Left ventricular trabeculations in cardiac MRI: reference ranges and association with cardiovascular risk factors in UK Biobank

Background The extent of left ventricular (LV) trabeculation and its relationship with cardiovascular (CV) risk factors is unclear. Purpose To apply automated segmentation to UK Biobank cardiac MRI scans to (a) assess the association between individual characteristics and CV risk factors and trabeculated LV mass (LVM) and (b) establish normal reference ranges in a selected group of healthy UK Biobank participants. Materials and Methods In this cross-sectional secondary analysis, prospectively collected data from the UK Biobank (2006 to 2010) were retrospectively analyzed. Automated segmentation of trabeculations was performed using a deep learning algorithm. After excluding individuals with known CV diseases, White adults without CV risk factors (reference group) and those with preexisting CV risk factors (hypertension, hyperlipidemia, diabetes mellitus, or smoking) (exposed group) were compared. Multivariable regression models, adjusted for potential confounders (age, sex, and height), were fitted to evaluate the associations between individual characteristics and CV risk factors and trabeculated LVM. Results Of 43 038 participants (mean age, 64 years ± 8 [SD]; 22 360 women), 28 672 individuals (mean age, 66 years ± 7; 14 918 men) were included in the exposed group, and 7384 individuals (mean age, 60 years ± 7; 4729 women) were included in the reference group. Higher body mass index (BMI) (β = 0.66 [95% CI: 0.63, 0.68]; P < .001), hypertension (β = 0.42 [95% CI: 0.36, 0.48]; P < .001), and higher physical activity level (β = 0.15 [95% CI: 0.12, 0.17]; P < .001) were associated with higher trabeculated LVM. In the reference group, the median trabeculated LVM was 6.3 g (IQR, 4.7–8.5 g) for men and 4.6 g (IQR, 3.4–6.0 g) for women. Median trabeculated LVM decreased with age for men from 6.5 g (IQR, 4.8–8.7 g) at age 45–50 years to 5.9 g (IQR, 4.3–7.8 g) at age 71–80 years (P = .03). Conclusion Higher trabeculated LVM was observed with hypertension, higher BMI, and higher physical activity level. Age- and sex-specific reference ranges of trabeculated LVM in a healthy middle-aged White population were established

Towards a Novel Intrusion Detection Architecture using Artificial Intelligence

Artificial intelligence (AI) is a transformative technology for potential replacement of human tasks and activities within industrial, social, intellectual, and digital applications. Network intrusion detection is crucial to identify cyber-attacks in critical infrastructures where a dynamic collection and analysis of network traffic can be conducted using AI. In this research paper we develop a novel intrusion detection architecture to mitigate malicious traffic passing through cyber infrastructure of an organization. We propose to design scenarios based on AI for intelligent self-protection or alert system that will facilitate countering actual cyber-attacks. The system will utilize machine learning algorithm - Random Forest - to offer more flexibility to discover new attacks and to ensure training the system to predict them in the future. Moreover, we design spam filtering program on python to detect spam emails as per email is one of the main attacking vectors that threatens the security of critical infrastructures

Expressing functional reactive programming in C++

Abstract. Most C++ programs are written in a straight-forward imperative style. While e.g. callbacks are employed either directly or through the observer pattern, the mental overhead of keeping program state congruent is high and increases with program size. This paper presents a translation of functional reactive programming into C++ terms. This paradigm originates from the Haskell language community and seeks to express easily how programs should react to new input. Concretely, an implementation of a reactive property class is presented, where property in this context is a class holding a value of a user-specified type. The property class provides a mechanism to bind to it an expression that takes an arbitrary number of inputs, some of which can be other instances of property classes. When any of these dependent properties is updated the expression is re-evaluated, so that a dataflow graph may be built using this type. The automatic re-evaluation reduces the boilerplate code necessary to update variables, which can lead to fewer programming errors and more concise programs. The implementation demonstrates that the core principles of functional reactive programming can be expressed in modern C++. Further, the implementation can be done in an idiomatic manner which appears familiar to C++ developers. At the same time, the implementation’s complexity highlights how much further the C++ meta-programming facilities must be developed to properly support facilities such as a functional reactive programming library implementation. A number of compile-time template metaprogramming utilities used in the implementation are also introduced

The Effect of Task Type on the Choice and Use of Communication Strategies by Algerian EFL Learners in Spoken Discourse

The present study aimed to investigate the impact of task types on the use of communication strategies (CSs) by (30) Algerian learners of English as a foreign language (EFL) in spoken discourse at the University of M’Hammed Bouguerra in Boumerdes.Data was collectedfrom audio recordings of scenario and interview tasks have been classified according to a taxonomy compiled from previous taxonomies of such strategies, and more specifically those of Dӧrnyei and Scott (1997),and Faerch and Kasper (1983). Descriptive and inferential analysiswere conducted to investigate the effect of task types on the choice and use of CSs.The frequency and percentage of each strategy in the two tasks were calculated. In addition, SPSS program was used to answer the second research question which deals with the effect of task on the choice and use of CSs. The t-test for independent samples is used to calculate the means and the standard deviations in order to examine any significant differences between the scenario and interview that may result from the task type variation. The results indicates thatthe task type has an impact on the choice and use of CSs particularly influenced by the interview.It reveals that the difficulty of interview demands more linguistic items which lead to the use of specific strategiesand wide range of CSs. The effect of task was more significant in the use of CSs than their choice. Keywords:Communication strategies (CSs), choice and use of CSs, and task type (interview and scenario). DOI: 10.7176/JEP/11-30-08 Publication date:October 31st 202

Characterization of the Hamamatsu R11265-103-M64 multi-anode photomultiplier tube

The aim of this paper is to fully characterize the new multi-anode photomultiplier tube R11265-103-M64, produced by Hamamatsu. Its high effective active area (77%), its pixel size, the low dark signal rate and the capability to detect single photon signals make this tube suitable for an application in high energy physics, such as for RICH detectors. Four tubes and two different bias voltage dividers have been tested. The results of a standard characterization of the gain and the anode uniformity, the dark signal rate, the cross-talk and the device behaviour as a function of temperature have been studied. The behaviour of the tube is studied in a longitudinal magnetic field up to 100 Gauss. Shields made of a high permeability material are also investigated. The deterioration of the device performance due to long time operation at intense light exposure is studied. A quantitative analysis of the variation of the gain and the dark signals rate due to the aging is described.Comment: 22 page

Congruities and incongruities in Arabic literary translation: A contrastive linguistic analysis of “The Prophet” by Khalil Gibran

Three Arabic translations of Khalil Gibran’s “The Prophet” are chosen among other available Arabic translations. Fifteen translated texts from the book were included for the analysis in this study. The three translations are by Basheer (1934), Abdelahad (1993), and Okasha (2008). The study investigates and analyzes different linguistic levels: discourse, stylistic, semantic, syntactic, and lexical among others as well as different choices made by the translators in rendering the same source text (ST) elements. The study found out that adopting different translation strategies by the translators led to different versions of the same ST. These strategies are based on the aesthetic ornamentation approach by As-Safi (2016). They include idiomaticity, stylistic considerations, cultural orientation, semantic/lexical accuracy, and syntactic accuracy

Relationship Between Liquidity and Profitability: An Empirical Study of Trade Service Sector in Jordan

The aim of this paper is to examine the relationship between liquidity and profitability, through more than liquidity indicator. The paper main goal is to answer the following question: Do different indicators of liquidity have the same effect on profitability either negatively or positively?Liquidity indicators include current ratio and quick ratio which measure the company's ability to meet its short-term obligations, while profitability is measured by ROA and ROE.The data has been collected from ASE. Different tests applied to analyze the relationship between liquidity and profitability. This study sought to find out whether liquidity through quick ratio has significant impact on Jordanian trade services companies profitability through return on asset (ROA). The study used the 2008-2015 financial reports of 11 Jordanian trade companies listed at Amman Stock Exchange (ASE). The study revealed that there is significant impact of independent variable quick ratio on dependent variable return on asset (ROA). That means profitability through return on assets (ROA) is significantly influenced by liquidity through current and quick ratio Keywords: Liquidity, Current ratio, Quick ratio, Profitability, Return on Assets, Jordanian trade sector

Smart meter: Toward client centric energy efficient smartphone based solution

© 2016 IEEE. Smart city applications are developed to facilitate the urbanization and massive development all over the world. This is achieved with real time responses to challenges faced by different sectors, such as health, transportation, water and energy. Smart meter is one of the smart city applied solutions, which facilitates to overcome the increased demand on electricity. This research examines smart meter in the context of energy sector to exploit its related features in the process of Demand Side Management (DSM) to facilitate energy efficiency. A smartphone application is developed that facilitate integration of client in DSM for energy efficiency. The feasibility of such application is reflected on the smart meter business model adopted in Abu Dhabi. Consequently, fundamentals are established to initiate cost-benefit analysis to evaluate the rolling out of advanced metering infrastructure