A high abstraction level approach for detecting feature interactions between telecommunication services

AbstractWhen several telecommunication services are running at the same time, undesirable behaviors may arise, which are commonly called feature interactions. Several methods have been developed for detecting and resolving feature interactions. However, most of these methods are based on detailed models of services, which make them suffer from state space explosion. Moreover, different telecommunication operators cannot cooperate to manage feature interactions by exchanging detailed service models because this violates the confidentiality principle. Our work is a part of the few attempts to develop feature interaction detection methods targeting to avoid or reduce significantly state space explosion. In order to reach this objective, we first develop a so called Cause–Restrict language to model subscribers of telecommunication services at a very high abstraction level. A Cause–Restrict model of a subscriber provides information such as: what is the cause of what, and what restricts (or forbids) what, and specifies coarsely the frequency of each operation “cause” or “restrict” by “always” or “sometimes”. Then, we develop a method that detects feature interactions between telecommunication services modeled in the Cause–Restrict language. We demonstrate the applicability of our approach by modeling several services and detecting several feature interactions between them. New feature interactions have been detected by our approach

Neurology training in Pakistan: perspectives From physicians in a neurology unit working At different levels

Pakistan is a developing country of South East Asia. It stands amongst the highest in the list of high disease burden countries including that for neurological diseases. The current number of trained neurologists in the country is extremely low and the facilities not too frequently available

Glucose intolerance in an urban male community in Saudi Arabia

PhD ThesisMost chronic non-communicable diseases result from a complex interaction between heredity and environmental factors. With better living conditions and adoption of western lifestyles in developing countries, there is an increased incidence of these diseases, the most common of which is diabetes. This study documents the prevalence of NIDDM, lOT, hypertension, obesity and hyperlipidaemia in an urban male community [n= 125] in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. It also examines OGl'T reproducibility [n=35]; the influence of diet and physical activity; the differences in these aspects between nationals and non-nationals and the metabolic responses following the OGTT between the glucose tolerance groups [n=43]. Glucose intolerance, NIDDM [14%] and ICiT [27%], were very common. Overall, CVD risk factors such as smoking [43%], obesity [29%], hypertension [5%], hypercholesterolaemia [7%], hypertriglyceridaemia [14%], occurring in association with diabetes were high. Clustering of other risk factors such as abdominal obesity, hyperinsulinaemia and hyperproinsulinaemia were also shown. The OGTT is a poorly reproducible test in this community and a further confirmatory test is always required to establish the diagnosis of glucose intolerance. The dietary habit and food item record identified recognizable features characteristic of this community, which were affected by both the cultural and the social background. However, no differences were found between the glucose tolerance groups. Physical inactivity was a major lifestyle problem and the inactive group tended to have increased risk factors, although differences were not significant. These environmental factors could not, however, be excluded as possible causative factors in the high prevalence of glucose intolerance and CVD risk factors in this community as the sample was small. Subjects with 101' tended to have intermediate levels of risk factors and this study favours identifying IGT as an independent category which lies between normal and NIDDM. Ethnic differences should be considered whenever possible particularly in this multinational community, since 40 % of this community were non-nationals. Nationals differed in certain dietary aspects and they tended to be inactive, otherwise no other significant differences existed between the groups. As shown in different populations, those identified as ICT or NIDDM in this community, were characterised by hyperfunction of the a-cell in IGT, hypofunction of the a-cell in NIDDM and associated with immature secretion of proinsulin. The insulin resistance which was profound in NIDDM and intermediate in TOT was characterised by high glycerol and NEFA which were suggestive of insulin insensitivity at the level of adipose tissue. Large-scale and prospective studies are strongly recommended. Meanwhile, primary prevention measures are urgently required as these findings pose a significant public health problem.Ministry of Higher Education Saudi Arabia Ministry of Health Saudi Arabi

Role of neuroradiology in predicting outome in spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage

Spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) accounts for 8-13% of all strokes and is associated with a high mortality and morbidity. Western studies have identified various clinical and radiological factors which help in predicting outcome in patients with spontaneous ICH. Materials and methods: A consecutive series of 100 patients diagnosed with spontaneous ICH admitted to the neurology department were enrolled from 1stJanuary to 30th June, 2014.Radiological parameters on CT brain (plain) were recorded. In-hospital outcome was measured at the end of 7 days of hospital stay in terms of survival or mortality. Different radiological parameters and their effect on outcome were compared by using Chi square test. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was performed to find independent predictors of mortality with a “p” value of \u3c 0.05 indicating statistical significance. Results: The mean age was 47.95 years with SD ± 1.560, with a male preponderance (56%). Of the total cohort, 34% patients expired and 66% survived at the end of 1 week. On univariate analysis age, gender and ICH location had p value \u3e0.05 whereas hematoma volume, presence of IV extension, midline shift and hydrocephalus had p value \u3c0.05. On multivariate logistic regression analysis only higher baseline hematoma volume was an independent predictor of mortality (p=0.00). Among 66 survivors, 44% had moderately severe to severe disability with mRS 4 and 5 at the time of discharge. Conclusion-Intracerebral hemorrhage is associated with high in-hospital mortality and long-term severe disability. Larger baseline hematoma volume was an independent predictor of mortality in this study

Improving the Sharpness of Digital Images Using a Modified Laplacian Sharpening Technique

Many imaging systems produce images with deficient sharpness due to different real limitations. Hence, various image sharpening techniques have been used to improve the acutance of digital images. One of such is the well-known Laplacian sharpening technique. When implementing the basic Laplacian technique for image sharpening, two main drawbacks were detected. First, the amount of introduced sharpness cannot be increased or decreased. Second, in many situations, the resulted image suffers from a noticeable increase in brightness around the sharpened edges. In this article, an improved version of the basic Laplacian technique is proposed, wherein it contains two key modifications of weighting the Laplace operator to control the introduced sharpness and tweaking the second order derivatives to provide adequate brightness for recovered edges. To perform reliable experiments, only real-degraded images were used, and their accuracies were measured using a specialized no-reference image quality assessment metric. From the obtained experimental results, it is evident that the proposed technique outperformed the comparable techniques in terms of recorded accuracy and visual appearance

The effect of different insertion techniques on the depth of cure and vickers surface micro-hardness of two bulk-fill resin composite materials

The aim of this study was to evaluate the Vickers surface micro-hardness and the depth of cure of two bulk-fill resin composites and one incremental-fill resin composite. Two Bulk-fill dental resin composites (X-tra Fil, Voco; Sonic-FillTM 2, Kerr Corporation) and an incremental-fill dental resin composite (Filtek™ Z250 XT, 3M ESPE) were used. Sixty cylindrical specimens of 4 mm thickness were prepared using split Teflon moulds. Specimens were divided into six groups (n=10) according to the type of the material used and according to the insertion technique applied (bulk or incremental). Prepared specimens were stored dry in complete darkness at 37°C for 24 hours. All specimens were tested for their Vickers surface micro-hardness, on their top and bottom surfaces. The depth of cure of the tested specimens was assessed by calculating the hardness ratio for each specimen. The Vickers surface micro-hardness and depth of cure data were analyzed for normality using Kolmogorov-Smirnov and Shapiro-Wilk tests. Independent sample-t test was used to compare between two groups while One-way ANOVA was used to compare between more than two groups. Significant difference in the Vickers surface micro-hardness and depth of cure values was demonstrated among the tested materials (P<0.0001). X-tra Fil recorded the highest mean Vickers micro-hardness value (94.05±1.05). Bulk-fill dental resin composites X-tra Fil and Sonic-Fill showed 0.980±0.005 and 0.921±0.020 depth of cure values (bottom/top hardness ratio) respectively while Z250 XT recorded 0.776±0.141. X-tra Fil showed highest Vickers surface micro-hardness values on both top and bottom surfaces, whether inserted in increments or bulk. Both bulk-fill resin composites showed higher depth of cure for both insertion techniques

Evaluation of Reliability Indices for Gas Turbines Based on the Johnson SB Distribution: Towards Practical Development

Recent advancements in computer engineering have provided effective solutions for processing and analyzing complex systems and big data. Consequently, the adjustment and standardization of this data play a crucial role in addressing issues related to the monitoring of industrial systems. In this study, we propose a reliability approach for gas turbines to identify and characterize their degradation using operational data. We introduce a method for adjusting turbine reliability data, which resolves the challenges associated with the nature of these operating data. This enables us to determine a mathematical function that models the relationships between turbine reliability parameters and evaluate the impact of reliability practices in terms of availability. Additionally, we determine the survival function and employ it as a lifespan distribution model by estimating the parameters of the Johnson SB function. Furthermore, we calculate the failure rates and mean time between good operations for this rotating machine under different operating conditions. The obtained results allow us to estimate the parameters of the distribution that best fit the turbine reliability data, which are validated through statistical and graphical tests. We assess the goodness-of-fit using mean square error and reliability tests such as Kolmogorov-Smirnov

Recombinant activated factor VII (rFVIIa) for uncontrolled bleeding post cardiac surgery

ObjectivesTo review recombinant activated factor VII (rFVIIa) as rescue therapy in persistent severe hemorrhage in post cardiac surgical patients at our institution.DesignA retrospective observational study.Patients and methodsFrom 2004 till April 2010, all patients who received rFVIIa for bleeding of 3ml/kg/h or more for two consecutive hours after cardiac surgery were included. Surgical bleeding management, patient temperature correction, blood products replacement, and coagulant drugs administration preceded the rFVIIa.ResultsThe mean for chest tube drainage was significantly lower after the administration of rFVIIa compared to that before (1.2±1.08 vs. 4.1±2.3ml/kg/h, P=0.042). There was a significant decrease in the median of: aPTT (43.8 vs. 46.6s, P=0.027), ACT (128.9 vs. 131.7s, P=0.05), and INR (1.0 vs. 1.43, P=0.001) after the administration of rFVIIa compared to that before. The median of fibrinogen level and the platelet count showed non-significant increase after the rFVIIa doses (2.57 vs. 2.43gm/l, P=0.34 and 106 vs. 101 X109/l, P=0.27 respectively). Six patients (3.7%) needed re-exploration after the administration of rFVIIa. Five patients (3.2%) had thrombo-embolic complications. The small dose (40–50mcg/kg) was comparable to high dose (⩾80mcg/kg) of rFVIIa in terms of: mean chest tube bleeding within the first 4h, blood products required in the first 24h, re-exploration for bleeding or thrombotic complications.ConclusionrFVIIa produced significant reduction in chest tube bleeding post cardiac surgery with reduction in the administration of blood products. Small dose rFVIIa can be considered effective for intractable bleeding after cardiac surgery

Neuroradiology in tuberculous meningitisdiagnostic significance and prognostic value.

Tuberculous meningitis (TBM) is the most common and belligerent form of CNS TB.Prompt definitive diagnosis of TBM is arduous due to tedious microbiological procedures. This study was conducted to evaluate the neuroradiological findings in patients with TBM as a modality forearly diagnoses and predicting prognosis. Materials and methods: A successive series of 100 patients diagnosed with TBM admitted to the PIMS neurology ward were studied between March 2013 and April 2014. Cranial imaging results were obtained by non-contrast enhanced CT brain (NECT) and MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) brain with contrast. MRC staging on admission and in-hospital mortality were recorded.Results: The mean age was 34.86 ± 1.76 years with a female preponderance (55%, 55 out of 100). On admission, 72% were in MRC stages II or III. The in-hospital mortality was 16%. NECT was obtained in all the patients and was abnormal in 67% of the patients with hydrocephalus (58%), edema cerebral (24%) and infarcts (5%) being the commonestfindings.CT infarct had the highest mortality rate of 60%. MRI was obtained in 61% of the patients and was abnormal in 88.5% of these cases. Hydrocephalus (61%), tuberculomas (54%), leptomeningeal involvement (46%) and infarcts (13%) were the most frequent radiological signs on MRI. Mortality was significantly associated with infarcts but not with tuberculomas.Conclusion: Neuroimaging techniques are a handy tool in the early diagnosis of TBM. MRI is particularly helpful in defining findings such as infarcts and tuberculomas and in predicting mortality and morbidity