Current Issue (Volume - 4 | Issue - 1) at IgMin Research

Purpose: Urban areas in hyper-arid regions face a dual threat of water scarcity and urban heat islands, exacerbated by conventional infrastructure and climate change, which reduces groundwater recharge and amplifies energy demands for cooling. This study addresses the research problem of adapting Sponge City principles to hyper-arid climates, where existing models from humid regions fail to account for low rainfall and high evaporation.Aim: The aim is to evaluate the "Sponge Park" concept—a decentralized, nature-based system of permeable ...surfaces and subsurface storage—as a replicable model for integrated water management and climate adaptation in arid cities, hypothesizing that it can achieve >90% infiltration and significant microclimate cooling. Methodology: A novel multi-model computational framework was developed, coupling Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) for process-level subsurface hydrology and heat transfer, the EPA HELP model for long-term water balance, and TR-55/HydroCAD for extreme storm event routing. The system, designed for a 13-ha site in Abu Dhabi, integrates high-infiltration silica-sand pavers and breathable aquicludes (APAC). A comprehensive Monte Carlo analysis (n = 1,000) quantified uncertainties in key parameters. Findings: Simulations under local climatic inputs (80 mm/yr rainfall) project >93.6 ± 3.8% annual rainfall infiltration, <0.1% runoff for 50 mm/24h storms, and pollutant removal efficiencies of 98.0 ± 2.1% (SS) and 93.9 ± 4.2% (COD). The system harvests 5,240 ± 520 m³/yr of water for reuse. The latent heat flux from evaporation (9.32 ± 0.93 GJ/yr per 1,000 m²) translates to a microclimate cooling of 0.4 °C – 0.6 °C. A life-cycle cost analysis confirms economic viability with a net present value of +$0.42 million. Conclusion: The results support the hypothesis, demonstrating the Sponge Park's projected viability for hyper-arid urban sustainability, though limited by simulation-only validation. Research Implication: This provides policy-ready metrics for GCC replication, enhancing water security and resilience. Originality/Novelty and Value: This is the first integrated multi-model framework for arid Sponge City applications with a water-energy nexus focus, offering a benchmark for water-stressed regions and advancing SDG 6 and 13.Read more

Introduction: Gastroenteritis remains a major public health concern in low-income countries. Human adenoviruses (HAdVs), particularly types 40 and 41, and human astroviruses (HAstVs) are among the principal viral agents associated with diarrheal diseases, especially in children. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of adenoviruses and astroviruses among patients and selected marine animals in the Republic of Guinea.Methods: A total of 290 samples were analyzed, including 250 stool samples from patients presenting with diarrhea at Kindia... Regional Hospital and Guéckédou Prefectural Hospital, and 40 samples from marine animals collected in Conakry (fish, crabs, and mollusks). Viral detection was performed using real-time PCR for adenoviruses and RT-PCR for astroviruses. Results were analyzed according to age, sex, season, clinical presentation, and socio-professional category using descriptive statistics and 95% confidence intervals.Results: Among human samples, 12 out of 250 were positive for adenovirus, corresponding to an overall prevalence of 4.8%. Higher positivity rates were observed among children aged 0–15 years (8.19%) and during the rainy season. No statistically significant differences were observed according to sex or socio-professional category. Astrovirus was detected in one marine animal sample (1/40 (2.5%)), while no positive cases were identified in fish or crabs.Conclusion: Human adenoviruses circulate among patients with gastroenteritis in Guinea, particularly among children and during the rainy season. The detection of astrovirus in a marine organism suggests a low but potential environmental or foodborne transmission risk, supporting the relevance of an integrated One Health approach.Read more

Since 1950, long-term and large-scale vegetation afforestation has been carried out on the Loess Plateau, China. As plants grow, the plant resources relationship changes, which leads to soil and vegetation degradation, and crops fail because of vegetation overload or waste of natural resources due to low vegetation load, which is not good for the sustainable utilization of soil water resources and agricultural high-quality in water scarcity areas. To solve these problems, the concept of soil water vegetation carrying capacity occurred. After a ...couple of years of research, the result showed that it is the ability of soil water resources to support vegetation, changing with vegetation type, time, and locations, expressed by the number of plant population or plant density of the indicator plant in a plant population or community. The indicator plant is a constructive species for natural vegetation and a goal or cultivated species for artificial vegetation. The soil water vegetation carrying capacity is the most important theory for sustainable utilization of soil water resources and high-quality development in water scarcity areas. Now, the research on soil water vegetation carrying capacity should be strengthened to estimate soil water vegetation carrying capacity in different vegetation types and location and regulate the plant water resources in the critical periods of plant water relationship regulation to achieve sustainable utilization of soil water resources and agriculture high-quality development and meet the people's yearning for a better life and the needs of agricultural high-quality production and increase new quality productivity. Keywords: Water scarcity areas; Soil Water resources; Soil water vegetation carrying capacity; sustainable utilization of soil water resources; agricultural high-quality development.Read more

The cancer stem cell (CSC) hypothesis proposes that rare tumor-initiating cells with stem-like properties drive cancer progression and metastasis. Through comprehensive analysis of prostate cancer patient-derived xenografts (PDX), we demonstrate that all cancer cell types—not exclusively stem-like cells—can initiate tumors in mice, contradicting a core CSC tenet. CD44, commonly used to identify CSCs, proved inconsistent in prostate cancer. However, stem-like cancer cells do exist, characterized by expression of stem cell transcripti...on factors (scTF LIN28A, NANOG, POU5F1, SOX2) and low β-2 microglobulin (scTF⁺B2Mlo). We show that differentiated adenocarcinomas can be experimentally reprogrammed to stem-like small cell carcinomas through scTF expression, while stromal signaling molecules like proenkephalin (PENK) induce differentiation. These findings reveal that prostate cancer progression involves dynamic dedifferentiation due to loss of stromal signaling rather than clonal expansion of rare CSC. Cancer cells exhibit remarkable plasticity, undergoing reversible differentiation-dedifferentiation cycles independent of mutation burden, suggesting differentiation therapy as a promising treatment strategy.Read more

Tramadol initially use as an analgesic which lead to addiction and overdose worldwide due to prolong consumption, particularly in low and middle income countries. This paper deals with a mathematical approach of Multiple Relapse Tramadol Abuse Model (MRTAM) to analyze affected population with time domain. This model is a non-linear compartmental framework, which simulates the abuse progression. Parameters such as prevention rate (σ), relapse rate (ξ2), treatment rate (ξ1), and law enforcement (η) influence the abuse population a...nd the reproduction number (R0). Eigenvalues of the dynamics are derived to analyze the stability and behavior of the system. Results show that the system is highly sensitive to prescription inflow, progression and prevention parameters. Endemic equilibrium is obtained and also presented the analysis of bifurcation and partial rank correlation coefficient (PRCC) to quantify and assess the influence of various parameters on the abuse population. MSC Classification: 92C60; 92D25Read more