An Adaptive Particle Swarm Optimization Algorithm Based on Directed Weighted Complex Network

The disadvantages of particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm are that it is easy to fall into local optimum in high-dimensional space and has a low convergence rate in the iterative process. To deal with these problems, an adaptive particle swarm optimization algorithm based on directed weighted complex network (DWCNPSO) is proposed. Particles can be scattered uniformly over the search space by using the topology of small-world network to initialize the particles position. At the same time, an evolutionary mechanism of the directed dynamic network is employed to make the particles evolve into the scale-free network when the in-degree obeys power-law distribution. In the proposed method, not only the diversity of the algorithm was improved, but also particles’ falling into local optimum was avoided. The simulation results indicate that the proposed algorithm can effectively avoid the premature convergence problem. Compared with other algorithms, the convergence rate is faster

Exercise Program on the Quality of Life in Cancer Patients

World Health Organization has estimated that there are an increase number of cases deaths from cancer in the near future. Cancer has become one of the most discussed. In this study, we focus on the quality of life of the cancer patients, by using exercise program and to observe the difference between pre-test and post-test results with exercise program. This study was to examine the alternative therapies using of exercise program to enhance and quality of life, using the Thai Hospice Quality of Life Index (T-HQOLI), in cancer patients. The 11 cancer patients were divided into two different groups; the control (non-exercise) group followed their routine schedules; the exercise group participated in exercise program under supervision of a professional trainer. The results from both questionnaires, collected during 4th, 8th and 12th week, showed that exercise group was most significantly improved compared to the other two groups. This suggested that the combination of exercise activities has the most potential to increase the quality of life for the cancer patients. It can be concluded that exercise program is a good model to improve both psychological and physiological conditions. The treatment can also be used in general clinics or hospitals as an alternative treatment for cancer patients. Keywords: Exercise, Quality of life, Cancer patien

Music Therapy on the Quality of Life in Cancer Patients

World Health Organization has estimated that there are an increase number of cases deaths from cancer in the near future. Cancer has become one of the most discussed. In this study, we focus on the quality of life of the cancer patients, by using music therapy and to observe the difference between pre-test and post-test results with music treatment. This study was to examine the alternative therapies using of music to enhance, and quality of life, using the Thai Hospice Quality of Life Index (T-HQOLI), in cancer patients. The 11 cancer patients were divided into two different groups; the control (non-music) group followed their routine schedules; the music group received additional music therapy with a music leader. The results from both questionnaires, collected during 4th, 8th and 12th week, showed that music group is most significantly improved compared to the control (non-music) group. This suggested that the combination of music has the most potential to increase the quality of life for the cancer patients. It can conclude that the music treatment is a good model to improve both psychological and physiological conditions. The treatment can also be used in general clinics or hospitals as an alternative treatment for cancer patients. Keywords: Music Therapy, Quality of life, Cancer patien

Attitudes and Behavioral Response Toward Key Tobacco Control Measures from the FCTC among Chinese Urban Residents

BACKGROUND. The Chinese National People's Congress ratified the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) on 27 August 2005, signaling China's commitment to implement tobacco control policies and legislation consistent with the treaty. This study was designed to examine attitudes towards four WHO FCTC measures among Chinese urban residents. METHODS. In a cross-sectional design study, survey data were collected from two Chinese urban cities involving a sample of 3,003 residents aged 15 years or older. Through a face-to-face interview, respondents were asked about attitudes toward four tobacco control measures developed by the WHO FCTC. Data on the four dependent measures were analyzed using multivariate logistic regression analyses. Using descriptive statistics, potential change in smoking behavior that smokers might make in response to increasing cigarette prices is also reported. RESULTS. 81.8% of the respondents in the study sample supported banning smoking in public places, 68.8% favored increasing the cigarette tax, 85.1% supported health warnings on cigarette packages, and 85.7% favored banning tobacco advertising. The likelihood to support these measures was associated with gender, educational level, and personal income. Smokers were less likely to support these measures than non-smokers, with decreased support expressed by daily smokers compared to occasional smokers, and heavy smokers compared to light smokers. The proportion of switching to cheaper cigarette brands, decreasing smoking, and quitting smoking altogether with increased cigarette prices were 29.1%, 30.90% and 40.0% for occasional smokers, respectively; and 30.8%, 32.7% and 36.5% for daily smokers, respectively. CONCLUSION. Results from this study indicate strong public support in key WHO FCTC measures and that increases in cigarette price may reduce tobacco consumption among Chinese urban residents. Findings from this study have implications with respect to policymaking and legislation for tobacco control in China

Water, rather than temperature, dominantly impacts how soil fauna affect dissolved carbon and nitrogen release from fresh litter during early litter decomposition

Longstanding observations suggest that dissolved materials are lost from fresh litter through leaching, but the role of soil fauna in controlling this process has been poorly documented. In this study, a litterbag experiment employing litterbags with different mesh sizes (3 mm to permit soil fauna access and 0.04 mm to exclude fauna access) was conducted in three habitats (arid valley, ecotone and subalpine forest) with changes in climate and vegetation types to evaluate the effects of soil fauna on the concentrations of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and total dissolved nitrogen (TDN) during the first year of decomposition. The results showed that the individual density and community abundance of soil fauna greatly varied among these habitats, but Prostigmata, Isotomidae and Oribatida were the dominant soil invertebrates. At the end of the experiment, the mass remaining of foliar litter ranged from 58% for shrub litter to 77% for birch litter, and the DOC and TDN concentrations decreased to 54%-85% and increased to 34%-269%, respectively, when soil fauna were not present. The effects of soil fauna on the concentrations of both DOC and TDN in foliar litter were greater in the subalpine forest (wetter but colder) during the winter and in the arid valley (warmer but drier) during the growing season, and this effect was positively correlated with water content. Moreover, the effects of fauna on DOC and TDN concentrations were greater for high-quality litter and were related to the C/N ratio. These results suggest that water, rather than temperature, dominates how fauna affect the release of dissolved substances from fresh litter

Effect of Laser Welding Parameters on Formation of NiTi Shape Memory Alloy Welds

In this work experimental trials of welding of NiTi flat plates with 2.0 mm thickness were conducted using a 4.5 kW continuous wave (CW) Nd:YAG laser. The influences of laser output power, welding speed, defocus amount and side-blow shielding gas flow rate on the morphology, welding depth and width, and quality of the welded seam were investigated. Meanwhile, the effects of heat input on the mechanical and functional properties of welded joints were studied. The results show that laser welding can take better formation in NiTi alloys. The matching curves with laser power and welding speed affecting different formation of welds were experimentally acquired, which can provide references for laser welding and engineering application of NiTi alloy. The heat input has obvious effects on the ultimate tensile strength (UTS) and shape memory behavior of the welded joints

Comparing Partial Least Square Approaches in Gene-or Region-based Association Study for Multiple Quantitative Phenotypes

On thinking quantitatively of complex diseases, there are at least three statistical strategies for association study: single SNP on single trait, gene-or region (with multiple SNPs) on single trait and on multiple traits. The third of which is the most general in dissecting the genetic mechanism underlying complex diseases underpinning multiple quantitative traits. Gene-or region association methods based on partial least square (PLS) approaches have been shown to have apparent power advantage. However, few attempts are developed for multiple quantitative phenotypes or traits underlying a condition or disease, and the performance of various PLS approaches used in association study for multiple quantitative traits had not been assessed. We, from regression perspective, exploit association between multiple SNPs and multiple phenotypes or traits through exhaustive scan statistics (sliding window) using PLS and sparse PLS (SPLS) regression. Simulations are conducted to assess the performance of the proposed scan statistics and compare them with the existed method. The proposed methods are applied to 12 regions of GWAS data from the European Prospective Investigation of Cancer (EPIC)-Norfolk study

Persistence and Nonpersistence of a Predator Prey System with Stochastic Perturbation

We analyze a predator prey model with stochastic perturbation. First, we show that this system has a unique positive solution. Then, we deduce conditions that the system is persistent in time average. Furthermore, we show the conditions that there is a stationary distribution of the system which implies that the system is permanent. After that, conditions for the system going extinct in probability are established. At last, numerical simulations are carried out to support our results

Persistence and Nonpersistence of a Predator Prey System with Stochastic Perturbation

We analyze a predator prey model with stochastic perturbation. First, we show that this system has a unique positive solution. Then, we deduce conditions that the system is persistent in time average. Furthermore, we show the conditions that there is a stationary distribution of the system which implies that the system is permanent. After that, conditions for the system going extinct in probability are established. At last, numerical simulations are carried out to support our results

Deep learning-based security behaviour analysis in IoT environments: A survey

Internet of Things (IoT) applications have been used in a wide variety of domains ranging from smart home, healthcare, smart energy, and Industrial 4.0. While IoT brings a number of benefits including convenience and efficiency, it also introduces a number of emerging threats. The number of IoT devices that may be connected, along with the ad hoc nature of such systems, often exacerbates the situation. Security and privacy have emerged as significant challenges for managing IoT. Recent work has demonstrated that deep learning algorithms are very efficient for conducting security analysis of IoT systems and have many advantages compared with the other methods. This paper aims to provide a thorough survey related to deep learning applications in IoT for security and privacy concerns. Our primary focus is on deep learning enhanced IoT security. First, from the view of system architecture and the methodologies used, we investigate applications of deep learning in IoT security. Second, from the security perspective of IoT systems, we analyse the suitability of deep learning to improve security. Finally, we evaluate the performance of deep learning in IoT system security