Abstract: Early detection of breast cancer is considered as a
major public health issue. Breast cancer screening is not generalized
to the entire population due to a lack of resources, staff and
appropriate tools. Systematic screening can result in a volume of data
which can not be managed by present computer architecture, either in
terms of storage capabilities or in terms of exploitation tools. We
propose in this paper to design and develop a data warehouse system
in radiology-senology (DWRS). The aim of such a system is on one
hand, to support this important volume of information providing from
multiple sources of data and images and for the other hand, to help
assist breast cancer screening in diagnosis, education and research.
Abstract: In this paper, for the understanding of the phytoplankton dynamics in marine ecosystem, a susceptible and an infected class of phytoplankton population is considered in spatiotemporal domain.
Here, the susceptible phytoplankton is growing logistically and the
growth of infected phytoplankton is due to the instantaneous Holling
type-II infection response function. The dynamics are studied in terms of the local and global stabilities for the system and further
explore the possibility of Hopf -bifurcation, taking the half saturation period as (i.e., ) the bifurcation parameter in temporal domain.
It is also observe that the reaction diffusion system exhibits spatiotemporal
chaos and pattern formation in phytoplankton dynamics,
which is particularly important role play for the spatially extended phytoplankton system. Also the effect of the diffusion coefficient
on the spatial system for both one and two dimensional case is obtained. Furthermore, we explore the higher-order stability analysis
of the spatial phytoplankton system for both linear and no-linear system. Finally, few numerical simulations are carried out for pattern
formation.
Abstract: The plant world is the source of many medicines.
Recently, researchers have estimated that there are approximately
400,000 plant species worldwide, of which about a quarter or a third
have been used by societies for medicinal purposes. The human uses
of plants for thousands of years to treat various ailments, in many
developing countries, much of the population trust in traditional
doctors and their collections of medicinal plants to treat them.
Essential oils have many therapeutic properties. In herbal medicine,
they are used for their antiseptic properties against infectious
diseases of fungal origin, against dermatophytes, those of bacterial
origin. The aim of our study is to determine the antimicrobial effect
of essential oils of the plant Trigonella focnum greacum on some
pathogenic bacteria, it is a medicinal plant used in traditional
therapy. The test adopted is based on the diffusion method on solid
medium (Antibiogram), this method determines the sensitivity or
resistance of a microorganism vis-à-vis the extract studied. Our study
reveals that the essential oil of the plant Trigonella focnum greacum
has a different effect on the resistance of germs. For staphiloccocus
Pseudomonnas aeroginosa and Krebsilla, are moderately sensitive
strains, also Escherichia coli and Candida albicans represents a high
sensitivity. By against Proteus is a strain that represents a weak
sensitivity.
Abstract: A pilot project was carried out in 2007 by the senior
students of Cyprus International University, aiming to minimize the
total cost of waste collection in Northern Cyprus. Many developed
and developing countries have cut their transportation costs – which
lies between 30-40% – down at a rate of 40% percent, by
implementing network models for their route assignments.
Accordingly, a network model was implemented at Göçmenköy
district, to optimize and standardize waste collection works. The
work environment of the employees were also redesigned to provide
maximum ergonomy and to increase productivity, efficiency and
safety. Following the collection of the required data including waste
densities, lengths of roads and population, a model was constructed
to allocate the optimal route assignment for the waste collection
trucks at Göçmenköy district.
Abstract: Ten percent of the population will develop plantar
fasciitis (PF) during their lifetime. Two million people are treated
yearly accounting for 11-15% of visits to medical professionals.
Treatment ranges from conservative to surgical intervention. The
purpose of this study was to assess the effects of extracorporeal
shockwave therapy (ECSWT) on heel pain, function, range of motion
(ROM), and strength in patients with PF. One hundred subjects were
treated with ECSWT and measures were taken before and three
months after treatment. There was significant differences in visual
analog scale scores for pain at rest (p=0.0001); after activity (p=
0.0001) and; overall improvement (p=0.0001). There was also
significant improvement in Lower Extremity Functional Scale scores
(p=0.0001); ankle plantarflexion (p=0.0001), dorsiflexion (p=0.001),
and eversion (p=0.017),and first metatarsophalangeal joint flexion
(p=0.002) and extension (p=0.003) ROM. ECSWT is an effective
treatment improving heel pain, function and ROM in patients with
PF.
Abstract: The shortest path routing problem is a multiobjective nonlinear optimization problem with constraints. This problem has been addressed by considering Quality of service parameters, delay and cost objectives separately or as a weighted sum of both objectives. Multiobjective evolutionary algorithms can find multiple pareto-optimal solutions in one single run and this ability makes them attractive for solving problems with multiple and conflicting objectives. This paper uses an elitist multiobjective evolutionary algorithm based on the Non-dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm (NSGA), for solving the dynamic shortest path routing problem in computer networks. A priority-based encoding scheme is proposed for population initialization. Elitism ensures that the best solution does not deteriorate in the next generations. Results for a sample test network have been presented to demonstrate the capabilities of the proposed approach to generate well-distributed pareto-optimal solutions of dynamic routing problem in one single run. The results obtained by NSGA are compared with single objective weighting factor method for which Genetic Algorithm (GA) was applied.
Abstract: Fecal sterol has been proposed as a chemical indicator
of human fecal pollution even when fecal coliform populations have
diminished due to water chlorination or toxic effects of industrial
effluents. This paper describes an improved derivatization procedure
for simultaneous determination of four fecal sterols including
coprostanol, epicholestanol, cholesterol and cholestanol using gas
chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), via optimization study
on silylation procedures using N-O-bis
(trimethylsilyl)-trifluoroacetamide (BSTFA), and
N-(tert-butyldimethylsilyl)-N-methyltrifluoroacetamide
(MTBSTFA), which lead to the formation of trimethylsilyl (TMS) and
tert-butyldimethylsilyl (TBS) derivatives, respectively. Two
derivatization processes of injection-port derivatization and water bath
derivatization (60 oC, 1h) were inspected and compared. Furthermore,
the methylation procedure at 25 oC for 2h with
trimethylsilydiazomethane (TMSD) for fecal sterols analysis was also
studied. It was found that most of TMS derivatives demonstrated the
highest sensitivities, followed by methylated derivatives. For BSTFA
or MTBSTFA derivatization processes, the simple injection-port
derivatization process could achieve the same efficiency as that in the
tedious water bath derivatization procedure.
Abstract: Packing problems arise in a wide variety of application
areas. The basic problem is that of determining an efficient arrangement
of different objects in a region without any overlap and
with minimal wasted gap between shapes. This paper presents a
novel population based approach for optimizing arrangement of irregular
shapes. In this approach, each shape is coded as an agent and
the agents' reproductions and grouping policies results in arrangements
of the objects in positions with least wasted area between
them. The approach is implemented in an application for cutting
sheets and test results on several problems from literature are presented.
Abstract: This paper aims to argue that religion and Faith-based Organizations (FBOs) contribute to building democratic process through the provision of education in Sierra Leone. Sierra Leone experienced a civil war from 1991 to 2002 and about 70 percent of the population lives in poverty. While the government has been in the process of rebuilding the nation, many forms of Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), including FBOs, have played a significant role in promoting social development. Education plays an important role in supporting people-s democratic movements through knowledge acquisition, spiritual enlightenment and empowerment. This paper discusses religious tolerance in Sierra Leone and how FBOs have contributed to the provision of primary education in Sierra Leone. This study is based on the author-s field research, which involved interviews with teachers and development stakeholders, notably government officials, Non-governmental Organizations (NGOs) and FBOs, as well as questionnaires completed by pupils, parents and teachers.
Abstract: Wheat has a bimodal starch granule population and the dependency of the rate of enzymatic hydrolysis on particle size has been investigated. Ungelatinised wheaten starch granules were separated into two populations by sedimentation and decantation. Particle size was analysed by laser diffraction and morphological characteristics were viewed using SEM. The sedimentation technique though lengthy, gave satisfactory separation of the granules. Samples (10μm and original) were digested with a-amylase using a dialysis model. Granules of 10μm (p10μm. Moreover, the digestion rate was dependent on particle size whereby smaller granules produced higher rate of release. The methodology and results reported here can be used as a basis for further evaluations designed to delay the release of glucose during the digestion of native starches.
Abstract: Formulation of biological profile is one of the modern roles of forensic anthropologist. The present study was conducted to estimate height using foot and shoeprint length of Malaysian population. The present work can be very useful information in the process of identification of individual in forensic cases based on shoeprint evidence. It can help to narrow down suspects and ease the police investigation. Besides, stature is important parameters in determining the partial identify of unidentified and mutilated bodies. Thus, this study can help the problem encountered in cases of mass disaster, massacre, explosions and assault cases. This is because it is very hard to identify parts of bodies in these cases where people are dismembered and become unrecognizable. Samples in this research were collected from 200 Malaysian adults (100 males and 100 females) with age ranging from 20 to 45 years old. In this research, shoeprint length were measured based on the print of the shoes made from the flat shoes. Other information like gender, foot length and height of subject were also recorded. The data was analyzed using IBM® SPSS Statistics 19 software. Results indicated that, foot length has a strong correlation with stature than shoeprint length for both sides of the feet. However, in the unknown, where the gender was undetermined have shown a better correlation in foot length and shoeprint length parameter compared to males and females analyzed separately. In addition, prediction equations are developed to estimate the stature using linear regression analysis of foot length and shoeprint length. However, foot lengths give better prediction than shoeprint length.
Abstract: From food consumption surveys has been found that potato consumption comparing to other European countries is one of the highest. Hence acrylamide (AA) intake coming from fried potatoes in population might be high as well. The aim of the research was to determine acrylamide content and estimate intake of acrylamide from roasted potatoes bred and cultivated in Latvia. Five common Latvian potato varieties were selected: Lenora, Brasla, Imanta, Zile, and Madara. A two-year research was conducted during two periods: just after harvesting and after six months of storage. Time and temperature (210 ± 5°C) was recorded during frying. AA was extracted from potatoes by solid phase extraction and AA content was determined by LC-MS/MS. estimated intake of acrylamide ranges from 0.012 to 0.496μgkg-1 BW per day.
Abstract: The availability of water in adequate quantity and
quality is imperative for sustainable development. Worldwide,
significant imbalance exists with regards to sustainable development
particularly from a water and sanitation perspective. Water is a
critical component of public health, and failure to supply safe water
will place a heavy burden on the entire population. Although the 21st
century has witnessed wealth and advanced development, it has not
been realized everywhere. Billions of people are still striving to
access the most basic human needs which are food, shelter, safe
drinking water and adequate sanitation. The global picture conceals
various inequalities particularly with regards to sanitation coverage in
rural and urban areas. Currently, water scarcity and in particular
water governance is the main challenge which will cause a threat to
sustainable development goals. Within the context of water,
sanitation and health, sustainable development is a confusing concept
primarily when examined from the viewpoint of policy options for
developing countries. This perspective paper aims to summarize and
critically evaluate evidence of published studies in relation to water,
sanitation and health and to identify relevant solutions to reduce
public health impacts. Evidently, improving water and sanitation
services will result in significant and lasting gains in health and
economic development.
Abstract: Cryptography provides the secure manner of
information transmission over the insecure channel. It authenticates
messages based on the key but not on the user. It requires a lengthy
key to encrypt and decrypt the sending and receiving the messages,
respectively. But these keys can be guessed or cracked. Moreover,
Maintaining and sharing lengthy, random keys in enciphering and
deciphering process is the critical problem in the cryptography
system. A new approach is described for generating a crypto key,
which is acquired from a person-s iris pattern. In the biometric field,
template created by the biometric algorithm can only be
authenticated with the same person. Among the biometric templates,
iris features can efficiently be distinguished with individuals and
produces less false positives in the larger population. This type of iris
code distribution provides merely less intra-class variability that aids
the cryptosystem to confidently decrypt messages with an exact
matching of iris pattern. In this proposed approach, the iris features
are extracted using multi resolution wavelets. It produces 135-bit iris
codes from each subject and is used for encrypting/decrypting the
messages. The autocorrelators are used to recall original messages
from the partially corrupted data produced by the decryption process.
It intends to resolve the repudiation and key management problems.
Results were analyzed in both conventional iris cryptography system
(CIC) and non-repudiation iris cryptography system (NRIC). It
shows that this new approach provides considerably high
authentication in enciphering and deciphering processes.
Abstract: The relevance of the study of everyday life in Almaty
and Kyzylorda are associated with the emergence of the modern
trends in historiography and socializing areas of government reform.
The relevance is due to the fact that in the early twentieth century
Kyzylorda and Almaty began to develop as a city and this period has
a special place in the life of the state. An interesting aspect of the
everyday life of the inhabitants of the new city, which was built in the
era of Stalin's Five-Year Plans, can be examined through the eyes of
the Soviet people living in a specific environment, reflecting the life
of the citizens. The study of industrialization of the Soviet Union and
the attention paid to new developments in the first five years of
everyday aspects as the impact of the modernization of the 1930s was
one of the decisive factors in the lives of residents. Among these
factors, we would like to highlight the medical field, which is the
basis of all human life, specifically focusing on the state of medicine
in Alma-Ata in the first 20-30-years of the twentieth century, and
analyze the different aspects of human life, determining the quality of
medical care to the population during this period.
Abstract: This paper mainly investigates the environmental and
economic impacts of worldwide use of electric vehicles. It can be
concluded that governments have good reason to promote the use of
electric vehicles. First, the global vehicles population is evaluated with
the help of grey forecasting model and the amount of oil saving is
estimated through approximate calculation. After that, based on the
game theory, the amount and types of electricity generation needed by
electronic vehicles are established. Finally, some conclusions on the
government-s attitudes are drawn.
Abstract: This paper considers the Zlin region in terms of the
demographic conditions of the region - in particular the residential
structure and the educational background of the inhabitants. The
paper also considers migration of the population within the Zlin
region. Migration is of importance in terms of conservation of the
working potential of the region.
Abstract: This paper presents a new method which applies an
artificial bee colony algorithm (ABC) for capacitor placement in
distribution systems with an objective of improving the voltage profile
and reduction of power loss. The ABC algorithm is a new population
based meta heuristic approach inspired by intelligent foraging behavior
of honeybee swarm. The advantage of ABC algorithm is that
it does not require external parameters such as cross over rate and
mutation rate as in case of genetic algorithm and differential evolution
and it is hard to determine these parameters in prior. The other
advantage is that the global search ability in the algorithm is implemented
by introducing neighborhood source production mechanism
which is a similar to mutation process. To demonstrate the validity
of the proposed algorithm, computer simulations are carried out on
69-bus system and compared the results with the other approach
available in the literature. The proposed method has outperformed the
other methods in terms of the quality of solution and computational
efficiency.
Abstract: We introduce a novel approach to measuring how
humans learn based on techniques from information theory and
apply it to the oriental game of Go. We show that the total amount
of information observable in human strategies, called the strategic
information, remains constant for populations of players of differing
skill levels for well studied patterns of play. This is despite the very
large amount of knowledge required to progress from the recreational
players at one end of our spectrum to the very best and most
experienced players in the world at the other and is in contrast to
the idea that having more knowledge might imply more 'certainty'
in what move to play next. We show this is true for very local
up to medium sized board patterns, across a variety of different
moves using 80,000 game records. Consequences for theoretical and
practical AI are outlined.
Abstract: Stock portfolio selection is a classic problem in finance,
and it involves deciding how to allocate an institution-s or an individual-s
wealth to a number of stocks, with certain investment objectives
(return and risk). In this paper, we adopt the classical Markowitz
mean-variance model and consider an additional common realistic
constraint, namely, the cardinality constraint. Thus, stock portfolio
optimization becomes a mixed-integer quadratic programming problem
and it is difficult to be solved by exact optimization algorithms.
Chemical Reaction Optimization (CRO), which mimics the molecular
interactions in a chemical reaction process, is a population-based
metaheuristic method. Two different types of CRO, named canonical
CRO and Super Molecule-based CRO (S-CRO), are proposed to solve
the stock portfolio selection problem. We test both canonical CRO
and S-CRO on a benchmark and compare their performance under
two criteria: Markowitz efficient frontier (Pareto frontier) and Sharpe
ratio. Computational experiments suggest that S-CRO is promising
in handling the stock portfolio optimization problem.