Causally-Guided Evolutionary Computation for Design

During recent years, evolutionary computation methods have been used successfully to discover solutions to problems involving design and invention in a wide variety of fields. However, for the evolutionary process to remain computationally tractable when applied to increasingly complex design problems, new extensions must be developed that increase the efficiency and effectiveness with which evolutionary systems produce optimal designs. To this end, the goal of the research presented here is to develop one such potential extension: causally-guided evolution. By this I mean evolutionary systems where the application of genetic operators to an individual are driven in part by observing that individual's performance characteristics and applying these operators based on explicit cause-effect relations in the domain. This differs from past evolutionary methods in which, after fitness-based selection, genetic operators are applied to individuals blindly and randomly (i.e., without respect to the performance characteristics of the individuals). In this context, this dissertation makes a number of significant contributions. A framework for causally-guided evolution is defined, including causally-guided genetic operators based on causal knowledge that is supplied by domain experts. The ability of these methods and causally-guided mutation to produce better solutions than conventional evolutionary processes is demonstrated on a neural network optimization task. These methods are then extended to include crossover, and the synergistic effects of causally-guided crossover and mutation are demonstrated when applied to a real-world antenna design task. Causally-guided mutation is extended further to influence both where and how mutation occurs, and the effectiveness of this approach is shown when applied to a constructive design task that creates synthetic social networks. Finally, a causally-guided evolutionary system that acquires causal knowledge through observation of the evolutionary process, rather than being given the knowledge a priori, is developed and successfully applied, demonstrating the applicability of causally-guided evolution to problems in which causal knowledge is not available. Collectively, this work clearly demonstrates for the first time the promise of causally-guided evolutionary computation in a variety of forms and when applied to a range of application problems

Relation Between Asthma and Changes in Renal Function Tests

مقدمة: مرض الربو يسبب العديد من الاعتلالات الصحية كأمراض القلب والسكر وارتفاع ضغط الدم لكن تأثيره على وظائف الكلى لم يحدد بشكل نهائي لغاية الان. تهدف هذه الدراسة لمعرفة العلاقة بين مرض الربو والتغير في وظائف الكلى.  الهدف من الدراسة: تهدف الدراسة لمعرفة مدى اضطراب وظائف الكلى في المرضى المصابين بمرض الربو. طريقة العمل : تم اجراء الدراسة في مدينة مرجان الطبية للفترة من تشرين الاول 2014 الى ايار 2015, وقد تضمنت 75 مريضا و70 شخصا سليما والجميع اكمل الأسئلة الطبية , فحص وظائف الرئة وقياس مستوى يوريا الدم ومستوى الكرياتينين في مصل الدم بالإضافة الى قياس مستوى الاوكسجين في الدم بواسطة جهاز الاوكسمتر. تم اجراء التحليل الاحصائي للنتائج, قيمة (p ) اقل من او يساوي 0.05 تم اعتبارها قيمه معنوية سريريا. النتائج : اثبتت النتائج عدم وجود فرق معنوي في معدل الاعمار وفي الجنس بين المجموعتين. كان هناك فرقا معنويا في معدل قيم يوريا الدم , كرياتينين في مصل الدم , وتصفية الكرياتينين قبل وبعد اعطاء العلاج لجميع المرضى, كانت هناك زياده في يوريا الدم بشكل معنوي في مجموعة ناقصة الاوكسجين بالمقارنة مع المجموعة الغير ناقصة بالاوكسجين بينما لم يكن هناك تغيرات معنوية في مستوى الكرياتينين.بالاضافة الى ذلك, اظهرت الدراسة وجود علاقة معنوية بين مستوى يوريا الدم مع نسبة تشبع الاوكسجين قبل اعطاء العلاج للمرضى , بينما كانت هناك علاقة سلبية غير معنوية بين مستوى كرياتينين في مصل الدم ونسبة تشبع الاوكسجين قبل العلاج. بينت النتائج ازدياد مستوى يوريا الدم وكرياتينين مصل الدم بشكل معنوي في مجموعة الذكور بالمقارنة مع مجموعة الاناث.كما اظهرت النتائج عدم وجود علاقة معنوية بين مستوى يوريا الدم وكرياتينين مصل الدم مع حجم الهواء الذي يخرج في اول ثانية من الزفير (قبل العلاج). الاستنتاج: كانت هناك نسبة كبيرة من المرضى المصابين بمرض الربو لديهم اضطرابات في اختبارات وظائف الكلى في الايام الاولى من دخول المستشفى, لكن اغلب المرضى يعودون لحالتهم الطبيعية تدريجيا بعد استلام العلاج. ميكانيكية والتداخلات السريرية لعسر وظيفة الكلى يحتاج الى تقييم اكثر بالإضافة الى متابعة هؤلاء المرضى لتحديد من منهم سوف يصاب بعجز الكلى المزمن في المستقبلBackground: Bronchial asthma can cause many morbidities such as heart disease, diabetes mellitus, and hypertension, but the impact of asthma on renal function is not yet verified. This study aims to clarify the association between bronchial asthma and the risk of developing renal dysfunction. Methods: The study was conducted in Merjan Medical City in the period from November 2014 to May 2015, it included 75 patients with acute exacerbation of asthma and 70 control healthy subjects who completed medical questionnaires, pulmonary function tests, measurement of blood urea and serum creatinine, in addition to measurement of oxygen saturation (SPO2) by oximeter. Hypoxic patient has level of SPO2 less than 95%. Statistical analysis was done, P values ≤0.05 were considered to be clinically significant. Results:  There was no significant difference in mean age and gender between both groups. There was significant difference in the mean values of blood urea (Bur) and serum creatinine (Scr) before  and  after treatment for all patients, Bur increased and Scr decreased significantly in hypoxic group in comparison with non-hypoxic group (P ˂ 0.05). In addition, the study showed a significant correlation between blood urea and SPO2 (before treatment) (p < 0.05), while non-significant negative correlation between serum creatinine and SPO2 (before treatment) (r = 0.1, P > 0.05). The results revealed that the Bur and Scr increased significantly in male group in comparison to female group (P˂0.05). Also there was no significant correlation between blood  urea and serum creatinine with forced expiratory volume in first second (FEV1) (before treatment) (P > 0.05). Conclusions:  The study showed high percentage of asthmatic patients admitting in the hospital wards had abnormalities of renal function tests at the first days of admission to hospital, but most patients return to normal state gradually after getting treatment. The mechanisms and clinical implications of kidney dysfunction in patients with asthma need further investigation in addition to follow up for those patients to determine who of them will get chronic renal failure at future

Dysfunctions of liver and behavioural disorders of females rats suffering from malnutrition: Physiological and histological information as a model of animal anorexia nervosa disease

Anorexia nervosa disease is an eating deficiency that occurs around 1 per 100 individuals. The present study was conducted to assess the effects of malnutrition (animal anorexia nervosa models) via removing certain elements from food on liver functions and behaviours of female rats. Eighteen Females of rats were divided into three groups: Control, in which food intake quantity was 25 g /day, moderately food-restricted Group, in which food intake quantity was 15 g /day, and severe food-restricted Group, in which food intake quantity was 5 g /day, for 90 days. Physiological parameters, liver histopathological analysis, and the behaviour measurement by multiple T maze tests were examined. All food-restricted groups observed a significant increase (p<0.05) in aminotransferase, Malondialdehyde and lactate dehydrogenase levels. Antioxidant activity, acid phosphatase, hepatic protein, glycogen and serotonin levels were significantly (p<0.05) decreased in all food-restricted groups. The hyperactivity behaviour appeared as a feature of restricted rats. Histopathological examinations indicated a marked alteration in the hepatocyte with features of autophagy in the restricted Group. Food-restriction (animal anorexia nervosa model) in rats caused disorders in hepatic aminotransferase and serotonin levels and antioxidant activity in addition to hyperactivity behaviours with changes in the liver histological structure in the restricted Group. The study focused on the effect deficiency in essential nutrients needed by the body may have side effects on liver functions and behavioural activity of the animals linked with food searching was measured by multiple T maze tests

Relationship between the monoamine oxidase gene overactivity and the other pathophysiological and behavioral parameters implicated in memory deficiency in albino Winstar rats as Alzheimer’s disease model

The current study aimed to assess the pathophysiology mechanisms that mediate the effect on albin winstar rats' memory induced by the co -administration of fluoride and aluminum sulfate, as a model of Alzheimer's disease. This was done by assessing monoamine oxidase-A (MAO-A) activity, antioxidant activity, H2O2  and amyloid-β concentration in the hippocampus, embedded deep into the brain's temporal lobe, and level of cytokines in serum. The polymerase chain reaction approach was used to genotyping MAO-A, followed by single -stranded conformational polymorphism (SSCP) coupled with sequencing technique. The experimental animals were divided into two groups: control and treated groups. The uptake of heavy metals led to significantly increased MAO-A activity, amyloid -β deposition, H2O2 and cytokines levels in the treated group. However, the finding showed a significant decrease in antioxidant activity in the treated group. The results indicated that metals caused memory and learning impairments. PCR -SSCP genotyping showed many SNPs and haplotypes of the MAO-A exon 2 region, which showed the MAO-A gene polymorphism changes associated with Alzheimer's disease. The overall results indicated a role of metals to induce oxidative stress stimulating pathophysiological hallmarks in the hippocampus due to an increase in the influx of monoamine oxidase expression, which has been implicated in impaired memory, this study focused on the genetic variation of the exon 2 in monoamine oxidase-A gene and its relationship to Alzheimer's disease with the presence of several single nucleotide polymorphisms that may be related to Alzheimer's disease model in rats

Modren Patterns of Residential Units and their Impact in Deformation of the Morphoogy of the Rural Settlements in Iraq

يعمل البحث على ايجاد العلاقة والاثر الذي يتركه استحداث وانشاء الوحدات السكنية الحديثة النمط (المواد الانشائية واللغة المعمارية الحديثة) في تغيير وتشويه واقع التشكيل (المورفولوجيا) للنسيج السكني في المستوطنة الريفية في منطقة وسط العراق. تم ابتداءا استعراض خصائص نمط التشكيل للوحدة السكنية في الريف العراقي والمتوارث من الماضي، وكذلك معرفة العناصر التي اسهمت في احداث هذا النمط ليكون قاعدة للمقارنة مع خصائص الانماط الحديثة للوحدات السكنية في المستوطنة. وفي ضوء اجراء القياس لخصائص التشكيل لنمط المسكن التقليدي ومقارنتها مع مثيلاتها ذات النمط الحديث (الماخوذ من نماذج وحدات سكنية لمجموعة قرى في وسط العراق) واجراء استبيان لساكني القرى المذكورة وكذلك استبيان مجموعة من المختصين المعماريين، فقد تبين وجود مؤشرات واضحة تخص حدوث ظاهرة التشويه وعدم الملاءمة الحاصلة بسبب ظهور النمط الحديث من التشكيل للوحدات السكنية واختلاطه بالنمط التقليدي ضمن المستوطنة الريفية.Research work on finding out the role of the existence of houses of new pattern in changing and deforming the morphology of rural statement in the middle region in Iraq. The first stage was to explore the charachteristics of traditional house in Iraqi rural statement and find out the factors that made these charachteristics to make easy make a comparison of new houses with new pattern. A finding result shows up that deformation may occurs in architectural forms in case of the absence of specific beauty elements.  To make sure of that ,  verbal and written quastionaires were done  for selected rural statments houses owners and  architecture experts who indicated the presence of big deformation in samples of houses tissue that include both traditional and new pattern  together in rural statements

Erythropoietin and Anaemia in Patients with Chronic Renal Failure

Hyporegenerative anaemia is common complication of chronic renal failure CRF and responsible for fatigue and reduced general  health condition among uremic patient. The main causes of anemia among patients with chronic renal failure are deficient production of erythropoietin (EPO), iron deficiency, and chronic disease with endogenous EPO resistance. This study confirmed on patients with chronic renal failure in Merjan Teaching Hospital and highlighted on the relationship between anaemia and erythropoiten level. The estimation of hemoglobin among patients with CRF revealed that 55% of patients suffered from severe anaemia and 45%suffered from moderate anaemia      Erythropoiten level estimated by ELISA technique and mean and standard deviation of erythropoietin level among patients and control groups were12.2 uU/ml ± 2.6, 7.3uU/ml± 1.8 respectively and comparism mean of erythropoietin between patients and control group   was indicated that there is significant difference between two groups at p value< 0.05 By study the correlation between hemoglobin and erythropoietin revealed that there is inverses relation ship between hemoglobin and erythropoietin , we concluded from this study although the level of erythropoietin increase in patients with CRF but the level of erythropoietin are not enough foe correction of anaemia and patient may required for exogenous source for erythropoietin with iron supplement in management of anaemia Keywords: erythropoiten Hyporegenerative anaemi

Flax Seed (Linum usitatissimum): the Healthy Medicinala and Preventive Food

اشتهرت بذور الكتان منذ القدم لدى الإغريق والفراعنة بكونها أحد أهم أنواع البذور الطبية ذات الفوائد العديدة للجسم، تعتبر بذور الكتان بشكل أساسي من المحاصيل التي اكتسبت اهتماماً كبيراً كونها غذاءً صحياً فقد أُثبت دورها الفعال في مجال أمراض القلب والأوعية الدموية وتقليل نسبة الدهون والسكر في الدم وكمواد مضادة لسرطان الثدي والقولون. كما ثبت أن بذور الكتان تمتلك خصائص  مضادة للأكسدة ومضادة للالتهابات في الدراسات التجريبية على الحيوانات وكذلك البشر. أفاد الباحثون أن المنتجات الغذائية التي تحتوي على بذور الكتان يمكن أن تحظى بقبول جيد للمستهلك إلى جانب فوائدها الغذائية. تسلط هذه المقالة الضوء على الدور الفعال لبذور الكتان في علاج العديد من الامراض او الوقاية منها باعتبارها كغذاء طبي ووقائي وعلاجي.Flaxseeds have been known since ancient times to the Greeks and Pharaohs for being one of the most important types of medicinal seeds with many benefits for the body. Flaxseed is mainly considered as one of the oil crops that has gained great attention as a health food, as it has proven its effective role in the field of cardiovascular diseases, reducing  the proportion of fat and sugar in the blood, and as an anti-cancer of the breast and colon.  Flaxseeds have also been shown to possess antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties  in experimental studies in animals as well as humans. Researchers have reported that food products containing flaxseeds can have good consumer acceptance along with their nutritional benefits. This article highlights the effective role of flax seeds in the treatment or prevention of many diseases as a medicinal, preventive and curative food

Efficacy of Nigella sativa oil to relieve effects of the lead monoxide toxicity on testicular efficiency and sexual behaviour disorders in albino rats

The prevalence of testicular toxicity induced via contamination with heavy metals is increasing worldwide, and a close connection between testicular toxicity and lead has recently been identified. The present study demonstrated the possible therapeutic and protection properties of Nigella sativa oil (NSO) against dangerous testicular toxicity and sexual behaviour disorders in rat models induced by lead monoxide (PbO) food poisoning. A total of 24 male rats were used and divided into four groups, consisting of Group 1: Control (1 mL of distilled water); Group 2: PbO (80 mg/kg); Group 3: NSO (0.5 mL/rat); and Group 4: (NSO+PbO) 0.5 mL/rat of NSO, followed by PbO (80 mg/kg/day) respectively for 60 days. The testosterone, follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), luteinizing hormone (LH), 17 beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase activity (17β-HSD), sperm parameters, and sexual behaviour (copulation behaviour test) were measured. The results showed that sex hormone levels were significantly decreased (p<0.05) in rats exposed to PbO, while the levels of these hormones were significantly higher in rats exposed to NSO and NSO+PbO. The sperm parameters (numbers, concentrations, motilities, and abnormality) were lower in rats exposed to PbO compared to those in the control, NSO, and NSO+PbO groups that showed significant increases. Sperm abnormality and 17β-HSD activity showed a significant increase at p<0.05 in the group exposed to the PbO compared to those of the control, NSO, and NSO+PbO groups. The results also significantly suppressed sexual behaviour in rats exposed to PbO compared to those in the control, NSO, and NSO+PbO groups, rats were administered NSO+PbO showed improvement in sexual behaviour parameters compared to PbO groups. PbO toxicity was obvious in the reproductive tract through severe histopathological changes. The impact of lead on tissues was partially mitigated by NSO. The study showed protective effects of N. sativa oil against changes in sex hormones, sperm characteristics, and sexual behaviour in male rats exposed to lead monoxide-induced testicular toxicity

Integrating Knowledge-Based and Case-Based Reasoning

There has been substantial recent interest in integrating knowledge based reasoning (KBR) and case-based reasoning (CBR) within a single system due to the potential synergisms that could result. Here we describe our recent work investigating the feasibility of a combined KBR-CBR application-independent system for interpreting multi-episode stories/narratives, illustrating it with an application in the domain of interpreting urban warfare stories. A genetic algorithm is used to derive weights for selection of the most relevant past cases. In this setting, we examine the relative value of using input features of a problem for case selection versus using features inferred via KBR, versus both. We find that using both types of features is best (compared to human selection), but that input features are most helpful and inferred features are of marginal value. This finding supports the idea that KBR and CBR provide complimentary rather than redundant information, and hence that their combination in a single system is likely to be useful

Effects of Voluntary Work on Psychological and Behavioral Treatment of Individuals in Society

العمل التطوعي هو ممارسة لسلوك ايجابي اجتماعي وشعور بالمسؤولية وأنتماء للمجتمع، يعبر عن طابع مميز وكبير واسع النطاق، مبني على قيم اجتماعية وسلوكيات حميدة مثل الصدق والثقة والتعأون، كونه من الاعمال التي يجد الأفراد فيها أنفسهم ويسعون فيها لتحقيق ذاتهم ومصالحهم. وفي هذه الدراسة تم التركيز على فئة الشباب فهم أفضل المراحل العمرية التي يمكن استقطابها للعمل التطوعي لما له من أبعاد ايجابية سلوكية على المستوى النفسي والروحي والاجتماعي , وتمكن المتطوع من اكتساب خبرات ومهارات جديدة يعود مردودها على سلوكه وشخصيته لتنعكس إيجاباً على مجتمعه.Voluntary work is a practice of positive social behavior, &nbsp;a sense of responsibility and belonging to society. It expresses a distinctive wide-range character, based on social values and benign behaviors such as honesty, trust and cooperation, in this work&nbsp; individuals find themselves and seek to achieve their own interests. In this study, focus&nbsp; on the youth groups are the best age that can be attracted to volunteer work because it has positive behavioral dimensions at the psychological, spiritual and social level. The volunteer is able to acquirement new skills and experiences that return to his behavior and personality to reflect positively on his society