In this paper, a new symmetry-based genetic clustering algorithm is proposed which automatically evolves the number of clusters as well as the proper partitioning from a data set. Strings comprise ...both real numbers and the don't care symbol in order to encode a variable number of clusters. Here, assignment of points to different clusters are done based on a point symmetry (PS)-based distance rather than the Euclidean distance. A newly proposed PS-based cluster validity index, sym-index, is used as a measure of the validity of the corresponding partitioning. The algorithm is, therefore, able to detect both convex and nonconvex clusters irrespective of their sizes and shapes as long as they possess the symmetry property. Kd-tree-based nearest neighbor search is used to reduce the complexity of computing PS-based distance. A proof on the convergence property of variable string length genetic algorithm with PS- distance-based clustering (VGAPS-clustering) technique is also provided. The effectiveness of VGAPS-clustering compared to variable string length genetic K-means algorithm (GCUK-clustering) and one recently developed weighted sum validity function-based hybrid niching genetic algorithm (HNGA-clustering) is demonstrated for nine artificial and five real-life data sets.
The development of an effective and efficient local discontinuous Galerkin algorithm for the solution of the coupled
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-dimensional Broer-Kaup system is the primary focus of this research. In ...this algorithm, spatial discretization is attained using the local discontinuous Galerkin method, while temporal discretization is handled using the explicit total variation diminishing higher-order Runge-Kutta method. However, the
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G
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G
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-expansion method is also implemented to produce the exact solutions for the coupled
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-dimensional Broer-Kaup system. The obtained solutions are the traveling wave solutions. The efficiency and reliability of the proposed method are analyzed by comparing the generated numerical simulations to various traveling wave solutions using several tables and figures. The exact solutions and the numerical simulations of the coupled
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1
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-dimensional Broer-Kaup system are shown to correspond exceptionally well.
Our primary aims were (a) to identify the proportion of individuals with schizophrenia and related psychoses who met recovery criteria based on both clinical and social domains and (b) to examine if ...recovery was associated with factors such as gender, economic index of sites, and selected design features of the study. We also examined if the proportions who met our definition of recovery had changed over time.
A comprehensive search strategy was used to identify potential studies, and data were extracted for those that met inclusion criteria. The proportion who met our recovery criteria (improvements in both clinical and social domains and evidence that improvements in at least 1 of these 2 domains had persisted for at least 2 years) was extracted from each study. Meta-regression techniques were used to explore the association between the recovery proportions and the selected variables.
We identified 50 studies with data suitable for inclusion. The median proportion (25%-75% quantiles) who met our recovery criteria was 13.5% (8.1%-20.0%). Studies from sites in countries with poorer economic status had higher recovery proportions. However, there were no statistically significant differences when the estimates were stratified according to sex, midpoint of intake period, strictness of the diagnostic criteria, duration of follow-up, or other design features.
Based on the best available data, approximately, 1 in 7 individuals with schizophrenia met our criteria for recovery. Despite major changes in treatment options in recent decades, the proportion of recovered cases has not increased.
Characterization of melting process in a Phase Change Material (PCM)-based heat sink with plate fin type thermal conductivity enhancers (TCEs) is numerically studied in this paper. Detailed ...parametric investigations are performed to find the effect of aspect ratio of enclosure and the applied heat flux on the thermal performance of the heat sinks. Various non-dimensional numbers, such as Nusselt number (
Nu), Rayleigh number (
Ra), Stefan number (
Ste) and Fourier number (
Fo) based on a characteristic length scale, are identified as important parameters. The half fin thickness and the fin height are varied to obtain a wide range of aspect ratios of an enclosure. It is found that a single correlation of
Nu with
Ra is not applicable for all aspect ratios of enclosure with melt convection taken into account. To find appropriate length scales, enclosures with different aspect ratios are divided into three categories,
viz. (a) shallow enclosure, (b) rectangular enclosure and (c) tall enclosure. Accordingly, an appropriate characteristic length scale is identified for each type of enclosure and correlation of
Nu with
Ra based on that characteristic length scale is developed.
Recent systematic reviews have encouraged the psychiatric research community to reevaluate the contours of schizophrenia epidemiology. This paper provides a concise overview of three related ...systematic reviews on the incidence, prevalence, and mortality associated with schizophrenia. The reviews shared key methodological features regarding search strategies, analysis of the distribution of the frequency estimates, and exploration of the influence of key variables (sex, migrant status, urbanicity, secular trend, economic status, and latitude). Contrary to previous interpretations, the incidence of schizophrenia shows prominent variation between sites. The median incidence of schizophrenia was 15.2/100,000 persons, and the central 80% of estimates varied over a fivefold range (7.7–43.0/100,000). The rate ratio for males:females was 1.4:1. Prevalence estimates also show prominent variation. The median lifetime morbid risk for schizophrenia was 7.2/1,000 persons. On the basis of the standardized mortality ratio, people with schizophrenia have a two- to threefold increased risk of dying (median standardized mortality ratio = 2.6 for all-cause mortality), and this differential gap in mortality has increased over recent decades. Compared with native-born individuals, migrants have an increased incidence and prevalence of schizophrenia. Exposures related to urbanicity, economic status, and latitude are also associated with various frequency measures. In conclusion, the epidemiology of schizophrenia is characterized by prominent variability and gradients that can help guide future research.
SUMMARY
1. One of the key areas that links psychologically induced stress with the blood pressure‐regulatory system is the central nucleus of the amygdala (CeA). This is an integratory forebrain ...nucleus that receives input from higher centres in the forebrain and has extensive connections with the hypothalamus and the medulla oblongata, areas involved in the regulation of the cardiovascular reflexes.
2. Based on studies using electrical or chemical stimulation or electrolytic lesions of the CeA, it has become clear that the CeA plays an important role in the regulation of blood pressure in response to stressful or fearful stimuli.
3. Two important medullary areas known to receive projections from the CeA are the nucleus tractus solitarius (NTS) and the rostral ventrolateral medulla (RVLM). The NTS is the site of the first synapse for afferent fibres originating from baroreceptors, chemoreceptors and the heart, whereas the RVLM contains neurons that maintain resting blood pressure and sympathetic nerve activity via projections to sympathetic preganglionic neurons in the intermediolateral cell column of the thoracolumbar spinal cord.
4. Electron microscopic studies using combined anterograde tracing and pre‐ and post‐embedding immunogold labelling have shown that the pathways originating from the CeA to the NTS are inhibitory and may use GABA as a neurotransmitter. The results of these studies suggest that blood pressure changes produced by activation of the CeA may be mediated by attenuation of baroreceptor reflexes through a GABAergic mechanism at the level of the NTS.
5. Neuronal tract tracing combined with neurofunctional studies using the Fos protein as a marker of activated neurons indicate that the CeA projects directly to baroreceptive neurons in the NTS and RVLM that are activated by changes in blood pressure.
6. In conclusion, studies that have examined the efferent pathways of the CeA suggest that CeA neurons with projections to medullary baroreceptive neurons may play a vital role in the reflex changes in sympathetic nerve activity that are involved in blood pressure regulation in response to stress or anxiety.
This paper intends to make an in-depth study on the symmetry properties and conservation laws of the (2+1) dimensional time fractional Zakharov–Kuznetsov–Benjamin–Bona–Mahony (ZK–BBM) equation with ...Riemann–Liouville fractional derivative. Symmetry properties have been investigated here via Lie symmetry analysis method. In view of Erdélyi-Kober fractional differential operator, the reduction of (2+1) dimensional time fractional ZK–BBM equation has been done into fractional ordinary differential equation. To analyse the conservation laws, new theorem of conservation law has been proposed here for constructing the new conserved vectors for (2+1) dimensional time fractional ZK–BBM equation with the help of formal Lagrangian.
In this paper, the fractional Lie symmetry method has been implemented for getting similarity reduction and conservation laws for time fractional integrable coupled KdV–mKdV system. Firstly, the ...fractional Lie symmetry method has been used for getting the infinitesimal generators for the time fractional integrable coupled KdV–mKdV system. Then, by using of Erdélyi–Kober differential operators via Riemann–Liouville derivative, the reduction of coupled fractional differential equations to coupled fractional ordinary differential equations has been presented. Also, by means of new conservation theorem with formal Lagrangian, the new conserved vectors have been derived for the time fractional integrable coupled KdV–mKdV system.
In this paper, the auxiliary equation method is proposed to find the explicit solutions of the space-time fractional Dullin-Gottwald-Holm equation. Many new soliton and periodic wave solutions to ...this equation have been determined using the proposed auxiliary equation method. The obtained solutions might play a significant role in shallow water wave propagation. The results manifest that the proposed method is more useful and efficacious than other direct analytical methods. The results also demonstrate that the present technique is a simple and convenient tool for exploring new travelling wave solutions to the currently studied equation.
Multidrug-resistant (MDR) microorganism development in the gut is frequently the result of inappropriate antibiotic use. Faecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) restores normal gut microbiota in ...patients with Clostridium difficile infection. We hypothesized that it may help in decolonizing MDR organisms (MDROs) and in preventing recurrent MDR infections.
To assess FMT efficacy (eradication rate) for decolonizing MDROs and preventing recurrent MDR infections.
Medline, Embase and Web of Science (inception through 11 February 2019).
Clinical trials, retrospective studies, case reports and case series.
Patients with MDR infections or MDRO colonization treated with FMT.
FMT.
Systematic review.
Twenty-one studies (one randomized clinical trial, seven uncontrolled clinical trials, two retrospective cohort studies, two case series, nine case reports) assessing 192 patients were included. Three studies assessed FMT efficacy in preventing MDR infections; 16 assessed its effect on MDRO colonization; two assessed both. Data from 151 patients were included in the final analyses. In studies with low to moderate risk of bias, the eradication rate was 37.5% to 87.5%. Efficacy was similar in studies looking at infection or colonization and did not differ by length of follow-up. No serious adverse events from FMT were reported. Seven patients died of other causes.
FMT could be used as a treatment for eradicating MDR colonization and possibly preventing recurrent MDR infections, once more supporting efficacy and safety data are available. Larger well-designed randomized controlled trials are needed to further explore this therapy.
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