SS Method Research Articles

Comparison of testing methods assessing the in vitro efficacy of the combination of aztreonam with avibactam on multidrug-resistant Gram-negative bacilli

BackgroundAztreonam-avibactam (ATM-AVI) combination shows promising effectiveness on most carbapenemase-producing Gram-negatives, yet standardized antibiotic susceptibility testing (AST) methods for evaluating the combination in clinical laboratories is lacking. We aimed to evaluate different ATM-AVI AST approaches.Methods96 characterized carbapenem-resistant clinical isolates belonging to 9 Enterobacterales (EB; n = 80) and P. aeruginosa (PA; n = 16) species, including 90 carbapenemase producers and 72 strains resistant to both CAZ-AVI and ATM, were tested. Paper disk elution (DE; Bio-Rad) and E-test gradient strips stacking (SS; bioMérieux) were performed for the ATM + CAZ-AVI combination. MIC Test Strip (MTS; Liofilchem) was evaluated for ATM-AVI MIC determination. Results were interpreted applying ATM clinical breakpoints of the EUCAST guidelines and compared to the broth microdilution method (Sensititre, Thermofisher).ResultsAccording to broth microdilution method, 93% of EB and 69% of PA were tested susceptible to ATM-AVI. The synergistic effect of ATM-AVI was of 95% for EB, but of only 17% for PA. The MTS method yielded higher categorical and essential agreement (CA/EA) rates for both EB (89%/91%) and PA (94%/94%) compared to SS, where the rates were 87%/83% for EB and 81%/81% for PA. MTS and SS yielded 2 and 3 major discrepancies, respectively, while 3 very major discrepancies each were observed for both methods. Concerning the DE method, CA reached 91% for EB and 81% for PA, but high number of very major discrepancies were observed for EB (n = 6; 8%) and for PA (n = 3; 19%).ConclusionsThe ATM-AVI association displayed excellent in vitro activity against highly resistant clinical Enterobacterales strains. MTS method offers accurate ATM-AVI AST results, while the SS method might serve as better alternative then DE method in assessing the efficacy of ATM + CAZ-AVI combination. However, further investigation is needed to confirm the methods' ability to detect ATM-AVI resistance.

Analysis Of Merchandise Inventory Control Using Eoq, Rop, Ss Methods At Raffa Bengkulu Fruit Store

Raffa's Fruit Shop Business is a shop that distributes merchandise which operates in the fruit sector. Among the various methods available, the methods used are the EOQ, ROP, and Safety Stock methods. This research aims to analyze fruit inventory control using the EOQ, ROP, SS method at the Raffa Fruit Shop, Bengkulu City. The data analysis used is descriptive qualitative, namely a research method to determine variable values ​​without making comparisons. The results of this research show that the required quantity of merchandise for 1 period is 671,159 Kg, the economical purchase amount or EOQ is 24,291 Kg, the Purchase Frequency is 28 orders. Reorder Point or reorder point is 40,197 Kg, and Safety Stock or safety stock is 392.81 Kg.

Application Of Consumption Method With Eoq, Mmsl Forecasting And Abc-Ven Analysis In Pharmaceutical Briefing Management In Hospitals General Royal Prima Marelan

Hospitals should plan for drug needs using accountable methods to avoid empty drugs. Good drug planning can improve pharmaceutical stock control in hospitals. The purpose of this study was to find out about the application of consumption methods with EOQ, MMSL and ABC-VEN forecasting in the management of pharmaceutical supplies in hospitals. This study used retrospective mix-method data, quantitative data and qualitative primary data. The research was conducted at RSU Royal Prima Marelan. The results showed that drug supply control using the EOQ method of getting drugs reordered: cefixime 200MG ordered at 447, ondacetron 4MG 740, gabapentin 300MG 706, ranitidine 25MG 1467, novorapid flexpen / 5" 42. In the SS method, the number of drugs available at delivery, cefixime 200MG should be 627 drugs at the time of shipment, ondacetron 4MG should be 522, gabapentin 300MG should be 470, ranitidine 25MG should be 940, and novorapid flexpen/5" should be 26. In the ROP method the drug was reordered at cefixime 200MG it was reordered when the stock was 447 and the quantity ordered was 12027, ondacetron 4MG 740 and 10000, gabapentin 300MG 706 and 9020, ranitidine 25MG 1467 and 18040, novorapid flexpen 42 and 502. In the ABC method, group A as many as 59 types 70.59% with a total investment of 70.59% drug use and an investment value of IDR 606,511,106, group B 64 drug investment 20.33% investment 20.33% drug use investment 174,722,327, group C 146 types (9.08%) investment 9.08% drug use and investment 78,028,263.

Reversible data hiding based on histogram and prediction error for sharing secret data

With the advancement of communication technology, a large number of data are constantly transmitted through the internet for various purposes, which are prone to be illegally accessed by third parties. Therefore, securing such data is crucial to protect the transmitted information from falling into the wrong hands. Among data protection schemes, Secret Image Sharing is one of the most popular methods. It protects critical messages or data by embedding them in an image and sharing it with some users. Furthermore, it combines the security concepts in that private data are embedded into a cover image and then secured using the secret-sharing method. Despite its advantages, this method may produce noise, making the resulting stego file much different from its cover. Moreover, the size of private data that can be embedded is limited. This research works on these problems by utilizing prediction-error expansion and histogram-based approaches to embed the data. To recover the cover image, the SS method based on the Chinese remainder theorem is used. The experimental results indicate that this proposed method performs better than similar methods in several cover images and scenarios.

Effect of a double-chain surfactant on the stabilization of suspensions of silica and titania particles against agglomeration and sedimentation

Dispersions of vesicles of didodecyldimethylammonium bromide (DDAB) were prepared with magnetic stirring of multilamellar liposomes followed by ultrasonication (SS) in order to generate dispersions that contained only unilamellar vesicles, unlike the stirring-only (S) method which also produces many large liposomes. With the SS method, the vesicles had average diameters ranging from 68 to 80 nm, which were much smaller than the diameters generated with the S method. The new vesicle dispersions had nearly infinite viscosities at very low shear stresses at DDAB weight fractions wD from 0.025 to 0.027, even though they were not close-packed, in contrast to the S dispersions. The new SS vesicle dispersions stabilized completely against sedimentation polydisperse nonspherical crystalline titania particles with sizes ranging from ca. 96–156 nm, as well as suspensions of monodisperse spherical amorphous silica particles with diameters of dsed = 454 nm, 691 nm, and 826 nm. These results establish that DDAB vesicle dispersions can stabilize against sedimentation a broad range of particle types and sizes. In addition, at the low values of wD = 0.009 and 0.018, the effective viscosities, ηeff, of the DDAB dispersions, determined from the sedimentation velocities, ranged from 1.35-1.87 cP and 4.34–5.57 cP, respectively. At higher shear stresses, however, these dispersions were highly shear-thinning and still flowable in a capillary under gravity. This behavior is critical for the practical applications of such dispersions for inkjet printing and possibly paints.

Analysis Of Implementation Of Drug Inventory Control Using Abc-Eoq-Rop-Ss Method At Arun Hospital Lhokseumawe

The pharmaceutical installation of Arun Hospital Lhokseumawe currently uses the consumption method in controlling drug supply, this method has a weakness, in the shortcomings and advantages of drugs that are difficult to rely on, but the ABC-EOQ-ROP-SS method can answer the weaknesses of the consumption method. The purpose of this study is to provide a choice of other methods for controlling drug inventory at Arun Hospital Lhokseumawe. This study is a mix-method study with retrospective data for quantitative data and primary data for qualitative data. The study was conducted at Arun Hospital Lhokseumawe from October 2021 to November 2021. The research population used was all drug items during August 2020, totaling 269 items. The ABC method is used to group drug items into 3 groups, the EOQ method is used to determine the number of drugs to be ordered in the next order, the ROP method is used to determine when to order drugs at the next time and the SS method is used to determine safety stock. The results showed the results of the ABC method group A were 59 items, B were 64 items, and C were 146 items, the results of the EOQ method group A were 414 - 159, B was 414 – 159, and C was 778 - 1407 for certain types of drugs, the results of the method The ROP of group A were 12,027 – 962, group B was 6014 – 20,045 and group C was 3007 – 200 for certain types of drugs. The results of the SS method group A were 627 – 50, B was 314 -1054, and C was 157 – 11 for certain drug groups. Suggestions for Arun Hospital Lhokseumawe to try methods of controlling drug supplies other than the consumption method so that efficiency in managing drug supplies can be increased. good and can provide training to human resources at the pharmacy installation of Arun Hospital Lhokseumawe related to controlling the supply of drug needs.

Analysis of the Implementation of Drug Inventory Control with the Always Better Control-Economic Order Quantity-Reorder Point-Safety Stock Method

The pharmaceutical installation currently uses the consumption method in controlling drugsupply, The purpose of this study is to provide a choice of other methods for controlling druginventory. This study is a mix-method study with retrospective data for quantitative data andprimary data for qualitative data. The research population used was all drug items during August2020, totaling 269 items. The results showed the ABC method group A were 59 items, B were 64items and C ware 146 items, the results of the EOQ method group A were 414 - 159, B were 414 -159 and C were 778 - 1407 for certain types of drugs, the results of the method The ROP of groupA were 12,027 – 962, group B were 6014 – 20,045 and group C were 3007 – 200 for certain typesof drugs. The results of the SS method group A were 627 – 50, B were 314 -1054 and C were 157– 11 for certain drug groups. Suggestions Hospital to try methods of controlling drug suppliesother than the consumption method. And can provide training to human resources at thepharmacy.

Microbial contamination and occurrence of Bacillus cereus sensu lato, Staphylococcus aureus, and Escherichia coli on food handlers’ hands in mass catering: Comparison of the glove juice and swab methods

Evaluation and repeated monitoring of a range of indicators reflecting hand hygiene practices in food handlers are of crucial importance to prevent foodborne outbreaks. There are several methods for assessing microbial contamination of the hands; however, these methods might provide inconsistent results depending on the microorganisms present. Therefore, we assessed the variability in total microbial counts and occurrence of Bacillus cereus sensu lato, Staphylococcus aureus, and Escherichia coli on the hands of food handlers at three catering establishments (two staff canteens and one school canteen) using two sampling techniques. In total, 63 and 61 samples were obtained using the swab (cellulose sponge sticks [SS]) and glove juice (GJ) methods, respectively. The GJ method provided significantly higher values of total microbial contamination than the SS method (P < 0.001). Conversely, swabbing appeared to be more sensitive in the detection of B. cereus s. l. (SS, 73.0% vs GJ, 8.2%, P < 0.001) and S. aureus (SS, 27.0% vs GJ, 8.2%, P = 0.009). E. coli was detected only once (1.6%) by the SS method. Moreover, the possible contribution of the food handlers to the spread of pathogenic bacteria was evaluated. B. cereus s. l. was detected in 41.1% of the samples. All isolates (100%) carried at least one or more enterotoxin gene, confirming the high pathogenic potential of B. cereus s. l. In addition, S. aureus was found in 17.7% of the samples with the dominant seg and sei (23.1%) staphylococcal enterotoxin gene combination. In conclusion, the GJ method appears to be more effective for total microbial count evaluation, while the SS method is preferred for recovering foodborne pathogens. From the viewpoint of food safety, it is necessary to identify virulence determinants of the isolates to obtain further insights into their pathogenic potential.

A comparative study of Bayesian inverse analyses of spatially varying soil parameters for slope reliability updating

ABSTRACT Bayesian estimation of spatially varying soil parameters is a challenging task in geotechnical engineering because a large number of random variables need to be learned. To address this challenge, three Bayesian methods are revisited, including Differential Evolution Adaptive Metropolis with sampling from past states [DREAM(zs)] method, Bayesian Updating with Structural reliability methods using Subset Simulation (BUS + SS), and modified BUS with Subset Simulation (mBUS + SS). The differences between the performances (i.e. convergences, computational accuracies, and efficiencies) of these three methods are not well understood. This study systematically investigates the differences of these three methods in the generation of random samples, convergence criterion, model evidence, and estimation of posterior probability of failure in slope reliability updating. Two slope examples are used for the comparative study. It is found that the BUS + SS method performs well not only in the low-dimensional Bayesian inverse problems but also in the high-dimensional Bayesian inverse problems of spatially varying soil parameters. The DREAM(zs) method is preferentially recommended to deal with the low-dimensional Bayesian inverse problems whereas the mBUS + SS method can well tackle the high-dimensional problems.

Application of HMC-SS Method in Pipeline Reliability Analysis and Residual Life Assessment

In this paper, the reliability analysis and residual life assessment model of gas pipelines with multiple corrosion pits are established. Aiming at the simulation evaluation of small failure probability of gas pipelines, a new method for reliability analysis and residual life assessment of gas pipelines with multiple internal corrosion pits is proposed, which is called the Hamiltonian Monte Carlo subset simulation (HMC-SS) method. Compared with the traditional MCS (Monte Carlo simulation) algorithm, the HMC-SS method has the advantages of less sampling, low cost, and high accuracy. And compared with the random walk SS method, the HMC-SS method can analyze the state space more efficiently and achieve faster convergence. In this paper, the HMC-SS method is applied to the reliability analysis and residual life assessment of gas pipeline engineering, and the sensitivity analysis of the random parameters affecting the failure probability of the pipeline is carried out. The results show that the corrosion rate, the depth of corrosion defects, and the wall thickness of the pipeline have great influence on the residual life of the pipeline, while the yield strength, working pressure, and the length of corrosion pits have no obvious influence on the failure probability and residual life of the pipeline. The analysis shows that the proposed HMC-SS method can be used as a reasonable tool for failure assessment of natural gas pipelines affected by corrosion to determine the remaining life of the pipeline system. This method provides a reliable theoretical basis for the integrity management of the gas pipeline.

Synthesis and properties of layered perovskite-like compounds PbBi2Nb2O9 and PbBi3Ti2NbO12

Two lead-containing compounds of the Aurivillus family: PbBi2Nb2O9 and PbBi3Ti2NbO12 were synthesized using a conventional high-temperature solid-state (ss) method and ion-exchange (ie) method. The phase and chemical purity of synthesized compounds were confirmed by XRD and EDX, respectively. The second harmonic generation experiment confirmed that all synthesized compounds have a non-centrosymmetric crystal structure. Rietveld refinement of samples prepared by different methods confirmed that ion-exchange and solid-state products share the same crystal structures; however, indirect evidence for different distributions of Pb/Bi between crystallographic positions was observed. Phase transitions, corresponding to the Curie temperatures were detected using high-temperature XRD. Thermal expansion of ion-exchange reaction products was studied in the temperature range of 298–1273 K. The optical band gap, electronegativity, valence band (EVB), and conduction band (ECB) potentials of materials were calculated from UV–vis spectroscopy data. Both PbBi2Nb2O9 (ss) and PbBi2Nb2O9 (ie) can be used for the decomposition of organic molecules under visible light, while PbBi3Ti2NbO12 (ss) and PbBi3Ti2NbO12 (ie) can work only under UV light irradiation due to their wider band gaps.

Validation of the PDFI_SS Method for Electric Field Inversions Using a Magnetic Flux Emergence Simulation

Abstract Knowledge of electric fields in the photosphere is required to calculate the electromagnetic energy flux through the photosphere and set up boundary conditions for data-driven magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulations of solar eruptions. Recently, the PDFI_SS method for inversions of electric fields from a sequence of vector magnetograms and Doppler velocity measurements was improved to incorporate spherical geometry and a staggered-grid description of variables. The method was previously validated using synthetic data from anelastic MHD (ANMHD) simulations. In this paper, we further validate the PDFI_SS method, using approximately 1 hr long MHD simulation data of magnetic flux emergence from the upper convection zone into the solar atmosphere. We reconstruct photospheric electric fields and calculate the Poynting flux, and we compare those to the actual values from the simulations. We find that the accuracy of the PDFI_SS reconstruction is quite good during the emergence phase of the simulated ephemeral active region evolution and decreases during the shearing phase. Analyzing our results, we conclude that the more complex nature of the evolution (compared to the previously studied ANMHD case) that includes the shearing evolution phase is responsible for the obtained accuracy decrease.

Effects of the Method of Preparation and Dispersion Media on the Optical Properties and Particle Sizes of Aqueous Dispersions of a Double-Chain Cationic Surfactant.

As inferred from visual observations and turbidity measurements, the average radius of the unilamellar vesicles formed in water from the cationic double-chain surfactant didodecyldimethylammonium bromide (DDAB) varies with the method of preparation, being ∼24 nm after sonication (SS method) and ∼74 nm after extrusion/ultrafiltration (SE method). The radii were larger when the vesicles were produced in 10 mM NaBr, ∼65 nm for the SS method and ∼280 nm for the SE method. The specific turbidity, or turbidity per unit path length divided by the surfactant weight fraction, w, of these vesicular dispersions increased with decreasing w until a constant value was reached at w*, which depends on the preparation method and the dispersion medium. The constant specific turbidities are indicative of single and independent scattering and were used to estimate vesicle radii by solving the specific turbidity equations derived for the Rayleigh-Debye-Gans (RDG) regime. Two turbidity equations were used, one accounting for absorbance errors due to some scattered light reaching the detector and another with no correction. Estimates of the average distances between the vesicles and their corresponding Debye lengths were obtained for evaluating the importance of intervesicle electrostatic interactions, which could lead to dependent scattering at higher weight fractions.

Multiple Data Products Reveal Long-Term Variation Characteristics of Terrestrial Water Storage and Its Dominant Factors in Data-Scarce Alpine Regions

As the “Water Tower of Asia” and “The Third Pole” of the world, the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau (QTP) shows great sensitivity to global climate change, and the change in its terrestrial water storage has become a focus of attention globally. Differences in multi-source data and different calculation methods have caused great uncertainty in the accurate estimation of terrestrial water storage. In this study, the Yarlung Zangbo River Basin (YZRB), located in the southeast of the QTP, was selected as the study area, with the aim of investigating the spatio-temporal variation characteristics of terrestrial water storage change (TWSC). Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) data from 2003 to 2017, combined with the fifth-generation reanalysis product of the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ERA5) data and Global Land Data Assimilation System (GLDAS) data, were adopted for the performance evaluation of TWSC estimation. Based on ERA5 and GLDAS, the terrestrial water balance method (PER) and the summation method (SS) were used to estimate terrestrial water storage, obtaining four sets of TWSC, which were compared with TWSC derived from GRACE. The results show that the TWSC estimated by the SS method based on GLDAS is most consistent with the results of GRACE. The time-lag effect was identified in the TWSC estimated by the PER method based on ERA5 and GLDAS, respectively, with 2-month and 3-month lags. Therefore, based on the GLDAS, the SS method was used to further explore the long-term temporal and spatial evolution of TWSC in the YZRB. During the period of 1948–2017, TWSC showed a significantly increasing trend; however, an abrupt change in TWSC was detected around 2002. That is, TWSC showed a significantly increasing trend before 2002 (slope = 0.0236 mm/month, p &lt; 0.01) but a significantly decreasing trend (slope = −0.397 mm/month, p &lt; 0.01) after 2002. Additional attribution analysis on the abrupt change in TWSC before and after 2002 was conducted, indicating that, compared with the snow water equivalent, the soil moisture dominated the long-term variation of TWSC. In terms of spatial distribution, TWSC showed a large spatial heterogeneity, mainly in the middle reaches with a high intensity of human activities and the Parlung Zangbo River Basin, distributed with great glaciers. The results obtained in this study can provide reliable data support and technical means for exploring the spatio-temporal evolution mechanism of terrestrial water storage in data-scarce alpine regions.

The usefulness and safety of the simultaneous parallel anterior and posterior combined lumbar spine surgery using intraoperative 3D fluoroscopy-based navigation (SPAPS)

BackgroundThe combined anterior-posterior surgery in the lateral decubitus position generally needs the intraoperative repositioning. However, prolonged surgical time and increased medical costs due to intraoperative repositioning have been problematic. In recent years, there have been reports of combined anterior-posterior procedure with a single position performing anterior and posterior fixation consecutively where the patient remains in the lateral decubitus position (single surgeon method-SS method). We had further advanced this method, and have adopted the Simultaneous Parallel Anterior and Posterior combined lumbar spine Surgery using intraoperative 3D fluoroscopy-based navigation (SPAPS method), where anterior and posterior procedure are performed independently by two spine surgeons. Methods66 cases that underwent SPAPS method (n=37) and SS method (n=29) from 2015 to 2019 at single institution were concluded in this study. The pre- and post-operative changes in the following were compared retrospectively between the two groups: surgical factors and clinical evaluations including JOA back pain evaluation questionnaire (JOABPEQ), visual analogue scale (VAS) on lower back pain, buttock/lower limb pain, and buttock/lower limb numbness, and Roland-Morris disability questionnaire (RDQ). ResultsThe SPAPS method was able to significantly reduce the surgical time (p=0.0025) compared to the SS method, and allowed a reduction of approximately 24.4 minutes per segment. The estimated blood loss were similar in both groups, and with regards to post-operative outcomes, both groups improved equally well. The rates of screw deviation and fusion were also similar. ConclusionsIn the case of performing the combined anterior-posterior surgery under a single position, the anterior and posterior procedure can be performed independently and simultaneously by two spine surgeons by utilizing the 3D fluoroscopy-based navigation. The surgical time can be significantly reduced by approximately 24.4 minutes per segment comparing to the SS method.

Effect of Different Synthesis Methods on Structural, Morphological and Magnetic Properties of La&lt;sub&gt;0.7&lt;/sub&gt;Ba&lt;sub&gt;0.25&lt;/sub&gt;Nd&lt;sub&gt;0.05&lt;/sub&gt;MnO&lt;sub&gt;3&lt;/sub&gt;

La0.7Ba0.25Nd0.05MnO3 (LBNMO) compounds were synthesized using two different methods, namely are solid-state reaction (SS) and sol-gel (SG). All samples were heat-treated at 1200 °C for 12 hours. The investigation on structural, morphological, and magnetic properties was carried out by X-Ray Diffractometer (XRD), Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM), and Vibrating Samples Magnetometer (VSM) at room temperature. From the Rietveld refinement, both samples have formed a rhombohedral structure with an R-3c (167) space group. The average crystallite size was calculated using the Scherrer formula and Williamson-Hall (W-H) method for comparison. It was shown that the crystallite size of the sample produced by the SG method has larger than the SS method. This result is fairly consistent with the result obtained from SEM analysis, which shows that the average grain for the SG sample is larger than of the grain of the SS samples. From the magnetic hysteresis curve, the magnetization saturation value for the SG was higher and sharper than that of the SS sample. These confirm the occurrence of the double exchange interaction in the samples, which is mainly associated with the reduction of bandwidth and grain size.

Improving cross-correlations of ambient noise using an rms-ratio selection stacking method

SUMMARY Stacking of ambient noise correlations is a crucial step to extract empirical Green's functions (EGFs) between station pairs. The traditional method is to linearly stack all short-duration cross-correlation functions (CCFs) over a long period of time to obtain final stacks. It requires at least several months of ambient noise data to obtain reliable phase velocities at periods of several to tens of seconds from CCFs. In this study, we develop a new stacking method named root-mean-square ratio selection stacking (RMSR_SS) to reduce the time duration required for the recovery of EGFs from ambient noise. In our RMSR_SS method, rather than stacking all short-duration CCFs, we first judge if each of the short-duration CCF constructively contributes to the recovery of EGFs or not. Then, we only stack those CCFs which constructively contribute to the convergence of EGFs. By applying our method to synthetic noise data, we demonstrate how our method works in enhancing the signal-to-noise ratio of CCFs by rejecting noise sources which do not positively contribute to the recovery of EGFs. Then, we apply our method to real noise data recorded in western USA. We show that reliable and accurate phase velocities can be measured from 15-d long ambient noise data using our RMSR_SS method. By applying our method to ambient noise tomography (ANT), we can reduce the deployment duration of seismic stations from several months or years to a few tens of days, significantly improving the efficiency of ANT in imaging crust and upper-mantle structures.

Reduced Field-of-View Diffusion-Weighted Imaging in Histological Characterization of Rectal Cancer: Impact of Different Region-of-Interest Positioning Protocols on Apparent Diffusion Coefficient Measurements

PurposeTo compare four region-of-interest (ROI) protocols for apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) quantifications derived from reduced field-of-view diffusion-weighted imaging (rDWI) in histological characterization of rectal cancer. Materials and methodsForty-nine patients with rectal cancer underwent rDWI at 3.0 T. Two readers independently performed mean and minimum ADC measurements using four different ROI positioning protocols (whole tumor volume [WTV], single-slice [SS], three-slices observer-based sampling [TSOB] and three-slices predefined sampling [TSPD]). Inter-observer variation was evaluated. Mean and minimum ADC values obtained from each method were compared in terms of different histological factors of rectal cancer, and their diagnostic abilities were assessed by receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) analysis. The corresponding times for ADC measurements were recorded and compared between ROI methods. ResultsThe inter-observer agreement was excellent for ADC values obtained by two readers using the four ROI methods (ICC range, 0.906-0.994). Mean and minimum ADC values by WTV method were significantly higher and lower than other methods respectively for both readers (P < 0.05). The AUCs of mean ADC measurements for assessment of well-differentiated tumors, T2 stage tumors and N0 status (no lymph node metastasis) (0.936, 0.840 and 0.714) were greater by WTV method than those by SS method (0.782, 0.761 and 0.677). The WTV method required longer measurement time than other ROI methods (P < 0.001). ConclusionADC measurements based on rDWI were influenced by ROI positioning protocols. rDWI technique had diagnostic value for histological characterization of rectal cancer, using WTV method with overall best inter-observer reproducibility, but with the longest measurement time.

An improved scatter search algorithm for the uncapacitated facility location problem

The uncapacitated facility location (UFL) problem is a NP-hard and pure binary optimization problem. The main goal of UFL is that try to find an undetermined number of facilities to minimize the sum of constant setup and serving costs of customers. Nowadays, in solving many NP problems, optimization techniques are preferred instead of conventional ones due to their simple structure, ease of application and acceptable results in reasonable time. In this study, the scatter search algorithm (SS) was improved to solve the UFL problems. The SS method can be applied directly to problems with binary search space and supports random search mechanism with good solutions obtained from previous problem solving efforts as opposed to other evolutionary algorithms. In order to compromise between exploitation and exploration in the improved scatter search (ISS), the global search ability of the basic SS algorithm is enhanced by using different crossover techniques like an ensemble, while the local search ability is improved by mutation operations on the best solutions. To investigate effects of the improvements and to show its performance, the ISS is compared with the twelve different methods found in the literature for solving the 15 UFL problems in the OR-Lib dataset. The experimental results show that the proposed method obtained the optimum value for 13 of the 15 problems and had a superior performance compared to other techniques considering the solution quality and robustness. The ISS is also compared with a technique using the local search method on the OR-Lib and a different dataset named M*. When all experimental results are evaluated, it is seen that the proposed method is an effective, robust and successful tool for solving the UFL problems.

Trunk muscle strength and endurance assessed by two methods in the isokinetic dynamometer for able-bodied and post-stroke hemiparesis people

Trunk muscular function has been identified as an early predictor of health-related outcomes post-stroke, revealing unbalance on both sides changing muscular response in the axis of the body. Then, we aimed to compare the isokinetic measures of strength and endurance for trunk movement in antagonistic actions (flexion and extension), starting from the two different methods of assessment (seated compressed [SC] and semi-standing [SS]) for groups of able-bodied (control) and post-stroke hemiparesis (hemiparesis) people. A cross-sectional case-control study design was performed to compare strength (peak toque and normalized peak torque) and endurance (muscular power and total work) variables took at 60° and 120°/seconds, respectively, from the four observed conditions for a convenience sample composed by 26 volunteers (13 participants by group). The Functional Independence Measurement (FIM), the modified Ashworth Scale (mAS) and Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE) were the secondary variables to characterize the sample. Significant differences were detected by the two-way ANOVA followed by the Bonferroni post-test ( P < 0.05). For both groups and in all conditions, the extensor muscles performed around the doubled value recorded from all variables when compared to flexor muscles. Hemiparesis group revealed the expected weakness in comparison with control group, manifesting significant more strength and endurance when assessed by SS method, what was not observed in the control group. In conclusion, our results suggested that trunk extensor muscles are naturally stronger than flexor and post-stoke hemiparesis people are favored by SS method during isokinetic assessment.