Combination of Penalty Function, Lagrange Multiplier and Conjugate Gradient Methods for the Solution of Constrained Optimization Problems

In this paper, we combined Langrage Multiplier, Penalty Function and Conjugate Gradient Methods (CPLCGM), to enable Conjugate Gradient Method (CGM) to be employed for solving constrained optimization problems. In the year past, Langrage Multiplier Method (LMM) has been used extensively to solve constrained optimization problems likewise Penalty Function Method (PFM). However, with some special features in CGM, which makes it unique in solving unconstrained optimization problems, we see that this features we be advantageous to solve constrained optimization problems if it can be properly amended. This, then call for the CPLCGM that is aimed at taking care of some constrained optimization problems, either with equality or inequality constraint but in this paper, we focus on equality constraints. The authors of this paper desired that, with the construction of the new Algorithm, it will circumvent the difficulties undergone using only LMM and as well as PFM to solve constrained optimization problems and its application will further improve the result of the Conjugate Gradient Method in solving this class of optimization problem. We applied the new algorithm to some constrained optimization problems and compared the results with the LMM and PFM

Human Body Burden of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Antibiotics Susceptibility Pattern and Presence of Extended Spectrum β-lactamase and Carbapenemase encoding Genes in Lagos State, Nigeria

Pseudomonas aeruginosa, frequently associated with a wide range of community and nosocomial infections, is notorious for being resistant to several classes of antibiotics with only a handful of antibiotics still effective. This study determined the human body burden of P. aeruginosa as well as antibiotics susceptibility pattern and presence of extended spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL) and carbapenemase encoding genes in Lagos state, Nigeria using standard methods. Out of 103 bacterial cultures collected, 31 P. aeruginosa isolates were obtained, mostly originating from wound and urine samples. High rates of antibiotics resistance were observed to fluoroquinolone and cephalosporins with 24 (77.4%) resistant to ciprofloxacin, 19 (61.3) to cefotaxime, and 18 (58.1%) to ceftriaxone as well as amoxicillin clavulanic acid. However, resistance to ceftazidime and meropenem were low with only 6 (19.4%) and 5 (16.1%) resistant isolates respectively. ESBL production was detected in 10 (32.3%) of the isolates with ESBL genes detected in 6 (60%) of the 10 isolates. Ceftazidime and meropenem are viable therapeutic options for P. aeruginosa infections. Selection and dissemination of ESBL producing P. aeruginosa must be curtailed to prevent the loss of efficacy in currently available viable therapeutic options

Cloud Enterprise Application Provider Selection Model for the Small and Medium Enterprise: A Pilot Study

Enterprise Applications (EAs) aid the organizations achieve operational excellence and competitive advantage. Over time, most Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), which are known to be the major drivers of most thriving global economies, use the costly on-premise versions of these applications thereby making business difficult to competitively thrive in the same market environment with their large enterprise counterparts. The advent of cloud computing presents the SMEs an affordable offer and great opportunities as such EAs can be cloud-hosted and rented on a pay-per-use basis which does not require huge initial capital. However, as there are numerous Cloud Service Providers (CSPs) offering EAs as Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), there is a challenge of choosing a suitable provider with Quality of Service (QoS) that meet the organizations’ customized requirements. The proposed model takes care of that and goes a step further to select the most affordable among a selected few of the CSPs. In the earlier stage, before developing the instrument and conducting the pilot test, the researchers conducted a structured interview with three experts to validate the proposed model. In conclusion, the validity and reliability of the instrument were tested through experts, typical respondents, and analyzed with SPSS 22. Results confirmed the validity of the proposed model and the validity and reliability of the instrument