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Serological tests for tuberculosis are inaccurate and WHO has recommended against their use. Although not used by the Revised National TB Control Programme (RNTCP), serodiagnostics are widely used in the private sector in India. A root-cause analysis was undertaken to determine why serological tests...

In this paper we use discrete fractional calculus for showing the existence of delta and nabla discrete distributions and then apply time scales for definition of delta and nabla discrete gamma distributions. The main result of this paper is unification of the continuous and discrete gamma distributions,...

Purpose: Despite most anatomical variations of the vertebral artery (VA) related to the origin and intraforaminal entrance remain asymptomatic because of the collateral irrigation system, it is important to know their anatomical presentation in order to prevent complications than could be neurologically...

The axillary artery is the main artery supplying the shoulder region and is clinically important. In the present case we report an arterial variation of the left upper extremity of a 65 year-old female cadaver. The radial artery arose from the axillary artery 2.5 cm below the anterior humeral circumflex...

African Americans are more susceptible to develop insulin resistance, obesity, Type 2 diabetes, and coronary heart disease (CHD), and systemic inflammation is central to the pathophysiology of these chronic diseases. African Americans are also more likely to contract H. pylori (cagA) infections during...

Objectives: Smoking has an unfavorable effect on arterial properties. Vascular aging is an independent predictor of cardiovascular risk. We examined the effect of quitting smoking on the progression of arterial stiffness. Methods: 142 subjects (mean age 51.9 ± 10.8 years, 94 men) with no established...

Objective: Pulse pressure (PP) is a complex physiologic trait affected by many variables, including LV contractility (reflected by stroke volume), arterial stiffness, and central-to-brachial amplification.The impact of age on the relationship between stroke volume and central or brachial PP has not been...

Background: The metabolic signature associated with subclinical diastolic left ventricular (LV) dysfunction in the general population is unknown. Objectives: This population study aimed at identifying a specific profile of circulating me-tabolites associated with asymptomatic diastolic LV dysfunction. Methods:...

In this paper, the problem of finite-time stabilization is developed for nonholonomic chained form systems with communication delay in the input. The finite-time control laws are presented by utilizing the switching control strategy and the theory of finite-time stability, which can make the states of...

The focus of Industrial engineering has always been efficiency. While industrial engineering has contributed significantly to the improvement of productivity and quality of life, the objective function in the models used in industrial engineering normally measures of efficiency of products or processes....

A path planning method for mobile robots based on two dimensional cellular automata is proposed. The method can be applied for environments with both concave and convex obstacles. It is also appropriate for multi-robot problems as well as dynamic environments. In order to develop the planning method,...

This paper presents an improved genetic algorithm (GA) based feature selection method for imbalanced data classification, which is then applied to radio signal recognition of ground-air communication. The proposed method improves the fitness function while SVM is selected as the classifier due to its...

Cyber threats are a showstopper for Internet of Things (IoT) has recently been used at an industrial scale. Network layer attacks on IoT can cause significant disruptions and loss of information. Among such attacks, routing attacks are especially hard to defend against because of the ad-hoc nature of...

Appropriate organization of video databases is essential for pertinent indexing and retrieval of visual information. This paper proposes a new feature called Block Intensity Comparison Code (BICC) for video classification and an unsupervised shot change detection algorithm to detect the shot changes...

For the first time, a four-parameter lifetime model, called the gamma extended Fr´echet distribution, is defined and studied. We obtain some of its mathematical properties. Explicit expressions for the ordinary and incomplete moments, quantile function, mean deviations, R´enyi entropy and reliability...

In this research, six brands of soft drinks are decided to be picked up by a robot with a monocular Red Green Blue (RGB) camera. The drinking bottles need to be located and classified with brands before being picked up. The Mask Regional Convolutional Neural Network (R-CNN), a mask generation network...

Background: Nigella Sativa (NS) induced vasorelaxation of aortic rings upon direct exposure has been documented in literature. This study was conducted to determine whether 8 weeks Nigella Sativa supplementation and/or exercise training may alter vascular sensitivity of rat aorta in normal, healthy rats. Methods:...

Background: Nowadays, cardiac disease is the most widespread reason of death in most countries such as Iran. Some studies have correlated serum uric acid level with risk of death in the patients of acute coronary syndrome. The study aimed to determine if there is any correlation between serum uric level...

A hydraulic teaching model of the human systemic circulation is proposed, based on the principles of the reservoir-wave approach. Reservoir characteristics are portrayed by the arterial tall-and-narrow and venous short-and-wide columns, the relative compliances of which are signified by their diameters....

Huntington’s disease (HD) is a neurodegenerative disorder characterized by progressive loss of neurons, which leads to behavioral systems and mental decline. HD is linked to repeat expansions of cytosine, adenine, and guanine in the Huntingtin (HTT) gene that give rise to mutation, leading to the formation...

Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infection is a major public health challenge worldwide. Evidence suggests that health-related behaviours are affected by the knowledge, attitude, and practice of individuals. The aim of this study was to assess the knowledge, attitude, and testing of HIV infection,...

Endothelial dysfunction is associated with the racial health disparity in vascular dysfunction in African Americans (AAs). Matrix Metalloproteinase (MMP)-2 is constitutively expressed in endothelial cells (EC) and is a biomarker that has been associated with hypertension, as its properties are involved...

In this article, we focus on the inverse scattering transformation for the Fokas–Lenells (FL) equation with nonzero boundary conditions via the Riemann–Hilbert (RH) approach. Based on the Lax pair of the FL equation, the analyticity, symmetry and asymptotic behavior of the Jost solutions and scattering...

Base on the integral representations of the solution being derived via Fokas' transform method, the high-frequency asymptotics for the solution of the Helmholtz equation, in a half-plane and subject to the Neumann condition is discussed. For the case of piecewise constant boundary data, full asymptotic...

In this chapter, we derive some recurrence relations satisfied by single and product moments of generalized record values arising from Gompertz and inverted Gompertz distributions. Further, we have obtained characterization of Gompertz and inverted Gompertz distributions based on certain properties of...

The healthy development of insurance industry influenced the stability of country's financial system. In recent years, the insurance industry has developed rapidly in China, but also hid the huge risks in it. As the economic growth rate slow down, China’s insurance industry may also encounter with crisis...

In this paper, we develop an improved ranking strategy for fuzzy multiple attribute group decision making. First, we introduce a method for multiple attribute group decision making and show that method can not choose the best alternative, when S() = 0 and . We define then a k-order deviation of the fuzzy...

The paper proposes to derive some new poverty indices which depend on aging classes. We also give some properties of it and show the connection between economic measure and new poverty measures these based on the concept of reversed residual incomes. In addition, the characterization of Pareto distribution...

We discuss stationary solutions of the discrete nonlinear Schrödinger equation (DNSE) with a potential of the 4 type which is generically applicable to several quantum spin, electron and classical lattice systems. We show that there may arise chaotic spatial structures in the form of incommensurate or...

Nowadays floor heating service is increasingly attracting both residents in cold areas and gas companies for market profits. With the aggravation of market-oriented competition, the gas companies are actively seeking service transformation. It is of great significance to gas companies to be able to forecast...

Africa’s trade is impeded by poor infrastructure. Inadequate transport infrastructure raises costs analogous to trade barriers, while inadequate power discourages investment. Yet Africa’s infrastructure needs greatly exceed its capacity to finance them. There is therefore a need, and an opportunity,...

The optimism surrounding aid for trade (AfT) led scholars and practitioners to probe its link with trade performance of aid-recipient countries in Africa. In the absence of formal evaluation guidelines, most previous studies, using aggregate data, have looked into the impacts of AfT on exports and imports...

Allergic rhinitis (AR) related inflammation might worsen the severity of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), however, the relationship between the two disorders remains controversial. Our aim was to determine the prevalence of AR and atopic markers in OSA. This cross-sectional study recruited participants...

The objective of the study is to evaluate the quality of the data, the sensitivity of the surveillance, and the completeness of identification and investigation of tuberculosis (TB) patient’s contacts. The study covered the TB surveillance program in Al-Madinah province in 2011. First, we reviewed all...

We have developed a real-time system for expressing emotion as a pictograph selected according to the facial expression while writing a message. The image signal is analyzed by our real-time system using image processing software (OpenCV) and a previously proposed feature parameter. We applied the system...

Objective: An Arterial Stiffness Index (ASI) can be obtained by measuring finger photoplethysmogram using the SB200 pulse oximeter, giving a level between 1 and 6. However, it was unclear whether this method accurately reflected arterial stiffness. Brachial–Ankle Pulse Wave Velocity (baPWV) is an established...

Endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) is the main source of nitric oxide (NO) in the vascular wall, a molecule with anti-inflammatory, antithrombotic, vasorelaxant, antioxidant and finally antiatherogenic properties. eNOS is expressed in vascular endothelium, and it uses l-arginine as a substrate,...

In the current complex and uncertainty of the risk of COVID-19 in long-term care facilities, the elderly in the long-term care facilities are at the highest risk of being affected by COVID-19. There is still uncertain relationship between the identification of this risk and the care management, caring...

Market integration is often associated with economic growth spillovers, to the extent that strengthened trade linkages would make economic growth in one country an opportunity for growth to its partners. This paper uses a spatial dynamic panel data approach to analyze the extent to which Africa and its...

Background: Cardiac Arrest (CA) is one of the leading causes of mortality worldwide. The present study aimed to establish a simple and stable rat model of CA induced by transesophageal cardiac pacing for the investigation of cerebral resuscitation. Materials and Methods: A total of 26 healthy adult...

This study investigated the inhibitory effects of the Ethanol Extract (EE), Free Phenolic (TF), Esterified Phenolic (TE) and Insoluble-bound Phenolic (TI) from Rhus chinensis Mill. fruits on α-glucosidase, Dipeptidyl Peptidase-4 (DPP-IV), and the formation of Advanced Glycation End (AGE) products. Results...

Fever is one of the most common concern to be taken care by parents which sometimes force them to bring their children to the hospital emergency for continuous following up especially at night when sleeping. Fever is defined when the rectal temperature reaches over 38.0°C (100.4°F). Temperatures measured...

White matter lesions, described as leukoaraiosis, are frequently documented in older hypertensive patients, but their consequence on brain metabolism remains debated. This study aimed at characterizing the changes in brain metabolism, assessed by [18F]-fluorodesoxyglucose Positron Emission Tomography...

Objective: To check of relation between blood pressure (BP) and arterial stiffness parameters and measures of left atrial volume to verify whether it is the arterial stiffness-related BP parameters or mean arterial pressure (MAP)that could be responsible for increase in risk of atrial fibrillation. Methods:...

Background: Although arterial stiffness is of clinical interest, data on the elastic modulus of the human aortic wall are scarce. The aim of this work is to directly measure the elastic modulus of human aorta ex vivo. Methods: Using a standard tensiometer, we measured the elastic modulus (E) of human...

Growing evidence shows that patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) have up to twice the risk of developing cardiovascular disease (CVD) compared to those without RA. Generally, these RA patients have higher levels of inflammation in their bodies, and this inflammation is thought to be the link between...

Background: The study of wave reflections in the carotid artery may reveal the vasoactive response of the cerebral circulation to exercise, which is not yet fully characterised. Therefore, we aim to examine the effect of exercise on wave intensity parameters measured in the carotid artery of healthy...

We developed a method for analyzing the facial expressions of a person having a conversation on a videophone. This was implemented on a wireless local area network, consisting of two personal computers and a router; the subject and the operator are placed in front of each computer. The module contains...

Personal carbon trading systems (PCTS) have been hypothesized as one of the measures needing to be considered to combat global warming and reduce carbon emissions (references here). The research described in this paper examines baseline data collected as part of the Norfolk Island Carbon Health Evaluation...