14-Bromo-12-chloro-2,16-dioxapentacyclohenicosa-3(8),10,12,14-tetraene-7,20-dione

In the title compound, C19H16BrClO4, both the fused xanthene rings and one of the cyclohexane rings adopt envelope conformations, while the other cyclohexane ring is in a chair conformation. In the crystal, molecules are linked by C-H...O hydrogen bonds, forming infinite chains running along [10-1] incorporating R22(16) ring motifs. In addition, C-H...[pi] interactions and weak [pi]-[pi] stacking interactions [centroid-centroid distance = 3.768 (3) Å] help to consolidate the packing

Factors influencing the adoption of online banking services in Malaysia

Online banking is an electronic payment system that allows customers to conduct financial transaction on a website. However, there are some factors that influencing an individual’s choices on the adoption of online banking services. The objectives of this is to identify the level of online banking adoption and factors influencing the adoption of online banking among Malaysians. The study was based on Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) which has been extended with the inclusion of perceived risks as one of the independent variable. Cluster sampling technique was chosen involving three main villages in Rengam, Johor which are New Village, Taman Sri Jaya and Taman Senda. Self-administered survey with the use of closeended questionnaire was applied in study involving a total of 357 target respondents. A total of 244 questionnaires were returned. Out of this, 237 questionnaires were usable with a response rate of 66.4%. Data was analysed by using Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS). Findings showed that the level of online banking services adoption is quite low among respondents and all three factors have a significant influence on the level of adoption of online banking among respondent

Control of an Underactuated Double-Pendulum Overhead Crane using Improved Model Reference Command Shaping: Design, Simulation and Experiment

This paper presents a new control scheme based on model reference command shaping (MRCS) for an overhead crane, with double-pendulum mechanism effects. The approach has an advantage in achieving an accurate trolley positioning, with low hook and payload oscillations, under various desired trolley positions and parameter uncertainties, without the requirement for measurement or estimation of system parameters. These are challenging in practice. The previously developed MRCS algorithm is improved in order to reduce its design complexity, as well as to ensure that it can be augmented with a feedback controller so that a concurrent controller tuning can be realised. The combined MRCS and feedback controller is used to achieve both, precise trolley positioning, and low hook and payload oscillations. To evaluate the effectiveness and the robustness of the approach, simulations and experiments using a nonlinear model and a laboratory double-pendulum crane are carried out. Under various desired positions and parameter uncertainties that involve varying the cable lengths (payload hoisting) and the payload mass variations, the superiority of the proposed approach is confirmed by achieving higher hook and payload oscillation reductions when compared with a recently proposed feedback controller. In addition, the desired trolley positions are achieved with smoother responses

Boosting Ant Colony Optimization with Reptile Search Algorithm for Churn Prediction

© 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).The telecommunications industry is greatly concerned about customer churn due to dissatisfaction with service. This industry has started investing in the development of machine learning (ML) models for churn prediction to extract, examine and visualize their customers’ historical information from a vast amount of big data which will assist to further understand customer needs and take appropriate actions to control customer churn. However, the high-dimensionality of the data has a large influence on the performance of the ML model, so feature selection (FS) has been applied since it is a primary preprocessing step. It improves the ML model’s performance by selecting salient features while reducing the computational time, which can assist this sector in building effective prediction models. This paper proposes a new FS approach ACO-RSA, that combines two metaheuristic algorithms (MAs), namely, ant colony optimization (ACO) and reptile search algorithm (RSA). In the developed ACO-RSA approach, an ACO and RSA are integrated to choose an important subset of features for churn prediction. The ACO-RSA approach is evaluated on seven open-source customer churn prediction datasets, ten CEC 2019 test functions, and its performance is compared to particle swarm optimization (PSO), multi verse optimizer (MVO) and grey wolf optimizer (GWO), standard ACO and standard RSA. According to the results along with statistical analysis, ACO-RSA is an effective and superior approach compared to other competitor algorithms on most datasets.Peer reviewedFinal Published versio

Efficient Photoelectrochemical Performance of Gamma Irradiated gC3N4 and its g-C3N4@BiVO4 Heterojunction for Solar Water Splitting

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from the American Chemical Society via the DOI in this recordComprehensive experimental and density functional theory simulations have been performed for the enhanced photoelectrochemical performance of gamma irradiated g-C3N4 and its heterojunction with BiVO4. The structure and morphology of g-C3N4@BiVO4 as a heterojunction were analyzed and verified from the correlation of experimental and theoretical data. It is found that gamma radiations have changed the bonding structure of g-C3N4 which ultimately reduces the optical bandgap energy. Moreover, the performance of gamma-irradiated g-C3N4 is two-fold, compared to that of non-irradiated one; increases from 3.59 to 5.86 µAcm-2 at 1.23 V versus Ag/AgCl in 0.5 M Na2SO4 electrolyte solution (pH 7). Finally, it is observed that the performance of gamma irradiated g-C3N4 in g-C3N4@BiVO4 heterojunction increased from 0.53 mA cm-2 to 1.38 mA cm-2, compared to that of the non–irradiated one. In summary, it has been concluded that gamma-irradiated g-C3N4 and its heterojunction is potentially be applied in PEC solar water splitting.National University of Malaysi

Machine Learning Architectures for Modelling International Roughness in Cold Region Pavements

One of the most commonly used pavement performance indicators is the International Roughness Index (IRI). Currently used IRI models are often developed using regression analysis with little emphasis on climate. Recent studies have started using Machine Learning (ML) for IRI model development; however, the studies' scope is limited and often restricted to algorithms such as neural networks. Additionally, a systematic comparison between different ML algorithms in modelling IRI cannot be found in the literature. This study develops and systematically compares IRI models using regression analysis and ML methods. The economic and environmental implications of using site-specific models over general models are also examined in this study. This study also analyzes the impacts of climate change on pavement roughness for pavements with different subgrade soil types. This study's results support the use of ML, especially gradient-boosted ensemble algorithms, in developing IRI models as they have superior predicting capabilities and can provide much more value than traditional regression methods, such as regression analysis. The results also found that ML was able to produce meaningful results when regression analysis failed to do so

SEMDSA/ACE-SA Guideline for the Management of Hypothyroidism in Adults

Background: Hypothyroidism is a common clinical condition confronting all healthcare practitioners yet there remains uncertainty about the optimal medication and optimum treatment targets. In addition, many patients remain symptomatic despite using recommended medications and attaining recommended treatment targets.Methods: All endocrinologists in South Africa who consented to be part of the guideline process were assigned various aspects of the management of patients with thyroid disease. In each section the current literature was reviewed and the level of evidence was graded. This information was then presented at a guideline meeting. Where evidence was lacking a consensus among participants was adopted.Results: This guideline provides 11 recommendations for the management of primary hypothyroidism, secondary hypothyroidism and subclinical hypothyroidism in adults.Conclusions: This is the first South African guideline for the management of hypothyroidism in adults and represents a comprehensive review of the current literature in an attempt to provide evidence-based guidance for all healthcare practitioners regarding the many clinical aspects encountered when managing patients with hypothyroidism

Activated prothrombin complex in the management of direct thrombin inhibitor-associated intracerebral haemorrhage.

Intracerebral haematoma expansion independently predicts poor functional outcome and mortality. Therefore, it is important to act quickly to arrest this expansion. Whilst a direct antidote to dabigatran remains in development, the use of factor VIII inhibitor bypassing activity may offer a practical strategy for arresting haemorrhage in individuals taking direct thrombin inhibitors.NRE is supported by a Research Training Fellowship from The Dunhill Medical Trust [grant number RTF44/0114].This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Oxford University Press at http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/qjmed/hcv219

Hepatitis C treatment: where are we now?

Chronic hepatitis C infection affects millions of people worldwide and confers significant morbidity and mortality. Effective treatment is needed to prevent disease progression and associated complications. Previous treatment options were limited to interferon and ribavirin regimens, which gave low cure rates and were associated with unpleasant side effects. The era of direct acting antiviral (DAA) therapies began with the development of the first-generation of NS3/4A protease inhibitors (PI) in 2011. They vastly improved outcomes for patients, particularly those with genotype 1 infection, the most prevalent genotype globally. Since then a multitude of DAAs have been licensed for use and outcomes for patients have improved further, with fewer side effects and cure rates approaching 100%. Recent regimens are interferon-free, and in many cases, ribavirin-free and involve a combination of DAA agents. This review summarises the treatment options currently available and discusses potential barriers that may delay the global eradication of hepatitis C