Search results for: Iranian processed cheese

Authors: Malsawmtluanga, J. Malsawma, R. P. Tiwari, V. K. Gahalaut

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North East India is seismically one of the six most active regions of the world. It is placed in Zone V, the highest zone in the seismic zonation of India. It lies at the junction of Himalayan arc to the north and the Burmese arc to the east. The region has witnessed at least 18 large earthquakes including two great earthquakes Shillong (1987, M=8.7) and the Assam Tibet border (1950, M=8.7).The prominent Chite fault lies at the heart of Aizawl, the capital of Mizoram state and this hilly city is the home to about 2 million people. Geologically the area is a part of the Indo-Burmese Wedge and is prone to natural and man-made disasters. Unplanned constructions and urban dwellings on a rapid scale have lead to numerous unsafe structures adversely affecting the ongoing development and welfare projects of the government and they pose a huge threat for earthquakes. Crustal deformation measurements using campaign mode GPS were undertaken across this fault. Campaign mode GPS data were acquired and were processed with GAMIT-GLOBK software. The study presents the current velocity estimates at all the sites in ITRF 2008 and also in the fixed Indian reference frame. The site motion showed that there appears to be no differential motion anywhere across the fault area, thus confirming presently the fault is neither accumulating strain nor slipping aseismically. From the geological and geomorphological evidence, supported by geodetic measurements, lack of historic earthquakes, the Chite fault favours aseismic behaviour in this part of the Indo Burmese Arc (IBA).

Keywords: Chite fault, crustal deformation, geodesy, GPS, IBA

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Authors: Philipp Stehle, Dragoljub Vrankovic, Montaha Anjass

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Due to its high availability and extremely high specific capacity, silicon (Si) is the most promising anode material for next generation lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). However, Si anodes are suffering from high volume changes during cycling causing unstable solid-electrolyte interface (SEI). One approach for mitigation of these effects is to embed Si particles into a carbon matrix to create silicon/carbon composites (Si/C). These typically show more stable electrochemical performance than bare silicon materials. Nevertheless, the same failure mechanisms mentioned earlier appear in a less pronounced form. In this work, we further improved the cycling performance of two commercially available Si/C materials by coating thin metal oxide films of different thicknesses on the powders via Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD). The coated powders were analyzed via ICP-OES and AFM measurements. Si/C-graphite anodes with automotive-relevant loadings (~3.5 mAh/cm2) were processed out of the materials and tested in half coin cells (HCCs) and full pouch cells (FPCs). During long-term cycling in FPCs, a significant improvement was observed for some of the ALD-coated materials. After 500 cycles, the capacity retention was already up to 10% higher compared to the pristine materials. Cycling of the FPCs continued until they reached a state of health (SOH) of 80%. By this point, up to the triple number of cycles were achieved by ALD-coated compared to pristine anodes. Post-mortem analysis via various methods was carried out to evaluate the differences in SEI formation and thicknesses.

Keywords: silicon anodes, li-ion batteries, atomic layer deposition, silicon-carbon composites, surface coatings

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Authors: Gen Sakoda, Hideki Takayasu, Misako Takayasu

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Waste reduction is a fundamental problem for sustainability. Methods for waste reduction with point-of-sales (POS) data are proposed, utilizing the knowledge of a recent econophysics study on a statistical property of POS data. Concretely, the non-stationary time series analysis method based on the Particle Filter is developed, which considers abnormal fluctuation scaling known as Taylor's law. This method is extended for handling incomplete sales data because of stock-outs by introducing maximum likelihood estimation for censored data. The way for optimal stock determination with pricing the cost of waste reduction is also proposed. This study focuses on the examination of the methods for large sales numbers where Taylor's law is obvious. Numerical analysis using aggregated POS data shows the effectiveness of the methods to reduce food waste maintaining a high profit for large sales numbers. Moreover, the way of pricing the cost of waste reduction reveals that a small profit loss realizes substantial waste reduction, especially in the case that the proportionality constant  of Taylor’s law is small. Specifically, around 1% profit loss realizes half disposal at =0.12, which is the actual  value of processed food items used in this research. The methods provide practical and effective solutions for waste reduction keeping a high profit, especially with large sales numbers.

Keywords: food waste reduction, particle filter, point-of-sales, sustainable development goals, Taylor's law, time series analysis

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Authors: Rotimi Larayetana, Yahaya Abdulrazaq, Oladunni O. Falola, Abayomi Ajayi

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The aim of this study was to perform green synthesis of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) with the aqueous extract of Moringa oleifera Lam (M oleifera) leaves and determine its effects on benign prostatic hyperplasia in Wistar rats. Silver nitrate (AgNO₃) solution was reduced using the aqueous extract of Moringa oleifera Lam leaves, the resultant biogenic AgNPs were characterized by Fourier transformed infrared spectrophotometric, SEM, TEM and X-ray diffraction analysis. Animal experiments involved thirty (30) adult male Wistar rats randomly divided into five groups (A to E; n ₌ 5). Group A received only subcutaneous injection of olive oil daily while the other groups got 3 mg/kg/daily of testosterone propionate (TP) subcutaneously plus 50 mg/kg/daily of AgNPs intraperitoneally (B), 3 mg/kg/daily of TP plus 25 mg/kg/daily of AgNPs (C), 3 mg/kg/daily of TP only (D) and 25 mg/kg/daily of AgNPs only (E). The animals were sacrificed after 14 days, and the prostate gland, liver, and kidney were processed for histological analysis. Phytochemical screening and GC-MS analysis were performed to determine the composition of the M oleifera extract used. Biogenic AgNPs with an average diameter of 23 nm were synthesized. Biogenic AgNPs ameliorated hormone-induced prostate enlargement, and the inhibition of prostatic hypertrophy could be due to the presence of a significant amount of plant fatty acids and phytosterols in the aqueous extract of M oleifera extract. However, the administration of biogenic AgNPs at higher doses impacted negatively on the cytoarchitecture of the liver. Green synthesis of AgNPs with the aqueous extract of Moringa oleifera might be beneficial for the treatment of BPH.

Keywords: benign prostatic hyperplasia, biogenic synthesis, Moringa oleifera, silver nanoparticles, testosterone

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Authors: Raed Alsufyani, Hissam Tawfik, Victor Chang, Muthu Ramachandran

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This study investigates the factors that influence the decision by players in the healthcare sector to embrace Cloud Business Intelligence Technology with a focus on healthcare organizations in Saudi Arabia. To bring this matter into perspective, this study primarily considers the Technology-Organization-Environment (TOE) framework and the Human Organization-Technology (HOT) fit model. A survey was hypothetically designed based on literature review and was carried out online. Quantitative data obtained was processed from descriptive and one-way frequency statistics to inferential and regression analysis. Data were analysed to establish factors that influence the decision to adopt Cloud Business intelligence technology in the healthcare sector. The implication of the identified factors was measured, and all assumptions were tested. 66.70% of participants in healthcare organization backed the intention to adopt cloud business intelligence system. 99.4% of these participants considered security concerns and privacy risk have been the most significant factors in the adoption of cloud Business Intelligence (CBI) system. Through regression analysis hypothesis testing point that usefulness, service quality, relative advantage, IT infrastructure preparedness, organization structure; vendor support, perceived technical competence, government support, and top management support positively and significantly influence the adoption of (CBI) system. The paper presents quantitative phase that is a part of an on-going project. The project will be based on the consequences learned from this study.

Keywords: cloud computing, business intelligence, HOT-fit model, TOE, healthcare and innovation adoption

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Authors: G. Martino, F. Silva, E. Marchal

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The control over delivered iron ore blend characteristics is one of the most important aspects of the mining business. The iron ore price is a function of its composition, which is the outcome of the beneficiation process. So, end-to-end integrated planning of mine operations can reduce risks of penalties on the iron ore price. In a standard iron mining company, the production chain is composed of mining, ore beneficiation, and client supply. When mine planning and client supply decisions are made uncoordinated, the beneficiation plant struggles to deliver the best blend possible. Technological improvements in several fields allowed bridging the gap between departments and boosting integrated decision-making processes. Clusterization and classification algorithms over historical production data generate reasonable previsions for quality and volume of iron ore produced for each pile of run-of-mine (ROM) processed. Mathematical modeling can use those deterministic relations to propose iron ore blends that better-fit specifications within a delivery schedule. Additionally, a model capable of representing the whole production chain can clearly compare the overall impact of different decisions in the process. This study shows how flexibilization combined with a planning optimization model between the mine and the ore beneficiation processes can reduce risks of out of specification deliveries. The model capabilities are illustrated on a hypothetical iron ore mine with magnetic separation process. Finally, this study shows ways of cost reduction or profit increase by optimizing process indicators across the production chain and integrating the different plannings with the sales decisions.

Keywords: clusterization and classification algorithms, integrated planning, mathematical modeling, optimization, penalty minimization

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Authors: Peyman Shadman Heidari, Hamid Bastani, Pouya Shadman Heidari

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Nowadays, using energy dampers in structures is highly considered for the dissipation and absorption of earthquake energy. The main advantage of using energy damper is absorbing the earthquake energy in some sections apart from the structure frame. Among different types of dampers, hysteresis dampers are of special place because of low cost, high reliability and the lack of mechanical parts. In this paper, a special kind of hysteresis damper is considered under the name of buckling brace, which is provided with the aim of the study and investigation of cross braces in boundary behaviour of steel frames using nonlinear static analysis. In this paper, ninety three models of steel frames with cross braces of buckling type are processed with different bays and heights and their plasticity index, behaviour coefficient, distribution type and the number of plastic hinges formed were calculated. Finally, the mean behaviour coefficient was compared with standard behaviour coefficient of 2800 and the suitable mode of braces placing in improving nonlinear behaviour and suitable distribution of plastic hinges were presented. In addition, it was determined that for some placing mode of braces the behaviour coefficient will increase to 15 times of recommended 2800 standard coefficient and in some placing modes, the braced bays will show considerable difference with suggested 2800 standard behaviour coefficient relative to each other.

Keywords: buckling restrained brace, plasticity index, behaviour coefficient, resistance coefficient, plastic joints

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Authors: Tamrat Tesfaye, Bruce Sithole, Deresh Ramjugernath

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Worldwide, the poultry–processing industry generates large quantities of feather by-products that amount to 40 billion kilograms annually. The feathers are considered wastes although small amounts are often processed into valuable products such as feather meal and fertilizers. The remaining waste is disposed of by incineration or by burial in controlled landfills. Improper disposal of these biological wastes contributes to environmental damage and transmission of diseases. Economic pressures, environmental pressures, increasing interest in using renewable and sustainable raw materials, and the need to decrease reliance on non-renewable petroleum resources behove the industry to find better ways of dealing with waste feathers. A closer look at the structure and composition of feathers shows that the whole part of a chicken feather (rachis and barb) can be used as a source of a pure structural protein called keratin which can be exploited for conversion into a number of high-value bio products. Additionally, a number of technologies can be used to convert other biological components of feathers into high value added products. Thus, conversion of the waste into valuable products can make feathers an attractive raw material for the production of bio products. In this review, possible applications of chicken feathers in a variety of technologies and products are discussed. Thus, using waste feathers as a valuable resource can help the poultry industry to dispose of the waste feathers in an environmentally sustainable manner that also generates extra income for the industry. Their valorisation can result in their sustainable conversion into high-value materials and products on the proviso of existence or development of cost-effective technologies for converting this waste into the useful products.

Keywords: biodegradable product, keratin, poultry waste, feathers, valorisation

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Authors: Alli Smith Yemisi Rufina, Adanlawo Isaac Gbadura

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Liver disorders are one of the major problems of the world. Despite its frequent occurrence, high morbidity, and high mortality, its medical management is currently inadequate. This study was designed to evaluate the Hepatoprotective effect of saponin extract of the root of Garcinia kola on the integrity of the liver of paracetamol induced Wistar albino rats. Twenty-five male adult Wistar albino rats were divided into five (5) groups. Group I, was the Control group that received distilled water only, group II was the negative control that received 2 g/kg of paracetamol on the 13th day, and group III, IV, and V were pre-treated with 100, 200 and 400 mg/kg of the saponin extract before inducing the liver damage on the 13th day with 2 g/kg of paracetamol. Twenty-four hours after administration, the rats were sacrificed, and blood samples were collected. The serum Alanine Transaminase (ALT), Aspartate Transaminase (AST), Alkaline Phosphatase (ALP) activities, Bilirubin and Conjugated Bilirubin, Glucose and Protein concentrations were evaluated. The liver was fixed immediately in Formalin and was processed and stained with Haematoxylin and Eosin (H&E). Administration of saponin extract from the root of Garcinia kola significantly decreased paracetamol induced elevated enzymes in the test group. Also, histological observations showed that saponin extract of the root of Garcinia kola exhibited a significant liver protection against the toxicant as evident by the cells trying to return to normal. Saponin extract from the root of Garcinia kola indicated a protection of the structural integrity of the hepatocytic cell membrane and regeneration of the damaged liver.

Keywords: hepatoprotective, liver damage, Garcinia kola, saponin, paracetamol

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Authors: Mohammad Zaeimzade

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The development of communication technologies is clearly and rapidly moving towards reducing the distance between the virtual and real worlds. Of course, living in a two-spatial or two-globalized world or any other interpretation that means mixing real and virtual life is still relevant and debatable. In the present age of communication, where social networks have transformed the message equation and turned the audience out of passivity and turned into a user. Platforms have penetrated widely in various aspects of human life, from culture and education and economy. Among the messengers, Instagram, which is one of the most extensive image-based interactive networks, plays a significant role in the new economic life. It doesn't need much explanation that the era of thinking of every messenger as a non-insulating conductor that is just a neutral load has passed. Every messenger has its own economic, political and of course security background, Instagram is no exception to this rule and of course it leaves its effects in bio-economics as well. Iran, as the 19th largest economy in the world, has not been unaffected by new platforms, including Instagram, and their consequences in the economy. Generally, in the policy-making space, there are two simple and inflexible pessimistic or optimistic views on this issue, and each of the holders of these views usually have their own one-dimensional policy recommendations regarding how to deal with Instagram. Prescriptions that are usually very different and sometimes contradictory. In this article, we show that this confusion of policymakers is the result of not accurately describing the reality of its effect, and the reason for this inaccurate description is the existence of a conflict of interests in the eyes of describers and researchers. In this article, we first take a look at the main indicators of the Iranian economy, estimate the role of the digital economy in Iran's economic growth, then study the conflicting descriptions of the Instagram-based digital economy, the statistics that show the tolerance of economic users of Instagram in Iran. 300 thousand to 9 million have been estimated. Finally, we take a look at the government's actions in this matter, especially in the context of street riots in October and November 2022. And we suggest an intermediate idea.

Keywords: digital economy, instagram, conflict of interest, social networks

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Authors: Min Chen, Rubi Gupta

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Understanding and predicting stock market movements is a challenging problem. It is believed stock markets are partially driven by public sentiments, which leads to numerous research efforts to predict stock market trend using public sentiments expressed on social media such as Twitter but with limited success. Recently a microblogging website StockTwits is becoming increasingly popular for users to share their discussions and sentiments about stocks and financial market. In this project, we analyze the text content of StockTwits tweets and extract financial sentiment using text featurization and machine learning algorithms. StockTwits tweets are first pre-processed using techniques including stopword removal, special character removal, and case normalization to remove noise. Features are extracted from these preprocessed tweets through text featurization process using bags of words, N-gram models, TF-IDF (term frequency-inverse document frequency), and latent semantic analysis. Machine learning models are then trained to classify the tweets' sentiment as positive (bullish) or negative (bearish). The correlation between the aggregated daily sentiment and daily stock price movement is then investigated using Pearson’s correlation coefficient. Finally, the sentiment information is applied together with time series stock data to predict stock price movement. The experiments on five companies (Apple, Amazon, General Electric, Microsoft, and Target) in a duration of nine months demonstrate the effectiveness of our study in improving the prediction accuracy.

Keywords: machine learning, sentiment analysis, stock price prediction, tweet processing

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Authors: Famuwagun A. A., Abiona O. O., Gbadamosi S.O., Adeboye O. A., Adebooye O. C.

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The need to provide more information on the perceived bioactive status of the peel of plantain fruit informed the design of this research. Matured Plantain fruits were harvested, and fruits were allowed to ripen spontaneously. Samples of plantain fruit were taken every fortnight, and the peels were removed. The peels were dried using two different drying techniques (Oven drying and sun drying) and milled into powdery forms. Other samples were picked and processed in a similar manner on the first, third, seventh and tenth day until the peels of the fruits were fully ripped, resulting in eight different samples. The anti-oxidative properties of the samples using different assays (DPPH, FRAP, MCA, HRSA, SRSA, ABTS, ORAC), inhibitory activities against enzymes related to diabetes (alpha-amylase and glucosidase) and inhibition against angiotensin-converting enzymes (ACE) were evaluated. The result showed that peels of plantain fruits on the 7th day of ripening and sundried exhibited greater inhibitions against free radicals, which enhanced its antioxidant activities, resulting in greater inhibitions against alpha-amylase and alpha-glucosidase enzymes. Also, oven oven-dried sample of the peel of plantain fruit on the 7th day of ripening had greater phenolic contents than the other samples, which also resulted in higher inhibition against angiotensin converting enzymes when compared with other samples. The results showed that even though the unripe peel of plantain fruit is assumed to contain excellent bioactive activities, consumption of the peel should be allowed to ripen for seven days after maturity and harvesting so as to derive maximum benefit from the peel.

Keywords: functional ingredient, diabetics, hypertension, functional foods

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Authors: Yongqin Zhang, John Lett

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Geospatial technologies have been increasingly used in agriculture for various applications and purposes in recent years. Unmanned aerial vehicles (drones) fit the needs of farmers in farming operations, from field spraying to grow cycles and crop health. In this research, we conducted a practical research project that used drone technology to design and map optimal locations and layouts of irrigation systems for agriculture farms. We flew a DJI Mavic 2 Pro drone to acquire aerial remote sensing images over two agriculture fields in Forest, Mississippi, in 2022. Flight plans were first designed to capture multiple high-resolution images via a 20-megapixel RGB camera mounted on the drone over the agriculture fields. The Drone Deploy web application was then utilized to develop flight plans and subsequent image processing and measurements. The images were orthorectified and processed to estimate the area of the area and measure the locations of the water line and sprinkle heads. Field measurements were conducted to measure the ground targets and validate the aerial measurements. Geospatial analysis and photogrammetric measurements were performed for the study area to determine optimal layout and quantitative estimates for irrigation systems. We created maps and tabular estimates to demonstrate the locations, spacing, amount, and layout of sprinkler heads and water lines to cover the agricultural fields. This research project provides scientific guidance to Mississippi farmers for a precision agricultural irrigation practice.

Keywords: drone images, agriculture, irrigation, geospatial analysis, photogrammetric measurements

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Authors: A. A. Adedini, B. A. Aina, P. U. Ogbo

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Child obesity is on the rise globally. According to the World Health Organization, the number of obese children would increase to 70 million by 2025 if no intervention is made. An increase in the prevalence of overweight and obesity amongst school children in Lagos State, Nigeria has been established but specific factors promoting its prevalence are unknown. This aim of this study is to identify the commonly expressed factor(s) responsible for the rise in prevalence of child overweight and obesity in Lagos, Nigeria. Five focus group discussions were conducted with different groups of stake-holders involved in child care, namely: parents, teachers and health workers. Participants were recruited using a purposive sampling method; a validated question guide was employed for the discussion sessions. The discussions were recorded, collated, analysed using Grounded theory to extract themes. Six themes emerged from the discussions as follows: Civilization and lifestyle imbalance resulting from busy work schedules of young mothers leading to adoption of westernized culture promoting preference for processed and fast food meals; insecurity and congestion of the state which discourages out-door activities; ignorance of the populace on the prevalence of child obesity in the state; inadequate educative and enlightenment programmes in schools and by the Nigerian government; myths on child care and body physique and societal perceptions of the children born into affluent homes. Some of the factors responsible for the rise in the prevalence of child obesity in Lagos, Nigeria have been identified. Preventive strategies to control the prevalence of obesity in children residing in Lagos state is considered for further studies.

Keywords: Childhood Obesity, factors, lagos state, stakeholders

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Authors: M. K. Hossain, J. Keidel, O. Hensel, M. Diakite

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Fat reduced dairy products are holding a potential market due to health reason. Due to less creamy, and pleasantness, reduced and/or low-fat dairy products are getting less consumer acceptance whereas the fat molecule provides smooth, creamy and a pleasant mouthfeel in dairy products especially yogurt & ice cream. This study was aimed to investigate whether the application of microparticulated whey proteins (MWPs) processed by extrusion cooking, the reduced fat yogurt can achieve similar or higher creaminess compared to whole milk (3.8% fat) and skimmed milk (0.5% fat) yogurt. Full cream and skimmed milk were used to prepare natural stirred yogurt, as well as the dry matter content, also adjusted up to 16% with skimmed milk powder. Whey protein concentrates (WPC80) were used to produce MWPs in particle size of d50 > 5 µm, d50 3<5 µm and d50 < 3 µm through the hot-extrusion process with a screw speed of 400, 600 and 1000 rpm respectively. Furthermore, the commercially available microparticulated whey protein called Simplesse® was also applied in order to compare with extruded MWPs. The rheological and sensory properties of yogurt were assessed, and data were analyzed statistically. The applications of extruded MWPs with 600 and 1000 rpm were achieved significantly (p < 0.05) higher creaminess and preference compared to the whole and skimmed milk yogurt whereas, 400 rpm got lower preference. On the other hand, Simplesse® obtained the lowest creaminess and preference compared to other yogurts, although the contribution of dry matter in yogurt was same as extruded MWPs. The creaminess and viscosities were strongly (r = 0.62) correlated, furthermore, the viscosity from sensory evaluation and the dynamic viscosity of yogurt was also significantly (r = 0.72) correlated which clarifies that the performance of sensory panelists as well as the quality of the products.

Keywords: microparticulation, hot-extrusion, reduced-fat yogurt, whey protein concentrate

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Authors: Sedigheh Kalantari, Yaping Huang

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The historic area of cities has experienced different phases of transformation. The beginning of the twentieth century, modernism, and modern development changed the integrated pattern of change and the historic urban quarter were regarded as subject comprehensive redevelopment. In this respect, historic area of Iranian cities have not been safe from these changes and affected by widespread evolutions; in particular after Islamic Revolution eras (1978) cities have traveled through an evolution in conservation and development policies and practices. Moreover, moving toward a specific approach and specific attention paid to the regeneration of the historical urban centers in Iran has started since the 1990s. This reveals the great importance attached to the historical centers of cities. This paper is an approach to examine an experience on urban regeneration in Iran through a case study. The study relies on multiple source of evidence. The use of multiple sources of evidence can help substantially improve the validity and reliability of the research. The empirical core of this research, therefore, rests in the process of urban revitalization of the old square in Isfahan. Isfahan is one of the oldest city of Persia. The historic area of city encompasses a large number of valuable buildings and monuments. One of the cultural and historical region of Isfahan is Atiq Square (Old Square). It has been the backbone node of the city that in course of time has being ignored more and more and transformed negatively. The complex had suffered from insufficiencies especially with respect to social and spatial aspects. Therefore, reorganization of that complex as the main and most important urban center of Isfahan became an inevitable issue; So this paper except from reminding the value of such historic-cultural heritage and review of its transformation, focused on an experience of urban revitalization project in this heritage site. The outcome of this research shows that situated in different socio-economic political and historical contexts and in face of different urban regeneration issues, Iran have displayed significant differences in the way of urban regeneration.

Keywords: historic area, Iran, urban regeneration, revitalization

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Authors: Mohammad Ranjbar, Mohammad Bazyar, Blake Angell, Thomas Lung, Yibeltal Assefa

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Background: Current health insurance programs in Iran suffer from low enrolment and are not sufficient to attain the country to universal health coverage (UHC). We hypothesize that improving the enrollment rate and moving towards a more sustainable UHC can be achieved by improving the benefits package and providing new incentives. The objective of this study is to assess public preferences and willingness to pay (WTP) for social health insurance (SHI) in Iran. Methods: A discrete choice experiment (DCE) was conducted in 2021, using a self-administered questionnaire on 500 participants to estimate WTP and determine individual preferences for the SHI in Yazd, Iran. Respondents were presented with an eight-choice set and asked to select their preferred one. In each choice set, scenarios were described by eight attributes with varying levels. The conditional logit regression model was used to analyze the participants' preferences. Willingness to pay for each attribute was also calculated. Results: Most included attributes were significant predictors of the choice of a health insurance package. The maximum coverage of hospitalization costs in the private sector, ancillary services such as glasses, canes, etc., as well as coverage for hospitalization costs in the public sector and drug costs, were the most important determining factors for this choice. Coverage of preventive dental care did not significantly influence respondent choices. Estimating WTP showed that individuals are willing to pay more for higher financial protection, particularly against private sector costs; the WTP to increase the coverage of hospitalization costs in the private sector from 50% to 90% is estimated at 362,068 IR, Rials per month. Conclusion: This study identifies the key factors that the population value with regard to health insurance and the tradeoffs they are willing to make between them. Hospitalization, drugs, and ancillary services were the most important determining factors for their choice. The data suggest that additional resources coming into the Iranian health system might best be prioritized to cover hospitalization and drug costs and those associated with ancillary services.

Keywords: social health insurance, preferences, discrete choice experiment, willingness to pay

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Authors: Evrim Buyukaslan, Simona Jevsnik, Fatma Kalaoglu

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Simulation of fabrics is more difficult than any other simulation due to complex mechanics of fabrics. Most of the virtual garment simulation software use mass-spring model and incorporate fabric mechanics into simulation models. The accuracy and fidelity of these virtual garment simulation software is a question mark. Drape is a subjective phenomenon and evaluation of drape has been studied since 1950’s. On the other hand, fabric and garment simulation is relatively new. Understanding drape perception of subjects when looking at fabric simulations is critical as virtual try-on becomes more of an issue by enhanced online apparel sales. Projected future of online apparel retailing is that users may view their avatars and try-on the garment on their avatars in the virtual environment. It is a well-known fact that users will not be eager to accept this innovative technology unless it is realistic enough. Therefore, it is essential to understand what users see when they are displaying fabrics in a virtual environment. Are they able to distinguish the differences between various fabrics in virtual environment? The purpose of this study is to investigate human perception when looking at a virtual fabric and determine the most visually noticeable drape parameter. To this end, five different fabrics are mechanically tested, and their drape simulations are generated by commercial garment simulation software (Optitex®). The simulation images are processed by an image analysis software to calculate drape parameters namely; drape coefficient, node severity, and peak angles. A questionnaire is developed to evaluate drape properties subjectively in a virtual environment. Drape simulation images are shown to 27 subjects and asked to rank the samples according to their questioned drape property. The answers are compared to the calculated drape parameters. The results show that subjects are quite sensitive to drape coefficient changes while they are not very sensitive to changes in node dimensions and node distributions.

Keywords: drape simulation, drape evaluation, fabric mechanics, virtual fabric

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Authors: Zhila Hemati, Seyed Sajjad Hosseni, Sohrab Zamzami

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In nature, forests serve a multitude of functions. They stabilize and nourish soil, store carbon, clean the air and water, and support biodiverse ecosystems. A natural disaster that can affect forests and ecosystems locally or globally is wildfires. Iran experiences annual forest fires that affect roughly 6000 hectares, with the Arasbaran forest being the most affected. These fires may be generated unnaturally by human activity in the forests, or they could occur naturally as a result of climate change. These days, wildfires pose a major natural risk. Wildfires significantly reduce the amount of property and human life in ecosystems globally. Concerns regarding the immediate and longterm effects have been raised by the rise in fire activity in various Iranian regions in recent decades. Natural ecosystem abundance, quality, and health will all be impacted by pasture and forest fires. Monitoring is the first line of defense against and control for forest fires. To determine the spatial-temporal variations of these occurrences in the vegetation regions of Arasbaran, this study was carried out to estimate the areas affected by fires. The findings indicated that July through September, which spans over 130000 hectares, is when fires in Arasbaran's vegetation areas occur to their greatest extent. A significant portion of the nation's forests caught fire in 2024, particularly in the northwest of the Arasbaran vegetation area. On the other hand, January through March sees the least number of fire locations in the Arasbaran vegetation areas. The Arasbaran forest experiences its greatest number of forest fires during the hot, dry months of the year. As a result, the linear association between the burned and active fire regions in the Arasbaran forest indicates a substantial relationship between species abundance and plant species. This link demonstrates that some of the active forest fire centers are the burned regions in Arasbaran's vegetation areas.

Keywords: wildfire, vegetation, plant species, forest

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Authors: Anam Layla, Qamar Abbas Syed, Tahir Zahoor, Muhammad Shahid

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Brassicaceae sprouts are promising candidates for functional food because of their unique phytochemistry and high nutrient density compared to their seeds and matured vegetables. Despite being admired for their health-promoting properties, white cabbage sprouts have been least explored for their nutritional significance and behavior to lactic acid fermentation. This study aimed to investigate the role of lactic acid fermentation i.e., inoculum vs. spontaneous, in reducing intrinsic toxicants load and improving nutrients delivering potential of the white cabbage sprouts. White cabbage sprouts with a 5 – 7 cm average size were processed as raw, blanched, Lactiplantibacillus plantarum inoculated fermentation and spontaneous fermentation. Plant material was dehydrated at 40˚C and evaluated for microbiological quality, macronutrients, minerals, and anti-nutrient contents. The results indicate L. plantarum inoculum fermentation of blanched cabbage sprouts (IF-BCS) to increase lactic acid bacteria count of the sprouts from 0.97 to 8.47 log CFU/g. Compared with the raw cabbage sprouts (RCS), inoculum fermented-raw cabbage sprouts (IF-RCS), and spontaneous fermented-raw cabbage sprouts (SF-RCS), the highest content of Ca (447 mg/ 100g d.w.), Mg (204 mg/100g d.w.), Fe (9.3 mg/100g d.w.), Zn (5 mg/100g d.w.) and Cu (0.5 mg/100g d.w.) were recorded in IF-BCS. L. plantarum led fermentation of BCS demonstrated a reduction in phytates, tannins, and oxalates contents at a rate of 42%, 66%, and 53%, respectively, while standalone lactic acid fermentation of the raw sprouts reduced the burden of anti-nutrients in a range between 32 to 56%. The results suggest L. plantarum led lactic acid fermentation coupled with sprouts blanching is the most promising way to improve the nutritional quality and safety of the white cabbage sprouts.

Keywords: lactic acid fermentation, anti-nutrients, mineral content, nutritional quality

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Authors: Bennani Zoubir Nada, El Hiri Abderrazak, El Hajri Aimad

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In context of economic and health crisis, sustainable entrepreneurship has become one of the best solutions to economic recovery. This study is about the third program of the Moroccan national human development initiative in her third phase which began in 2019 and continuous until 2023, and which deals with income improvement and social inclusion of young people, under the high patronage of his majesty the king of Morocco. What is the approach of this program and how entrepreneurship training of young people can be a pillar to generate income and create jobs? Starting on the effectuation theory, we adopted an exploratory qualitative approach through semi-structured interviews with national human development initiative stakeholders in the area of Meknes-Morocco, which allowed us the state of progress of this program. We carried out a survey based on a grid of questions to collect information that we processed using NVIVO software. The most relevant results are that people eligible are jobless young people, who are between 18 and 35 years old, who reside in Meknes and surroundings and who have a project idea. They are trained by experts in entrepreneurship and management through targeted and diversified courses. To ensure the sustainability of projects, the project organisers have provided measures to ensure the sustainability of the companies through continuous monitoring and evaluation as well as support during all phases from the project idea to the realisation and progress.

Keywords: sustainable entrepreneurship, training, social inclusion, national human development initiative in Morocco (INDH), youth entrepreneurship, the effectuation theory

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Authors: Ehsan Pegah, Huabei Liu

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Determination of the internal friction angle (φ) in natural soil deposits is an important issue in geotechnical engineering. The main objective of this study was to examine the evaluation of this parameter in overconsolidated granular soil deposits by using the P-wave velocity and the anisotropic components of S-wave velocity (i.e., both the vertical component (SV) and the horizontal component (SH) of S-wave). To this end, seventeen pairs of P-wave and S-wave seismic refraction profiles were carried out at three different granular sites in Iran using non-invasive seismic wave methods. The acquired shot gathers were processed, from which the P-wave, SV-wave and SH-wave velocities were derived. The reference values of φ and overconsolidation ratio (OCR) in the soil deposits were measured through laboratory tests. By assuming cross-anisotropy of the soils, the P-wave and S-wave velocities were utilized to develop an equation for calculating the coefficient of lateral earth pressure at-rest (K₀) based on the theory of elasticity for a cross-anisotropic medium. In addition, to develop an equation for OCR estimation in granular geomaterials in terms of SH/SV velocity ratios, a general regression analysis was performed on the resulting information from this research incorporated with the respective data published in the literature. The calculated K₀ values coupled with the estimated OCR values were finally employed in the Mayne and Kulhawy formula to evaluate φ in granular soil deposits. The results showed that reliable values of φ could be estimated based on the seismic wave velocities. The findings of this study may be used as the appropriate approaches for economic and non-invasive determination of in-situ φ in granular soil deposits using the surface seismic surveys.

Keywords: angle of internal friction, overconsolidation ratio, granular soils, P-wave velocity, SV-wave velocity, SH-wave velocity

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Authors: Harshit Mittal, Neeraj Garg

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Hand symbol recognition is a pivotal component in the domain of computer vision, with far-reaching applications spanning sign language interpretation, human-computer interaction, and accessibility. This research paper discusses the approach with the integration of the Canny Edge algorithm and convolutional neural network. The significance of this study lies in its potential to enhance communication and accessibility for individuals with hearing impairments or those engaged in gesture-based interactions with technology. In the experiment mentioned, the data is manually collected by the authors from the webcam using Python codes, to increase the dataset augmentation, is applied to original images, which makes the model more compatible and advanced. Further, the dataset of about 6000 coloured images distributed equally in 5 classes (i.e., 1, 2, 3, 4, 5) are pre-processed first to gray images and then by the Canny Edge algorithm with threshold 1 and 2 as 150 each. After successful data building, this data is trained on the Convolutional Neural Network model, giving accuracy: 0.97834, precision: 0.97841, recall: 0.9783, and F1 score: 0.97832. For user purposes, a block of codes is built in Python to enable a window for hand symbol recognition. This research, at its core, seeks to advance the field of computer vision by providing an advanced perspective on hand sign recognition. By leveraging the capabilities of the Canny Edge algorithm and convolutional neural network, this study contributes to the ongoing efforts to create more accurate, efficient, and accessible solutions for individuals with diverse communication needs.

Keywords: hand symbol recognition, computer vision, Canny edge algorithm, convolutional neural network

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Authors: Pei-Ti Hsu, I-Ju Chen, Jeu-Jung Chen, Cheng-Fen Chang, Shiu-Yan Yang

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Taiwan now is an aging society Research on the elderly should not be confined to caring for seniors, but should also be focused on ways to improve health and the quality of life. Senior citizens who participate in volunteer services could become less lonely, have new growth opportunities, and regain a sense of accomplishment. Thus, the question of how to get the elderly to participate in volunteer service is worth exploring. Apply the Transtheoretical Model to understand stages of change in regular volunteer service and voluntary service behaviour among the seniors. 1525 adults over the age of 65 from the Renai district of Keelung City were interviewed. The research tool was a self-constructed questionnaire and individual interviews were conducted to collect data. Then the data was processed and analyzed using the IBM SPSS Statistics 20 (Windows version) statistical software program. In the past six months, research subjects averaged 9.92 days of volunteer services. A majority of these elderly individuals had no intention to change their regular volunteer services. We discovered that during the maintenance stage, the self-efficacy for volunteer services was higher than during all other stages, but self-perceived barriers were less during the preparation stage and action stage. Self-perceived benefits were found to have an important predictive power for those with regular volunteer service behaviors in the previous stage, and self-efficacy was found to have an important predictive power for those with regular volunteer service behaviors in later stages. The research results support the conclusion that community nursing staff should group elders based on their regular volunteer services change stages and design appropriate behavioral change strategies.

Keywords: seniors, stages of change in regular volunteer services, volunteer service behavior, self-efficacy, self-perceived benefits

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Authors: Pampita Chakraborty, Sukumar Mukherjee

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The study was done to determine the microbiological profile and changing pattern of the pathogens causing UTI in the ICU patients. All the patients admitted to the ICU with urinary catheter insertion for more than 48hours were included in the study. Urine samples were collected in a sterile container with aseptic precaution using disposable syringe and was processed as per standards. Antimicrobial susceptibility test was done by Disc Diffusion method as per CLSI guidelines. A total of 100 urine samples were collected from ICU patients, out of which 30% showed significant bacterial growth and 7% showed growth of candida spp. Prevalence of UTI was more in female (73%) than male (27.%). Gram-negative bacilli 26(86.67%) were more common in our study followed by gram-positive cocci 4(13.33%). The most common uropathogens isolated were Escherichia coli 14 (46.67%), followed by Klebsiella spp 7(23.33%), Staphylococcus aureus 4(13.33%), Acinetobacter spp 3(10%), Enterococcus faecalis 1(3.33%) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa 1(3.33%). Most of the Gram-negative bacilli were sensitive to amikacin (80%) and nitrofurantoin (80%), where as all gram-positive organisms were sensitive to Vancomycin. A large number ESBL producers were also observed in this study. The study finding showed that E.coli is the predominant pathogen and has increasing resistance pattern to the commonly used antibiotics. The study proposes that the adherence to antibiotic policy is the key ingredients for successful outcome in ICU patients and also emphasizes that repeated evaluation of microbial characteristics and continuous surveillance of resistant bacteria is required for selection of appropriate antibiotic therapy.

Keywords: antimicrobial sensitivity, intensive care unit, nosocomial infection, urinary tract infection

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Authors: Kusay Wheib, Alexandra Krvchenko

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Crop yields are influenced by many factors, including natural ones, such as soil and environmental characteristics of the agricultural land, as well as manmade ones, such as management applications. One of the factors that frequently affect crop yields in undulating Midwest landscapes is topography, which controls the movement of water and nutrients necessary for plant life. The main objective of this study is to examine how field topography influences performance of different management practices in undulated terrain of southwest Michigan. A total of 26 agricultural fields, ranging in size from 1.1 to 7.4 ha, from the Scale-Up at Kellogg Biological Station were included in the study. The two studied factors were crop species with three levels, i.e., corn (Zea mays L.) soybean (Glycine max L.), and wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), and management practice with three levels, i.e., conventional, low input, and organic managements. They were compared under three contrasting topographical settings, namely, summit (includes summits and shoulders), slope (includes backslopes), and depression (includes footslope and toeslope). Yield data of years 2007 through 2012 was processed, cleaned, and filtered, average yield then was calculated for each field, topographic setting, and year. Topography parameters, including terrain, slope, curvature, flow direction and wetness index were computed under ArcGIS environment for each topographic class of each field to seek their effects on yield. Results showed that topographical depressions produced greatest yields in most studied fields, while managements with chemical inputs, both low input and conventional, resulted in higher yields than the organic management.

Keywords: sustainable agriculture, precision agriculture, topography, yield

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Authors: A. O Amosu, A. M Hammed, G. W. Maneveldt, D. V. Robertson-Andersson

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In aquaculture, feed utilization is an important factor affecting growth of the target species, and thus the success of the aquaculture operation. Growth of C. gariepinus fingerlings (weight 1.60 ± 0.05 g; length 4.50 ± 0.07cm) was monitored in a closed door hatchery for a period of 21 days in an experiment consisting of 4 treatments stocked at 20 fish/10 litre tanks, fed in triplicate twice daily (08:30, 17:30) at 4% body weight with weight changes recorded every 3 days. Treatments were: 1) FeedX; 2) 35% crude protein diet + non enriched Ulva spp (11.18% crude protein) (CD + NEU); 3) 35% crude protein diet + enriched Ulva spp (11.98% crude protein)(CD +EU) and 4) control diet of 35% crude protein (CD). The production of Ulva spp. biomass was cultivated for a period of 3 months. The result shows that the fish fed macroalgal enriched diet had good growth, though no significant difference (p > 0.05) was recorded amongst the weight gain, %weight gain, specific growth rates and nitrogen metabolism of diets CD + NEU, CD + EU and CD. Significant differences (p < 0.05), were, however, found in the food conversion ratio (FCR) and gross food conversion ratio (gFCR) among the fingerlings across all the different experimental diets. The best FCRs were recorded for control diet (0.79 ± 2.39) and the Ulva enriched (1.75 ± 1.34) diets. The results suggest that the fingerlings were able to utilize Ulva supplemented with control diet better than the FeedX. We have shown that Ulva supplemented diets are good substitutes for formulated and commercial feeds, with potential to be successful fish feed in aquaculture systems.

Keywords: aquaculture, clarias gariepinus, growth, macroalgae, nutrient, ulva

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Authors: Tahir Ali Akbar, Hirra Jabbar

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Land cover change analysis plays a significant role in understanding the trends of urban sprawl and land use transformation due to anthropogenic activities. In this study, the spatio-temporal dynamics of major land covers were analyzed in the last twenty years (1988-2016) for District Lahore located in the Punjab Province of Pakistan. The Landsat satellite imageries were downloaded from USGS Global Visualization Viewer of Earth Resources Observation and Science Center located in Sioux Falls, South Dakota USA. The imageries included: (i) Landsat TM-5 for 1988 and 2001; and (ii) Landsat-8 OLI for 2016. The raw digital numbers of Landsat-5 images were converted into spectral radiance and then planetary reflectance. The digital numbers of Landsat-8 image were directly converted into planetary reflectance. The normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) was used to classify the processed images into six major classes of water, buit-up, barren land, shrub and grassland, sparse vegetation and dense vegetation. The NDVI output results were improved by visual interpretation using high-resolution satellite imageries. The results indicated that the built-up areas were increased to 21% in 2016 from 10% in 1988. The decrease in % areas was found in case of water, barren land and shrub & grassland. There were improvements in percentage of areas for the vegetation. The increasing trend of urban sprawl for Lahore requires implementation of GIS based spatial planning, monitoring and management system for its sustainable development.

Keywords: land cover changes, NDVI, remote sensing, urban sprawl

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Authors: Kayvan Khoramipour, Abbas Ali Gaeini, Elham Shirzad, Øyvind Sandbakk

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Basketball has different positions with individual movement profiles, which may influence metabolic demands. Accordingly, the present study aimed to compare the movement and metabolic load between different positions during elite male basketball games. Five main players of 14 teams (n = 70), who participated in the 2017-18 Iranian national basketball leagues, were selected as participants. The players were defined as backcourt (Posts 1-3) and frontcourt (Posts 4-5). Video based time motion analysis (VBTMA) was performed based on players’ individual running and shuffling speed using Dartfish software. Movements were classified into high and low intensity running with and without having the ball, as well as high and low-intensity shuffling and static movements. Mean frequency, duration, and distance were calculated for each class, except for static movements where only frequency was calculated. Saliva samples were collected from each player before and after 40-minute basketball games and analyzed using metabolomics. Principal component analysis (PCA) and Partial least square discriminant analysis (PLSDA) (for metabolomics data) and independent T-tests (for VBTMA) were used as statistical tests. Movement frequency, duration, and distance were higher in backcourt players (all p ≤ 0.05), while static movement frequency did not differ. Saliva samples showed that the levels of Taurine, Succinic acid, Citric acid, Pyruvate, Glycerol, Acetoacetic acid, Acetone, and Hypoxanthine were all higher in backcourt players, whereas Lactate, Alanine, 3-Metyl Histidine, and Methionine were higher in frontcourt players Based on metabolomics, we demonstrate that backcourt and frontcourt players have different metabolic profiles during games, where backcourt players move clearly more during games and therefore rely more on aerobic energy, whereas frontcourt players rely more on anaerobic energy systems in line with less dynamic but more static movement patterns.

Keywords: basketball, metabolomics, saliva, sport loadomics

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Authors: Oyebade K. Oyedotun

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The cardiotocogram is a technical recording of the heartbeat rate and uterine contractions of a fetus during pregnancy. During pregnancy, several complications can occur to both the mother and the fetus; hence it is very crucial that medical experts are able to find technical means to check the healthiness of the mother and especially the fetus. It is very important that the fetus develops as expected in stages during the pregnancy period; however, the task of monitoring the health status of the fetus is not that which is easily achieved as the fetus is not wholly physically available to medical experts for inspection. Hence, doctors have to resort to some other tests that can give an indication of the status of the fetus. One of such diagnostic test is to obtain cardiotocograms of the fetus. From the analysis of the cardiotocograms, medical experts can determine the status of the fetus, and therefore necessary medical interventions. Generally, medical experts classify examined cardiotocograms into ‘normal’, ‘suspect’, or ‘pathological’. This work presents an artificial neural network based decision support system which can filter cardiotocograms data, producing the corresponding statuses of the fetuses. The capability of artificial neural network to explore the cardiotocogram data and learn features that distinguish one class from the others has been exploited in this research. In this research, feedforward and radial basis neural networks were trained on a publicly available database to classify the processed cardiotocogram data into one of the three classes: ‘normal’, ‘suspect’, or ‘pathological’. Classification accuracies of 87.8% and 89.2% were achieved during the test phase of the trained network for the feedforward and radial basis neural networks respectively. It is the hope that while the system described in this work may not be a complete replacement for a medical expert in fetus status evaluation, it can significantly reinforce the confidence in medical diagnosis reached by experts.

Keywords: decision support, cardiotocogram, classification, neural networks

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