of opposite-parity s-wave and p-wave states, and resonance enhancement.

Comparative analysis demonstrates that the kinematic and resonance approaches are not competing theories but rather complementary descriptions of the same physical phenomenon. The kinematic approach provides an effective description of measurable observables such as scattering amplitudes, cross sections, polarization effects, and spin rotation, whereas the resonance approach explains the microscopic origin of these quantities through the S-matrix formulation, weak-interaction mixing mechanisms, and the Breit–Wigner resonance theory. Furthermore, the analysis demonstrates that the extraordinary sensitivity of neutron resonances is primarily associated with the small energy separation between nuclear states rather than with an increase in the intrinsic strength of the weak interaction. According to the mixing relation, a reduction in the energy difference between states of opposite parity leads to a significant increase in the mixing coefficient and, consequently, to an enhancement of parity-violating effects. Therefore, this study presents an integrated theoretical framework in which both the kinematic and resonance approaches are employed simultaneously to provide a more complete and consistent explanation of parity violation in neutron resonances.

A Comparative Machine Learning Approach for Usability Evaluation of Localized Software in Afghanistan

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Usability is one of the most important software quality attributes in determining user satisfaction, productivity and system acceptance. Afghanistan is a multilingual country, and usability problems with localized software applications may occur due to linguistic diversity, cultural differences, and scarce resources for evaluating the usability of software applications. These traditional usability assessment techniques, such as heuristic evaluation and laboratory testing, are difficult to implement in a capacity-constrained environment, as they require significant time, expertise and funds. The study suggests an automatic usability evaluation framework by machine learning techniques for localized software systems in Afghanistan. Data were gathered from ISO 9241-11 usability framework-based structured questionnaires from users of localized software applications. After collecting the responses, they were subjected to a pre-processing procedure involving cleaning, encoding and normalizing. Three supervised machine learning algorithms Decision Tree (DT), K-Nearest Neighbors (KNN) and Support Vector Machine (SVM) were trained and tested with 80:20 ratio of training and test data. Model performance was evaluated using the accuracy, precision, recall, F1-score and confusion matrix analysis. Experimental results indicate that the highest accuracy of 91.4% is obtained by DT followed by SVM with 90.0% accuracy and KNN with 88.7%. The results show that the Decision Tree is a good model for balancing the prediction accuracy and interpretation of local software environments. The proposed framework has been designed to be both scalable and cost-effective, and can be used to complement existing usability evaluation methods, and can also be used to aid in software quality improvement efforts in multilingual and developing country settings.

Comparative Analysis of Electron Emission Mechanisms and Evaluation of a Suitable Method for Practical Electron Sources

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Electron emission is a fundamental process in electron sources used in scientific, medical, and industrial applications. This study aimed to comparatively evaluate major electron emission mechanisms and identify their suitability for practical electron sources based on emission performance, beam quality, vacuum requirements, thermal stability, and operational lifetime. A comparative analytical review was conducted using scientific literature obtained through structured searches of major academic databases and scholarly platforms. Five emission mechanisms were evaluated: thermionic emission, field emission, photoelectric emission, secondary electron emission, and plasma cathode emission. Relevant parameters, including current density, operating pressure, beam stability, thermal effects, emission efficiency, and cathode lifetime, were extracted and comparatively analyzed. The findings show that plasma cathodes provide a major advantage for high-current electron sources, achieving current densities of approximately 100 A/cm² and stable operation under fore-vacuum conditions. The analysis also demonstrated that plasma-cathode beam current is strongly influenced by gas pressure and accelerating voltage, with excessive pressure increasing electron scattering and ion neutralization. Thermionic cathodes provide stable operation but are affected by high-temperature requirements and associated thermal deformation. Gallium arsenide photocathodes provide high beam quality and low emittance but require stringent vacuum conditions for stable operation. Discharge-control techniques, including cathode-spot localization and negative current feedback, were also found to improve plasma-source stability. Overall, plasma cathodes are particularly suitable for high-current electron sources operating under non-ideal vacuum conditions, whereas photocathodes are advantageous for applications requiring high beam quality and low emittance. The selection of an emission mechanism should therefore be based on the specific operating and performance requirements of the intended application.

When Social Responsibility Meets Profitability: Determinants of Firm Value in Indonesian Mining Companies Listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange

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This study examines the effect of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) disclosure and profitability ratios on firm value among mining sector companies listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX). CSR disclosure was measured using an index based on the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Standards 2016, while profitability was proxied by four indicators: Return on Equity (ROE), Return on Asset (ROA), Gross Profit Margin (GPM), and Net Profit Margin (NPM). Firm value was measured using Price Book Value (PBV). The sample was selected through purposive sampling from a population of 46 mining companies listed on the IDX during 2020–2024, resulting in five companies that met all the criteria and a total of 25 observations. Data were analyzed using multiple linear regression with SPSS following classical assumption testing. The results show that CSR disclosure has a positive and significant effect on firm value. Among the four profitability indicators, only ROE has a significant positive effect on firm value, while ROA, GPM, and NPM have no significant effect. Simultaneously, CSR and profitability ratios significantly affect firm value, with a coefficient of determination of 80.2%. These findings are relevant amid the recent slowdown in Indonesia’s mining sector and the ongoing transition of sustainability reporting regulation toward standards aligned with the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB).

Public Sentiment Toward Electric Vehicle Adoption: A Case Study of Semarang, Indonesia

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The growth of Indonesia’s population has led to a significant increase in vehicle volume, contributing substantially to CO2 emissions and air pollution. Central Java Province ranks third nationally in vehicle numbers, with Semarang City recorded as having the highest air pollution level in Indonesia, reaching an air quality index (AQI) score of 107 in March 2024. One of the strategies to mitigate this pollution is the transition from conventional vehicles to electric vehicles (EVs). However, this transformation requires an understanding of public perception and readiness. This study aims to analyze public sentiment toward the transformation of electric vehicles in Semarang City using sentiment analysis based on the Indonesian RoBERTa model. Data was collected using an online questionnaire distributed to 1,025 respondents aged 17 years or above. Respondents answered questions covering three aspects: (Q1) perception of EV quality as a personal vehicle, (Q2) perception of the government’s role in policy and infrastructure, and (Q3) perception of the EV transformation process in Semarang City. The results indicate that positive sentiment dominates only in Q1 (49.95%), reflecting public confidence in EV quality for personal use. Besides, Q2 and Q3 are dominated by neutral sentiment (41.5% and 52%, respectively), with Q2 even showing a higher percentage of negative sentiment (33.8%) than positive sentiment (24.7%), indicating dissatisfaction with current government policy and infrastructure support. These findings suggest that although Semarang City has strong potential for EV transformation, government policies and supporting infrastructure, such as public EV charging stations (SPKLU), need substantial improvement to accelerate public adoption and strengthen positive sentiment toward electric vehicles.