Search results for: genetic association study

Authors: T. Nguyen, H. Rennie, S. Vallance, M. Mackay

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Municipal Associations, also called Unions, Leagues or Federations of municipalities have been established worldwide to represent the interests and needs of urban governments in the face of increasing urban issues. In 2008, the Association of Cities of Vietnam (ACVN) joined the Asian Coalition of Community Action Program (ACCA program) and introduced the community-based upgrading approach to help Vietnamese cities to address urban upgrading issues. While this community-based upgrading approach has only been implemented in a small number of Vietnamese cities and its replication has faced certain challenges, it is worthy to explore insights on how the Association of cities of Vietnam played its role in implementing some reportedly successful projects. This paper responds to this inquiry and presents results extracted from the author’s PhD study that sets out with a general objective to critically examine how social capital dimensions (i.e., bonding, bridging and linking) were formed, mobilized and maintained in a local collective and community-based upgrading process. Methodologically, the study utilized the given general categorization of bonding, bridging and linking capitals to explore and confirm how social capital operated in the real context of a community-based upgrading process, particularly in the context of Vietnam. To do this, the study conducted two exploratory and qualitative case studies of housing projects in Friendship neighbourhood (Vinh city) and Binh Dong neighbourhood (Tan An city). This paper presents the findings of the Friendship neighbourhood case study, focusing on the role of the Vietnamese municipal association in forming, mobilizing and maintaining bonding, bridging and linking capital for a community-based upgrading process. The findings highlight the essential but uncertain role of ACVN - the organization that has a hybrid legitimacy status - in such a process. The results improve our understanding both practically and theoretically. Practically, the results offer insights into the performance of a municipal association operating in a transitioning socio-political context of Vietnam. Theoretically, the paper questions the necessity of categorizing social capital dimensions (i.e., bonding, bridging and linking) by suggesting a holistic approach of looking at social capital for urban governance issues within the Vietnamese context and perhaps elsewhere.

Keywords: bonding capital, bridging capital, municipal association, linking capital, social capital, housing upgrading

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Authors: Mohamed I. Mahrous, Mohamed G. Ashmawy

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Hybrid genetic algorithm (HGA) is proposed in this paper to determine the economic scheduling of electric power generation over a fixed time period under various system and operational constraints. The proposed technique can outperform conventional genetic algorithms (CGAs) in the sense that HGA make it possible to improve both the quality of the solution and reduce the computing expenses. In contrast, any carefully designed GA is only able to balance the exploration and the exploitation of the search effort, which means that an increase in the accuracy of a solution can only occure at the sacrifice of convergent speed, and vice visa. It is unlikely that both of them can be improved simultaneously. The proposed hybrid scheme is developed in such a way that a simple GA is acting as a base level search, which makes a quick decision to direct the search towards the optimal region, and a local search method (pattern search technique) is next employed to do the fine tuning. The aim of the strategy is to achieve the cost reduction within a reasonable computing time. The effectiveness of the proposed hybrid technique is verified on two real public electricity supply systems with 13 and 40 generator units respectively. The simulation results obtained with the HGA for the two real systems are very encouraging with regard to the computational expenses and the cost reduction of power generation.

Keywords: genetic algorithms, economic dispatch, pattern search

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Authors: Sabitha Rani A., Nagamani V.

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Embelia ribes Burm.f (Family-Myrsinaceae) commonly known as Vidanga or Baibirang, is one of the important medicinal plants of India. The seed extract is reported to be antidiabetic, antitumour, analgesic, anti-inflammatory, antispermatogenic, free radical scavenging activities and widely used in more than 75 Ayurvedic commercial formulations. Among the 100 different species of Embelia, E. ribes is considered as a major source of Embelin, a bioactive compound. Because of high demand and low availability, the seeds of E. ribes are substituted with many cheaper alternatives. Therefore, the present study of RAPD-PCR analysis was undertaken to develop molecular markers for identification of E. ribes. A total of 13 different seed samples of Embelia were collected from different agro-climatic regions of India. The seeds of E.ribes were collected from Kalpetta, Kerala and three different seed samples were collected from traders of Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Maharastra. The other nine seed samples were collected from local traders which they have collected from different regions of India. Genomic DNA was isolated from different seed samples E. ribes and RAPD-PCR was performed on 13 different seed samples using 47 random primers. Out of all the primers, only 22 primers produced clear and highly-reproducible banding patterns. The 22 selected RAPD primers generated a total of 280 alleles with an average of 12 alleles per primer pair. In the present study, we have identified three RAPD-PCR markers i.e. OPF5_480 bp, OPH11_520 bp and OPH4_530 bp which can be used for genetic fingerprinting of E. ribes. This methodology can be employed for identification of original E. ribes and also distinguishing it from other substitutes and adulterants.

Keywords: Embelia ribes, RAPD-PCR, primers, genetic analysis

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Authors: Cytha Nilam Chairani, Ditha Noviantika, Hidayati Amir, Nurul Khairiyah, Siti Rahmadita, Fadila Khairani

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Background: Dental caries is one of the most common diseases with high prevalence in children. The first permanent molar (FPM) has an essential role in establishing the occlusion. Nevertheless, FPM is very prone to caries because of various factors, such as their anatomical structure and early emergence in oral cavity. It is due to the little knowledge from parents and children regarding the timing of emergence of FPM in oral cavity which is still considered as primary teeth. Furthermore, the lack of knowledge from parents and children may affect their oral hygiene practice resulting to carious process. Objective: The aim of this study was to assess the status of FPM caries and its association with children’s oral hygiene practice in 9-12-year-old school children in Lubuk Kilangan Community Health Centre, Padang City. Methods: A cross-sectional study was performed in 50 school children (9-12 years old) using random sampling technique from two randomly selected schools in Lubuk Kilangan Community Health Centre, Padang City. A questionnaire was developed from other studies consisting of four closed ended questions regarding oral health practice. The data obtained were analyzed statistically using Mann-Whitney Test to assess the status of FPM caries and its association with children’s oral hygiene practice. Results: The results showed that 32% of children had FPMs sound and the remaining 68% had FPMs carious which were grouped into 1-2 FPMs carious (60%) and 3-4 FPMs carious (8%). The caries status of mandibular FPM (64%) was higher compared to maxillary FPM (10%). Conclusion: There was significant association in subject who did not visit dentist in the last 6 months which had more carious FPMs compared to subject who visited dentist (p < 0.05). There was no significant association between the status of FPM caries and knowledge of the timing eruption of FPM, oral hygiene instruction from parents and tooth brushing (p > 0.05).

Keywords: dental caries, children, first permanent molar, oral hygiene practice

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Authors: Mohamed Amine Haraoubia, Abdelaziz Hamzaoui, Najib Essounbouli

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The pursuit of the MPPT has led to the development of many kinds of controllers, one of which is the Fuzzy Logic Controller, which has proven its worth. To further tune this controller this paper will discuss and analyze the use of Genetic Algorithms to tune the Fuzzy Logic Controller. It will provide an introduction to both systems, and test their compatibility and performance.

Keywords: fuzzy logic controller, fuzzy logic, genetic algorithm, maximum power point, maximum power point tracking

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Authors: Hong Nguyen Thi Hai, Ryota Konda, Dat Kieu Tuan, Cao Tran Thanh, Khang Phung Van, Hau Tran Tin, Harry Wu

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Melaleuca cajuputi is a moderately fast-growing species and considered as a multi-purpose tree as it provides fuelwood, piles and frame poles in construction, leaf essential oil and honey. It occurs in Australia, Papua New Guinea, and South-East Asia. M. cajuputi plantation can be harvested on 6-7 year rotations for wood products. Its timber can also be used for pulp and paper, fiber and particle board, producing quality charcoal and potentially sawn timber. However, most reported M. cajuputi breeding programs have been focused on oil production rather than wood production. In this study, breeding program of M. cajuputi aimed to improve wood production was examined by estimating genetic parameters for growth (tree height, diameter at breast height (DBH), and volume), stem form, stiffness (modulus of elasticity (MOE)), bark thickness and bark ratio in a half-sib family progeny trial including 80 families in the Mekong Delta of Vietnam. MOE is one of the key wood properties of interest to the wood industry. Non-destructive wood stiffness was measured indirectly by acoustic velocity using FAKOPP Microsecond Timer and especially unaffected by bark mass. Narrow-sense heritability for the seven traits ranged from 0.13 to 0.27 at age 7 years. MOE and stem form had positive genetic correlations with growth while the negative correlation between bark ratio and growth was also favorable. Breeding for simultaneous improvement of multiple traits, faster growth with higher MOE and reduction of bark ratio should be possible in M. cajuputi. Index selection based on volume and MOE showed genetic gains of 31 % in volume, 6 % in MOE and 13 % in stem form. In addition, heritability and age-age genetic correlations for growth traits increased with time and optimal early selection age for growth of M. cajuputi based on DBH alone was 4 years. Selected thinning resulted in an increase of heritability due to considerable reduction of phenotypic variation but little effect on genetic variation.

Keywords: acoustic velocity, age-age correlation, bark thickness, heritability, Melaleuca cajuputi, stiffness, thinning effect

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Authors: Mengistu G. Woldu, Hani Y. Zaki, Areeg Faggad, Badreldin E. Abdalla

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Background: Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is a complex, degenerative, and multi-factorial disease, which is culpable for huge mortality and morbidity worldwide. Even though relatively significant numbers of studies are conducted on the genetics domain of this disease in the developed world, there is huge information gap in the sub-Saharan Africa region in general and in Eritrea in particular. Objective: The principal aim of this study was to investigate the association of common variants of the Insulin Receptor Substrate 1 (IRS1) and Transcription Factor 7-Like 2 (TCF7L2) genes with T2DM in the Eritrean population. Method: In this cross-sectional case control study 200 T2DM patients and 112 non-diabetes subjects were participated and genotyping of the IRS1 (rs13431179, rs16822615, 16822644rs, rs1801123) and TCF7L2 (rs7092484) tag SNPs were carries out using PCR-RFLP method of analysis. Haplotype analyses were carried out using Plink version 1.07, and Haploview 4.2 software. Linkage disequilibrium (LD), and Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium (HWE) analyses were performed using the Plink software. All descriptive statistical data analyses were carried out using SPSS (Version-20) software. Throughout the analysis p-value ≤0.05 was considered statistically significant. Result: Significant association was found between rs13431179 SNP of the IRS1 gene and T2DM under the recessive model of inheritance (OR=9.00, 95%CI=1.17-69.07, p=0.035), and marginally significant association found in the genotypic model (OR=7.50, 95%CI=0.94-60.06, p=0.058). The rs7092484 SNP of the TCF7L2 gene also showed markedly significant association with T2DM in the recessive (OR=3.61, 95%CI=1.70-7.67, p=0.001); and allelic (OR=1.80, 95%CI=1.23-2.62, p=0.002) models. Moreover, eight haplotypes of the IRS1 gene found to have significant association withT2DM (p=0.013 to 0.049). Assessments made on the interactions of genotypes of the rs13431179 and rs7092484 SNPs with various parameters demonstrated that high density lipoprotein (HDL), low density lipoprotein (LDL), waist circumference (WC), and systolic blood pressure (SBP) are the best T2DM onset predicting models. Furthermore, genotypes of the rs7092484 SNP showed significant association with various atherogenic indexes (Atherogenic index of plasma, LDL/HDL, and CHLO/HDL); and Eritreans carrying the GG or GA genotypes were predicted to be more susceptible to cardiovascular diseases onset. Conclusions: Results of this study suggest that IRS1 (rs13431179) and TCF7L2 (rs7092484) gene polymorphisms are associated with increased risk of T2DM in Eritreans.

Keywords: IRS1, SNP, TCF7L2, type 2 diabetes

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Authors: Rajendra K. Meena, Maneesh S. Bhandari, Santan Barthwal, Harish S. Ginwal

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Microsatellite markers are the most valuable tools for the characterization of plant genetic resources or population genetic analysis. Since it is codominant and allelic markers, utilizing them in polyploid species remained doubtful. In such cases, the microsatellite marker is usually analyzed by treating them as a dominant marker. In the current study, it has been showed that despite losing the advantage of co-dominance, microsatellite markers are still a powerful tool for genotyping of polyploid species because of availability of large number of reproducible alleles per locus. It has been studied by genotyping of 19 subpopulations of Dendrocalamus hamiltonii (hexaploid bamboo species) with 17 polymorphic simple sequence repeat (SSR) primer pairs. Among these, ten primers gave typical banding pattern of microsatellite marker as expected in diploid species, but rest 7 gave an unusual pattern, i.e., more than two bands per locus per genotype. In such case, genotyping data are generally analyzed by considering as dominant markers. In the current study, data were analyzed in both ways as dominant and co-dominant. All the 17 primers were first scored as nonallelic data and analyzed; later, the ten primers giving standard banding patterns were analyzed as allelic data and the results were compared. The UPGMA clustering and genetic structure showed that results obtained with both the data sets are very similar with slight variation, and therefore the SSR marker could be utilized to characterize polyploid species by considering them as a dominant marker. The study is highly useful to widen the scope for SSR markers applications and beneficial to the researchers dealing with polyploid species.

Keywords: microsatellite markers, Dendrocalamus hamiltonii, dominant and codominant, polyploids

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Authors: Omar Ramzi Jasim, Jalal Sultan Ashour

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Production Planning or Master Production Schedule (MPS) is a key interface between marketing and manufacturing, since it links customer service directly to efficient use of production resources. Mismanagement of the MPS is considered as one of fundamental problems in operation and it can potentially lead to poor customer satisfaction. In this paper, a hybrid evolutionary algorithm (ICA-GA) is presented, which integrates the merits of both imperialist competitive algorithm (ICA) and genetic algorithm (GA) for solving multi-objective MPS problems. In the presented algorithm, the colonies in each empire has be represented a small population and communicate with each other using genetic operators. By testing on 5 production scenarios, the numerical results of ICA-GA algorithm show the efficiency and capabilities of the hybrid algorithm in finding the optimum solutions. The ICA-GA solutions yield the lower inventory level and keep customer satisfaction high and the required overtime is also lower, compared with results of GA and SA in all production scenarios.

Keywords: master production scheduling, genetic algorithm, imperialist competitive algorithm, hybrid algorithm

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Authors: Nima Khosravi

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This paper describes an integrated optimization technique with concurrent use of sequential quadratic programming, genetic algorithm, and simulated annealing particle swarm optimization for the design and optimization of a beam column. In this research, the comparison between 4 different types of optimization methods. The comparison is done and it is found out that all the methods meet the required constraints and the lowest value of the objective function is achieved by SQP, which was also the fastest optimizer to produce the results. SQP is a gradient based optimizer hence its results are usually the same after every run. The only thing which affects the results is the initial conditions given. The initial conditions given in the various test run were very large as compared. Hence, the value converged at a different point. Rest of the methods is a heuristic method which provides different values for different runs even if every parameter is kept constant.

Keywords: beam column, genetic algorithm, particle swarm optimization, sequential quadratic programming, simulated annealing

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Authors: Teresa Smith, Farrah Jacquez

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Health-risk behaviors (e.g., smoking, poor diet) directly increase the risk for chronic disease and morbidity. There is substantial evidence of a negative association between socioeconomic status (SES) and engagement in health-risk behaviors. However, due to the complexity of SES, researchers have suggested looking beyond this factor to fully understand the mechanisms that underlie engagement in health-risk behaviors. Stress is one plausible mechanism through which SES impacts health-risk behaviors. Currently, it remains unclear how stress occurring across the life course might impact health behaviors and explain the association between SES and these behaviors. To address the gaps in the literature, 172 adults between the ages of 18-49 were surveyed about their lifetime stress exposure, sociodemographic variables, and health-risk behaviors via an online recruitment portal, Prolific. Five major findings emerged from the current study. First, SES was negatively associated with engagement in health-risk behaviors and lifetime stress above and beyond current stress and other relevant demographics. Second, lifetime stress was significantly associated with health-risk behaviors above and beyond current stress and relevant demographic variables. Third, lifetime stress fully mediated the association between SES and health-risk behaviors above and beyond current stress and other demographics. Fourth, the severity of stress experienced emerged as the most significant lifetime stress variable that explains the relation between SES and health-risk behaviors. Fifth and finally, lower SES and experiencing financial and legal/crime stressors increased the likelihood of engaging in health-risk behaviors. The current study results align with previous research and suggest that stress occurring over the lifespan impacts the relation between SES and health-risk behaviors, which are in turn known to impact health outcomes. However, our findings move the current literature forward by providing a more nuanced understanding of the specific aspects of stress that influence this association. Specifically, the severity of stress experienced across the entire lifespan was the most important aspect of stress when examining the association between SES and health-risk behaviors. Further, individuals most at risk for engaging in health-risk behaviors are those of the lowest SES and experience financial and legal/crime stressors. These findings have the potential to inform interventions and policies aimed at addressing health-risk behaviors by providing a more sophisticated understanding of the impact of stress.

Keywords: stress, health behaviors, socioeconomic status, health

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Authors: Wael Khalil, Elias Rahal, Ghassan Matar

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Tooth related infections or commonly named dental infections have been described as the most common causes of tooth loss in adults. These pathologies were mostly periodontitis, pericoronitis, and periapical infection. The involvement of various bacteria in the pathogenesis of these pathologies has been thoroughly mentioned and approved in the literature. However, the variability in the severity and prognosis of these lesions among patients suggests the association of other pathogens, like viruses and fungi, in the pathogenesis of these lesions. Several studies in the literature investigated the association of multiple viruses and fungi with the above-mentioned lesions, yet, a vast controversy was reached concerning this subject.Aim: Our study aims to fill the gap in the literature concerning the contribution of adenovirus, HPV-16, EBV, fungi, and candida in the pathogenesis of periodontitis, pericoronitis, and periapical infection. For this purpose, we utilized the quantitative PCR for pathogen detection in saliva, gingival, and lesions samples of involved subjects. Results: Some of these pathogens appeared to have an association with the investigated dental pathologies, while others showed no contribution to the pathogenesis of these lesions. Further investigation is required in order to identify the subtype of the involved pathogens in these tooth related oral pathology.

Keywords: periodontitis, pericoronitis, dental abscess, PCR, microbiology

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Authors: Mohamed El-Shikh

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Phaseolus vulgaris L. is the world’s second most important bean after soybeans; used for human food and animal feed. It has generally been linked to reduced risk of cardiovascular disease, diabetes mellitus, obesity, cancer and diseases of digestive tract. The effectiveness of ISSR in achievement of the genetic diversity among 60 common bean accessions; represent various germplasms around the world was investigated. In general, the studied Phaseolus vulgaris accessions were divided into 2 major groups. All of the South-American accessions were separated into the second major group. These accessions may have different genetic features that are distinct from the rest of the accessions clustered in the major group. Asia and Europe accessions (1-20) seem to be more genetically similar (99%) to each other as they clustered in the same sub-group. The American and African varieties showed similarities as well and clustered in the same sub-tree group. In contrast, Asian and American accessions No. 22 and 23 showed a high level of genetic similarities, although these were isolated from different regions. The phylogenetic tree showed that all the Asian accessions (along with Australian No. 59 and 60) were similar except Indian and Yemen accessions No. 9 and 20. Only Netherlands accession No. 3 was different from the rest of European accessions. Morocco accession No. 52 was genetically different from the rest of the African accessions. Canadian accession No. 44 seems to be different from the other North American accessions including Guatemala, Mexico and USA.

Keywords: phylogenetic tree, Phaseolus vulgaris, ISSR technique, genetics

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Authors: M. I. Abdelhamid, A. O. Ghallab, R. S. Ettouney, M. A. El-Rifai

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An optimization scheme based on COM server is suggested for communication between Genetic Algorithm (GA) toolbox of MATLAB and Aspen HYSYS. The structure and details of the proposed framework are discussed. The power of the developed scheme is illustrated by its application to the optimization of a recently developed natural gas liquefaction process in which Aspen HYSYS was used for minimization of the power consumption by optimizing the values of five operating variables. In this work, optimization by coupling between the GA in MATLAB and Aspen HYSYS model of the same process using the same five decision variables enabled improvements in power consumption by 3.3%, when 77% of the natural gas feed is liquefied. Also on inclusion of the flow rates of both nitrogen and carbon dioxide refrigerants as two additional decision variables, the power consumption decreased by 6.5% for a 78% liquefaction of the natural gas feed.

Keywords: stranded gas liquefaction, genetic algorithm, COM server, single nitrogen expansion, carbon dioxide pre-cooling

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Authors: Rezky Rifaini, Raden Bagus Fajriya Hakim

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This research was conducted at the Bolo primary health Care in Bima Regency. The purpose of the research is to find out the association pattern that is formed of medical record database from Bolo Primary health care’s patient. The data used is secondary data from medical records database PHC. Sequential pattern mining technique is the method that used to analysis. Transaction data generated from Patient_ID, Check_Date and diagnosis. Sequential Pattern Discovery Algorithms Using Equivalent Classes (SPADE) is one of the algorithm in sequential pattern mining, this algorithm find frequent sequences of data transaction, using vertical database and sequence join process. Results of the SPADE algorithm is frequent sequences that then used to form a rule. It technique is used to find the association pattern between items combination. Based on association rules sequential analysis with SPADE algorithm for minimum support 0,03 and minimum confidence 0,75 is gotten 3 association sequential pattern based on the sequence of patient_ID, check_Date and diagnosis data in the Bolo PHC.

Keywords: diagnosis, primary health care, medical record, data mining, sequential pattern mining, SPADE algorithm

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Authors: Mahfoudh Hussein Mgammal

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The purpose of this paper is to investigate the moderating and mediating effect of corporate governance mechanisms proxy on the relationship of tax planning measured by effective tax rate components and tax disclosure. This paper tested the hypotheses by a 3-step hierarchical regression with 2010 to 2012 Malaysian-listed nonfinancial firms. We found companies positively value tax-planning activities. This indicates that tax planning is seen as a source of companies' wealth creation as the results show that there is an association between the tax disclosure and the extent of tax planning, and this relationship is highly significant. Examination of the implications of corporate governance mechanisms on the tax disclosure-tax planning association showed the lack of a significant coefficient related to any of the interactive variables. This makes it hard to understand the nature of the association. Finally, we further study the sensitivity of the results, the outcomes were also examined for the robustness and strength of the model specification utilizing OLS-effect estimators and the absence of tax planning related factors (GRTH, LEVE, and CAPNT). The findings of these tests display there is no effect on the tax planning-tax disclosure association. The outcomes of the annual regressions test show that the panel regressions results differ over time because there is a time difference impact on the associations, and the different models are not completely proportionate as a whole. Moreover, our paper lends some support to recent theory on the importance of taxes to corporate governance by demonstrating how the agency costs of tax planning allow certain shareholders to benefit from firm activities at the expense of others.

Keywords: tax disclosure, tax planning, corporate governance, effective tax rate

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Authors: Minjung Kim, Hyunkoo Kang, Jinkoo Kim

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In this study, a seismic retrofit scheme for a reinforced concrete shear wall structure using steel slit dampers was presented. The stiffness and the strength of the slit damper used in the retrofit were verified by cyclic loading test. A genetic algorithm was applied to find out the optimum location of the slit dampers. The effects of the slit dampers on the seismic retrofit of the model were compared with those of jacketing shear walls. The seismic performance of the model structure with optimally positioned slit dampers was evaluated by nonlinear static and dynamic analyses. Based on the analysis results, the simple procedure for determining required damping ratio using capacity spectrum method along with the damper distribution pattern proportional to the inter-story drifts was validated. The analysis results showed that the seismic retrofit of the model structure using the slit dampers was more economical than the jacketing of the shear walls and that the capacity spectrum method combined with the simple damper distribution pattern led to satisfactory damper distribution pattern compatible with the solution obtained from the genetic algorithm.

Keywords: seismic retrofit, slit dampers, genetic algorithm, jacketing, capacity spectrum method

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Authors: Mohammed Aljoma

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In this paper, a developed prototype for the scheduling of repetitive activities in height-rise buildings was presented. The activities that describe the behavior of the most of activities in multi-storey buildings are scheduled using the developed approach. The prototype combines three methods to attain the optimized planning. The methods include Critical Path Method (CPM), Gantt and Line of Balance (LOB). The developed prototype; POTER is used to schedule repetitive and non-repetitive activities with respect to all constraints that can be automatically generated using a generic database. The prototype uses the method of genetic algorithms for optimizing the planning process. As a result, this approach enables contracting organizations to evaluate various planning solutions that are calculated, tested and classified by POTER to attain an optimal time-cost equilibrium according to their own criteria of time or coast.

Keywords: planning scheduling, genetic algorithms, repetitive activity, construction management, planning, scheduling, risk management, project duration

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Authors: José Eduardo García-Mendiola

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In this work, a phenomenological approach to computational modeling of analogy processing is carried out. The paper goes through the consideration of the structure of the analogy, based on the possibility of sustaining the genesis of its elements regarding Husserl's genetic theory of association. Among particular processes which take place in order to get analogical inferences, there is one which arises crucial for enabling efficient base cases retrieval through long-term memory, namely analogical transference grounded on familiarity. In general, it has been argued that analogical reasoning is a way by which a conscious agent tries to determine or define a certain scope of objects and relationships between them using previous knowledge of other familiar domain of objects and relations. However, looking for a complete description of analogy process, a deeper consideration of phenomenological nature is required in so far, its simulation by computational programs is aimed. Also, one would get an idea of how complex it would be to have a fully computational account of the analogy elements. In fact, familiarity is not a result of a mere chain of repetitions of objects or events but generated insofar as the object/attribute or event in question is integrable inside a certain context that is taking shape as functionalities and functional approaches or perspectives of the object are being defined. Its familiarity is generated not by the identification of its parts or objective determinations as if they were isolated from those functionalities and approaches. Rather, at the core of such a familiarity between entities of different kinds lays the way they are functionally encoded. So, and hoping to make deeper inroads towards these topics, this essay allows us to consider that cognitive-computational perspectives can visualize, from the phenomenological projection of the analogy process reviewing achievements already obtained as well as exploration of new theoretical-experimental configurations towards implementation of analogy models in specific as well as in general purpose machines.

Keywords: analogy, association, encoding, retrieval

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Authors: O. Ekrami, P. Claes, S. Van Dongen

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Fluctuating asymmetry (FA) has been studied for many years as an indicator of developmental stability or ‘genetic quality’ based on the assumption that perfect symmetry is ideally the expected outcome for a bilateral organism. Further studies have also investigated the possible link between FA and attractiveness or levels of masculinity or femininity. These hypotheses have been mostly examined using 2D images, and the structure of interest is usually presented using a limited number of landmarks. Such methods have the downside of simplifying and reducing the dimensionality of the structure, which will in return increase the error of the analysis. In an attempt to reach more conclusive and accurate results, in this study we have used high-resolution 3D scans of human faces and have developed an algorithm to measure and localize FA, taking a spatially-dense approach. A symmetric spatially dense anthropometric mask with paired vertices is non-rigidly mapped on target faces using an Iterative Closest Point (ICP) registration algorithm. A set of 19 manually indicated landmarks were used to examine the precision of our mapping step. The protocol’s accuracy in measurement and localizing FA is assessed using simulated faces with known amounts of asymmetry added to them. The results of validation of our approach show that the algorithm is perfectly capable of locating and measuring FA in 3D simulated faces. With the use of such algorithm, the additional captured information on asymmetry can be used to improve the studies of FA as an indicator of fitness or attractiveness. This algorithm can especially be of great benefit in studies of high number of subjects due to its automated and time-efficient nature. Additionally, taking a spatially dense approach provides us with information about the locality of FA, which is impossible to obtain using conventional methods. It also enables us to analyze the asymmetry of a morphological structures in a multivariate manner; This can be achieved by using methods such as Principal Components Analysis (PCA) or Factor Analysis, which can be a step towards understanding the underlying processes of asymmetry. This method can also be used in combination with genome wide association studies to help unravel the genetic bases of FA. To conclude, we introduced an algorithm to study and analyze asymmetry in human faces, with the possibility of extending the application to other morphological structures, in an automated, accurate and multi-variate framework.

Keywords: developmental stability, fluctuating asymmetry, morphometrics, 3D image processing

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Authors: Dejan Tanikić, Miodrag Manić, Jelena Đoković, Saša Kalinović

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This paper deals with the determination of the optimum machining parameters, according to the measured and modelled data of the cutting temperature and surface roughness, during the turning of the AISI 4140 steel. The high cutting temperatures are unwanted occurences in the metal cutting process. They impact negatively on the quality of the machined part. The machining experiments were performed using different cutting regimes (cutting speed, feed rate and depth of cut), with different values of the workpiece hardness, which causes different values of the measured cutting temperature as well as the measured surface roughness. The temperature and surface roughness data were modelled after that using Response Surface Methodology (RSM). The obtained RSM models are used in the process of optimization of the cutting regimes using the Genetic Algorithms (GA) tool, which enables the metal cutting process in the optimum conditions.

Keywords: genetic algorithms, machining parameters, response surface methodology, turning process

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Authors: D. Mohammadzadeh S., J. Bolouri Bazaz

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This paper presents a new prediction model for compression index of fine-grained soils using multi-gene genetic programming (MGGP) technique. The proposed model relates the soil compression index to its liquid limit, plastic limit and void ratio. Several laboratory test results for fine-grained were used to develop the models. Various criteria were considered to check the validity of the model. The parametric and sensitivity analyses were performed and discussed. The MGGP method was found to be very effective for predicting the soil compression index. A comparative study was further performed to prove the superiority of the MGGP model to the existing soft computing and traditional empirical equations.

Keywords: new prediction model, compression index soil, multi-gene genetic programming, MGGP

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Authors: Dale Dzemydiene, Aurelija Burinskiene, Arunas Miliauskas, Kristina Ciziuniene

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Data flow and the purpose of reporting the data are different and dependent on business needs. Different parameters are reported and transferred regularly during freight delivery. This business practices form the dataset constructed for each time point and contain all required information for freight moving decisions. As a significant amount of these data is used for various purposes, an integrating methodological approach must be developed to respond to the indicated problem. The proposed methodology contains several steps: (1) collecting context data sets and data validation; (2) multi-objective analysis for optimizing freight transfer services. For data validation, the study involves Grubbs outliers analysis, particularly for data cleaning and the identification of statistical significance of data reporting event cases. The Grubbs test is often used as it measures one external value at a time exceeding the boundaries of standard normal distribution. In the study area, the test was not widely applied by authors, except when the Grubbs test for outlier detection was used to identify outsiders in fuel consumption data. In the study, the authors applied the method with a confidence level of 99%. For the multi-objective analysis, the authors would like to select the forms of construction of the genetic algorithms, which have more possibilities to extract the best solution. For freight delivery management, the schemas of genetic algorithms' structure are used as a more effective technique. Due to that, the adaptable genetic algorithm is applied for the description of choosing process of the effective transportation corridor. In this study, the multi-objective genetic algorithm methods are used to optimize the data evaluation and select the appropriate transport corridor. The authors suggest a methodology for the multi-objective analysis, which evaluates collected context data sets and uses this evaluation to determine a delivery corridor for freight transfer service in the multi-modal transportation network. In the multi-objective analysis, authors include safety components, the number of accidents a year, and freight delivery time in the multi-modal transportation network. The proposed methodology has practical value in the management of multi-modal transportation processes.

Keywords: multi-objective, analysis, data flow, freight delivery, methodology

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Authors: Ferinar Moaidi, Mahdi Moaidi

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Environmental issues and the ever-increasing in demand of electrical energy make it necessary to have distributed generation (DG) resources in the power system. In this research, in order to realize the goals of reducing losses and improving the voltage profile in a microgrid, the allocation and sizing of DGs have been used. The proposed Genetic Algorithm (GA) is described from the array of artificial intelligence methods for solving the problem. The algorithm is implemented on the IEEE 33 buses network. This study is presented in two scenarios, primarily to illustrate the effect of location and determination of DGs has been done to reduce losses and improve the voltage profile. On the other hand, decisions made with the one-level assumptions of load are not universally accepted for all levels of load. Therefore, in this study, load modelling is performed and the results are presented for multi-levels load state.

Keywords: distributed generation, genetic algorithm, microgrid, load modelling, loss reduction, voltage improvement

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Authors: Ines Gasmi, Salima Smiti, Makram Soui, Khaled Ghedira

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Credit risk is considered as one of the important issues for financial institutions. It provokes great losses for banks. To this objective, numerous methods for credit risk evaluation have been proposed. Many evaluation methods are black box models that cannot adequately reveal information hidden in the data. However, several works have focused on building transparent rules-based models. For credit risk assessment, generated rules must be not only highly accurate, but also highly interpretable. In this paper, we aim to build both, an accurate and transparent credit risk evaluation model which proposes a set of classification rules. In fact, we consider the credit risk evaluation as an optimization problem which uses a genetic programming (GP) algorithm, where the goal is to maximize the accuracy of generated rules. We evaluate our proposed approach on the base of German and Australian credit datasets. We compared our finding with some existing works; the result shows that the proposed GP outperforms the other models.

Keywords: credit risk assessment, rule generation, genetic programming, feature selection

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Authors: Salim Omar Raoof

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This study was conducted at the Al-Salam cows’ station for milk production located in Al-Latifiya district - Al-Mahmudiyah district (25 km south of Baghdad governorate) on a sample of (180) Holstein cows imported from Germany by Taj Al-Nahrain company in order to study the effect of the sequence, season and calving year on Total Milk Production (TMP). The lactation period (LP), calving interval, Services per conception and the estimate of the heritability of the studied traits. The results showed that the overall mean of TMP and LP were 3172.53 kg and 237.09-day respectively. The parity effect on TMP in Holstein cows was highly significant (P≤0.01). Total Milk production increased with the advance of parity and mostly reached its maximum value in the 4th and 3rd parity being 3305.87 kg and3286.35 kg per day, respectively. Season of calving has a highly significant (P≤0.01), effect on (TMP). Cows calved in spring had a highest milk production than those calved in other seasons. Season of calving had a highly significant (P≤0.01) effect on services per conception. The result of the study showed the heritability values for TMP, LP, SPC and CL were 0.21, 0.08, 0.08 and 0.07, respectively.

Keywords: cows, non genetic, milk production, heritability

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Authors: Daphine Namara, Jeremy I. Schwartz, Andrew K. Tusubira, Willi McFarland, Caroline Birungi, Fred C. Semitala, Martin Muddu

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Emerging evidence suggests a possible association between hyperglycemia and dolutegravir (DTG), a preferred first-line antiretroviral agent in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). There is a need for rigorous studies to validate this association in the face of increasing DTG use and the burden of non-communicable diseases among people living with HIV (PLHIV). We conducted a case-control study to assess the risk of hyperglycemia associated with the use of DTG among PLHIV attending Mulago ISS Clinic in Kampala. Cases had hyperglycemia, while controls had no hyperglycemia, as confirmed by fasting plasma glucose and oral glucose tolerance tests. Demographic, laboratory, and clinical data were collected using interviewer-administered questionnaires and medical record abstraction. The analysis compared cases and controls on DTG use prior to diagnosis of hyperglycemia while controlling for potential confounders using multivariable logistic regression. We included 204 cases and 231 controls. In multivariable analysis, patients with prior DTG use had seven times greater odds of subsequent diagnosis of hyperglycemia compared to those who had non-DTG-based regimens (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 7.01, 95% CI 1.96-25.09). The odds of hyperglycemia also increased with age (56 years and above vs. 18-35, aOR 12.38, 95% CI 3.79-40.50) and hypertension (aOR 5.78, 95% CI 2.53-13.21). Our study demonstrates a strong association between prior DTG exposure and subsequent diagnosis of hyperglycemia. Given the benefits of DTG, wide-scale use, and the growing burden of diabetes mellitus (DM) in SSA, there is a need for systematic screening for hyperglycemia and consideration of alternate regimens for those at risk for DM.

Keywords: HIV, hyperglycemia, doluteravir, diabetes

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Authors: Manvar Sagar, Nikul Virpariya

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The advancement in data mining techniques plays an important role in many applications. In context of privacy and security issues, the problems caused by association rule mining technique are investigated by many research scholars. It is proved that the misuse of this technique may reveal the database owner’s sensitive and private information to others. Many researchers have put their effort to preserve privacy in Association Rule Mining. Amongst the two basic approaches for privacy preserving data mining, viz. Randomization based and Cryptography based, the later provides high level of privacy but incurs higher computational as well as communication overhead. Hence, it is necessary to explore alternative techniques that improve the over-heads. In this work, we propose an efficient, collusion-resistant cryptography based approach for distributed Association Rule mining using Shamir’s secret sharing scheme. As we show from theoretical and practical analysis, our approach is provably secure and require only one time a trusted third party. We use secret sharing for privately sharing the information and code based identification scheme to add support against malicious adversaries.

Keywords: Privacy, Privacy Preservation in Data Mining (PPDM), horizontally partitioned database, EMHS, MFI, shamir secret sharing

Procedia PDF Downloads 381

Authors: Razan Farah, Siham Ballah

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Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and other social media applications have become an integral component of everyone’s social life, particularly among younger generations and adolescences. These social apps have been changing a lot of conceptions and believes in the population by representing public figures and celebrities as role models. The social comparison theory, which says that people self-evaluate based on comparisons with similar others, is commonly used to explore the impact of social media on body image. There is a need to study the influence of those social platforms on the body image as there have been an increase in body dissatisfaction in the recent years. This cross sectional study used a self administered questionnaire on a simple random sample of 133 female medical students of the first year. Finding shows that the response rate was 75%. There was an association between social media usage and noticing how the person look(p value = .022), but no significant association between social media use and body image influence or dissatisfaction was found. This study implies more research under this topic in Sudan as the literature are scarce.

Keywords: body image, body dissatisfaction, social media, adolescences

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Authors: J. Manuel Bello-López, Julieta Rojo-Medina

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Introduction: The transplant of Umbilical Cord Blood Units (UCBU) are a therapeutic possibility for patients with oncohaematological disorders, especially in children. In Mexico, 48.5% of oncological diseases in children 1-4 years old are leukemias; whereas in patients 5-14 and 15-24 years old, lymphomas and leukemias represent the second and third cause of death in these groups respectively. Therefore it is necessary to have more registries of UCBU in order to ensure genetic diversity in the country; the above because the search for appropriate a UCBU is increasingly difficult for patients of mixed ethnicity. Objective: To estimate the genetic diversity (polymorphisms) of Human Leucocyte Antigen (HLA) Class I (A, B) and Class II (DRB1) in UCBU cryopreserved for transplant at Cord Blood Bank of the NCBT. Material and Methods: HLA typing of 533 UCBU for transplant was performed from 2003-2012 at the Histocompatibility Laboratory from the Research Department (evaluated by Los Angeles Ca. Immunogenetics Center) of the NCBT. Class I HLA-A, HLA-B and Class II HLA-DRB1 typing was performed using medium resolution Sequence-Specific Primer (SSP). In cases of an ambiguity detected by SSP; Sequence-Specific Oligonucleotide (SSO) method was carried out. A strict analysis of populations genetic parameters were done in 5 representative UCBU populations. Results: 46.5% of UCBU were collected from Mexico City, State of Mexico (30.95%), Puebla (8.06%), Morelos (6.37%) and Veracruz (3.37%). The remaining UCBU (4.75%) are represented by other states. The identified genotypes correspond to Amerindian origins (HLA-A*02, 31; HLA-B*39, 15, 48), Caucasian (HLA-A*02, 68, 01, 30, 31; HLA-B*35, 15, 40, 44, 07 y HLA-DRB1*04, 08, 07, 15, 03, 14), Oriental (HLA-A*02, 30, 01, 31; HLA-B* 35, 39, 15, 40, 44, 07,48 y HLA-DRB1*04, 07,15, 03) and African (HLA-A*30 y HLA-DRB1*03). The genetic distances obtained by Cavalli-Sforza analysis of the five states showed significant genetic differences by comparing genetic frequencies. The shortest genetic distance exists between Mexico City and the state of Puebla (0.0039) and the largest between Veracruz and Morelos (0.0084). In order to identify significant differences between this states, the ANOVA test was performed. This demonstrates that UCBU is significantly different according to their origin (P <0.05). This is shown by the divergence between arms at the Dendogram of Neighbor-Joining. Conclusions: The NCBT provides UCBU in patients with oncohaematological disorders in all the country. There is a group of patients for which not compatible UCBU can be find due to the mixed ethnic origin. For example, the population of northern Mexico is mostly Caucasian. Most of the NCBT donors are of various ethnic origins, predominantly Amerindians and Caucasians; although some ethnic minorities like Oriental, African and pure Indian ethnics are not represented. The NCBT is, therefore, establishing agreements with different states of Mexico to promote the altruistic donation of Umbilical Cord Blood in order to enrich the genetic diversity in its files.

Keywords: cord blood, genetic diversity, human leucocyte antigen, transplant

Procedia PDF Downloads 361