Search results for: matched pair

Authors: Allan Chia, Gabriel Gervais

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The case study on FoodXervices Inc shows how businesses need to reinvent and transform themselves in order to adapt and thrive and it also features how an SME can also devote resources to CSR causes. The company, Ng Chye Mong, was set up in 1937 and it went through ups and downs and encountered several failures and successes. In the 1970’s, the management of the company was entrusted to the next generation who continued to manage and expanded the business. In early 2003, the business encountered several challenges. A pair of siblings from the next generation of the Ng family joined the business fulltime and together they set-out to transform the company into FoodXervices Inc. In 2012, they started a charity, Food Bank Singapore Pte Ltd. The authors conducted case study research involving a series of in-depth interviews with the business owner and staff. This case study is an example of how to run a business and coordinate a charity concurrently while mobilising the same resources. The uniqueness of this case is the operational synergy of both the business and charity to promote corporate responsibility causes and initiatives in Singapore.

Keywords: family-owned business, charity, corporate social responsibility, branding

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Authors: S. N. Ekbote, G. K. Padam, Manju Arora

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Electron spin resonance (ESR) spectroscopic investigations of (Bi, Pb)₂Sr₂Ca₂Cu₃O₁₀₋ₓ (Bi-2223) bulk samples were carried out in both the normal and superconducting states. A broad asymmetric resonance signal with side signals is obtained in the normal state, and all of them disappear in the superconducting state. The temperature and angular orientation effects on these signals suggest that the broad asymmetric signal arises from electron spin resonance of conduction electrons (CESR) and the side signals from exchange interactions as Platzman-Wolff type spin waves. The disappearance of CESR and spin waves in a superconducting state demonstrates the role of exchange interactions in Cooper pair formation.

Keywords: Bi-2223 superconductor, CESR, ESR, exchange interactions, spin waves

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Authors: Walid Chkili

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This paper investigates the dynamic relationship between gold and stock markets using data for BRICS counties. For this purpose, we estimate three multivariate GARCH models (namely CCC, DCC and BEKK) for weekly stock and gold data. Our main objective is to examine time variations in conditional correlations between the two assets and to check the effectiveness use of gold as a hedge for equity markets. Empirical results reveal that dynamic conditional correlations switch between positive and negative values over the period under study. This correlation is negative during the major financial crises suggesting that gold can act as a safe haven during the major stress period of stock markets. We also evaluate the implications for portfolio diversification and hedging effectiveness for the pair gold/stock. Our findings suggest that adding gold in the stock portfolio enhance its risk-adjusted return.

Keywords: gold, financial markets, hedge, multivariate GARCH

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Authors: Kamel Laidi, Khelifa Benmansour, Ouahid Bouchhida

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Neural networks-based approach for 2-cells serial converter has been developed and implemented. The approach is based on a behavioural description of the different operating modes of the converter. Each operating mode represents a well-defined configuration, and for which is matched an operating zone satisfying given invariance conditions, depending on the capacitors' voltages and the load current of the converter. For each mode, a control vector whose components are the control signals to be applied to the converter switches has been associated. Therefore, the problem is reduced to a classification task of the different operating modes of the converter. The artificial neural nets-based approach, which constitutes a powerful tool for this kind of task, has been adopted and implemented. The application to a 2-cells chopper has allowed ensuring efficient and robust control of the load current and a high capacitors voltages balancing.

Keywords: neural nets, control, multicellular converters, 2-cells chopper

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Authors: Ishan Naidu, Jessica Ryvlin, Devin Videlefsky

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Introduction: Back pain is a leading cause of years lived with disability and economic burden, exceeding over $20 billion in healthcare costs not including indirect costs such as absence from work and caregiving. The multifactorial nature of back pain leads to treatment modalities administered by a variety of specialists, which are often disjointed. Multiple studies have found that patients receiving delayed physical therapy for lower back pain had higher medical-related costs from increased health service utilization as well as a reduced improvement in pain severity compared to early management. Uncoordinated health care delivery can exacerbate the physical and economic toll of the chronic condition, thus improvements in interdisciplinary, shared decision-making may improve outcomes. Objective: To assess whether a multidisciplinary spine clinic (MSC), consisting of orthopedic surgery, neurosurgery, pain medicine, and physiatry, alters interventional and non-interventional planning and treatment compared to a traditional unidisciplinary spine clinic (USC) including only orthopedic surgery. Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study with patients initially presenting for spine care to orthopedic surgeons between July 1, 2018 to June 30, 2019. Time to treatment recommendation, time to treatment and rates of treatment recommendations were assessed, including physical therapy, injections and surgery. Treatment rates were compared between MSC and USC using Pearson’s chi-square test logistic regression. Time to treatment recommendation and time to treatment were compared using log-rank test and Cox proportional hazard regression. All analyses were repeated for the propensity score (PS) matched subsample. Results: This study included 1,764 patients, with 692 at MSC and 1,072 at USC. Patients in MSC were more likely to be recommended injection when compared to USC (8.5% vs. 5.4%, p=0.01). When adjusted for confounders, the likelihood of injection recommendation remained greater in MSC than USC (Odds ratio [OR]=2.22, 95% CI: (1.39, 3.53), p=0.001). MSC was also associated with a shorter time to receiving injection recommendation versus USC (median: 21 vs. 32 days, log-rank: p<0.001; hazard ratio [HR]=1.90, 95% CI: (1.25, 2.90), p=0.003). MSC was associated with a higher likelihood of injection treatment (OR=2.27, 95% CI: (1.39, 3.73), p=0.001) and shorter lead time (HR=1.98, 95% CI: (1.27, 3.09), p=0.003). PS-matched analyses yielded similar conclusions. Conclusions: Care delivered at a multidisciplinary spine clinic was associated with a higher likelihood of recommending injection and a shorter lead time to injection administration when compared to a traditional unidisciplinary spine surgery clinic. Multidisciplinary clinics may facilitate coordinated care amongst different specialties resulting in increased utilization of less invasive treatment modalities while also improving care efficiency. The multidisciplinary clinic model is an important advancement in care delivery and communication, which can be used as a powerful method of improving patient outcomes as treatment guidelines evolve.

Keywords: coordinated care, epidural steroid injection, multi-disciplinary, non-invasive

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Authors: Musa H. Arslan, Murat Ceylan, Tayfun Koyuncu

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In this study, an artificial intelligence-based (ANN based) analytical method has been developed for analyzing earthquake performances of the reinforced concrete (RC) buildings. 66 RC buildings with four to ten storeys were subjected to performance analysis according to the parameters which are the existing material, loading and geometrical characteristics of the buildings. The selected parameters have been thought to be effective on the performance of RC buildings. In the performance analyses stage of the study, level of performance possible to be shown by these buildings in case of an earthquake was determined on the basis of the 4-grade performance levels specified in Turkish Earthquake Code- 2007 (TEC-2007). After obtaining the 4-grade performance level, selected 23 parameters of each building have been matched with the performance level. In this stage, ANN-based fast evaluation algorithm mentioned above made an economic and rapid evaluation of four to ten storey RC buildings. According to the study, the prediction accuracy of ANN has been found about 74%.

Keywords: artificial intelligence, earthquake, performance, reinforced concrete

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Authors: Jesus Ruano, Francesc Xavier Trias, Asensi Oliva

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A three-dimensional incompressible Large Eddy Simulation (LES) is performed to compute the hydrodynamic field around a pair of tandem cylinders. Symmetry-preserving schemes will be used during this simulation in conjunction with Finite Volume Method (FVM) to obtain the hydrodynamic field around the selected geometry. A set of results consisting of pressure and velocity and the combination of them will be stored at different surfaces near the cylinders as the initial input for the second part of the study. A post-processing of the obtained results based on Ffowcs-Williams and Hawkings (FWH) equation with a Fourier Transform of the acoustic sources will be used to compute noise at several probes located far away from the region where the hydrodynamics are computed. Directivities as well as spectral profile of the obtained acoustic field will be analyzed.

Keywords: far-field noise, Ffowcs-Williams and Hawkings, finite volume method, large eddy simulation, long-span bodies

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Authors: Yozna Gurung

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This paper presents preliminary findings from an on-going study on the use of Internal State Terms (IST) in the production of narratives of Hindi-English bilinguals in an attempt to identify children at risk for Specific Language Impairment. Narratives were examined for macrostructure (story structure and story complexity) and internal state terms or mental state terms (IST/MST). 31 students generated stories based on six pictures that were matched for content and story structure in L1 (Hindi) and L2 (English) using a wordless picture narrative. From 30 sample population, 2 students are at risk of Specific Language Impairment, according to this study i.e 6.45%. They showed least development in story grammar as well as IST in both their languages.

Keywords: internal state terms, macrostructure, specific language impairment, wordless picture narrative

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Authors: Shiuh-Jer Huang, Yu-Sheng Hsu

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On-board available parking space detecting system, parking trajectory planning and tracking control mechanism are the key components of vehicle backward auto-parking system. Firstly, pair of ultrasonic sensors is installed on each side of vehicle body surface to detect the relative distance between ego-car and surrounding obstacle. The dimension of a found empty space can be calculated based on vehicle speed and the time history of ultrasonic sensor detecting information. This result can be used for constructing the 2D vehicle environmental map and available parking type judgment. Finally, the auto-parking controller executes the on-line optimal parking trajectory planning based on this 2D environmental map, and monitors the real-time vehicle parking trajectory tracking control. This low cost auto-parking system was tested on a model car.

Keywords: vehicle auto-parking, parking space detection, parking path tracking control, intelligent fuzzy controller

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Authors: R. Pilafkan, M. Kaffash Irzarahimi, S. F. Asbaghian Namin

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The biaxial buckling behavior of single-layered graphene sheets (SLGSs) is studied in the present work. To consider the size-effects in the analysis, Eringen’s nonlocal elasticity equations are incorporated into classical plate theory (CLPT). A Generalized Differential Quadrature Method (GDQM) approach is utilized and numerical solutions for the critical buckling loads are obtained. Then, molecular dynamics (MD) simulations are performed for a series of zigzag SLGSs with different side-lengths and with various boundary conditions, the results of which are matched with those obtained by the nonlocal plate model to numerical the appropriate values of nonlocal parameter relevant to each type of boundary conditions.

Keywords: biaxial buckling, single-layered graphene sheets, nonlocal elasticity, molecular dynamics simulation, classical plate theory

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Authors: Khen Cohen, Daniel Yankelevich, David Mendlovic, Dan Raviv

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We present a 3D stereo system for high-resolution sensing in both the spatial and the temporal domains by combining a frame-based camera and an event-based camera. We establish a method to merge both devices into one unite system and introduce a calibration process, followed by a correspondence technique and interpolation algorithm for 3D reconstruction. We further provide quantitative analysis about our system in terms of depth resolution and additional parameter analysis. We show experimentally how our system performs temporal super-resolution up to effectively 1ms and can detect fast-moving objects and human micro-movements that can be used for micro-expression analysis. We also demonstrate how our method can extract colored events for an event-based camera without any degradation in the spatial resolution, compared to a colored filter array.

Keywords: DVS-CIS stereo vision, micro-movements, temporal super-resolution, 3D reconstruction

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Authors: Antoine F. Dedewanou, Eric N. Ekpinda

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We investigate whether and how deposit insurance program affects savings decisions in the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS). Specifically, using the World Bank’s 2014 and 2011 Global Financial Inclusion (Global Findex) databases, we apply special regressor approach. We find that the deposit insurance program increases significantly, everything else equal, the probability that people save their money at a financial institution by 11 percentage points in Gabon, by 22.2 percentage points in DR Congo and by 15.1 percentage points in Chad. These effects are matched with positive effects of age and education level. But in Cameroon, the effect of deposit insurance is not significant. The policies aimed at fostering financial inclusion will be more effective if there is a deposit insurance scheme in place, along with awareness among young people, and education programs. JEL Classification: G21, O12, O16

Keywords: deposit insurance, savings, special regressor, ECCAS countries

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Authors: Prashant Malavadkar, Santosh Dhotre, Maruti Shikare

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The n-point splitting operation on graphs is used to characterize 4-connected graphs with some more operations. Element splitting operation on binary matroids is a natural generalization of the notion of n-point splitting operation on graphs. The element splitting operation on a graphic (cographic) matroid may not yield a graphic (cographic) matroid. Characterization of graphic (cographic) matroids whose element splitting matroids are graphic (cographic) is known. The element splitting operation on a co-graphic matroid, in general may not yield a graphic matroid. In this paper, we give a necessary and sufficient condition for the cographic matroid to yield a graphic matroid under the element splitting operation. In fact, we prove that the element splitting operation, by any pair of elements, on a cographic matroid yields a graphic matroid if and only if it has no minor isomorphic to M(K4); where K4 is the complete graph on 4 vertices.

Keywords: binary matroids, splitting, element splitting, forbidden minor

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Authors: Suparman

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Piecewise linear regression models are very flexible models for modeling the data. If the piecewise linear regression models are matched against the data, then the parameters are generally not known. This paper studies the problem of parameter estimation of piecewise linear regression models. The method used to estimate the parameters of picewise linear regression models is Bayesian method. But the Bayes estimator can not be found analytically. To overcome these problems, the reversible jump MCMC algorithm is proposed. Reversible jump MCMC algorithm generates the Markov chain converges to the limit distribution of the posterior distribution of the parameters of picewise linear regression models. The resulting Markov chain is used to calculate the Bayes estimator for the parameters of picewise linear regression models.

Keywords: regression, piecewise, Bayesian, reversible Jump MCMC

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Authors: Surapol Raadnui

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This paper describes an experimental investigation on a pair of gears in which wear and pitting were intentionally allowed to occur, namely, moisture corrosion pitting, acid-induced corrosion pitting, hard contaminant-related pitting and mechanical induced wear. A back-to-back spur gear test rig was used. The test samples of wear debris were collected and assessed through the utilization of an optical microscope in order to correlate and compare the debris morphology to pitting and wear degradation of the worn gears. In addition, weight loss from all test gear pairs was assessed with the utilization of the statistical design of the experiment. It can be deduced that wear debris characteristics exhibited a direct relationship with different pitting and wear modes. Thus, it should be possible to detect and diagnose gear pitting and wear utilization of worn surfaces, generated wear debris and quantitative measurement such as weight loss.

Keywords: tribology, spur gear wear, predictive maintenance, wear particle analysis

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Authors: Lata Rathi, N. R. Mrinal

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Dental Disfigurement is a major problem for a person who is suffering from Malocclusion. Malocclusion, is a technical name given to crowded, irregular or protruded teeth. In the present investigation the Anxiety and Stress are studied with reference to Dental Disfigurement among Adolescents. The 8 SQ Questionnaire (Cattell,1976)was administered to 50 Male(age range 12-20 years) and 50 Female(age range 12-20 years) patients to investigate anxiety and stress with an equal number of normal’s having no dental disfigurement of teeth. Both the groups, experimental and control were matched on age and sex. It was found that experimental group, i. e. orthodontic patients (M=14.34,s= 4.99) have significantly greater anxiety than their normal counterparts (M=11.8,s= 4.20) F=15.04,p=<.01. The sex differences were not observed. However, with reference to stress it was observed that it was significantly greater in orthodontic patients (M=15.11,s= 4.93 )as compared to normal’s (M=12.83, s=4.87). The gender differences on stress were also observed. The females showed greater stress (M=15.06) as compared to males (M=12.88),F=11.55,p.<1. Overall Malocclusion was found to have significant effect on anxiety and stress.

Keywords: anxiety, malocclusion, orthodontic patients, stress

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Authors: Dong Sik Cho, Yong Kweon Suh

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Numerical study has been conducted on the electro-hydrodynamic (EHD) pumping method in terms of a recirculating channel. The method relies on the principle of EHD generated by the electric-field dependent electrical conductivity (Onsager effect). Before considering the full three-dimensional simulation, we solved the two-dimensional problem of EHD flow in a circular channel like a doughnut shape. We observed that when dc voltage was applied a fast and regular flow was produced around electrodes, which is then used as a driving force for the fluid pumping. In this parametric study, the diameters of circular electrodes are varied in the range 0.3mm~3mm and the gap between the electrodes pair is varied in the range 0.3mm~2mm. We found that both the volume flow rate and the pumping efficiency are increased as the distance between the electrodes is decreased. Finally, we also performed the numerical simulation for the three-dimensional channel and found that the averaged flow velocity is in the same order of magnitude as the two-dimensional one.

Keywords: electro-hydrodynamic, electric-field, onsager effect, DC voltage

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Authors: Arindam Chaudhuri

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The research presents epsilon- hierarchical fuzzy twin support vector regression (epsilon-HFTSVR) based on epsilon-fuzzy twin support vector regression (epsilon-FTSVR) and epsilon-twin support vector regression (epsilon-TSVR). Epsilon-FTSVR is achieved by incorporating trapezoidal fuzzy numbers to epsilon-TSVR which takes care of uncertainty existing in forecasting problems. Epsilon-FTSVR determines a pair of epsilon-insensitive proximal functions by solving two related quadratic programming problems. The structural risk minimization principle is implemented by introducing regularization term in primal problems of epsilon-FTSVR. This yields dual stable positive definite problems which improves regression performance. Epsilon-FTSVR is then reformulated as epsilon-HFTSVR consisting of a set of hierarchical layers each containing epsilon-FTSVR. Experimental results on both synthetic and real datasets reveal that epsilon-HFTSVR has remarkable generalization performance with minimum training time.

Keywords: regression, epsilon-TSVR, epsilon-FTSVR, epsilon-HFTSVR

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Authors: Svetlana Nikitenkova, Dmitry Kovriguine

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Stationary energy partition between waves in a one dimensional carbyne chain at ambient temperatures is investigated. The study is carried out by standard asymptotic methods of nonlinear dynamics in the framework of classical mechanics, based on a simple mathematical model, taking into account central and noncentral interactions between carbon atoms. Within the first-order nonlinear approximation analysis, triple-mode resonant ensembles of quasi-harmonic waves are revealed. Any resonant triad consists of a single primary high-frequency longitudinal mode and a pair of secondary low-frequency transverse modes of oscillations. In general, the motion of the carbyne chain is described by a superposition of resonant triads of various spectral scales. It is found that the stationary energy distribution is obeyed to the classical Rayleigh–Jeans law, at the expense of the proportional amplitude dispersion, except a shift in the frequency band, upwards the spectrum.

Keywords: resonant triplet, Rayleigh–Jeans law, amplitude dispersion, carbyne

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Authors: Gizelle K. Vianna, Gustavo S. Oliveira, Gabriel V. Cunha

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The use of decision support systems in agriculture may help monitoring large fields of crops by automatically detecting the symptoms of foliage diseases. In our work, we designed and implemented a decision support system for small tomatoes producers. This work investigates ways to recognize the late blight disease from the analysis of digital images of tomatoes, using a pair of multilayer perceptron neural networks. The networks outputs are used to generate repainted tomato images in which the injuries on the plant are highlighted, and to calculate the damage level of each plant. Those levels are then used to construct a situation map of a farm where a cellular automata simulates the outbreak evolution over the fields. The simulator can test different pesticides actions, helping in the decision on when to start the spraying and in the analysis of losses and gains of each choice of action.

Keywords: artificial neural networks, cellular automata, decision support system, pattern recognition

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Authors: M. F. Miah, A. Chakrabarty

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Two popular and highly valued fish, Stinging catfish (Heteropneustes fossilis) and Asian catfish (Clarias batrachus) are considered for observing genetic enhancement. Cross breeding was performed considering wild and farmed fish through inducing agent. Five RAPD markers were used to assess genetic diversity among parents and offspring of these two catfish for evaluating genetic enhancement in F1 generation. Considering different genetic data such as banding pattern of DNA, polymorphic loci, polymorphic information content (PIC), inter individual pair wise similarity, Nei genetic similarity, genetic distance, phylogenetic relationships, allele frequency, genotype frequency, intra locus gene diversity and average gene diversity of parents and offspring of these two fish were analyzed and finally in both cases higher genetic diversity was found in F1 generation than the parents.

Keywords: Heteropneustes fossilis, Clarias batrachus, cross breeding, genetic enhancement

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Authors: Antoni Ivanov, Nikolay Dandanov, Nicole Christoff, Vladimir Poulkov

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Spectrum underutilization has made cognitive radio a promising technology both for current and future telecommunications. This is due to the ability to exploit the unused spectrum in the bands dedicated to other wireless communication systems, and thus, increase their occupancy. The essential function, which allows the cognitive radio device to perceive the occupancy of the spectrum, is spectrum sensing. In this paper, the performance of modern adaptations of the four most widely used spectrum sensing techniques namely, energy detection (ED), cyclostationary feature detection (CSFD), matched filter (MF) and eigenvalues-based detection (EBD) is compared. The implementation has been accomplished through the PlutoSDR hardware platform and the GNU Radio software package in very low Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR) conditions. The optimal detection performance of the examined methods in a realistic implementation-oriented model is found for the common relevant parameters (number of observed samples, sensing time and required probability of false alarm).

Keywords: cognitive radio, dynamic spectrum access, GNU Radio, spectrum sensing

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Authors: Parsa Sheikhzadeh

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Polar bodies are cells that form by oogenesis in meiosis which differentiate and develop from oocytes. Although in many animals, these cells often die following meiotic maturation of the oocyte. Oocyte activation is during mammalian fertilization, sperm is fused with the oocyte's membrane, triggering the resumption of meiosis from the metaphase II arrest, the extrusion of the second polar body, and the exocytosis of cortical granules. The origin recognition complex proteins 4 (ORC4) forms a cage around the set of chromosomes that will be extruded during polar body formation before it binds to the chromatin shortly before zygotic DNA replication. One unique feature of the female gamete is that the polar bodies can provide beneficial information about the genetic background of the oocyte without potentially destroying it. Testing at the polar body (PB) stage was the least accurate, mainly due to the high incidence of post-zygotic events. On the other hand, the results from PB1-MII oocyte pair validated that PB1 contains nearly the same methylome (average Pearson correlation is 0.92) with sibling MII oocyte. In this article, we comprehensively examine the role of polar bodies in female human gametes.

Keywords: polar bodies, ORC4, oocyte, genetic, methylome, gamete, female

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Authors: M. H. Fazel Zarandi, N. Moshahedi

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The hub location problem appears in a variety of applications such as medical centers, firefighting facilities, cargo delivery systems and telecommunication network design. The location of service centers has a strong influence on the congestion at each of them, and, consequently, on the quality of service. This paper presents a fuzzy maximal hub covering location problem (FMCHLP) in which travel costs between any pair of nodes is considered as a fuzzy variable. In order to consider the quality of service, we model each hub as a queue. Arrival rate follows Poisson distribution and service rate follows Erlang distribution. In this paper, at first, a nonlinear mathematical programming model is presented. Then, we convert it to the linear one. We solved the linear model using GAMS software up to 25 nodes and for large sizes due to the complexity of hub covering location problems, and simulated annealing algorithm is developed to solve and test the model. Also, we used possibilistic c-means clustering method in order to find an initial solution.

Keywords: fuzzy modeling, location, possibilistic clustering, queuing

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Authors: Sonia A. Stoica, Lexi Frankel, Amalia Ardeljan, Selena Rashid, Ali Yasback, Omar Rashid

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Introduction Enterococcus is a vast genus of lactic acid bacteria, gram-positivecocci species. They are common commensal organisms in the intestines of humans: E. faecalis (90–95%) and E. faecium (5–10%). Rare groups of infections can occur with other species, including E. casseliflavus, E. gallinarum, and E. raffinosus. The most common infections caused by Enterococcus include urinary tract infections, biliary tract infections, subacute endocarditis, diverticulitis, meningitis, septicemia, and spontaneous bacterial peritonitis. The treatment for sensitive strains of these bacteria includes ampicillin, penicillin, cephalosporins, or vancomycin, while the treatment for resistant strains includes daptomycin, linezolid, tygecycline, or streptogramine. Enterococcus faecalis CECT7121 is an encouraging nominee for being considered as a probiotic strain. E. faecalis CECT7121 enhances and skews the profile of cytokines to the Th1 phenotype in situations such as vaccination, anti-tumoral immunity, and allergic reactions. It also enhances the secretion of high levels of IL-12, IL-6, TNF alpha, and IL-10. Cytokines have been previously associated with the development of cancer. The intention of this study was to therefore evaluate the correlation between Enterococcus infections and incidence of bone carcinoma. Methods A retrospective cohort study (2010-2019) was conducted through a Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) compliant national database and conducted using International Classification of Disease (ICD) 9th and 10th codes for bone carcinoma diagnosis in a previously Enterococcus infected population. Patients were matched for age range and Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI). Access to the database was granted by Holy Cross Health for academic research. Chi-squared test was used to assess statistical significance. Results A total number of 17,056 patients was obtained in Enterococcus infected group as well as in the control population (matched by Age range and CCI score). Subsequent bone carcinoma development was seen at a rate of 1.07% (184) in the Enterococcal infectious group and 3.42% (584) in the control group, respectively. The difference was statistically significant by p= 2.2x10-¹⁶, Odds Ratio = 0.355 (95% CI 0.311 - 0.404) Treatment for enterococcus infection was analyzed and controlled for in both enterococcus infected and noninfected populations. 78 out of 6,624 (1.17%) patients with a prior enterococcus infection and treated with antibiotics were compared to 202 out of 6,624 (3.04%) patients with no history of enterococcus infection (control) and received antibiotic treatment. Both populations subsequently developed bone carcinoma. Results remained statistically significant (p<2.2x10-), Odds Ratio=0.456 (95% CI 0.396-0.525). Conclusion This study shows a statistically significant correlation between Enterococcus infection and a decreased incidence of bone carcinoma. The immunologic response of the organism to Enterococcus infection may exert a protecting mechanism from developing bone carcinoma. Further exploration is needed to identify the potential mechanism of Enterococcus in reducing bone carcinoma incidence.

Keywords: anti-tumoral immunity, bone carcinoma, enterococcus, immunologic response

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Authors: Marisa Almeida AraúJo

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Artificial intelligence (AI) tools are being used (including in the criminal justice system) and becomingincreasingly popular. The many questions that these (future) super-beings pose the neuralgic center is rooted in the (old) problematic between rationality and morality. For instance, if we follow a Kantian perspective in which morality derives from AI, rationality will also surpass man in ethical and moral standards, questioning the nature of mind, the conscience of self and others, and moral. The recognition of superior intelligence in a non-human being puts us in the contingency of having to recognize a pair in a form of new coexistence and social relationship. Just think of the humanoid robot Sophia, capable of reasoning and conversation (and who has been recognized for Saudi citizenship; a fact that symbolically demonstrates our empathy with the being). Machines having a more intelligent mind, and even, eventually, with higher ethical standards to which, in the alluded categorical imperative, we would have to subject ourselves under penalty of contradiction with the universal Kantian law. Recognizing the complex ethical and legal issues and the significant impact on human rights and democratic functioning itself is the goal of our work.

Keywords: ethics, artificial intelligence, legal rules, principles, philosophy

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Authors: W. Hasan, H. Farhat

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A hybrid quasi-steady thermal lattice Boltzmann model was used to study the combined effects of temperature and contact angle on the movement of slugs and droplets of oil in water (O/W) system flowing between two parallel plates. The model static contact angle due to the deposition of the O/W droplet on a flat surface with simulated hydrophilic characteristic at different fluid temperatures, matched very well the proposed theoretical calculation. Furthermore, the model was used to simulate the dynamic behavior of droplets and slugs deposited on the domain’s upper and lower surfaces, while subjected to parabolic flow conditions. The model accurately simulated the contact angle hysteresis for the dynamic droplets cases. It was also shown that at elevated temperatures the required power to transport the mixture diminished remarkably.

Keywords: lattice Boltzmann method, Gunstensen model, thermal, contact angle, high viscosity ratio

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Authors: Hassan Gharibi

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This research aims to comparing the emotion seeking and attachment styles between runaway and normal girls. The statistical population consisted of 80 (13-25 year-old) girls were selected among runaway girls and normal girls(40 runaway girls +40 normal girls). Normal girls were matched with the runaway girls in demographic features and selected by simple random method. Measuring tools in this research include the 1993 Shaver and Hazan attachment style scale and the Arent emotion seeking scale. Data analyzed by independent t test. Findings showed that there is no significant difference between two groups of girls in ambivalent and avoidant attachment styles. Secure attachment style rate in normal girls is more than runaway girls. Findings showed significant difference of insecure attachment style (avoidant and ambivalent styles together) between the two groups bout in variable of emotion seeking there is no significant difference.

Keywords: attachment styles, emotion seeking, runaway, girls

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Authors: Biswabandhu Bankura, Srikanta Guria, Madhusudan Das

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Purpose: Thyroid peroxidase (TPO) is the key enzyme in the biosynthesis of thyroid hormones. We aimed to identify the spectrum of mutations in the TPO gene leading to hypothyroidism in the population of West Bengal to establish the genetic etiology of the disease. Methods: 200 hypothyroid patients (case) and their corresponding sex and age matched 200 normal individuals (control) were screened depending on their clinical manifestations. Genomic DNA was isolated from peripheral blood samples and TPO gene (Exon 7 to Exon 14) was amplified by PCR. The PCR products were subjected to sequencing to identify mutations. Results: Single nucleotide changes such as Glu 641 Lys, Asp 668 Asn, Thr 725 Pro, Asp 620 Asn, Ser 398 Thr, and Ala 373 Ser were found. Changes in the TPO were assayed in vitro to compare mutant and wild-type activities. Five mutants were enzymatically inactive in the guaiacol and iodide assays. This is a strong indication that the mutations are present at crucial positions of the TPO gene, resulting in inactivated TPO. Key Findings: The results of this study may help to develop a genetic screening protocol for goiter and hypothyroidism in the population of West Bengal.

Keywords: thyroid peroxidase, hypothyroidism, mutation, in vitro assay, transfection

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Authors: Biswabandhu Bankura, Srikanta Guria, Madhusudan Das

Abstract:

Purpose: Thyroid peroxidase (TPO) is the key enzyme in the biosynthesis of thyroid hormones. We aimed to identify the spectrum of mutations in the TPO gene leading to hypothyroidism in the population of West Bengal to establish the genetic etiology of the disease. Methods: 200 hypothyroid patients (case) and their corresponding sex and age matched 200 normal individuals (control) were screened depending on their clinical manifestations. Genomic DNA was isolated from peripheral blood samples and TPO gene (Exon 7 to Exon 14) was amplified by PCR. The PCR products were subjected to sequencing to identify mutations. Results: Single nucleotide changes such as Glu 641 Lys, Asp 668 Asn, Thr 725 Pro, Asp 620 Asn, Ser 398 Thr, and Ala 373 Ser were found. Changes in the TPO were assayed in vitro to compare mutant and wild-type activities. Five mutants were enzymatically inactive in the guaiacol and iodide assays. This is a strong indication that the mutations are present at crucial positions of the TPO gene, resulting in inactivated TPO. Key Findings: The results of this study may help to develop a genetic screening protocol for goiter and hypothyroidism in the population of West Bengal.

Keywords: thyroid peroxidase, hypothyroidism, mutation, in vitro assay, transfection

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