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: Evaluated nuclear decay data for the 217Po nuclide is
presented in the present work. These data include recommended
values for the half-life T1/2, α-, β-- and γ-ray emission energies and
probabilities. Decay data from 221Rn α and 217Bi β—decays are
presented. Q(α) has been updated based on the recent published work
of the Atomic Mass Evaluation AME2012. In addition, the logft
values were calculated using the Logft program from the ENSDF
evaluation package. Moreover, the total internal conversion electrons
and the K-shell to L-shell and L-shell to M-shell and to N-shell
conversion electrons ratios K/L, L/M and L/N have been calculated
using Bricc program. Meanwhile, recommendation values or the
multi-polarities have been assigned based on recently measurement
yield a better intensity balance at the 254 keV and 264 keV gamma
transitions.
Abstract: Game theory is the study of how people interact and
make decisions to handle competitive situations. It has mainly been
developed to study decision making in complex situations. Humans
routinely alter their behaviour in response to changes in their social
and physical environment. As a consequence, the outcomes of
decisions that depend on the behaviour of multiple decision makers
are difficult to predict and require highly adaptive decision-making
strategies. In addition to the decision makers may have preferences
regarding consequences to other individuals and choose their actions
to improve or reduce the well-being of others. Nash equilibrium is a
fundamental concept in the theory of games and the most widely used
method of predicting the outcome of a strategic interaction in the
social sciences. A Nash Equilibrium exists when there is no unilateral
profitable deviation from any of the players involved. On the other
hand, no player in the game would take a different action as long as
every other player remains the same.
Abstract: Diminished antioxidant defense or increased
production of reactive oxygen species in the biological system can
result in oxidative stress which may lead to various
neurodegenerative diseases including Alzheimer’s disease (AD).
Microglial activation also contributes to the progression of AD by
producing several proinflammatory cytokines, nitric oxide (NO) and
prostaglandin E2 (PGE2). Oxidative stress and inflammation have
been reported to be possible pathophysiological mechanisms
underlying AD. In addition, the cholinergic hypothesis postulates that
memory impairment in patient with AD is also associated with the
deficit of cholinergic function in the brain. Although a number of
drugs have been approved for the treatment of AD, most of these
synthetic drugs have diverse side effects and yield relatively modest
benefits. Marine algae have great potential in pharmaceutical and
biomedical applications as they are valuable sources of bioactive
properties such as anticoagulation, antimicrobial, antioxidative,
anticancer and anti-inflammatory. Hence, this study aimed to provide
an overview of the properties of Malaysian seaweeds (Padina
australis, Sargassum polycystum and Caulerpa racemosa) in
inhibiting oxidative stress, neuroinflammation and cholinesterase
enzymes. These seaweeds significantly exhibited potent DPPH and
moderate superoxide anion radical scavenging ability (P
Abstract: Quantification of cardiac function is performed by
calculating blood volume and ejection fraction in routine clinical
practice. However, these works have been performed by manual
contouring, which requires computational costs and varies on the
observer. In this paper, an automatic left ventricle segmentation
algorithm on cardiac magnetic resonance images (MRI) is presented.
Using knowledge on cardiac MRI, a K-mean clustering technique is
applied to segment blood region on a coil-sensitivity corrected image.
Then, a graph searching technique is used to correct segmentation
errors from coil distortion and noises. Finally, blood volume and
ejection fraction are calculated. Using cardiac MRI from 15 subjects,
the presented algorithm is tested and compared with manual
contouring by experts to show outstanding performance.
Abstract: A new concept of response system is proposed for
filling the gap that exists in reducing vulnerability during immediate
response to natural disasters. Real Time Early Response Systems
(RTERSs) incorporate real time information as feedback data for
closing control loop and for generating real time situation assessment.
A review of the state of the art on works that fit the concept of
RTERS is presented, and it is found that they are mainly focused on
manmade disasters. At the same time, in response phase of natural
disaster management many works are involved in creating early
warning systems, but just few efforts have been put on deciding what
to do once an alarm is activated. In this context a RTERS arises as a
useful tool for supporting people in their decision making process
during natural disasters after an event is detected, and also as an
innovative context for applying well-known automation technologies
and automatic control concepts and tools.
Abstract: The influences of cell-free solutions (CFSs) of lactic
acid bacteria (LAB) on cadaverine and other biogenic amines
production by Listeria monocytogenes and Staphylococcus aureus
were investigated in lysine decarboxylase broth (LDB) using HPLC.
Cell free solutions were prepared from Lactococcus lactis subsp.
lactis, Leuconostoc mesenteroides subsp. cremoris, Pediococcus
acidilactici and Streptococcus thermophiles. Two different
concentrations that were 50% and 25% CFS and the control without
CFSs were prepared. Significant variations on biogenic amine
production were observed in the presence of L. monocytogenes and S.
aureus (P < 0.05). The function of CFS on biogenic amine production
by foodborne pathogens varied depending on strains and specific
amine. Cadaverine formation by L. monocytogenes and S. aureus in
control were 500.9 and 948.1 mg/L, respectively while the CFSs of
LAB induced 4-fold lower cadaverine production by L.
monocytogenes and 7-fold lower cadaverine production by S. aureus.
The CFSs resulted in strong decreases in cadaverine and putrescine
production by L. monocytogenes and S. aureus, although remarkable
increases were observed for histamine, spermidine, spermine,
serotonin, dopamine, tyramine and agmatine in the presence of LAB
in lysine decarboxylase broth.
Abstract: Livestock is one of the fastest-growing sectors in
agriculture. If carefully managed, have potential opportunities for
economic growth, food sovereignty and food security. In this study
we mainly analyse and compare long-term i.e. for year 2030 climate
variability impact on predicted productivity of meat i.e. beef, mutton
and poultry for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia w.r.t three factors i.e. i)
climatic-change vulnerability ii) CO2 fertilization and iii) water
scarcity and compare the results with two countries of the region i.e.
Iraq and Yemen. We do the analysis using data from diverse sources,
which was extracted, transformed and integrated before usage. The
collective impact of the three factors had an overall negative effect on
the production of meat for all the three countries, with adverse impact
on Iraq. High similarity was found between CO2 fertilization
(effecting animal fodder) and water scarcity i.e. higher than that
between production of beef and mutton for the three countries
considered. Overall, the three factors do not seem to be favorable for
the three Middle-East countries considered. This points to possibility
of a vegetarian year 2030 based on dependency on indigenous livestock
population.
Abstract: Potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) is one of the major
vegetable crops that are grown world –wide because of its economic
importance. This experiment investigated the effect of local sands
(River Base, Al-Ekader and Karbala) on number and total weight of
minitubers. Statistical analysis revealed that there were no significant
differences among sand cultures in number of stem/plant, chlorophyll
index and tubers dry weight. River Base sand had the highest plant
height (74.9 cm), leaf number/plant number (39.3), leaf area (84.4
dcm2⁄plant), dry weight/plant (26.31), tubers number/plant (8.5),
tubers weight/plant (635.53 gm) and potato tuber yields/trove (28.60
kg), whereas the Karbala sand had lower performance. All the
characters had positive and significant correlation with yields except
the traits number of stem and tuber dry weight.
Abstract: Ti6Al4V alloy is highly used in the automotive and
aerospace industry due to its good machining characteristics. Micro
EDM drilling is commonly used to drill micro hole on extremely hard
material with very high depth to diameter ratio. In this study, the
parameters of micro-electrical discharge machining (EDM) in drilling
of Ti6Al4V alloy is optimized for higher machining accuracy with
less hole-dilation and hole taper ratio. The micro-EDM machining
parameters includes, peak current and pulse on time. Fuzzy analysis
was developed to evaluate the machining accuracy. The analysis
shows that hole-dilation and hole-taper ratio are increased with the
increasing of peak current and pulse on time. However, the surface
quality deteriorates as the peak current and pulse on time increase.
The combination that gives the optimum result for hole dilation is
medium peak current and short pulse on time. Meanwhile, the
optimum result for hole taper ratio is low peak current and short pulse
on time.
Abstract: Analysis of the properties of coconut (Cocos nucifera)
and its oil was evaluated in this work using standard analytical
techniques. The analyses carried out include proximate composition
of the fruit, extraction of oil from the fruit using different process
parameters and physicochemical analysis of the extracted oil. The
results showed the percentage (%) moisture, crude lipid, crude
protein, ash and carbohydrate content of the coconut as 7.59, 55.15,
5.65, 7.35 and 19.51 respectively. The oil from the coconut fruit was
odourless and yellowish liquid at room temperature (30oC). The
treatment combinations used (leaching time, leaching temperature
and solute: solvent ratio) showed significant differences (P
Abstract: A Disaster Management System (DMS) is very important for countries with multiple disasters, such as Chile. In the world (also in Chile)different disasters (earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic eruption, fire or other natural or man-made disasters) happen and have an effect on the population. It is also possible that two or more disasters occur at the same time. This meansthata multi-risk situation must be mastered. To handle such a situation a Decision Support System (DSS) based on multiagents is a suitable architecture. The most known DMSs are concernedwith only a singledisaster (sometimes thecombination of earthquake and tsunami) and often with a particular disaster. Nevertheless, a DSS helps for a better real-time response. Analyze the existing systems in the literature and expand them for multi-risk disasters to construct a well-organized system is the proposal of our work. The here shown work is an approach of a multi-risk system, which needs an architecture and well defined aims. In this moment our study is a kind of case study to analyze the way we have to follow to create our proposed system in the future.
Abstract: In this paper, an effective non-destructive, noninvasive
approach for leak detection was proposed. The process relies
on analyzing thermal images collected by an IR viewer device that
captures thermo-grams. In this study a statistical analysis of the
collected thermal images of the ground surface along the expected
leak location followed by a visual inspection of the thermo-grams
was performed in order to locate the leak. In order to verify the
applicability of the proposed approach the predicted leak location
from the developed approach was compared with the real leak
location. The results showed that the expected leak location was
successfully identified with an accuracy of more than 95%.
Abstract: The aim of this study was to build ‘Ubi-Net’, a
decision-making support system for systematic establishment in
U-City planning. We have experienced various urban problems caused
by high-density development and population concentrations in
established urban areas. To address these problems, a U-Service
contributes to the alleviation of urban problems by providing real-time
information to citizens through network connections and related
information. However, technology, devices, and information for
consumers are required for systematic U-Service planning in towns
and cities where there are many difficulties in this regard, and a lack of
reference systems.
Thus, this study suggests methods to support the establishment of
sustainable planning by providing comprehensive information
including IT technology, devices, news, and social networking
services (SNS) to U-City planners through intelligent searches. In this
study, we targeted Smart U-Parking Planning to solve parking
problems in an ‘old’ city. Through this study, we sought to contribute
to supporting advances in U-Space and the alleviation of urban
problems.
Abstract: Doxorubicin, also known as Adriamycin, is an
anthracycline class of drug used in cancer chemotherapy. It is used in
the treatment of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, multiple myeloma, acute
leukemia, breast cancer, lung cancer, endometrium cancer and ovary
cancers. It functions via intercalating DNA and ultimately killing
cancer cells. The major side effects of doxorubicin are hair loss,
myelosuppression, nausea & vomiting, oesophagitis, diarrhea, heart
damage and liver dysfunction. The minor modifications in the
structure of compound exhibit large variation in the biological
activity, has prompted us to carry out the synthesis of sulfonamide
derivatives. Sulfonamide is an important feature with broad spectrum
of biological activity such as antiviral, antifungal, diuretics, antiinflammatory,
antibacterial and anticancer activities. Structure of the
synthesized compound N-(1-methyl-2-oxo-2-N-methyl anilinoethyl)
benzene sulfonamide confirmed by proton nuclear magnetic
resonance (1H NMR),13C NMR, Mass and FTIR spectroscopic tools
to assure the position of all protons and hence stereochemistry of the
molecule. Further we have reported the binding potential of
synthesized sulfonamide analogues in comparison to doxorubicin
drug using Auto Dock 4.2 software. Computational binding energy
(B.E.) and inhibitory constant (Ki) has been evaluated for the
synthesized compound in comparison of doxorubicin against Poly
(dA-dT).Poly (dA-dT) and Poly (dG-dC).Poly (dG-dC) sequences.
The in vitro cytotoxic study against human breast cancer cell lines
confirms the better anticancer activity of the synthesized compound
over currently in use anticancer drug doxorubicin. The IC50 value of
the synthesized compound is 7.12 μM whereas for doxorubicin is 7.2
μM.
Abstract: A quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) nanosensor was developed to detect lysozyme enzyme by functionalizing its gold surface with the attachment of poly(methacroyl-L-phenylalanine) (PMAPA) nanoparticles. PMAPA was chosen as a hydrophobic matrix. The hydrophobic nanoparticles were synthesized by micro-emulsion polymerization method. Hydrophobic QCM nanosensor was tested for real time detection of lysozyme enzyme from aqueous solution. The kinetic and affinity studies were determined by using lysozyme solutions with different concentrations. The responses related with mass (Δm) and frequency (Δf) shifts were used to evaluate adsorption properties.
Abstract: Precise capture of plantar 3D surface of the foot at the
loading gait phases on rigid substrates was found to be valuable for
the assessment of the physiology, health and problems of the feet.
Photogrammetry, a precision 3D spatial data capture technique is
suitable for this type of dynamic application. In this research, the
technique is utilised to study the plantar deformation as a result of
having a strip of kinesiology tape on the plantar surface during the
loading phase of gait. For this pilot study, one healthy adult male
subject was recruited under the University’s human research ethics
guidelines for this preliminary study. The 3D plantar deformation
data with and without applying the tape were analysed. The results
and analyses are presented together with detailed findings.
Abstract: The management of Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori)
eradication is still a matter of discussion, full effectiveness is rarely
achieved, and it has many adverse effects. The use of probiotics may
be associated with better eradication rates and possibly prevention of
adverse events due to antibiotic therapy. The present clinical study
was undertaken to evaluate the efficacy of a specially designed
fermented milk product, containing Bifidobacterium lactis B420, on
the eradication of H. pylori infection in a prospective, randomized,
double-blind, controlled study in humans. Four test fermented milks
(FM) were specially designed in which counts of viable cells in all
products were 10^10 Log CFU. 100 mL-1 for Bifidobacterium lactis -
Bifidobacterium species 420. 190 subjects infected with H. pylori,
with previous diagnosis of functional dyspepsia according to Rome
III criteria entered the study. Bifidobacterium lactis B420,
administered twice a day for 90 days was not able to eradicate H.
pylori in Brazilian patients with functional dyspepsia.
Abstract: This paper discusses the undesirable charge transfer
through the parasitic capacitances of the input transistors in a
multi-inputs voltage sense amplifier. Its intrinsic rail-to-rail voltage
transitions at the output nodes inevitably disturb the input sides
through the capacitive coupling between the outputs and inputs. Then,
it can possible degrade the stabilities of the reference voltage levels.
Moreover, it becomes more serious in multi-channel systems by
altering them for other channels, and so degrades the linearity of the
overall systems. In order to alleviate the internal node voltage
transition, the internal node stabilization techniques are proposed. It
achieves 45% and 40% improvements for node stabilization and input
referred disturbance, respectively.
Abstract: This paper describes the tradeoffs and the design from
scratch of a self-contained, easy-to-use health dashboard software
system that provides customizable data tracking for patients in smart
homes. The system is made up of different software modules and
comprises a front-end and a back-end component. Built with HTML,
CSS, and JavaScript, the front-end allows adding users, logging into
the system, selecting metrics, and specifying health goals. The backend
consists of a NoSQL Mongo database, a Python script, and a
SimpleHTTPServer written in Python. The database stores user
profiles and health data in JSON format. The Python script makes use
of the PyMongo driver library to query the database and displays
formatted data as a daily snapshot of user health metrics against
target goals. Any number of standard and custom metrics can be
added to the system, and corresponding health data can be fed
automatically, via sensor APIs or manually, as text or picture data
files. A real-time METAR request API permits correlating weather
data with patient health, and an advanced query system is
implemented to allow trend analysis of selected health metrics over
custom time intervals. Available on the GitHub repository system,
the project is free to use for academic purposes of learning and
experimenting, or practical purposes by building on it.