Existence of Periodic Solutions for a Quantum Volterra Equation

The objective of this paper is to study the periodicity properties of functions that arise in quantum calculus, which has been emerging as an important branch of mathematics due to its various applications in physics and other related fields. The paper has two components. First, a relation between two existing periodicity notions is established. Second, the existence of periodic solutions of a q-Volterra integral equation, which is a general integral form of a first order q-difference equation, is obtained. At the end, some examples are provided. These examples show the effectiveness of the relation between the two periodicity notions that is established in this paper

Enabling Explainable Fusion in Deep Learning with Fuzzy Integral Neural Networks

Information fusion is an essential part of numerous engineering systems and biological functions, e.g., human cognition. Fusion occurs at many levels, ranging from the low-level combination of signals to the high-level aggregation of heterogeneous decision-making processes. While the last decade has witnessed an explosion of research in deep learning, fusion in neural networks has not observed the same revolution. Specifically, most neural fusion approaches are ad hoc, are not understood, are distributed versus localized, and/or explainability is low (if present at all). Herein, we prove that the fuzzy Choquet integral (ChI), a powerful nonlinear aggregation function, can be represented as a multi-layer network, referred to hereafter as ChIMP. We also put forth an improved ChIMP (iChIMP) that leads to a stochastic gradient descent-based optimization in light of the exponential number of ChI inequality constraints. An additional benefit of ChIMP/iChIMP is that it enables eXplainable AI (XAI). Synthetic validation experiments are provided and iChIMP is applied to the fusion of a set of heterogeneous architecture deep models in remote sensing. We show an improvement in model accuracy and our previously established XAI indices shed light on the quality of our data, model, and its decisions.Comment: IEEE Transactions on Fuzzy System

Effect of different solvent extracted sample of Allium sativum (Linn) on bacteria and fungi

This study was aimed to evaluate the antimicrobial activity of garlic-extracted samples against bacteria and fungi at different concentration, in various polar solvents. For this purpose, six different extracts were prepared, using five different polar solvents (methanol, ethyl acetate, petroleum ether, chloroforms and butanol) and water. Two different concentrations (1 and 2 mg disc-1) of each extract were subjected for preliminary antibacterial screening against seven pathogenic bacteria by Kirby- Bauer disk diffusion method. The result of in vitro antibacterial screening showed that 6 extracts from garlic had different ranges of antibacterial activities. When garlic extracts were studied for their antibacterial potential against Gram-positive bacteria and Gram-negative bacteria, the butanol extracted samples showed the highest inhibitory effect against B. cereus (76% ZI at 2 mg disc-1 concentration). Water extracted samples indicated a good range of inhibitory effect against Salmonella typhi (73% ZI at 2 mg disc-1) and butanol extracted sample showed highest activity against Erwinia carotovora (75% ZI). The data also showed that of petroleum ether, methanol and water did not show any  inhibitory effect against the tested microbes.Key words: Solvent, bacteria, fungi, Allium sativum

Process monitoring and fault detection on a hot-melt extrusion process using in-line Raman spectroscopy and a hybrid soft sensor

We propose a real-time process monitoring and fault detection scheme for a pharmaceutical hot-melt extrusion process producing Paracetamol-Affinisol extrudate. The scheme involves prediction of Paracetamol concentration from two independent sources: a hybrid soft sensor and a Raman-based Partial Least Squares (PLS) calibration model. Both these predictions are used by the developed PCA (Principal Component Analysis) and SPC (Statistical Process Control) monitors to detect process faults and raise alarms. Through real-time extrusion results, it is shown that this two-sensor approach enables the detection of various common process faults which would otherwise remain undetected with a single-sensor monitoring scheme

Pharmacokinetics of Caffeic Acid from Methanol Seed Extract of Syzygium cumini L in Rats

Purpose: To describe caffeic acid-based pharmacokinetics of methanol extract of seed of Syzygium cumini L. in rats.Methods: A dose of the extract (500 mg, equivalent to 37.135 mg caffeic acid) was administered orally to 6 male Wister rats, weighing 200 ± 10 g. Blood samples (0.5 mL), collected from the tail vein at 0, 15, 30, 60, 120, 240 and 720 min, were processed and analyzed using high performance liquid chromatography and detected with florescent light detector (FLD).Results: Following the administration of the extract, caffeic acid achieved maximum plasma concentration (5.96 ± 0.49 μg/mL) in 1.0 h which was also the time to achieve maximum concentration (Tmax). Mean resident time (MRT) and half-life (t1/2) were 4.092 ± 0.94 h and 0.14 ± 0.01 h, respectively.Conclusion: The results indicate that absorption of caffeic acid from the oral route is fast, but lower amounts are absorbed. The method developed for the extraction of caffeic acid from the plasma and HPLC determination may be useful in establishing phyto-bioequivalence between Syzygium cumini seed products.Keywords: Caffeic acid, Pharmacokinetics, Syzygium cumini, Phytobioequivalence, Absorptio

Microwave breast imaging using compressed sensing approach of iteratively corrected delay multiply and sum beamforming

Microwave imaging (MI) is a consistent health monitoring technique that can play a vital role in diagnosing anomalies in the breast. The reliability of biomedical imaging diagnosis is substantially dependent on the imaging algorithm. Widely used delay and sum (DAS)-based diagnosis algorithms suffer from some significant drawbacks. The delay multiply and sum (DMAS) is an improved method and has benefits over DAS in terms of greater contrast and better resolution. However, the main drawback of DMAS is its excessive computational complexity. This paper presents a compressed sensing (CS) approach of iteratively corrected DMAS (CS-ICDMAS) beamforming that reduces the channel calculation and computation time while maintaining image quality. The array setup for acquiring data comprised 16 Vivaldi antennas with a bandwidth of 2.70-11.20 GHz. The power of all the channels was calculated and low power channels were eliminated based on the compression factor. The algorithm involves data-independent techniques that eliminate multiple reflections. This can generate results similar to the uncompressed variants in a significantly lower time which is essential for real-time applications. This paper also investigates the experimental data that prove the enhanced performance of the algorithm. 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.Acknowledgments: This work was supported by Grant NPRP12S-0227-190164 from the Qatar National Research Fund, a member of Qatar Foundation, Doha, Qatar and the internal grant of Qatar University QUST-1-CENG-2021-6 and the claims made herein are solely the responsibility of the authors. This work was supported by the Ministry of Higher Education of Malaysia (MOHE), grant code No. FRGS/1/2018/TK04/UKM/01/3. This work was supported by Grant NPRP12S-0227-190164 from the Qatar National Research Fund, a member of Qatar Foundation, Doha, Qatar and the claims made herein are solely the responsibility of the authors. Open Access funding provided by the Qatar National Library.Scopu

Erectile dysfunction: prevalence, risk factors and involvement of antihypertensive drugs intervention

Purpose: To explore the literature regarding prevalance, risk factors and the involvement of antihypertensive drugs in erectile dysfunction (ED).Methods: Original research articles, reviews, editorials and case reports published in English language on the prevalence of sexual/erectile dysfunction in hypertensive men taking antihypertensive drugs and risk factors were identified through a search of four bibliographic databases, namely, PubMed, EMBASE, CINAHL and EBSCO Health.Results: Recent analyses suggest that hypertensive men of almost all age groups suffer from ED but it is more prevalent in elderly male patients. The involvement of β-blockers was found to be controversial. Nevertheless, some evidence had been found regarding the use of propranolol in high doses.Conclusion: The present review indicates the need for research to unravel the role of β-blockers in the manifestation of ED in hypertensive males, whom there are no contributory factors such as sedentary lifestyle, aging, stress and anxiety, etc.Keywords: Hypertension, Antihypertensive drugs, β-Blockers, Propranolol, Erectile dysfunction, Life style, Risk factor