Abstract: Cancer is still one of the serious diseases threatening
the lives of human beings. How to have an early diagnosis and
effective treatment for tumors is a very important issue. The animal
carcinoma model can provide a simulation tool for the studies of
pathogenesis, biological characteristics, and therapeutic effects.
Recently, drug delivery systems have been rapidly developed to
effectively improve the therapeutic effects. Liposome plays an
increasingly important role in clinical diagnosis and therapy for
delivering a pharmaceutic or contrast agent to the targeted sites.
Liposome can be absorbed and excreted by the human body, and is
well known that no harm to the human body. This study aimed to
compare the therapeutic effects between encapsulated (doxorubicin
liposomal, Lipodox) and un-encapsulated (doxorubicin, Dox)
anti-tumor drugs using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).
Twenty-four New Zealand rabbits implanted with VX2 carcinoma at
left thighs were classified into three groups: control group (untreated),
Dox-treated group, and LipoDox-treated group, 8 rabbits for each
group. MRI scans were performed three days after tumor implantation.
A 1.5T GE Signa HDxt whole body MRI scanner with a high
resolution knee coil was used in this study. After a 3-plane localizer
scan was performed, three-dimensional (3D) fast spin echo (FSE)
T2-weighted Images (T2WI) was used for tumor volumetric
quantification. Afterwards, two-dimensional (2D) spoiled gradient
recalled echo (SPGR) dynamic contrast-enhanced (DCE) MRI was
used for tumor perfusion evaluation. DCE-MRI was designed to
acquire four baseline images, followed by contrast agent Gd-DOTA
injection through the ear vein of rabbit. A series of 32 images were
acquired to observe the signals change over time in the tumor and
muscle. The MRI scanning was scheduled on a weekly basis for a
period of four weeks to observe the tumor progression longitudinally.
The Dox and LipoDox treatments were prescribed 3 times in the first
week immediately after the first MRI scan; i.e. 3 days after VX2 tumor
implantation. ImageJ was used to quantitate tumor volume and time
course signal enhancement on DCE images. The changes of tumor size
showed that the growth of VX2 tumors was effectively inhibited for
both LipoDox-treated and Dox-treated groups. Furthermore, the tumor
volume of LipoDox-treated group was significantly lower than that of
Dox-treated group, which implies that LipoDox has better therapeutic effect than Dox. The signal intensity of LipoDox-treated group is
significantly lower than that of the other two groups, which implies
that targeted therapeutic drug remained in the tumor tissue. This study
provides a radiation-free and non-invasive MRI method for
therapeutic monitoring of targeted liposome on an animal tumor
model.
Abstract: The present study examined how translation teachers
develop final tests as measures for checking on the quality of
students’ academic translation in Iranian context. To achieve this
goal, thirty experienced male and female translation teachers from the
four types of the universities offering the program were invited to an
in-depth 30-minute one-session semi-structured interview. The
responses provided showed how much discrepancy exists among the
Iranian translation teachers (as developers of final translation tests),
who are least informed with the current translation evaluation
methods. It was also revealed that the criteria they use for developing
such tests and scoring student translations are not theory-driven but
are highly subjective, mainly based on their personal experience and
intuition. Hence, the quality and accountability of such tests are under
serious question. The results also confirmed that the dominant
method commonly and currently practiced is the purely essay-type
format. To remedy the situation, some suggestions are in order. As
part of the solution, to improve the reliability and validity of such
tests, the present summative, product-oriented evaluation should be
accompanied with some formative, process-oriented methods of
evaluation. Training the teachers and helping them get acquainted
with modern principles of translation evaluation as well as the
existing models, and rating scales does improve the quality of
academic translation evaluation.
Abstract: Malaysia’s green building development is gaining
momentum and green buildings have become a key focus area,
especially within the commercial sector with the encouragement of
government legislation and policy. Due to the emerging awareness
among the market players’ views of the benefits associated with the
ownership of green buildings in Malaysia, there is a need for valuers
to incorporate consideration of sustainability into their assessments of
property market value to ensure the green buildings continue to
increase in the market. This paper analyses the valuers’ current
perception on the valuation practices with regard to the green issues
in Malaysia. The study was based on a survey of registered real estate
valuers and the experts whose work related to valuation in the Klang
Valley area to rate their view regarding the perception on valuation of
green building. The findings present evidence that even though
Malaysian valuers have limited knowledge of green buildings, they
recognise the importance of incorporating the green features in the
valuation process. The inclusion of incorporating the green features
in valuations in practice was hindered by the inadequacy of sufficient
transaction data in the market. Furthermore, valuers experienced
difficulty in identifying what are the various input parameters of
green building and how to adjust it in order to reflect the benefit of
sustainability features correctly in the valuation process. This paper
focuses on the present challenges confronted by Malaysian valuers
with regards to incorporating the green features in their valuation.
Abstract: Consumers are demanding novel beverages that are
healthier, convenient and have appealing consumer acceptance. The
objectives of this study were to investigate the effects of adding grape
polyphenols and the influence of presenting health claims on the
sensory acceptability of wines. Fresh red sorrel calyces were
fermented into wines. The total soluble solids of the pectinase-treated
sorrel puree were from 4°Brix to 23.8°Brix. Polyphenol in the form
of grape pomace extract was added to sorrel wines (w/v) in specified
levels to give 0. 25. 50 and 75 ppm. A focus group comprising of 12
panelists was use to select the level of polyphenol to be added to
sorrel wines for sensory preference The sensory attributed of the
wines which were evaluated were colour, clarity, aroma, flavor,
mouth-feel, sweetness, astringency and overall preference. The sorrel
wine which was most preferred from focus group evaluation was
presented for hedonic rating. In the first stage of hedonic testing, the
sorrel wine was served chilled at 7°C for 24 h prior to sensory
evaluation. Each panelist was provided with a questionnaire and was
asked to rate the wines on colour, aroma, flavor, mouth-feel,
sweetness, astringency and overall acceptability using a 9-point
hedonic scale. In the second stage of hedonic testing, the panelist
were instructed to read a health abstract on the health benefits of
polyphenolic compounds and again to rate sorrel wine with added 25
ppm polyphenol. Paired t-test was used for the analysis of the
influence of presenting health information on polyphenols on hedonic
scoring of sorrel wines. Focus groups found that the addition of
polyphenol addition had no significant effect on sensory color and
aroma but affected clarity and flavor. A 25 ppm wine was liked
moderately in overall acceptability. The presentation of information
on the health benefit of polyphenols in sorrel wines to panelists had
no significant influence on the sensory acceptance of wine. More
than half of panelists would drink this wine now and then. This wine
had color L 19.86±0.68, chroma 2.10±0.12, hue° 16.90 ±3.10 and
alcohol content of 13.0%. The sorrel wine was liked moderately in
overall acceptability with the added polyphenols.
Abstract: Biodiesel is one of the alternative fuels that promising
for substituting petro diesel as energy source which is advantage on
sustainability and ecofriendly. Due to the raw material that tend to
decompose during storage, biodiesel also have the same characteristic
that tend to decompose and formed higher acid value which is the
result of oxidation to double bond on a chain of ester. Decomposition of biodiesel due to oxidation reaction could
prevent by introduce a small amount of antioxidant. The origin of raw
materials and the process for producing biodiesel will determine the
effectiveness of antioxidant. The quality degradation on biodiesel
could evaluate by measuring iodine value and acid number of
biodiesel. Biodiesel made from high fatty acid Jatropha curcas oil by using
esterification and transesterification process will stand on the quality
by introduce 90 ppm pyrogallol powder on the biodiesel, which could
increase Induction period time from 2 hours to more than 6 hours in
rancimat test evaluation.
Abstract: The new era of digital communication has brought up
many challenges that network operators need to overcome. The high
demand of mobile data rates require improved networks, which is a
challenge for the operators in terms of maintaining the quality of
experience (QoE) for their consumers. In live video transmission,
there is a sheer need for live surveillance of the videos in order to
maintain the quality of the network. For this purpose objective
algorithms are employed to monitor the quality of the videos that are
transmitted over a network. In order to test these objective algorithms,
subjective quality assessment of the streamed videos is required, as the
human eye is the best source of perceptual assessment. In this paper we
have conducted subjective evaluation of videos with varying spatial
and temporal impairments. These videos were impaired with frame
freezing distortions so that the impact of frame freezing on the quality
of experience could be studied. We present subjective Mean Opinion
Score (MOS) for these videos that can be used for fine tuning the
objective algorithms for video quality assessment.
Abstract: This paper describes the main features of a knowledge-based system evaluation method. System evaluation is placed in the context of a hybrid legal decision-support system, Advisory Support for Home Settlement in Divorce (ASHSD). Legal knowledge for ASHSD is represented in two forms, as rules and previously decided cases. Besides distinguishing the two different forms of knowledge representation, the paper outlines the actual use of these forms in a computational framework that is designed to generate a plausible solution for a given case, by using rule-based reasoning (RBR) and case-based reasoning (CBR) in an integrated environment. The nature of suitability assessment of a solution has been considered as a multiple criteria decision-making process in ASHAD evaluation. The evaluation was performed by a combination of discussions and questionnaires with different user groups. The answers to questionnaires used in this evaluations method have been measured as a fuzzy linguistic term. The finding suggests that fuzzy linguistic evaluation is practical and meaningful in knowledge-based system development purpose.
Abstract: This paper presents a novel algorithm for secure,
reliable and flexible transmission of big data in two hop wireless
networks using cooperative jamming scheme. Two hop wireless
networks consist of source, relay and destination nodes. Big data has
to transmit from source to relay and from relay to destination by
deploying security in physical layer. Cooperative jamming scheme
determines transmission of big data in more secure manner by
protecting it from eavesdroppers and malicious nodes of unknown
location. The novel algorithm that ensures secure and energy balance
transmission of big data, includes selection of data transmitting
region, segmenting the selected region, determining probability ratio
for each node (capture node, non-capture and eavesdropper node) in
every segment, evaluating the probability using binary based
evaluation. If it is secure transmission resume with the two- hop
transmission of big data, otherwise prevent the attackers by
cooperative jamming scheme and transmit the data in two-hop
transmission.
Abstract: In this contribution two approaches for calculating
optimal trajectories for highly automated vehicles are presented and
compared. The first one is based on a non-linear vehicle model, used
for evaluation. The second one is based on a simplified model and
can be implemented on a current ECU. In usual driving situations
both approaches show very similar results.
Abstract: Design concepts of real-time embedded system can be
realized initially by introducing novel design approaches. In this
literature, model based design approach and in-the-loop testing were
employed early in the conceptual and preliminary phase to formulate
design requirements and perform quick real-time verification. The
design and analysis methodology includes simulation analysis, model
based testing, and in-the-loop testing. The design of conceptual driveby-
wire, or DBW, algorithm for electronic control unit, or ECU, was
presented to demonstrate the conceptual design process, analysis, and
functionality evaluation. The concepts of DBW ECU function can be
implemented in the vehicle system to improve electric vehicle, or EV,
conversion drivability. However, within a new development process,
conceptual ECU functions and parameters are needed to be evaluated.
As a result, the testing system was employed to support conceptual
DBW ECU functions evaluation. For the current setup, the system
components were consisted of actual DBW ECU hardware, electric
vehicle models, and control area network or CAN protocol. The
vehicle models and CAN bus interface were both implemented as
real-time applications where ECU and CAN protocol functionality
were verified according to the design requirements. The proposed
system could potentially benefit in performing rapid real-time
analysis of design parameters for conceptual system or software
algorithm development.
Abstract: Reliability allocation is quite important during early
design and development stages for a system to apportion its specified
reliability goal to subsystems. This paper improves the reliability
fuzzy allocation method, and gives concrete processes on determining
the factor and sub-factor sets, weight sets, judgment set, and
multi-stage fuzzy evaluation. To determine the weight of factor and
sub-factor sets, the modified trapezoidal numbers are proposed to
reduce errors caused by subjective factors. To decrease the fuzziness
in fuzzy division, an approximation method based on linear
programming is employed. To compute the explicit values of fuzzy
numbers, centroid method of defuzzification is considered. An
example is provided to illustrate the application of the proposed
reliability allocation method based on fuzzy arithmetic.
Abstract: Two finite element (FEM) models are presented in
this paper to address the random nature of the response of glued
timber structures made of wood segments with variable elastic
moduli evaluated from 3600 indentation measurements. This total
database served to create the same number of ensembles as was the
number of segments in the tested beam. Statistics of these ensembles
were then assigned to given segments of beams and the Latin
Hypercube Sampling (LHS) method was called to perform 100
simulations resulting into the ensemble of 100 deflections subjected
to statistical evaluation. Here, a detailed geometrical arrangement of
individual segments in the laminated beam was considered in the
construction of two-dimensional FEM model subjected to in fourpoint
bending to comply with the laboratory tests. Since laboratory
measurements of local elastic moduli may in general suffer from a
significant experimental error, it appears advantageous to exploit the
full scale measurements of timber beams, i.e. deflections, to improve
their prior distributions with the help of the Bayesian statistical
method. This, however, requires an efficient computational model
when simulating the laboratory tests numerically. To this end, a
simplified model based on Mindlin’s beam theory was established.
The improved posterior distributions show that the most significant
change of the Young’s modulus distribution takes place in laminae in
the most strained zones, i.e. in the top and bottom layers within the
beam center region. Posterior distributions of moduli of elasticity
were subsequently utilized in the 2D FEM model and compared with
the original simulations.
Abstract: The building sector is responsible, in many
industrialized countries, for about 40% of the total energy
requirements, so it seems necessary to devote some efforts in this
area in order to achieve a significant reduction of energy
consumption and of greenhouse gases emissions.
The paper presents a study aiming at providing a design
methodology able to identify the best configuration of the system
building/plant, from a technical, economic and environmentally point
of view.
Normally, the classical approach involves a building's energy
loads analysis under steady state conditions, and subsequent selection
of measures aimed at improving the energy performance, based on
previous experience made by architects and engineers in the design
team. Instead, the proposed approach uses a sequence of two wellknown
scientifically validated calculation methods (TRNSYS and
RETScreen), that allow quite a detailed feasibility analysis.
To assess the validity of the calculation model, an existing,
historical building in Central Italy, that will be the object of
restoration and preservative redevelopment, was selected as a casestudy.
The building is made of a basement and three floors, with a
total floor area of about 3,000 square meters.
The first step has been the determination of the heating and
cooling energy loads of the building in a dynamic regime by means,
which allows simulating the real energy needs of the building in
function of its use. Traditional methodologies, based as they are on
steady-state conditions, cannot faithfully reproduce the effects of
varying climatic conditions and of inertial properties of the structure.
With this model is possible to obtain quite accurate and reliable
results that allow identifying effective combinations building-HVAC
system.
The second step has consisted of using output data obtained as
input to the calculation model, which enables to compare different
system configurations from the energy, environmental and financial
point of view, with an analysis of investment, and operation and
maintenance costs, so allowing determining the economic benefit of
possible interventions.
The classical methodology often leads to the choice of
conventional plant systems, while our calculation model provides a
financial-economic assessment for innovative energy systems and
low environmental impact.
Computational analysis can help in the design phase, particularly
in the case of complex structures with centralized plant systems, by
comparing the data returned by the calculation model for different
design options.
Abstract: This article deals with geographical conditions in
terrain and their effect on the movement of vehicles, their effect on
speed and safety of movement of people and vehicles. Finding of the
optimal routes outside the communication is studied in the Army
environment, but it occur in civilian as well, primarily in crisis
situation, or by the provision of assistance when natural disasters
such as floods, fires, storms etc., have happened. These movements
require the optimization of routes when effects of geographical
factors should be included. The most important factor is the surface
of a terrain. It is based on several geographical factors as are slopes,
soil conditions, micro-relief, a type of surface and meteorological
conditions. Their mutual impact has been given by coefficient of
deceleration. This coefficient can be used for the commander`s
decision. New approaches and methods of terrain testing,
mathematical computing, mathematical statistics or cartometric
investigation are necessary parts of this evaluation.
Abstract: This study estimates the seismic demands of tall
buildings with central symmetric setbacks by using nonlinear time
history analysis. Three setback structures, all 60-story high with
setback in three levels, are used for evaluation. The effects of
irregularities occurred by setback are evaluated by determination of
global-drift, story-displacement and story drift. Story-displacement is
modified by roof displacement and first story displacement and story
drift is modified by global drift. All results are calculated at the
center of mass and in x and y direction. Also the absolute values of
these quantities are determined. The results show that increasing of
vertical irregularities increases the global drift of the structure and
enlarges the deformations in the height of the structure. It is also
observed that the effects of geometry irregularity in the seismic
deformations of setback structures are higher than those of mass
irregularity.
Abstract: Learning Management System (LMS) is the system
which uses to manage the learning in order to grouping the content
and learning activity between the lecturer and learner including
online examination and evaluation. Nowadays, it is the borderless
learning era so the learning activities can be accessed from
everywhere in the world and also anytime via the information
technology and media. The learner can easily access to the
knowledge so the different in time and distance is not a constraint for
learning anymore.
The learning pattern which was used in this research is the
integration of the in-class learning and online learning via internet
and will be able to monitor the progress by the Learning management
system which will create the fast response and accessible learning
process via the social media. In order to increase the capability and
freedom of the learner, the system can show the current and history
of the learning document, video conference and also has the chat
room for the learner and lecturer to interact to each other.
So the objectives of the “The Design and Applied of Learning
Management System via Social Media on Internet: Case Study of
Operating System for Business Subject” are to expand the
opportunity of learning and to increase the efficiency of learning as
well as increase the communication channel between lecturer and
student. The data of this research was collect from 30 users of the
system which are students who enroll in the subject. And the result of
the research is in the “Very Good” which is conformed to the
hypothesis.
Abstract: In Brazil, neonatal mortality rate is considered
incompatible with the country development conditions, and has been
a Public Health concern. Reduction in infant mortality rates has also
been part of the Millennium Development Goals, a commitment
made by countries, members of the Organization of United Nations
(OUN), including Brazil. Fetal mortality rate is considered a highly
sensitive indicator of health care quality. Suitable actions, such as
good quality and access to health services may contribute positively
towards reduction in these fetal and neonatal rates. With appropriate
antenatal follow-up and health care during gestation and delivery,
some death causes could be reduced or even prevented by means of
early diagnosis and intervention, as well as changes in risk factors
and interventions. Objectives: To study the quality of maternal and
infant health care based on fetal and neonatal mortality, as well as the
possible actions to prevent those deaths in Botucatu (Brazil).
Methods: Classification of prevention according to the International
Classification of Diseases and the modified Wigglesworth´s
classification. In order to evaluate adequacy, indicators of quality of
antenatal and delivery care were established by the authors. Results:
Considering fetal deaths, 56.7% of them occurred before delivery,
which reveals possible shortcomings in antenatal care, and 38.2% of
them were a result of intra- labor changes, which could be prevented
or reduced by adequate obstetric management. These findings were
different from those in the group of early neonatal deaths which were
also studied. Adequacy of health services showed that antenatal and
childbirth care was appropriate for 24% and 33.3% of pregnant
women, respectively, which corroborates the results of prevention.
These results revealed that shortcomings in obstetric and antenatal
care could be the causes of deaths in the study. Early and late
neonatal deaths have similar characteristics: 76% could be prevented
or reduced mainly by adequate newborn care (52.9%) and adequate
health care for gestational women (11.7%). When adequacy of care
was evaluated, childbirth and newborn care was adequate in 25.8%
and antenatal care was adequate in 16.1%. In conclusion, direct
relationship was found between adequacy and quality of care
rendered to pregnant women and newborns, and fetal and infant
mortality. Moreover, our findings highlight that deaths could be
prevented by an adequate obstetric and neonatal management.
Abstract: Enterprise Architecture (EA) Implementation
Methodologies have become an important part of EA projects.
Several implementation methodologies have been proposed, as a
theoretical and practical approach, to facilitate and support the
development of EA within an enterprise. A significant question when
facing the starting of EA implementation is deciding which
methodology to utilize. In order to answer this question, a framework
with several criteria is applied in this paper for the comparative
analysis of existing EA implementation methodologies. Five EA
implementation methodologies including: EAP, TOGAF, DODAF,
Gartner, and FEA are selected in order to compare with proposed
framework. The results of the comparison indicate that those
methodologies have not reached a sufficient maturity as whole due to
lack of consideration on requirement management, maintenance,
continuum, and complexities in their process. The framework has
also ability for the evaluation of any kind of EA implementation
methodologies.
Abstract: Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) has
increased in conjunction with obesity. The accuracy of risk factors
for detecting NAFLD in obese adolescents has not undergone a
formal evaluation. The aim of this study was to evaluate predictors of
NAFLD among Egyptian female obese adolescents. The study
included 162 obese female adolescents. All were subjected to
anthropometry, biochemical analysis and abdominal ultrasongraphic
assessment. Metabolic syndrome (MS) was diagnosed according to
the IDF criteria. Significant association between presence of MS and
NAFLD was observed. Obese adolescents with NAFLD had
significantly higher levels of ALT, triglycerides, fasting glucose,
insulin, blood pressure and HOMA-IR, whereas decreased HDL-C
levels as compared with obese cases without NAFLD. Receiver–
operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis shows that ALT is a
sensitive predictor for NAFLD, confirming that ALT can be used as a
marker of NAFLD.
Abstract: The paper presents combined automatic speech
recognition (ASR) of English and machine translation (MT) for
English and Croatian and Croatian-English language pairs in the
domain of business correspondence. The first part presents results of
training the ASR commercial system on English data sets, enriched
by error analysis. The second part presents results of machine
translation performed by free online tool for English and Croatian
and Croatian-English language pairs. Human evaluation in terms of
usability is conducted and internal consistency calculated by
Cronbach's alpha coefficient, enriched by error analysis. Automatic
evaluation is performed by WER (Word Error Rate) and PER
(Position-independent word Error Rate) metrics, followed by
investigation of Pearson’s correlation with human evaluation.