A Framework for Developing Real-Time OLAP algorithm using Multi-core processing and GPU: Heterogeneous Computing

The overwhelmingly increasing amount of stored data has spurred researchers seeking different methods in order to optimally take advantage of it which mostly have faced a response time problem as a result of this enormous size of data. Most of solutions have suggested materialization as a favourite solution. However, such a solution cannot attain Real- Time answers anyhow. In this paper we propose a framework illustrating the barriers and suggested solutions in the way of achieving Real-Time OLAP answers that are significantly used in decision support systems and data warehouses

Partial Purification and Characterization of Catalase from Banana Peels

Catalase (EC 1.11.1.6) is a well known enzyme which exists in almost all living creatures exposing to oxygen (such as plants, bacteria, and animals). It is a very necessary enzyme to protect the cell from oxidative detriment by reactive oxygen species (ROS). The aim of this study is the partial purification and characterization of Catalase enzyme from Banana peels. In this study, fresh banana peels are treated with 70 % ethanol ,further separated with chloroform ,water and ethyl acetate respectively .The supernatant of the enzymatic sample which is treated with chloroform is loaded into gel filtration column with Sephadex G-100 (1.0 x 90 cm) equilibrated with pH7 buffer media (phosphate buffer 0.1 M). Kinetic studies of the purified enzyme activity are measured and characterized .The maximal activity (26.04 units/mg) of catalase is observed with chloroform buffer extraction. The kinetics of catalase; Michalis constant Km and maximum velocity Vmax is determined using Linweaver- Burk plot, The Km value for catalase (434.7mM), Vmax (100 m mole min -1). Characterization results demonstrate that the optimal pH for activity is (7.6). And the optimal temperature for activity is 30?C .The present study indicates that Banana peels is a good source of catalase enzyme

Urban Growth Prediction Using Cellular Automata Markov: A Case Study Using Sulaimaniya City in the Kurdistan Region of North Iraq

Many cities in the Kurdistan Region have witnessed a rapid change in land use during the last two decades. Geographic information systems (GIS) and remote sensing have been broadly utilized to monitor and detect urban growth prediction. In this paper, three Landsat TM 5 and one Landsat 8 of Sulaimaniya city were used to identify and develop an urban growth map for 1991, 1998, 2006 and 2014. A supervised classification approach was applied; in order to predict urban growth, the Markov chain and CA-Markov models were used. The result demonstrates that validation of CA-Markov to forecast 2006 land cover map is ineffective in reasonably predicting land coverage for this time period; however this model had significant validation for the year 2014 and also has a good forecast power for 2024. Keywords Land Use Change/Cover, Urban Growth Prediction, Supervised Classification, Markov Chain, CA-Markov, Validation

The Arab world's contribution to solid waste literature: a bibliometric analysis

BACKGROUND: Environmental and health-related effects of solid waste material are considered worldwide problems. The aim of this study was to assess the volume and impact of Arab scientific output published in journals indexed in the Science Citation Index (SCI) on solid waste. METHODS: We included all the documents within the SCI whose topic was solid waste from all previous years up to 31 December 2012. In this bibliometric analysis we sought to evaluate research that originated from Arab countries in the field of solid waste, as well as its relative growth rate, collaborative measures, productivity at the institutional level, and the most prolific journals. RESULTS: A total of 382 (2.35 % of the overall global research output in the field of solid waste) documents were retrieved from the Arab countries. The annual number of documents published in the past three decades (1982–2012) indicated that research productivity demonstrated a noticeable rise during the last decade. The highest number of articles associated with solid waste was that of Egypt (22.8 %), followed by Tunisia (19.6), and Jordan (13.4 %). the total number of citations over the analysed years at the date of data collection was 4,097, with an average of 10.7 citations per document. The h-index of the citing articles was 31. Environmental science was the most researched topic, represented by 175 (45.8 %) articles. Waste Management was the top active journal. The study recognized 139 (36.4 %) documents from collaborations with 25 non-Arab countries. Arab authors mainly collaborated with countries in Europe (22.5 %), especially France, followed by countries in the Americas (9.4 %), especially the USA. The most productive institution was the American University of Beirut, Lebanon, with 6.3 % of total publications. CONCLUSIONS: Despite the expected increase in solid waste production from Arab world, research activity about solid waste is still low. Governments must invest more in solid waste research to avoid future unexpected problems. Finally, since solid waste is a multidisciplinary science, research teams in engineering, health, toxicology, environment, geology and others must be formulated to produce research in solid waste from different scientific aspects

Echocardiographic predictors of early in-hospital heart failure during first ST-elevation acute myocardial infarction: does myocardial performance index and left atrial volume improve diagnosis over conventional parameters of left ventricular function?

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) has been considered a major determinant of early outcome in acute myocardial infarction (AMI). Myocardial performance index (MPI) has been associated to early evolution in AMI in a heterogeneous population, including non ST-elevation or previous AMI. Left atrial volume has been related with late evolution after AMI. We evaluated the independent role of clinical and echocardiographic variables including LVEF, MPI and left atrial volume in predicting early in-hospital congestive heart failure (CHF) specifically in patients with a first isolated ST-elevation AMI.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Echocardiography was performed within 30 hours of chest pain in 95 patients with a first ST-elevation AMI followed during the first week of hospitalization. Several clinical and echocardiographic variables were analyzed. CHF was defined as Killip class ≥ II. Multivariate regression analysis was used to select independent predictor of in-hospital CHF.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Early in-hospital CHF occurred in 29 (31%) of patients. LVEF ≤ 0.45 was the single independent and highly significant predictor of early CHF among other clinical and echocardiographic variables (odds ratio 17.0; [95% CI 4.1 - 70.8]; p < 0.0001). MPI alone could not predict CHF in first ST-elevation AMI patients. Left atrial volume was not associated with early CHF in such patients.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>For patients with first, isolated ST-elevation AMI, LVEF assessed by echocardiography still constitutes a strong and accurate independent predictor of early in-hospital CHF, superior to isolated MPI and left atrial volume in this particular subset of patients.</p

Synthesis of an ordered mesoporous carbon with graphitic characteristics and its application for dye adsorption

An ordered mesoporous carbon (OMC) was prepared by a chemical vapor deposition technique using liquid petroleum gas (LPG) as the carbon source. During synthesis, LPG was effectively adsorbed in the ordered mesopores of SBA-15 silica and converted to a graphitic carbon at 800 °C. X-ray diffraction and nitrogen adsorption/desorption data and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) of the OMC confirmed its ordered mesoporous structure. The OMC was utilized as an adsorbent in the removal of dyes from aqueous solution. A commercial powder activated carbon (AC) was also investigated to obtain comparative data. The efficiency of the OMC for dye adsorption was tested using acidic dye acid orange 8 (AO8) and basic dyes methylene blue (MB) and rhodamine B (RB). The results show that adsorption was affected by the molecular size of the dye, the textural properties of carbon adsorbent and surface-dye interactions. The adsorption capacities of the OMC for acid orange 8 (AO8), methylene blue (MB) and rhodamine B (RB) were determined to be 222, 833, and 233 mg/g, respectively. The adsorption capacities of the AC for AO8, MB, and RB were determined to be 141, 313, and 185 mg/ g, respectively. The OMC demonstrated to be an excellent adsorbent for the removal of MB from wastewater.Web of Scienc

Clear cell variant of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma: a case report

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Introduction</p> <p>Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma is a diffuse proliferation of large neoplastic B lymphoid cells with a nuclear size equal to or exceeding the normal macrophage nuclei. We report a case of a clear cell variant of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma involving a lymph node in the neck, which was clinically suspected of being metastatic carcinoma.</p> <p>Case presentation</p> <p>A 39-year-old Caucasian ethnic Albanian man from Kosovo presented with a rapidly enlarging lymph node in his neck, but he also disclosed B symptoms and fatigue. A cytological aspirate of the lymph node revealed pleomorphic features. Our patient underwent a cervical lymph node biopsy (large excision). The mass was homogeneously fish-flesh, pale white tissue replacing almost the whole structure of the lymph node. The lymph node biopsy showed a partial alveolar growth pattern, which raised clinical suspicion that it was an epithelial neoplasm. With regard to morphological and phenotypic features, we discovered large nodules in diffuse areas, comprising large cells with slightly irregular nuclei and clear cytoplasm admixed with a few mononuclear cells. In these areas, there was high mitotic activity, and in some areas there were macrophages with tangible bodies. Staining for cytokeratins was negative. These areas had the following phenotypes: cluster designation marker 20 (CD20) positive, B-cell lymphoma (Bcl)-2-positive, Bcl-6^-, CD5^-, CD3^-, CD21⁺(in alveolar patterns), prostate-specific antigen-negative, human melanoma black marker 45-negative, melanoma marker-negative, cytokeratin-7-negative and multiple myeloma marker 1-positive in about 30% of cells, and exhibited a high proliferation index marker (Ki-67, 80%).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>According to the immunohistochemical findings, we concluded that this patient has a clear cell variant of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma of activated cell type, post-germinal center cell origin. Our patient is undergoing R-CHOP chemotherapy treatment.</p

Hexahydroquinolines are antimalarial candidates with potent blood-stage and transmission-blocking activity

Hexahydroquinolines are antimalarial candidates with potent blood-stage and transmission-blocking activityAntimalarial compounds with dual therapeutic and transmission-blocking activity are desired as high-value partners for combination therapies. Here, we report the identification and characterization of hexahydroquinolines (HHQs) that show low nanomolar potency against both pathogenic and transmissible intra-erythrocytic forms of the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum. This activity translates into potent transmission-blocking potential, as shown by in vitro male gamete formation assays and reduced oocyst infection and prevalence in Anopheles mosquitoes. In vivo studies illustrated the ability of lead HHQs to suppress Plasmodium berghei blood-stage parasite proliferation. Resistance selection studies, confirmed by CRISPR-Cas9-based gene editing, identified the digestive vacuole membrane-spanning transporter PfMDR1 (P. falciparum multidrug resistance gene-1) as a determinant of parasite resistance to HHQs. Haemoglobin and haem fractionation assays suggest a mode of action that results in reduced haemozoin levels and might involve inhibition of host haemoglobin uptake into intra-erythrocytic parasites. Furthermore, parasites resistant to HHQs displayed increased susceptibility to several first-line antimalarial drugs, including lumefantrine, confirming that HHQs have a different mode of action to other antimalarials drugs for which PfMDR1 is known to confer resistance. This work evokes therapeutic strategies that combine opposing selective pressures on this parasite transporter as an approach to countering the emergence and transmission of multidrug-resistant P. falciparum malaria.The authors thank T.T. Diagana (Novartis Institute for Tropical Diseases, Singapore) for provision of the compounds, the Red Cross (Australia and the USA) for the provision of human blood for cell cultures, and G. Stevenson for assistance with the triaging of compounds following screening. The authors acknowledge the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (grant OPP1040399 to D.A.F. and V.M.A. and grant OPP1054480 to E.A.W. and D.A.F.), the National Institutes of Health (grant R01 AI103058 to E.A.W. and D.A.F., grant R01 AI50234 to D.A.F, and R01 AI110329 to T.J.E.), the Australian Research Council (LP120200557 to V.M.A.) and the Medicines for Malaria Venture for their continued support. P.E.F. and M.I.V. are supported by the Northern Portugal Regional Operational Programme (NORTE 2020), under the Portugal 2020 Partnership Agreement, through the European Regional Development Fund (FEDER).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Political connections and corporate financial decision making

This paper investigates whether and how political connections influence managerial financial decisions. Our study reveals that those firms that have a politician on its board of directors are highly leveraged, use more long-term debt, hold large excess cash and are associated with low quality financial reporting compared to their non-connected counterparts. These effects escalate with the strength of the connected politician and whether he or his party is in power. The winning party effect is observed to be stronger than victory by the politician himself. Overall, our paper provides strong evidence that political connection is a two-edged sword. It is indeed a valuable resource for connected firms, but it comes at a cost of higher agency problems