Abstract: Abstract Measurement error is a usually met distortion factor in real-world applications that influences the outcome of a process. The performance of the control charts can be affected in the presence of measurement error which also leads to erroneous conclusions regarding the average run length. In this paper, we proposed regression estimator-based mixed exponentially weighted moving average-cumulative sum (MxEMCUS) control chart to monitor the process mean and investigate the effect of measurement error on shift detection ability of the proposed control chart. The performance of MxEMCUS control chart is evaluated in the cases of mean shift with and without measurement error. The linear covariate model is used to evaluate the control chart in the presence of measurement error. The case of multiple measurements and linear increasing variance is also investigated in the presence of measurement error. The average run length and standard deviation of run length are used as the performance measuring tool. Based on simulation results, it is concluded that in the presence of measurement error, proposed chart has better performance as compared to other existing charts. An example with real data set is given to demonstrate the implementation of MxEMCUS control chart. PubDate: 2019-10-03 DOI: 10.1007/s40995-019-00774-6
Abstract: The original article has been published with an incorrect grant number in the acknowledgements which should be GP-IPS/2016/9474900 instead of GP-IPB/2016/9490400. PubDate: 2019-10-01 DOI: 10.1007/s40995-019-00740-2
Abstract: Abstract The effects of dwell sintering time on the densification and microwave dielectric properties of Sr0.5Ca0.5La4Ti5O17 ceramic were investigated. The ceramic was fabricated using the conventional solid-state mixed oxide route using high-purity raw materials which was characterized using X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and vector network analyzer for phase, microstructure and microwave dielectric properties analysis, respectively. The XRD findings showed single-phase ceramics for all sintered samples. The microstructure was observed to be comprised of compacted elongated plate like grains. The grain size was observed to increase with increase in sintering time from 2 to 7 h. Abnormal grain growth is observed for sintering time > 5 h. Thus, the dwell sintering times effected the density, and hence the microwave dielectric properties of Sr0.5Ca0.5La4Ti5O17 ceramic. εr ~ 57.1, Qufo ~ 13,250 GHz and τf ~ 5.1 ppm/°C were obtained for Sr0.5Ca0.5La4Ti5O17 ceramic sintered at 1550 °C for 5 h in the present study. PubDate: 2019-10-01 DOI: 10.1007/s40995-019-00734-0
Abstract: Abstract Safe, cost-effective and homemade design of diminutive Am–Be neutron source is obtained by combining an alpha source as an active component and a disk of light metal as a target. 241Am laboratory cylinder source with the activity of 10 µCi and a beryllium 9Be disk target with the air gap of 2 mm between them are inserted in a case of hollow stainless steel cylinder. A combination of CR-39 detector and natural boron BN1 converter is used to ensure the generation of neutrons from this design. Neutron output obtained from this design is 5.60 ± 0.5 n/s with a beryllium disk thickness of 2.4 mm. PubDate: 2019-10-01 DOI: 10.1007/s40995-019-00725-1
Abstract: Abstract Lestes dryas is being reported for the first time in northwestern Iran. This species has also been reported from Turkey, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Afghanistan. The specimens were collected from Deylaman (Gilan Province) on the May 25, 2015. Platycnemis kervillei have also been collected from Ardabil province on May 23, 2015, and from Isfahan province on June 21, 2017. Photographs from habitats and important specimens’ characteristics are provided. PubDate: 2019-10-01 DOI: 10.1007/s40995-019-00720-6
Abstract: Abstract The paper deals with the mathematical programming problems with nonsmooth vanishing constraints. The main focus is on the estimating the Frèchet normal cone of feasible set and presenting some stationary conditions for the problem. The obtained results generalize and improve some recent theorems in differentiable case. PubDate: 2019-10-01 DOI: 10.1007/s40995-019-00683-8
Abstract: Abstract Some osteological characters are studied in 40 species of seven genera and two families (Cobitidae and Nemacheilidae) of the loach fishes from Iran. The characters include: dorsal- and anal-fin formula, precaudal and caudal vertebrae, caudal skeleton, caudal-fin formula and suborbital spine. All these features, especially caudal skeleton, appear to be useful as a taxonomic tool in study of the loaches. Formulae for all characters were developed, relationships among the families, genera and species are discussed and monophyly of members of Cobitidae and Nemacheilidae is proposed. PubDate: 2019-10-01 DOI: 10.1007/s40995-019-00735-z
Abstract: Abstract The dynamics of an infectious disease in a population has a stochastic nature. Considering this stochastic behavior is more desirable when modeling the epidemics. Analyzing a stochastic model gives more insight as compared to its deterministic part only. This work presents a reliable numerical analysis for stochastic hepatitis B virus epidemic model with the migration effect. The outcomes of stochastic hepatitis B model are compared with its corresponding deterministic part. The dynamics of stochastic model is dependent upon a parameter \(H^{*}\) , called basic reproductive number. As the value of \(H^{*}\) changes from greater than 1 to less than 1, the dynamics of disease switches from endemic to infection-free state. In this paper, a structure-preserving numerical method is proposed for the analysis of stochastic hepatitis B model. The results obtained using MATLAB programs are compared with existing schemes in the literature which have certain limitations regarding stability and dynamical consistency. The proposed scheme remains stable and consistent for all choices of parameter values. PubDate: 2019-10-01 DOI: 10.1007/s40995-019-00726-0
Abstract: Abstract We introduce the notion of the generalized type derivation and identify its decompositions. We obtain some results concerning continuity of generalized type derivations on \(C^*\) -algebras. Our results recover continuity of ordinary derivations, right (left) centralizers and double derivations on \(C^*\) -algebras. PubDate: 2019-10-01 DOI: 10.1007/s40995-019-00754-w
Abstract: Abstract An acid-mediated three-component reaction for the synthesis of multisubstituted pyrroles has been developed from benzoin, C–H-activated compounds, and ammonium acetate/p-methoxy aniline. The advantage of this one-step metal-free approach is the use of lactic acid as a biodegradable, environmentally benign, and available catalyst and green solvent along with simple purification process involving no chromatographic process, high efficiency, short reaction time, and high yield of products. PubDate: 2019-10-01 DOI: 10.1007/s40995-018-0657-y
Abstract: Abstract This study deals with optimal control of the coefficient function in a wave equation. After displaying the ill-posedness of the problem, a regularized version is considered instead. The stages of finding the optimal control and approximation processes to this control are investigated, respectively. The results of regularization process are tested with numerical examples. PubDate: 2019-10-01 DOI: 10.1007/s40995-019-00690-9
Abstract: Abstract In the present paper, we study the hypercyclic property of weighted composition operator Cφ,ψ acting on the usual Hardy space \(H^{2} \left( {\mathbb{D}} \right)\) , whenever φ is a bounded holomorphic function and ψ is a hyperbolic linear fractional self-map of the unit disk. PubDate: 2019-10-01 DOI: 10.1007/s40995-019-00714-4
Abstract: Abstract This research was aimed to study the effect of ethyl acetate extracts from Streptomyces diastatochromogenes KX852460 on action mechanism at various stages of life cycle of Rhizoctonia solani AG-3, such as sclerotia, mycelium, basidiospores and hyphae. Suppression of sclerotia and mycelium was determined by measuring the inhibition zones. While morphology of mycelium and hyphae formation were observed by scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy, respectively, the basidiospores formation and ROS generation were detected by confocal laser scanning microscopy. Extract from S. diastatochromogenes KX852460 had 96% inhibition effect against the mycelium, formation of the sclerotia decreased from 71.73 to 0% as the concentration of the treatment increased from 1 × 10−4 to 7 × 10−4 mM and 88.22–97% inhibition effect on disease lesion. Suppression of basidiospores was one of the significant approaches evidenced by visualization using confocal laser scanning microscopy. Scanning electron microscopy analysis showed changes in morphological attributes of R. solani AG-3 caused by ethyl acetate extract of bacteria. Transmission electron microscopic observation revealed suppression of hyphae. Generation of endogenous ROS and oxidative damage were evidenced by the confocal laser scanning microscopy. Ethyl acetate extracts from Streptomyces diastatochromogenes KX852460 exhibited potential antagonistic action against the R. solani AG-3 at various stages of its life cycle including sclerotia, mycelium, basidiospores and hyphae which could be utilized as biocontrol agent. PubDate: 2019-10-01 DOI: 10.1007/s40995-019-00733-1
Abstract: Abstract Research from all over the world has shown a marked annual increase in prevalence of type 2 diabetes. Early screening of type 2 diabetes among asymptomatic adults especially in those who are obese or have as a familial trait could lessen the risk of developing microvascular complications like cardiovascular diseases, nephropathy, retinopathy and neuropathy. To find the prevalence of type 2 diabetes among asymptomatic adults. Two centers of Pakistan Health Research Council namely National Health Research Complex and Fatima Jinnah took part in conducting this 15 months long survey. After the ethical clearance voluntary study, participants fulfilling inclusion criteria were enrolled (2500 participants with age ≥ 35 years) from the nine towns and Defense Housing Authority of Lahore. There socio-demographic and clinical characteristics were noted by using a well-structured proforma. Each participant was tested for their HbA1C level using auto-analyzing system. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 20. Glycated hemoglobin (HbA1C) level greater than 7.0% was reported in 33.7% of participants interpreting type 2 diabetes in them. Family history of diabetes was seen in 31.9% participants. There were 32.5 and 6.5% hypertensive and cardiovascular disease participants. Obesity was present in 28.4% participants with a higher rate in those having type 2 diabetes. Thirty-four percent of adult population in Lahore is potentially type 2 diabetic. Early identification can save many lives from developing type 2 diabetes and its complications. PubDate: 2019-10-01 DOI: 10.1007/s40995-019-00747-9
Abstract: Abstract Recent studies indicated that regeneration speed in caudal fin and kidney of the genus Aphanius is faster than the other traditional model zebrafish. Therefore, non-traditional model organisms, such as members of the genus Aphanius, can probably be suitable candidate to study regeneration phenomenon. In order to advance our knowledge on the regeneration ability in the genus Aphanius, firstly we investigated the histology organization of caudal fin regeneration process in ten individuals of Aphanius hormuzensis with 3.5–4.0 cm in total length. In addition, transcription of three controlling genes, i.e., the ligand (Eda) and the receptor (Edar) from ectodysplasin signaling pathway and mmp9 (matrix metallopeptidase 9), were examined during the caudal fin regeneration stages in Aphanius hormuzensis. For the later experiment, 55–60 fish specimens were used to obtain 50 mg tissue for each regeneration stages. Thereafter, the expression patterns of these genes were examined by quantitative real-time PCR. Our histological observations showed three distinct stages in caudal fin regeneration including a wound healing in 24 h post-amputation (hpa), the blastema formation in 72 hpa and the outgrowth with fin ray formation in 5 days post-amputation (dpa). The results of quantitative real-time PCR showed that mmp9 has a strong upregulation during the stages of blastema and fin ray formation. The Eda transcript level was significantly increased, and it has upregulation during the fin ray formation stage. Slight down-regulation of Edar transcripts was observed at the blastema stage, but it was upregulated thereafter. It is documented that ectodysplasin signaling has critical role in morphogenesis of ectodermal appendages, and mmp9 involves in the extracellular matrix remodeling during regeneration. As conclusion, Eda signaling is present and involve in different stages of the caudal fin regeneration in A. hormuzensis. Eda gene upregulation might support the hypothesis that the regulation of Eda/Edar signaling was controlled by the ligand (Eda) expression during the caudal fin regeneration of the studied killifish. Moreover, the upregulation of mmp9 in different stages of regeneration is consistent with its role in the removal of damaged cartilage matrix. PubDate: 2019-10-01 DOI: 10.1007/s40995-019-00719-z
Abstract: Abstract Previous studies show that ultrasound has a critical role in the synthesis of nanoparticles. In this paper, we compare the synthesis of MnO2 nanoparticles in the presence and absence of ultrasonic waves. The reaction efficiency is measured by the back titration method. The purity, phase, and morphology of the prepared samples are analyzed by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM). The surface area and total pore volume are measured by Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) analysis. The results showed that the reaction efficiency reached 95% in the presence of ultrasonic waves during only 20 min, while it needed more than 6 h to reach such efficiency in the absence of ultrasonic waves. The XRD analysis and FESEM images showed that both samples were MnO2 nanoparticles and their phase was α. The increased synthesis rate is due to the production of free radicals during water sonolysis. Nitrogen adsorption–desorption isotherms displayed mesoporous nanoparticles with a pore size in the range of 2–10 nm for both samples. The surface area was 28.092 m2/g for samples under ultrasonic irradiation and 77.533 m2/g for other samples. A decrease of 2.75 times in the surface area was demonstrated for samples under ultrasonic irradiation. Also, the total pore volume of samples under ultrasonic irradiation was 1.85 times less than that of other samples. The reduction in the surface area and total pore volume is due to the role of the shock wave phenomenon in ultrasound irradiation. The shock wave increases the collision among nanoparticles and the adhesion among them. Based on the analysis of FESEM images, a new index is introduced describing the cohesiveness of the samples. This measure is compatible with the results of the BET analysis and shows increased adhesion among nanoparticles. PubDate: 2019-10-01 DOI: 10.1007/s40995-019-00702-8
Abstract: Abstract Let D be a finite and simple digraph with vertex set V(D). A signed dominating function (SDF) of D is a function \(f:V(D)\longrightarrow \{-1,1\}\) such that \(f(N^{-}[v])=\sum _{x\in N^{-}[v]}f(x)\ge 1\) for every \(v\in V(D)\) , where \(N^{-}[v]\) consists of v and all vertices of D from which arcs go into v. The weight of an SDF is the sum of its function values over all vertices, and the minimum weight of an SDF of G is the signed domination number \(\gamma _{s}(D).\) In this paper, we investigate the signed domination number of the Cartesian product of two directed cycles by showing that \(\gamma _{s}(C_{m}\Box C_{n})=\lceil \frac{m}{3}\rceil n\) if \(n\equiv 0\pmod {2m}\) or \(n\ge m\) and \(m\equiv 1\pmod 3,\) answering a conjecture posed in Shaheen (J Progress Res Math 6(2):770–777, 2016). Moreover, the exact value of \(\gamma _{s}(C_{8}\Box C_{n})\) is also provided. PubDate: 2019-10-01 DOI: 10.1007/s40995-019-00738-w
Abstract: Abstract The purpose of this study was to determine the oil yield, content and composition of phytosterols in the seeds of six wild-grown Salvia species from Iran, including S. ceratophylla L. (3 populations), S. nemorosa L. (6 populations), S. reuteriana Boiss. (6 populations), S. spinosa L. (5 populations), S. verticillata L. (3 populations) and S. virgata Jacq. (3 populations). We also evaluated the effects of some environmental parameters on their chemical variations and characterized the investigated populations based on the sterol chemo-types. The results showed that seed oil yields ranged between 16.51 and 42.48%, with an average of 28.93%. The total sterol contents in Salvia seeds varied significantly and ranged from 145.13 to 386.75 mg 100g oil −1 . β-Sitosterol, campesterol and stigmasterol were the main sterol constituents in all of the Salvia seed oils, with the average values of 60.13%, 27.32% and 12.55% of the total sterols, respectively. Among all the tested species, the highest level of total phytosterol and β-sitosterol contents was obtained for the seeds of S. ceratophylla. Moreover, the percentages of these compounds varied depending on climatic factors such as precipitation, humidity and temperature. The cluster analysis based on the β-sitosterol/campesterol ratio contents of the seeds categorized different populations of Salvia species into three distinct campesterol, β-sitosterol and β-sitosterol-rich chemo-types. PubDate: 2019-10-01 DOI: 10.1007/s40995-019-00721-5
Abstract: Abstract We have studied Hypericum scabrum L. plant which belongs to the Hypericaceae family, naturally growing in Anatolia. The aim of this research is to investigate the chemical composition (total phenol, total flavonoid) of 70% methanol and water extracts prepared from the underground and flowering aerial parts to investigate the antioxidant and cytotoxic activity. In order to determine the antioxidant activities of the extracts, 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), 2,2′-azino-bis (3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) radical scavenging activities and the inhibition of β-carotene/linoleic acid co-oxidation were studied. In cytotoxicity experiments, 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl) -2,5-diphenyltetrazolium (MTT) method was used on human lung cancer cell line (A549), human colon adenocarcinoma cell line (COLO 205) and mouse fibroblast (L929) cell line. When the chemical composition of the extracts was examined, the richest extract in terms of total phenolic content was found to be water extract prepared form the flowering part of the plant, and this extract was evaluated to be more active in DPPH radical scavenging activity test than the other extracts. In the cytotoxicity assays, 70% methanol extracts prepared from the flowering and root parts of the plant showed more inhibitory effects on cell viability than water extracts. Our experimental evidence suggests that these Hypericum extracts may be useful as antioxidant and cytotoxic agents. PubDate: 2019-10-01 DOI: 10.1007/s40995-019-00717-1
Abstract: Abstract In this article, we will derive several new nonlinear retarded integral inequalities for Gronwall–Bellman type and then apply them as handy tools to examine explicit bounds for solutions of initial value problems, and will also use to evaluate the qualitative as well as the quantitative behavior of solutions of nonlinear retarded differential and integral equations. These inequalities extend some present inequalities to the current literature. An application is also given to demonstrate the strength of our results. PubDate: 2019-10-01 DOI: 10.1007/s40995-019-00745-x