In this paper, using the properties of Schur-convex function, Schur-geometrically convex function and Schur-harmonically convex function, we provide much simpler proofs of the Schur-convexity, Schur-geometric convexity and Schur-harmonic convexity for a composite function of the complete symmetric function.
Based on the concept of neutrosophic linguistic numbers (NLNs) in symbolic neutrosophic theory presented by Smarandache in 2015, the paper firstly proposes basic operational laws of NLNs and the expected value of a NLN to rank NLNs. Then, we propose the NLN weighted arithmetic average (NLNWAA) and NLN weighted geometric average (NLNWGA) operators and discuss their properties. Further, we establish a multiple attribute group decision-making (MAGDM) method by using the NLNWAA and NLNWGA operators under NLN environment. Finally, an illustrative example on a decision-making problem of manufacturing alternatives in the flexible manufacturing system is given to show the application of the proposed MAGDM method.
Tribological behavior of Cu–MoS 2 and Ag–MoS 2 nanocomposite lubricant was studied. Cu nanoparticles produced by electrical explosion of copper wires and Ag nanoparticles prepared by electrospark erosion were employed as metal cladding modifiers of MoS 2 nanolamellar particles. The tribological tests showed Cu–MoS 2 and Ag–MoS 2 nanocomposite lubricants changed the friction coefficient of the initial grease and essentially improved its wear resistance.
We investigate in this manuscript the existence of solution for two fractional differential inclusions. At first we discuss the existence of solution of a class of fractional hybrid differential inclusions. To illustrate our results we present an illustrative example. We study the existence and dimension of the solution set for some fractional differential inclusions.
The publish/subscribe paradigm makes IoT service collaborations more scalable and flexible, due to the space, time and control decoupling of event producers and consumers. Thus, the paradigm can be used to establish large-scale IoT service communication infrastructures such as Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition systems. However, preserving IoT service’s policy privacy is difficult in this paradigm, because a classical publisher has little control of its own event after being published; and a subscriber has to accept all the events from the subscribed event type with no choice. Few existing publish/subscribe middleware have built-in mechanisms to address the above issues. In this paper, we present a novel access control framework, which is capable of preserving IoT service’s policy privacy. In particular, we adopt the publish/subscribe paradigm as the IoT service communication infrastructure to facilitate the protection of IoT services policy privacy. The key idea in our policy-privacy solution is using a two-layer cooperating method to match bi-directional privacy control requirements: (a) data layer for protecting IoT events; and (b) application layer for preserving the privacy of service policy. Furthermore, the anonymous-set-based principle is adopted to realize the functionalities of the framework, including policy embedding and policy encoding as well as policy matching. Our security analysis shows that the policy privacy framework is Chosen-Plaintext Attack secure. We extend the open source Apache ActiveMQ broker by building into a policy-based authorization mechanism to enforce the privacy policy. The performance evaluation results indicate that our approach is scalable with reasonable overheads.
Maqui berry (Aristotelia chilensis) is a native Chilean species that produces berries that are exceptionally rich in anthocyanins and natural antioxidants. These natural compounds provide an array of health benefits for humans, making them very desirable in a fruit. At the same time, these substances also interfere with nucleic acid preparations, making RNA extraction from Maqui berry a major challenge. Our group established a method for RNA extraction of Maqui berry with a high quality RNA (good purity, good integrity and higher yield). This procedure is based on the adapted CTAB method using high concentrations of PVP (4 %) and β-mercaptoethanol (4 %) and spermidine in the extraction buffer. These reagents help to remove contaminants such as polysaccharides, proteins, phenols and also prevent the oxidation of phenolic compounds. The high quality of RNA isolated through this method allowed its uses with success in molecular applications for this endemic Chilean fruit, such as differential expression analysis of RNA-Seq data using next generation sequencing (NGS). Furthermore, we consider that our method could potentially be used for other plant species with extremely high levels of antioxidants and anthocyanins.
11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 1 (11β-HSD1), which converts inactive cortisone to active cortisol, has been reported to play an important role in metabolic diseases as well as chronic inflammatory diseases. The involvement of 11β-HSD1 in chronic periodontitis was investigated in the present study. The relationship between the levels of 11β-HSD1, chronic periodontitis, and body mass index (BMI) was analyzed. The expression of 11β-HSD1 mRNA was significantly higher in the chronic periodontitis group than in the control group. Since the expression of 11β-HSD2, which converts active cortisol to inactive cortisone, was slightly lower in the chronic periodontitis group than in the controls, the ratio of 11β-HSD1 versus 11β-HSD2 was significantly higher in the chronic periodontitis group than in the controls. A correlation was not observed between BMI and the level of 11β-HSD1 or between BMI and the ratio of 11β-HSD1 versus 11β-HSD2. These results suggested that an increase in the ratio of 11β-HSD1 versus 11β-HSD2 was associated with chronic periodontitis irrespective of obesity.
Background: Cytogenetic analysis of products of conception (POC) is essential for the management of recurrent pregnancy loss (RPL), but the currently-performed G-banding method is not necessarily applicable to spontaneously discharged POC because of poor quality for culture. We analyzed the karyotypes of 15 spontaneously discharged POC by array-based comparative genomic hybridization (array-CGH).Results: All specimens were successfully analyzed and 10 cases had abnormal results: gain in copy number (n = 7) and loss in copy number (n = 3). Most of them were estimated to be whole chromosome aneuploidy, whereas one case was compatible with microdeletion. Two cases were suspected to be male diploid contaminated by maternal DNA or triploid because of the unsatisfactory signal patterns on X/Y chromosomes. Two of three cases with normal female DNA pattern were identified to be contaminated with maternal DNA by the additional analysis of short tandem repeats.Conclusions: Given the potential to analyze non-viable POC specimens, array-CGH is a feasible cytogenetic tool for women, in particular, with a history of RPL who desire non-surgical or expectant management of miscarriages and/or a thorough investigation on the cause for recurrent miscarriage, although it needs to take into account high incidence of maternal contamination in spontaneously discharged POC.
Developmental and language outcomes at 2 years of age of children who had arterial switch operation (ASO) for transposition of the great arteries 2004–2010 are described.
Surface water, groundwater and sand can flow into mine goaf through the fractured rock, which often leads to water inrush and quicksand movement. It is important to study the mechanical properties of water and sand in excavations sites under different conditions and the influencing factors of the water and sand seepage system. The viscosity of water-sand mixtures under different particle sizes, different concentration was tested based on the relationship between the shear strain rate and the surface viscosity. Using the self-designed seepage circuit, we tested permeability of water and sand in fractured rock. The results showed that (1) effective fluidity is in 10(-8)-10(-) (5) m(n+2) s(2-n)/kg, while the non-Darcy coefficient ranges from 10(5) to 10(8) m(-1) with the change of particle size of sand; (2) effective fluidity decreases as the particle size of sand increased; (3) the non-Darcy coefficient ranges from 10(5) to 10(8) m(-1) depending on particle size and showed contrary results. Moreover, the relationship between effective fluidity and the particle size of sand is fitted by the exponential function. The relationship between the non-Darcy coefficient and the particle size of sand is also fitted by the exponential function.
Sri Lanka has rich cyanobacterial diversity, however, only few studies have been conducted to identify the potential toxin producers in water bodies used for human consumption. As the detection of cyanotoxin is vital in water quality management, a study was done by employing 16S rRNA gene to explore the genetic divergence, phylogenetic relationships and potential toxin producing cyanobacteria in reservoirs and well waters in the dry zone of Sri Lanka. Forty five, 16S rRNA gene sequences were assayed and phylogenetic tree was constructed. Among 45 isolates, 20 isolates were classified as unidentified cyanobacteria and considered as novel cyanobacterial genera. Of 25 identified isolates, seven isolates were identified up to species level. With 16S rRNA phylogeny, 20 unidentified cyanobacterial isolates were able to place on their taxonomic positions up to order level. Results revealed that water samples understudy had vast cyanobacterial diversity with potential microcystin (MC) and cylindrospermopsin (CYN) producers and eleven clusters clearly demonstrated five cyanobacterial orders with more than 90% similarity irrespective to their toxicity which showed the suitability of 16S rRNA gene for taxonomic differentiation. Sixteen isolates had the potential to produce MC and two isolates to produce CYN. Findings of the study confirm the rich cyanobacterial diversity and the divergence among the potential cyanotoxin producers in the dry zone water bodies of Sri Lanka.
The present study compares the performance creation behavior between for-profit institutions and not-for-profit institutions within a national technology innovation research and development (R&D) program. Based on the stepwise performance creation chain structure of typical R&D logic models, a series of successive binary logistic regression models is newly proposed. Using the models, a sample of n = 2076 completed government-sponsored R&D projects was analyzed. For each institution type, its distinctive behavior is diagnosed, and relevant implications are suggested for improving the R&D performance.
This study aimed to determine the association between overweight and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in Tehranian school children. A total of 631 school children aged 8–14 year old were selected from elementary and secondary schools, and body weight status was determined according to WHO growth references for 5–19 year old children. Children were categorized into the overweight and non-overweight groups. The HRQoL was assessed using Iranian versions of Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory version™ 4.0 (PedsQL). Overweight elementary school boys had significantly higher scores for physical functioning, school functioning and total HRQoL, compared to non-overweight ones (p < 0.05). On the other hand, except for emotional functioning subscale, overweight secondary school boys had significantly lower HRQoL scores, compared to their non-overweight counterparts (p < 0.05). In girls, only social functioning subscale scores were significantly lower in elementary school girls compared to non-overweight ones (p < 0.05). Based on parents’ perspective, overweight elementary school boys had poorer HRQoL compared to their non-overweight counterparts, significant only for emotional functioning (p < 0.05). For secondary school boys, overweight boys had lower HRQoL scores compared to non-overweight ones, significant for all subscales except for emotional functioning. Based on parents’ reports, in both elementary and secondary school girls, there were no significant differences in HRQoL scores between overweight and non-overweight groups. To conclude, in boys while overweight significantly increased HRQoL in children, it significantly decreased HRQoL among adolescents. However, except for social functioning in elementary school girls, there was no significant association between HRQoL scores and overweight. Parents’ reports showed an association between overweight and HRQoL, only in boys.
It has been demonstrated that microRNAs (miRNAs or miRs) can act as prognostic and diagnostic markers, and potential therapeutic targets. miR-95-3p has been reported to be downregulated in osteosarcoma tissues, but its potential as a serum biomarker has not been assessed in human osteosarcoma. The purpose of the present study was to examine the expression levels of miR-95-3p in serum of patients with osteosarcoma and to investigate the diagnostic and prognostic value of miR-95-3p. The serum levels of miR-95-3p in osteosarcoma patients were detected by a real-time quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction assay. Associations between miR-95-3p expression and various clinicopathological characteristics were analyzed using Chi square test. Differences in patient survival were determined using the Kaplan-Meier method and a log-rank test. A Cox proportional hazards regression analysis was used for multivariate analyses of prognostic values. Compared to healthy controls, the expression levels of miR-95-3p in serum of osteosarcoma patients were significantly decreased (P < 0.0001). Low miR-95-3p expression had significant association with clinical stage (P < 0.001) and metastasis (P < 0.001). The Kaplan-Meier curve showed that patients with high miR-95-3p expression survived significantly longer than patients with low miR-95-3p expression (P = 0.017). Multivariate analysis demonstrated that miR-95-3p expression level (P = 0.014) was an independent prognostic biomarker for overall survival. Our findings suggested that down-expression of serum miR-95-3p might be associated with poor prognosis of osteosarcoma patients, suggesting that decreased expression of serum miR-95-3p may serve as a valuable diagnostic/prognostic marker for osteosarcoma patients.
In this paper, we prove a fixed point theorem and a common fixed point theorem for multi valued mappings in complete b-metric spaces.
This study aimed to compare the efficacy and safety of the newest bipolar vessel sealing system (BVSS; LigaSure™ Small Jaw) to that of conventional technique in axillary dissection.
Surgeons tend to pay less attention to the donor site during breast reconstruction using deep inferior epigastric artery perforator flaps because attention is focused on microanastomosis and breast shaping. Therefore, donor site closure is typically performed by a secondary operator. We present consistently reduced operative times and improved scar quality using an absorbable dermal staple.
In this paper, the meshless local Petrov–Galerkin (MLPG) method is applied for solving a generalized Black–Scholes equation in financial problems. This equation is a PDE governing the price evolution of a European call or a European put under the Black–Scholes model. The θ -weighted method and MLPG are used for discretizing the governing equation in time variable and option pricing, respectively. We show that the spectral radius of amplification matrix with the discrete operator is less than 1. This ensures that this numerical scheme is stable. Numerical experiments are performed with time varying volatility and the results are compared with the analytical and the numerical results of other methods.
To conduct a meta-analysis with randomized controlled trials (RCTs) published in full text to determine the benefits of concomitant acromioplasty in repairing full-thickness rotator cuff tears.
