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Ergonomic risk assessment is crucial for preventing work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs), which often arise from repetitive tasks, prolonged sitting, and load handling, leading to absenteeism and increased healthcare costs. Biomechanical risk assessment, such as RULA/REBA, is increasingly being enhanced by camera-based motion capture systems, either marker-based (MBSs) or markerless systems (MCBSs). This systematic review compared MBSs and MCBSs regarding accuracy, validity, and reliability for industrial ergonomic risk analysis. A comprehensive search of PubMed, WoS, ScienceDirect, IEEE Xplore, and PEDro (31 May 2025) identified 898 records; after screening with PICO-based eligibility criteria, 20 quantitative studies were included. Methodological quality was assessed with the COSMIN Risk of Bias tool, synthesized using PRISMA 2020, and graded with EBRO criteria. MBSs showed the highest precision (0.5–1.5 mm error) and reliability (ICC > 0.90) but were limited by cost and laboratory constraints. MCBSs demonstrated moderate-to-high accuracy (5–20 mm error; mean joint-angle error: 2.31° ± 4.00°) and good reliability (ICC > 0.80), with greater practicality in field settings. Several studies reported strong validity for RULA/REBA prediction (accuracy up to 89%, κ = 0.71). In conclusion, MCBSs provide a feasible, scalable alternative to traditional ergonomic assessment, combining reliability with usability and supporting integration into occupational risk prevention.

Background Infant and young child feeding (IYCF) practices during the first two years of life are important for the growth and development of a child. The aim of this study was to assess IYCF practices and its associated factors in two rural districts of Pakistan. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted in two rural districts of Sindh province, Pakistan as part of a stunting prevention project between May and August 2014. A standard questionnaire on IYCF practices recommended by World Health Organization was used to collect information from 2013 mothers who had a child aged between 0 and 23 months. Results Only 49% of mothers initiated breastfeeding within one hour of birth. Thirty-seven percent of mothers exclusively breastfed their infants for six months. Seventy-percent mothers introduced complementary feeding at 6–8 months of age. Eighty-two percent of mothers continued breastfeeding for at least one year and 75% for at least two years of age. IYCF practices were not significantly different for boys and girls in the study area. Being an employed mother (AOR 2.14; 95% CI 1.02, 4.51) was positively associated with the early initiation of breastfeeding. Children who were born at a health facility (AOR 0.65; 95% CI 0.50, 0.84) and were aged six to eleven months (AOR 0.70; 95% CI 0.54, 0.90) were less likely to be have an early initiation of breastfeeding. Mothers aged 25 to 29 years (AOR 1.83; 95% CI 1.05, 3.18), being literate (AOR 1.79; 95% CI 1.15, 2.78), and higher income (AOR 10.6; 95% CI 4.40, 25.30) were more likely to have an improved dietary diversity. Being an employed mother (AOR 2.18; 95% CI 1.77, 4.03) and higher income were more likely to have minimum acceptable diet (AOR 9.7; 95% CI 4.33, 21.71). Conclusion IYCF practices were below the acceptable level and associated with maternal age, maternal illiteracy, unemployment, and poor household wealth status. Emphasis should be given to improve maternal literacy and reduction in poverty to improve IYCF practices.

Objectives To estimate Global, Regional, and National prevalence of Malnutrition, specifically Coexisting forms of malnutrition (CFM) and its various types: Coexistence of underweight with stunting (CUS), Coexistence of underweight with wasting (CUW), Coexistence of underweight with wasting & stunting (CUWS), Coexistence of stunting with overweight/obesity (CSO) among children under five years in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Methods This cross-sectional observational study utilized latest nationally representative Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) datasets of 62 LMICs corresponding to six global regions from 2006 to 2024. Data of 541,707 children aged 0 to 59 months with complete anthropometry were analysed descriptively (prevalence estimates) and inferentially (multivariate logistic regression). Results The global malnutrition prevalence among children was 43.9%, of which CFM was observed among 20.9% children. Among various CFM types, CUS was highly prevalent (11.8%), followed by CUW (4.2%), CUWS (3.2%), and CSO (2.1%). South & Southeast Asian had highest CFM prevalence of 29.6%, while Central Asia and Latin America & Caribbean reported the lowest CFM prevalence of 8.1% and 6.2%, respectively. Among all the LMIC included, Timor-Leste exhibited the highest CFM at 41.8%. In general, children aged between 12 to 35 months had 2-3 times higher odds of various forms of CFM. However, female sex, maternal education, improvement in socioeconomic status, medium to large family size showed significantly lower odds with various forms of CFM. Conclusions This study advances the understanding of CFM’s prevalence, determinants, and regional variations, filling a critical gap in global nutrition research. The findings serve as a reminder to reinvest in efforts to protect children from malnutrition during their early years of life. Governments and other global health sector must invest in a well-established system of nutrition surveillance for addressing CFM, informing targeted interventions to improve child health outcomes in LMICs.

Background: Splenic cysts are one of the relatively rare conditions in pediatric surgery practice. Primary non-parasitic splenic cysts are even more scarce. Case presentation: A 13-years-old female patient presented with chronic left hypochondrial pain of 2 months duration. Abdominal ultrasonography and computed tomography revealed huge 18 cm × 14 cm × 10 cm splenic cyst. Deroofing of the cyst was done which was complicated by secondary infection. Subsequently, the patient was re-operated on and partial splenectomy done with good outcome at 6 months follow up. Conclusion: Partial splenectomy is the best management strategy for huge non-parasitic splenic cysts in children. There is also less recurrence rate of splenic cysts with preservation of splenic functions.

Correspondence to Dr Abdulrahman Halabi, Pediatrics, Alhada Armed Forces Hospital, Taif, Saudi Arabia; halabi03@yahoo.com A full-term male baby delivered at 38 weeks gestational age with birth weight of 3.3 kg was incidentally discovered soon after birth during routine nursery assessment to have abdominal distension with a soft mass felt in the upper middle part of abdomen measuring 10×10 cm. Question 2: the correct answer is D. The mass contains multiple bones and soft tissue suggestive of limbs bones, pelvic bones, vertebral column and well-defined axial skeleton. Question 4: the correct answer is E. After removal of the mass, the gross picture was consistent with FIF with head with facial marks, axial skeleton, umbilical cord, both lower limbs with pincer like digital extensions, buttock and gentile mark, left upper limb with axial as well as digital extension and small right upper limb bud (figure 5).

Background Globally, clinical certification of the cause of neonatal death is not commonly available in developing countries. Under such circumstances it is imperative to use available WHO verbal autopsy tool to ascertain causes of death for strategic health planning in countries where resources are limited and the burden of neonatal death is high. The study explores the diagnostic accuracy of WHO revised verbal autopsy tool for ascertaining the causes of neonatal deaths against reference standard diagnosis obtained from standardized clinical and supportive hospital data. Methods All neonatal deaths were recruited between August 2006 –February 2008 from two tertiary teaching hospitals in Province Sindh, Pakistan. The reference standard cause of death was established by two senior pediatricians within 2 days of occurrence of death using the International Cause of Death coding system. For verbal autopsy, trained female community health worker interviewed mother or care taker of the deceased within 2–6 weeks of death using a modified WHO verbal autopsy tool. Cause of death was assigned by 2 trained pediatricians. The performance was assessed in terms of sensitivity and specificity. Results Out of 626 neonatal deaths, cause-specific mortality fractions for neonatal deaths were almost similar in both verbal autopsy and reference standard diagnosis. Sensitivity of verbal autopsy was more than 93 % for diagnosing prematurity and 83.5 % for birth asphyxia. However the verbal autopsy didn’t have acceptable accuracy for diagnosing the congenital malformation 57 %. The specificity for all five major causes of neonatal deaths was greater than 90 %. Conclusion The WHO revised verbal autopsy tool had reasonable validity in determining causes of neonatal deaths. The tool can be used in resource limited community-based settings where neonatal mortality rate is high and death certificates from hospitals are not available.

A 7-year-old female child was presented to the emergency room with acute abdominal pain and vaginal bleeding. Her assessment revealed a firm large lower abdominal mass with evidence of precocious puberty with bilaterally symmetrically enlarged breast (Tanner stage B4-P1-A1). Abdominal imaging showed a well-defined soft midline pelvi-abdominal single mass measuring 7.0×12.6×11.7 cms with no ascites. Serum tumour markers including lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), beta-subunit of human chorionic gonadotropin (B-hCG) and luteinizing hormone/follicular stimulating hormone (LH/FSH) were all normal. At operation, there was a huge abdominal tumour weighing 558 grams, localized to the right ovary sparing the left ovary, uterus, lymph nodes and other abdominal organs. Unilateral right salpingo-oophorectomy was performed. Histopathologic examination revealed ovarian dysgerminoma with intact capsule; FIGO Ia. Immunohistochemical stainings were positive for placental alkaline phosphatase (PALP), CD 117(c-kit) and calretinin focally but was negative for cancer antigen-125 (CA-125), B-hCG, S-100, carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), and leukocyte common antigen (LCA). Being fitting in the low risk classification, the wait and see protocol was selected with strict follow-up with pediatric oncologist and pediatric surgeon. Along the duration of 2 years follow up, there was no more vaginal bleeding with dramatic reduction of the breast size and no recurrence.

Micromobility vehicles, such as e-scooters, are increasingly popular in urban communities but present significant challenges in terms of road safety, user privacy, infrastructure planning, and civil engineering. Addressing these critical issues requires a large-scale and easily accessible research infrastructure to collect diverse mobility and contextual data from micromobility users in realistic settings. To this end, we present ScooterLab, a community research testbed comprising a fleet of customizable battery-powered micromobility vehicles retrofitted with advanced sensing, communication, and control capabilities. ScooterLab enables interdisciplinary research at the intersection of computing, mobility, and urban planning by providing researchers with tools to design and deploy customized sensing experiments and access curated datasets. The testbed will enable advances in machine learning, privacy, and urban transportation research while promoting sustainable mobility.

The Internet of Things (IoT) includes vehicles, homes, and integrated sensors and many interconnected physical devices that gather and share data to interact with their environment. Data moving across multiple levels is vulnerable to various security threats, including leaks and unauthorized access. IoT faces significant challenges in balancing strict security with optimal performance metrics such as energy efficiency, throughput, and memory. We present a novel lightweight stream cipher designed to secure IoT communication and address these challenges. The proposed architecture features four main components: a logistic round module that produces 32-bit chaotic outputs; two 80-bit shift registers, LFSR and NLFSR, for key expansion; and multiplexer units to enhance confusion and diffusion. This model improves the randomness and robustness of the keystream, strengthening the cipher against cryptanalytic attacks. An ablation research is performed by methodically eliminating the chaotic map, NLFSR, and multiplexer components to assess their individual effects on encryption/decryption duration, throughput, entropy, and avalanche analysis. Experimental results demonstrate that each component significantly improves the cipher’s overall performance and security, hence confirming the architecture’s design and also demonstrate that the proposed cipher exceeds the performance of current algorithms, including Grain-128 and RSA-1024, in terms of encryption/decryption time, throughput, and energy efficiency, while maintaining comparable statistical randomness to AES and Trivium. This method achieves an average Shannon entropy of 7.9996, and successfully passing all 15 NIST statistical randomness tests. A subsequent study analyzing the avalanche effect and correlation coefficients reinforces the strength of the encryption. The proposed encryption method, designed for resource-constrained environments, provides efficient and robust cryptographic security to protect IoT data effectively.

A cost-effective bimetallic NiCo 2 O 4 @nitrogen-doped carbon (NC) nanocomposite was prepared through bimetallic nickel/cobalt metal organic frameworks (Ni/Co-MOF) by employing a smart approach to utilize the waste Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastics for energy storage applications. The NiCo 2 O 4 @NC nanocomposite was characterized successfully using analytical techniques. The nanocomposite comprises high surface area (813 m 2 g − 1 ) and mesoporosity (~ 15 nm). NiCo 2 O 4 @NC nanocomposite demonstrates excellent electrochemical performance with high specific capacitance of ~ 890 F g − 1 at 5 mV s − 1 and ~ 913 F g − 1 at 1 A g − 1 in 6 m KOH electrolyte. The cyclic stability tests confirm excellent retention capacity (~ 99%) with fifty cyclic segments. Low-cost, environmental friendly approach, and rich redox activity of NiCo 2 O 4 @NC nanocomposite make it an alternate potential electrode material for energy storage devices.