Search results for: trabecular bone score

Authors: Ljubica Milanović Glavan

Abstract:

Because of the increasing business pressures, companies must be adaptable and flexible in order to withstand them. Inadequate business processes and low level of business process orientation, that in its core accentuates business processes as opposed to business functions and focuses on process performance and customer satisfaction, hider the ability to adapt to changing environment. It has been shown in previous studies that the companies which have reached higher business process maturity level consistently outperform those that have not reached them. The aim of this paper is to provide a basic understanding of business process orientation concept and business process maturity model. Besides that the paper presents the state of business process orientation in Croatia that has been captured with a study conducted in 2013. Based on the results some practical implications and guidelines for managers are given.

Keywords: Business process orientation, business process maturity, Croatia, maturity score.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1626

Authors: Z. Nurzaireena, K. Azalea, T. Azirawaty, S. Jameela, G. Muralitharan

Abstract:

The aim of this study is the review of the management practices of sickle cell disease patients during pregnancy, as well as the maternal and neonatal outcome at Ampang Hospital, Selangor. The study consisted of a review of pregnant patients with sickle cell disease under follow up at the Hematology Clinic, Ampang Hospital over the last seven years to assess their management and maternal-fetal outcome. The results of the review show that Ampang Hospital is considered the public hematology centre for sickle cell disease and had successfully managed three pregnancies throughout the last seven years. Patients’ presentations, managements and maternal-fetal outcome were compared and reviewed for academic improvements. All three patients were seen very early in their pregnancy and had been given a regime of folic acid, antibiotics and thrombo-prophylactic drugs. Close monitoring of maternal and fetal well being was done by the hematologists and obstetricians. Among the patients, there were multiple admissions during the pregnancy for either a painful sickle cell bone crisis, haemolysis following an infection and anemia requiring phenotype- matched blood and exchange transfusions. Broad spectrum antibiotics coverage during and infection, hydration, pain management and venous-thrombolism prophylaxis were mandatory. The pregnancies managed to reach near term in the third trimester but all required emergency caesarean section for obstetric indications. All pregnancies resulted in live births with good fetal outcome. During post partum all were nursed closely in the high dependency units for further complications and were discharged well. Post partum follow up and contraception counseling was comprehensively given for future pregnancies. Sickle cell disease is uncommonly seen in the East, especially in the South East Asian region, yet more cases are seen in the current decade due to improved medical expertise and advance medical laboratory technologies. Pregnancy itself is a risk factor for sickle cell patients as increased thrombosis event and risk of infections can lead to multiple crisis, haemolysis, anemia and vaso-occlusive complications including eclampsia, cerebrovasular accidents and acute bone pain. Patients mostly require multiple blood product transfusions thus phenotype-matched blood is required to reduce the risk of alloimmunozation. Emphasizing the risks and complications in preconception counseling and establishing an ultimate pregnancy plan would probably reduce the risk of morbidity and mortality to the mother and unborn child. Early management for risk of infection, thromboembolic events and adequate hydration is mandatory. A holistic approach involving multidisciplinary team care between the hematologist, obstetricians, anesthetist, neonatologist and close nursing care for both mother and baby would ensure the best outcome. In conclusion, sickle cell disease by itself is a high risk medical condition and pregnancy would further amplify the risk. Thus, close monitoring with combine multidisciplinary care, counseling and educating the patients are crucial in achieving the safe outcome.

Keywords: Anemia, haemoglobinopathies, pregnancy, sickle cell disease.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1240

Authors: Wei-Yi Yang, Li-Hui Lee, Hsiao-Li Gien, Hsing-Yi Chu, Yi-Ting Chou, Der-Ming Liou

Abstract:

The American Health Level Seven (HL7) Reference Information Model (RIM) consists of six back-bone classes that have different specialized attributes. Furthermore, for the purpose of enforcing the semantic expression, there are some specific mandatory vocabulary domains have been defined for representing the content values of some attributes. In the light of the fact that it is a duplicated effort on spending a lot of time and human cost to develop and modify Clinical Information Systems (CIS) for most hospitals due to the variety of workflows. This study attempts to design and develop sharing RIM-based components of the CIS for the different business processes. Therefore, the CIS contains data of a consistent format and type. The programmers can do transactions with the RIM-based clinical repository by the sharing RIM-based components. And when developing functions of the CIS, the sharing components also can be adopted in the system. These components not only satisfy physicians- needs in using a CIS but also reduce the time of developing new components of a system. All in all, this study provides a new viewpoint that integrating the data and functions with the business processes, it is an easy and flexible approach to build a new CIS.

Keywords: HL7, Reference Information Model (RIM), web service, process management.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1843

Authors: Ricardo Avila, Gabriel Lopes, Vania Vidal, Jose Macedo

Abstract:

This proposal aims for semantic enrichment between glossaries using the Simple Knowledge Organization System (SKOS) vocabulary to discover synonyms, hyponyms and hyperonyms semiautomatically, in Brazilian Portuguese, generating new semantic relationships based on WordNet. To evaluate the quality of this proposed model, experiments were performed by the use of two sets containing new relations, being one generated automatically and the other manually mapped by the domain expert. The applied evaluation metrics were precision, recall, f-score, and confidence interval. The results obtained demonstrate that the applied method in the field of Oil Production and Extraction (E&P) is effective, which suggests that it can be used to improve the quality of terminological mappings. The procedure, although adding complexity in its elaboration, can be reproduced in others domains.

Keywords: Ontology matching, mapping enrichment, semantic web, linked data, SKOS.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 730

Authors: Eileen Chih-Ying Yang, Liang-Han Wu, Chieh-Min Chang

Abstract:

The design of an active leg orthosis for tumble protection is proposed in this paper. The orthosis would be applied to assist elders or invalids in rebalancing while they fall unexpectedly. We observe the regain balance motion of healthy and youthful people, and find the difference to elders or invalids. First, the physical model of leg would be established, and we consider the leg motions are achieve through four joints (phalanx stem, ankle, knee, and hip joint) and five links (phalanges, talus, tibia, femur, and hip bone). To formulate the dynamic equations, the coordinates which can clearly describe the position in 3D space are first defined accordance with the human movement of leg, and the kinematics and dynamics of the leg movement can be formulated based on the robotics. For the purpose, assisting elders and invalids in avoiding tumble, the posture variation of unbalance and regaining balance motion are recorded by the motion-capture image system, and the trajectory is taken as the desire one. Then we calculate the force and moment of each joint based on the leg motion model through programming MATLAB code. The results would be primary information of the active leg orthosis design for tumble protection.

Keywords: Active leg orthosis, Tumble protection

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1602

Authors: N.K.K. Welgama, W.A.D.P. Wanigasundera

Abstract:

Small tanks, the ancient man-made rain water storage systems, support the pheasant life and agriculture of the dry zone of Sri Lanka. Many small tanks were abandoned with time due to various reasons. Such tanks, rehabilitated in the recent past, were found to be less sustainable and most of these rehabilitation approaches have failed. The objective of this research is to assess the impact of the rehabilitation approaches in the management of small tanks in the Kurunegala District of Sri Lanka with respect to eight small tanks. A Sustainability index was developed using seven indicators representing the ability and commitment of the villagers to maintain these tanks. The sustainability index of the eight tanks varied between 79.2 and 47.2 out of a total score of 100. The conclusion is that, the approaches used for tank rehabilitation have a significant effect on the sustainability of the management of these small tanks.

Keywords: Minor irrigation schemes, Participatory, Small Tanks, Sustainable, Water resource management.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1737

Authors: Hani M. Aburas

Abstract:

“Dengue" is an African word meaning “bone breaking" because it causes severe joint and muscle pain that feels like bones are breaking. It is an infectious disease mainly transmitted by female mosquito, Aedes aegypti, and causes four serotypes of dengue viruses. In recent years, a dramatic increase in the dengue fever confirmed cases around the equator-s belt has been reported. Several conventional indices have been designed so far to monitor the transmitting vector populations known as House Index (HI), Container Index (CI), Breteau Index (BI). However, none of them describes the adult mosquito population size which is important to direct and guide comprehensive control strategy operations since number of infected people has a direct relationship with the vector density. Therefore, it is crucial to know the population size of the transmitting vector in order to design a suitable and effective control program. In this context, a study is carried out to report a new statistical index, ABURAS Index, using Poisson distribution based on the collection of vector population in Jeddah Governorate, Saudi Arabia.

Keywords: Poisson distribution, statistical index, prediction, Aedes aegypti.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1875

Authors: Saima Ayaz, Zakir Hussain, Maqbool Hussain Sial

Abstract:

The study identified the sources of production inefficiency of the farming sector in district Faisalabad in the Punjab province of Pakistan. Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) technique was utilized at farm level survey data of 300 farmers for the year 2009. The overall mean efficiency score was 0.78 indicating 22 percent inefficiency of the sample farmers. Computed efficiency scores were then regressed on farm specific variables using Tobit regression analysis. Farming experience, education, access to farming credit, herd size and number of cultivation practices showed constructive and significant effect on the farmer-s technical efficiency.

Keywords: Agricultural credit, DEA, Technical efficiency, Tobit analysis

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2300

Authors: Yu. I. Pigolkin, M. A. Garcia Corro

Abstract:

Age determination of unknown dead bodies in forensic personal identification is a complicated process which involves the application of numerous methods and techniques. Skeletal remains are less exposed to influences of environmental factors. In order to enhance the accuracy of forensic age estimation additional properties of bones correlating with age are required to be revealed. Material and Methods: Dimensional examination of the sella turcica was carried out on cadavers with the cranium opened by a circular vibrating saw. The sample consisted of a total of 90 Russian subjects, ranging in age from two months and 87 years. Results: The tendency of dimensional variations throughout life was detected. There were no observed gender differences in the morphometry of the sella turcica. The shared use of the sella turcica depth and length values revealed the possibility to categorize an examined sample in a certain age period. Conclusions: Based on the results of existing methods of age determination, the morphometry of the sella turcica can be an additional characteristic, amplifying the received values, and accordingly, increasing the accuracy of forensic biological age diagnosis.

Keywords: Age–related changes in bone structures, forensic personal identification, Sella turcica morphometry, body identification.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1325

Authors: Luan Mavriqi, Ilma Robo, Emin Kuzimi, Egresa Baca

Abstract:

The process of skeletal growth in an adolescent significantly affects the displacement of implants placed in the palatine suture. The problems caused by this process have an impact on the dental function and aesthetics of the affected data. If fixed prostheses are placed based on implants, the whole structure would impede maxillary growth. This is the significant difference between the maxilla and the mandible, as the lower jaw has no growth process that affects the movement of the implants or the latter to inhibit the growth of the jaw. In a teenager patient an accident occurred accompanied by loss of maxillary central incisors. The main complaint of patients is aesthetics and phonetics. Dental history of patients refers to the presence of a Maryland bridge that was accompanied by dissatisfaction on the part of the patient. Implant placement is not indicated as jaw augmentation may lead to displacement of the implant. The treatment plan includes the placement of implants in the palatum where this bone thickness allows as a procedure.in this article only the first stage of treatment is presented. Implant treatment is ongoing, will be followed by the second phase of treatment when the patient has reached the age of 18 years.

Keywords: Implants, palatum, adolescent, primary incisor teeth.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 333

Authors: Parvinder Singh Sandhu, Sumeet Kaur Sehra, Karmjit Kaur

Abstract:

Phylogenetic tree is a graphical representation of the evolutionary relationship among three or more genes or organisms. These trees show relatedness of data sets, species or genes divergence time and nature of their common ancestors. Quality of a phylogenetic tree requires parsimony criterion. Various approaches have been proposed for constructing most parsimonious trees. This paper is concerned about calculating and optimizing the changes of state that are needed called Small Parsimony Algorithms. This paper has proposed enhanced small parsimony algorithm to give better score based on number of evolutionary changes needed to produce the observed sequence changes tree and also give the ancestor of the given input.

Keywords: Phylogenetic Analysis, Small Parsimony, EnhancedFitch Algorithm, Enhanced Sakoff Algorithm.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1309

Authors: Zane Turner, Kevin Labille, Susan Gauch

Abstract:

Sentiment analysis is a broad and expanding field that aims to extract and classify opinions from textual data. Lexicon-based approaches are based on the use of a sentiment lexicon, i.e., a list of words each mapped to a sentiment score, to rate the sentiment of a text chunk. Our work focuses on predicting stock price change using a sentiment lexicon built from financial conference call logs. We present a method to generate a sentiment lexicon based upon an existing probabilistic approach. By using a domain-specific lexicon, we outperform traditional techniques and demonstrate that domain-specific sentiment lexicons provide higher accuracy than generic sentiment lexicons when predicting stock price change.

Keywords: Lexicon, sentiment analysis, stock movement prediction., computational finance.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 708

Authors: Jihyun Park

Abstract:

This research suggests that meaning in life or Ikigai can be associated with better academic performances in Japanese college students. To measure meaning in life in Japanese college students, the Ikigai questionnaire and the Meaning in Life Questionnaire (MLQ) are both used, and the survey was collected using Microsoft Teams Forms for a total of 80 Japanese college students. The data revealed that students who have a higher than a 3.0 grade point average (GPA) showed the highest score in both the Ikigai and MLQ. The participants with between a 2.0 and a 3.0 GPA reported lower scores in both MLQ and Ikigai than the previous participants. The group of students who have lower than a 2.0 GPA had the lowest scores for MLQ and Ikigai. This result can indicate that implementing meaning in life or Ikigai to early college students can bring about better academic performance, which also can improve students’ college life better as well.

Keywords: College students’ academic performance, Ikigai, meaning in life, purpose of life.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 100

Authors: Zane Turner, Kevin Labille, Susan Gauch

Abstract:

Sentiment analysis is a broad and expanding field that aims to extract and classify opinions from textual data. Lexicon-based approaches are based on the use of a sentiment lexicon, i.e., a list of words each mapped to a sentiment score, to rate the sentiment of a text chunk. Our work focuses on predicting stock price change using a sentiment lexicon built from financial conference call logs. We introduce a method to generate a sentiment lexicon based upon an existing probabilistic approach. By using a domain-specific lexicon, we outperform traditional techniques and demonstrate that domain-specific sentiment lexicons provide higher accuracy than generic sentiment lexicons when predicting stock price change.

Keywords: Computational finance, sentiment analysis, sentiment lexicon, stock movement prediction.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1070

Authors: Kamolchanok Panishkan, Kanokporn Swangjang, Natdhera Sanmanee, Daoroong Sungthong

Abstract:

The objective of this research is to study principal component analysis for classification of 67 soil samples collected from different agricultural areas in the western part of Thailand. Six soil properties were measured on the soil samples and are used as original variables. Principal component analysis is applied to reduce the number of original variables. A model based on the first two principal components accounts for 72.24% of total variance. Score plots of first two principal components were used to map with agricultural areas divided into horticulture, field crops and wetland. The results showed some relationships between soil properties and agricultural areas. PCA was shown to be a useful tool for agricultural areas classification based on soil properties.

Keywords: soil organic matter, soil properties, classification, principal components

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 4055

Authors: Majid Mirzaei, Saeid Samiezadeh , Abbas Khodadadi, Mohammad R. Ghazavi

Abstract:

This paper presents a novel method for prediction of the mechanical behavior of proximal femur using the general framework of the quantitative computed tomography (QCT)-based finite element Analysis (FEA). A systematic imaging and modeling procedure was developed for reliable correspondence between the QCT-based FEA and the in-vitro mechanical testing. A speciallydesigned holding frame was used to define and maintain a unique geometrical reference system during the analysis and testing. The QCT images were directly converted into voxel-based 3D finite element models for linear and nonlinear analyses. The equivalent plastic strain and the strain energy density measures were used to identify the critical elements and predict the failure patterns. The samples were destructively tested using a specially-designed gripping fixture (with five degrees of freedom) mounted within a universal mechanical testing machine. Very good agreements were found between the experimental and the predicted failure patterns and the associated load levels.

Keywords: Bone, Osteoporosis, Noninvasive methods, Failure Analysis

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2051

Authors: Min-Chuan Huang, I-Ping Chen, Shu-Ying Chung

Abstract:

Taking the medical staff in an emergency ward of a medical center in Central Taiwan as the research object, the questionnaire data were collected by anonymous and voluntary reporting methods with structured questionnaires to explore organ donation’s actual situation, willingness, and attitude. Only 80 valid questionnaires were gathered. Of the 8 questions, the correct mean rate was 5.9 and the correct rate was 73.13%. According to the statistics of organ donation survey, only 8.7% have signed the consent for organ donation, 21.3% are willing but have not yet signed the consent for organ donation, 62.5% have not yet decided, and 7.5% are unwilling. The average total score (standard deviation) of attitude towards organ donation was 36.2. There is no significant difference between the demographic variables and the awareness and willingness of organ donation, but there is a significant correlation between marital status and the attitude toward organ donation.

Keywords: clinical psychology, organ donation, factors affecting psychological disorders, commitment

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1081

Authors: Shivayogi Charantimath

Abstract:

Radiotherapy and chemotherapy are effective for treating malignancies but are associated with side effects like oral mucositis. Chlorhexidine gluconate is one of the most commonly used mouthwash in prevention of signs and symptoms of mucositis. Evidence shows that chlorhexidine gluconate has side effects in terms of colonization of bacteria, bad breadth and less healing properties. Thus, it is essential to find a suitable alternative therapy which is more effective with minimal side effects. Curcumin, an extract of turmeric is gradually being studied for its wide-ranging therapeutic properties such as antioxidant, analgesic, anti-inflammatory, antitumor, antimicrobial, antiseptic, chemo sensitizing and radio sensitizing properties. The present study was conducted to evaluate the efficacy and safety of topical curcumin gel on radio-chemotherapy induced oral mucositis in cancer patients. The aim of the study is to evaluate the efficacy and safety of curcumin gel in the management of oral mucositis in cancer patients undergoing radio chemotherapy and compare with chlorhexidine. The study was conducted in K.L.E. Society’s Belgaum cancer hospital. 40 oral cancer patients undergoing the radiochemotheraphy with oral mucositis was selected and randomly divided into two groups of 20 each. The study group A [20 patients] was advised Cure next gel for 2 weeks. The control group B [20 patients] was advised chlorhexidine gel for 2 weeks. The NRS, Oral Mucositis Assessment scale and WHO mucositis scale were used to determine the grading. The results obtained were calculated by using SPSS 20 software. The comparison of grading was done by applying Mann-Whitney U test and intergroup comparison was calculated by Wilcoxon matched pairs test. The NRS scores observed from baseline to 1^st and 2^nd week follow up in both the group showed significant difference. The percentage of change in erythema in respect to group A was 63.3% for first week and for second week, changes were 100.0% with p = 0.0003. The changes in Group A in respect to erythema was 34.6% for 1^st week and 57.7% in second week. The intergroup comparison was significant with p value of 0.0048 and 0.0006 in relation to group A and group B respectively. The size of the ulcer score was measured which showed 35.5% [P=0.0010] of change in Group A for 1^st and 2^nd week showed totally reduction i.e. 103.4% [P=0.0001]. Group B showed 24.7% change from baseline to 1^st week and 53.6% for 2^nd week follow up. The intergroup comparison with Wilcoxon matched pair test was significant with p=0.0001 in group A. The result obtained by WHO mucositis score in respect to group A shows 29.6% [p=0.0004] change in first week and 75.0% [p=0.0180] change in second week which is highly significant in comparison to group B. Group B showed minimum changes i.e. 20.1% in 1^st week and 33.3% in 2^nd week. The p value with Wilcoxon was significant with 0.0025 in Group A for 1^st week follow up and 0.000 for 2^nd week follow up. Curcumin gel appears to an effective and safer alternative to chlorhexidine gel in treatment of oral mucositis.

Keywords: Curcumin, chemotherapy, mucositis, radiotherapy.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2079

Authors: Naoki Yamamoto, Jun Murakami, Chiharu Okuma, Yutaro Shigeto, Satoko Saito, Takashi Izumi, Nozomi Hayashida

Abstract:

Multi-dimensional principal component analysis (PCA) is the extension of the PCA, which is used widely as the dimensionality reduction technique in multivariate data analysis, to handle multi-dimensional data. To calculate the PCA the singular value decomposition (SVD) is commonly employed by the reason of its numerical stability. The multi-dimensional PCA can be calculated by using the higher-order SVD (HOSVD), which is proposed by Lathauwer et al., similarly with the case of ordinary PCA. In this paper, we apply the multi-dimensional PCA to the multi-dimensional medical data including the functional independence measure (FIM) score, and describe the results of experimental analysis.

Keywords: multi-dimensional principal component analysis, higher-order SVD (HOSVD), functional independence measure (FIM), medical data, tensor decomposition

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2454

Authors: Masoud Saeedi, Shirin Rahimi Kazerooni, Vahid Parvaresh

Abstract:

Validity is an overriding consideration in language testing. If a test score is intended for a particular purpose, this must be supported through empirical evidence. This article addresses the validity of a multiple-choice achievement test (MCT). The test is administered at the end of each semester to decide about students' mastery of a course in general English. To provide empirical evidence pertaining to the validity of this test, two criterion measures were used. In so doing, a Cloze test and a C-test which are reported to gauge general English proficiency were utilized. The results of analyses show that there is a statistically significant correlation among participants' scores on the MCT, Cloze, and Ctest. Drawing on the findings of the study, it can be cautiously deduced that these tests measure the same underlying trait. However, allowing for the limitations of using criterion measures to validate tests, we cannot make any absolute claim as to the validity of this MCT test.

Keywords: C-test, cloze test, multiple-choice test, validity argument.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1875

Authors: H. Bouhamed, A. Rebai, T. Lecroq, M. Jaoua

Abstract:

The objective of our work is to develop a new approach for discovering knowledge from a large mass of data, the result of applying this approach will be an expert system that will serve as diagnostic tools of a phenomenon related to a huge information system. We first recall the general problem of learning Bayesian network structure from data and suggest a solution for optimizing the complexity by using organizational and optimization methods of data. Afterward we proposed a new heuristic of learning a Multi-Entities Bayesian Networks structures. We have applied our approach to biological facts concerning hereditary complex illnesses where the literatures in biology identify the responsible variables for those diseases. Finally we conclude on the limits arched by this work.

Keywords: Data-organization, data-optimization, automatic knowledge discovery, Multi-Entities Bayesian networks, score merging.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1573

Authors: JongKuk Kim, HernSoo Hahn, Uei-Joong Yoo, MyungJin Bae

Abstract:

In this paper, we propose a method of alter duration in frequency domain that control prosody in real time after pitch alteration. If there has a method to alteration duration freely among prosody information, that may used in several fields such as speech impediment person's pronunciation proof reading or language study. The pitch alteration method used control prosody altered by PSOLA synthesis method which is in time domain processing method. However, the duration of pitch alteration speech is changed by the frequency domain. In this paper, we altered the duration with the method of duration alteration by Fast Fourier Transformation in frequency domain. Consequently, the intelligibility of the pitch and duration are controlled has a slight decrease than the case when only pitch is changed, but the proposed algorithm obtained the higher MOS score about naturalness.

Keywords: PSOLA, Pitch Alteration, Duration Control.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1634

Authors: M. Chňapek, M. Tomka, R. Peroutková, Z. Gálová

Abstract:

Processes of plant breeding, testing and licensing of new varieties, patent protection in seed production, relations in trade and protection of copyright are dependent on identification, differentiation and characterization of plant genotypes. Therefore, we focused our research on utilization of wheat storage proteins as genetic markers suitable not only for differentiation of individual genotypes, but also for identification and characterization of their considerable properties. We analyzed a collection of 102 genotypes of bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), 41 genotypes of spelt wheat (Triticum spelta L.), and 35 genotypes of durum wheat (Triticum durum Desf.), in this study. Our results show, that genotypes of bread wheat and durum wheat were homogenous and single line, but spelt wheat genotypes were heterogenous. We observed variability of HMW-GS composition according to environmental factors and level of breeding and predict technological quality on the basis of Glu-score calculation.

Keywords: Genotype identification, HMW-GS, wheat quality.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2326

Authors: Raghav Lakhotia, Sameer Ganu, Anshul Goel, Abhishek Kumar

Abstract:

In the age and times where women’s empowerment is a significant topic of discussion, we aim to analyze the potential gender diversity influence on box office revenues. The following research is carried out by collecting data from 400 Hollywood movies between the years 2014-2017 and performing regression analysis to find a correlation between the presence of female characters in movies and their return on investment (ROI). The paper finds that there is a positive relationship between the performance of the movies (its ROI) and the gender diversity i.e. the more the number of female characters, the higher the revenue generated. Another factor such as Number of Votes also has a direct impact on the revenue of the movie. The research not only takes into consideration the mere presence of women on screen but also the exchange of at least one dialogue among themselves, which is presented by the Bechdel Score of the movie.

Keywords: Bechdel, diversity, Hollywood, return on investment.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 645

Authors: Raif Parlakkaya, Ahmet Diken, Erkan Kara

Abstract:

This paper examines the relationship between corporate governance rating and stock prices of 26 Turkish firms listed in Turkish stock exchange (Borsa Istanbul) by using panel data analysis over five-year period. The paper also investigates the stock performance of firms with governance rating with regards to the market portfolio (i.e. BIST 100 Index) both prior and after governance scoring began. The empirical results show that there is no relation between corporate governance rating and stock prices when using panel data for annual variation in both rating score and stock prices. Further analysis indicates surprising results that while the selected firms outperform the market significantly prior to rating, the same performance does not continue afterwards.

Keywords: Corporate governance, stock price, performance, panel data analysis.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2483

Authors: Naushad Mamode Khan

Abstract:

The Com-Poisson (CMP) model is one of the most popular discrete generalized linear models (GLMS) that handles both equi-, over- and under-dispersed data. In longitudinal context, an integer-valued autoregressive (INAR(1)) process that incorporates covariate specification has been developed to model longitudinal CMP counts. However, the joint likelihood CMP function is difficult to specify and thus restricts the likelihood-based estimating methodology. The joint generalized quasi-likelihood approach (GQL-I) was instead considered but is rather computationally intensive and may not even estimate the regression effects due to a complex and frequently ill-conditioned covariance structure. This paper proposes a new GQL approach for estimating the regression parameters (GQL-III) that is based on a single score vector representation. The performance of GQL-III is compared with GQL-I and separate marginal GQLs (GQL-II) through some simulation experiments and is proved to yield equally efficient estimates as GQL-I and is far more computationally stable.

Keywords: Longitudinal, Com-Poisson, Ill-conditioned, INAR(1), GLMS, GQL.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1733

Authors: Somsri Binraman, Boonliang Kaewnapan, Krittika Tanprasert

Abstract:

In the package design industry, there are a lot of tacit knowledge resided within each designer. The objectives are to capture them and compile it to be used as a teaching resource and to create a video clip of package design process as well as to evaluate its quality and learning effectiveness. Interview were used as a technique for capturing knowledge in brand design concept, differentiation, recognition, rank of recognition factor, consumer survey, knowledge about marketing, research, graphic design, the effect of color, and law and regulation. Video clip about package design were created. The clip consisted of both the speech and clip of actual process. The quality of the video in term of media was ranked as good while the content was ranked as excellent. The students- score on post-test was significantly greater than that of pretest (p>0.001).

Keywords: Tacit knowledge, interview, video, packaging, design.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1435

Authors: Fatemeh Dadkhah, Hossein Ali Akbarpour

Abstract:

This paper considers a scheduling problem in flexible flow shops environment with the aim of minimizing two important criteria including makespan and cumulative tardiness of jobs. Since the proposed problem is known as an Np-hard problem in literature, we have to develop a meta-heuristic to solve it. We considered general structure of Genetic Algorithm (GA) and developed a new version of that based on Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA). Two objective functions assumed as two different inputs for each Decision Making Unit (DMU). In this paper we focused on efficiency score of DMUs and efficient frontier concept in DEA technique. After introducing the method we defined two different scenarios with considering two types of mutation operator. Also we provided an experimental design with some computational results to show the performance of algorithm. The results show that the algorithm implements in a reasonable time.

Keywords: Data envelopment analysis, Efficiency, Flexible flow shops, Genetic algorithm

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1786

Authors: Vasco A. P. Cadavez, Fernando C. Monteiro

Abstract:

The objective of this study was to develop and compare alternative prediction equations of lean meat proportion (LMP) of lamb carcasses. Forty (40) male lambs, 22 of Churra Galega Bragançana Portuguese local breed and 18 of Suffolk breed were used. Lambs were slaughtered, and carcasses weighed approximately 30 min later in order to obtain hot carcass weight (HCW). After cooling at 4º C for 24-h a set of seventeen carcass measurements was recorded. The left side of carcasses was dissected into muscle, subcutaneous fat, inter-muscular fat, bone, and remainder (major blood vessels, ligaments, tendons, and thick connective tissue sheets associated with muscles), and the LMP was evaluated as the dissected muscle percentage. Prediction equations of LMP were developed, and fitting quality was evaluated through the coefficient of determination of estimation (R2 e) and standard error of estimate (SEE). Models validation was performed by k-fold crossvalidation and the coefficient of determination of prediction (R2 p) and standard error of prediction (SEP) were computed. The BT2 measurement was the best single predictor and accounted for 37.8% of the LMP variation with a SEP of 2.30%. The prediction of LMP of lamb carcasses can be based simple models, using as predictors the HCW and one fat thickness measurement.

Keywords: Bootstrap, Carcass, Lambs, Lean meat

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1581

Authors: Sudaporn Arundee

Abstract:

The purposes of this research were to study in three areas: 1) to study political understanding and participating of the constitutional monarchy, 2) to study the level of participation. This paper drew upon data collected from 395 Dusit residents by using questionnaire. In addition, a simple random sampling was utilized to collect data.

The findings revealed that 94 percent of respondents had a very good understanding of constitution monarchy with a mean of 4.8. However, the respondents overall had a very low level of participation with the mean score of 1.69 and standard deviation of .719. 

Keywords: Constitution Monarchy, Political Understanding, Political Participating.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1728