bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Study on the Mechanical Properties of Metal Rubber Inner Core of O‐Type Seal with Large Ring‐to‐Diameter Ratio
Authors: Yang Yangyang , Ren Zhi Ying , Bai Hongbai , Shen Ding , Zhang Bin
Published: February 2020

In view of the problems of ordinary rubber seals, such as high‐ and low‐temperature resistance, easy aging, and insufficient load‐bearing performance, O‐type metal rubber seals with large ring‐to‐diameter ratio were prepared by the cold stamping method using stainless steel wire as raw material. The effects of heat treatment and porosity on the compression and tensile properties of test samples were investigated. Under uniaxial compression testing, it was found that the test sample had typical hysteresis characteristics, and the loss factor and energy dissipation of the sample with the same size and different porosity increased with the decrease of porosity. The loss factor and energy dissipation of the heat‐treated sample were lower than those of the untreated sample. Thus, the smaller the porosity, the greater the change of loss factor and energy dissipation. Under uniaxial tensile testing, obvious stage changes were found during the tensile process, which included a linear elasticity stage, the formation and development stage of wire breakage, the one‐by‐one fracture stage of wires, and the complete failure stage of the sample. The yield strength, ultimate tensile strength, and modulus of elasticity of four samples with different porosity were measured, and it was found that the three parameters increased with the decrease of porosity. Moreover, the thermal treatment conductivity increased with the decrease of porosity. The aforementioned three parameters were generally increased. This indicated that metal rubber materials have good mechanical properties under high‐temperature environments, which effectively solves the problem of vulnerability to aging and failure of ordinary rubbers under normal working conditions and has strong practical engineering significance.
Relaxation Effect of Patchouli Alcohol in Rat Corpus Cavernous and Its Underlying Mechanisms
Authors: Chen Fangjun , Xu Yifei , Wang Jing , Yang Xufeng , Cao Hongying , Huang Ping
Published: February 2020

In this study, we investigated the relaxation effect and mechanisms of patchouli alcohol (PA) on rat corpus cavernosum. Corpus cavernosum strips were used in organ baths for isometric tension studies. The results showed that PA demonstrated concentration‐dependent relaxation effect on rat corpus cavernosum. The relaxant response to PA was not influenced by tetrodotoxin and atropine while it was significantly inhibited by removal of endothelium. L‐NG‐nitroarginine methyl ester (L‐NAME, a nitric oxide synthase inhibitor) or 1H‐[1,2,4]oxadiazolo[4,3‐a]quinoxalin‐1‐one (ODQ, a soluble guanylate cyclase inhibitor) significantly inhibited relaxation response to PA, whereas indomethacin (COX inhibitor) had no effect on PA‐induced relaxation. The treatment of endothelium‐deprived corpus cavernosum with several potassium channel blockers including tetraethylammonium (TEA), 4‐aminopyridine (4‐AP), and glibenclamide had no effect on PA‐induced relaxation. Endothelium‐deprived corpus cavernosal contractions induced by cumulative addition of Ca2+ to high KCl solution without CaCl2 were significantly inhibited by PA. Also, PA improved relaxant capacity of sildenafil in rat corpus cavernosum. In addition, the perfusion with PA significantly increased the levels of cGMP and expression of mRNA and protein of neuronal nitric oxide synthase (nNOS) and endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS). Furthermore, intracavernous injection of PA enhanced the rise in intracavernous pressure in rats during cavernosal nerve electric stimulation. In conclusion, PA relaxed the rat corpus cavernosum attributed to both endothelium‐dependent and ‐independent properties. While the former component was mostly involved in nitric oxide signaling pathway, the endothelium‐independent mechanism involved in PA‐induced relaxation was probably linked to calcium antagonism.
Effects of Preoperative HbA1c Levels on the Postoperative Outcomes of Coronary Artery Disease Surgical Treatment in Patients with Diabetes Mellitus and Nondiabetic Patients: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
Authors: Wang Jinjing , Luo Xufei , Jin Xinye , Lv Meng , Li Xueqiong , Dou Jingtao , Zeng Jing , An Ping , Chen Yaolong , Chen Kang , Mu Yiming
Published: February 2020

Aims. To investigate the effect of preoperative HbA1c levels on the postoperative outcomes of coronary artery disease surgery in diabetic and nondiabetic patients. Methods and Results. The MEDLINE (via PubMed), Cochrane Library, Web of Science, Embase, Wanfang Data, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), and Chinese Biology Medicine (CBM) databases were used to search the effects of different preoperative HbA1c levels on the postoperative outcomes of coronary artery disease surgical treatment in diabetic and nondiabetic patients from inception to December 2018. Two review authors worked in an independent and duplicate manner to select eligible studies, extract data, and assess the risk of bias of the included studies. We used a meta-analysis to synthesize data and analyze subgroups, sensitivity, and publication bias as well as the GRADE methodology if appropriate. The literature search retrieved 886 records initially, and 23 cohort studies were included in the meta-analysis. In this meta-analysis, we found that there was a reduced incidence of surgical site infections (OR=2.94, 95% CI 2.18-3.98), renal failure events (OR=1.63, 95% CI 1.13-2.33), and myocardial infarction events (OR=1.69, 95% CI 1.16-2.47), as well as a shortened hospital stay (MD=1.08, 95% CI 0.46-1.71), in diabetic patients after coronary artery disease surgical treatment with lower preoperative HbA1c levels. For nondiabetic patients, a higher preoperative HbA1c level resulted in an increase in the incidence of mortality (OR=2.23, 95% CI 1.01-4.90) and renal failure (OR=2.33, 95% CI 1.32-4.12). No significant difference was found between higher and lower preoperative HbA1c levels in the incidence of mortality (OR=1.06, 95% CI 0.88-1.26), stroke (OR=1.49, 95% CI 0.94-2.37), or atrial fibrillation (OR=0.94, 95% CI 0.67-1.33); the length of ICU stay (MD=0.20, 95% CI -0.14-0.55); or sepsis incidence (OR=2.49, 95% CI 0.99-6.25) for diabetic patients or for myocardial infarction events (OR=1.32, 95% CI 0.27-6.31) or atrial fibrillation events (OR=0.99, 95% CI 0.74-1.33) for nondiabetic patients. The certainty of evidence was judged to be moderate or low. Conclusion. This meta-analysis showed that higher preoperative HbA1c levels may potentially increase the risk of surgical site infections, renal failure, and myocardial infarction and reduce the length of hospital stay in diabetic subjects after coronary artery disease surgical treatment and increase the risk of mortality and renal failure in nondiabetic patients. However, there was great inconsistency in defining higher preoperative HbA1c levels in the studies included; we still need high-quality RCTs with a sufficiently large sample size to further investigate this issue in the future. This trial is registered with CRD42019121531.
Reducing the Sink Marks of a Crystalline Polymer Using External Gas-Assisted Injection Molding
Authors: Jiang Shaofei , Li Taidong , Xia Xinxin , Peng Xiang , Li Jiquan
Published: February 2020

External gas-assisted injection molding (EGAIM) has been used to reduce the sink marks of amorphous polymer products, but that of crystalline polymer products has not yet been reported. EGAIM of a crystalline polymer product was investigated in this study, and the influences of process parameters on the sink marks were discussed based on experiments. An isotactic polypropylene (iPP) product was fabricated by EGAIM under different process conditions. A uniform design was applied as an experimental design to investigate the influences of the process parameters on the sink marks. A regression equation was established to describe the quantitative relationship between the important parameters and sink marks in which a data-processing method was applied to determine the optimal value of Fα at significant level α to reduce the possibility of omission of some important parameters. The results show that EGAIM was effective in reducing the sink marks in these iPP products, and the most important parameters were the cooling time, gas pressure, and gas time. This study also provides the quantitative relationship between the important parameters and sink marks as reference for the research of EGAIM on crystalline polymer.
Adnexal Tumor-Related Neurobehavioral Alterations: A Rare Case Report
Authors: Murad Gabriel Ferrante Abou , Hatanaka Francisco Faria , de Menezes França Tamires , Uyeda Maria Gabriela Baumgarten Kuster , Girão Manoel João Batista Castello , Sartori Marair Gracio Ferreira
Published: February 2020

Associations between neuropsychotic changes and oncologic disease are often described as late-onset symptoms, secondary to the instituted treatment. However, neurocognitive symptoms as a clinical manifestation of adnexal tumors are still little discussed, despite the importance of these in the gynecology practice. In this article, we present a case of adnexal mass whose first clinical manifestations were neuropsychiatric alterations. Such changes led the patient to seek our health service, and after diagnosis and treatment of the ovarian mass, the patient presented remission of the symptoms.
Genomic Analysis of Bacillus megaterium NCT-2 Reveals Its Genetic Basis for the Bioremediation of Secondary Salinization Soil
Authors: Wang Bin , Zhang Dan , Chu Shaohua , Zhi Yuee , Liu Xiaorui , Zhou Pei
Published: February 2020

Bacillus megaterium NCT-2 is a nitrate-uptake bacterial, which shows high bioremediation capacity in secondary salinization soil, including nitrate-reducing capacity, phosphate solubilization, and salinity adaptation. To gain insights into the bioremediation capacity at the genetic level, the complete genome sequence was obtained by using a multiplatform strategy involving HiSeq and PacBio sequencing. The NCT-2 genome consists of a circular chromosome of 5.19 Mbp and ten indigenous plasmids, totaling 5.88 Mbp with an average GC content of 37.87%. The chromosome encodes 5,606 genes, 142 tRNAs, and 53 rRNAs. Genes involved in the features of the bioremediation in secondary salinization soil and plant growth promotion were identified in the genome, such as nitrogen metabolism, phosphate uptake, the synthesis of organic acids and phosphatase for phosphate-solubilizing ability, and Trp-dependent IAA synthetic system. Furthermore, strain NCT-2 has great ability of adaption to environments due to the genes involved in cation transporters, osmotic stress, and oxidative stress. This study sheds light on understanding the molecular basis of using B. megaterium NCT-2 in bioremediation of the secondary salinization soils.
The Expression of Snail, Galectin‐3, and IGF1R in the Differential Diagnosis of Benign and Malignant Pheochromocytoma and Paraganglioma
Authors: Deng Liling , Chen Tao , Xu Huan , Li Yuanmei , Deng Mingyan , Mo Dan , Tian Haoming , Ren Yan
Published: February 2020

Objective. The aim of this study was to investigate the expression of Snail, galectin‐3, and IGF1R in benign and malignant pheochromocytoma and paraganglioma (PPGL) and explore their role in the diagnosis of malignant PPGL. Methods. We retrospectively collected and analyzed surgical tumor tissue from 226 patients initially diagnosed with PPGL who underwent surgery from Jan. 2009 to Jan. 2016 at West China Hospital, Sichuan University. We observed and quantified the expression of Snail, galectin‐3, and IGF1R in paraffin‐embedded samples by immunohistochemical staining. Results. The significant difference in survival time among the three groups (benign PHEO, benign PGL, and potentially malignant PPGL) was compared by Kaplan‐Meier survival analysis. The positive staining of Snail, galectin‐3, and IGF1R in the benign PHEO group was significantly lower than that in the other three groups (P < 0.001). The Kaplan‐Meier survival plots indicated that the survival time of the patients with intense positive staining was significantly lower than that of the patients with weak positive staining. Conclusion. The intense expression of Snail, galectin‐3, and IGF1R may be valuable indicators for the diagnosis of malignant PPGL.
A Hybrid Neuro-Fuzzy and Feature Reduction Model for Classification
Authors: Das Himansu , Naik Bighnaraj , Behera H. S.
Published: March 2020

The evolvement of the fuzzy system has shown influential and successful in many universal approximation capabilities and applications. This paper proposes a hybrid Neuro-Fuzzy and Feature Reduction (NF-FR) model for data analysis. This proposed NF-FR model uses a feature-based class belongingness fuzzification process for all the patterns. During the fuzzification process, all the features are expanded based on the number of classes available in the dataset. It helps to deal with the uncertainty issues and assists the Artificial Neural Network- (ANN-) based model to achieve better performance. However, the complexity of the problem increases due to this expansion of input features in the fuzzification process. These expanded features may not always contribute significantly to the model. To overcome this problem, feature reduction (FR) is used to filter out the insignificant features, resulting the network less computational cost. These reduced significant features are used in the ANN-based model to classify the data. The effectiveness of this proposed model is tested and validated with ten benchmark datasets (both balanced and unbalanced) to demonstrate the performance of the proposed NF-FR model. The performance comparison of the NF-FR model with other counterparts has been carried out based on various performance measures such as classification accuracy, root means square error, precision, recall, and f-measure for quantitative analysis of the results. The obtained simulated results have been tested using the Friedman, Holm, and ANOVA tests under the null hypothesis for statistical validity and correctness proof of the results. The result analysis and statistical analysis show that the NF-FR model has achieved a considerable improvement in accuracy and is found to be efficient in eliminating redundant and noisy information.
Particulate Scale Numerical Investigation on the Compaction of TiC-316L Composite Powders
Authors: Wang Defeng , An Xizhong , Han Peng , Fu Haitao , Yang Xiaohong , Zou Qingchuan
Published: February 2020

This paper presents a numerical investigation on the 2D uniaxial die compaction of TiC-316L stainless steel (abbreviated by 316L) composite powders by the multiparticle finite element method (MPFEM). The effects of TiC-316L particle size ratios, TiC contents, and initial packing structures on the compaction process are systematically characterized and analyzed from macroscale and particulate scale. Numerical results show that different initial packing structures have significant impacts on the densification process of TiC-316L composite powders; a denser initial packing structure with the same composition can improve the compaction densification of TiC-316L composite powders. Smaller size ratio of 316L and TiC particles (R316L/RTiC = 1) will help achieve the green compact with higher relative density as the TiC content and compaction pressure are fixed. Meanwhile, increasing TiC content reduces the relative density of the green compact. In the dynamic compaction process, the void filling is mainly completed by particle rearrangement and plastic deformation of 316L particles. Furthermore, the contacted TiC particles will form the force chains impeding the densification process and cause the serious stress concentration within them. Increasing TiC content and R316L/RTiC can create larger stresses in the compact. The results provide valuable information for the formation of high-quality TiC-316L compacts in PM process.
Customer’s Perception and Preference towards Packaged Drinking Water
Authors: Tilahun Minyahel , Beshaw Melaku
Published: February 2020

Two hundred customers were purposively selected from two study areas (market, residence) in Addis Ababa to assess customer’s behavior and perception towards packaged water. The sampling and data collection process of the study followed systematic analysis of Theory Planned Behavior. The average monthly income of respondents of this study lay between 5000 ($175) and 10000 ($350) Eth Birr. The primary customer information sources were television and radio. Residence place customers were more concerned about health as compared to market place customers. Market place customers primarily gave emphasis to the price of packaged water. Almost all (97%) customers were not sentient to packaged water standards. However, only few, 86 (43%), customers checked labeled chemical composition, of which 74 (85%) did not understand it. Customer’s sex, education level, and health status showed significant relationship with choice of packaged water quality, −1.42 (p<0.05); price, −2.45 (p<0.01); and health status, –1.80 (p<0.05) in market place and residence place, respectively. Customers were not well aware of what they were purchasing and even customer’s ability to read was not related to customer’s ability to understand what was written in the labels. Customers’ choice of packaged drinking water has been challenged by their health status. Customers are becoming more concerned about prices while they are out of their residence place.
Design and Research of Skin Injection Molded TPE Materials Based on Genetic Algorithm
Authors: Yan Kui , Chen Yizhe , Wang Hui , Gao Cheng , Bai Qiuyang
Published: February 2020

Thermoplastic elastomer (TPE) is a kind of new automotive interior material with high elasticity and strength. Traditional TPE materials were difficult to meet the new requirements of large-scale automotive interior parts with complex shape. In this study, the TPE material was prepared using different mass ratios with homopolymer polypropylene (PP), styrene-ethylene/butene-styrene copolymer (SEBS), naphthene oil (NO), magnesium stearate (MGST), and polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE). A quality-prediction and multiobjective optimization method based on a genetic algorithm was applied. The parameters that had an important effect on the forming quality were selected using an orthogonal testing method. Results showed that using the proposed method, a new TPE material is obtained with excellent scratch resistance ability and high MFI. The mechanisms of the addition of PTFE and MGST were analysed according to SEM images. The peel strength of the optimized part was measured to prove the coating quality of TPE material.
Assessment of Enzymatic Browning and Evaluation of Antibrowning Methods on Dates
Authors: Al-Amrani Mariam , Al-Alawi Ahmed , Al-Marhobi Insaaf
Published: February 2020

Dates’ color is known to play a crucial role in determining the value and quality of the fruit. The color changes from the natural accepted golden color to unfavorable dark brown color during storage. In this study, the effect of different color preservation methods (modified atmosphere packaging, cold storage (4°C), sulfur dioxide gas (SO2), and blanching) and its relation to darkening due to action of the browning enzymes and melanin production were investigated. Polyphenol oxidase was shown to be active in all treatments except the samples treated with SO2 gas and steam blanching for ten minutes. Likewise, peroxidase activity showed a similar trend in all samples, but a decrease in activity was observed in sulfated samples and total inactivation in steam blanching for ten minutes. Moreover, sulfated samples have shown improvement in color compared to all other treatments, whereas the steamed samples showed the highest color deterioration. Concurrently, melanin content increased in all samples over the period of storage except in the sulfated samples. FTIR analyses of dates’ melanin have revealed similar structural feature to the reference melanin; however, some differences were noticed in the regions 2850–2950 cm-1 and 1690–1705 cm-1 which indicated major structural difference between the two melanin samples. More work is suggested to reveal structural and functional properties of dates’ melanin.
Effects of Pelargonium sidoides and Coptis Rhizoma 2 : 1 Mixed Formula (PS + CR) on Ovalbumin‐Induced Asthma in Mice
Authors: Min Byung Gu , Park Sang Mi , Choi Youn Woong , Ku Sae Kwang , Cho Il Je , Kim Young Woo , Byun Sung Hui , Park Chung A , Park Sook Jahr , Na MinKyun , Kim Sang Chan
Published: February 2020

Pelargonium sidoides (PS) is traditionally used to treat respiratory and gastrointestinal infections, dysmenorrhea, and hepatic disorders in South Africa. Coptis Rhizoma (CR) is used to treat gastroenteric disorders, cardiovascular diseases, and cancer in East Asia. In the present study, we intended to observe the possible beneficial antiasthma effects of PS and CR on the ovalbumin‐ (OVA‐) induced asthma C57BL/6J mice. Asthma in mice was induced by OVA sensitization and subsequent boosting. PS + CR (300 and 1,000 mg/kg; PO) or dexamethasone (IP) was administered once a day for 16 days. The changes in the body weight and gains, lung weights and gross inspections, total and differential cell counts of leukocytes in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF), serum OVA‐specific immunoglobulin E (OVA‐sIgE) levels, interleukin‐4 (IL‐4) and IL‐5 levels in BALF and lung tissue homogenate, and IL‐4 and IL‐5 mRNA levels in lung tissue homogenates were analyzed with lung histopathology: mean alveolar surface area (ASA), alveolar septal thickness, numbers of inflammatory cells, mast cells, and eosinophils infiltrated in the alveolar regions, respectively. Significant increases in lung weights, total and differential cell counts of leukocytes in BALF, serum OVA‐sIgE levels, and IL‐4 and IL‐5 levels in BALF and lung tissue homogenate were observed in OVA control as compared to those of intact control. In addition, OVA control showed a significant decrease in mean ASA and increases in alveolar septal thickness, numbers of inflammatory cells, mast cells, and eosinophils infiltrated in alveolar regions. However, these allergic and inflammatory asthmatic changes were significantly inhibited by PS + CR in a dose‐dependent manner. In this study, PS + CR showed dose‐dependent beneficial effects on OVA‐induced asthma in mice through anti‐inflammatory and antiallergic activities. Therefore, it is expected that PS + CR have enough potential as a new therapeutic agent or as an ingredient of a medicinal agent for various allergic and inflammatory respiratory diseases including asthma.
Research on the Estimation Method of the Stiffness Degeneration Index of Reinforced Concrete Members
Authors: Wang Yukui , Liu Zhefeng , Yang Weijun , Wang Jian , Zheng Xiao
Published: February 2020

Based on variable amplitude displacement cycle tests of 24 reinforced concrete members with different reinforcement conditions, the stiffness degradation index was proposed to describe the damage. The relationship between the stiffness degradation index, the displacement history, and the cumulative energy dissipation was studied; on this basis, an estimation method for the stiffness degradation index was proposed. By comparing the experimental values and estimated values of the stiffness degradation index, the proposed method provides promising prediction reliability and accuracy. The stiffness degradation index has an effective relationship with the structural design parameters. Based on the stiffness degradation index, the reinforced concrete members can be divided into five performance levels: no damage (DK,k < 0), mild damage (0 < DK,k ≤ 0.3), moderate damage (0.3 < DK,k ≤ 0.7), severe damage (0.7 < DK,k ≤ 0.9), and destruction (0.9 < DK,k ≤ 1), which can provide a good reference for the seismic design of reinforced concrete members. The increase in the transverse reinforcement ratio can significantly reduce the stiffness damage, and the effect is more obvious under the conditions of small ductility. Under the same conditions, the smaller the ductility condition is, the smaller the stiffness damage of the reinforced concrete members will be. Therefore, the control of the ductility condition and the increase in the transverse reinforcement ratio are stable and effective methods for controlling the stiffness damage of reinforced concrete members.
Overlapped Music segmentation using a new Effective Feature and Random Forests
Authors: Mohammed Duraid , Al-Karawi Khamis A. , Duncan Philip , Li Francis F.
Published: March 2020

In the field of audio classification, audio signals may be broadly divided into three classes: speech, music and events. Most studies, however, neglect that real audio soundtracks can have any combination of these classes simultaneously. In this study, a novel feature, “Entrocy”, is proposed for the detection of music both in pure form and overlapping with the other audio classes. Entrocy is defined as the variation of the information (or entropy) in an audio segment over time. Segments which contain music were found to have lower Entrocy since there are fewer abrupt changes over time.

We have also compared Entrocy with existing music detection features and the entrocy showing a promising performance.

Keywords—Music detection, audio content analysis, audio indexing, Entropy, real world audio classification.
Review of single clustering methods
Authors: Muhamad Mahfuz Nurshazwani , Yusoff Marina , Ahmad Zakiah
Published: March 2020

Clustering provides a prime important role as an unsupervised learning method in data analytics to assist many real-world problems such as image segmentation, object recognition or information retrieval. It is often an issue of difficulty for traditional clustering technique due to non-optimal result exist because of the presence of outliers and noise data.  This review paper provides a review of single clustering methods that were applied in various domains.  The aim is to see the potential suitable applications and aspect of improvement of the methods. Three categories of single clustering methods were suggested, and it would be beneficial to the researcher to see the clustering aspects as well as to determine the requirement for clustering method for an employment based on the state of the art of the previous research findings.
Expert Judgment Z-Numbers as a Ranking Indicator for Hierarchical Fuzzy Logic System
Authors: Bakhtiar bin Rodzman Shaiful , Kamal Ismail Normaly , Abd Rahman Nurazzah , Ahmad Aljunid Syed , Mohamed Nor Zulhilmi , Naim Ku Khalif Ku Muhammad
Published: March 2020

In this article, the researchers main contribution is to investigate three factors which may correlate in implementation of Expert Judgment Z-Numbers as new Fuzzy Logic Ranking Indicator such as: expert relevance judgment or score, the expert confidence and the level of expertise. The Expert Judgment Z-Numbers then will be an input to the Hierarchical Fuzzy Logic System of Domain Specific Text Retrieval, along with other indicators such as Ontology BM25 Score, Fabrication Rate, Shia Rate and Positive Rate of hadith document. The results showed, the proposed system, with the additional new indicator of Expert Judgment Z-Numbers, may improve the original BM25 ranking function, by yielding better results on 26 queries, on all evaluation metrics that are measured in this research such as P@10, %no measures and MAP, and has achieved better results in 28 queries on P@10 alone, compared to the BM25 original score, that only yield better results in 2 queries on all evaluation metrics, and also yield better results in 4 queries on the MAP alone. The results proved that the proposed system has a capability to utilize the expert confidence and their relevant judgment that are represented in Z-Number, as an indicator to optimize the existing ranking function system and has a potential for a further research to be conducted on these domains. For the future works, the researchers would like to enhance this research by including a variety of expert’s level confidence and their judgment, also a new calculation to represent the value of Z-Numbers.
Multi-verse optimization based evolutionary programming technique for power scheduling in loss minimization scheme
Authors: Hazim Lokman Muhamad , Musirin Ismail , Izwan Suliman Saiful , Suyono Hadi , Nur Hasanah Rini , Azma Syed Mustafa Sharifah , Zellagui Mohamed
Published: March 2020

The growth of computational intelligence technology has witnessed its application in numerous fields. Power system study is not left behind as far as computational intelligence trend is concerned. In power system community, optimization process is one of the crucial efforts for most remedial action to maintain the power system security. Basically, power scheduling refers to prior to fact action(such as scheduling generators to generate certain powers for next week). Power scheduling process is one of the most important routines in power systems. Scheduling of generators in a power transmission system is an important scheme; especially its offline studies to identify the security status of the system. This determines the cost effectiveness in power system planning. This paper investigates the performance of multi-verse based evolutionary programming(lowest EP) technique in the application of power system scheduling to ensure loss is gained by the system. Losses in the system can be controlled through this implementation which can be realized through the validation on a chosen reliability test system as the main model. Validation on <span style="font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA;" lang="EN-US">IEEE 30-Bus Reliability Test System resulted that both techniques are reliable and robust in addressing this issue.
 
Performance comparison of various probability gate assisted binary lightning search algorithm
Authors: Islam Md Mainul , Shareef Hussain , Nagrial Mahmood , Rizk Jamal , Hellany Ali , Nizam Khalid Saiful
Published: March 2020

Recently, many new nature-inspired optimization algorithms have been introduced to further enhance the computational intelligence optimization algorithms. Among them, lightning search algorithm(LSA) is a recent heuristic optimization method for resolving continuous problems. It mimics the natural phenomenon of lightning to find out the global optimal solution around the search space. In this paper, a suitable technique to formulate binary version of lightning search algorithm(BLSA) is presented. Three common probability transfer functions, namely, logistic sigmoid, tangent hyperbolic sigmoid and quantum bit rotating gate are investigated to be utilized in the original LSA. The performances of three transfer functions based BLSA is evaluated using various standard functions with different features and the results are compared with other four famous heuristic optimization techniques. The comparative study clearly reveals that tangent hyperbolic transfer function is the most suitable function that can be utilized in the binary version of LSA.
Predicting fatalities among shark attacks: comparison of classifiers
Authors: Mei Shi Lim , Mustapha Aida , Mohmad Hassim Yana Mazwin
Published: March 2020

This paper presents the comparisons of different classifiers on predicting Shark attack fatalities. In this study, we are comparing two classifiers which are Support vector machines(SVMs) and Bayes Point Machines(BPMs) on Shark attacks dataset. The comparison of the classifiers were based on the accuracy, recall, precision and F1-score as the performance measurement. The results obtained from this study showed that BPMs predicted the fatality of shack attack victim experiment with higher accuracy and precision than the SVMs because BPMs have “average” identifier which can minimize the probabilistic error measure. From this experiment, it is concluded that BPMs are more suitable in predicting fatality of shark attack victim as BPMs is an improvement of SVMs.
Feature selection for human membrane protein type classification using filter methods
Authors: Anak Kaya Glenda , Mohamad Kamal Nor Ashikin
Published: March 2020

As the number of protein sequences in the database is increasing, effective and efficient techniques are needed to make these data meaningful.  These protein sequences contain redundant and irrelevant features that cause lower classification accuracy and increase the running time of the computational algorithm. In this paper, we select the best features using Minimum Redundancy Maximum Relevance(mRMR) and Correlation-based feature selection(CFS) methods. Two datasets of human membrane protein are used, S1 and S2.  After the features have been selected by mRMR and CFS, K-Nearest Neighbor(KNN) and Support Vector Machine(SVM) classifiers are used to classify these membrane proteins. The performance of these techniques is measured using accuracy, specificity and sensitivity. and F-measure. The proposed algorithm managed to achieve 76% accuracy for S1 and 73% accuracy for S2. Finally, our proposed methods present competitive results when compared with the previous works on membrane protein classification.
Intelligent credit scoring system using knowledge management
Authors: Mehdi Bazzi , Hasna Chamlal , Ahmed El Kharroubi , Tayeb Ouaderhman
Published: March 2020

Promoting entrepreneurship in Morocco among young people has been a challenge for some years of economic and social problems, especially after the events of the Arab Spring. Several programs have been set up by the government for young entrepreneurs. Thus, faced with the large number of credit applications solicited by these young entrepreneurs, banks are obliged to resort to artificial intelligence techniques. For this purpose, the aim of this article is to propose a decision-making system enabling the bank to automate its credit granting process. It is a tool that allows the bank, in the first instance, to select promising projects through a scoring approach adapted to this segment of young entrepreneurs. In a second step, the tool allows the setting of the maximum credit amount to be allocated to the selected project. Finally, based on the knowledge of the bank's experts, the tool proposes a breakdown of the amount granted by the bank into several products adapted to the needs of the entrepreneur.
Improving Software Development effort estimating using Support Vector Regression and Feature Selection
Authors: ZAKRANI Abdelali , HAIN Mustapha , IDRI Ali
Published: March 2020

Accurate and reliable software development effort estimation (SDEE) is one of the main concerns for project managers. Planning and scheduling a software projects using and inaccurate estimate may cause severe risks to software project under development such as delayed delivery, poor quality software, missing features. Therefore, accurate prediction of software effort plays an important role in the minimization of these risks that can lead to projects failure. Nowadays, application of artificial intelligence techniques has grown dramatically for predicting software effort. The researchers found that these techniques are suitable tools for accurate prediction. In this study, an improved model is designed for estimating software effort using support vector regression (SVR) and two feature selection (FS) methods. Prior to building model step, a preprocessing stage is performed by random forest or Boruta feature selection methods to remove unimportant features. Next, the SVR model is tuned by a grid search approach. The performance of model is then evaluated over eight well-known datasets through 30%holdout validation method. To show the impact of feature selection on the accuracy of SVR model, the proposed model was compared with SVR model without feature selection. The results indicated that SVR with feature selection outperforms SVR without FS in terms of the three accuracy measures used in this empirical study.
IQ level prediction and cross-relational analysis with perceptual ability using EEG-based SVM classification model
Authors: Ros Azamin Noor Hidayah , Nasir Taib Mohd , Hartini Jahidin Aisyah , Suzana Awang Dyg , Amin Megat Ali Megat Syahirul
Published: March 2020

This paper presents IQ level prediction and cross-relational analysis with perceptual ability using EEG-based SVM classification model. The study hypothesized that measure of perceptual ability and intelligence is strongly connected through the brain’s attention regulatory mechanism. Therefore, an intelligent classification model should be able to predict and map IQ levels from a dataset associated with varying levels of perception. 115 samples of resting EEG is acquired from the left prefrontal cortex. Sixty-five is used for perceptual ability analysis via CTMT, while another fifty is used in the development of IQ level classification model using SVM. The mean pattern of theta, alpha and beta bands show positive correlation between perceptual ability and IQ level datasets. Meanwhile, the developed SVM model outperforms the previous ANN method; yielding 100% accuracy for training and testing. Subsequently, the classification model successfully predicts and mapped samples from the perceptual ability dataset to its corresponding IQ levels with 98.5% accuracy. Therefore, validity of the study is confirmed through positive correlation demonstrated by both traits of cognition using the pattern of mean power ratio features, and successful prediction of IQ level for perceptual ability dataset via SVM classification model.
Towards a semantic web of things framework
Authors: Nadim Ismail , El ghayam Yassine , Sadiq Abdelalim
Published: March 2020

Information and communication technologies (ICT) know a significant development especially in terms of hardware miniaturization, cost reduction and energy consumption optimization. This advancement enables the interconnection of a large number of physical objects namely using the Internet, forming what is called the Internet of Things (IoT). The IoT provides the opportunity to interact with these objects through sensors, actuators and smart applications which may help users in several areas such as transport, logistics, health care, agriculture, etc. However, building the IoT requires a strong interoperability between thousands of heterogeneous devices and services. In this context, the SWoT (Semantic Web of Things) uses semantic Web technologies to enrich these devices and services with semantic annotations which enables the semantic interoperability. However, the development of SWOT-based systems on a large scale faces many challenges especially due to the large number of devices and services, their geographical distribution as well as their mobility. These challenges - which may affect the system performance as a whole - require innovative industry and research efforts. The current paper proposes a SWoT framework architecture that take into account the main SWoT challenges.
Natural Sciences, Management Theory, and System Transformation for Sustainability
Authors: Wasieleski David , Waddock Sandra , Fort Tim , Guimarães-Costa Nuno
Published: February 2020

It is becoming clear that many of today’s management theories are inadequate theoretically and practically to move understanding, scholarship, and practice to where it needs to be for scholars, business leaders, and policy makers to cope with an increasing fraught world. This Special Issue’s focus is on sustainability. Sustainability challenges need to incorporate multidisciplinary interventions and the trans- and interdisciplinary nature of solutions. To actively seek transformation toward sustainability, fundamental and innovative short-term as well as long-term efforts are required in society, economy, technology, and education, including our understanding of human behavior and attitudes toward the management of the environment. This introductory piece presents natural science theories as a promising approach for achieving progress toward transformation for sustainability.
Evaluating Partial Series Childhood Vaccination Services in a Mobile Clinic Setting
Authors: Chen Weiwei , Misra Sanghamitra M. , Zhou Fangjun , Sahni Leila C. , Boom Julie A. , Messonnier Mark
Published: February 2020

This study aims to evaluate the cost-benefit of vaccination services, mostly partial series administration, provided by a mobile clinic program (MCP) in Houston for children of transient and low-income families. The study included 469 patients who visited the mobile clinics on regular service days in 2 study periods in 2014 and 836 patients who attended vaccination events in the summer of 2014. The benefit of partial series vaccination was estimated based on vaccine efficacy/effectiveness data. Our conservative cost-benefit estimates show that, compared with office-based settings, every dollar spent on vaccination by the MCP would result in $0.9 societal cost averted as an incremental benefit in regular service days and $3.7 during vaccination-only events. To further improve the cost-benefit of vaccination services in the MCP, decision-makers and stakeholders may consider improving work efficiency during regular service days or hosting more vaccination events.
We Asked, They Told Us: The Use of an Electronic Survey to Address Parental Health Concerns for Children
Authors: Schaeffer Melody , Kozma Nicole , Garba Nila , Sniffen Katie
Published: February 2020

Population health includes medical conditions and social determinants of health, and it can be measured through community health needs assessments (CHNAs). A pediatric hospital utilized a survey to ask parents to rank different health topics based on the severity they present to children in the St. Louis Metropolitan for 2 installments of a CHNA (2016 and 2019). Between November 2015 and April 2016, 1156 parents and, between May 2018 and September 2018, 1022 parents responded to the Parent Health Concerns Survey. Respondents were most likely to be 25 to 44 years old, white, educated, have an income of at least $60 000, and work-related insurance. The top needs identified in 2016 and 2018 were lack of exercise and bullying, respectively. Depression saw the largest increase. Emerging topics in 2018 include tobacco/smoking, depression, and health insurance access. Our findings suggests that pediatricians should be prepared to address concerns across a wide variety of topics.
Laryngomalacia in Neonates Versus Older Infants: HCUP-KID Perspective
Authors: Carr Michele M. , Ramadan Jad , Bauer Emma
Published: February 2020

This study evaluated the hospital course for neonates and older infants with a diagnosis of laryngomalacia (LM). Data came from the 2016 Kids’ Inpatient Database of the Healthcare Cost Utilization Project. A total of 6537 children aged <1 year with a diagnosis of LM (International Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision, code Q31.5) were identified: 2212 neonates and 4325 non-neonates. Neonates had a higher mortality rate, 1.31% versus 0.72% in older infants, had more diagnoses (median 9 vs 7) and procedures (mean 85.24 vs 21.83), longer length of stay (median 10 vs 4 days), and higher total charges (median US$65 722 vs US$25 582). A total of 23.3% of neonates born during the admission and diagnosed with LM had undergone laryngoscopy. Second airway lesions were present in 12.33% of neonates and 15.77% of older infants. It appears that neonates are being discharged with a diagnosis of LM without laryngoscopy. Neonatal intensive care unit and newborn nursery policies should require visualization of the larynx prior to diagnosis of LM.
The effect of training given to parents with mentally disabled children on their life satisfaction self-stigma of seeking help depression and stress-coping styles
Authors: Yildirim Gulay , Ertekin Pinar Sukran , Ucuk Sultan , Duran Aksoy Ozlem , Ersan Etem Erdal
Published: February 2020

Background:

It is important to identify problem areas of parents with mentally disabled children, to support them, to address their stress sources and to effectively cope with them. The aim of this study is to evaluate the effect of training given to parents with mentally disabled children on their life satisfaction, self-stigma of seeking help, depression and stress-coping styles.

Material:

Families with disabled children who continued their education at the Special Education Centers in Sivas created the sample of this pre- and post-test study (with control group). The data were collected with the Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS), the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), the Self-Stigma of Seeking Psychological Help Scale (SSPHS) and the Ways of Coping Questionnaire (WCQ). The scales were re-applied to the experimental group ( n = 75) after the application of scales and 5-week training. Individuals in the control group were not given any training. The Mann–Whitney U test, t test and Kruskal–Wallis variance analysis were used in the evaluation of the data.

Results:

The mean SWLS score was 19.14 ± 7.24 (min: 3; max: 31) before the training and 21.68 ± 7.39 (min: 6; max: 35) after the training. The mean BDI score was 16.92 ± 10.84 (min: 1; max: 60) before the training and 10.24 ± 7.77 (min: 0; max: 33) after the training. The mean SSPHS score was 58.18 ± 9.96 (min: 32; max: 82) before the training and 52.65 ± 14.28 (min: 28; max: 84) after the training. The mean optimistic approach score of SSPHS was 9.73 ± 2.67 (min: 2; max: 15) before the training and 10.58 ± 2.19 (min: 4; max: 15) after the training. It was determined that the difference between mean scores of the control group before and after the training was not significant ( p > .05).

Conclusion:

The training has positively affected the decrease in depression and self-stigmatization, and the increase in life satisfaction and stress-coping styles after the training. It is recommended to plan research studies to identify the need for support of parents, and to structure the trainings to be given according to the results of the educational intervention researches.
Association between energy drink consumption, depression and suicide ideation in Korean adolescents
Authors: Kim Hun , Park Junha , Lee Seungryul , Lee Sang Ah , Park Eun-Cheol
Published: February 2020

Background:

Suicide is the leading cause of death among adolescents in South Korea. Negative influences of the abuse of energy drinks on mental health problems have emerged.

Aims:

This study aimed to analyze the relationship between energy drink consumption, depression and suicide ideation.

Methods:

We analyzed the data of 26,346 boys and 26,966 girls who participated in the 2015 Korean Youth Risk Behavior Web-Based Survey. The independent variable was the frequency of energy drink consumption per week. Experience of depression and suicide ideation were considered as the dependent variables. Multiple logistic regression was performed.

Results:

An association was found between energy drink intake per week and depressive mood. Moreover, the most frequent energy drink intake (three times or more per week) group showed the highest association with depressive mood (odds ratios (ORs); boys: ORs = 1.40, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.25–1.56; girls: ORs = 1.61, 95% CI: 1.44–1.79) and suicide ideation (boys: ORs = 1.46, 95% CI: 1.27–1.69; girls: ORs = 1.36, 95% CI: 1.20–1.55).

Conclusion:

We observed that consumption of excessive amounts of energy drinks is associated with depression and suicide ideation. Therefore, appropriate regulation or education is needed to prevent adolescents from experiencing adverse outcomes.