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The paper ‘A Divide and Conquer Approach to Leads-to Model Checking’, by Yati Phyo, Canh Minh Do and Kazuhiro Ogata, published in The Computer Journal (February 2021), explores a new leads-to model method to negate the state involvement in model checking.

Paragangliomas are neuroendocrine tumours of extra adrenal origin. Although it occurs rarely in the genitourinary system, urinary bladder is the most common site. Its diagnosis warrants complete surgical excision with lymphadenectomy in case of metastatic disease. The functional status of this tumour makes intraoperative handling challenging. Surgical resection necessitates minimal manipulation of tumour thereby mitigating intraoperative physiological jeopardy. We report the possibility of minimally invasive partial cystectomy with bilateral vesico-ureteric junction resection and re-implantation for non-malignant paraganglioma involving the bladder trigone. Intraoperative frozen section is deemed necessary to achieve tumour free margin status.

Carbon dioxide (CO2) is one of the most important greenhouse gases and atmospheric CO2 concentrations have been recorded increasing. Floating chamber associated with Non-Dispersive Infrared (NDIR) technique as Licor-820 has been used for measuring the CO2 flux F(CO2) (mmol m-2 h-1) that emitted from the water surface on the various canals of Ho Chi Minh City. The highest values at 3 sites: CH – Kenh Đoi, DBP – Kenh Nhieu Loc – Thi Nghe and CD – Rach Cau Son ranged from 35 to 186 mmol m-2 h-1 while much higher at OB site – Rach Ong Lon from 120–474 mmol m-2h-1. Climate characteristics also greatly affect the CO2 emissions in natural waterways with low F(CO2) values in dry season – the highest value fluctuated between 35 and 181 mmol m-2 h-1 while in the rainy season the highest F(CO2) value was 446 mmol m-2 h-1 for OB site and ranged from 65 to 186 mmol m-2 h-1 for 3 other sites CH , DBP and CD. Pollution of waterways also affected on the CO2 emissions.

We investigate solvable-unsolvable phase transitions in the single-machine scheduling (SMS) problem. SMS is at the core of practical problems such as telescope and satellite scheduling and manufacturing. To study the solvability phase transition, we construct a variety of instance families parameterized by the set of the processing times, the window size (deadline minus release time), and the horizon. We empirically establish the phase transition and look for an easy-hard-easy pattern for this family using several common solvers. While in many combinatorial problems a phase transition coincides with typically hard instances, whether or not that is the case with SMS remains an open question, and merits further study.

Background A plateau in childhood overweight and obesity has been reported in some developed countries while in almost all developing countries this problem is on the rise. The aim of this paper is to describe the changes in prevalence of overweight and obesity within a cohort of preschool children followed for 3 years, and to estimate and compare the incidences in urban and rural children of Hanoi, Vietnam. Methods A longitudinal study of a cohort of 2677 children aged 3 to 6 years old at the beginning of the study was conducted in urban DodaLab and rural FilaBavi, Hanoi, Vietnam. Overall, 2602 children, 1311 urban and 1291 rural, were followed for 3 years with identical measurements of weight and height in 2013, 2014 and 2016. Standard methods were used to estimate prevalence and incidence as well as confidence intervals. Results During the three-year follow-up, the overall estimated prevalence of overweight increased from 9.1% to 16.7%. For the urban children, the increase was considerably higher. The overall prevalence of obesity decreased from 6.4% to 4.5% with less decrease in the urban children. In the group of children who were overweight and obese at the start of the study, 41.4% and 30.7%, respectively, remained in the same state three years later. The incidence of overweight and obesity during the three years were 12.4% and 2.7%, respectively. Boys were more likely to develop obesity than girls. Conclusions Already in preschool age, the prevalence of overweight is high and it continues to increase with age, especially in the urban area. Prevention and intervention programs need to start at early preschool age and actions in urban areas deserve priority.

The heat and mass transfer of deformable droplets in turbulent flows is crucial to a wide range of applications, such as cloud dynamics and internal combustion engines. This study investigates a single droplet undergoing phase change in isotropic turbulence using numerical simulations with a hybrid lattice Boltzmann scheme. Phase separation is controlled by a non-ideal equation of state and density contrast is taken into consideration. Droplet deformation is caused by pressure and shear stress at the droplet interface. The statistics of thermodynamic variables are quantified and averaged over both the liquid and vapour phases. The occurrence of evaporation and condensation is correlated to temperature fluctuations, surface tension variation and turbulence intensity. The temporal spectra of droplet deformations are analysed and related to the droplet surface area. Different modes of oscillation are clearly identified from the deformation power spectrum for low Taylor Reynolds number $Re_{\unicode[STIX]{x1D706}}$, whereas nonlinearities are produced with the increase of $Re_{\unicode[STIX]{x1D706}}$, as intermediate frequencies are seen to overlap. As an outcome, a continuous spectrum is observed, which shows a decrease in the power spectrum that scales as ${\sim}f^{-3}$. Correlations between the droplet Weber number, deformation parameter, fluctuations of the droplet volume and thermodynamic variables are also developed.

We conduct numerical experiments on viscoelastic droplets hitting a flat solid surface. The results present time-resolved non-Newtonian stresses acting in the droplet. Comparing with the simulation of the impact of a Newtonian droplet, the effects of viscoelasticity on droplet behaviors such as splashing, the maximum spreading diameter and deformation are analyzed. With detailed information on the contact line region, we demonstrate how the contact line behaves according to the transition of the fluid property from elasticity dominated to shear-thinning dominated when a droplet expands and contracts on the substrate. The propose of this work is to discuss whether and how the elasticity in an impinging droplet takes effect.

For phase-change cooling schemes for electronics, quick activation of nucleate boiling helps safeguard the electronics components from thermal shocks associated with undesired surface superheating at boiling incipience, which is of great importance to the long-term system stability and reliability. Previous experimental studies show that bubble nucleation can occur surprisingly early on mixed-wettability surfaces. In this paper, we report unambiguous evidence that such unusual bubble generation at extremely low temperatures—even below the boiling point—is induced by a significant presence of incondensable gas retained by the hydrophobic surface, which exhibits exceptional stability even surviving extensive boiling deaeration. By means of high-speed imaging, it is revealed that the consequently gassy boiling leads to unique bubble behaviour that stands in sharp contrast with that of pure vapour bubbles. Such findings agree qualitatively well with numerical simulations based on a diffuse-interface method. Moreover, the simulations further demonstrate strong thermocapillary flows accompanying growing bubbles with considerable gas contents, which is associated with heat transfer enhancement on the biphilic surface in the low-superheat region.

Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs), a family of endopeptidases also known as gelatinases, have been reported to affect the acquisition of the cell proliferative, cell invasive and metastatic phenotype of several types of cancer. In particular, the gelatinases MMP-2 and −9 have been revealed to facilitate tumor growth and invasion in patients with colorectal cancer (CRC). However, it is not known whether the gelatinase activity of MMP-2 and −9 is also elevated in Vietnamese patients with CRC. The activity of MMP-2 and −9 in the tissue samples of 103 patients with CRC was evaluated by gelatin zymography and quantified using ImageJ. The association between the level of activity of MMP-2 and −9 and various clinicopathological factors was analyzed, and Chisio BioPAX Editor software was used to visualize the biological pathways regulating the activity of the MMPs. The present study noticed significantly increased activity of active MMP-2 and MMP-9 in tumor tissues (P

In this article, we design a crowdsourcing system, CrowdMAC, where mobile devices form a local community or marketplace to share network access and transfer data for each other. CrowdMAC enables (i) mobile clients to select and exploit multiple mobile hotspots in its vicinity for data transfer and (ii) mobile hotspots to open their cellular connectivity to admit/serve delay-bounded requests from mobile users for a fee. The evaluations of CrowdMAC indicate that (i) mobile clients can tune preferred trade-offs between cost and delay through a control knob, (ii) mobile hotspots comply with all delay bounds, and (iii) the system ensures stable and efficient transfer.

Machine learning algorithms perform differently in settings with varying levels of training set mislabeling noise. Therefore, the choice of the right algorithm for a particular learning problem is crucial. The contribution of this paper is towards two, dual problems: first, comparing algorithm behavior; and second, choosing learning algorithms for noisy settings. We present the "sigmoid rule" framework, which can be used to choose the most appropriate learning algorithm depending on the properties of noise in a classification problem. The framework uses an existing model of the expected performance of learning algorithms as a sigmoid function of the signal-to-noise ratio in the training instances. We study the characteristics of the sigmoid function using five representative non-sequential classifiers, namely, Naive Bayes, kNN, SVM, a decision tree classifier, and a rule-based classifier, and three widely used sequential classifiers based on hidden Markov models, conditional random fields and recursive neural networks. Based on the sigmoid parameters we define a set of intuitive criteria that are useful for comparing the behavior of learning algorithms in the presence of noise. Furthermore, we show that there is a connection between these parameters and the characteristics of the underlying dataset, showing that we can estimate an expected performance over a dataset regardless of the underlying algorithm. The framework is applicable to concept drift scenarios, including modeling user behavior over time, and mining of noisy time series of evolving nature.

The phenomenon of droplet impact on a smooth, flat, partially wetted surface is studied by phase field simulation. A map of the different impact regimes is constructed for Reynolds numbers ranging ...

The effect of gasification on the dynamics and kinematics of immersed spherical and non-spherical solid particles have been investigated using the three-dimensional lattice Boltzmann method. The ga ...

By adopting selectively two classical models of consumer behavior, Theory of Rational Action and Technology Acceptance Model, and combining with two other factors, the paper proposed a model of six factors including Attitude, Perceived Risk, Perceived Usefulness, Perceived Ease of Use, Subjective Norm and Web Quality to assess determinants of university students’ online shopping behavior in Hanoi, Vietnam. The model was assessed through Explanatory Factor Analysis, regression analysis and independent sample test based on data collected from 289 university students in Hanoi, Vietnam. The results showed that Perceived Usefulness plays the most important role in determining students’ online shopping behavior, followed by Web Quality and Attitude. There is also a difference in online shopping behavior between the third-year and first-year students, and between the third-year and second-year students. From these results, the paper drew out implications to support E-commerce enterprises to attract more university students to shop online, and strengthen the development of E-commerce in Vietnam. &nbsp

Background Urate deposition in joints of patients with neglected gout leads to destructive arthropathy, with subchondral bone erosion, bone construction, and late joint space narrowing. Gouty erosions are believed to improve under urate lowering drugs (ULDs), but their course has been little studied. We therefore performed a systematic prospective study of a Vietnamese cohort started on allopurinol at inclusion. Objectives To characterize radiographic outcome of gouty erosions under serum urtae-targeted ULD Methods Included patients had crystal-proven gout, eGFR > 60 ml/min and were not taking ULDs at inclusion. Allopurinol was progressively increased to reach EULAR- recommended uricemia targets and patients were prospectively followed-up, in particular with sequential hand and foot antero-posterior radiographs and MTP and knee ultrasound (US) scans. Joint erosions were scored according to a validated index1, double contour thickness was evaluated by a 4 point-score. One index tophus per patient (hand or foot) was measured by US scan. Results 100 patients (99M) with a mean age of 45.9 + 9.9 years, and median gout duration of 8 years (range 0-33) were included. 91 had clinical tophi. Mean baseline uricemia was 492 μmol/L. Median final allopurinol dose was 520 mg/day. 71 patients had evidence of urate arthropathy at baseline, 68 of the feet and 23 of the hands (all but 3 with foot involvement). 1st MTPs were predominantly involved (44 and 35 patients on the right and left sides respectively). Urate arthropathy at baseline correlated with gout duration (p=0.01), clinical tophi (p=0.0007), maximum double contour thickness and index tophus US measurement (p=0.03) by univariate analysis and with clinical tophi by multivariable analysis (p=0.03). Uricemia target Conclusion Urate-lowering improved gouty erosion score, in correlation with decrease of uricemia and urate crystal load. However, complete erosion recovery was seldom observed during a median follow-up of 12 months. Increased bone production and massive urate dissolution under ULD occasionally led to 2 undescribed features of gouty arthropathy: joint ankylose and shrinking of involved toes respectively References [1]Dalbethet al, Arthritis Care Res 2007;57:1067-73. Acknowledgement ART Viggo, Societe Francaise de Rhumatologie Disclosure of Interests Thomas Bardin Consultant for: Astrazeneca, Grunenthal, Horizon, Novartis, Speakers bureau: Astella, AstraZeneca, Grunenthal., Quang Dinh Nguyen: None declared, Khoi Minh Tran: None declared, Nghia Hieu Le: None declared, Duc Minh Do: None declared, Valerie Bousson: None declared, Pascal Richette Consultant for: Grunenthal, Horizon, Speakers bureau: AstraZeneca, Grunenthal, Matthieu resche-rigon: None declared

Riverbank failure often occurs in the rainy season, with effects from some main processes such as rainfall infiltration, the fluctuation of the river water level and groundwater table, and the deformation of transient seepage. This paper has the objective of clarifying the effects of soil hydraulic conductivity and rainfall intensity on riverbank stability using numerical analysis with the GeoSlope program. The initial saturation condition is first indicated as the main factor affecting riverbank stability. Analyzing high-saturation conditions, the obtained result can be used to build an understanding of the mechanics of riverbank stability and the effect of both the rainfall intensity and soil hydraulic conductivity. Firstly, the rainfall intensity is lower than the soil hydraulic conductivity, the factor of safety (FOS) reduces with changes in the groundwater table, which is a result of rainwater infiltration and unsteady state flow through the unsaturated soil. Secondly, the rainfall intensity is slightly higher than the soil hydraulic conductivity, the groundwater table rises slowly, and the FOS decreases with both changes in the wetting front and groundwater table. Thirdly, the rainfall intensity is much higher than the soil hydraulic conductivity, and the FOS decreases dominantly by the wetting front and pond loading area. Finally, in cases with no pond, the FOS reduces when the rainfall intensity is lower than hydraulic conductivity. With low hydraulic conductivity, the wetting front is on a shallow surface and descends very slowly. The decreasing of FOS is only due to transient seepage changes of the unsaturated soil properties by losing soil suction and shear strength. These obtained results not only build a clearer understanding of the filtration mechanics but also provide a helpful reference for riverbank protection.

Background. Mutations of GDAP1 gene cause autosomal dominant and autosomal recessive Charcot-Marie-Tooth (CMT) disease and over 80 different mutations have been identified so far. This study analyzed the clinical and genetic characteristics of a Vietnamese CMT family that was affected by a novel GDAP1 mutation. Methods. We present three children of a family with progressive weakness, mild sensory loss, and absent tendon reflexes. Electrodiagnostic analyses displayed an axonal type of neuropathy in affected patients. Sequencing of GDAP1 gene was requested for all members of the family. Results. All affected individuals manifested identical clinical symptoms of motor and sensory impairments within the first three years of life, and nerve conduction study indicated the axonal degeneration. A homozygous GDAP1 variant (c.667_671dup) was found in the three affected children as recessive inheritance pattern. The mutation leads to a premature termination codon that shortens GDAP1 protein (p.Gln224Hisfs∗37). Further testing showed heterozygous c.667_671dup variant in the parents. Discussion. Our study expands the mutational spectrum of GDAP1-related CMT disease with the new and unreported GDAP1 variant. Alterations in GDAP1 gene should be evaluated as CMT causing variants in the Vietnamese population, predominantly axonal form of neuropathy in CMT disease.

In this study, we developed Different Artificial Intelligence (AI) models namely Artificial Neural Network (ANN), Adaptive Network based Fuzzy Inference System (ANFIS) and Support Vector Machine (SVM) for the prediction of Compression Coefficient of soil (Cc) which is one of the most important geotechnical parameters. A Monte Carlo approach was used for the sensitivity analysis of the AI models and input parameters. For the construction and validation of the models, 189 soft clayey soil samples were analyzed. In the models study, 13 input parameters: depth of sample, bulk density, plasticity index, moisture content, clay content, specific gravity, void ratio, liquid limit, dry density, porosity, plastic limit, degree of saturation, and liquidity index were used to obtain one output parameter “Cc”. Validation of the models was done using statistical methods such as Mean Absolute Error (MAE), Root Mean Square Error (RMSE), and Coefficient of determination (R2). Results of the model validation indicate that though performance of all the three models is good but SVM model is the best in the prediction of Cc. The Monte Carlo method based sensitivity analysis results show that out of the 13 input parameters considered for the models study, four parameters namely clay, degree of saturation, specific gravity and depth of sample are the most relevant in the prediction of Cc, and other parameters (bulk density, dry density, void ratio and porosity) are the most insignificant parameters for the prediction of Cc. Removal of these insignificant parameters helped to reduce the dimension of the input space and also model running time, and improved significantly the performance of the AI models. The results of this study might help in selecting the suitable AI models and input parameters for better and quick prediction of the Cc of soil.

Background This study aims at investigating the outcome and electrophysiologic recovery of 150 carpal tunnel syndrome hands after single-portal endoscopic surgery. Methods Patients with the cross-sectional area of the median nerve being 13–15 mm2 on ultrasound or abnormal sensory nerve conduction velocity on EMG are assigned to endoscopic surgery that cuts the decompressing transverse ligament to avoid the emergence of severe symptoms, such as muscular atrophy and loss of hand function. Results Single-portal endoscopic release is a safe and efficacious option for carpal tunnel release. The findings demonstrate encouraging results. Conclusion The endoscopic carpal tunnel release with the placement of a MicroAire system is a safe and effective method for treating carpal tunnel syndrome.

Biến đổi A10398G của gen ND3 ty thể dẫn đến thay thế axitamin Threonine thành Alanine của protein NADH dehydrogenase 3 được xác định có liên quan đến ung thư vú, ung thư phổi. Tuy nhiên, đối với ung thư đại trực tràng (UTĐTT) dữ liệu về tần suất và mối liên quan của biến đổi A10398G với các đặc điểm bệnh học của bệnh vẫn còn chưa được xác định. Vì vậy, trong nghiên cứu này, chúng tôi đã tiến hành sàng lọc biến đổi A10398G ở 86 bệnh nhân UTĐTT người Việt Nam và đánh giá mối liên quan giữa biến đổi này với các đặc điểm bệnh học của bệnh. Sử dụng kỹ thuật PCR-RFLP và giải trình tự ADN, biến đổi A10398G đã được xác định với tỷ lệ 50/86 (chiếm 58,1%) bệnh nhân. Trong đó, trên mô u tần suất biến đổi là 47/86 mẫu (chiếm 54,5%), trên mô lân cận u là 49/86 mẫu (chiếm 56,9%). Biến đổi A10398G liên quan đến mức độ xâm lấn của khối u (giai đoạn T) (p0,05).

Summary Recently, an interesting effect of ATP on proteins has been reported: ATP can hinder the thermal aggregation of proteins, and it can prevent fibrillation of intrinsically disorder proteins. Consequently, ATP was considered to act “as a biological hydrotrope.” In this paper, we demonstrate that the interactions leading to the two aforementioned phenomena are quite different from the traditionally referred hydrotropy. In the case of the increase of aggregation prevention, we show that the relevant effect is a specific ion effect of a strongly hydrated and highly charged anion in the Hofmeister series. In the case of fibrillation suppression, the most important mechanism is the interaction of adenosine with the delocalized π-systems of amino acid residues in the protein. In regard to classical solubilization power of ATP for organic molecules, we find that ATP does not act as a classical hydrotrope, because it strongly decreases the solubility of hydrophobes.

Summary The research work extends the scaled boundary finite element method (SBFEM) to non-deterministic framework defined on random domain wherein random behaviour is exhibited in the presence of the random-field uncertainties. The aim is to blend the SBFEM into the Galerkin spectral stochastic methods, which leads to a proficient procedure for handling the stress singularity problems and crack analysis. The Young's modulus of structures is considered to have random-field uncertainty resulting in the stochastic behaviour of responses. Mathematical expressions and the solution procedure are derived to evaluate the statistical characteristics of responses (displacement, strain and stress) and stress intensity factors of cracked structures. The feasibility and effectiveness of the presented method are demonstrated by particularly chosen numerical examples. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

We investigate the Marangoni effects in a hexane droplet under evaporation and close to its critical point. A lattice Boltzmann model is used to perform 3D numerical simulations. In a first case, the droplet is placed in its own vapor and a temperature gradient is imposed. The droplet locomotion through the domain is observed, where the temperature differences across the surface is proportional to the droplet velocity and the Marangoni effect is confirmed. The droplet is then set under a forced convection condition. The results show that the Marangoni stresses play a major role in maintaining the internal circulation when the superheated vapor temperature is increased. Surprisingly, surface tension variations along the interface due to temperature change may affect heat transfer and internal circulation even for low Weber number. Other results and considerations regarding the droplet surface are also discussed.

The GEO-Stationary Coastal and Air Pollution Events (GEO-CAPE) mission plans to put a visible spectrum imaging instrument on a satellite in geo-stationary orbit to perform ocean color remote sensing. Two different instrument designs, Filter Radiometer (FR) and COastal Ecosystems Dynamic Imager (COEDI), with different shape for the imaged area and image acquisition time, are being evaluated. Scheduling observations for either instrument requires optimizing science objectives in the presence of predicted cloud cover and available daylight. We model this scheduling problem as both Mixed Integer Linear Program (MILP) and Constraint Programming (CP) problems, and compare these two formulations for FR and COEDI using real cloudiness data collected at different times throughout the year. Our results show that MILP is the more suitable technique, and the schedule quality metric shows FR is the preferred design. We have reported our results to the GEO-CAPE mission team to assist them making an informed decision for the next step in formulating this mission.

The research work presents the study on non-deterministic problems in the presence of the multiple imprecise-random-field uncertainties by extending the spectral stochastic finite element framework. The standard random field is expanded to characterize the behaviour of physical model with imprecise randomness more appropriately for real engineering problems based on available sources of uncertainty. The Young’s modulus and body force of structures are considered as imprecise random fields with bounded statistical moments. Mathematical expressions and solution procedure are developed to produce the uncertain-but-bounded statistical characteristics of responses, namely interval mean value, interval standard deviation and bounding distribution functions. The bounding probability density and cumulative distribution of the imprecise random response are then effectively visualized by means of Polynomial Chaos Expansion. The feasibility and effectiveness of the presented method are illustrated by three numerical examples.

The blood-brain barrier (BBB) is responsible for the control of solutes' concentration in the brain. Tight junctions and multiple ATP-binding cassette (ABC) and SoLute Carrier (SLC) efflux transporters protect brain cells from xenobiotics, therefore reducing brain exposure to intentionally administered drugs. In epilepsy, polymorphisms and overexpression of efflux transporters genes could be associated with pharmacoresistance. The ontogeny of these efflux transporters should also be addressed because their expression during development may be related to different brain exposure to antiepileptic drugs in the immature brain. We detected statistically significant higher expression of Abcb1b and Slc16a1 genes, and lower expression of Abcb1a and Abcg2 genes between the post-natal day 14 (P14) and the adult rat microvessels. P-gP efflux activity was also shown to be lower in P14 rats when compared with the adults. The P-gP proteins coded by rodent genes Abcb1a and Abcb1b are known to have different substrate affinities. The role of the Abcg2 gene is less clear in pharmacoresistance in epilepsy, nonetheless the coded protein Bcrp is frequently associated with drug resistance. Finally, we observed a higher expression of the Mct1 transporter gene in the P14 rat brain microvessels. Accordingly to our results, we suppose that age may be another factor influencing brain exposure to antiepileptics as a consequence of different expression patterns of efflux transporters between the adult and immature BBB.

To produce the alkali activated material, red mud must be used with components containing active silicon dioxide because silicon dioxide in red mud does not dissolve in alkaline solution. The test results presented in this paper show that high pressure and high temperature treatment in an autoclave can dissolve part of the silicone dioxide in red mud and improve the properties of material. The compressive strength of red mud based alkali activated materials can reach 10.6 MPa with a softening coefficient over 0.70. Adding an active silicon dioxide supplement by replacing 26.3 wt% red mud with fly ash increases the compressive strength up to 20 MPa and the softening coefficient by more than 0.90. Furthermore, autoclave treatment reduces residual sodium hydroxide and lowers the pH value of material. As the result, red mud based and red mud-fly ash based alkali activated materials can be used for manufacturing of masonry units.

This paper presents the mixed probabilistic/non-probabilistic uncertainty problem regarding the hybrid uncertainty propagation on physical model of functionally graded plates through dissimilarly uncertain characterisation of material properties in the presence of the multiple-imprecise-random-field modelling. The spectral stochastic finite element framework is extended to perform mixed uncertainty analysis of functionally graded material whereby the spatial variation of elastic modulus of the plate is uniquely characterised as the multiple-imprecise-random-field modelling more than a purely homogeneous random field. This characterisation has originated in heeding the construction of physical models and the significant influences of separately uncertain characteristics propagated on the physical model through different material ingredients are examined to make physical models more reliable and realistic. Mechanics and mathematics intrusive-formulations are then established to explicitly produce the uncertain-but-bounded statistical characteristics of responses, namely interval mean value, interval standard deviation. Bounded surfaces of statistical moments and bounding distribution functions are vividly depicted for demonstration. The feasibility and effectiveness of the presented work are illustrated via test cases of numerical examples.

This paper presents the first attempt to study the probabilistic stability characteristics of functionally graded (FG) graphene platelets (GPLs) reinforced beams by taking into account the multidimensional probability distributions, such as stochastic porosity and GPL distribution patterns as well as random material properties. For this purpose, a non-inclusive Chebyshev metamodel (CMM), which is implemented on deterministic analysis using discrete singular convolution (DSC) method with excellent computational efficiency and accuracy, is proposed and used to obtain both deterministic and probabilistic results including probability density functions (PDFs), cumulative density functions (CDFs), means and standard deviations of the critical buckling load. The present analysis is rigorously validated through direct comparisons against the results obtained by a direct quasi-Monte Carlo simulation (QMCS) method and those available in open literature. The influences of material properties, porosity distribution, GPL dispersion pattern and boundary condition on probabilistic buckling behaviour of the FG-GPL beam are comprehensively investigated. The global sensitivity analysis is also conducted. The results suggest that the critical buckling load of the FG-GPL beam is most sensitive to porosity distribution, followed by porosity coefficient and GPL weight fraction.

With the appearance of on-line big data stream computation, the explosive growth of mobile devices, the development of broadband cellular network, and widespread use of WiFi in recent years, the VM allocation problem has shifted gradually from batch processing to real-time processing. As the processing streaming workflow allocation becomes very large, it has become far more difficult. First, in this paper, we have modeled new network based on mobile cloud computing and mobile edge computing scheme for the real-time streaming workflow allocation problem. Our proposed network called Heterogeneous Node Network (HNN) consists of three types of computing node. HNN has a conventional data center (DC), a cloudlet (CL) located between edge server (ES) and DC, and ES consisting of mobile devices. In HNN, DC is the conventional placement destination of virtual machine (VM) and has high computing resource compared to other nodes; CL is a new computing resource, whose performance is lower than DC, but data transmission between CL and ES is faster than between DC and ES, and ES is a cluster of mobile devices with the lowest computing resource and its advantage is reducing the amount of data from raw data for crucial processes of streaming workflow. Second, we propose a heuristic streaming workflow allocation algorithm, which is flexible according to change of real-time availability for streaming workflow and HNN environment to achieve cost minimization. Our algorithm is the hybrid of a bin-packing algorithm and a shortest path algorithm based on the VM placement problem and the shortest path problem in graph network respectively. Finally, our developed algorithm has been compared with the result of linear programming (LP). In performance evaluation, the experimental results show our approach leads to a solution close to an optimal solution generated by LP and its execution time is reduced.

Given a large collection of time-evolving online user activities, such as Google Search queries for multiple keywords of various categories (celebrities, events, diseases, etc.), which consist of \(d\) keywords/activities, for \(l\) countries/locations of duration \(n\), how can we find patterns and rules? For example, assume that we have the online search volume for “Harry Potter”, “Barack Obama”, and “Amazon”, for 232 countries/territories, from 2004 to 2015, which include external shocks, sudden change of search volume, and more. How do we go about capturing nonlinear evolutions of local activities and forecasting future patterns? In this paper, we present \(\varDelta \)-SPOT, a unifying analytical nonlinear model for analyzing large-scale web search data, which is sensemaking, automatic, scalable, and free of parameters. \(\varDelta \)-SPOT can also forecast long-range future dynamics of the keywords/queries. We use the Google Search, Twitter, and MemeTracker dataset for extensive experiments, which show that our method outperforms other effective methods of nonlinear mining in terms of accuracy and in both fitting and forecasting.

Background Symptomatic lymphocele following radical prostatectomy (RP) and concomitant bilateral extended pelvic lymph node dissection (ePLND) has a significant impact on postoperative recovery and may sometimes require surgical intervention. Objective To report on the use of four-point peritoneal flap fixation (4PPFF) during RP to reduce lymphocele occurrence following PLND. Design, setting, and participants Between April 2010 and May 2017, 1358 patients underwent RP with concomitant bilateral ePLND. From this cohort, 193 patients who had undergone PNLD with 4PPFF were matched in a 1:1 ratio with respect to age, body mass index, initial PSA, and number of lymph nodes removed to patients who had undergone PLND without 4PPFF. Intervention 4PPFF was performed by suturing the cut end of the ventral parietal peritoneum at four points (to the anterior and lateral pelvic side wall on both sides) following PLND so that the peritoneal surface was exposed to the iliac vessels and obturator fossa. Outcome measurements and statistical analysis All patients underwent ultrasound on postoperative days 6, 28, and 90 to test for the presence of lymphocele. For univariate analysis, a χ2 test and analysis of variance were applied, as appropriate. Statistical significance was set at p Results and limitations There were no significant differences between the two groups with respect to intraoperative blood loss, positive surgical margin rate, Gleason score, clinical stage, and number of positive cores. Asymptomatic lymphocele was observed in four patients (2.07%) in the 4PPFF group compared to 16 patients (8.3%) without 4PPFF (p=0.0058). Similarly, a significant difference in the incidence of symptomatic lymphocele was observed: two patients (1.03%) in the 4PPFF group versus nine patients (4.6%) without 4PPFF (p=0.0322). There were no differences in other complication rates between the two groups. The limitations of the study are its retrospective and nonrandomised nature, with postoperative follow-up based on ultrasound imaging rather than computed tomography because of ethical considerations, which could have caused observer bias. Conclusions 4PPFF is a safe and effective procedure in preventing lymphocele occurrence in patients undergoing RP with PLND. The increase in exposure of the PLND raw area to the peritoneal surface following this procedure may aid in increased absorption of accumulating lymph fluid. Further prospective randomised multicentre studies are warranted to confirm our observations. Patient summary We report on the use of a surgical technique to decrease the collection of lymphatic fluid in the abdominal cavity following lymph node removal during radical removal of the prostate gland in patients with prostate cancer. Patients undergoing this procedure had significantly better outcomes when compared to patients operated on in the conventional approach.

Autopilot system are valuable for many applications, such as: oceanographic, military purposes, maritime transport,… which offer greater self-adaptive capacity and cost-effectiveness compared to traditional systems. Especially, this is a common and an essential problem for Unmmaned Surface Vessel (USV) due to the non-linearity of the system and the changing environmental conditions. This paper focus on design, modelling and simulation a Fuzzy path-keeping autopilot for an USV with the modified Line of Sight (LOS) law compared to conventional LOS guidance. The heading deviation and rate of heading deviation are treated as Fuzzy inputs and the rudder angle command is the Fuzzy output. The Fuzzy-controller for USV is verified by Matlab simulation. The archived results confirm the effectiveness of the LOS approach.