The direct influence of La³⁺ ions on the gamma-ray shielding properties of cobalt-doped heavy metal borate glasses with the chemical formula 0.3CoO-(80-x)B₂O₃-19.7PbO-xLa₂O₃: x = 0, 0.5, 1, 1.5, and 2 mol% was examined herein. Several significant radiation shielding parameters were evaluated. The glass density was increased from 3.11 to 3.36 g/cm³ with increasing La³⁺ ion content from 0 to 2 mol%. The S5 glass sample, which contained the highest concentration of La³⁺ ions (2 mol%), had the maximum linear (μ) and mass (μ_m) attenuation coefficients for all photon energies entering, while the S1 glass sample free of La³⁺ ions possessed the minimum values of μ and μ_m. Both the half value layer (T_1/2) and tenth value layer (TVL) of all investigated glasses showed a similar trend of (T_1/2, TVL)_S1 > (T_1/2, TVL)_S2 > (T_1/2, TVL)_S3 > (T_1/2, TVL)_S4 > (T_1/2, TVL)_S5. Our results revealed that the S5 sample had the highest effective atomic number (Z_eff) values over the whole range of gamma-ray energy. S5 had the lowest exposure (EBF) and energy absorption (EABF) build-up factor values across the whole photon energy and penetration depth range. Our findings give a strong indication of the S5 sample’s superior gamma-ray shielding characteristics due to the highest contribution of lanthanum oxide.

Tungsten oxide (WO_x) thin films were synthesized through the RF magnetron sputtering method by varying the sputtering power from 30 W to 80 W. Different investigations have been conducted to evaluate the variation in different morphological, optical, and dielectric properties with the sputtering power and prove the possibility of using WO_x in optoelectronic applications. An Energy Dispersive X-ray (EDX), stylus profilometer, and atomic force microscope (AFM) have been used to investigate the dependency of morphological properties on sputtering power. Transmittance, absorbance, and reflectance of the films, investigated by Ultraviolet-Visible (UV-Vis) spectroscopy, have allowed for further determination of some necessary parameters, such as absorption coefficient, penetration depth, optical band energy gap, refractive index, extinction coefficient, dielectric parameters, a few types of loss parameters, etc. Variations in these parameters with the incident light spectrum have been closely analyzed. Some important parameters such as transmittance (above 80%), optical band energy gap (~3.7 eV), and refractive index (~2) ensure that as-grown WO_x films can be used in some optoelectronic applications, mainly in photovoltaic research. Furthermore, strong dependencies of all evaluated parameters on the sputtering power were found, which are to be of great use for developing the films with the required properties.

In the recent digital age, information and communication technologies are rapidly contributing to remodel the media and journalism. Numerous technologies can be utilized by the media industry to capture news or events, taking footage and pictures of a breaking news. Technology and the media are interwoven, and neither can be detached from contemporary society in most nations. Unsurprisingly, technology has affected how and where information is shared. Nowadays, it is impractical to discuss media and the methods in which societies communicate without addressing the rapidity of technology change. Thus, the aerial journalism term has emerged, which refers to the ability of creating and conveying media content in a timely and efficient fashion. This work aims to integrate a drone with AI to empower aerial journalism via training a neural network to obtain an accurate channel using the NN-RBFN approach. The proposed work can enhance aerial media missions including investigative reporting (e.g., humanitarian crises), footage of news events (e.g., man-made and/or natural disasters), and livestreams for short-term, large-scale events (e.g., Olympic Games). In our digital media era, such a smart journalism approach would help to become far more sustainable and an eco-efficient process. Both MATLAB and 3D Remcom Wireless Insite tools have been used to carry out the simulation work. Simulated results indicate that the proposed NN-RBFN managed to obtain an accurate channel propagation model in a 3D scenario with a high accuracy rate reaching 99%. The proposed framework also could offer various media and journalism services (e.g., high data rate, wider coverage footprint) in timely and cost-effective manners in both normal scenarios or even in hard-to-reach zones and/or short-term, large-scale events.

Lithium-ion batteries are the most used technology in portable electronic devices. High energy density and high power per mass battery unit make it preferable over other batteries. The existing constant-temperature and constant-voltage charging technique (CT–CV), with a closed loop, lacks a detailed design of control circuits, which can increase charging speed. This article addresses this research gap in a novel way by implementing a simpler feedback proportional integral and differential (PID) control to a closed-loop CT–CV charging circuit. Voltage-mode control (VMC) and average current-mode control (ACM) methods were implemented to maintain the battery voltage, current, and temperature at safe limits. As per simulation results, 23% faster charging is achieved by implementing VMC and almost 50% faster charging is attained by employing the ACM technique in the PID controller. Our proposed control strategy is validated experimentally, which yields up to 25% faster charging of a battery than the reference battery.

Characteristics of tellurite-tungstate-antimonate glasses containing heavy metal oxide were investigated in detail using two methods: the MCNPX Monte Carlo code and the Phy-X/PSD platform. The influence of Sm₂O₃, translocating with TeO₂ at ratios of 0.2, 0.5, 0.8, 1, and 1.5 mol% on radiation shielding properties of glasses, was set forth with five glass structures determined according to the (75-x)TeO₂-15Sb₂O₃-10WO₃-xSm₂O₃ glass composition. Densities of the glasses were prepared by doping a low ratio of Sm₂O₃ that varied between 5.834 and 5.898 g/cm³. Sample densities, which have an important role in determining radiation shielding character, increased depending on the increase in Sm₂O₃ concentration. Effective removal cross-section (∑R) values against fast neutrons, as well as linear and mass attenuation coefficients, half-value layer, mean free path, variation of effective atomic number against photon energy, exposure, and energy built-up factors, were simulated with the help of these two methods. As a result of these estimates, it can be concluded that values obtained using both methods are consistent with each other. From the obtained values, it can be concluded that the SM1.5 sample containing 1.5 mol% would have the most efficient role in radiation shielding. An increase of Sm₂O₃ resulted in a significant increase in linear and mass attenuation coefficients and effective removal cross-section values belonging to fast neutrons and, in addition, resulted in a decrease in the half value layer. Doping HMO glasses with Sm₂O₃ was observed to contribute directly to the development of radiation shielding properties of the glass.