Numerical Solution of Mixed Volterra – Fredholm Integral Equation Using the Collocation Method

         معادلات فولتيرا- فريدهولم التكاملية المختلط ((MVFIEs لديها اهتمام كبير من قبل الباحثين مؤخرا . الطريقة العددية الي اقترحت لحل هذا النوع من المعادلات تستعمل نقاط التجميع وتقريب الحل بواسطة الدالة  اساس الشعاعي (radial basis function)  و متعددة حدود من الدرجة الثانية واندراج النقطة من دون استخدام الشبكة, ولسهولة  الحل تم استخدام اصفار متعددة حدود ليجندر كنقاط تجمع. الغرض الرئيسي من استخدام دالة أساس الشعاعي ومتعدد الحدود هو التغلب على التفرد الذي قد يرتبط بأساليب التجميع. علاوة على ذلك، فإن وظيفة الاستيفاء التي تم الحصول عليها تمر عبر كل النقاط المنتشرة في مجال ما ، وبالتالي فإن وظائف الشكل هي من خصائص خاصية دلتا. تمت مقارنة الحل الدقيق للحلول الانتقائية بالنتائج التي تم الحصول عليها من التجارب العددية من أجل التحقق من دقة وكفاءة طريقتنا.Volterra – Fredholm integral equations (VFIEs) have a massive interest from researchers recently. The current study suggests a collocation method for the mixed Volterra - Fredholm integral equations (MVFIEs)."A point interpolation collocation method is considered by combining the radial and polynomial basis functions using collocation points". The main purpose of the radial and polynomial basis functions is to overcome the singularity that could associate with the collocation methods. The obtained interpolation function passes through all Scattered Point in a domain and therefore, the Delta function property is the shape of the functions. The exact solution of selective solutions was compared with the results obtained from the numerical experiments in order to investigate the accuracy and the efficiency of scheme

Intragastric balloons for obesity: critical review of device design, efficacy, tolerability, and unmet clinical needs

Introduction Sustaining a healthy weight is a challenge and obesity, with associated risk of co-morbidities, is a major public health concern. Bariatric surgery has shown a great promise for many where pharmacological and lifestyle interventions failed to work. However, challenges and limitations associated with bariatric surgery has pushed the demand for less invasive, reversible (anatomically) interventions, such as intragastric balloons (IGBs). Areas covered This review critically appraises IGBs used in the past, present, and those in clinical trials, discussing the device designs, limitations, placement and removal techniques, patient eligibility, efficacy, and safety issues. Expert opinion Several intragastric balloons were developed over the years that brought excitement to patients and healthcare professionals alike. Albeit good efficacy, there had been several safety issues reported with IGBs such as spontaneous deflation, intestinal occlusion, gut perforation, and mucosal ulcerations. This led to evolution of IGBs design; device material, filling mechanism, fluid type, inflation volume, and further innovations to ease ingestion and removal of device. There are some IGB devices under development aimed to swallow like a conventional pill and excrete naturally through defecation, however, how successful they will be in clinical practice in terms of their efficacy and tolerability remains to be seen in the future

A convolutional neural network to classify American Sign Language fingerspelling from depth and colour images

Sign language is used by approximately 70 million1 people throughout the world, and an automatic tool for interpreting it could make a major impact on communication between those who use it and those who may not understand it. However, computer interpretation of sign language is very difficult given the variability in size, shape and position of the fingers or hands in an image. Hence, this paper explores the applicability of deep learning for interpreting sign language. The paper develops a convolutional neural network aimed at classifying fingerspelling images using both image intensity and depth data. The developed convolutional network is evaluated by applying it to the problem of finger spelling recognition for American Sign Language. The evaluation shows that the developed convolutional network performs better than previous studies and has precision of 82% and recall of 80%. Analysis of the confusion matrix from the evaluation reveals the underlying difficulties of classifying some particular signs which is discussed in the paper

Program Synthesis with Best-First Bottom-Up Search

Cost-guided bottom-up search (BUS) algorithms use a cost function to guide the search to solve program synthesis tasks. In this paper, we show that current state-of-the-art cost-guided BUS algorithms suffer from a common problem: they can lose useful information given by the model and fail to perform the search in a best-first order according to a cost function. We introduce a novel best-first bottom-up search algorithm, which we call Bee Search, that does not suffer information loss and is able to perform cost-guided bottom-up synthesis in a best-first manner. Importantly, Bee Search performs best-first search with respect to the generation of programs, i.e., it does not even create in memory programs that are more expensive than the solution program. It attains best-first ordering with respect to generation by performing a search in an abstract space of program costs. We also introduce a new cost function that better uses the information provided by an existing cost model. Empirical results on string manipulation and bit-vector tasks show that Bee Search can outperform existing cost-guided BUS approaches when employing more complex domain-specific languages (DSLs); Bee Search and previous approaches perform equally well with simpler DSLs. Furthermore, our new cost function with Bee Search outperforms previous cost functions on string manipulation tasks.Comment: Published at the Journal of Artificial Intelligence Research (JAIR

Analytical Investigation of Higher Education Quality Improvement by Using Six Sigma Approach

For over two decades in India, the technical industry's unique selling proposition (USP), with its wide infrastructure of technical institutes, has been capable of supplying best-in-class engineers. But recently, this claim does not hold water. According to the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), about 2.6 lakh mechanical engineers graduate every year in India. But the real count of industry ready mechanical engineers is approximately 7%. Hence, there is a need to assess the quality of engineering education in India to reduce the flaws in higher education. The purpose of the paper is to identify the various defects associated with technical education and eliminate those defects using various quality tools. This research is based on the six sigma technique, which is used to assess the quality criteria proposed by the National Board of Accreditation India (NBA). The proposed model is then applied to a typical tier II Indian engineering college located in south India. Six Sigma has two main methodologies: DMAIC and DFSS. The DMAIC (Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, and Control) methodology is implemented for existing systems, whereas DFSS (Design for Six Sigma) is for assuring quality in new products. In this project, the conclusion is driven by the DMAIC methodology. Various statistical and non-statistical tools are employed in this research. The tools used are CTS-CTQ, SIPOC, Pareto chart, normal process capability analysis, one-way ANOVA, Ishikawa diagram, FMEA, RCBD, and SPC chart. All the statistical processes are done using Minitab analytical software. From the results, it is identified that the factors that have a risk priority number (RPN) greater than 300 need improvement, such as versatility in program curriculum, laboratories and workshops, and credibility among universities. Six Sigma can be achieved by developing proper strategies for mitigating these defects. Doi: 10.28991/HIJ-2022-03-02-07 Full Text: PD

Teachers’ and students’ level of utilization of ICT tools for teaching and learning mathematics in Ilorin, Nigeria

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is an instrument par excellence that a nation can rely upon to bring about self-reliance in an educational system. Therefore, there is the need to integrate ICT into teaching and learning; hence, the study investigated the assessment of Teachers’ and Students’ level of utilization of ICT tools for teaching and learning mathematics in Ilorin, Nigeria. The study was a descriptive research of the survey type. The population for the study was all senior secondary schools in Ilorin, Kwara State. A total of 170 students and 50 mathematics teachers were randomly selected from senior secondary schools in Ilorin. The instrument used for the study was a researchers-designed questionnaire, which comprised of 24 ICT tools. The instrument was validated and the reliability index of 0.78 was obtained. The data gathered was analyzed statistically using simple percentage and Chi-Square statistics analyses. The findings revealed amongst others that; mathematics teachers and students utilized ICT tools for teaching and learning mathematics respectively. Also, mathematics teachers and students were not skilled in utilizing ICT tools. The findings from the study show that the gender of both teachers and students does not have any influence on the teaching and learning of mathematics with the use of ICT tools. Based on the findings, It was, therefore, recommended among others that seminars and workshops should be organized for both female and male mathematics teachers on the benefits and how to incorporate ICT tools into their teaching activities and students should be encouraged to familiarize themselves with ICT tools so as to increase their level of competencies in the use of ICT tools

Harris lines of the tibia across centuries: a comparison of two populations, medieval and contemporary in Central Europe

Objective: To determine the incidence of Harris lines in two medieval populations which inhabited the Canton of Berne, in Central Switzerland, and to compare the results with those of a contemporary population living in the same geographical area. A simplified method is described for measuring the age of the individual at the time of formation of Harris lines, with possible future applications. Design and patients: Radiographs of 112 well-preserved tibiae of skeletons of two medieval populations from the eighth to fifteenth centuries were reviewed for the incidence of Harris lines. The results were compared with those of 138 current patients living in the same geographic location in Central Switzerland. Age and gender of the medieval individual were determined using known anthropological methods. Age of bone at the time of formation of Harris lines was estimated according to the method of Maat. Results: Harris lines were found in 88 of 112 (80%) of the examined medieval skeletons and in 28 of 138 (20%) of the living individuals. Higher incidences of Harris lines were found at the age of 2years and at ages between 8 and 12years in both populations. No gender difference was found regarding the incidence of Harris lines. In both populations the occurrence of Harris lines was associated with certain diseases such as degenerative bone disease, trauma, osteoporosis, rheumatoid arthritis, peripheral vascular diseases, rickets and bony deformities. Conclusion: A high incidence of Harris lines was found in the medieval population, perhaps reflecting difficult living and hygienic conditions, but also the poor care and neglect of the children population. Measuring the age of the individual at the time of formation of Harris lines is simple and may have future clinical applications in the paediatric population for medico-legal purposes. The application of Harris lines as a marker in follow-up of osteoporosis may need further evaluatio