Rapid urbanization in Karachi, Pakistan, has resulted in increased impervious surfaces, leading to significant challenges, such as frequent flooding, urban heat islands, and loss of vegetation. These issues pose challenges to urban resilience, livability, and sustainability, which further demand solutions that incorporate urban greening and effective water management. This research uses remote sensing technologies and Geographic Information Systems (GISs), to analyze current surface treatments and their relationship to Karachi’s blue-green infrastructure. By following this approach, we evaluate flood risk and identify key flood-conditioning factors, including elevation, slope, rainfall distribution, drainage density, and land use/land cover changes. By utilizing the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP), we develop a flood risk assessment framework and a comprehensive flood risk map. Additionally, this research proposes an innovative Sponge City (SC) framework that integrates nature-based solutions (NBS) into urban planning, especially advocating for the establishment of green infrastructure, such as green roofs, rain gardens, and vegetated parks, to enhance water retention and drainage capacity. The findings highlight the urgent need for targeted policies and stakeholder engagement strategies to implement sustainable urban greening practices that address flooding and enhance the livability of Karachi. This work not only advances the theoretical understanding of Sponge Cities but also provides practical insights for policymakers, urban planners, and local communities facing similar sustainability challenges.

In recent decades, numerous security technologies have emerged with the aim of fostering secure communities and providing people with the tools to bolster their everyday safety. Focusing specifically on security apps, this article explores how apps addressing security in public and semi-public spaces constitute preconditions for everyday user engagement, and vice versa, how users actively respond to these preconditions. Through identifying the (dis)affordances involved in such processes, we investigate co-production of user engagement with security apps. Drawing on observations and interviews with producers and users of apps, we explore the landscape of security apps as pervaded by processes of intended and actual (dis)affordances, sometimes also leading to abandonment of both use and users. A key finding is the divergence between the intended purposes of these apps – often framed around broad security ambitions – and their actual use, which frequently intertwines with mundane routines and logistical needs. This divergence paradoxically legitimizes broader securitisation discourses, even as the apps’ “successful use” often reflects a relatively privileged everyday life distant from tangible threats, highlighting the complex interplay between market forces, user practices, and the normalisation of surveillance.

Knee exoskeletons are sophisticated wearable devices engineered to aid or augmenthuman movement, especially in rehabilitation and mobility assistance contexts. Toaddress reliability concerns, the proposed knee exoskeleton incorporates a fault-tolerantcontrol system using a fault detection, isolation and reconfiguration (FDI) technique. Thissystem enables the exoskeleton to continue functioning even if one of the actuators experiencesa fault, ensuring user safety and continuous operation. For actuator fault detection,analytical redundancy relations (ARRs) are derived from the bond graph model of the kneeexoskeleton. ARRs are monitored for actuator fault detection and isolation. In this work,there is no fault initially; after some time, a fault is created in the rotary actuator; finally,the faulty actuator is reconfigured by another rotary actuator. Simulation findings illustratethe suggested FDI system’s effectiveness in improving the robustness of knee exoskeletonsduring the sit-to-stand motion. The proposed system successfully reconfigures itself inresponse to faults.

There is a demonstrable usefulness of the focus on the neighbourhood scale promoted in the X-minute city vision, as part of a larger climate change mitigation strategy. However, emphasis on the neighbourhood runs the risk of over-simplifying the processes by which critical urban functions are created. Many urban functions depend on the interplay between spatial scales that needs to be addressed in the X-minute city vision. Here, we provide examples of how multi- and cross-scale interactions play an important role into the generation of three critical urban functions: ensuring food security, adapting to climate change and reviving public life.

This paper investigates how x-minute cities consider climate-related hazard management, blue-green infrastructure (BGI) and resilience to climate change challenges. It is important to analyse these concepts together as they are often studied individually. A systematic literature review reveals that climate hazards are mostly limited to flooding, water quality and the urban heat island effect. Additionally, BGI needs to be considered and included in sustainable city development. Finally, x-minute cities should contribute to the resilience of cities for the entire population. This research highlights that a comprehensive assessment of these concept is important in understanding the effects of new urban developments.

Background: Individuals with more education com-monly have better outcome after brain injury, often attributed to cognitive reserve. However, evidence suggests that individuals with more education have better access to specialized care, potentially affec-ting outcomes. Objective: To investigate differences in healthcare usage based on cognitive reserve and examine the relationship between healthcare usage and outcomes after stroke and traumatic brain injury. Design: An observational cohort study with health-care usage data from 3 years before to 4 years after injury, interviewing patients 5–15 years after injury. Patients: A total of 83 participants suffering a stroke or traumatic brain injury. Results: Healthcare usage over time varied based on educational level (repeated measures ANOVA, F(2, 227) = 4.17, p = 0.008). The differences in healthcare usage between educational levels was significant during the injury year (F(81) = –5.47, p = 0.022). Higher education implied more healthcare usage. Linear regression, controlling for possible confoun-ders, confirmed the relationship between education and healthcare usage, (β = 4.3, p = 0.022). Health-care usage was significantly related to long-term life satisfaction, but not to return to work. Conclusion: Individuals with more education recei-ved more healthcare in the year after traumatic brain injury or stroke. However, this was not related to long-term outcome regarding return to work, but we found a relationship between healthcare usage and life satisfaction. 

A positive school climate is characterized by a higher degree of well-being among students, reduced bullying, and improved academic performance. While many initiatives are aimed at creating a positive school climate, discussions in both research and theory frequently fail to acknowledge the essential role of school personnel. This study examines a purposeful sample of Swedish middle-school students (4th to 9th grade) of school personnel’s noticing in fostering or hindering a positive school climate. Fifteen (15) focus groups and 19 semi-structured interviews were analyzed, covering 133 participants selected from three schools (age range 10 to 16 years) in a Swedish municipality. Drawing on a framework of professional noticing and positive school and classroom climate, the investigation was conducted using a case study approach and analyzed with the help of content analysis. The results highlighted the importance placed by students on school personnel noticing appropriate things/events and responding accordingly. For this to happen, personnel need to (a) notice and make themselves visible; (b) be actively observing as a prerequisite to their noticing; (c) be receptive to noticing; (d) notice and grasp a full picture, including students’ perspectives; and (e) connect their noticing with appropriate actions.

This study evaluates the effectiveness of augmented reality (AR), using the Microsoft™ HoloLens™ 2, for identifying and localizing PCB components compared to traditional PDF-based methods. Two experiments examined the influence of user expertise, viewing angles, and component sizes on accuracy and usability. The results indicate that AR improved identification accuracy and user experience for non-experts, although it was slower than traditional methods for experienced users. Optimal performance was achieved at 90° viewing angles, while accuracy declined significantly at oblique angles. Medium-sized components received the highest confidence scores, suggesting favorable visibility and recognition characteristics within this group, though further evaluation with a broader component distribution is warranted. Participant feedback highlighted the system’s intuitive interface and effective guidance but also noted challenges with marker stability, visual discomfort, and ergonomic limitations. These findings suggest that AR can enhance training and reduce errors in electronics manufacturing, although refinements in marker rendering and user onboarding are necessary to support broader adoption. This research provides empirical evidence on the role of AR in supporting user-centered design and improving task performance in industrial electronics workflows.

The rise in energy-efficient, sustainable building operations necessitates the development of advanced innovations that reduce heating and cooling demands while maintaining comfortable indoor thermal conditions. Phase change materials (PCMs) demonstrate significant potential as a stabilization mechanism through latent heat storage for managing residential indoor temperatures; however, their integration into systems requires further optimisation. This review examines PCM-assisted ventilation technologies—specifically ventilated façades, roofs, and windows—highlighting their energy performance, which ranges from 7.7 % to 32.8 %, and their capacity to reduce peak temperatures by 2.5 °C to 7.02 °C. These improvements are influenced by PCM thickness of 15–35 mm and melting temperatures of 15–37 °C. The combination of PCM-enhanced hybrid systems with natural or mechanical ventilation has shown greater operational effectiveness, particularly in hot climates and when integrated with adaptive control systems to achieve optimal performance. Despite their benefits, widespread adoption of PCM technologies is hindered by high material costs, hysteresis effects, and limited discharge cycle efficiency. Nevertheless, PCM-enhanced ventilation systems have proven capable of supporting sustainable, low-energy buildings. Continued research is needed to develop cost-effective design strategies, automated control mechanisms, and climate-responsive optimisations to fully realize their potential. 

Using a comprehensive analysis, this research intends to assess the performance of an air-to-ground heat exchanger system designed for cooling air compression equipment in oil pipeline operations. Both numerical simulations and experimental investigations are conducted to compare the performance of un-finned tubes with finned tubes of different configurations, including square perforated annular fin tubes, annular fin tubes and circular perforated annular fin tubes. In turn, this would identify optimal configurations for maximum heat transfer. The system uses a 1.5 m long PVC pipe with a 6-inch diameter, buried 3.5 m underground. A relatively stable ground temperature of approximately 30°C at a depth of 3 m throughout the year contributes to the cooling efficiency of the system during summer and heating in winter. The results obtained between July and August 2023 indicate that annular finned tubes can provide superior heat transfer rates in both experiments and simulations compared to un-finned tubes. Furthermore, annular fin tubes demonstrate the highest cooling efficiency. However, they also exhibit the greatest pressure drop among the tested configurations. Overall, this study highlights the effectiveness of the proposed system in delivering cooling under demanding environmental conditions.

This study compared theenvironmental sensitivities of teacher education students inNigeria and Turkey, examining the influence of grade level and gender. The surveyincluded 342 Turkish and 344 Nigerian students, employing a three-point Likert scale"Environmental Sensitivity Questionnaire" (α=0.81). Analysis involved frequency,arithmetic mean, Kruskal-Wallis H test, and Mann-Whitney U test in SPSS. Resultsrevealed higher environmental sensitivity among Nigerian students, particularly males.Turkish students prioritized air pollution, while Nigerians focused on water pollution.No significant grade-level correlation was found in both countries, yet both showedpartial sensitivity to air pollution. Environmental education was perceived asinadequate by students in both nations.Recommendations include curriculumenhancement and reorientation on issues like population growth, ecological balance,and pollution.

In this article we address a well known problem at the intersection of ergodic theory and statistical mechanics. We prove that there exists a continuous eigenfunction for the transfer operator corresponding to pair potentials that satisfy a square summability condition on the variations, when the inverse temperature is subcritical. As a corollary we obtain a continuous eigenfunction for the classical Dyson model, with interactions J(k)=βk−α, k≥1, in the whole subcritical regime β<βc for which the parameter α is greater than 3/2.