Facility Location Decision for Global Entrepreneurial Small-to-Medium Enterprises Using Similarity Coefficient-based Clustering Algorithms

Decisions on location selection are critical for the survival of small-to-medium entrepreneurial organizations from the time they are established until later stages of operation and expansion. The selection of location for small and medium entrepreneurial businesses requires a selection strategy that incorporates relevant factors, quantifies these factors and develops a methodology that analyzes data for better decision-making. In the era of globalization where borders have become easier to transcend, many small ventures tend to choose more attractive international markets as a potential location for their operations where they can obtain higher returns on their investment. Thus, significant changes in the location decision process of the small and medium entrepreneurial companies have received great attention in the literature about small firms with global orientation as a response to the international entrepreneurship phenomenon. Therefore, consideration should be given to factors and attributes that reinforce the appeal of the international market to new businesses. These factors and attributes will provide the decision maker with an effective methodology for data analysis that will provide a framework for decision-making in the selection of locations for the entrepreneurial organization. In this research, the most frequent and critical attributes to select the best location for the entrepreneurial firms (globally) are extracted from relevant literature. Then, a similarity-based cluster analysis approach is introduced to quantify these attributes based on the existing data of economic metrics, such as technological advancement, expenditures on education, expenditures on research and development, the quality of the labor force, unemployment rates, domestic competitiveness, etc. Subsequently, the resulting outcomes are used to identify groups of prospective sites that fit the needs of the entrepreneurial firm. Last, the validity of the adopted methodology will be tested via numerical examples

Risk factors for extrauterine growth restriction in preterm neonates: a prospective analytical cohort study

Background: Objective of the study was to determine the incidence and risk factors for extrauterine growth restriction (EUGR) at discharge in preterm neonates.Methods: This prospective analytical cohort study included 107 preterm neonates between 30-35 weeks of gestational age who were admitted to a tertiary neonatal intensive care unit from January 2016 to December 2016. These preterm neonates were classified into EUGR group (n=93) and non-EUGR group (n=14) based on the body weight at discharge. The risk factors for EUGR were analyzed statistically.Results: The incidence of EUGR at discharge was 87.4% in the cohort. Delay in initiation of parenteral nutrition (p=0.04), longer time to reach full enteral feeds (p=0.03), very low birth weight (p=0.01), small for gestational age (p=0.01), intrauterine growth restriction (p=0.01), necrotizing enterocolitis (p=0.03), late-onset sepsis (p=0.03) and bronchopulmonary dysplasia (p=0.04) were significant risk factors for extra-uterine growth restriction at discharge in preterm neonates.Conclusions: The incidence of EUGR can be decreased by improving perinatal care, minimizing preterm deliveries, early initiation of parenteral nutrition and enteral feeding and reducing immediate postnatal complications

Subwavelength atom localization via amplitude and phase control of the absorption spectrum

We propose a scheme for subwavelength localization of an atom conditioned upon the absorption of a weak probe field at a particular frequency. Manipulating atom-field interaction on a certain transition by applying drive fields on nearby coupled transitions leads to interesting effects in the absorption spectrum of the weak probe field. We exploit this fact and employ a four-level system with three driving fields and a weak probe field, where one of the drive fields is a standing-wave field of a cavity. We show that the position of an atom along this standing wave is determined when probe field absorption is measured. We find that absorption of the weak probe field at a certain frequency leads to subwavelength localization of the atom in either of the two half-wavelength regions of the cavity field by appropriate choice of the system parameters. We term this result as sub-half-wavelength localization to contrast it with the usual atom localization result of four peaks spread over one wavelength of the standing wave. We observe two localization peaks in either of the two half-wavelength regions along the cavity axis.Comment: Accepted for publication to Physical Review

Effect of Substrate Temperature on Growth Bi1.6Pb0.4Sr2Ca2Cu2.4 Zn0.6O10 Thin Films Prepared by Pulsed Laser Deposition

AbstractBi1.6Pb0.4Sr2Ca2Cu2.4Zn0.6O10 superconducting pellet was prepared by solid state reaction. The epitaxial growth of Bi1.6Pb0.4Sr2Ca2Cu2.4Zn0.6O10 films has been realized on Si (111) by pulse laser deposition (PLD) using Nd: YAG laser with 532nm, pulse duration of about 7 nsec and a current density (0.4 – 8) J/cm2, at different substrate temperature 300, 320, 350 and 400°C. All samples annealed at 820°C in vacuum furnace employing oxygen atmosphere with flow rate 2 lit/min and heating rate 15°C/min. The structure and morphology of the prepared samples was obtained by using x-ray diffractometer (XRD) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). The lattice constants of thin films samples were calculated using inter planer distance and Miller indices of the strong peaks in the XRD patterns. It has been observed that the enhancement of the transition temperature (Tc) for obtained films increase with increase of substrate temperature (Ts). The increase in Tc with the enhancement of substrate temperature could be explained to increasing the mobility of clusters and subsequently enhance the critical temperature

Clinico-morphological pattern and frequency of bone cancer

Objective: The present study was done to find out the frequency of malignant tumors of bone and to categorize the prevelence of various histological types of osseous malignancies with respect to age, sex and site of origin. Setting: This study included consecutive cases of malignant bone tumors, which were diagnosed in the department of pathology at the Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi during the period of three years (1995-1997). Methods: These tumors were initially evaluated on H & E stained section from paraffin embedded tissue blocks. Special stains and immunohistochemical analysis was performed whenever required. Results: A total of 169 malignant bone tumors were diagnosed during the study period. Metastatic tumors accounted for 28.4% of all malignant tumors of bone. Osteogenic sarcoma (27.2%) was the most frequent primary tumor of bone followed by Ewing’s sarcoma (12.4%), Non- Hodgkin’s lymphoma (10.6%), Chondrosarcoma (8.3%), Plasma Cell Myeloma (8.3%) and other rare entities (4.8%) in order of frequency. Conclusion: The most common malignant neoplasm diagnosed in osseous biopsies was metastatic tumors. Osteogenic sarcoma was the most frequent primary bone tumor in this series. The bone tumors were relatively more prevalent in males. The frequency of malignant bone tumor was relatively high as compared to developed countries

Childhood non-Hodgkin\u27s Lymphoma: An immunophenotypic analysis.

Objective: To observe the frequency of histological subtypes of childhood non-Hodgkin`s lymphoma and its immunohistochemical profile. Setting: All cases of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma diagnosed in children (\u3c15 years) in the section of histopithology at the Aga Khan University Hospital Karachi during the period of three years. Methods: These consecutive cases were evaluated on H&E stained sections and then immunohistochemistry analysis of these tumors was performed by employing Peroxidase Anti-Peroxidase (PAP) technique. Results: The present series included 61 cases of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. NHL was more common in males as compared to females with male to female ratio of 5.8:1. High grade NHL comprised 87% of childhood lymphoma. The mode of presentation in majority of NHL (57%) was extranodal. Burkitt’s lymphonia (33%) was the most prevalent histological subtypes, followed by lymphoblastic (28%), diffuse large cell (15%), diffuse mix small and large cell (13%), small non cleaved Non-Burkitts (7%) and immunoblastic (4%). Immunophenotypic analysis of the childhood Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma revealed that 67% of the Non-Hodgkin’s Iy mphoma are cell type while 33% are those of T-cell lineage. Conclusion: NHL was more common in males. Majority of NHL in children were high grade tumors. Burkitt’s lymphoma was the most frequent histological subtype. T-cell NUL comprised a significant portion of childhood lymphoma

Dental Evidence as a Sole Human Identifier in World Disasters: A Literature Review with Emphasis on the 2004 Tsunami Disaster

Comparative dental analysis is a quick and relatively simple human identification method. In many disaster incidents, dental characteristics have played an important role in establishing the identity of victims when they were visually unidentifiable. A PubMed search was conducted for publications that specifically discussed the role of dental characteristics in Disaster Victim Identification (DVI). Between 1974 and 2012, 14 papers described 17 disasters in which dental characteristics were used to identify the victims. The percentage of victims identified using only dental characteristics ranged from 0% to 89%. This wide range largely depends on the availability and quality of ante mortem dental records provided by dentists. The DVI in Thailand following the Indian Ocean tsunami in December 2004 was unique in involving deceased tourists from more than 30 countries, mostly from Europe. The dental method of identification showed superiority over other identification methods in terms of speed and accuracy of establishing the victims’ identity. This paper discusses the role of forensic odontology in establishing the identity of disaster victims, with specific emphasis on the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami as an example of good practice, during which the author had first-hand experience