A fast classifier-based approach to credit card fraud detection

openThis thesis aims at addressing the problem of anomaly detection in the context of credit card fraud detection with machine learning. Specifically, the goal is to apply a new approach to two-sample testing based on classifiers recently developed for new physic searches in high-energy physics. This strategy allows one to compare batches of incoming data with a control sample of standard transactions in a statistically sound way without prior knowledge of the type of fraudulent activity. The learning algorithm at the basis of this approach is a modern implementation of kernel methods that allows for fast online training and high flexibility. This work is the first attempt to export this method to a real-world use case outside the domain of particle physics.This thesis aims at addressing the problem of anomaly detection in the context of credit card fraud detection with machine learning. Specifically, the goal is to apply a new approach to two-sample testing based on classifiers recently developed for new physic searches in high-energy physics. This strategy allows one to compare batches of incoming data with a control sample of standard transactions in a statistically sound way without prior knowledge of the type of fraudulent activity. The learning algorithm at the basis of this approach is a modern implementation of kernel methods that allows for fast online training and high flexibility. This work is the first attempt to export this method to a real-world use case outside the domain of particle physics

The Recovery with Nature and Flowers, Implications for the Coronavirus Disease Pandemic

Connection with flowers and ornamental plants has been considered beneficial for psychological well-being since times of evolution. Despite nutrition and mutual use, human beings are an integral and essential part of nature, and there has been a logical harmony between man and nature. Since evolution, flowers have been known to be beneficial to psychological well-being in connection with nature. Ecotherapy (nature therapy) is a type of psychotherapy technique that is based on explicit environmental or ecological interventions. Social gardening and horticultural therapy and the principles of nature therapy have been integrated into other methods of psychotherapy for better effectiveness. This article tries to discuss the results of using it during the infamous coronavirus pandemic crisis

Precipitation and Effect of Applied Surfactant on Distribution of Particle Size

Production of NiO by chemical precipitation is the approach utilized in this work. Materials mainly used in this project are nickel nitrate hex hydrate (as a basic material), sodium hydroxide (as a precipitator material), and the following surfactants (for reduction in particle size). Applied surfactants are in two kinds: polymeric (PVP, PEG) and cationic (CTAB) surfactants, 1.0 gram. Nanopowders properties are identified by TG, FTIR, XRD, SEM, and TEM. The results obtained confirm the presence of nickel oxide nanopowders produced during chemical precipitation

An efficient algorithm for the parallel solution of high-dimensional differential equations

The study of high-dimensional differential equations is challenging and difficult due to the analytical and computational intractability. Here, we improve the speed of waveform relaxation (WR), a method to simulate high-dimensional differential-algebraic equations. This new method termed adaptive waveform relaxation (AWR) is tested on a communication network example. Further we propose different heuristics for computing graph partitions tailored to adaptive waveform relaxation. We find that AWR coupled with appropriate graph partitioning methods provides a speedup by a factor between 3 and 16

Amniotic Membrane Transplantation for Persistent Epithelial Defects and Ulceration due to Pseudomonas Keratitis in a Rabbit Model

Purpose: The use of amniotic membrane has been suggested in the treatment ofinfectious keratitis for its intrinsic anti-infective properties probably mediated by its antiinflammatory effects. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of amniotic membrane transplantation (AMT) along with ciprofloxacin to cure the primary stages of Pseudomonas keratitis. Methods: In total, 28 rabbits were selected and divided in four groups as follows: group 1 as control, group 2 with amniotic membrane, group 3 with ciprofloxacin, and group 4 with amniotic membrane combined with ciprofloxacin. About 0.05 cc suspension of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, 27853 ATCC was injected into corneal stroma. Results: The results showed groups of AMT, AMT + ciprofloxacin, and ciprofloxacin had 0% perforation while the control group had 85.6%. Average infiltration of 5.5 mm was observed in ciprofloxacin group, 5 mm in AMT + ciprofloxacin group, 24 mm in AMT group, and finally 23.75 mm for control. Amniotic membrane showed to be effective in prevention of cornea perforation as well as remission of Pseudomonas keratitis. There was no significant difference between ciprofloxacin groups in comparison with ciprofloxacin + AMT group. However, regarding the anti-inflammatory effect, the process of improvement of inflammation in ciprofloxacin + AMT group was faster. Conclusion: Transplantation of amniotic membrane in the primary stages of Pseudomonas keratitis treatment remarkably prevents the disease and it can be used to control its process

Amniotic Membrane Transplantation for Persistent Epithelial Defects and Ulceration due to Pseudomonas Keratitis in a Rabbit Model

Purpose: The use of amniotic membrane has been suggested in the treatment of infectious keratitis for its intrinsic anti-infective properties probably mediated by its antiinflammatory effects. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of amniotic membrane transplantation (AMT) along with ciprofloxacin to cure the primary stages of Pseudomonas keratitis. Methods: In total, 28 rabbits were selected and divided in four groups as follows: group 1 as control, group 2 with amniotic membrane, group 3 with ciprofloxacin, and group 4 with amniotic membrane combined with ciprofloxacin. About 0.05 cc suspension of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, 27853 ATCC was injected into corneal stroma. Results: The results showed groups of AMT, AMT + ciprofloxacin, and ciprofloxacin had 0% perforation while the control group had 85.6%. Average infiltration of 5.5 mm was observed in ciprofloxacin group, 5 mm in AMT + ciprofloxacin group, 24 mm in AMT group, and finally 23.75 mm for control. Amniotic membrane showed to be effective in prevention of cornea perforation as well as remission of Pseudomonas keratitis. There was no significant difference between ciprofloxacin groups in comparison with ciprofloxacin + AMT group. However, regarding the anti-inflammatory effect, the process of improvement of inflammation in ciprofloxacin + AMT group was faster. Conclusion: Transplantation of amniotic membrane in the primary stages of Pseudomonas keratitis treatment remarkably prevents the disease and it can be used to control its process. Keywords: Ciprofloxacin; Human Amniotic Membrane; Keratitis; Pseudomonas aeruginosa; Rabbi

Amniotic Membrane Transplantation for Persistent Epithelial Defects and Ulceration due to Pseudomonas Keratitis in a Rabbit Model

Purpose: The use of amniotic membrane has been suggested in the treatment of infectious keratitis for its intrinsic anti-infective properties probably mediated by its antiinflammatory effects. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of amniotic membrane transplantation (AMT) along with ciprofloxacin to cure the primary stages of Pseudomonas keratitis. Methods: In total, 28 rabbits were selected and divided in four groups as follows: group 1 as control, group 2 with amniotic membrane, group 3 with ciprofloxacin, and group 4 with amniotic membrane combined with ciprofloxacin. About 0.05 cc suspension of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, 27853 ATCC was injected into corneal stroma. Results: The results showed groups of AMT, AMT + ciprofloxacin, and ciprofloxacin had 0% perforation while the control group had 85.6%. Average infiltration of 5.5 mm was observed in ciprofloxacin group, 5 mm in AMT + ciprofloxacin group, 24 mm in AMT group, and finally 23.75 mm for control. Amniotic membrane showed to be effective in prevention of cornea perforation as well as remission of Pseudomonas keratitis. There was no significant difference between ciprofloxacin groups in comparison with ciprofloxacin + AMT group. However, regarding the anti-inflammatory effect, the process of improvement of inflammation in ciprofloxacin + AMT group was faster. Conclusion: Transplantation of amniotic membrane in the primary stages of Pseudomonas keratitis treatment remarkably prevents the disease and it can be used to control its process. Keywords: Ciprofloxacin; Human Amniotic Membrane; Keratitis; Pseudomonas aeruginosa; Rabbi

Amniotic Membrane Transplantation for Persistent Epithelial Defects and Ulceration due to Pseudomonas Keratitis in a Rabbit Model

Purpose: The use of amniotic membrane has been suggested in the treatment of infectious keratitis for its intrinsic anti-infective properties probably mediated by its antiinflammatory effects. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of amniotic membrane transplantation (AMT) along with ciprofloxacin to cure the primary stages of Pseudomonas keratitis. Methods: In total, 28 rabbits were selected and divided in four groups as follows: group 1 as control, group 2 with amniotic membrane, group 3 with ciprofloxacin, and group 4 with amniotic membrane combined with ciprofloxacin. About 0.05 cc suspension of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, 27853 ATCC was injected into corneal stroma. Results: The results showed groups of AMT, AMT + ciprofloxacin, and ciprofloxacin had 0% perforation while the control group had 85.6%. Average infiltration of 5.5 mm was observed in ciprofloxacin group, 5 mm in AMT + ciprofloxacin group, 24 mm in AMT group, and finally 23.75 mm for control. Amniotic membrane showed to be effective in prevention of cornea perforation as well as remission of Pseudomonas keratitis. There was no significant difference between ciprofloxacin groups in comparison with ciprofloxacin + AMT group. However, regarding the anti-inflammatory effect, the process of improvement of inflammation in ciprofloxacin + AMT group was faster. Conclusion: Transplantation of amniotic membrane in the primary stages of Pseudomonas keratitis treatment remarkably prevents the disease and it can be used to control its process. Keywords: Ciprofloxacin; Human Amniotic Membrane; Keratitis; Pseudomonas aeruginosa; Rabbi

Amniotic Membrane Transplantation for Persistent Epithelial Defects and Ulceration due to Pseudomonas Keratitis in a Rabbit Model

Purpose: The use of amniotic membrane has been suggested in the treatment of infectious keratitis for its intrinsic anti-infective properties probably mediated by its antiinflammatory effects. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of amniotic membrane transplantation (AMT) along with ciprofloxacin to cure the primary stages of Pseudomonas keratitis. Methods: In total, 28 rabbits were selected and divided in four groups as follows: group 1 as control, group 2 with amniotic membrane, group 3 with ciprofloxacin, and group 4 with amniotic membrane combined with ciprofloxacin. About 0.05 cc suspension of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, 27853 ATCC was injected into corneal stroma. Results: The results showed groups of AMT, AMT + ciprofloxacin, and ciprofloxacin had 0% perforation while the control group had 85.6%. Average infiltration of 5.5 mm was observed in ciprofloxacin group, 5 mm in AMT + ciprofloxacin group, 24 mm in AMT group, and finally 23.75 mm for control. Amniotic membrane showed to be effective in prevention of cornea perforation as well as remission of Pseudomonas keratitis. There was no significant difference between ciprofloxacin groups in comparison with ciprofloxacin + AMT group. However, regarding the anti-inflammatory effect, the process of improvement of inflammation in ciprofloxacin + AMT group was faster. Conclusion: Transplantation of amniotic membrane in the primary stages of Pseudomonas keratitis treatment remarkably prevents the disease and it can be used to control its process. Keywords: Ciprofloxacin; Human Amniotic Membrane; Keratitis; Pseudomonas aeruginosa; Rabbi

Global, regional, and national burden of chronic kidney disease, 1990–2017 : a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017

Background Health system planning requires careful assessment of chronic kidney disease (CKD) epidemiology, but data for morbidity and mortality of this disease are scarce or non-existent in many countries. We estimated the global, regional, and national burden of CKD, as well as the burden of cardiovascular disease and gout attributable to impaired kidney function, for the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study 2017. We use the term CKD to refer to the morbidity and mortality that can be directly attributed to all stages of CKD, and we use the term impaired kidney function to refer to the additional risk of CKD from cardiovascular disease and gout. Methods The main data sources we used were published literature, vital registration systems, end-stage kidney disease registries, and household surveys. Estimates of CKD burden were produced using a Cause of Death Ensemble model and a Bayesian meta-regression analytical tool, and included incidence, prevalence, years lived with disability, mortality, years of life lost, and disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs). A comparative risk assessment approach was used to estimate the proportion of cardiovascular diseases and gout burden attributable to impaired kidney function. Findings Globally, in 2017, 1·2 million (95% uncertainty interval [UI] 1·2 to 1·3) people died from CKD. The global all-age mortality rate from CKD increased 41·5% (95% UI 35·2 to 46·5) between 1990 and 2017, although there was no significant change in the age-standardised mortality rate (2·8%, −1·5 to 6·3). In 2017, 697·5 million (95% UI 649·2 to 752·0) cases of all-stage CKD were recorded, for a global prevalence of 9·1% (8·5 to 9·8). The global all-age prevalence of CKD increased 29·3% (95% UI 26·4 to 32·6) since 1990, whereas the age-standardised prevalence remained stable (1·2%, −1·1 to 3·5). CKD resulted in 35·8 million (95% UI 33·7 to 38·0) DALYs in 2017, with diabetic nephropathy accounting for almost a third of DALYs. Most of the burden of CKD was concentrated in the three lowest quintiles of Socio-demographic Index (SDI). In several regions, particularly Oceania, sub-Saharan Africa, and Latin America, the burden of CKD was much higher than expected for the level of development, whereas the disease burden in western, eastern, and central sub-Saharan Africa, east Asia, south Asia, central and eastern Europe, Australasia, and western Europe was lower than expected. 1·4 million (95% UI 1·2 to 1·6) cardiovascular disease-related deaths and 25·3 million (22·2 to 28·9) cardiovascular disease DALYs were attributable to impaired kidney function. Interpretation Kidney disease has a major effect on global health, both as a direct cause of global morbidity and mortality and as an important risk factor for cardiovascular disease. CKD is largely preventable and treatable and deserves greater attention in global health policy decision making, particularly in locations with low and middle SDI