A Multi-criteria Group Decision Making Method for Selecting Big Data Visualization Tools

Big data visualization tools are providing opportunities for businesses to strengthen decision making and achieve competitive advantages. Evaluating and selecting the most suitable big data visualization tool is however challenging. To effectively deal with this issue, this paper presents a multicriteria group decision making method for evaluating and selecting of big data visualization tools. Intuitionistic fuzzy numbers are used to tackle the subjectiveness and imprecision of the decision making process. The concept based on ideal solutions is applied for producing a relative closeness coefficient value for every big data visualization tool alternative across all evaluation criteria. A big data visualization tool selection problem is presented to demonstrate the applicability of the method

Open innovation's impact on performance: a case of an Indian IT cluster

Open innovation (OI) is the capability to innovate through the use of purposive inbound and outbound knowledge flows to benefit firms driven by external knowledge and internal innovations. Inter-firm knowledge exchange and innovation occur in organisations operating within the same supply chain. Geographic separation between organisations however may limit collaborative opportunities for businesses to reduce costs, improve efficiency and support innovation. Organisations co-locating within the close proximity are more likely to facilitate inter-firm interactions, collaborate on resource utilisation and sharing of ideas and knowledge. In recent years, there has been a growing interest among academics, government agencies and private organisations to examine the scale, characteristics and capability of IT clusters such as the `Silicon Valley' and Hyderabad   `Hi-tec city' clusters to support OI to help stimulate economic growth, improve productivity and promote inclusive development. While there is evidence to show the benefits of geographic clustering for firms, the effect of agglomeration economies in stimulating OI however has neither been theorised nor empirically validated. Moreover, the collaborative processes through which OI and technological spill-overs are fostered within and outside an IT cluster are not well understood. Earlier studies have developed theoretical frameworks to conceptualise Open Innovation and Innovation Performance in the context of a developed world; nonetheless there is relatively little known about OI in firms in developing and emerging economies. This warrants an examination of the role of clusters in shaping OI activities within and outside an IT cluster with a particular focus on emerging economies. Drawing on the Cluster Theory, Resource-Based View, Relational View and Absorptive Capacity, a theoretical model is developed to investigate the effect of geographic proximity on OI and innovation performance of IT organisations. This thesis developed a model and examined the relationship between OI and innovation performance as higher-order constructs and their underlying constructs driving innovation inputs.  This thesis adopts a quantitative approach to model the relationships between OI and degree of openness, stakeholder engagement, innovation practices and knowledge spill-overs. An online survey questionnaire was administered to 346 organisations in and outside the Hyderabad IT cluster in India. Constructs were operationalised and pre-tested through expert evaluation.  Pilot testing was carried out to assess reliability and construct validity. The measurement and structural models were tested using the structural equation modelling technique.  The results show significant differences in OI and innovation performance among IT organisations within and outside the IT cluster. Organisations, which are geographically bounded tend to participate more in OI activities when compared to those which are geographically separated.  Organisations which are clustered show better innovation performance. A multi-group analysis reveals significant differences between the two groups in relation to inbound innovation, absorptive capacity and innovation performance. This is because of the geographic proximity of IT organisations. The results highlight the positive effect of OI activities on innovation performance. IT organisations with a higher absorptive capacity for absorbing inbound knowledge demonstrated better innovation performance.  This demonstrated the importance of knowledge absorption capability in achieving higher innovation performance through open innovation. The main contribution of this study lies in exploring the interconnectedness among IT organisations and collaborative processes on OI and innovation performance. From a management perspective, this knowledge will enable managers and policy makers to emphasise OI to achieve better innovation performance. This knowledge will provide both government decision makers and IT managers with definite OI implications for innovation performance. Local governments can benefit from the results of this study in terms of implications for investment in IT clusters as well as incentives for IT organisations to set up their businesses within a designated zone.  The major limitation is that this thesis utilised the data collected from organisations within and outside the Hyderabad IT cluster.  A future study into comparison of data collected from various IT clusters could offer an in-depth understanding on the impact of clustering on OI and innovation performance

Adoption of social media marketing for sustainable business growth of SMEs in emerging economies: The moderating role of leadership support

Social media marketing (SMM) plays an important role in business communication, mar-keting, operations, and other activities. There is a growing interest among researchers, academicians, and practitioners to understand the role of SMM in business sustainability in small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in an emerging economy, like India. Few studies have attempted to understand this role. Thus, the aim of this study is to examine the impact of adopting social media marketing for sustainable business growth of SMEs in an emerging economy. The study also investigates the moderating role of SME leadership support on the relationship between SMM usage and sustainable business growth of SMEs. After reviewing the existing literature and technology adoption model, a theoretical model is developed, which is then validated using a structural equation modeling tech-nique to analyze 304 samples of Indian SMEs that use different social media marketing applications in their enterprises. This study confirmed that SMM tools significantly and positively improve the sustainable growth of SMEs in an emerging economy. Additionally, the study also found that SME leadership team plays a vital role in supporting actual usage of SMM tools that accelerate sustainable business growth of SMEs

Energy-aware Successor Tree Consistent EDF Scheduling for PCTGs on MPSoCs

Multiprocessor System-on-Chips (MPSoCs) computing architectures are gaining popularity due to their high-performance capabilities and exceptional Quality-of-Service (QoS), making them a particularly well-suited computing platform for computationally intensive workloads and applications.} Nonetheless, The scheduling and allocation of a single task set with precedence restrictions on MPSoCs have presented a persistent research challenge in acquiring energy-efficient solutions. The complexity of this scheduling problem escalates when subject to conditional precedence constraints between the tasks, creating what is known as a Conditional Task Graph (CTG). Scheduling sets of Periodic Conditional Task Graphs (PCTGs) on MPSoC platforms poses even more challenges. This paper focuses on tackling the scheduling challenge for a group of PCTGs on MPSoCs equipped with shared memory. The primary goal is to minimize the overall anticipated energy usage, considering two distinct power models: dynamic and static power models. To address this challenge, this paper introduces an innovative scheduling method named Energy Efficient Successor Tree Consistent Earliest Deadline First (EESEDF). The EESEDF approach is primarily designed to maximize the worst-case processor utilization. Once the tasks are assigned to processors, it leverages the earliest successor tree consistent deadline-first strategy to arrange tasks on each processor. To minimize the overall expected energy consumption, EESEDF solves a convex Non-Linear Program (NLP) to determine the optimal speed for each task. Additionally, the paper presents a highly efficient online Dynamic Voltage Scaling (DVS) heuristic, which operates in O(1) time complexity and dynamically adjusts the task speeds in real-time}. We achieved the average improvement, maximum improvement, and minimum improvement of EESEDF+Online-DVS 15%, 17%, and 12%, respectively compared to EESEDF alone. Furthermore, in the second set of experiments, we compared EESEDF against state-of-the-art techniques LESA and NCM. The results showed that EESEDF+Online-DVS outperformed these existing approaches, achieving notable energy efficiency improvements of 25% and 20% over LESA and NCM, respectively. \hl{Our proposed scheduler, EESEDF+Online-DVS, also achieves significant energy efficiency gains compared to existing methods. It outperforms IOETCS-Heuristic by approximately 13% while surpassing BESS and CAP-Online by impressive margins of 25% and 35%, respectively

Role of Self-Trapped Excitons in the Broadband Emission of Lead-Free Perovskite-Inspired Cu2AgBiI6

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Selected mitochondrial DNA landscapes activate the SIRT3 axis of the UPR(mt) to promote metastasis

By causing mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) mutations and oxidation of mitochondrial proteins, reactive oxygen species (ROS) leads to perturbations in mitochondrial proteostasis. Several studies have linked mtDNA mutations to metastasis of cancer cells but the nature of the mtDNA species involved remains unclear. Our data suggests that no common mtDNA mutation identifies metastatic cells; rather the metastatic potential of several ROS-generating mutations is largely determined by their mtDNA genomic landscapes, which can act either as an enhancer or repressor of metastasis. However, mtDNA landscapes of all metastatic cells are characterized by activation of the SIRT/FOXO/SOD2 axis of the mitochondrial unfolded protein response (UPR(mt)). The UPR(mt) promotes a complex transcription program ultimately increasing mitochondrial integrity and fitness in response to oxidative proteotoxic stress. Using SOD2 as a surrogate marker of the UPR(mt), we found that in primary breast cancers, SOD2 is significantly increased in metastatic lesions. We propose that the ability of selected mtDNA species to activate the UPR(mt) is a process that is exploited by cancer cells to maintain mitochondrial fitness and facilitate metastasis.Oncogene advance online publication, 3 April 2017; doi:10.1038/onc.2017.52

Outcomes after coverage of lenticulostriate vessels by flow diverters: a multicenter experience

OBJECTIVE: With the increasing use of flow diversion as treatment for intracranial aneurysms, there is a concomitant increased vigilance in monitoring complications. The low porosity of flow diverters is concerning when the origins of vessels are covered, whether large circle of Willis branches or critical perforators. In this study, the authors report their experience with flow diverter coverage of the lenticulostriate vessels and evaluate their safety and outcomes. METHODS: The authors retrospectively reviewed 5 institutional databases of all flow diversion cases from August 2012 to June 2018. Information regarding patient presentation, aneurysm location, treatment, and outcomes were recorded. Patients who were treated with flow diverters placed in the proximal middle cerebral artery (MCA), proximal anterior cerebral artery, or distal internal carotid artery leading to coverage of the medial and lateral lenticulostriate vessels were included. Clinical outcomes according to the modified Rankin Scale were reviewed. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to establish risk factors for lenticulostriate infarct. RESULTS: Fifty-two patients were included in the analysis. Postprocedure cross-sectional images were available in 30 patients. Two patients experienced transient occlusion of the MCA during the procedure; one was asymptomatic, and the other had a clinical and radiographic ipsilateral internal capsule stroke. Five patients had transient symptoms without radiographic infarct in the lenticulostriate territory. Two patients experienced in-stent thrombosis, leading to clinical MCA infarcts (one in the ipsilateral caudate) after discontinuing antiplatelet therapy. Discontinuation of dual antiplatelet therapy prior to 6 months was the only variable that was significantly correlated with stroke outcome (p \u3c 0.01, OR 0.3, 95% CI 0-0.43), and this significance persisted when controlled for other risk factors, including age, smoking status, and aneurysm location. CONCLUSIONS: The use and versatility of flow diversion is increasing, and safety data are continuing to accumulate. Here, the authors provide early data on the safety of covering lenticulostriate vessels with flow diverters. The authors concluded that the coverage of these perforators does not routinely lead to clinically significant ischemia when dual antiplatelet therapy is continued for 6 months. Further evaluation is needed in larger cohorts and with imaging follow-up as experience develops in using these devices in more distal circulation

Generating Optimal Topologies in Structural Design Using a Homogenization Method,"

This paper proposes a basic method for designing light and rigid structures that have a maximum natural frequency for a designated mode. A design variable "density," related to the material properties of a three-dimensional solid element, is introduced into the finite element method ( FEM ). Thus, a structure is expressed as a density distribution inside its design domain, and the optimal structure is obtained by searching for the most suitable such distribution

Age- and sex-based heterogeneity in coronary artery plaque presence and burden in familial hypercholesterolemia:A multi-national study

Objectives: Individuals with familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) are at an increased risk for coronary artery disease (CAD). While prior research has shown variability in coronary artery calcification (CAC) among those with FH, studies with small sample sizes and single-center recruitment have been limited in their ability to characterize CAC and plaque burden in subgroups based on age and sex. Understanding the spectrum of atherosclerosis may result in personalized risk assessment and tailored allocation of costly add-on, non-statin lipid-lowering therapies. We aimed to characterize the presence and burden of CAC and coronary plaque on computed tomography angiography (CTA) across age- and sex-stratified subgroups of individuals with FH who were without CAD at baseline. Methods: We pooled 1,011 patients from six cohorts across Brazil, France, the Netherlands, Spain, and Australia. Our main measures of subclinical atherosclerosis included CAC ranges (i.e., 0, 1–100, 101–400, &gt;400) and CTA-derived plaque burden (i.e., no plaque, non-obstructive CAD, obstructive CAD). Results: Ninety-five percent of individuals with FH (mean age: 48 years; 54% female; treated LDL-C: 154 mg/dL) had a molecular diagnosis and 899 (89%) were on statin therapy. Overall, 423 (42%) had CAC=0, 329 (33%) had CAC 1–100, 160 (16%) had CAC 101–400, and 99 (10%) had CAC &gt;400. Compared to males, female patients were more likely to have CAC=0 (48% [n = 262] vs 35% [n = 161]) and no plaque on CTA (39% [n = 215] vs 26% [n = 120]). Among patients with CAC=0, 85 (20%) had non-obstructive CAD. Females also had a lower prevalence of obstructive CAD in CAC 1–100 (8% [n = 15] vs 18% [n = 26]), CAC 101–400 (32% [n = 22] vs 40% [n = 36]), and CAC &gt;400 (52% [n = 16] vs 65% [n = 44]). Female patients aged 50–59 years were less likely to have obstructive CAD in CAC &gt;400 (55% [n = 6] vs 70% [n = 19]). Conclusion: In this large, multi-national study, we found substantial age- and sex-based heterogeneity in CAC and plaque burden in a cohort of predominantly statin-treated individuals with FH, with evidence for a less pronounced increase in atherosclerosis among female patients. Future studies should examine the predictors of resilience to and long-term implications of the differential burden of subclinical coronary atherosclerosis in this higher risk population.</p