Artificial Immune Systems - Models, algorithms and applications

Copyright © 2010 Academic Research Publishing Agency.This article has been made available through the Brunel Open Access Publishing Fund.Artificial Immune Systems (AIS) are computational paradigms that belong to the computational intelligence family and are inspired by the biological immune system. During the past decade, they have attracted a lot of interest from researchers aiming to develop immune-based models and techniques to solve complex computational or engineering problems. This work presents a survey of existing AIS models and algorithms with a focus on the last five years.This article is available through the Brunel Open Access Publishing Fun

The effects of the Netflix no-censorship policy on subtitling taboo language from English to Arabic: a case study based on Kuwait

In recent years, the internet has revolutionised the way in which individuals watch television and has provided many people around the world with access to content they have never had access to before. Netflix, which has become available worldwide in over 190 countries, thrives on providing its audience with the freedom of choice when it comes to genres of audiovisual entertainment, devices that can be used, and the time and location of streaming. A core part of the company’s aim is to eliminate outdated policies and restrictions that are applied on linear television locally and globally. Accordingly, individuals who have access to Netflix’s content in a country such as Kuwait, where content on linear TV and cinemas is heavily scrutinised and censored, can watch uncensored audiovisual material, which includes subtitles. Subtitling uncensored audiovisual materials for Arabic-speaking audiences is a new phenomenon given the long history of using euphemisms and, most often, omission strategies. Creating Arabic subtitles under such a policy may indicate that this would have some effects on the subtitling strategies applied as well as on the reception of the target audience. Yet, this new trend has attracted limited attention so far within the field of audiovisual translation (AVT). Therefore, in an attempt to occupy this research niche, this research study aims to closely examine these subtitles, particularly the instances that include taboo language. The methodological approach followed is descriptive-experimental, in which the former involves the translation strategies applied being identified, described, and analysed in terms of how successfully they maintain the functions of taboo language in the dialogue. Furthermore, the current subtitling strategies used for subtitling extralinguistic cultural references (ECRs) are modified in an attempt to establish a new taxonomy of strategies for subtitling taboo language that represents the two languages and cultures under analysis. The experimental part is conducted to serve the other objective, which is to investigate the target audience’s reception of subtitled taboo language regarding maintaining the functions of characterisation, expressing emotions, and delivering humour. By following this methodological approach, this study aims to contribute to the field of AVT, particularly subtitling, because it investigates taboo language from a cultural perspective and examines the reasons for including it in the media, how it is subtitled into Arabic, and if the subtitling strategies applied serve the same intended functions in the source language. It also addresses the issue of the scarcity of reception studies in AVT by including members of target audience in Kuwait to take part in the experiment. The findings of the corpus analysis indicated that a variety of subtitling strategies are used to render taboo language into Arabic on Netflix shows. This has resulted in the modified taxonomy of taboo language subtitling strategies consisting of eight baseline strategies and two additional changes, euphemisms and a shift in register, which occur along with some subtitling strategies. The results of the experimental case study revealed that the role of the subtitling strategies is most prominent in delivering humour, while in the other two conditions, other semiotic codes may play a more significant role along with the subtitling strategy in maintaining the functions of the taboo language

Regional stratigraphy, facies distribution, and hydrocarbons potential of the Oligocene strata across the Arabian Plate and Western Iran

Major global events during the Oligocene epoch included a climatic change from warm “greenhouse” to a cooler “icehouse” that was accompanied by the onset of Antarctic glaciation. These events led to decline in water temperature, salinity, nutrient supply and oxygen levels, and the extinction of some major fauna and flora. Within the study area, during this epoch, the shrinkage of the Neotethys and the development of the Paratethys, the collision of Arabia with Eurasia and the development of the Zagros mountains and opening of the Red Sea which led eventually to the separation of Arabia from Africa were witnessed. Oligocene sediments are absent from most parts of the Arabian Plate but are well-preserved in western and southwestern Iran. The most well-developed strata are the coral reefs of the Kirkuk Group in northern Iraq and the shallow water carbonates of the Asmari Formation in southwestern Iran. The study area also represents the birthplace of commercial hydrocarbons production in the Middle East from these sediments in Masjid-i-Sulaiman Field in Iran and Kirkuk Field in Iraq at the first decade of the last century. Future exploration for hydrocarbons potential should focus on identifying subsurface coral buildups or clastic strata that are equivalent to the Asmari Formation in Iran.Scopu

Additive Manufacturing of Microfluidic Technologies via In Situ Direct Laser Writing

Innovations in microfluidic technologies hold great promise for a wide range of chemical, biomedical, and soft robotic applications. Unfortunately, key drawbacks associated with soft lithography-based microfabrication processes hinder such progress. To address these challenges, we advance a novel submicron-scale additive manufacturing (AM) strategy, termed “in situ direct laser writing (isDLW)”. IsDLW is an approach that benefits from the architectural versatility and length scales inherent to two-photon polymerization (2PP), while simultaneously supporting the micro-to-macro interfaces required for its effective utilization in microfluidic applications. In this dissertation, we explore isDLW strategies that enable passive and active 3D microfluidic technologies capable of enhancing “on-chip” autonomy and sophistication. Initially, we use poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS)-based isDLW to fabricate microfluidic diodes that enable unidirectional rectification of fluid flow. We introduce a novel cyclic olefin polymer (COP)-based isDLW strategy to address several limitations related to structural adhesion and compatibility of PDMS microchannels. We use this COP-based approach to print microfluidic transistors comprising flexible and free-floating components that enable both “normally open” (NO) and “normally closed” (NC) functionalities—i.e., source-to-drain fluid flow (QSD) through the transistor is either permitted (NC) or obstructed (NO) when a gate input (PG) is applied. As an exemplar, we employ COP-based isDLW to print an integrated microfluidic circuit (IMC) comprised of soft microgrippers downstream of NC microfluidic transistors with distinct PG thresholds. All of these microfluidic circuit elements are printed within microchannels ≤ 40 μm in height, representing the smallest such components (to our knowledge). Theoretical and experimental results illustrate on the operational efficacy of these components as well as characterize their performance at different input conditions, while IMC experimental results demonstrate sequential actuation of the microrobotic components to realize target gripper operations with a single PG input. Furthermore, to investigate the utility of this strategy for static microfluidic technologies, we fabricate: (i) interwoven bioinspired microvessels (inner diameters < 10 μm) capable of effective isolation of distinct microfluidic flow streams, and (ii) deterministic lateral displacement (DLD) microstructures that enable continuous sorting of submicron particles (860 nm). In combination, these results suggest that the developed AM strategies offer a promising pathway for advancing state-of-the-art microfluidic technologies for various biological and soft robotic applications

Technology acceptance drivers for AR smart glasses in the middle east : a quantitative study

This study aims to establish Middle East users' perspectives on the major factors that impact their decision to adopt Augmented Reality AR smart glasses (ARSG). Thus, an online questionnaire was designed and sent directly to the respondents, and 584 valid data points were collected from individuals living in the Middle East. The data were analyzed using Pearson correlations and Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) techniques using SPSS. Eleven hypotheses were tested using Multiple Regression analysis, where seven independent variables out of eleven were confirmed to have a significant impact on the perceived adoption of ARSG. The results indicate that four of the independent variables including Pre-Market Knowledge, Image, Own privacy and Technology innovativeness show the significant impact on ARSG adoption at the 1% significant level. In addition, the results indicate that three of the social and technological factors include Perceived Ease of use, Perceived usefulness and Other's privacy show the significant effect on ARSG adoption at the 5% significant level. Among the 7 social and technological factors, the results suggest that technology innovation expresses the strongest effect on ARSG adoption with the highest coefficient value of 0.413 (b = 0.413, t = 12.881, ρ < 0.01). Moreover, user intention is significantly impacted by gender and place of living but not by education or age. The research also provides pre-market insights on users' personal types that represent who will most likely adopt the new smart glasses and that differentiate them based on their priorities. To the best of our knowledge, this is among the first works to investigate technology acceptance drivers of AR smart glasses in the Middle East

The impact of eLearning as a knowledge management tool in organizational performance

This paper aims to understand the impact of eLearning capabilities on organizational performance. It also addresses the obstacles of organizational learning using eLearning methods and highlighting some emerging trends and technologies that will impact the eLearning experience in organizations. It examines a brief history of knowledge management and how it is related to learning, organizational learning, and performance. It also explores different eLearning technologies and trends. A systematic literature review was used to examine previous papers between 2016–2020. Results show eLearning can impact organizational performance in many ways, and human factors can be one of the most challenging obstacles in deploying eLearning solutions in organizations, and many emerging eLearning trends were explored including open educational resources, gamification, flipped classrooms, and many others

Asthma severity as a contributing factor to cancer incidence: A cohort study

BACKGROUND: A putative link between asthma and asthma severity with the occurrence of cancer has been suggested but has not been fully investigated. The objective of this study is to assess the incidence of all types of cancer in a cohort of asthmatic patients. METHODS AND FINDINGS: A single center cohort retrospective study was conducted to investigate the role of asthma as a potential risk factor for various cancers. Participants were followed for a period of 9 years from 01/01/2010 to 30/12/2018 and cancer incidence and its determinants were collected in asthmatic patients and controls from the same population source but without any respiratory disease. Overall, 2,027 asthma patients and 1,637 controls were followed up for an average of 9 years. The statistical analysis showed that 2% of asthma patients were diagnosed with various cancers, resulting in an incidence rate of cancer of 383.02 per 100,000 persons per year which is significantly higher than the 139.01 per 100,000 persons per year observed in matched controls (p-value < 0.001). The top four cancers reported among asthmatics were breast, colon, lung and prostate cancer. Lung cancer in asthmatics had the longest diagnosis period with a mean of 36.6 years compared to the shortest with prostate cancer with 16.5 years. CONCLUSIONS: This study shows that asthma patients are at increased risk of different types of cancers with asthma severity and goiter as the main factors that may increase the risk of developing cancers among asthmatic patients

Association of interleukin-4, interleukin-13 gene polymorphisms, HLA-DQ and DR genotypes with genetic susceptibility of type-1 Diabetes Mellitus in Kuwaiti children

BackgroundType-1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) is a complex multifactorial disease with an autoimmune etiology and is thought to result from an interaction between genetic and non-genetic factors. Cytokines play a crucial role in the pathogenesis of autoimmune diseases due to their effector and regulatory functions in immune responses. Interleukin-4 (IL4) and Interleukin-13 (IL13) are anti-inflammatory cytokines and are considered as important mediators in pathology of the autoimmune diseases.MethodsWe have determined the genotype frequency of IL4 gene promoter polymorphism (−590C/T, rs2243250), IL13 gene polymorphism p.(Arg130Glu, rs20541) and human leukocyte antigen, HLA-DQ and DR genotypes in Kuwaiti children with T1DM to investigate their role in genetic susceptibility. This study included 261 Kuwaiti children with T1DM and 214 healthy controls. The genotypes for IL4 (−590C/T) and IL13 p.(Arg130Glu) gene polymorphisms were detected by PCR-RFLP methods. HLA-DQ and DR genotypes were determined by sequence-specific PCR methods.ResultsThe CC genotype of IL4 gene polymorphism (−590C/T) was significantly related to the risk for T1DM in Kuwaiti patients (OR 1.64). The homozygous AA (QQ) and heterozygous AG (RQ) genotypes of IL13 gene polymorphism p.(Arg130Glu), also manifested a statistically significant association with T1DM (OR 2.92 and 4.79). In 55% T1DM patients, the HLA genotype was either DQ2/DQ2 or in combination with a DQ8 allele. Collectively, 91% Kuwaiti T1DM patients had either DQ2 or DQ8 alleles in different combinations highlighting them as the high risk-genotypes in comparison to the controls. In the case of HLA-DR, the genotypes DR3/DRB5, DR3/DR4, DR3/DR7 and DR4/DR4 showed highest frequency amongst the Kuwaiti T1DM patients and thus can be considered as high-risk genotypes when compared to the controls. A high degree of co-inheritance (&gt;80%) was detected between IL4 and IL13 gene polymorphism genotypes (CC and QQ) and the high-risk HLA-DQ and DR genotypes amongst the Kuwaiti T1DM patients.ConclusionsWe have identified the association of IL4 and IL13 gene polymorphisms with susceptibility to T1DM in Kuwaiti children and the co-inheritance of these polymorphisms with high-risk HLA genotypes. The findings may contribute to early identification of childhood diabetes

Role of outer membrane permeability, efflux mechanism, and carbapenemases in carbapenem-nonsusceptible Pseudomonas aeruginosa from Dubai hospitals: Results of the first cross-sectional survey

© 2019 The Authors Objectives: Carbapenem resistance in Pseudomonas aeruginosa is growing and results from variable mechanisms. The objectives of the current study were to investigate mechanisms of carbapenem resistance and genetic relatedness of P. aeruginosa isolates recovered in Dubai hospitals. Methods: From June 2015 through June 2016, carbapenem-nonsusceptible P. aeruginosa were collected from 4 hospitals in Dubai, and subjected to antimicrobial susceptibility testing, molecular investigation of carbapenemases by PCR-sequencing, analysis of outer membrane porin OprD2 and multidrug efflux channel MexAB-OprM levels by qPCR, and fingerprinting by ERIC-PCR. Results: Out of 1969 P. aeruginosa isolated during the study period, 471 (23.9%) showed reduced carbapenem susceptibility. Of these, 37 were analyzed and 32% of them produced VIM-type metallo-β-lactamases, including VIM-2, VIM-30, VIM-31, and VIM-42, while GES-5 and GES-9 co-existed with VIM in 5.4% of isolates. Outer membrane impermeability was observed in 73% of isolates and 75.6% displayed overproduced MexAB-OprM. ERIC-PCR revealed one large clone including most carbapenemase-producing isolates indicating clonal dissemination. Conclusion: This is the first study on carbapenem-nonsusceptible P. aeruginosa from Dubai, incriminating VIM production as well as outer membrane permeability and efflux systems as resistance mechanisms. Further studies on carbapenem-nonsusceptible P. aeruginosa in Dubai are warranted for containment of such health hazard