Laboratory evaluation of in-situ tests as potential quality control/quality assurance tools

There are new in-situ test devices such as the Geogauge, Light Falling Weight Deflectometer (LFWD) and Dynamic Cone Penetrometer (DCP). Unlike the nuclear density gauge, the new methods provide measurements based on the engineering properties (strength/stiffness) of soil instead of physical properties like field density and moisture content. However the geogauge, LFWD and the DCP are not yet proven to be reliable and the correlations of these tests with standard tests are limited. An extensive laboratory investigation was carried out to evaluate the Geogauge, LFWD and DCP as potential tests to measure in-situ stiffness of highway materials and embankments. In this study, test layers were prepared in two boxes that measure 5 ft length x 3 ft width x 2 ft depth at Louisiana Transportation Research Center (LTRC) Geosynthetic Engineering Research Laboratory (GERL). The results from a series of laboratory tests on embankment soils and base course materials were used to correlate Geogauge, LFWD, Dynamic Cone Penetrometer (DCP) measurements with the Plate Load Test (PLT) and California Bearing Ratio (CBR). There is good correlation between the LFWD dynamic modulus and PLT elastic modulus. The LFWD is a better alternative for static PLT compared to the Geogauge. Although LFWD is a dynamic test, the similarity in depth of influence with the PLT and the quality of developed correlations suggests that the LFWD has better potential to replace the PLT. There is no significant correlation between the LFWD and the CBR test. The Geogauge and the DCP correlates better with the CBR and DCP is already proven to be an effective tool to estimate in-situ CBR. Based on the developed correlations and laboratory experience, it was found that the investigated devices have the potential to measure in-situ stiffness of highway materials and embankments

LEGAL LIABILITY OF THE MEMBERS OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS IN JOINT-STOCK COMPANIES

The second book regulates trade companies including articles 124 to 644 of the Turkish Commercial Code numbered 6102. Classification of trading companies in the Turkish Commercial Code; joint stock companies, collective companies, limited companies, commandite companies and cooperative companies. The board of directors is a necessary board for joint stock companies, and the company in general continues to operate with the decisions taken in this board. In this regard, the external affair activities of joint stock companies, with resolutions of the board of directors is executed. When the obligations non performance, the members of the Board of Directors become liable both legally and criminally. The purpose of article, Legal Liability of The Members of The Board of Directors in Joint Stock Companies is the issue and discussed; a study has been carried out within the framework of the purpose, scope and consequences of the legal responsibility

Subcarrier Allocation Algorithm Based on Greedy-Like in Multi Carrier Code Division Multiple Access Systems

One of the most important issues to be taken into consideration in multi carrier communication systems with multi users is the assignment of the available resources to the users efficiently. Thus, how to determine the number of subcarriers to be allocated to the users has an important role with regards to data rate and error performance of the system when active users are increased in multi carrier system. In this study by using Greedy-Like algorithm, the subcarriers in MCCDMA systems are optimal allocated to the users and the efficiency of this algorithm compared with other algorithms in terms of bit error and bit rate performance

EEG Based Emotion Prediction with Neural Network Models

The term "emotion" refers to an individual\u27s response to an event, person, or condition. In recent years, there has been an increase in the number of papers that have studied emotion estimation. In this study, a dataset based on three different emotions, utilized to classify feelings using EEG brainwaves, has been analysed. In the dataset, six film clips have been used to elicit positive and negative emotions from a male and a female. However, there has not been a trigger to elicit a neutral mood. Various classification approaches have been used to classify the dataset, including MLP, SVM, PNN, KNN, and decision tree methods. The Bagged Tree technique which is utilized for the first time has been achieved a 98.60 percent success rate in this study, according to the researchers. In addition, the dataset has been classified using the PNN approach, and achieved a success rate of 94.32 percent

Mycosis fungoides: A ten-year Turkish experience

Mycosis fungoides is the most common primary cutaneous T cell lymphoma, characterized by erythematous patches and plaque lesions with slow progression to cutaneous tumors or extracutaneous involvements in some patients. We aimed to evaluate the clinical characteristics, treatment responses, disease courses, and mortality rates of our MF cases. The data of 100 patients with MF were retrospectively examined from medical records in our clinic between January 2005 and January 2015. Demographic and clinical characteristics of the patients, disease stage, treatment protocols, response to treatment, recurrence, progression, and mortality rates were recorded. The male to female ratio in patients was 1.2. Mean age at onset of disease was 46, and duration of disease ranged from one to 42 years. At time of diagnosis 31 patients were at stage 1A, 31 at stage 1B, 30 at stage 2A, 2 at stage 2B, 1 at stage 3, and 5 at stage 4. Stable disease was observed in 35% of patients, progression in 10%, relapse in 27%, and complete response in 28%. Large cell transformation was found in 3 patients and additional malignity in 11. Thirty-seven patients (37%) were still surviving disease-free. 10 patients had died, three of them due to disease-related conditions. The most common first-line therapy in our study was phototherapy. It was applied to 87% of patients from stage 1A. Our results are generally consistent with current literature, but disease progression and disease-specific mortality rates were significantly lower than the literature, probably due to early phototherapy.  </p

Hybrid Classification Model for Emotion Prediction from EEG Signals: A Comparative Study

This paper introduces a novel hybrid algorithm for emotion classification based on electroencephalogram (EEG) signals. The proposed hybrid model consists of two layers: the first layer includes three parallel adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference systems (ANFIS), and the second layer called the adaptive network comprises various models such as radial basis function neural network (RBFNN), probabilistic neural network (PNN), and ANFIS. It is examined that the feature distribution graphs of the dataset, which includes three emotion classes: positive, negative, and neutral, and selected the most appropriate features for classification. The three parallel ANFIS structures were trained using the selected features as input vectors, and the outputs of these models were combined to obtain a new feature vector. This feature vector was then used as the input to the adaptive network, which produced the output of emotion prediction. In addition, it is evaluated the accuracy of the network trained using only the first features of the dataset. The hybrid structure was designed to enhance the system&amp;#39;s performance, and the best accuracy result of 96.51% was achieved using the ANFIS-ANFIS model. Overall, this study provides a promising approach for emotion classification based on EEG signals.&amp;nbsp

Can ratio of neutrophil-tolymphocyte count and erythrocyte sedimentation rate in diabetic foot infection predict osteomyelitis and/or amputation?

The aim of this study was to search for any relations between the neutrophil-tolymphocyte ratio (NLR) and the development of osteomyelitis and the need for amputation in patients with diabetic foot infection (DFI). All data included DFI patients who were hospitalized in our Infectious Diseases Clinic between 2012 and 2015 and who were classified according to International Classification Disease Code System. 75 patients were analyzed in the study. The DFI patients were stratified into 3 groups of whom had amputation procedure, whom had only debridement/drainage procedure and whom had any surgery procedure. Sidac post hoc analysis was used to perform the effects of NLR, C-reactive protein, erythrocyte sedimentation rate and glycosylated hemoglobin on the surgery procedure status. The DFI patients were also stratified into two another separate group for another analysis to search for the effect of NLR values on the development of osteomyelitis. The mean value of NLR in the amputated patients’ group (15.7±10.3 was significantly higher than those with debridement procedure (9.9±5.6) and those without any surgery (6.0±2.8) (P=0.001). NLR values were also found significantly higher in patients with osteomyelitis in the second analysis (P=0.004). In this study, the NLR was found to have a predictive value on the development of osteomyelitis and on the progression to amputation in patients with DFI

Association between intracranial vessel calcifications, structural brain damage, and cognitive impairment after minor strokes: a prospective study

BackgroundVascular calcifications are a hallmark of atherosclerosis, and in the coronary arteries are routinely used as a prognostic marker. Calcifications of intracranial vessels (ICC) are frequently observed on non-contrast CT (NCCT) and their effect on post-stroke cognitive impairment (PSCI) remains unclear. Our aim was to explore the association of ICC with prospective long-term cognitive function and advanced MRI-measures in a large prospective cohort of cognitively intact mild stroke survivors.MethodsData from the Tel-Aviv brain acute stroke cohort (TABASCO) study [ClinicalTrials.gov #NCT01926691] were analyzed. This prospective cohort study (n = 575) aimed to identify predictors of PSCI, in cognitively intact mild stroke survivors. A quantitative assessment of the intracranial calcium content – The ICC score (ICCS) was calculated semi-automatically on NCCT using a validated calcium quantification application. Participants underwent a 3 T-MRI and prospective comprehensive cognitive clinical and laboratory assessments at enrollment, 6, 12, and 24-months.ResultsData were available for 531 participants (67.4 years, 59.5% males). The incidence of PSCI at two-years doubled in the high ICCS group (26% vs. 13.7%, p &lt; 0.001). The high ICCS group had significantly greater small-vessel-disease (SVD) tissue changes and reduced microstructural-integrity assessed by Diffusion-Tensor-Imaging (DTI) maps (p &lt; 0.05 for all). In multivariate analysis, a higher ICCS was independently associated with brain atrophy manifested by lower normalized white and gray matter, hippocampal and thalamic volumes (β = −0.178, β = −0.2, β = −0.137, β = −0.157; p &lt; 0.05) and independently predicted PSCI (OR 1.83, 95%CI 1.01–3.35).ConclusionOur findings suggest that the ICCS, which is a simple and readily available imaging marker on NCCT, is associated with brain atrophy, microstructural damage, the extent of SVD, and may predict PSCI. This finding has implications for identifying individuals at risk for PSCI and implementing targeted interventions to mitigate this risk

From 'One Namibia, One Nation' towards 'Unity in Diversity? Shifting representations of culture and nationhood in Namibian Independence Day celebrations, 1990-2010

In 2010 Namibia celebrated its twentieth anniversary of independence from South African rule. The main celebrations in the country’s capital Windhoek became the stage for an impressively orchestrated demonstration of maturing nationhood, symbolically embracing postcolonial policy concepts such as ‘national reconciliation’, ‘unity’ and ‘diversity’. At the same time, nation building in post-apartheid Namibia is characterised by a high degree of social and political fragmentation that manifests itself in cultural and/or ethnic discourses of belonging. Taking the highly significant independence jubilee as our vantage point, we map out a shift of cultural representations of the nation in Independence Day celebrations since 1990, embodied by the two prominent slogans of ‘One Namibia, one Nation’ and ‘Unity in Diversity’. As we will argue, the difficult and at times highly fragile postcolonial disposition made it necessary for the SWAPO government, as primary nation builder, to accommodate the demands of regions and local communities in its policy frameworks. This negotiation of local identifications and national belonging in turn shaped, and continues to shape, the performative dimension of Independence Day celebrations in Namibia.Web of Scienc