Abstract: Cancers could normally be marked by a number of
differentially expressed genes which show enormous potential as
biomarkers for a certain disease. Recent years, cancer classification
based on the investigation of gene expression profiles derived by
high-throughput microarrays has widely been used. The selection of
discriminative genes is, therefore, an essential preprocess step in
carcinogenesis studies. In this paper, we have proposed a novel gene
selector using information-theoretic measures for biological
discovery. This multivariate filter is a four-stage framework through
the analyses of feature relevance, feature interdependence, feature
redundancy-dependence and subset rankings, and having been
examined on the colon cancer data set. Our experimental result show
that the proposed method outperformed other information theorem
based filters in all aspect of classification errors and classification
performance.
Abstract: Characteristics and sonocatalytic activity of zeolite
Y catalysts loaded with TiO2 using impregnation and ion exchange
methods for the degradation of amaranth dye were investigated.
The Ion-exchange method was used to encapsulate the TiO2 into
the internal pores of the zeolite while the incorporation of TiO2
mostly on the external surface of zeolite was carried out using the
impregnation method. Different characterization techniques were
used to elucidate the physicochemical properties of the produced
catalysts. The framework of zeolite Y remained virtually
unchanged after the encapsulation of TiO2 while the crystallinity of
zeolite decreased significantly after the incorporation of 15 wt% of
TiO2. The sonocatalytic activity was enhanced by TiO2
incorporation with maximum degradation efficiencies of 50% and
68% for the encapsulated titanium and titanium loaded onto the
zeolite, respectively after 120min of reaction. Catalysts
characteristics and sonocatalytic behaviors were significantly
affected by the preparation method and the location of TiO2
introduced with zeolite structure. Behaviors in the sonocatalytic
process were successfully correlated with the characteristics of the
catalysts used.
Abstract: One problem of synthetic sunflower cultivation is an
erratic germination of the seeds. To improve the germination, presowing
seed treatment with an ultrasound was tested. All treatments
were carried out at 40 kHz frequency with the intensities of 40, 60,
80 and 100% of the ultrasonic generator total power (250 W) for the
durations of 5, 10, 15 and 20 minutes. Data on seed germination
percentage, seed vigor index (SVI), root and shoot lengths of
seedlings were collected. The results showed that germination, SVI,
root and shoot lengths of ultrasonic treated seedlings were different
from the control, depending on intensity of the ultrasound. The
effects of ultrasonic treatment were significant on germination,
resulting in a maximum increase of 43% at 40 and 60% intensities
compared to that of the control seeds. In addition, seedlings of these 2
treatments had higher SVI and longer root and shoot lengths than that
of the control seedlings. All treatment durations resulted in higher
germination and SVI, longer root and higher shoot lenghts of
seedlings than the control. Among the duration treatments, only SVI
and seedling root length were significantly different.
Abstract: The interaction of the blade tip with the casing
boundary layer and the leakage flow may lead to a kind of cavitation
namely tip vortex cavitation. In this study, the onset of tip vortex
cavitation was experimentally investigated in an axial flow pump.
For a constant speed and a fixed angle of attack and by changing the
flow rate, the pump head, input power, output power and efficiency
were calculated and the pump characteristic curves were obtained.
The cavitation phenomenon was observed with a camera and a
stroboscope. Finally, the critical flow region, which tip vortex
cavitation might have occurred, was identified. The results show that
just by adjusting the flow rate, out of the specified region, the
possibility of occurring tip vortex cavitation, decreases to a great
extent.
Abstract: The common bean is the most important grain legume for direct human consumption in the world and BCMV is one of the world's most serious bean diseases that can reduce yield and quality of harvested product. To determine the best tolerance index to BCMV and recognize tolerant genotypes, 2 experiments were conducted in field conditions. Twenty five common bean genotypes were sown in 2 separate RCB design with 3 replications under contamination and non-contamination conditions. On the basis of the results of indices correlations GMP, MP and HARM were determined as the most suitable tolerance indices. The results of principle components analysis indicated 2 first components totally explained 98.52% of variations among data. The first and second components were named potential yield and stress susceptible respectively. Based on the results of BCMV tolerance indices assessment and biplot analysis WA8563-4, WA8563-2 and Cardinal were the genotypes that exhibited potential seed yield under contamination and noncontamination conditions.
Abstract: The paper presents the optimization problem for the
multi-element synthetic transmit aperture method (MSTA) in
ultrasound imaging applications. The optimal choice of the transmit
aperture size is performed as a trade-off between the lateral
resolution, penetration depth and the frame rate. Results of the
analysis obtained by a developed optimization algorithm are
presented. Maximum penetration depth and the best lateral resolution
at given depths are chosen as the optimization criteria. The
optimization algorithm was tested using synthetic aperture data of
point reflectors simulated by Filed II program for Matlab® for the
case of 5MHz 128-element linear transducer array with 0.48 mm
pitch are presented. The visualization of experimentally obtained
synthetic aperture data of a tissue mimicking phantom and in vitro
measurements of the beef liver are also shown. The data were
obtained using the SonixTOUCH Research systemequipped with a
linear 4MHz 128 element transducerwith 0.3 mm element pitch, 0.28
mm element width and 70% fractional bandwidth was excited by one
sine cycle pulse burst of transducer's center frequency.
Abstract: The number of framework conceived for e-learning
constantly increase, unfortunately the creators of learning materials
and educational institutions engaged in e-formation adopt a
“proprietor" approach, where the developed products (courses,
activities, exercises, etc.) can be exploited only in the framework
where they were conceived, their uses in the other learning
environments requires a greedy adaptation in terms of time and
effort. Each one proposes courses whose organization, contents,
modes of interaction and presentations are unique for all learners,
unfortunately the latter are heterogeneous and are not interested by
the same information, but only by services or documents adapted to
their needs. Currently the new tendency for the framework
conceived for e-learning, is the interoperability of learning materials,
several standards exist (DCMI (Dublin Core Metadata Initiative)[2],
LOM (Learning Objects Meta data)[1], SCORM (Shareable Content
Object Reference Model)[6][7][8], ARIADNE (Alliance of Remote
Instructional Authoring and Distribution Networks for Europe)[9],
CANCORE (Canadian Core Learning Resource Metadata
Application Profiles)[3]), they converge all to the idea of learning
objects. They are also interested in the adaptation of the learning
materials according to the learners- profile. This article proposes an
approach for the composition of courses adapted to the various
profiles (knowledge, preferences, objectives) of learners, based on
two ontologies (domain to teach and educational) and the learning
objects.
Abstract: The effects of down slope steepness on soil splash distribution under a water drop impact have been investigated in this study. The equipment used are the burette to simulate a water drop, a splash cup filled with sandy soil which forms the source area and a splash board to collect the ejected particles. The results found in this study have shown that the apparent mass increased with increasing downslope angle following a linear regression equation with high coefficient of determination. In the same way, the radial soil splash distribution over the distance has been analyzed statistically, and an exponential function was the best fit of the relationship for the different slope angles. The curves and the regressions equations validate the well known FSDF and extend the theory of Van Dijk.
Abstract: As nanotechnology advances, the use of nanotechnology for medical purposes in the field of nanomedicine seems more promising; the rise of nanorobots for medical diagnostics and treatments could be arriving in the near future. This study proposes a swarm intelligence based control mechanism for swarm nanorobots that operate as artificial platelets to search for wounds. The canonical particle swarm optimization algorithm is employed in this study. A simulation in the circulatory system is constructed and used for demonstrating the movement of nanorobots with essential characteristics to examine the performance of proposed control mechanism. The effects of three nanorobot capabilities including their perception range, maximum velocity and respond time are investigated. The results show that canonical particle swarm optimization can be used to control the early version nanorobots with simple behaviors and actions.
Abstract: Text-based game is supposed to be a low resource
consumption application that delivers good performances when
compared to graphical-intensive type of games. But, nowadays, some
of the online text-based games are not offering performances that are
acceptable to the users. Therefore, an online text-based game called
Star_Quest has been developed in order to analyze its behavior under
different performance measurements. Performance metrics such as
throughput, scalability, response time and page loading time are
captured to yield the performance of the game. The techniques in
performing the load testing are also disclosed to exhibit the viability
of our work. The comparative assessment between the results
obtained and the accepted level of performances are conducted as to
determine the performance level of the game. The study reveals that
the developed game managed to meet all the performance objectives
set forth.
Abstract: Gold passbook is an investing tool that is especially
suitable for investors to do small investment in the solid gold. The gold
passbook has the lower risk than other ways investing in gold, but its
price is still affected by gold price. However, there are many factors
can cause influences on gold price. Therefore, building a model to
predict the price of gold passbook can both reduce the risk of
investment and increase the benefits. This study investigates the
important factors that influence the gold passbook price, and utilize
the Group Method of Data Handling (GMDH) to build the predictive
model. This method can not only obtain the significant variables but
also perform well in prediction. Finally, the significant variables of
gold passbook price, which can be predicted by GMDH, are US dollar
exchange rate, international petroleum price, unemployment rate,
whole sale price index, rediscount rate, foreign exchange reserves,
misery index, prosperity coincident index and industrial index.
Abstract: This paper suggests an improved integer frequency
offset (IFO) estimation scheme using P1 symbol for orthogonal
frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) based the second generation
terrestrial digital video broadcasting (DVB-T2) system. Proposed
IFO estimator is designed by a low-complexity blind IFO estimation
scheme, which is implemented with complex additions. Also, we
propose active carriers (ACs) selection scheme in order to prevent
performance degradation in blind IFO estimation. The simulation
results show that under the AWGN and TU6 channels, the proposed
method has low complexity than conventional method and almost
similar performance in comparison with the conventional method.
Abstract: Many footbridges have natural frequencies that
coincide with the dominant frequencies of the pedestrian-induced
load and therefore they have a potential to suffer excessive vibrations
under dynamic loads induced by pedestrians. Some of the design
standards introduce load models for pedestrian loads applicable for
simple structures. Load modeling for more complex structures, on the
other hand, is most often left to the designer. The main focus of this
paper is on the human induced forces transmitted to a footbridge and
on the ways these loads can be modeled to be used in the dynamic
design of footbridges. Also design criteria and load models proposed
by widely used standards were introduced and a comparison was
made. The dynamic analysis of the suspension bridge in Kolin in the
Czech Republic was performed on detailed FEM model using the
ANSYS program system. An attempt to model the load imposed by a
single person and a crowd of pedestrians resulted in displacements
and accelerations that are compared with serviceability criteria.
Abstract: Business process model describes process flow of a
business and can be seen as the requirement for developing a
software application. This paper discusses a BPM2CD guideline
which complements the Model Driven Architecture concept by
suggesting how to create a platform-independent software model in
the form of a UML class diagram from a business process model. An
important step is the identification of UML classes from the business
process model. A technique for object-oriented analysis called
domain analysis is borrowed and key concepts in the business
process model will be discovered and proposed as candidate classes
for the class diagram. The paper enhances this step by using ontology
search to help identify important classes for the business domain. As
ontology is a source of knowledge for a particular domain which
itself can link to ontologies of related domains, the search can give a
refined set of candidate classes for the resulting class diagram.
Abstract: In this paper, we generalize several techniques in
developing Fault Tolerant Software. We introduce property
“Correctness" in evaluating N-version Systems and compare it to
some commonly used properties such as reliability or availability.
We also find out the relation between this property and the number of
versions of system. Our experiments to verify the correctness and the
applicability of the relation are also presented.
Abstract: Sputum smear conversion after one month of antituberculosis
therapy in new smear positive pulmonary tuberculosis
patients (PTB+) is a vital indicator towards treatment success. The
objective of this study is to determine the rate of sputum smear
conversion in new PTB+ patients after one month under treatment of
National Institute of Diseases of the Chest and Hospital (NIDCH).
Analysis of sputum smear conversion was done by re-clinical
examination with sputum smear microscopic test after one month.
Socio-demographic and hematological parameters were evaluated to
perceive the correlation with the disease status. Among all enrolled
patients only 33.33% were available for follow up diagnosis and of
them only 42.86% patients turned to smear negative. Probably this
consequence is due to non-coherence to the proper disease
management. 66.67% and 78.78% patients reported low haemoglobin
and packed cell volume level respectively whereas 80% and 93.33%
patients accounted accelerated platelet count and erythrocyte
sedimentation rate correspondingly.
Abstract: Chemically defined Schlegel-s medium was modified
to improve production of cell growth and other metabolites that are
produced by fluorescent pseudomonad R62 strain. The modified
medium does not require pH control as pH changes are kept within ±
0.2 units of the initial pH 7.1 during fermentation. The siderophore
production was optimized for the fluorescent pseudomonad strain in
the modified medium containing 1% glycerol as a major carbon
source supplemented with 0.05% succinic acid and 0.5% Ltryptophan.
Indole-3 acetic acid (IAA) production was higher when
L-tryptophan was used at 0.5%. The 2,4- diacetylphloroglucinol
(DAPG) was higher with amended three trace elements in medium.
The optimized medium produced 2.28 g/l of dry cell mass and 900
mg/l of siderophore at the end of 36 h cultivation, while the
production levels of IAA and DAPG were 65 mg/l and 81 mg/l
respectively at the end of 48 h cultivation.
Abstract: This article outlines conceptualization and
implementation of an intelligent system capable of extracting
knowledge from databases. Use of hybridized features of both the
Rough and Fuzzy Set theory render the developed system flexibility
in dealing with discreet as well as continuous datasets. A raw data set
provided to the system, is initially transformed in a computer legible
format followed by pruning of the data set. The refined data set is
then processed through various Rough Set operators which enable
discovery of parameter relationships and interdependencies. The
discovered knowledge is automatically transformed into a rule base
expressed in Fuzzy terms. Two exemplary cancer repository datasets
(for Breast and Lung Cancer) have been used to test and implement
the proposed framework.
Abstract: The purpose of this study is i) to investigate the driving factors and barriers of the adoption of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in Halal logistic and ii) to develop an ICT adoption framework for Halal logistic service provider. The Halal LSPs selected for the study currently used ICT service platforms, such as accounting and management system for Halal logistic business. The study categorizes the factors influencing the adoption decision and process by LSPs into four groups: technology related factors, organizational and environmental factors, Halal assurance related factors, and government related factors. The major contribution in this study is the discovery that technology related factors (ICT compatibility with Halal requirement) and Halal assurance related factors are the most crucial factors among the Halal LSPs applying ICT for Halal control in transportation-s operation. Among the government related factors, ICT requirement for monitoring Halal included in Halal Logistic Standard on Transportation (MS2400:2010) are the most influencing factors in the adoption of ICT with the support of the government. In addition, the government related factors are very important in the reducing the main barriers and the creation of the atmosphere of ICT adoption in Halal LSP sector.
Abstract: Camera calibration is an indispensable step for augmented
reality or image guided applications where quantitative information
should be derived from the images. Usually, a camera
calibration is obtained by taking images of a special calibration object
and extracting the image coordinates of projected calibration marks
enabling the calculation of the projection from the 3d world coordinates
to the 2d image coordinates. Thus such a procedure exhibits
typical steps, including feature point localization in the acquired
images, camera model fitting, correction of distortion introduced by
the optics and finally an optimization of the model-s parameters. In
this paper we propose to extend this list by further step concerning
the identification of the optimal subset of images yielding the smallest
overall calibration error. For this, we present a Monte Carlo based
algorithm along with a deterministic extension that automatically
determines the images yielding an optimal calibration. Finally, we
present results proving that the calibration can be significantly
improved by automated image selection.