Fuzzy Cognitive Maps for Identifying Critical Path in Strategic Domains

Fuzzy cognitive maps (FCM) are hybrid tools of artificial neural network and fuzzy logic systems. One of their major uses is in decision support systems. To arrive at correct decisions, the fuzzy interconnections between attributes are either trained or assigned by domain experts. The network target may be fixed or unknown. In this paper, the FCM has been illustrated in a strategic domain in which the target is fuzzily defined and unknown. The target value is therefore estimated first by fuzzy inference rules for a collection of imprecisely defined attributes and then the fuzzy gradation to which the value belongs is used as the basis to tune the cognitive map The domain concerns a research institution. The target risk is the time by which the projects run-off beyond the stipulated time of completion. The paper shows that certain instinctively chosen membership functions to tune the cognitive map are able to reproduce the belief surrounding the criticality of the domain.Defence Science Journal, 2009, 59(2), pp.125-161, DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.14429/dsj.59.150

EFFECT OF CULTURE PARAMETERS ON PROTEASE AND CELLULASE PRODUCTION BY TWO BACTERIAL STRAINS, Corynebacterium alkanolyticum ATH3 AND Bacillus licheniformis CBH7 ISOLATED FROM FISH GUT

Microbial protease and cellulase are in high demand by different industries due to their minimal cost and availability. This study was aimed to maximize the production of protease and cellulase using two bacteria, Corynebacterium alkanolyticum ATH3 and Bacillus licheniformis CBH7, isolated from fish gut. This study demonstrated the effect of different culture parameters in protease and cellulase production using two different bacterial strains. Results of this study clearly indicated the importance of different parameters such as moisture content, pH, incubation temperature, incubation period, inoculum size, carbon sources and nitrogen sources in enzyme production. The most critical parameters affecting the enzymes production were pH, temperature, carbon and nitrogen sources. Further investigations are required to enhance the enzymes production using genetic engineering

Correspondence of butterfly and host plant diversity: Foundation for habitat restoration and conservation

At a spatial scale, the diversity of butterflies varies with numerous factors including the availability of the host plant species. In parity with this proposition, the correspondence of diversity of butterfly and plant in the background of the urban–rural gradient was evaluated using Kolkata, India, as a model study area. The results reveal significant positive correlation between the diversity of butterflies and the plants, with the different values for the suburban, rural, and urban areas. Identification of the butterfly loads for the plants in the respective areas can be useful in enhancing the conservation of the butterflies through enhanced plantation of the concerned plant species. Alternatively, the disclosure of the generalist and specialist pattern of the plant species preference by the butterflies may be useful in enhancing the population of the respective species in the concerned areas. The conservation strategy for butterfly species may be refined through the use of both or any one of the quantitative assessment of the butterfly–plant links in the urban–rural gradient in Kolkata, India, and similar places in the world

Resummed transverse momentum distribution of pseudo-scalar Higgs boson at NNLOA_A+NNLL

In this article we have studied the transverse momentum distribution of the pseudo-scalar Higgs boson at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). The small \pt region which provides the bulk of the cross section is not accessible to fixed order perturbation theory due to the presence of large logarithms in the series. Using the universal infrared behaviour of the QCD we resum these large logarithms up to next-to-next-to-leading logarithmic (NNLL) accuracy. We observe a significant reduction in theoretical uncertainties due to the unphysical scales at NNLL level compared to the previous order. We present the $p_T$ distribution matched to NNLO$_A$+NNLL, valid for the whole $p_T$ region and provide a detailed phenomenological study in the context of both 14 TeV and 13 TeV LHC using different choices of masses, scales and parton distribution functions which will be useful for the search of such particle at the LHC in near future.Comment: 20 pages, 8 figures, 2 table

Joint Frailty Mixing Model for Recurrent Event Data with an Associated Terminal Event: Application to Hospital Readmission Data

Recurrent events like repeated hospitalization, cancer tumour recurrences, and many others occur frequently. The follow-up on recurrent events may be stopped by a terminal event like death. It is obvious that if the frequencies of recurrent events are more, then it may lead to a terminal event and in this case terminal event becomes ‘dependent’. In this article, we study a joint modelling and analysis of recurrent events with a dependent terminal event. Here, the proportional intensity model for the recurrent events process and the proportional hazard model for the terminal event time are taken. To account for the association between recurrent events and terminal events, mixing frailty or random effect is studied rather than available pure frailty. In our case, the distribution of frailty is introduced as a mixture of folded normal distribution and gamma distribution rather than using pure gamma distribution. An estimation procedure in the joint frailty model is applied to estimate the parameters of the model. This method is close to the method of minimum chi-square rather than a complicated one. An extensive simulation study has been performed to estimate the model parameters and the performances are evaluated based on bias and MSE criteria. Further from an application point of view, the method is illustrated to a hospital readmission data for colorectal cancer patients

Efficacy of Limonia acidissima L. (Rutaceae) leaf extract on larval immatures of Culex quinquefasciatus Say 1823

AbstractObjectiveTo investigate the role of leaf extract of Limonia acidissima L. (Rutaceae) as a biocontrol agent against the larval form of Culex quinquefasciatus, and characterization of bioactive component responsible for larvicidal activity.MethodsLarval mortality of mosquito species was observed after 24, 48 and 72 hours of exposure to different concentrations of aqueous extract, solvent extract and subsequently bioactive compound. The bioactive compound was subjected to IR and GC-MS analysis.ResultsMortality rate at 3% concentration of crude extract were highest (90%) amongst all concentrations tested and subsequently highest (95%) mortality was achieved in chloroform: methanol extract at 100 ppm concentrations. IR and GC-MS analysis of bioactive compound revealed the presence of steroid compound which may act as larvicide.ConclusionsThe chloroform: methanol extract of mature leaves of Limonia acidissima was found to exhibit considerable mosquito larvicidal activity against Culex quinquefasciatus

Gravitationally induced matter creation and cosmological consequences

In this work, a two-fluid interacting model in a flat FLRW universe has been studied considering particle creation mechanism with a particular form of particle creation rate $\Gamma=\Gamma_0 H+\frac{\Gamma_1}{H}$ from different aspects. Statistical analysis with a combined data set of SNe Ia (Supernovae Type Ia) and Hubble data is performed to achieve the best-fit values of the model parameters, and the model is compatible with current observational data. We also perform a dynamical analysis of this model to get an overall qualitative description of the cosmological evolution by converting the governing equations into a system of ordinary differential equations considering a proper transformation of variables. We find some non-isolated sets of critical points, among which some usually are normally hyperbolic sets of points that describe the present acceleration of the Universe dominated by dark energy mimicking cosmological constant or phantom fluid. Scaling solutions are also obtained from this analysis, and they can alleviate the coincidence problem successfully. Finally, the thermodynamic analysis shows that the Generalized second law of thermodynamics is valid in an irreversible thermodynamic context.Comment: 26 pages, 14 captioned figure

Quorum-sensing network-associated gene regulation in Gram-positive bacteria

Quorum sensing (QS) is the chemical communication processes between bacteria, which may be inter-genus or intra-genus. In general, several physiological functions, such as nutrient uptake, competence development, biofilm formation, sporulation, and toxin secretion, are accomplished through QS process. The QS (cell density-dependent process) circuit in Gram-positive bacteria consists mainly of two parts: an inducer molecule and a receptor protein. The binding of inducer molecule to receptor activates the target gene, which then performs the necessary function in bacteria. In the past few years, several investigations have been conducted to explore the QS circuit in various bacteria, but still this information is insufficient to fully understand the bacterial gene expression cascade. In the present review, we summarize the QS architecture and their associated gene regulation in four Gram-positive bacteria, such as Bacillus subtilis, Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus cereus, and Streptococcus pneumoniae. It is well established that S. aureus, B. cereus, and S. pneumoniae are potent human pathogen. A detailed understanding of QS circuit in these bacteria would be useful in preparation of customized medicine in future. Whereas, B. subtilis is an industrially important candidate and has been used in several biotechnology sectors. Understanding of QS circuit in B. subtilis will definitely enrich the antibiotics and enzyme industries

THE EFFECT OF SEASONAL TEMPERATURE ON ENDOGENOUS GUT ENZYME ACTIVITY IN FOUR AIR-BREATHING FISH SPECIES

Probava u riba je složen proces koji se obavlja uz pomoć endogenih i egzogenih enzima. Zabilježen je širok raspon vrsta enzima kod riba, a njihovo lučenje i koncentracije su izrazito ovisne o hranidbenim navikama, strukturi crijeva teokolišnim uvjetima. U ovom istraživanju, utvrđena je aktivnost dva endogena enzima (proteaza i amilaza) u četiri ekonomski važne vrste riba koje mogu udisati zrak (Clarias batrachus, Channa punctatus, Anabas testudineus i Heteropneustes fossilis) pri različitim sezonskim temperaturama. Rezultati su ukazali na višu aktivnost proteaze kod svih istraživanih riba tijekom mjeseca svibnja, nakon čega slijede rujan i prosinac. Također, indicirana je viša enzimska aktivnost u području stražnjeg crijeva (HG) u usporedbi s prednjim crijevom (FG), što upućuje da je HG aktivnije u probavnim aktivnostima od FG. Optimizacija učinkovitosti hranidbe u industriji akvakulture je vrlo važna jer su troškovi hrane visoki a njena dostupnost ograničena. Prikazane informacije u radu moguposlužiti pri razvoju optimalnih hranidba i režima hranjenja za razmatrane vrste.The digestion process in fish is a complex phenomenon and is accomplished with the help of both endogenous and exogenous enzymes. A wide range of enzymes have been reported in fish and their secretion and concentrations highly depend on feeding habits, gut structure and environmental conditions. In this present investigation, we have demonstrated the activity of two endogenous enzymes (protease and amylase) in four economically important air-breathing fish species (Clarias batrachus, Channa punctatus, Anabas testudineus and Heteropneustes fossilis) at different seasonal temperatures. Our results demonstrated that protease activity was higher in all fish during the month of May, followed by September and December. It was also detected that enzyme activity was higher in the hindgut region (HG) compared to the foregut (FG), which suggests that HG is more active in digestion compared to FG. The optimization of feeding efficiency in aquaculture industries is very important, as the cost of feed is high and its availability is also limited. The information presented may be of importance when developing optimized diets and feeding regimes for the species considered