Shamim Ahsan

We proposed a novel noninvasive surface plasmon resonance (SPR)‐based sensor with enhanced sensitivity for the early detection of basal cell carcinoma (BCC). The proposed sensor was utilized with a chalcogenide (2S2G) prism‐assisted Kretschmann configuration combined with a multilayer structure consisting of successive layers of gold, graphene, silver, silver gratings, MXene, and a sensing medium. The unique incorporation of metallic gratings and the MXene layer enhanced plasmonic field confinement and sharpened the resonance characteristics, thereby improving the overall sensing performance compared to conventional SPR‐based sensors. The sensor performance was analyzed using the finite‐difference time‐domain (FDTD) technique at a wavelength of 633 nm, incorporating periodic boundary conditions and anisotropic perfectly matched layers. To achieve optimal performance, the thicknesses of the individual sensor layers were systematically varied, and the efficiency was evaluated using key sensing metrics. The optimized sensor demonstrated a high angular sensitivity of , a narrow full width at half maximum of , a detection accuracy of , and a figure of merit of . The simulation results confirmed a significant improvement in sensing performance compared to recently reported SPR‐based cancer detection sensors. Owing to its high sensitivity, favorable optical characteristics, and noninvasive operation, the proposed sensor was shown to be a promising candidate for early‐stage BCC detection.

We demonstrate the enhancement of antibacterial and cytocompatibility characteristics of femtosecond laser-treated pure titanium and Ti-6Al-4V titanium alloy samples suitable for orthopedic implant applications. We controlled the wettability of the titanium samples by tailoring the surface geometry using a femtosecond laser. To increase the hydrophobicity, laser-assisted micro-grids patterning was performed on the titanium samples, where we achieved a highest contact angle of 144.6° for a 1 µL de-ionized water droplet. In contrast, the hydrophobic Ti-6Al-4V titanium alloy surfaces were converted to hydrophilic surfaces by fabricating periodic micro-gratings on the samples’ surface, where a lowest contact angle of 19.84° was achieved. Furthermore, we assessed the biocompatibility of the micro-patterned titanium samples by investigating the antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus Aureus bacteria. Moreover, the cytocompatibility of the micro-patterned titanium samples was examined using NCTC Clone 929 (L-929) mouse fibroblasts. The laser-treated titanium samples exhibited enhanced antibacterial performance while maintaining excellent cell compatibility. The experimental results confirmed excellent correlation with the wettability of the laser-patterned samples and their antibacterial characteristics and cytocompatibility. Overall, the findings highlight femtosecond laser surface structuring as a highly effective strategy to simultaneously improve antibacterial behavior and the biocompatibility of implant materials, offering a promising way for the advanced functionalization of orthopedic implants.

The growing influence of green building materials has increased the pace in terms of utilizing industrial byproducts like fly ash as alternative materials to the normal clay bricks in construction. This study provides an elaborate experimental study of the fly‐ash‐foam bricks with the aim of reducing environmental challenges posed by the brick manufacturing processes that are energy and carbon‐demanding. This paper investigates how the proportion of different fly ash and foaming agents affects these key performance parameters: compressive strength, water absorption, efflorescence, and dry density. Results show that when a 1:2 mix ratio was used without a foaming agent, the compressive strength peaked at 10.595 N/mm ² , and the compressive strength was lower at 5.43 N/mm ² when a foaming agent was added because of higher internal porosity. Water absorption was also increased in the presence of the foaming agent to 12.75% in foamed mixes as compared to 3.55% in unfoamed specimens. Furthermore, the dry density of wet mix had dropped to 1482.2 and 938.7 kg/m ³ in the dense mix and the 1:4 foamed mix, respectively, with an intermediate increase in efflorescence. These findings carry an importance of balancing the blend composition to achieve a balance between low weight and sufficient mechanical integrity, and advance the use of fly‐ash‐based foam bricks as a feasible, sustainable material in modern construction activities.

Construction industry is a major contributor to global energy consumption and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, accounting for nearly 40% of the total. This review explores the role of energy‐efficient buildings in mitigating environmental impact, conserving resources and improving occupant well‐being. It highlights sustainable design strategies, including passive and active systems, advanced insulation and renewable energy integration, to minimise energy use. The study also examines innovative materials such as green roofs, phase‐change materials and recycled components to reduce embodied energy (EE). Global case studies demonstrate the transformative potential of energy‐efficient buildings in enhancing urban sustainability and resilience. Additionally, economic and social benefits such as lower operational costs, improved indoor environments and increased property value are discussed. Despite challenges like high initial costs and technological complexities, energy‐efficient buildings play a crucial role in achieving global sustainability goals.

The Passive Optical Network (PON) has been evolving continuously in terms of architecture and capacity to keep up with the demand for high-speed Internet access in the access network segment. Recently, integration of Software-Defined Networking (SDN), which provides programmable and (logically) centralized network control, with PON has attracted intensive research interest to further enhance PON performance and reduce operational and capital expenditure. Although PON is regarded as an energy-efficient access network solution, it would be a major contributor for increasing energy consumption in the access network segment because of its higher penetration rate than other access network technologies. Over the past several years, the major standardization bodies like IEEE and ITU-T, and research communities have engaged in introducing energy-efficient PON solutions. This article familiarizes readers with PON evolution in terms of capacity, architecture, and its integration with virtualization and SDN based control. We present a comprehensive survey of the energy conservation research efforts in PON starting from conventional PON to SDN based PON leveraging virtual and physical network functions. This article also presents contemporary energy-efficient standardization activities in IEEE and ITU-T. To the best of our knowledge, to date, this article is the first most comprehensive survey on energy saving research and standardization on PON. We summarize the lessons learned from the recent advancements, identify important challenges ahead and outline several future research directions that can contribute to further advancement of energy-efficient PON.

This paper demonstrates the design and fabrication of an autonomous multi-functional hexacopter drone. The proposed drone can spray liquid pesticides at a rate of 1 liter/minute using a high-speed automatic pesticides sprayer integrated with the drone. For surveillance application, a high-definition camera and a video transmitter have been included with the drone that can capture and transmit real-time video of any desired trajectory. We also utilized the captured images for ortho-photography. The hexacopter drone can fly at a maximum velocity of 36 kilometer/hour with a maximum altitude of 200 meters. The maximum range of the drone is approximately 2 kilometers, whereas the maximum endurance of the drone is ~ 25 minutes when flying at an altitude of 10 meters. The empty weight and payload capacity of the drone are 5.0 kg and 4.4 kg. The flying path of the drone is autonomously controlled from the ground control station. In addition, the drone can be manually controlled by means of a remote controller. The production cost of the drone is just within 1,600 $. The developed autonomous multi-functional hexacopter drone is suitable for wide range of commercial applications including agricultural, surveillance & monitoring, and aerial shooting.

This research illustrates a simple mono-rectangular cored symmetrical PCF (MRC-SPCF) sensor that is used for detecting different concentrated glucose samples (from 0% to 60%). The simulations are carried out within 1-2 THz regimes based on the principles of the finite element method (FEM). After a completed investigation we have found the values of a range of optical properties that are comparable to the previously published results. From our investigation, we found 94.43% relative sensitivity with a negligible effective material loss (EML) of 0.004 cm^-1 at 1.8 THz respectively for 60% and 20% concentrated glucose solution. Besides this proposed MRC-SPCF sensor also expresses almost zero confinement losses for all the glucose samples within the operated frequency range. Hence we can admire that this proposed MRC-SPCF sensor can be a potential aspirant in chemical sensing which can make an impact both in the medical and industrial sectors.

Air quality monitoring of any specific location is important for continuous improvement of air quality and protecting public health. We demonstrate the design and development of an autonomous copter-type air quality monitoring drone to measure the amount of CO₂ and CO present in the ambient air of any desired trajectory. We also measured the temperature, pressure, and humidity of the surrounding air. The proposed low cost drone is small in size, light weight, easy to maintain, and capable of flying a long distance. In addition to autonomous control, the proposed drone can be manually controlled using a long-range remote controller. The maximum altitude of the drone from the ground control station is approximately 500 m, whereas the maximum velocity is 50 km/hour. During air quality monitoring, we collected the air quality data from 1 feet to 200 feet with 20 feet interval where the average velocity of the drone was 5.4 km/hour. We selected three different locations for data collection. Afterwards, we analyzed the collected data and determined the primary causes of variation in the CO₂ and CO concentration of various locations under different altitudes. We strongly believe that, the proposed drone will be useful for collecting location specific air quality information and taking necessary actions to reduce air pollution.