Abstract: During the post-Civil War era, the city of Nashville,
Tennessee, had the highest mortality rate in the United States. The
elevated death and disease rates among former slaves were
attributable to lack of quality healthcare. To address the paucity of
healthcare services, Meharry Medical College, an institution with the
mission of educating minority professionals and serving the
underserved population, was established in 1876.
Purpose: The social ecological framework and partial least squares
(PLS) path modeling were used to quantify the impact of
socioeconomic status and adverse health outcome on primary care
professionals serving the disadvantaged community. Thus, the study
results could demonstrate the accomplishment of the College’s
mission of training primary care professionals to serve in underserved
areas.
Methods: Various statistical methods were used to analyze alumni
data from 1975 – 2013. K-means cluster analysis was utilized to
identify individual medical and dental graduates in the cluster groups
of the practice communities (Disadvantaged or Non-disadvantaged
Communities). Discriminant analysis was implemented to verify the
classification accuracy of cluster analysis. The independent t-test was
performed to detect the significant mean differences of respective
clustering and criterion variables. Chi-square test was used to test if
the proportions of primary care and non-primary care specialists are
consistent with those of medical and dental graduates practicing in
the designated community clusters. Finally, the PLS path model was
constructed to explore the construct validity of analytic model by
providing the magnitude effects of socioeconomic status and adverse
health outcome on primary care professionals serving the
disadvantaged community.
Results: Approximately 83% (3,192/3,864) of Meharry Medical
College’s medical and dental graduates from 1975 to 2013 were
practicing in disadvantaged communities. Independent t-test confirmed the content validity of the cluster analysis model. Also, the
PLS path modeling demonstrated that alumni served as primary care
professionals in communities with significantly lower socioeconomic
status and higher adverse health outcome (p < .001). The PLS path
modeling exhibited the meaningful interrelation between primary
care professionals practicing communities and surrounding
environments (socioeconomic statues and adverse health outcome),
which yielded model reliability, validity, and applicability.
Conclusion: This study applied social ecological theory and
analytic modeling approaches to assess the attainment of Meharry
Medical College’s mission of training primary care professionals to
serve in underserved areas, particularly in communities with low
socioeconomic status and high rates of adverse health outcomes. In
summary, the majority of medical and dental graduates from Meharry
Medical College provided primary care services to disadvantaged
communities with low socioeconomic status and high adverse health
outcome, which demonstrated that Meharry Medical College has
fulfilled its mission. The high reliability, validity, and applicability of
this model imply that it could be replicated for comparable
universities and colleges elsewhere.
Abstract: Theory of Mind (ToM) refers to the ability to infer
another’s mental state. With appropriate ToM, one can behave well in
social interactions. A growing body of evidence has demonstrated that
patients with temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) may damage ToM by
affecting on regions of the underlying neural network of ToM.
However, the question of whether there is cerebral laterality for ToM
functions remains open. This study aimed to examine whether there is
cerebral lateralization for ToM abilities in TLE patients. Sixty-seven
adult TLE patients and 30 matched healthy controls (HC) were
recruited. Patients were classified into right (RTLE), left (LTLE), and
bilateral (BTLE) TLE groups on the basis of a consensus panel review
of their seizure semiology, EEG findings, and brain imaging results.
All participants completed an intellectual test and four tasks measuring
basic and advanced ToM. The results showed that, on all ToM tasks,
(1) each patient group performed worse than HC; (2) there were no
significant differences between LTLE and RTLE groups; and (3) the
BTLE group performed the worst. It appears that the neural network
responsible for ToM is distributed evenly between the cerebral
hemispheres.
Abstract: This work sets out to debate the tensions involved in
the processes of contamination and self-purification in the urban
space, particularly in the streams that run through the Buenos Aires
metropolitan area. For much of their course, those streams are piped;
their waters do not come into contact with the outdoors until they
have reached deeply impoverished urban areas with high levels of
environmental contamination. These are peripheral zones that, until
thirty years ago, were marshlands and fields. They are now densely
populated areas largely lacking in urban infrastructure.
The Cárcova neighborhood, where this project is underway, is in
the José León Suárez section of General San Martín county, Buenos
Aires province. A stretch of José León Suarez canal crosses the
neighborhood. Starting upstream, this canal carries pollutants due to
the sewage and industrial waste released into it. Further downstream,
in the neighborhood, domestic drainage is poured into the stream. In
this paper, we formulate a hypothesis diametrical to the one that
holds that these neighborhoods are the primary source of
contamination, suggesting instead that in the stretch of the canal that
runs through the neighborhood the stream’s waters are actually
cleaned and the sediments accumulate pollutants. Indeed, the
stretches of water that runs through these neighborhoods act as water
processing plants for the metropolis.
This project has studied the different organic-load polluting
contributions to the water in a certain stretch of the canal, the
reduction of that load over the course of the canal, and the
incorporation of pollutants into the sediments. We have found that
the surface water has considerable ability to self-purify, mostly due to
processes of sedimentation and adsorption. The polluting load is
accumulated in the sediments where that load stabilizes slowly by
means of anaerobic processes. In this study, we also investigated the
risks of sediment management and the use of the processes studied
here in controlled conditions as tools of environmental restoration.
Abstract: Data and system quality play a central role in
organizational success, and the quality of any existing information
system has a major influence on the effectiveness of overall system
performance. Given the importance of system and data quality to an
organization, it is relevant to highlight their importance on
organizational performance in the Kingdom of Bahrain. This research
aims to discover whether system quality and data quality are related,
and to study the impact of system and data quality on organizational
success. A theoretical model based on previous research is used to
show the relationship between data and system quality, and
organizational impact. We hypothesize, first, that system quality is
positively associated with organizational impact, secondly that
system quality is positively associated with data quality, and finally
that data quality is positively associated with organizational impact.
A questionnaire was conducted among public and private
organizations in the Kingdom of Bahrain. The results show that there
is a strong association between data and system quality, that affects
organizational success.
Abstract: Behavioral aspects of experience such as will power
are rarely subjected to quantitative study owing to the numerous
complexities involved. Will is a phenomenon that has puzzled
humanity for a long time. It is a belief that will power of an individual
affects the success achieved by them in life. It is also thought that a
person endowed with great will power can overcome even the most
crippling setbacks in life while a person with a weak will cannot make
the most of life even the greatest assets. This study is an attempt
to subject the phenomena of will to the test of an artificial neural
network through a computational model. The claim being tested is
that will power of an individual largely determines success achieved
in life. It is proposed that data pertaining to success of individuals
be obtained from an experiment and the phenomenon of will be
incorporated into the model, through data generated recursively using
a relation between will and success characteristic to the model.
An artificial neural network trained using part of the data, could
subsequently be used to make predictions regarding data points in
the rest of the model. The procedure would be tried for different
models and the model where the networks predictions are found to
be in greatest agreement with the data would be selected; and used
for studying the relation between success and will.
Abstract: In the past few years, the amount of malicious software
increased exponentially and, therefore, machine learning algorithms
became instrumental in identifying clean and malware files through
(semi)-automated classification. When working with very large
datasets, the major challenge is to reach both a very high malware
detection rate and a very low false positive rate. Another challenge
is to minimize the time needed for the machine learning algorithm to
do so. This paper presents a comparative study between different
machine learning techniques such as linear classifiers, ensembles,
decision trees or various hybrids thereof. The training dataset consists
of approximately 2 million clean files and 200.000 infected files,
which is a realistic quantitative mixture. The paper investigates the
above mentioned methods with respect to both their performance
(detection rate and false positive rate) and their practicability.
Abstract: A total of 115 yeast strains isolated from local cassava
processing wastes were measured for crude protein content. Among
these strains, the strain MSY-2 possessed the highest protein
concentration (>3.5 mg protein/mL). By using molecular
identification tools, it was identified to be a strain of Pichia
kudriavzevii based on similarity of D1/D2 domain of 26S rDNA
region. In this study, to optimize the protein production by MSY-2
strain, Response Surface Methodology (RSM) was applied. The
tested parameters were the carbon content, nitrogen content, and
incubation time. Here, the value of regression coefficient (R2) =
0.7194 could be explained by the model which is high to support the
significance of the model. Under the optimal condition, the protein
content was produced up to 3.77 g per L of the culture and MSY-2
strain contains 66.8 g protein per 100 g of cell dry weight. These
results revealed the plausibility of applying the novel strain of yeast
in single-cell protein production.
Abstract: Rainfall runoff models play important role in
hydrological predictions. However, the model is only one part of the
process for creation of flood prediction. The aim of this paper is to
show the process of successful prediction for flood event (May 15 –
May 18 2014). Prediction was performed by rainfall runoff model
HEC–HMS, one of the models computed within Floreon+ system.
The paper briefly evaluates the results of automatic hydrologic
prediction on the river Olše catchment and its gages Český Těšín and
Věřňovice.
Abstract: Transmission shafts are affected by various forces, for
example, during acceleration or sudden breaks, bending during
transportation, vertical forces that lead to cuts. One of the main
failures in combines is breaking shaft which repairmen refer it.
Structural resistance of canal against torque is very important in the
beginning of the movement. For analyzing stress, a typical sample
from a type of combine was selected, called JD955 combine. Long
shaft in this combine was analyzed with finite element method by
Ansys13 generic package under static load. Conducted analysis
showed that there is a maximum stress in contact surfaces of
indentations and also in place of changing diameter. Safety factor
value is low in parts of the shaft and this increases the probability of
failure at these points. To improve the conditions with the least cost
and an approach of product improvement, using alternative alloy is
important.
Abstract: Coal is an important non-renewable energy source of
and can be associated with radioactive elements. In Figueira city,
Paraná state, Brazil, it was recorded high uranium activity near the
coal mine that supplies a local thermoelectric power plant. In this
context, the radon activity (Rn-222, produced by the Ra-226 decay in
the U-238 natural series) was evaluated in groundwater, river water
and effluents produced from the acid mine drainage in the coal reject
dumps. The samples were collected in August 2013 and in February
2014 and analyzed at LABIDRO (Laboratory of Isotope and
Hydrochemistry), UNESP, Rio Claro city, Brazil, using an alpha
spectrometer (AlphaGuard) adjusted to evaluate the mean radon
activity concentration in five cycles of 10 minutes. No radon activity
concentration above 100 Bq.L-1, which was a previous critic value
established by the World Health Organization. The average radon
activity concentration in groundwater was higher than in surface
water and in effluent samples, possibly due to the accumulation of
uranium and radium in the aquifer layers that favors the radon
trapping. The lower value in the river waters can indicate dilution and
the intermediate value in the effluents may indicate radon absorption
in the coal particles of the reject dumps. The results also indicate that
the radon activities in the effluents increase with the sample
acidification, possibly due to the higher radium leaching and the
subsequent radon transport to the drainage flow. The water samples
of Laranjinha River and Ribeirão das Pedras stream, which,
respectively, supply Figueira city and receive the mining effluent,
exhibited higher pH values upstream the mine, reflecting the acid
mine drainage discharge. The radionuclides transport indicates the
importance of monitoring their activity concentration in natural
waters due to the risks that the radioactivity can represent to human
health.
Abstract: The emerging markets of post-USSR countries have
attracted Western multinational companies; however, weak
institutions and unstable host country environments have hindered the
implementation of successful management practices. The Ukrainian
market, in light of recent events, is particularly interesting to study
for its compatibility with Western businesses. This paper focuses on
factors that can facilitate or inhibit the transfer of human resource
management practices from Western headquarters to Ukrainian
subsidiaries. To explain the national context’s effects better, a
business systems approach has been applied to a qualitative study of
16 wholly owned Western subsidiaries, dissecting the reasons for a
weak integration of Western practices in Ukraine. Results show that
underdeveloped institutions have forced companies to develop
additional practices that compensate for national weaknesses, as well
as to adjust to a constantly changing environment. Flexibility and
local responsiveness were observed as vital for success in Ukraine.
Abstract: Grid is an environment with millions of resources
which are dynamic and heterogeneous in nature. A computational
grid is one in which the resources are computing nodes and is meant
for applications that involves larger computations. A scheduling
algorithm is said to be efficient if and only if it performs better
resource allocation even in case of resource failure. Resource
allocation is a tedious issue since it has to consider several
requirements such as system load, processing cost and time, user’s
deadline and resource failure. This work attempts in designing a
resource allocation algorithm which is cost-effective and also targets
at load balancing, fault tolerance and user satisfaction by considering
the above requirements. The proposed Budget Constrained Load
Balancing Fault Tolerant algorithm with user satisfaction (BLBFT)
reduces the schedule makespan, schedule cost and task failure rate
and improves resource utilization. Evaluation of the proposed
BLBFT algorithm is done using Gridsim toolkit and the results are
compared with the algorithms which separately concentrates on all
these factors. The comparison results ensure that the proposed
algorithm works better than its counterparts.
Abstract: An Australian manufacturer has fabricated an
innovative GFRP sandwich panel made from E-glass fiber skin and a
modified phenolic core for structural applications. Debonding, which
refers to separation of skin from the core material in composite
sandwiches, is one of the most common types of damage in
composites. The presence of debonding is of great concern because it
not only severely affects the stiffness but also modifies the dynamic
behaviour of the structure. Generally it is seen that the majority of
research carried out has been concerned about the delamination of
laminated structures whereas skin-core debonding has received
relatively minor attention. Furthermore it is observed that research
done on composite slabs having multiple skin-core debonding is very
limited. To address this gap, a comprehensive research investigating
dynamic behaviour of composite panels with single and multiple
debonding is presented. The study uses finite-element modelling and
analyses for investigating the influence of debonding on free
vibration behaviour of single and multilayer composite sandwich
panels. A broad parametric investigation has been carried out by
varying debonding locations, debonding sizes and support conditions
of the panels in view of both single and multiple debonding.
Numerical models were developed with Strand7 finite element
package by innovatively selecting the suitable elements to diligently
represent their actual behavior. Three-dimensional finite element
models were employed to simulate the physically real situation as
close as possible, with the use of an experimentally and numerically
validated finite element model. Comparative results and conclusions
based on the analyses are presented. For similar extents and locations
of debonding, the effect of debonding on natural frequencies appears
greatly dependent on the end conditions of the panel, giving greater
decrease in natural frequency when the panels are more restrained.
Some modes are more sensitive to debonding and this sensitivity
seems to be related to their vibration mode shapes. The fundamental
mode seems generally the least sensitive mode to debonding with
respect to the variation in free vibration characteristics. The results
indicate the effectiveness of the developed three dimensional finite
element models in assessing debonding damage in composite
sandwich panels.
Abstract: Availability of different genetic tests after completion
of Human Genome Project increases the physicians’ responsibility to
keep themselves update on the potential implementation of these
genetic tests in their daily practice. However, due to numbers of
barriers, still many of physicians are not either aware of these tests or
are not willing to offer or refer their patients for genetic tests. This
study was conducted an anonymous, cross-sectional, mailed-based
survey to develop a primary data of Malaysian physicians’ level of
knowledge and perception of gene profiling. Questionnaire had 29
questions. Total scores on selected questions were used to assess the
level of knowledge. The highest possible score was 11. Descriptive
statistics, one way ANOVA and chi-squared test was used for
statistical analysis. Sixty three completed questionnaires were
returned by 27 general practitioners (GPs) and 36 medical specialists.
Responders’ age ranges from 24 to 55 years old (mean 30.2 ± 6.4).
About 40% of the participants rated themselves as having poor level
of knowledge in genetics in general whilst 60% believed that they
have fair level of knowledge; however, almost half (46%) of the
respondents felt that they were not knowledgeable about available
genetic tests. A majority (94%) of the responders were not aware of
any lab or company which is offering gene profiling services in
Malaysia. Only 4% of participants were aware of using gene profiling
for detection of dosage of some drugs. Respondents perceived greater
utility of gene profiling for breast cancer (38%) compared to the
colorectal familial cancer (3%). The score of knowledge ranged from
2 to 8 (mean 4.38 ± 1.67). Non- significant differences between score
of knowledge of GPs and specialists were observed, with score of
4.19 and 4.58 respectively. There was no significant association
between any demographic factors and level of knowledge. However,
those who graduated between years 2001 to 2005 had higher level of
knowledge. Overall, 83% of participants showed relatively high level
of perception on value of gene profiling to detect patient’s risk of
disease. However, low perception was observed for both statements
of using gene profiling for general population in order to alter their
lifestyle (25%) as well as having the full sequence of a patient
genome for the purpose of determining a patient’s best match for
treatment (18%). The lack of clinical guidelines, limited provider
knowledge and awareness, lack of time and resources to educate
patients, lack of evidence-based clinical information and cost of tests
were the most barriers of ordering gene profiling mentioned by
physicians. In conclusion Malaysian physicians who participate in
this study had mediocre level of knowledge and awareness in gene
profiling. The low exposure to the genetic questions and problems
might be a key predictor of lack of awareness and knowledge on
available genetic tests. Educational and training workshop might be useful in helping Malaysian physicians incorporate genetic profiling
into practice for eligible patients.
Abstract: Association rule mining is one of the most important fields of data mining and knowledge discovery. In this paper, we propose an efficient multiple support frequent pattern growth algorithm which we called “MSFP-growth” that enhancing the FPgrowth algorithm by making infrequent child node pruning step with multiple minimum support using maximum constrains. The algorithm is implemented, and it is compared with other common algorithms: Apriori-multiple minimum supports using maximum constraints and FP-growth. The experimental results show that the rule mining from the proposed algorithm are interesting and our algorithm achieved better performance than other algorithms without scarifying the accuracy.
Abstract: The safety and health performances aspects of a building are the most challenging aspect of facility management. It requires a deep understanding by the building managers on the factors that contribute to health and safety performances. This study attempted to develop an explanatory architectural safety performance model for stratified low-cost housing in Malaysia. The proposed Building Safety and Health Performance (BSHP) model was tested empirically through a survey on 308 construction practitioners using partial least squares (PLS) and structural equation modelling (SEM) tool. Statistical analysis results supports the conclusion that architecture, building services, external environment, management approaches and maintenance management have positive influence on safety and health performance of stratified low-cost housing in Malaysia. The findings provide valuable insights for construction industry to introduce BSHP model in the future where the model could be used as a guideline for training purposes of managers and better planning and implementation of building management.
Abstract: The use of energy dissipation systems for seismic applications has increased worldwide, thus it is necessary to develop practical and modern criteria for their optimal design. Here, a direct displacement-based seismic design approach for frame buildings with hysteretic energy dissipation systems (HEDS) is applied. The building is constituted by two individual structural systems consisting of: 1) a main elastic structural frame designed for service loads; and 2) a secondary system, corresponding to the HEDS, that controls the effects of lateral loads. The procedure implies to control two design parameters: a) the stiffness ratio (α=Kframe/Ktotal system), and b) the strength ratio (γ=Vdamper/Vtotal system). The proposed damage-controlled approach contributes to the design of a more sustainable and resilient building because the structural damage is concentrated on the HEDS. The reduction of the design displacement spectrum is done by means of a damping factor (recently published) for elastic structural systems with HEDS, located in Mexico City. Two limit states are verified: serviceability and near collapse. Instead of the traditional trial-error approach, a procedure that allows the designer to establish the preliminary sizes of the structural elements of both systems is proposed. The design methodology is applied to an 8-story steel building with buckling restrained braces, located in soft soil of Mexico City. With the aim of choosing the optimal design parameters, a parametric study is developed considering different values of હ and . The simplified methodology is for preliminary sizing, design, and evaluation of the effectiveness of HEDS, and it constitutes a modern and practical tool that enables the structural designer to select the best design parameters.
Abstract: The distribution of a single global clock across a chip
has become the major design bottleneck for high performance VLSI
systems owing to the power dissipation, process variability and multicycle
cross-chip signaling. A Network-on-Chip (NoC) architecture
partitioned into several synchronous blocks has become a promising
approach for attaining fine-grain power management at the system
level. In a NoC architecture the communication between the blocks is
handled asynchronously. To interface these blocks on a chip
operating at different frequencies, an asynchronous FIFO interface is
inevitable. However, these asynchronous FIFOs are not required if
adjacent blocks belong to the same clock domain. In this paper, we
have designed and analyzed a 16-bit asynchronous micropipelined
FIFO of depth four, with the awareness of place and route on an
FPGA device. We have used a commercially available Spartan 3
device and designed a high speed implementation of the
asynchronous 4-phase micropipeline. The asynchronous FIFO
implemented on the FPGA device shows 76 Mb/s throughput and a
handshake cycle of 109 ns for write and 101.3 ns for read at the
simulation under the worst case operating conditions (voltage =
0.95V) on a working chip at the room temperature.
Abstract: This work proposes a data-driven multiscale based
quantitative measures to reveal the underlying complexity of
electroencephalogram (EEG), applying to a rodent model of
hypoxic-ischemic brain injury and recovery. Motivated by that real
EEG recording is nonlinear and non-stationary over different
frequencies or scales, there is a need of more suitable approach over
the conventional single scale based tools for analyzing the EEG data.
Here, we present a new framework of complexity measures
considering changing dynamics over multiple oscillatory scales. The
proposed multiscale complexity is obtained by calculating entropies of
the probability distributions of the intrinsic mode functions extracted
by the empirical mode decomposition (EMD) of EEG. To quantify
EEG recording of a rat model of hypoxic-ischemic brain injury
following cardiac arrest, the multiscale version of Tsallis entropy is
examined. To validate the proposed complexity measure, actual EEG
recordings from rats (n=9) experiencing 7 min cardiac arrest followed
by resuscitation were analyzed. Experimental results demonstrate that
the use of the multiscale Tsallis entropy leads to better discrimination
of the injury levels and improved correlations with the neurological
deficit evaluation after 72 hours after cardiac arrest, thus suggesting an
effective metric as a prognostic tool.
Abstract: Moving into a new era of healthcare, new tools and
devices are developed to extend and improve health services, such as
remote patient monitoring and risk prevention. In this concept,
Internet of Things (IoT) and Cloud Computing present great
advantages by providing remote and efficient services, as well as
cooperation between patients, clinicians, researchers and other health
professionals. This paper focuses on patients suffering from bipolar
disorder, a brain disorder that belongs to a group of conditions
called affective disorders, which is characterized by great mood
swings. We exploit the advantages of Semantic Web and Cloud
Technologies to develop a patient monitoring system to support
clinicians. Based on intelligently filtering of evidence-knowledge and
individual-specific information we aim to provide treatment
notifications and recommended function tests at appropriate times or
concluding into alerts for serious mood changes and patient’s nonresponse
to treatment. We propose an architecture as the back-end
part of a cloud platform for IoT, intertwining intelligence devices
with patients’ daily routine and clinicians’ support.