King Faisal University (KFU) (Arabic: جامعة الملك فيصل Ğāmiʿat al-Malak Fayṣal) is a public university with the main campus in the city of Hofuf in Al Ahsa, Saudi Arabia founded in 1975. KFU was initially established with four colleges: two in Dammam and the other two in Al-Ahsa. Later, the colleges in Dammam have been segregated to become the Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University.
This paper presents a five-level switched-capacitor multilevel inverter (SCMLI) with dual boosting and common-ground (CG) capability for standalone and grid-connected applications. The proposed converter employs two switched capacitors (SCs), six switches, and two diodes while charging both capacitors only to the input voltage, resulting in reduced capacitor rating and cost. Unlike existing five-level converters, the proposed topology can continue operating as a three-level inverter under the failure of either switched capacitor resulting in improved inverter reliability. To mitigate the large charging-current spikes commonly encountered in SCMLIs, a quasi-soft charging technique using a small charging inductor is introduced, and a practical design methodology is presented. The charging inductor significantly reduces peak capacitor charging current, lowers current stress on semiconductor devices, and improves converter efficiency. The proposed converter is further analyzed in terms of leakage-current mitigation, voltage and current stresses, power loss, efficiency, scalability, and cost, and is quantitatively compared with recently reported common-ground five-level inverters. Experimental results obtained from a 1-kW prototype validate the converter under different operating conditions, including load and modulation variations, while hardware-in-the-loop results demonstrate successful grid-connected operation with effective active and reactive power control.
Generating faithful and semantically meaningful explanations for knowledge graph (KG) query results remains a fundamental challenge, due to the disconnect between execution-level provenance and ontology-level semantics. Provenance-based approaches ensure faithfulness to query evaluation but lack semantic abstraction, while ontology-mediated methods provide formal justifications without reflecting actual execution behavior. We introduce Onto-Explain, a unified framework for explainable KG reasoning that bridges this gap by jointly modeling how results are derived and why they hold. The framework integrates provenance tracing, ontology lifting, attribution-based prioritization, and contrastive reasoning within a single execution-consistent workflow. Unlike prior approaches that treat these components in isolation, Onto-Explain enables their coordinated operation over shared representations under bounded reasoning and tractable attribution. Technically, the framework combines provenance semiring models with lightweight Description Logics and is realized through a set of interacting modules that support provenance factorization, ontology lifting, attribution scoring, contrastive reasoning, and memoized reuse. This design produces ontology-grounded minimal or near-minimal explanations with ranked elements and contrastive insights. We evaluate the framework on LUBM, DBpedia, Wikidata, FedBench, and HPO using a layered protocol that combines execution-consistent validation at scale with pseudo-oracle evaluation on tractable subsets. Results show high execution faithfulness (0.98 on structured datasets and 0.97 on heterogeneous graphs) and strong semantic grounding (0.95 and 0.83, respectively). Attribution-based ranking improves nDCG@10 from 0.69 to 0.73 to 0.80–0.83, while contrastive explanations achieve up to 92% coverage with compact explanation sets (2–3 elements). The framework scales near-linearly up to 100 M triples. Overall, the results show that combining provenance and ontology-based reasoning yields explanations that are both faithful and scalable, while preserving semantic grounding.
Postharvest spoilage of plum (Prunus domestica L.) is primarily associated with rapid senescence, microbial proliferation, tissue softening, and moisture loss, resulting in significant quality deterioration and economic losses during storage and distribution. The present study investigated the effectiveness of combined salicylic acid (SA) and gamma irradiation treatment as an integrated hurdle technology for improving microbial safety and extending the postharvest shelf life of plum cv. Stanley. Fruits were treated with SA (1.0–2.5 mmol L−1) individually or in combination with gamma irradiation (1.5 kGy) and stored under refrigerated conditions (3 ± 1°C, 80% RH) for 28 days followed by ambient shelf-life evaluation. To provide a comprehensive evaluation of postharvest performance, physicochemical (fruit firmness and physiological weight loss), biochemical (ascorbic acid and total phenolics), microbiological (yeast and mold counts), and commercial shelf-life parameters (decay incidence and post-refrigerated ambient storage performance) were systematically monitored throughout storage. The combined treatments significantly (p ≤ 0.05) reduced physiological weight loss, delayed firmness degradation, suppressed decay development, and preserved ascorbic acid and total phenolic compounds compared to untreated and individually treated fruits. The optimized treatment (2.5 mmol L−1 SA + 1.5 kGy) exhibited the highest preservation efficacy, maintaining fruits virtually decay-free during refrigerated storage and extending marketable shelf life by an additional 7 days under ambient conditions. Yeast and mold counts remained below detectable limits up to 21 days of storage in the optimized treatment, demonstrating enhanced microbiological safety and spoilage control. The preservation effect was attributed to the combined action of irradiation-mediated microbial decontamination and SA-induced enhancement of host defense responses and antioxidant stability. The findings demonstrate that the integration of salicylic acid with low-dose gamma irradiation represents a sustainable and residue-free preservation strategy for improving food safety, reducing postharvest losses, and enhancing storage stability of fresh plum fruit in commercial supply chains.
Breast cancer is one of the major health concern and the second leading cause of death among women globally. The survival rates in breast cancer depends on the stages (Stage I–Stage IV), there by the early diagnosis and followed by surgery and chemotherapy is highly recommended. Conventional treatments, such as chemotherapy, surgery often have limited efficacy and are associated with severe side effects in breast cancers. Thereby, biosafe materials with high potency is in high demand. Phytochemical loaded nano materials are bio compatible, bio safe as a result, that can be explored in breast cancer therapy with least toxicity effect to other healthy tissues. Exploring the potentiality of targeted drug delivery approaches to mitigate breast cancer, focusing on plant-based bioactive molecules (phytochemicals) and their coupling with nano carriers to overcome the different limitations of traditional therapies. The utilization of phytochemicals in breast cancer management, known for their safety and therapeutic efficacy, is discussed as an alternative approach in this review. Challenges such as poor bioavailability, short half-life, and lack of site specificity, which limit their clinical application, are addressed in different sections. Strategies for mitigating these drawbacks include conjugating phytochemicals with nanocarriers such as liposomes, polymeric nanoparticles, metallic nanoparticles, and carbon dots have also been described in this review. Nanocarriers enhance the stability, systemic bioavailability, and site-specific delivery of phytochemicals, enabling them to cross biological barriers effectively while reducing normal cell toxicity. These systems provide a “green corridor” to target breast cancer cells with improved therapeutic efficacy. Ongoing research and clinical trials highlight the promise of phytochemicals conjugated with nanocarriers in breast cancer therapy. This innovative therapeutic approach has the potential to revolutionize breast cancer management. Further research should focus on advancing the development and clinical application of phytochemicals conjugated with nanocarriers to ensure their widespread adoption in breast cancer therapy.
Heavy metal (HM) toxicity is a major concern in aquaculture due to bioaccumulation, persistence, and toxicological nature of these pollutants. These substances enter the aquatic environment and pose a serious threat to species. Although traditional remediation methods are used to eliminate HMs, they have significant drawbacks, including low processing speed, operational challenges, high costs associated with nanoparticle production, and regulatory issues. To address these limitations, nano-bioremediation – the integration of nanoparticles with bioremediation – has emerged as a rapid, sustainable, and eco-friendly solution that mitigates HM effects. Nano-bioremediation enhances the effectiveness of HM removal by harnessing the combined properties of nanoparticles and microorganisms, reducing ecological concerns and economic costs. Furthermore, nano-bioremediation improves contaminant degradation, increases stability, and lessens environmental and aquaculture impacts. Biogenic nanoparticles are preferred due to their large-scale synthesis, scalability, rapid production, eco-friendliness, and absence of harmful contaminants. Overall, this review critically compares conventional techniques with nano-bioremediation, highlighting its advantages, applications, significance, and optimisation of nano-microbe interactions for the future.
