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In the field of financial investment, investing in stocks is relatively easy compared to other investment commodities, since making a profit through buying a stock at a low price and selling it at a higher price is intuitive. However, it is really challenging work for an investor to choose stocks which...

Background: Hemodynamic monitoring is an integral part of a cardiac catheterization procedure; however it is prone to many distortions, including damping and resonance [1]. Objectives: We sought to compare damping ratio, ascending aortic pressure waveform and invasive blood pressure between Manifold...

Background: We have previously shown that 3D echocardiography-derived (3DE) indices of left ventricular (LV) structure predict all-cause mortality differently in men and women [1]. However, the mechanism behind these sex differences remains unknown. We therefore examined the role of macro- and micro-vascular...

In this paper, we introduce a fast implementation of the CT EXT algorithm for testor property identification, that is based on an accumulative binary tuple. The fast implementation of the CT EXT algorithm (one of the fastest algorithms reported), is designed to generate all the typical testors from a...

Background: The time at which reflected waves arrive at central arteries has an important influence on ventricular afterload. Current methods of estimating reflection time (RT), including zero-crossover [1], inflection-point [2], and foot methods [3], use only a single point on the pressure waveforms,...

The aim of this paper is to provide an algorithm for the computation of support and confidence of the association rules on interval-valued fuzzy sets. Each element of the interval-valued fuzzy set has a membership degree defined as an interval. In other words, the membership intervals may be interpreted...

The notion of interval-valued m-polar fuzzy sets (abbreviated IVmPF) is much wider than the notion of m-polar fuzzy sets. In this paper, we apply the theory of IVmPF on BCK/BCI-algebras. We introduce the concepts of IVmPF subalgebras, IVmPF ideals and IVmPF commutative ideals and some essential properties...

Background: Cerebral microvascular alterations and hypoperfusion have been associated to cognitive disorder and dementia. We hypothesized that there is a direct link between retinal arteriolar remodelling, as assessed non-invasively using adaptive optics, and cognitive cerebral impairment in hypertensive...

Background: Central aortic pressure (CAP) is important for the determination of the cardiovascular risk. Transfer function (TF)-based techniques allow for estimating CAP non-invasively from pressure waveforms acquired distally in the circulation. However, TF-based CAP might preserve the high frequencies...

Background: Assessment of endothelial function using brachial artery flow-mediated dilation (FMD) predicts future cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk. However, poor adherence to protocol guidelines and lack of reference values hinders widespread FMD use. This study established age- and sex-specific reference...

Tuberculosis (TB) remains a public health threat in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) with many challenges that limit its prevention and control. To understand how to meet these challenges, this study calculated the TB incidence rates (IRs) in KSA from 2005 to 2012, which were stratified by nationality,...

Background: Pulse wave velocity (PWV) is an established marker of arterial stiffness [1]. Local PWV estimates, however, are affected by confluence of incident and reflected waves, biasing the spatiotemporal propagation of the systolic foot (SF) in the distension waveform [2,3]. We, therefore, propose...

The existing stability analysis of particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm is chiefly concluded by the assumption of constant transfer matrix or time-varying random transfer matrix. Firstly, one counterexample is provided to show that the existing convergence analysis is not possibly valid for PSO...

In the research presented in the paper, we test the classification potential for different configurations of the MMPI data used for nosological diagnosis of patients with mental disorders. Originally, each patient is described by an MMPI profile consisting of a set of values of thirteen attributes (the...

Background: Low-flow mediated constriction (LFMC) has emerged as a non-invasive tool for assessment of endothelial dysfunction [1]. There is insufficient data on association between change in artery diameter during occlusion with its possible stimulus; ‘low flow’ state. This study aims to evaluate the...

Background: Although arterial stiffness has demonstrated moderate heritability, our knowledge of the genes modulating arterial stiffness is still limited. We conducted genome-wide association studies (GWASs) of aortic distensibility (AoD) in both ascending (AA) and proximal descending aorta (PDA) to...

Objective and Motivation: Endothelial dysfunction is thought to underpin atherosclerotic cardiovascular diseases. However, the widely used flow mediated dilation (FMD) in-vivotest of endothelial function relates poorly to clinical outcomes. In this study, we investigated potential confounding factors...

Background: Wave reflections play a major role in changing the shape of the pressure waveform. Reflections measured at the aortic root (AR) are thought to be due to the tapering of the aorta [1] and multiple reflection sites, however, there is no consensus on the source of those reflected waves. This...

Background: Bicuspid aortic valve patients (BAV) are associated with increased risk of ascending aortic aneurysms. However, is unclear whether matrix degradation varies in different ascending aneurysm aetiologies. Aim: To determine whether the micromechanical and biochemical properties elastin microstructure...

Objective: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) primary prevention guidelines recommend absolute CVD risk estimation to guide blood pressure and lipid therapy recommendations but are inconsistent despite relying on similar evidence. This study aimed to compare the populations recommended for treatment according...

This study investigates the prevalence of weight misperception, weight preference, and body shape dissatisfaction (BSD) among young-adult Nigerians and assesses the impact of these factors on population quality-of-life (QOL). Relevant anthropometric data were collected according to internationally accepted...

Due to the seriousness of the network security situation, as a low-cost, high-efficiency email attack method, it is increasingly favored by attackers. Most of these attack vectors were embedded in email attachments and exploit vulnerabilities in Adobe and Office software. Among these attack samples,...

Background: Arterial stiffness index (β) is a clinically accepted vascular metric, calculated from arterial pressure and diameter obtained simultaneously from a single arterial site [1]. Hence, accurate measurement of β can only be performed on arteries where pressure can be recorded along with the diameter....

Background/Objectives: The baroreflex is a crucial mechanism acutely modulating vascular tone and heart rate response to maintain blood pressure (BP) in an optimal range. A decrease in baroreflex sensitivity (BRS) is associated with ageing, and pathological conditions such as hypertension and diabetes....

Enterprises nowadays are often confronted with selecting supplier collaborative configuration problems in supply chain management. The aim of this paper is to develop a group selection methodology with the correlation of experts and attributes for solving supplier collaborative configuration problems....

The human papilloma virus (HPV) vaccine is the recommended prevention strategy for viruses-related cancers, but its acceptability remains controversial, primarily because of the relationship between sexual activity and HPV infection. Countries in the Middle East and North Africa are conservative vis-à-vis...

Background: Transforming peripheral noninvasive measurements to obtain central hemodynamic quantities, such as cardiac output (CO) and central systolic blood pressure (cSBP), is a highly emerging field [1,2]. However, no holistic investigation has been performed to assess the amount of information contained...

Purpose: There is a need for new tools to screen large populations for cardiovascular disease risk. The CARDIS consortium (European Union H2020 funding) developed an easy-to-use, non-contact device for measuring carotid to femoral pulse wave velocity (cfPWV). It consists in a laser doppler vibrometer...

Generalized fuzzy graphs are perfect to represent any system like networks, images, scheduling, etc. compared to fuzzy graphs. This study introduces the concept of a generalized fuzzy neighbourhood of a vertex and generalized fuzzy graphs. Also, an associated graph, called minimal graphs of competition...

Background: Arterial stiffness is a strong predictor of cardiovascular diseases and all-cause mortality [1]. Increased fasting plasma concentrations of highly reactive dicarbonyl compounds – methylglyoxal (MGO), 3-deoxyglucosone (3-DG), and/or glyoxal (GO) – may cause arterial stiffening via for mation...

This review deals with the effect of several components of the broad term “lifestyle” on arterial stiffness and wave reflections. Caffeine and coffee have an unfavourable effect on aortic stiffness and wave reflections both on an acute and on a chronic basis. Acute consumption of tea, which contains...

Background: Regional arterial compliance in peripheral arteries is known to be associated with ‘recruitable’ endothelial function probably mediated by an increase in smooth muscle tone [1]. However, the association between regional arterial stiffness and ‘resting’ endothelial function has not been evaluated. Methods:...

Breast cancer is one of the foremost reasons of death among women in the world. It has the largest mortality rate compared to the types of cancer accounting for 1.9 million per year in 2020. An early diagnosis may increase the survival rates. To this end, automating the analysis and the diagnosis allows...

Background: Although generally assumed to be an adaptive response to increased blood pressure (BP), arterial stiffness is now recognized as an independent predictor of cardiovascular (CV) events [1]. Moreover it precedes hypertension in at least two mouse models [2,3]. Therefore, the present study aims...

Failure mode and effect analysis (FMEA) is a risk management technique frequently applied to enhance the system performance and safety. In recent years, many researchers have shown an intense interest in improving FMEA due to inherent weaknesses associated with the classical risk priority number (RPN)...