Supplier Selection and Evaluation by Fuzzy-AHP Extent Analysis: A Case Study RMG Sector of Bangladesh

The ready-made garments (RMG)is a rapid growing industry in Bangladesh and contributing significantly in the country’s economy. Effective supplier selection policy has significant strategic importance in the performance of such fast moving consumer goods industry. The supplier selection process is essentially a multi-criterion decision making problem which, therefore, must be developed systematically. Many models have been developed and proposed to find optimum solutions of this complex decision-making problem. Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process (Fuzzy-AHP), which is a derived extension of classical Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP),is an excellent method for deciding among the complex structure at different levels. In this paper an extent analysis of Fuzzy-AHP has been applied to evaluate and select the best supplier agency providing most satisfaction. The evaluation criteria are developed particularly for an RMG manufacturer in Bangladesh context and used successfully in the proposed model. A detailed implementation process is presented in this paper and finally the best supplier agency has been proposed from the outcome of the model

Human growth hormone alters carbohydrate storage in blood and liver in both genders of an Indian bird, Acridotheres tristis (Linn.)

Background: Growth hormone (GH) is a peptide hormone that plays vital roles in cell growth and metabolism. Aim: The study investigates the effect of GH on carbohydrate metabolism using Indian bird, Acridotheres tristis. Methods: Three different doses (0.4, 0.6, and 0.8mg/100g body weight) of human growth hormone (HGH) given once to both genders of a bird Acridotheres tristis to observe the effect on blood glucose and hepatic glycogen content in the body. Glucose and glycogen were quantitatively assayed. Results: Their effect was recorded for different time intervals (1, 4, 12, 24, 72, 96, and 144 h). Hypoglycaemic condition was recorded within an hour of hormone treatment in male and female birds. The lowest dose (0.4mg/100g body weight) was more effective than other two doses. Simultaneous depletion of hepatic glycogen was also recorded, although initially increase in glycogen level was also noticed in both genders. It was noticed that the highest dose (0.8mg/100g body weight) was most responsive. Conclusion: The effect of human growth hormone was not dose and time dependent in both male and female birds. HGH is thus hypoglycaemic and hepatic glycogenolytic in nature in A. tristis.Key words: Human growth hormone, blood glucose, hepatic glycogen, hypoglycaemia, glycogenolysis, bir

A CROSS-SECTIONAL INVESTIGATION OF SLEEP HABITS AND SELECTED BODY COMPOSITION PARAMETERS AMONG UNIVERSITY STUDENTS

The study's objective was to compare sleep quality and body composition between male and female participants. A cross-sectional study was conducted with five hundred participants (male and female) from different community places. Body composition was measured with the help of a bioelectric impedance device. The sleep habits were determined with the Pittsburgh Sleeps Quality Index that used to evaluate sleep quality during the past seven days, and the Epworth Sleepiness Scale (Johns, 1991) was used to measure the level of the daytime sleepiness. The identified variables were statistically analyzed with an independent t-test, and Eta Squared was applied to find effect size. From the whole study population, only 12.2 % of participants are underweight, 51.4 % are healthy, 16.6 % are overweight, and 19.8 % are obese. Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index is the lowest (7.90 ± 2.18) into the normal, whereas the highest (8.38 ± 2.93) into the underweight participants. Daytime sleepiness is lowest (10.23 ± 4.18) in underweight, whereas the highest (11.28 ± 3.28) in obese participants. This study demonstrates females had a higher percentage of body fat than males throughout all categories that leads them towards poor sleep habits, which are mediating factors for good health and quality of life.  Article visualizations

Dissipation enhanced vibrational sensing in an olfactory molecular switch

Motivated by a proposed olfactory mechanism based on a vibrationally-activated molecular switch, we study electron transport within a donor-acceptor pair that is coupled to a vibrational mode and embedded in a surrounding environment. We derive a polaron master equation with which we study the dynamics of both the electronic and vibrational degrees of freedom beyond previously employed semiclassical (Marcus-Jortner) rate analyses. We show: (i) that in the absence of explicit dissipation of the vibrational mode, the semiclassical approach is generally unable to capture the dynamics predicted by our master equation due to both its assumption of one-way (exponential) electron transfer from donor to acceptor and its neglect of the spectral details of the environment; (ii) that by additionally allowing strong dissipation to act on the odorant vibrational mode we can recover exponential electron transfer, though typically at a rate that differs from that given by the Marcus-Jortner expression; (iii) that the ability of the molecular switch to discriminate between the presence and absence of the odorant, and its sensitivity to the odorant vibrational frequency, are enhanced significantly in this strong dissipation regime, when compared to the case without mode dissipation; and (iv) that details of the environment absent from previous Marcus-Jortner analyses can also dramatically alter the sensitivity of the molecular switch, in particular allowing its frequency resolution to be improved. Our results thus demonstrate the constructive role dissipation can play in facilitating sensitive and selective operation in molecular switch devices, as well as the inadequacy of semiclassical rate equations in analysing such behaviour over a wide range of parameters.Comment: 12 pages, 6 figures, close to published version, comments welcom

Pengaruh Penggunaan Media Pembelajaran Simulasi Komputer terhadap Hasil Belajar Siswa Sekolah Menengah Kejuruan di Gresik

This research aims to study the effect of the use of computer simulation as a teaching media toward student's learning achievement in vocational school. The focuses of the study are on the cognitive and psychomotor domains of the students in industrial electronics program and their responses toward the use of computer simulation as a teaching aid.The research was conducted under quasi experimental design with non equivalent control group pretest-postest model. The data on students' responses were analyzed using descriptive qualitative technique while the students' learning achievement scores were analyzed using quantitative techniques.The hypothesis of this research was tested using SPSS version 20 to get t-test score. The result of this research is in form of t-test score and its significance after being compared to the t table.The final score of student achievement from this calculation of the t-score is 11.673 with the sig value of 0.000. As the sig value is below 0.05 or 5%, it can be concluded that there is a significant difference between the score of learning achievement of the students who used computer simulation and those who use textbook. The analysis of students' responses toward the use of computer simulation as a teaching media indicates that computer simulation is a new media for the students and that this media is interesting for the students with the number of responses of 100 %

Cerebral fungal infection with mycotic aneurysm of basilar artery and subarachnoid haemorrhage

A 28-year-old Pakistani man was admitted with unresolved severe headaches for the past four weeks. Magnetic resonance (MR) imaging and MR angiography showed an enhancing mass in the sphenoid sinus, bilateral cerebellar infarcts and aneurysmal dilatation of the basilar artery. The differential diagnosis included fungal infection versus neoplastic lesion. The scrappings taken through the endoscope from the sphenoid sinus were initially negative for fungal infection. However, the second biopsy, done after putting him on antifungal, itraconazole 200 mg twice daily, revealed the presence of a fungal infection (aspergillosis). MR imaging revealed extension of the fungal infection from the sphenoid sinus into the clivus, and then intracranially. Imaging also revealed aneurysmal dilatation of the basilar artery and infarctions in the cerebellum and subarachnoid haemorrhage. Despite aggressive antifungal treatment, the Patient died after 29 days. This case report describes the probable mechanism of fungal mycotic aneurysmal vascular dilatation and growth. It also points to the need for a rapid diagnosis of potential cases and an aggressive treatment approach of confirmed cases of fungal infections of the central nervous system

Tunneling of a composite particle: Effects of intrinsic structure

We consider simple models of tunneling of an object with intrinsic degrees of freedom. This important problem was not extensively studied until now, in spite of numerous applications in various areas of physics and astrophysics. We show possibilities of enhancement for the probability of tunneling due to the presence of intrinsic degrees of freedom split by weak external fields or by polarizability of the slow composite object.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures, version to be published in Journal of Physics

Assessing structural damages of a heritage building

This paper presents an intensive structural survey work on an industrial heritage structure. This study identified the decay mechanism and material characteristics of the historic structure, including material homogeneity, material strength, structural failures with crack pattern, and deteriorated surface. The damages in the building include decay in timber and stones, dampness problem and incompatible structural assemblage. The lack of a long-term maintenance is one of the potential causes which aggravate the decay mechanism. The findings permitted to appraise the structural safety and to depict some recommendations for better treatment of the structural cracks to restore this industrial heritage structure. These proposals would be useful in the conservation management plan of the city

Left and Right Hand Movements EEG Signals Classification Using Wavelet Transform and Probabilistic Neural Network

Electroencephalogram (EEG) signals have great importance in the area of brain-computer interface (BCI) which has diverse applications ranging from medicine to entertainment. BCI acquires brain signals, extracts informative features and generates control signals from the knowledge of these features for functioning of external devices. The objective of this work is twofold. Firstly, to extract suitable features related to hand movements and secondly, to discriminate the left and right hand movements signals finding effective classifier. This work is a continuation of our previous study where beta band was found compatible for hand movement analysis. The discrete wavelet transform (DWT) has been used to separate beta band of the EEG signal in order to extract features.  The performance of a probabilistic neural network (PNN) is investigated to find better classifier of left and right hand movements EEG signals and compared with classical back propagation based neural network. The obtained results shows that PNN (99.1%) has better classification rate than the BP (88.9%). The results of this study are expected to be helpful in brain computer interfacing for hand movements related bio-rehabilitation applications

Topological Homogeneity for Electron Microscopy Images

In this paper, the concept of homogeneity is defined, from a topological perspective, in order to analyze how uniform is the material composition in 2D electron microscopy images. Topological multiresolution parameters are taken into account to obtain better results than classical techniques.Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad MTM2016-81030-PMinisterio de Economía y Competitividad TEC2012-37868-C04-0