Structural Properties of Transmuted Weibull Distribution

The transmuted Weibull distribution, and a related special case, is introduced. Estimates of parameters are obtained by using a new method of moments

IoT-based emergency vehicle services in intelligent transportation system

Emergency Management System (EMS) is an important component of Intelligent transportation systems, and its primary objective is to send Emergency Vehicles (EVs) to the location of a reported incident. However, the increasing traffic in urban areas, especially during peak hours, results in the delayed arrival of EVs in many cases, which ultimately leads to higher fatality rates, increased property damage, and higher road congestion. Existing literature addressed this issue by giving higher priority to EVs while traveling to an incident place by changing traffic signals (e.g., making the signals green) on their travel path. A few works have also attempted to find the best route for an EV using traffic information (e.g., number of vehicles, flow rate, and clearance time) at the beginning of the journey. However, these works did not consider congestion or disruption faced by other non-emergency vehicles adjacent to the EV travel path. The selected travel paths are also static and do not consider changing traffic parameters while EVs are en route. To address these issues, this article proposes an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) guided priority-based incident management system to assist EVs in obtaining a better clearance time in intersections and thus achieve a lower response time. The proposed model also considers disruption faced by other surrounding non-emergency vehicles adjacent to the EVs’ travel path and selects an optimal solution by controlling the traffic signal phase time to ensure that EVs can reach the incident place on time while causing minimal disruption to other on-road vehicles. Simulation results indicate that the proposed model achieves an 8% lower response time for EVs while the clearance time surrounding the incident place is improved by 12%

Information fusion-based cybersecurity threat detection for intelligent transportation system

Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) are sophisticated systems that leverage various technologies to increase the safety, efficiency, and sustainability of transportation. By relying on wireless communication and data collected from diverse sensors, ITS is vulnerable to cybersecurity threats. With the increasing number of attacks on ITS worldwide, detecting and addressing cybersecurity threats has become critically important. This need will only intensify with the impending arrival of autonomous vehicles. One of the primary challenges is identifying critical ITS assets that require protection and understanding the vulnerabilities that cyber attackers can exploit. Additionally, creating a standard profile for ITS is challenging due to the dynamic traffic pattern, which exhibits changes in the movement of vehicles over time. To address these challenges, this paper proposes an information fusion-based cybersecurity threat detection method. Specifically, we employ the Kalman filter for noise reduction, Dempster-Shafer decision theory and Shannon’s entropy for assessing the probabilities of traffic conditions being normal, intruded, and uncertain. We utilised Simulation of Urban Mobility (SUMO) to simulate the Melbourne CBD map and historical traffic data from the Victorian transport authority. Our simulation results reveal that information fusion with three sensor data is more effective in detecting normal traffic conditions. On the other hand, for detecting anomalies, information fusion with two sensor data is more efficient

Pregnancy induced hypertension: lipid peroxidation and antioxidant status

Background: Pregnancy is a stressful condition accompanied by a high energy demand and increased oxygen requirement. Oxidative stress has been recognized as a significant factor linked to hypertension. Elucidation of anti-oxidant cascade in patients with pregnancy induced hypertension (PIH). can give insights about the oxidative stress and lead to better management of the condition. It was a prospective case control study to elucidate the parameters of oxidative stress in patients with PIH.Methods: Levels of Malondialdehyde (MDA), superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) were eludidated using enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) in hypertensive mothers and their age matched pregnant and non-pregnant controls to determine the lipid peroxidation and oxidative stress.Results: A total of four hundred and twenty study subjects were enrolled in the study. Malondialdehyde levels from mothers with hypertension were significantly higher than their age matched pregnant controls. The results indicate that oxidative stress induced by pregnancy induced hypertension manifests as increased lipid peroxidation. Conclusion: There is a decrement in anti-oxidant status reflecting the ineffective scavenging of reactive oxygen species resulting in oxidative damage and tissue injury

Classical and Bayesian Approach in Estimation of Scale Parameter of Nakagami Distribution

Nakagami distribution is considered. The classical maximum likelihood estimator has been obtained. Bayesian method of estimation is employed in order to estimate the scale parameter of Nakagami distribution by using Jeffreys’, Extension of Jeffreys’, and Quasi priors under three different loss functions. Also the simulation study is conducted in R software

High-frequency ultrasonic speckle velocimetry in sheared complex fluids

High-frequency ultrasonic pulses at 36 MHz are used to measure velocity profiles in a complex fluid sheared in the Couette geometry. Our technique is based on time-domain cross-correlation of ultrasonic speckle signals backscattered by the moving medium. Post-processing of acoustic data allows us to record a velocity profile in 0.02--2 s with a spatial resolution of 40 $\mu$m over 1 mm. After a careful calibration using a Newtonian suspension, the technique is applied to a sheared lyotropic lamellar phase seeded with polystyrene spheres of diameter 3--10 $\mu$m. Time-averaged velocity profiles reveal the existence of inhomogeneous flows, with both wall slip and shear bands, in the vicinity of a shear-induced ``layering'' transition. Slow transient regimes and/or temporal fluctuations can also be resolved and exhibit complex spatio-temporal flow behaviors with sometimes more than two shear bands.Comment: 15 pages, 18 figures, submitted to Eur. Phys. J. A

Knowledge, attitudes and perceptions about rabies among the people in the community, healthcare professionals and veterinary practitioners in Bangladesh

It is crucial to explore knowledge, attitudes and perceptions (KAP) about rabies among the people in the community, the personnel dealing with animal bite management and suspected rabies patients, including humans and animals, to facilitate intervention in improving rabies elimination strategies. In 2016, we conducted an interactive face-to-face survey in three different districts of Bangladesh to understand the extent of KAP towards rabies in the community peoples (CPs), human healthcare professionals (HCPs) and veterinary practitioners (VPs). A set of prescribed questions was employed to measure what proportion of each group possessed sufficient knowledge, positive attitudes and adequate perceptions about rabies. A total of 1133 CPs, 211 HCPs and 168 VPs were interviewed by using a standard questionnaire comprising both closed and open-ended questions. Of the CPs, 49% identified the disease correctly (i.e. rabies is caused by an animal bite or a scratch). Only 29% of the CPs were aware that a wound should be washed immediately with soap and water after an animal bite or a scratch. However, only 49% of the CPs, 65% of the HCPs and 60% of the VPs felt that it is important to consult a physician and receive post-exposure vaccine as the first line of treatment following an animal exposure. Among the HCPs, 23% of the respondents did not possess sufficient knowledge about animal bites as categorised by the World Health Organization (WHO), and 12% of the respondents did not possess the knowledge on how to manage an animal bite properly. Out of 52% of the VPs who previously treated suspected rabid animals, only 29% had a history of taking rabies pre-exposure prophylaxis (PEP). Lack of formal education and rural subsistence were found to largely contribute to poor rabies KAP level among the CPs (P ≤ 0.01). There has been a high demand for proper training to be provided to HCPs and VPs for the effective management of an animal bite incidence in human and animals, respectively. Multi-sectoral collaboration through integrated One Health initiatives including community education, awareness programmes, facilitation of rabies PEP, and dog vaccination as well as its population control are critical in the way forward to control rabies in Bangladesh

In vitro Antioxidant and Membrane Stabilizing Activities of Oxalis corniculata Linn.

The methanolic extract of the whole plant of Oxalis corniculata was evaluated for antioxidant and membrane stabilizing activities. The total phenolics in the methanol extract was found 213.69 mg of gallic acid per g of extract when determined using the Folin-Ciocalteu reagent. Besides, antioxidant activity was also assessed by various methods, including free radical, hydrogen peroxide, and nitric oxide scavenging and phosphomolybdenum antioxidant assay and reducing power determination. In these cases, butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT) and ascorbic acid were used as a standard antioxidants. The membrane stabilizing activity was assessed by using erythrocyte in hypotonic solution, using indomethacin as the standard. It was revealed that the methanolic extract of O. corniculata demonstrated moderate antioxidant activity and significant membrane stabilizing property.Colegio de Farmacéuticos de la Provincia de Buenos Aire

Species-wide Whole Genome Sequencing Reveals Historical Global Spread And Recent Local Persistence In Shigella Flexneri

Shigella flexneri is the most common cause of bacterial dysentery in low-income countries. Despite this, S. flexneri remains largely unexplored from a genomic standpoint and is still described using a vocabulary based on serotyping reactions developed over half-a-century ago. Here we combine whole genome sequencing with geographical and temporal data to examine the natural history of the species. Our analysis subdivides S. flexneri into seven phylogenetic groups (PGs); each containing two-or-more serotypes and characterised by distinct virulence gene complement and geographic range. Within the S. flexneri PGs we identify geographically restricted sub-lineages that appear to have persistently colonised regions for many decades to over 100 years. Although we found abundant evidence of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) determinant acquisition, our dataset shows no evidence of subsequent intercontinental spread of antimicrobial resistant strains. The pattern of colonisation and AMR gene acquisition suggest that S. flexneri has a distinct life-cycle involving local persistence. DOI: 10.7554/eLife.07335.0014Wellcome Trust [098051]Wellcome Trust/NISCHR ISSF project at Cardiff UniversityMRC [MR/L015080/1]Cardiff University - Cardiff University Research Infrastructure Fund)Institut PasteurInstitut de Veille SanitaireFrench Government 'Investissement d'Avenir' program (Integrative Biology of Emerging Infectious Diseases Laboratory of Excellence) [ANR-10-LABX-62-IBEID