500 research outputs found
Accelerated Particle Swarm Optimization and Support Vector Machine for Business Optimization and Applications
Business optimization is becoming increasingly important because all business
activities aim to maximize the profit and performance of products and services,
under limited resources and appropriate constraints. Recent developments in
support vector machine and metaheuristics show many advantages of these
techniques. In particular, particle swarm optimization is now widely used in
solving tough optimization problems. In this paper, we use a combination of a
recently developed Accelerated PSO and a nonlinear support vector machine to
form a framework for solving business optimization problems. We first apply the
proposed APSO-SVM to production optimization, and then use it for income
prediction and project scheduling. We also carry out some parametric studies
and discuss the advantages of the proposed metaheuristic SVM.Comment: 12 page
Prognostic value of symptom burden for overall survival in patients receiving chemotherapy for advanced nonsmall cell lung cancer
BACKGROUND: Patient-reported outcomes have shown independent prognostic value for patients with nonsmall cell lung cancer (NSCLC). However, translating patient-reported outcomes into useful prognostic information for individual patients has been problematic. METHODS: A total of 94 patients with advanced NSCLC and an Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status (PS) of 0 to 2 who qualified for chemotherapy rated symptom severity using the M. D. Anderson Symptom Inventory before and after their first chemotherapy cycle. Prognostic values of baseline symptoms and changes in symptom severity were examined by Cox proportional hazards models. RESULTS: In multivariate analysis, controlled for demographic and other factors, baseline coughing rated ≤4 independently predicted significantly higher risk for shorter survival (hazards ratio [HR], 8.69; P < .0001). Patients with coughing ≤4 and a PS of 2 were more likely to have shorter survival (HR, 20.6; P < .0001) than patients with coughing <4 and a PS of 0 to 1. A 1-point or greater increase in severity of fatigue (P < .05), shortness of breath, or poor appetite (P < .01) from baseline to the end of the first chemotherapy cycle was also found to be independently associated with higher risk for poor survival. CONCLUSIONS: An increased risk for shorter survival was indicated by moderate to severe coughing at baseline or by increased fatigue or shortness of breath during the first chemotherapy cycle in patients with advanced NSCLC. Although cross-validation is needed, these data suggest that an individual patient's symptom severity scores, quickly obtainable in the clinic, might contribute clinically useful information for treatment planning for that patient
Electrical transport and magnetic properties of nanostructured La0.67Ca0.33MnO3
Nanostructured La0.67Ca0.33MnO3 (NS-LCMO) was formed by pulsed-laser
deposition on the surface of porous Al2O3. The resistance peak temperature (Tp)
of the NS-LCMO increases with increasing average thickness of the films, while
their Curie temperatures (Tc) remain unchanged. The coercive field of the
samples increases with decreasing film thickness and its temperature dependence
can be well described by Hc(T) = Hc(0)[1-(T/TB)1/2]. A large magnetoresistance
and strong memory effect were observed for the NS-LCMO. The results are
discussed in terms of the size effect, Coulomb blockade and magnetic tunneling
effect. This work also demonstrates a new way to get nanostructured manganites
Measurements of the Mass and Full-Width of the Meson
In a sample of 58 million events collected with the BES II detector,
the process J/ is observed in five different decay
channels: , , (with ), (with
) and . From a combined fit of all five
channels, we determine the mass and full-width of to be
MeV/ and
MeV/.Comment: 9 pages, 2 figures and 4 table. Submitted to Phys. Lett.
Direct Measurements of the Branching Fractions for and and Determinations of the Form Factors and
The absolute branching fractions for the decays and
are determined using singly
tagged sample from the data collected around 3.773 GeV with the
BES-II detector at the BEPC. In the system recoiling against the singly tagged
meson, events for and events for decays are observed. Those yield
the absolute branching fractions to be and . The
vector form factors are determined to be
and . The ratio of the two form
factors is measured to be .Comment: 6 pages, 5 figure
Immersed boundary-finite element model of fluid-structure interaction in the aortic root
It has long been recognized that aortic root elasticity helps to ensure
efficient aortic valve closure, but our understanding of the functional
importance of the elasticity and geometry of the aortic root continues to
evolve as increasingly detailed in vivo imaging data become available. Herein,
we describe fluid-structure interaction models of the aortic root, including
the aortic valve leaflets, the sinuses of Valsalva, the aortic annulus, and the
sinotubular junction, that employ a version of Peskin's immersed boundary (IB)
method with a finite element (FE) description of the structural elasticity. We
develop both an idealized model of the root with three-fold symmetry of the
aortic sinuses and valve leaflets, and a more realistic model that accounts for
the differences in the sizes of the left, right, and noncoronary sinuses and
corresponding valve cusps. As in earlier work, we use fiber-based models of the
valve leaflets, but this study extends earlier IB models of the aortic root by
employing incompressible hyperelastic models of the mechanics of the sinuses
and ascending aorta using a constitutive law fit to experimental data from
human aortic root tissue. In vivo pressure loading is accounted for by a
backwards displacement method that determines the unloaded configurations of
the root models. Our models yield realistic cardiac output at physiological
pressures, with low transvalvular pressure differences during forward flow,
minimal regurgitation during valve closure, and realistic pressure loads when
the valve is closed during diastole. Further, results from high-resolution
computations demonstrate that IB models of the aortic valve are able to produce
essentially grid-converged dynamics at practical grid spacings for the
high-Reynolds number flows of the aortic root
The pole in
Using a sample of 58 million events recorded in the BESII detector,
the decay is studied. There are conspicuous
and signals. At low mass, a large
broad peak due to the is observed, and its pole position is determined
to be - MeV from the mean of six analyses.
The errors are dominated by the systematic errors.Comment: 15 pages, 6 figures, submitted to PL
Search for the Lepton Flavor Violation Processes and
The lepton flavor violation processes and are
searched for using a sample of 5.8 events collected with
the BESII detector. Zero and one candidate events, consistent with the
estimated background, are observed in and
decays, respectively. Upper limits on the branching ratios are determined to be
and at the 90% confidence level (C.L.).Comment: 9 pages, 2 figure
A Measurement of Psi(2S) Resonance Parameters
Cross sections for e+e- to hadons, pi+pi- J/Psi, and mu+mu- have been
measured in the vicinity of the Psi(2S) resonance using the BESII detector
operated at the BEPC. The Psi(2S) total width; partial widths to hadrons,
pi+pi- J/Psi, muons; and corresponding branching fractions have been determined
to be Gamma(total)= (264+-27) keV; Gamma(hadron)= (258+-26) keV, Gamma(mu)=
(2.44+-0.21) keV, and Gamma(pi+pi- J/Psi)= (85+-8.7) keV; and Br(hadron)=
(97.79+-0.15)%, Br(pi+pi- J/Psi)= (32+-1.4)%, Br(mu)= (0.93+-0.08)%,
respectively.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figure
Measurements of the observed cross sections for exclusive light hadrons containing at , 3.650 and 3.6648 GeV
By analyzing the data sets of 17.3, 6.5 and 1.0 pb taken,
respectively, at , 3.650 and 3.6648 GeV with the BES-II
detector at the BEPC collider, we measure the observed cross sections for
, , ,
and at the three energy
points. Based on these cross sections we set the upper limits on the observed
cross sections and the branching fractions for decay into these
final states at 90% C.L..Comment: 7 pages, 2 figure
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