A Robust Variable Step Size Fractional Least Mean Square (RVSS-FLMS) Algorithm

In this paper, we propose an adaptive framework for the variable step size of the fractional least mean square (FLMS) algorithm. The proposed algorithm named the robust variable step size-FLMS (RVSS-FLMS), dynamically updates the step size of the FLMS to achieve high convergence rate with low steady state error. For the evaluation purpose, the problem of system identification is considered. The experiments clearly show that the proposed approach achieves better convergence rate compared to the FLMS and adaptive step-size modified FLMS (AMFLMS).Comment: 15 pages, 3 figures, 13th IEEE Colloquium on Signal Processing & its Applications (CSPA 2017

Select Financial Ratios as a Determinant of Profitability Evidence from Petrochemical Industry in Saudi Arabia

The pedestal of economic growth of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia cardinally hinges upon the growth and development of the Petrochemical companies. Of late, there is risk of an increase in feedstock cost, which can pressurize margins for Saudi companies. This has encouraged the researchers to analyze the profitability and select financial ratios of petrochemicals industry in Saudi Arabia. The research paper makes an endeavor to determine the profitability of listed Petrochemical companies in Saudi Arabia with five years accounting period from 2008 to 2012. The paper encompasses six variables, namely, Creditors’ Velocity (CRSV), Debtors’ Turnover Ratio (DTR), Inventory Turnover Ratio (ITR), Long-Term-Debt to Equity Ratio (LTDER), Total Assets Turnover Ratio (TATR) and Net profit Margin (NPM). Profitability as a dependent variable is exhibited by Net profit Margin (NPM) while the select ratios (CRSV), (DTR), (ITR), (LTDER), (TATR) are expressed as independent variables. Based on the findings of the study, it is cogently revealed that there is a significant relationship between the four selected ratios and Net Profit Margin (NPM) of Petrochemical companies in Saudi Arabia. Keywords: Profitability, Financial Ratios, Petrochemical industr

Comparison of different cephalometric variables in patients with and without history of snoring

Background: Obstructive sleep apnea syndrome has a high prevalence among adults. Cephalometric variables can be a valuable method for evaluating patients with this syndrome. The objective of this study is to evaluate and compare the craniofacial variables in subjects with and without snoring by cephalometric analysis.Methods: 40 patients were included in the study who were divided into two groups; group 1 of 20 snoring patients and group 2 control group of 20 non-snoring patients and were evaluated and compared for various cephalometric variables.Results: The distance from the hyoid bone to the mandibular plane (MP-H) was the only variable that showed a statistically significant correlation between two groups.Conclusions: Cephalometric variables are useful tools for evaluating the patients with snoring who are predisposed to obstructive sleep apnoea. The distance from the hyoid bone to the mandibular plane showed a statistically significant correlation between two groups

Study of hardness and tensile strength of Aluminium-7075 percentage varying reinforced with graphite and bagasse-ash composites

Waste sugarcane bagasse-ash and graphite utilizing as reinforcement in fabricating of an aluminium alloy (Al-7075) based matrix hybrid composites. The aluminium matrix hybrid composites have been fabricated by stir-casting method at 750 °C. Casting was developed in circular metal mould having 5 circular slots of diameter of 21 mm and length of 250 mm. Adding bagasse-ash with varying reinforcement of three cases, in first case 2% constant with varying graphite 1%, 3%, and 5%, in second case 4%, and in third case 6% constant with varying same graphite percentage. The effect of the reinforcement has been performed through various mechanical tests. The mechanical properties measuring such as Brinell hardness and tensile strength of both the samples have been prepared as per the ASTM E23 and E8 standards. Results give out that there will be greater effect of reinforcing different bagasse-ash in aluminium alloy matrix hybrid composites. In the third case more enhanced mechanical properties have been achieved as compared to case one and two of bagasse-ash combination. It shows that the selection of bagasse-ash as reinforcement has one of the most significant criteria for the fabrication of aluminium matrix hybrid composites

Pharmacovigilance: a study to evaluate knowledge, attitude, and practices of and impact of educational intervention among doctors in teaching hospital, in rural area of Jalna, India

Background: According to WHO Pharmacovigilance is “The science and activities which are related to the detection, assessment, understanding, and the prevention of adverse effects or any other drug-related problems.” A majority of India’s population prefers government hospitals when they are in need of health care facilities. The patients also prefer other available free health care facilities. Hence, these hospitals can be a good source for generating an adverse drug reactions database. However, the Herculean task is to foster a culture of reporting among the doctors, especially among the junior doctors, as they are more closely associated with the patient care, hence the present study to assess awareness of pharmacovigilance among the doctors and to evaluate the impact of an educational intervention for improving awareness of pharmacovigilance among doctors in an Indian tertiary care teaching hospital.Methods: A suitable self-administered knowledge, attitude, practice (KAP) survey questionnaire was designed, based on previous studies. An interventional educational activity was organized and the impact of the educational Intervention was evaluated by again administering the similar questionnaire. The statistical analysis was carried for comparing the pre- and post-intervention.Results: It was seen that the KAP of pharmacovigilance among doctors is low. The results also showed that there was an improvement after the educational intervention.Conclusions: The KAP of pharmacovigilance is low among doctors and educational intervention can improve it

Flow-Aware Elephant Flow Detection for Software-Defined Networks

Software-defined networking (SDN) separates the network control plane from the packet forwarding plane, which provides comprehensive network-state visibility for better network management and resilience. Traffic classification, particularly for elephant flow detection, can lead to improved flow control and resource provisioning in SDN networks. Existing elephant flow detection techniques use pre-set thresholds that cannot scale with the changes in the traffic concept and distribution. This paper proposes a flow-aware elephant flow detection applied to SDN. The proposed technique employs two classifiers, each respectively on SDN switches and controller, to achieve accurate elephant flow detection efficiently. Moreover, this technique allows sharing the elephant flow classification tasks between the controller and switches. Hence, most mice flows can be filtered in the switches, thus avoiding the need to send large numbers of classification requests and signaling messages to the controller. Experimental findings reveal that the proposed technique outperforms contemporary methods in terms of the running time, accuracy, F-measure, and recall

Assessment of Delay Factors in Saudi Arabia Railway/Metro Construction Projects

Railway construction industry has devoted vast amount of resources into advancing the management and technology of railway construction, yet most project in this industry often failed to comply with the set deadlines and budget limits. This study was conducted to recognize the critical factors that are causing delays in the construction of Riyadh Metro project, Saudi Arabia. From a thorough literature review, thirty-six (36) factors causing delays were identified which were then distributed to qualified industry experts in a survey questionnaire. A total of 105 respondents were gathered during the data collection. The data was then evaluated statistically by utilizing different calculation tools that are frequency adjusted importance index for the delay factor ranking, and Spearman's correlation coefficient for the link between two different set of data. The result of this research identified the top five main delay factors to the railway construction projects which are “Client's decision-making process and changes in control proceduresâ€, “Design Errors (including ambiguities and discrepancies of details/specifications)â€, “Labor skills levelâ€, “Design changes by Client or Consultant†and lastly, “Issues regarding permissions/ approvals from other stakeholdersâ€. Finally, this study is hoped to help the railway construction industry in bettering itself by highlighting which issues should be focused on to counter the delays and reduce downtimes