The Double Edge Sword Based Distributed Executor Service

Scalability is one of the most important quality attribute of software-intensive systems, because it maintains an effective performance parallel to the large fluctuating and sometimes unpredictable workload. In order to achieve scalability, thread pool system (TPS) (which is also known as executor service) has been used extensively as a middleware service in software-intensive systems. TPS optimization is a challenging problem that determines the optimal size of thread pool dynamically on runtime. In case of distributed-TPS (DTPS), another issue is the load balancing b/w available set of TPSs running at backend servers. Existing DTPSs are overloaded either due to an inappropriate TPS optimization strategy at backend servers or improper load balancing scheme that cannot quickly recover an overload. Consequently, the performance of software-intensive system is suffered. Thus, in this paper, we propose a new DTPS that follows the collaborative round robin load balancing that has the effect of a double-edge sword. On the one hand, it effectively performs the load balancing (in case of overload situation) among available TPSs by a fast overload recovery procedure that decelerates the load on the overloaded TPSs up to their capacities and shifts the remaining load towards other gracefully running TPSs. And on the other hand, its robust load deceleration technique which is applied to an overloaded TPS sets an appropriate upper bound of thread pool size, because the pool size in each TPS is kept equal to the request rate on it, hence dynamically optimizes TPS. We evaluated the results of the proposed system against state of the art DTPSs by a client-server based simulator and found that our system outperformed by sustaining smaller response times.     

Brown tumors in dialyzed patients with secondary hyperparathyroidism: Report of 16 cases

Brown tumors (BTs) are relatively uncommon but they are serious complications of renal osteodystrophy. The objective of this study was to analyze the clinical, biological, and radiological characteristics of 16 patients with BTs provoked by secondary hyperparathyroidism (sHPT) and its response to the decrease in parathyroid hormone levels after parathyroidectomy (PTX). The management of that uncommon condition was also reviewed. We conducted a retrospective study including 16 end‐stage renal disease patients who underwent subtotal PTX between 1997 and 2007 for severe sHPT with BTs. Our study included 10 men and 6 women, whose average age was 34 years. All patients were on dialysis. Ten of them were on dialysis for more than 5 years. The median duration on dialysis was 84 months. Patients included suffered from swellings associated with functional limitations. BTs had multiple locations in 7 patients. Jaw was the most frequent location (62%). Radiography and tomodensitometry demonstrated a mixed radio lucent and radio‐opaque lesions with an expansion of the cortical bone. Bone scan demonstrated an increased uptake of lesions. Chirurgical treatment was indicated in all cases because of severe refractory sHPT with functional limitations and/or disfiguring deformities. In all cases, BTs stopped its progression and even decreased in size. However, it was insufficient in four cases, which required a surgical resection. PTX remains an efficacious approach in resistant cases of sHPT with persistent BTs.     

Evaluating the Efficiency of CBAM-Resnet Using Malaysian Sign Language

The deaf-mutes population is constantly feeling helpless when others do not understand them and vice versa. To fill this gap, this study implements a CNN-based neural network, Convolutional Based Attention Module (CBAM), to recognise Malaysian Sign Language (MSL) in videos recognition. This study has created 2071 videos for 19 dynamic signs. Two different experiments were conducted for dynamic signs, using CBAM-3DResNet implementing ‘Within Blocks’ and ‘Before Classifier’ methods. Various metrics such as the accuracy, loss, precision, recall, F1-score, confusion matrix, and training time were recorded to evaluate the models’ efficiency. Results showed that CBAM-ResNet models had good performances in videos recognition tasks, with recognition rates of over 90% with little variations. CBAM-ResNet ‘Before Classifier’ is more efficient than ‘Within Blocks’ models of CBAM-ResNet. All experiment results indicated the CBAM-ResNet ‘Before Classifier’ efficiency in recognising Malaysian Sign Language and its worth of future research.     

A GIS-based DRASTIC model for assessing aquifer vulnerability in Kakamigahara Heights, Gifu Prefecture, central Japan

Vulnerability assessment to delineate areas that are more susceptible to contamination from anthropogenic sources has become an important element for sensible resource management and land use planning. This contribution aims at estimating aquifer vulnerability by applying the DRASTIC model as well as utilizing sensitivity analyses to evaluate the relative importance of the model parameters for aquifer vulnerability in Kakamigahara Heights, Gifu Prefecture central Japan. An additional objective is to demonstrate the combined use of the DRASTIC and geographical information system (GIS) as an effective method for groundwater pollution risk assessment. The DRASTIC model uses seven environmental parameters (Depth to water, net Recharge, Aquifer media, Soil media, Topography, Impact of vadose zone, and hydraulic Conductivity) to characterize the hydrogeological setting and evaluate aquifer vulnerability. The western part of the Kakamigahara aquifer was dominated by "High" vulnerability classes while the eastern part was characterized by "Moderate" vulnerability classes. The elevated north-eastern part of the study area displayed "Low" aquifer vulnerability. The integrated vulnerability map shows the high risk imposed on the eastern part of the Kakamigahara aquifer due to the high pollution potential of intensive vegetable cultivation. The more vulnerable western part of the aquifer is, however, under a lower contamination risk. In Kakamigahara Heights, land use seems to be a better predictor of groundwater contamination by nitrate. Net recharge parameter inflicted the largest impact on the intrinsic vulnerability of the aquifer followed by soil media, topography, vadose zone media, and hydraulic conductivity. Sensitivity analyses indicated that the removal of net recharge, soil media and topography causes large variation in vulnerability index. Moreover, net recharge and hydraulic conductivity were found to be more effective in assessing aquifer vulnerability than assumed by the DRASTIC model. The GIS technique has provided efficient environment for analyses and high capabilities of handling large spatial data.     

Natural denitrification in the Kakamigahara groundwater basin,Gifu prefecture,central Japan

Although nitrate is recognized as the most common groundwater contaminant due to growing anthropogenic sources, such as agriculture in particular, its adverse effects on human and animal health are debatable. The current issue, however, is to control and reduce nitrate contamination with regards to the long residence time of groundwater within aquifers. Denitrification has recently been recognized for its ability to reduce high nitrate concentrations in groundwater. The Kakamigahara groundwater basin, Gifu prefecture, Japan, witnessed rising levels of nitrate (>12 mg/l NO(3)-N) originating from agricultural sources. Chemical analyses for the determination of major constituents of groundwater and delta(15)N of residual nitrate were performed on representative groundwater samples in order to fulfill two main objectives. One is to investigate the current situation of nitrate groundwater pollution. The second objective is to determine whether the denitrification is a potential natural mechanism, which eliminates nitrate pollution in the Kakamigahara aquifer. Agricultural nitrate contamination of groundwater was obvious from characteristically high concentrations of Ca(2+), Mg(2+), NO(3)(-) and SO(4)(2-). High nitrate concentrations were found on the eastern side of the basin in association with vegetable cultivation fields, and decreased gradually towards the west of the basin along the direction of groundwater flow. The decrease of nitrate concentration was conveniently coupled with increase of HCO(3)(-) (the heterotrophic denitrification product), pH and delta(15)N of residual nitrate (due to isotopic fractionation) from east to west. Therefore, denitrification in situ is continuously removing nitrate from the Kakamigahara groundwater system.     

Ambiguity Resolution in Direction of Arrival Estimation with Linear Antenna Arrays Using Differential Geometry

Linear antenna arrays (LAs) can be used to accurately predict the direction of arrival (DOAs) of various targets of interest in a given area. However, under certain conditions, LA suffers from the problem of ambiguities among the angles of targets, which may result in misinterpretation of such targets. In order to cope up with such ambiguities, various techniques have been proposed. Unfortunately, none of them fully resolved such a problem because of rank deficiency and high computational cost. We aimed to resolve such a problem by proposing an algorithm using differential geometry. The proposed algorithm uses a specially designed doublet antenna array, which is made up of two individual linear arrays. Two angle observation models, ambiguous observation model (AOM) and estimated observation model (EOM), are derived for each individual array. The ambiguous set of angles is contained in the AOM, which is obtained from the corresponding array elements using differential geometry. The EOM for each array, on the other hand, contains estimated angles of all sources impinging signals on each array, as calculated by a direction-finding algorithm such as the genetic algorithm. The algorithm then contrasts the EOM of each array with its AOM, selecting the output of that array whose EOM has the minimum correlation with its corresponding AOM. In comparison to existing techniques, the proposed algorithm improves estimation accuracy and has greater precision in antenna aperture selection, resulting in improved resolution capabilities and the potential to be used more widely in practical scenarios. The simulation results using MATLAB authenticates the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm.     

Speech Recognition-Based Automated Visual Acuity Testing with Adaptive Mel Filter Bank

One of the most commonly reported disabilities is vision loss, which can be diagnosed by an ophthalmologist in order to determine the visual system of a patient. This procedure, however, usually requires an appointment with an ophthalmologist, which is both time-consuming and expensive process. Other issues that can arise include a lack of appropriate equipment and trained practitioners, especially in rural areas. Centered on a cognitively motivated attribute extraction and speech recognition approach, this paper proposes a novel idea that immediately determines the eyesight deficiency. The proposed system uses an adaptive filter bank with weighted mel frequency cepstral coefficients for feature extraction. The adaptive filter bank implementation is inspired by the principle of spectrum sensing in cognitive radio that is aware of its environment and adapts to statistical variations in the input stimuli by learning from the environment. Comparative performance evaluation demonstrates the potential of our automated visual acuity test method to achieve comparable results to the clinical ground truth, established by the expert ophthalmologist’s tests. The overall accuracy achieved by the proposed model when compared with the expert ophthalmologist test is 91.875%. The proposed method potentially offers a second opinion to ophthalmologists, and serves as a cost-effective pre-screening test to predict eyesight loss at an early stage.     

Preliminary study of an open-air water-contacting discharge for direct nitrogen fixation

Efficient nitrogen fixation through a reactive plasma process attracts intense interest due to the environmental issues induced by the conventional Haber–Bosch method. In this work, we present a direct and simple fixation routine without any catalysts for nitrogen in open air using an atmospheric-pressure pin-to-solution plasma electrolytic system. Nitrate, nitrite, and ammonia as the nitrogen-derived chemicals in solution were analyzed as indicators under various discharge conditions to estimate the energy efficiency of this process. The results show that the nitrogen fixation process was much more efficient by the pin-positive discharge compared to the negative one. N chemicals preferred to be formed when the solution was of negative polarity. It was also found that, with the help of solution circulation, the energy efficiency was enhanced compared to that of static liquid. However, an inverse trend was observed with the increase of the discharge current. Further study by optical emission spectroscopy indicates the important roles of active N_2~* and water vapour and their derived species near the plasma–water interface in the fixation process.     

The potential use of irradiation to extend the shelf-life of clams (Ruditapes decussatus) during live storage: effect on bacterial and biochemical profiles

Changes in microbiological and biochemical quality of clams ( Ruditapes decussatus ) subjected to low doses of gamma irradiation (0.5 and 1 kGy) were investigated during alive storage, at 5 °C. The mortality rate was significantly lower for irradiated clams compared with the control. In the same way, ammonia content was lower for irradiated clams (especially 1 kGy irradiated group). Considerable levels of total mesophiles, coliforms, staphylococcus, faecal streptococcus and Escherichia coli were detected in the control and irradiation had immediately reduced these charges; all bacteria studied experienced a 1- to 3-log reduction following 1 kGy irradiation. At the last day of storage, irradiated groups showed a noticeable reduction in the bacterial counts, whereas the mesophiles, staphylococcus and coliform germs were abundant in the control group (6.3, 2 and 1.7 log CFU g⁻¹, respectively). Irradiation doses up to 1 kGy had not an immediate effect on fatty acids composition ( P  > 0.05) and lipid profile was better in irradiated samples, where polyunsaturated fatty acid fraction was maintained throughout storage using irradiation. Also, sodium dodecyl sulphate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis revealed minor changes in proteins bands between different samples. These results demonstrated that 1 kGy irradiation appeared to be the optimum dose for treating alive clams ( R. decussatus ), through improving the microbial quality and alleviating biochemical changes during refrigerated storage.