A reusable application framework for context-aware mobile patient monitoring systems

The development of Context-aware Mobile Patient Monitoring Systems (CaMPaMS) using wireless sensors is very complex. To overcome this problem, the Context-aware Mobile Patient Monitoring Framework (CaMPaMF) was introduced as an ideal reuse technique to enhance the overall development quality and overcome the development complexity of CaMPaMS. While a few studies have designed reusable CaMPaMFs, there has not been enough study looking at how to design and evaluate application frameworks based on multiple reusability aspects and multiple reusability evaluation approaches. Furthermore, there also has not been enough study that integrates the identified domain requirements of CaMPaMS. Therefore, the aim of this research is to design a reusable CaMPaMF for CaMPaMS. To achieve this aim, twelve methods were used: literature search, content analysis, concept matrix, feature modelling, use case assortment, domain expert review, model-driven architecture approach, static code analysis, reusability model approach, prototyping, amount of reuse calculation, and software expert review. The primary outcome of this research is a reusable CaMPaMF designed and evaluated to capture reusability from different aspects. CaMPaMF includes a domain model validated by consultant physicians as domain experts, an architectural model, a platform-independent model, a platform-specific model validated by software expert review, and three CaMPaMS prototypes for monitoring patients with hypertension, epilepsy, or diabetes, and multiple reusability evaluation approaches. This research contributes to the body of software engineering knowledge, particularly in the area of design and evaluation of reusable application frameworks. Researchers can use the domain model to enhance the understanding of CaMPaMS domain requirements, thus extend it with new requirements. Developers can also reuse and extend CaMPaMF to develop various CaMPaMS for different diseases. Software industries can also reuse CaMPaMF to reduce the need to consult domain experts and the time required to build CaMPaMS from scratch, thus reducing the development cost and time

ESTIMATION THE ANTIBACTERIAL EFFECT OF CURCUMIN AND ROSEMARY AMONG PATIENTS WITH DENTAL CARIES IN VITRO

Objective: The aim is to estimate the effect of curcumin and rosemary as antibacterial agents among dental caries cases. Methods: Samples of saliva were randomly collected from 40 patients in Al-Furat General Hospital who attended the hospital from July to September 2018. Swabs were cultured on blood agar at 37°C for 24 h and then subcultured in mannitol salt agar and trypticase soy broth at 37°C for 24 h. Different concentrations of aqueous extract curcumin solution (0.1, 0.3, 0.5, and 1 mg/ml) and rosemary solution (1 g/ml) were prepared and added to the bacterial culture. Later, minimum inhibition zones of the bacterial cultures were determined. Results: The results showed that there were 25 cases of Streptococcus mutans, 10 cases of Staphylococcus aureus, 3 cases of anaerobic bacteria, and 2 cases of normal flora among 40 culturing swabs of bacteria. Aqueous extract of curcumin showed antibacterial effect with concentrations (0.1, 0.3, 0.5, and 1 mg/ml) against oral bacteria; nevertheless, these bacteria were resistant to the aqueous extract of rosemary with concentration 1 g/ml. Conclusion: It can be concluded that curcumin can be an effective antibacterial agent against dental caries disease and its effect increases positively in relation to its concentration. On the other hand, rosemary with 1 g/ml concentration did not show any effect on oral bacteria

Effect of Dopant Concentration on the Structural, Optical and Sensing Properties of (SnO2)1-x(TiO2:CuO)x Sprayed Films

      Spray pyrolysis technique was subjected to synthesized (SnO2)1-x (TiO2: CuO) x Thin films on different substrates like glass and single crystal silicon using. The structure of the deposited films was studied using x-ray diffraction. A more pronounced diffraction peaks of SnO2 while no peaks of (CuO , TiO2 ) phase appear in the X-ray profiles by increasing of the content of (TiO2 , CuO) in the sprayed films. Mixing concentration (TiO2 , CuO) influences on the size of the crystallites of the SnO2 films ,the size of crystallites of the spray paralyzed oxide films change in regular manner by increasing of (TiO2 , CuO) amount. The effect of mixing concentration on the optical properties of the films was also investigated. The reflectance and transmittance spectra  in the wavelength range (300-1100) nm were employed to determine the optical properties such as energy band gap (Eg) and refractive index (n),  extinction coefficient  (k) , real and imaginary parts of dielectric constants (ε1, ε2) for (SnO2)1-x(TiO2:CuO)x films. The energy band gap omit of which showed reduction from (3.65 to 2.2) eV by reducing of SnO2 amount from (100 to 70) % .The reduction of energy band gap was ascribed to the new tail states introduced in the band gap of tin oxide. The sensitivity of the prepared sensor film was determined resistance difference of the films when exposed to oxidizing gas. The data declared that the mixed SnO2 films have better sensitivity in comparison with unmixed films

Approach to Job-Shop Scheduling Problem Using Rule Extraction Neural Network Model

This thesis focuses on the development of a rule-based scheduler, based on production rules derived from an artificial neural network performing job shop scheduling. This study constructs a hybrid intelligent model utilizing genetic algorithms for optimization and neural networks as learning tools. Genetic algorithms are used for obtaining optimal schedules and the neural network is trained on these schedules. Knowledge is extracted from the trained network. The performance of this extracted rule set is analyzed in scheduling a test set of 3x3 scheduling instances. The capability of the rule-based scheduler in providing near optimal solutions is also discussed in this thesis

Effect of noise on bathymetric side scan profiling sonar system resolution.

LD:D49067/84 / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreSIGLEGBUnited Kingdo

Shared Spare Parts Management in Offshore Remote Locations: A Model to Improve Logistics and Reduce Carbon Emissions.

The management of spare parts poses significant challenges, particularly in offshore remote locations. The combination of the remoteness of these locations and harsh environmental conditions adds complexity to the process of timely delivery of spare parts. As a result, lead times are prolonged and operational downtime is increased, leading to substantial financial losses for companies. The lack of simulation models limits the practical application of sharing spare parts strategy, hindering understanding of their potential benefits, costs, and challenges. This gap hinders the implementation of the concept of sharing spare parts management and prevents their adoption in real-world scenarios To address this gap, a simulation model was developed to manage spare parts across three offshore locations in the Barents Sea. The focus lies in exploring the benefits of sharing spare parts strategy among platforms, particularly regarding lead times, CO2 emissions, carbon tax costs, and reuse of spare parts among these platforms. The study follows a quantitative approach using AnyLogic software for simulation. Various factors, including storage capacities, vessel speed, carbon emissions, and carbon tax costs, were incorporated into the model. The research design consists of four stages: conceptualization, model structuring, parameterization, and validation. A case study approach is used, with data from three common equipment types across three criticality classes. Through a comparison between the baseline scenario and the solution scenario, the results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed concept of sharing spare parts. It reduced trips to the onshore warehouse by 42%, decreased total traveling time, CO2 emissions, and carbon tax costs by 48.6% each, and optimized lead times and inventory management. These results underscore the potential benefits of sharing spare parts systems, providing a pathway for more efficient and sustainable spare parts management in offshore operations

Symmetric and Positive Definite Broyden Update for Unconstrained Optimization

تحديث برويدن هو احد التحديثات من الرتبة الاولى الذي يعطي حل لمسائل الامثلية غير المقيدة ولكن هذا التحديث لا يضمن التعريف الموجب وخاصية التناظر للمصفوفة الهيسيه. في هذا البحث قمنا باقتراح تطوير على تحديث برويدن يضمن التناظر والتعريف الموجب للمصفوفة الهيسيه وذلك بتحديث المتجه   والذي يمثل الفرق بين الانحدار التالي والانحدار الحالي لدالة الهدف التي فرضناها مستمرة وقابله للاشتقاق مرتين. قمنا بتقديم تقرير حول النتائج العددية حيث اجرينا مقارنة بين الطريقة المقترحة و طريقة برويدن لمسائل قياسية.Broyden update is one of the one-rank updates which solves the unconstrained optimization problem but this update does not guarantee the positive definite and the symmetric property of Hessian matrix. In this paper the guarantee of positive definite and symmetric property for the Hessian matrix will be established by updating the vector  which represents the difference between the next gradient and the current gradient of the objective function assumed to be twice continuous and differentiable .Numerical results are reported to compare the proposed method with the Broyden method under standard problems

Blockchain technology and internet of things: review, challenge and security concern

Blockchain (BC) has received high attention from many researchers recently because it has decentralization, trusted auditability, and transparency as its main properties. BC has contributed fundamentally to the development of applications like cryptocurrencies, health care, the internet of things (IoT), and so on. The IoT is envisioned to include billions of pervasive and mission-critical sensors and actuators connected to the internet. This network of smart devices is expected to generate and have access to vast amounts of information, creating unique opportunities for new applications, but significant security and privacy issues emerge concurrently because it does not contain robust security systems. BC provides many services like privacy, security, and provenance to the systems that depends on. This research includes analyzing and a comprehensive review of BC technologies. Moreover, the proposed solutions in academia with the methodologies that used to integrate blockchain with IoT are presented. Also, the types of attacks on blockchain are collected and classified. Furthermore, the main contributions and challenges that are included in the literature are explored, then the relevant recommendations for solving the explored challenges are proposed. In conclusion, the integration of BC with IoT could produce promising results in enhancing the security and privacy of IoT environment

Pharmacognostic Studies of Some Indigenous Medicinal Plants of Pakistan

Medicinal plants constitute an effective source of traditional and modern medicines. The plant is a biosynthetic laboratory, not only for chemical compounds but also a multitude of the compounds. The present research work was confined to study the macro, microscopic features and analysis of powdered drug of Acacia modesta Wall., Acacia nilotica (L.) Delile, Berberis lycium Royle and Zanthoxylum alatum D. C. Prod. These studies were carried out in Botany laboratory of University of Arid Agriculture, Rawalpindi during 2004. These species are used as miswak (tooth brush) by local people of Pakistan in different areas. Anatomical features such as, fibres, parenchyma cells, vessels and pith were identified during microscopic studies. Powdered miswak of Acacia modesta Wall., Berberis lycium Royle and Zanthoxylum alatum D. C. Prod. were soluble in sulphuric acid only while insoluble in other solvents, i.e., hydrochloric acid, acetic acid, benzene and water. Powdered miswak of Acacia nilotica was insoluble in these solvents. Powdered drug of these species did not retain their original colour in cold and hot tests and on dry filter paper, when mixed in various solvents