Geometric Convolutional Neural Network for Analyzing Surface-Based Neuroimaging Data

The conventional CNN, widely used for two-dimensional images, however, is not directly applicable to non-regular geometric surface, such as a cortical thickness. We propose Geometric CNN (gCNN) that deals with data representation over a spherical surface and renders pattern recognition in a multi-shell mesh structure. The classification accuracy for sex was significantly higher than that of SVM and image based CNN. It only uses MRI thickness data to classify gender but this method can expand to classify disease from other MRI or fMRI dataComment: 29 page

The impact on nurse digestive system caused by working the night shift

The specific of nursing job requires working around the clock. But the human is meant to work during the day not at night. Suchwise, a large number of nurses are working at night that is contrary to the biological rhythms. The aim of the thesis was to investigate the impact of night shift on nurse digestive system. By interviewing health care workers the goal was to find out, do they experi-ence gastrointestinal symptoms caused by rotating night shifts. In addition the aim was to determine from nurse experiences, are there methods to reduce the negative impact of night shifts. The purpose was to provide information that can be used to minimize problems with digestive system of nurses who are working on night shifts. The study was completed through qualitative research. The data was collected by semi-structured individual interview. Five nurses were interviewed, all of them had at least two years of night shift work experience. The data was retained by note-taking method and analyzed by inductive content analysis. The study found that nurses are experiencing gastrointestinal symptoms such as bloating and flatulence, also constipation and abdominal pain. Investigated were also that physical activity and good rest in combination with a proper diet are main meth-ods to avoid digestive problems associated with work night shifts

Sovereignty, Power, and Human Rights Treaties: An Economic Analysis

A state has the authority to determine its human rights policy, and such power is part of a state\u27s sovereignty assets. Misuse of \u27human rights control\u27 generates negative externalities beyond mere altruistic concerns, and such externality problems can be solved either by creating an efficient market or by institutionalizing a global treaty regime. Relying on the notion of behavioral sovereignty, this note analyzes how the power of the states affects the international political market where a state\u27s legal sovereignties are traded, and discusses how the availability of military action changes this analysis. This note argues that the international political market is an economically efficient method for solving human rights problems and that current human rights treaties have played a significant role in reducing transaction costs, thus making the market approach cheaper than military action or institutionalization

Rotary discs reactor for enhanced production of microbial cellulose

Production of microbial cellulose is receiving great attention since microbial cellulose is comparable to the synthetic cellulose, source of medium is abundant and cellulose has wide applications. However, microbial cellulose is produced in Malaysia in the form of ‘nata’ as food using traditional method only. Furthermore, the use of trays for static fermentation in traditional method is not economical, laborious and the up-scale process for high yield productivity is limited. This study aims to develop a practical methodology for enhanced production of microbial cellulose by designing a Rotary Discs Reactor (RDR). One of the major factors that determine the success of fermentation process is aeration during fermentation. Therefore, RDR applies the concept of Rotating Biological Contactor (RBC) that widely used in wastewater treatment in order to exposing the bacteria to oxygen for better aeration. This reactor consists of an array of discs that is mounted to a shaft. The shaft is connected to a driven motor so that the rotation of the shaft together with the discs is achievable and controllable. The discs on the shaft are positioned in a horizontally set trough that contains a biological medium in which at least a portion of the contained discs are being submerged. In the preliminary study of discs selection, discs made from stainless steel fabricated with 0.3cm mesh sizes gave the highest result compared to others. In addition, it was found that smallest mesh in stainless steel type of discs was advantagous in assisting the Acetobacter xylinum attachment onto the discs which resulted in better aeration and higher cellulose production. To study effect of rotation speed in RDR, fermentation in prepared sucrose medium had been carried out at the rotational speeds of 7, 9 and 11 rpm. It was found that rotational speed gives significant effect towards microbial cellulose production where fermentation in RDR using 7 rpm gave the highest microbial cellulose production of 149.12gram per liter substrate. A series of static and RDR fermentation had been run in a fixed condition in order to compare the production yields. Results showed that fermentation carried out using RDR gave 86.78% higher production of microbial cellulose compared to static fermentation after 5 days of fermentation. This indicated that RDR could give better aeration process compared to static fermentation. However, too much Dissolved Oxygen resulted from too high rotational speed resulted in decrease of microbial cellulose production in RDR as this affected the stability of the culture. Hence, it can be concluded that fermentation using RDR did not depend solely on dissolved oxygen in the medium as the rotation of discs permitted direct exposure to air for A.xylinum during the fermentation process

Sovereignty, Power, and Human Rights Treaties: An Economic Analysis

A state has the authority to determine its human rights policy, and such power is part of a state\u27s sovereignty assets. Misuse of \u27human rights control\u27 generates negative externalities beyond mere altruistic concerns, and such externality problems can be solved either by creating an efficient market or by institutionalizing a global treaty regime. Relying on the notion of behavioral sovereignty, this note analyzes how the power of the states affects the international political market where a state\u27s legal sovereignties are traded, and discusses how the availability of military action changes this analysis. This note argues that the international political market is an economically efficient method for solving human rights problems and that current human rights treaties have played a significant role in reducing transaction costs, thus making the market approach cheaper than military action or institutionalization

The Implications Of Accounting Conservatism For The Relation Between Earnings And Stock Returns

Characterizing accounting conservatism as the accountants’ tendency to require a higher degree of verification for recognizing good news than bad news, Basu (1997) predicts that the slope coefficient and R2 in a regression of earnings on concurrent stock returns will be higher for bad news (negative stock returns) than for good news (positive stock returns). However, standard econometric analysis indicates that the R2 is a function of the sensitivity of earnings to returns and the noise ratio, which is defined as the ratio of the variance of noise in earnings to the variance of noise in returns. I show that the R2 from the regression of earnings on stock returns is not necessarily higher for bad news than for good news. So the test of R2 is not a robust test of accounting conservatism. Consistent with the prediction, I find that the slope coefficient is higher for bad news firms reporting losses than for good news firms reporting profits, but R2 is lower for bad news firms reporting losses than for good news firms reporting profits