Multistrategy Learning of Self-Organizing Map (SOM) and Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) is commonly implemented in clustering domain due to its capabilities in handling complex data characteristics. However, some of these multistrategy learning architectures have weaknesses such as slow convergence time always being trapped in the local minima. This paper proposes multistrategy learning of SOM lattice structure with Particle Swarm Optimisation which is called ESOMPSO for solving various classification problems. The enhancement of SOM lattice structure is implemented by introducing a new hexagon formulation for better mapping quality in data classification and labeling. The weights of the enhanced SOM are optimised using PSO to obtain better output quality. The proposed method has been tested on various standard datasets with substantial comparisons with existing SOM network and various distance measurement. The results show that our proposed method yields a promising result with better average accuracy and quantisation errors compared to the other methods as well as convincing significant test.
This study evaluated the effect of partial uropygialectomy (PU) on carcass traits of male and female Akar Putra chickens. Sixty chicks of each sex were evenly distributed into 5 treatment groups with 3 replicates per group containing 4 males and 4 females each, and reared for 12 wk. Homogeneity of the groups was satisfied with regard to the parity. Experimental treatments consisted of a control treatment (T1), and partial ablation of the uropygial gland was applied on the second, third, fourth, and fifth treatments at 3, 4, 5, and 6 wk of age, respectively. The chickens were fed ad libitum the same diets (1 to 13 d: starter; 14 d to slaughter: finisher). On the last d of the experiment, 12 birds were randomly selected from each treatment group (2 males and 2 females per replicate) and slaughtered to determine carcass characteristics, which included carcass weight, dressing percentage with or without eating giblets, and the relative weights of heart, liver, gizzard, thighs, wings, breast, back, and neck. From the results of the study, it was shown that the partial ablation of the uropygial gland at all ages had certain dependent effects concerning some carcass parameters, as shown by higher breast and back relative weights in males and breast relative weight in females. As a consequence, a positive effect also was noticed regarding the carcass morphology in terms of the increase in dressing percentage with or without eating giblets thus leading to an increase in the body weight and carcass weight. Furthermore, the best result was obtained in the second treatment when PU was applied at 3 wk of age compared with other experimental groups. Moreover, the current study provides a novel and economic alternative to enhance the body performance of poultry in general and Akar Putra chicken particularly.
Partial ablation of the uropygial gland is being used in the poultry industry as a new way to enhance body performance of chickens. However, limited data are available estimating the efficacy of partial uropygialectomy (PU) to improve body organ activity. The present study evaluated the effect of partial ablation of the uropygial gland on the serum growth hormone concentration level and digestive system histology of 120 Akar Putra chickens in 5 trials with 3 replicates per trial. The experimental treatments consisted of a control treatment T1; partial ablation of the uropygial gland was applied in the T2, T3, T4, and T5 treatments at 3, 4, 5, and 6 wk of age, respectively. Feed and water were provided ad libitum. All treatment groups were provided the same diet. Venous blood samples were collected on wk 7, 10, and 12 to assay the levels of growth hormone concentration. On the last d of the experiment, 4 birds per replicate were randomly isolated and euthanized to perform the necropsy. Digestive system organs' cross sections were measured by a computerized image analyzer after being stained with haematoxylin and eosin. In comparison with the control group, surgical removal of the uropygial gland, especially at wk 3, had a greater (P<0.01) effect on the total duodenum, jejunum, and ilium wall thickness. In addition, effects (P<0.05) were observed on the wall thickness of males' cecum and colon. Moreover, the wall layers of the esophagus, proventriculus, gizzard, and rectum were not affected by the treatment. However, removing the uropygial gland showed significant impact (P<0.05) in males' growth hormone concentration level at wk 7 and (P<0.01) effects at wk 12 in both sexes. This study provides a novel and economic alternative to enhance the body performance of poultry in general and Akar Putra chickens particularly.
In this paper emerging parallel/distributed architectures are explored for the digital VLSI implementation of adaptive bidirectional associative memory (BAM) neural network. A single instruction stream many data stream (SIMD)-based parallel processing architecture, is developed for the adaptive BAM neural network, taking advantage of the inherent parallelism in BAM. This novel neural processor architecture is named the sliding feeder BAM array processor (SLiFBAM). The SLiFBAM processor can be viewed as a two-stroke neural processing engine, It has four operating modes: learn pattern, evaluate pattern, read weight, and write weight. Design of a SLiFBAM VLSI processor chip is also described. By using 2-mum scalable CMOS technology, a SLiFBAM processor chip with 4+4 neurons and eight modules of 256x5 bit local weight-storage SRAM, was integrated on a 6.9x7.4 mm(2) prototype die. The system architecture is highly flexible and modular, enabling the construction of larger BAM networks of up to 252 neurons using multiple SLiFBAM chips.
OBJECTIVES:
To examine the validity and reliability of the Menopause-specific Quality of Life (MENQOL) questionnaire in a sample of women with diabetes in Malaysia, with the secondary aim of determining whether MENQOL domain scores were associated with depression and diabetes.
METHODS:
A total of 337 postmenopausal women (241 with diabetes, 96 controls) were evaluated. Construct validity was evaluated using principal components analysis (PCA) and comparing scale items against the mental component score of the Short Form-12 (SF-12 MCS), and against the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale 10 (CES-D 10). Consistency assessment was conducted using Cronbach's α.
RESULTS:
The internal consistencies for the physical (PHS), psychosocial (PS), sexual (VSS) and vasomotor domains were 0.86, 0.79, 0.79 and 0.70, and 0.90 for the full scale of MENQOL. PCA revealed a four-factorial model. Diabetes and non-diabetes subjects experienced their first period (13.25 vs. 13.10 years, p = 0.680) and achieved menopause around the same age (49.35 vs. 48.87 years, p = 0.426). We found significant variations in the MENQOL's PHS and PS domain scores that could be explained by SF-12 PCS (25%) and SF-12 MCS (20%) sub-scales. The validity of the MENQOL domains was demonstrated through significant associations with the equivalent SF-12 MCS and PCS subscales. The PS domain of the MENQOL also predicted the likelihood of symptoms of depression (1.42, 95% confidence interval 1.01-2.02).
CONCLUSIONS:
This study confirms the validity and internal consistency of the MENQOL questionnaire for measuring quality of life in postmenopausal women with diabetes, suggesting that the instrument can be used to screen people for menopausal symptoms.
KEYWORDS:
DIABETES; MENOPAUSE; QUALITY OF LIFE; VALIDITY
An experiment was carried out to estimate the meat quality characteristics of village chickens (Gallus gallus) fed diets supplemented with dry leaves of Borreria latifolia (BL) used as a potential antioxidant source in chicken feed. In this study, 252 sexed 9-week-old village chickens with mean live body weight of 1,525.4 g for males and 1,254.1 g for females were divided into 7 groups (each group 18 birds) for each sex represented in 2 experiments. The first experiment was to evaluate the antioxidant activity of BL and the effect on meat quality through a comparison with Rosmarinus officinalis (RO); hence, 3 groups were conducted and included: T1 (control), basal diet without supplementation; T2, basal diet with 1% of BL; T3, basal diet with 1% of RO. T2 and T3 significantly affect pH value, lipid oxidation, cooking loss, and overall acceptability compared to T1, while no significant difference was observed between the dietary groups in respect of drip loss, color, tenderness, fatty acid profile, and meat composition. Furthermore, a significant effect of sex on lipid oxidation, pH, yellowness, and fatty acid profile was observed. There was no significant effect of sex on WHC, tenderness, lightness, redness, and sensory evaluation. A significant influence of postmortem aging period was detected on lipid oxidation, pH, tenderness, cooking loss, and redness. The obtained result in this study revealed a significance in the interaction of herb by sex in pH parameter and between herb and sex, herb by aging period, sex by aging period, and the herb by sex by aging period interactions with regard to lipid oxidation test. The second experiment was to estimate the effect of 3 different levels of BL on meat quality. Four groups were provided and involved: T1 (control), basal diet without supplementation; T2, basal diet with 1.5% of BL; T3, basal diet with 2% of BL; and T4, basal diet with 2.5% of BL. The result of this study showed a significant effect (P
This paper is concerned with the formulation and analysis of an epidemic model of COVID-19 governed by an eight-dimensional system of ordinary differential equations, by taking into account the first dose and the second dose of vaccinated individuals in the population. The developed model is analyzed and the threshold quantity known as the control reproduction number [Formula: see text] is obtained. We investigate the equilibrium stability of the system, and the COVID-free equilibrium is said to be locally asymptotically stable when the control reproduction number is less than unity, and unstable otherwise. Using the least-squares method, the model is calibrated based on the cumulative number of COVID-19 reported cases and available information about the mass vaccine administration in Malaysia between the 24th of February 2021 and February 2022. Following the model fitting and estimation of the parameter values, a global sensitivity analysis was performed by using the Partial Rank Correlation Coefficient (PRCC) to determine the most influential parameters on the threshold quantities. The result shows that the effective transmission rate [Formula: see text], the rate of first vaccine dose [Formula: see text], the second dose vaccination rate [Formula: see text] and the recovery rate due to the second dose of vaccination [Formula: see text] are the most influential of all the model parameters. We further investigate the impact of these parameters by performing a numerical simulation on the developed COVID-19 model. The result of the study shows that adhering to the preventive measures has a huge impact on reducing the spread of the disease in the population. Particularly, an increase in both the first and second dose vaccination rates reduces the number of infected individuals, thus reducing the disease burden in the population.
Brachial plexopathy is usually related to trauma like direct injury to the nerve and stretching injuries. Neurological complications following bee sting are uncommon. Here, we describe a rare case of acute brachial plexopathy as a neurological complication following bee sting. A23-year-old maleinitially presented with angioedema and anaphylactic shock one hour after a bee stung at his neck. Twenty four hours after the incidence, he presented with sudden onset of left upper limb weakness. Nerve conduction study and electromyography had shown evidence of left brachial plexopathy.
Encephalitis has been included in the causes of optic neuritis, but post encephalitic optic neuritis has been rarely reported. Majority of the cases of optic neuritis are either idiopathic or associated with multiple sclerosis, especially in western countries. This is very important in the Asian population where the incidence and prevalence of multiple sclerosis is not as high as in the Western countries. Although post infectious optic neuritis is more common in children, it can also be found in adults and is usually seen one to three weeks after a symptomatic infective prodrome. Here, we present a case of a 48 year-old-male who developed optic neuritis following viral encephalitis. His first presentation was with severe headache of two weeks duration. Viral encephalitis was diagnosed and treated. The patient presented again three weeks later with right eye pain and other features typical of optic neuritis. Corticosteroid therapy facilitated prompt recovery. Optic neuritis is an uncommon manifestation of encephalitis. It is important that both doctors and patients remain aware of post infectious cause of optic neuritis, which would enable a timely diagnosis and treatment of this reversible cause of vision loss.
Angiogenesis, or new blood vessel formation from existing one, plays both beneficial and detrimental roles in living organisms in different aspects. Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), a signal protein, well established as key regulator of vasculogenesis and angiogenesis. VEGF ensures oxygen supply to the tissues when blood supply is not adequate, or tissue environment is in hypoxic condition. Limited expression of VEGF is necessary, but if it is over expressed, then it can lead to serious disease like cancer. Cancers that have ability to express VEGF are more efficient to grow and metastasize because solid cancers cannot grow larger than a limited size without adequate blood and oxygen supply. Anti-VEGF drugs are already available in the market to control angiogenesis, but they are often associated with severe side-effects like fetal bleeding and proteinuria in the large number of patients. To avoid such side-effects, new insight is required to find potential compounds as anti-VEGF from natural sources. In the present investigation, molecular docking studies were carried out to find the potentiality of Withaferin A, a key metabolite of Withania somnifera, as an inhibitor of VEGF.