Background: Havan Yagya is a traditional Vedic fumigation practice involving the combustion of medicinal herbs, wood, and clarified butter (ghee) in a consecrated fire. Ethnopharmacological evidence and emerging scientific literature suggest that the smoke generated during Havan possesses significant antimicrobial properties. Objective: The present preliminary study aimed to evaluate the effect of Havan Yagya on the observable microbial load settling from indoor room air using the passive settle plate method, and to quantify the percentage reduction in colony-forming units (CFU) at 30 minutes and 24 hours post-Havan. Methods: Sterile culture-media plates were exposed in a controlled indoor room environment before and after Havan under identical conditions. Plates were incubated aerobically at 37°C and visible colonies were enumerated. Results: A baseline average of 11.0 CFU/plate was recorded before Havan. At 30 minutes post-Havan, the average count decreased to 1.0 CFU/plate, representing a 90.90% reduction. At 24 hours post-Havan, the average count was 5.5 CFU/plate, corresponding to a 50% reduction from baseline. Conclusion: These findings indicate that Havan Yagya produces a marked short-term reduction in airborne microbial settling, with a sustained partial effect persisting for at least 24 hours. The results are consistent with published literature on medicinal smoke and traditional fumigation practices. Larger controlled trials are warranted to validate and extend these preliminary observations.

Background: Inadvertent medication administration errors and secondary contamination during pediatric pharmaceutical preparation represent critical global patient safety threats. Direct bedside observation provides an authentic clinical audit of actual nursing practice compared with self-reported survey methods. Objective: To investigate pediatric nurses' real-world clinical adherence to basic infection prevention protocols and safe medication storage and handling regulations across public referral hospitals. Methods: A multicenter cross-sectional observational audit was conducted across pediatric departments in four governmental hospitals: Shandi Teaching Hospital, Al-Mak Nimr Teaching Hospital, Hosh Bannaga Hospital, and Al-Misktab Hospital. A total-coverage sample of 130 frontline bedside pediatric nurses was directly observed during routine medication rounds using an expert-validated clinical checklist comprising 11 basic infection control items and 3 medication storage parameters. Bivariate associations between nursing characteristics and clinical adherence were evaluated using Chi-square tests with statistical significance defined at p ≤ 0.05. Results: Direct clinical audits identified widespread compliance gaps across frontline pediatric units. Procedural hand hygiene was correctly performed in only 50.0% of encounters before and after drug handling, and in 53.8% upon direct patient contact. Strict aseptic injection preparation technique was observed in 46.2% of participants. Serious vulnerabilities were noted in parenteral device handling: only 40.0% segregated multi-dose vials within centralized clean medication stations, and dedicated single-patient insulin pen usage was restricted to 40.0%. Compliant pharmaceutical storage aligned with manufacturer temperature and light recommendations was observed in 46.2% of nurses. Bivariate analysis revealed that bachelor's degree qualification and extended clinical experience were significantly associated with higher clinical compliance (p < 0.05). Conclusion: Routine nursing compliance with basic infection control and safe medication handling remains critically compromised in public pediatric inpatient settings. Hospital administrations must establish centralized aseptic preparation stations, institute strict patient-specific device labeling policies, and sustain regular observational audits.

Valorization of silica-bearing plant residues offers a route for converting low-value biomass into functional inorganic materials. This study investigated silica recovery from Bambusa vulgaris leaves using a multistage process comprising hydrochloric-acid leaching, hydrogen-peroxide pretreatment, calcination, alkaline extraction, acid precipitation, washing, and drying. Freshly collected leaves were washed and oven-dried, after which a 50.044 g powder batch was leached with 1 M HCl at 80°C for 1 h. The recovered dry mass after leaching was 31.8 g. A 3.0 g acid-leached sub-batch was then treated with 1 mL of 30% H2O2 in 20 mL distilled water at 60°C for 1 h and dried to 1.942 g before calcination at 650°C for 3 h. A representative gravimetric mass balance showed that approximately 100 g of dry leaf powder produced 20 g of calcined ash and approximately 10 g of dried silica-based powder, corresponding to a 20% ash yield, a 10% recovered-product yield on a dry-leaf basis, and a 50% ash-to-product recovery. The calcined material was subjected to alkaline extraction with 2 M NaOH at 90°C for 1 h, and the resulting sodium-silicate-containing filtrate was acidified with HCl to approximately pH 3. The formed gel was washed and dried at 100°C for 12 h to obtain a white silica-based powder. FTIR analysis over 4000-400 cm-1 showed a broad O-H band centered at 3398 cm-1, a prominent Si-O-Si asymmetric stretching band at 1062 cm-1, a Si-O-related band near 800 cm-1, and a broad Si-O-Si bending region at approximately 470-425 cm-1. These features are consistent with hydrated, silanol-containing silica and with the broad spectral profile commonly reported for biogenic amorphous silica. However, FTIR alone cannot establish crystallographic phase or quantitative purity. The study therefore demonstrates a feasible H2O2-assisted extraction route with competitive gravimetric recovery, while identifying XRD, XRF/EDX, replicated yield measurements, and a matched no-H2O2 control as essential next-stage analyses.

Unknown project risks play a critical role in the successful execution of projects. These risks may originate from internal or external sources and can present opportunities, threats, or neutral outcomes. The objective of this paper is to examine unknown project risks that may affect project outcomes. It discusses the challenges associated with identifying unknown risks and highlights the role of project managers and risk management teams in managing these risks and their potential impacts as well as in transforming unknown risks into known and manageable risks through structured risk identification, investigations and continuous monitoring. Effective identification and management of unknown risks enhance project decision-making, reduce uncertainties, and increase the likelihood of project success. This paper also presents a case study on the implementation of new technologies in Saudi Aramco. The study examines the challenges encountered during implementation and demonstrates how thorough investigations and clarification of identified uncertainties, known and unknown risks contributed to the successful implementation and adoption of these technologies within the company.

Prestressed High-Strength Concrete (PHC) piles have recently been utilized in Saudi Arabia for the Ras Al-Khair Steel Plate Manufacturing Project due to their high structural capacity, durability, and rapid installation. This study evaluates the performance of PHC piles installed using two construction methods: dynamic driving and hydraulic static pressing. The performance of the installation methods was assessed based on the results of axial compression load tests, with a maximum allowable settlement of 25 mm under the highest test load. The static pressing method results on a lower average settlement and narrower range of settlement readings for the tested piles, which suggest that it is more reliable than dynamic driving method.

Background. Kho-Kho is a high intensity, intermittent pursuit sport in which explosive acceleration, rapid change of direction, and lower limb power are widely assumed to underpin competitive success. Whether these generic attributes actually discriminate between ability strata within an already selected squad remains empirically unresolved, and female players at the state tier are largely absent from the peer reviewed record. Purpose. To compare speed, agility, and leg explosive strength among high, medium, and low ability state level female Kho-Kho players. Methods. Sixty-seven female state level players (18–23 years) were purposively sampled from Purba Medinipur, North 24 Parganas, South Kolkata, and Hooghly districts, West Bengal, and classified into three ability groups. Speed was assessed by the 50-yard dash, agility by the 4 × 10 yard shuttle run, and leg explosive strength by the standing broad jump. Data were analysed by descriptive statistics and one way ANOVA (α = 0.05) using IBM SPSS Statistics 26. Results. No significant differences emerged for speed, F(2, 64) = 1.06, p = 0.352, η² = 0.03; agility, F(2, 64) = 0.197, p = 0.822; or leg explosive strength, F(2, 64) = 0.744, p = 0.479. Descriptively the high ability group was fastest (8.01 ± 0.552 s), jumped furthest (1.84 ± 0.165 m), and showed markedly lower variability. Conclusion. These components function as a performance threshold rather than a discriminator at state level; selection should additionally assess reactive agility, technical skill, and tactical decision making.

The need to improve bioethanol yield from elephant grass has made the optimization of the pretreatment process inevitable. This work studied and determined the optimal alkaline concentration for the pretreatment of elephant grass with sodium hydroxide (NaOH) and hot water under the specified conditions. The pretreatment was performed at different concentrations of sodium hydroxide for a period of 1:30 hr. at 97.5oC. Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) were used to determine the effects of the pretreatment on the morphology and structure of the elephant grass. The grass hydrolysate was subjected to simultaneous saccharification and fermentation using cellulase enzyme and bakers’ yeast. Optimum pretreatment condition was obtained by using 0.25 M NaOH, which yielded 6.778g/L reducing sugar. Bioethanol yield was found to be 8.84% of the available sugar. The SEM and FTIR analysis showed that NaOH pretreatment under the determined optimum conditions successfully disintegrated the recalcitrant structure of elephant grass. Hence, NaOH pretreatment at the concentration of 0.25 M exposed to hot water for 1:30 hr. at 97.5oC is a promising condition for bioethanol production from elephant grass.