International Journal of Biology and Biomedical Engineering
E-ISSN: 1998-4510
Volume 10, 2016
Notice: As of 2014 and for the forthcoming years, the publication frequency/periodicity of NAUN Journals is adapted to the 'continuously updated' model. What this means is that instead of being separated into issues, new papers will be added on a continuous basis, allowing a more regular flow and shorter publication times. The papers will appear in reverse order, therefore the most recent one will be on top.
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Volume 10, 2016
Title of the Paper: Trace Element Accumulating Ability of Different Moss Species Used to Study Atmospheric Deposition of Heavy Metals in Central Russia: Tula Region Case Study
Authors: S. V. Gorelova, M.V. Frontasyeva, E. V. Volkova, K. N. Vergel, D. E. Babicheva
Pages: 271-285
Abstract: Multi-element epithermal neutron activation analysis (ENAA) applied to different moss species collected over the territory of Tula Region (Russia) determined the level of their ability to accumulate heavy metals and metalloids from wet and dry atmospheric depositions. Moss species were revealed with accumulating ability close to that one for moss species recommended for moss biomonitoring purposes (Pleurozium schreberi, etc): Abietinella abietina, Atrichum undulatum, Rhytidiadelphus triquetrus, as well those which are characterized by high accumulation ability of toxic element from the environment: Brachythecium rutabulum, Brachythecium salebrosum, Eurhynchium angustirete, Plagiomnium ellipticum, Orthotrichum speciosum, Oxyrrhynchium hians. These species can be recommended for use in passive moss biomonitoring of atmospheric deposition of trace elements. The species with low accumulating ability of heavy metals and metalloids were also revealed: Climacium dendroides, Plagiomnium undulatum, Sphagnum sp., Using the method of passive moss biomonitoring, air pollution of Tula region (Central Russia) was studied. A high content of a number of elements of anthropogenic origin V, Fe, Zn, As, Sm, Tb, Hf, W, Th, and U in the air compared to other regions of Russia and high content of As, Cd, Cr, Fe, V, Zn and Al compared to the CIS countries and Europe were revealed. The reason for such high level of anthropogenic air pollution in the region is the activity of enterprises of metallurgical, defense, engineering and chemical industries.
Title of the Paper: Electrophysical Study of Signal Transmission by Unmyelinated and Myelinated Axons of Neurons
Authors: Yumi Takizawa, Atsushi Fukasawa
Pages: 264-270
Abstract: Electrophysical study is given for signal transmission characteristics with the axon in neurons. Electrical analysis was done under voltage equilibrium and current continuity conditions. Inductance L and capacity C per unit length are obtained for lossless axon. Attenuation, phase rotation, and phase (signal) velocity are given for axon with loss. It is then presented that higher velocity and wideband signal transmission are realized by reduction of C and L by myelination and large cross section of axons. Loss and phase rotation per unit length are also obtained for axon with serial resistance r and parallel conductance g. Long distance transmission is found available by reduction of serial resistance r and parallel conductance g by voltage dependent Na+ channels distributed at unmyelinated parts of axons.
Title of the Paper: Experimental Analysis of Areas Susceptible to Fracture in Hot-Pressed Ceramic Crowns
Authors: L. Porojan, S. Porojan, M. Bîrdeanu, C. Savencu, A. Cernescu, F. Topală
Pages: 259-263
Abstract: Fracture is reported as the most frequently complication for all-ceramic restorations. The aim of the study was to analyze the experimental fracture features of hot-pressed ceramic crowns in order to evaluate areas susceptible to crack initiation and crack propagation. The experimental fractured crowns were inspected visually to determine the shape and orientation of the crack. The fracture surfaces of each restoration were documented with photographs of fractographic features and were examined using scanning electron microscopy. The starting point and crack propagation were determined using standard fractographic methods. The failure areas were correlated with stress areas identified after finite element analyses. Further studies of fracture testing and other experimental simulation methods are necessary in order to suggest different strategies for restorations design, and teeth preparations.
Title of the Paper: Assessment of the Trunk Motion of Scoliotic Patients During Lateral Movement Based on Ultrasound Motion Analysis System
Authors: J. Y. Jung, C. M. Yang, J. J. Kim
Pages: 253-258
Abstract: In this study, we determined the differences in angle variation between the location and direction of scoliotic patients during trunk lateral movement using ultrasound motion analysis system. 20 adolescents who diagnosed idiopathic scoliosis were divided into four groups according to their curve location and direction. Experimental procedure was divided into two sections: initial position, and left/right lateral bending position. To analyzed the alteration of the trunk motion, ultrasound markers were represented the segments and it refers to the lumbar, thoraco/lumbar, lower thoracic, and upper thoracic regions. In the results of this study, significant angle variations were shown in the lumbar and thoracic regions during left and right lateral bending for the scoliotic groups. In addition, differences in angle variation between left and right lateral bending decreased gradually and it was related to the compensatory movement of the trunk segments according to the curve magnitude defined as Cobb angle. From these results, we concluded that the location and direction of the curve in the scoliotic patients may be influence on dynamic trunk movement and postural balance in static and dynamic conditions. Furthermore, scoliosis ultrasound motions analysis system can be utilized to analyze the dynamic motion of trunk segments of idiopathic scoliosis patients in adolescence.
Title of the Paper: Advanced Signal Processing Techniques for Microwave Cardiopulmonary Signals Separation
Authors: D. Obeid, S. Samad, S. Sadek, G. Zaharia, G. El Zein
Pages: 248-252
Abstract: This paper presents different signal processing techniques used in separating cardiopulmonary signals measured using a microwave Doppler radar. For different sides from the person under test, the microwave system is tested for several operational frequencies simultaneously with a PC-based electrocardiograph. Wavelet transforms are used in order to separate heartbeat signal from the cardiopulmonary signals. High accuracy is obtained in terms of heartbeat rate for the whole measurements.
Title of the Paper: Using Granger Causality to Assess the Interaction Between Brain Areas During Different Consciousness States
Authors: Rita Pizzi, Teresa Rutigliano, Marialessia Musumeci, Massimo Pregnolato
Pages: 241-247
Abstract: To analyze cortico-cortical interactions in different consciousness states, namely during NREM sleep and wakefulness, we compared evoked potentials from 5 mA intra-cerebral stimulations in an epileptic subject undergoing clinical evaluation. We collected recordings from 16 different cortical areas and analyzed the perturbation effects in a 200ms time range after the stimulus using both cross-Coherence and Granger causality and comparing the two procedures. Results show that the overall interaction intensity involves a wider frequency range during wakefulness than during NREM sleep. Moreover, comparing similar Coherence intensity thresholds, the number of interacting areas is sharply higher during wakefulness. However, during the NREM phase, interactions show a highly directional behavior that is not present during wakefulness. The study displays which areas are mainly involved in reciprocal G-causal interactions, paving the way to a following research on their functional meaning.
Title of the Paper: Ab Initio Study and Design of Silicon and Silicon-based Nanoparticles for Controlled Drug Delivery
Authors: Nikolaos P. Katsougrakis, George C. Sakellaropoulos, George Nikiforidis, Shanawer Niaz, Aristides D. Zdetsis
Pages: 234-240
Abstract: Silicon nanoparticles, which are the building blocks of porous (nano-porous and meso-porous) silicon, are characterized by biocompatibility, biodegradability, low toxicity and solubility; and they exhibit extraordinary qualities for biochemical applications for controlled drug delivery and for tissue engineering. For an efficient design and functionality of such complex systems a fundamental understanding of their biochemical properties and interactions is indispensable. The present study aims at the fundamental ab initio description and understanding at the molecular level of such interactions, which also constitute a first basic step towards a bottom up multiscalar approach for the drug delivering process, based on ab initio density functional theory (DFT). At this level our study is twofold: (1) To study the chemical and biochemical properties of silicon nanocrystals, which are the building blocks of nano- and meso- porous silicon, already used as drug carriers; and (2) to explore the possibility of ab initio designing potential new as yet untested drug delivery agents based on silicon. To this end, we employ a recently developed chemical analogy between silicon and boron “clusters” known as the “boron connection”, taking advantage of the latest developments in the biomedical organoboron Chemistry. We have investigated and calculated the biochemical interaction energy of representative Si nanoparticles with selected amino acids, such as GLY (1). We have also illustrated that most of the tentative si-based nanocarriers that we have theoretically designed as borane/carborane analog structures have similar biochemical properties as their parent boron analogs, already used for drug delivery (2).
Title of the Paper: Metal-Organic-Frameworks as Potential Nanocariers of Anticancer Drugs: Designing a Bottom-up Computational Approach
Authors: Nikolaos P. Katsougrakis, Sotiria A. Zdetsis, George C. Sakellaropoulos, George Nikiforidis, Emanuel N. Koukaras, Shanawer Niaz, Aristides D. Zdetsis
Pages: 229-233
Abstract: As a fundamental step for the controlled drug delivery of well-known anticancer drugs through Metals Organic Frameworks (MOFs), we have studied by ab initio Density Functional Theory (DFT), the biochemical interaction of a well-known anticancer drug, tamoxifen (TAM), with representative MOFs and amino acids, such as glycine (GLY), for various sites and ways of approach, using the hybrid PBE0 functional. We have located several active sites and we have calculated the interaction energy, which is of the order of 14-17 Kcal/mole, depending on site and orientation, indicating a rather strong primary hydrogen bonding, which is practically of the same order of magnitude with the GLY-MOFs interaction energy. It is concluded that MOFs should be considered as very promising drug delivery vehicles.
Title of the Paper: Work-Related Hand Pathology among Dentists: A Pilot Study
Authors: Cristina Iordache, Ana Maria Fatu, Rodica Chirieac, Codrina Ancuța
Pages: 225-228
Abstract: The main aim of our study was to evaluate the potential relation between dental instruments and work-related musculoskeletal pathology experienced by dentists during daily practice in long-term follow-up, focusing on hand and wrist involvement. 3-month prospective observational study on 60 age-, gender-, field of practice- and work experience-matched dentists splited in two equal groups based on their work in either an ergonomic or non-ergonomic environment meaning daily practice with classical or ergonomic tools (size, weight, shape, texture, handpiece, types of active extremities). Outcome measures included specific parameters reflecting work-related musculoskeletal pathology - joint pain, swelling, stiffness, paresthesias, grip strength, dentist’s physical comfort. A specific questionnaire (Musculoskeletal Disorder Rating Scale) adapted for hand and wrist was applied - socio-demographic parameters (age, gender, field of practice, years in profession, working hours, patients treated per working day) and musculo-skeletal complains. Groups were comparable in terms of socio-demographic parameters (p>0.05%). Statistical significant more dentists in non-ergonomic group presented with work-related hand problems (p<0.05) resulting in impaired professional involvement and decreased quality of life: hand pain (intensity, location, duration, time of occurence), swelling, paresthesia, grip force. Musculoskeletal manifestations are recognized to have raised indicators of morbidity among dentists. Ergonomics has a special application in dentistry because it can increase productivity of labor in dental medicine and improve the indicators of incidence and prevalence of musculoskeletal diseases.
Title of the Paper: Ontology Evolution Approaches in Medical Domain
Authors: Mariam Gawich, Marco Alfonse, Mostafa Aref, Abdel-Badeeh M. Salem
Pages: 219-224
Abstract: The growth of medical applications that work with ontologies in health enterprises creates the need to ensure the integration and semantic homogeneity between them. In order to provide the reliable knowledge (in terms of new treatments, new clinical findings, new exercises), medical ontologies should be evolved. The adaptation of ontology according to the changes in domain of interest is called ontology evolution. This paper investigates ontology evolution approaches applied in medical domain. It also presents a framework proposal for comparative study that demonstrates the difference between the approaches.
Title of the Paper: Modeling Tobacco Mosaic Virus Proliferation in Protoplasts
Authors: Jose C. Merchuk, Asterio Sánchez-Mirón, Sebastian Asurmendi, Mordechai Shacham
Pages: 202-210
Abstract: The tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) is one of the most studied viruses. It is frequently used as a model in the research of virus-host interactions. The interest in understanding the mechanism of its proliferation stems basically from the field of agriculture, due to the detrimental effect this virus has on several crops. In addition to this direct application, virus-mediated protein expression systems, which are well established for the synthesis of foreign proteins in animal cell cultures, are now being applied to plants and plant cells by means of plant viral vectors. The use of transformed roots for the propagation of viral vectors has also been proposed. This work presents a mechanistic model describing the transient process of TMV multiplication in a protoplast (a wall-deprived cell). It aims to be a mathematical tool able to simulate the transient behavior of the main molecular pools taking part in the process, which will be useful for exploring, understanding and predicting the dynamics of a host-virus system. The variables considered are the pools of the main molecules taking part in the viral replication process. The basic balance equations for the cellular pools are presented and a satisfactory fit of the model to the experimental data is shown. The presented model is a necessary step toward the formulation of a basic mechanistic model for the systemic propagation of the virus in a plant tissue. It may be extended in many directions as to the optimization of a system for the production of a foreign protein, to the simulation of manipulation of the virus-cell interaction by external factors, to the mechanism of gene silencing or to the prediction of co-infection dynamics.
Title of the Paper: Musculoskeletal Disorders Caused by the Static Posture of Office and Garment Workers
Authors: Pille V., Reinhold K., Tint P., Hartšenko J.
Pages: 191-201
Abstract: The work-related musculoskeletal disorders were studied in three groups of persons: office workers (N=54), garment industry workers (49) and patients of occupational disease (34). The methods used were the Nordic Questionnaire, the pain VAS scale, myotonometric measurement of muscles. The study was supported by the statistics using SPSS methods. The result is a model of relationships between the three stages of musculoskeletal disorders and the workers’ age and occupation. This model could be considered for prevention of musculoskeletal disorders and for starting rehabilitation at an early stage, when the worker is not yet disabled. It is useful for employers and occupational health doctors.
Title of the Paper: Clustering Data Mining Models to Identify Patterns in Weaning Patient Failures
Authors: Sérgio Oliveira, Filipe Portela, Manuel Filipe Santos, José Machado, António Abelha, Álvaro Silva, Fernando Rua
Pages: 183-190
Abstract: The weaning process of ventilated patients need to be carefully performed. This type of procedure is very common in Intensive Medicine. The procedure is well-defined and it is executed according the patient condition. During the weaning process, the patient can be in vary stages. At the end the extubation tentative can be considered as successful or not. Before the extubation, the patient is submitted to a set of tests in order to validate the procedure. When this procedure is wrong executed, it can provoke long term injuries to the patient. This work arises in order to avoid weaning failures by early detecting the procedure result. This work has as main goal identify possible patient patterns associated to weaning failures. In this context Clustering data mining was used to select and identify the features and the patterns associated to failures. As result an Index-Davies Bouldin of 0.51 was achieved and the most significant variables associated to a failure were identified. The physicians has now new and useful knowledge able to help to take a decision about weaning before it be initiated.
Title of the Paper: Asthmatic Wheezes Detection - What Contributes the Most to the Role of MFCC in Classifiers Accuracy?
Authors: Mario Milicevic, Igor Mazic, Mirjana Bonkovic
Pages: 176-182
Abstract: Asthma is one of the top five chronic diseases globally and the most common chronic disease among children. It is the most likely cause of recurrent wheezing in children, so computerized respiratory sound analysis is an important diagnostic aid. This research compares the efficiency of the classification algorithms applied both on signals available on the internet and signals recorded on children in real-life clinical settings. The paper proves that the features with logarithmic distribution of energy filter bank along the frequency domain embedded in MFCC, result in better wheezes recognition in an auscultatory breathing signal than spectral features and the similar energy filter bank features which do not have logarithmic distribution along the frequency domain. Furthermore, the paper demonstrates that the SVM classifier performs better than other classifiers applied on signals acquired under ideal and suboptimal conditions.
Title of the Paper: Spectroscopic analysis of milk fat and its mathematical evaluation
Authors: H. Vaskova, M. Buckova, L. Zalesakova
Pages: 168-175
Abstract: The aim of this paper is to verify the applicability of Raman spectroscopy for measuring the content of fat in milk and dairy products. Accurate monitoring of milk nutritional compositions is essential for producers of milk and also for milk and dairy products quality control. Raman spectroscopy enables effective material identification and offers rapid, non-contact, nondestructive, reagent free measurements and possibility to insert devices for automatization. These are the main benefits of this method comparing to traditional time-consuming techniques. The statistical method Principal component analysis was performed for large spectral datasets evaluation. For specific spectral information was used linear regression. Liquid milk samples as well as dried milk droplets with fat concentration range 0,1 % to 3,5 % and dairy products with 10 % and 82 % fat concentration were used for analyses by Raman spectroscopy. R?se-Gottlieb gravimetric method and butyrometric method served as a standard control methods for correlation with experimental spectroscopic data for milk fat analysis. Methods accuracy is discussed in the paper. Quite high agreement is obtained for Raman spectroscopy.
Title of the Paper: Flow Patterns in an Occluded Artery with an "End to Side" Anastomosis Model. A Visualisation Study
Authors: I. D. Kalogirou, A. Romeos, A. Giannadakis, K. Perrakis, T. Panidis
Pages: 159-167
Abstract: The hemodynamic field of an occluded artery with a 45o distal ‘end to side’ anastomosis is examined experimentally. The influence of the host and graft vessel inlet conditions on the junction region flow dynamics are discussed, via a visualisation approach. A thin sheet of laser light, illuminating various sections along the test model, was used to analyse the local structure attained in the junction area, as well as in the proximal and distal regions of the merging section. In this study both the steady and pulsatile flow cases are considered. The qualitative description is obtained in a range of Reynolds and Womersley numbers typically occurring in human cardiovascular systems. Emphasis is placed on the detection of regions susceptible to deterioration of the bypass system performance associated in principle with swirl and backflow motion. The rearrangement of the hemodynamic field downstream of the anastomosis and its sensitivity to the merging host and graft stream conditions is an issue of particular interest here, also.
Title of the Paper: Incremental Phylogenetics by Repeated Insertions: An Evolutionary Tree Algorithm
Authors: Peter Z. Revesz, Zhiqiang Li
Pages: 148-158
Abstract: We introduce the idea of constructing hypothetical evolutionary trees using an incremental algorithm that inserts species one-by-one into the current evolutionary tree. The method of incremental phylogenetics by repeated insertions lead to an algorithm that can be used on DNA, RNA and amino acid sequences. According to experimental results on both synthetic and biological data, the new algorithm generates more accurate evolutionary trees than the UPGMA and the Neighbor Joining algorithms.
Title of the Paper: A Computational Study of a Prebiotic Synthesis of L-Tyrosine and L-Thyroxine (T3/T4)
Authors: N. Aylward
Pages: 134-147
Abstract: The magnesium ion metalloporphyrin complex is shown to bind the ligand diacetylene in weak van der Waals complexes on the metal and nitrogen sites. Photochemical excitation leads to a didehydrophenyl ethynyl complex which may add the elements of water. Further reaction with ammonia gives an amine that easily transforms to an aziridine derivative, and ultimately an imine bound to the catalyst. When carbon monoxide is also bound to the complex as a high energy compound whose particular structure has been dictated by the magnetic vector of the exciting radiation, reaction occurs to give a substituted aziridine-2one that may easily hydrolyse to the zwitterionic form of the amino acid L-tyrosine. L-thyroxine (T3/T4) is formed by iodination of the precursors, 4-hydroxy phenyl ethynyl complex and 4-hydroxy phenyl complex followed by their interaction. The reactions have been shown to be feasible from the overall enthalpy changes in the ZKE approximation at the HF and MP2 /6-31G* level, and with acceptable activation energies
Title of the Paper: A Mitochondrial DNA-Based Computational Model of the Spread of Human Populations
Authors: Peter Z. Revesz
Pages: 124-133
Abstract: This paper presents a mitochondrial DNA-based computational model of the spread of human populations. The computation model is based on a new measure of the relatedness of two populations that may be both heterogeneous in terms of their set of mtDNA haplogroups. The measure gives an exponentially increasing weight for the similarity of two haplogroups with the number of levels shared in the mtDNA classification tree. In an experiment, the computational model is applied to the study of the relatedness of seven human populations ranging from the Neolithic through the Bronze Age to the present. The human populations included in the computational study are the Andronovo, the Bell Beaker, the medieval Hungarian, the Khanty, the Minoan, the Rössen and the Únětice populations.
Title of the Paper: More Balanced Decision Tree Generation for Imbalanced Data Sets Including the Parkinson’s Disease Data
Authors: Hyontai Sug
Pages: 115-123
Abstract: The performance of decision tree algorithms for minor classes may be poor, because the algorithms are constructed to achieve the maximum accuracy for a given data set, while the minor classes are often neglected. Over-sampling can be a plausible strategy for better classification in such cases. SMOTE was devised, as an over-sampling method that generates artificial instances. But, the quality of the generated instances may not be as good as desired, even though these instances are based on nearest neighbors. To surmount this problem we suggest a new method that examines the generated instances by using artificial neural networks so that we may achieve better training set for the minor class. The effectiveness of this method is shown by experiments.
Title of the Paper: The Blood Smear Image Processing for the Acute Leukemia Diagnostics
Authors: V. G. Nikitaev, O. V. Nagornov, A. N. Pronichev, E. V. Polyakov, V. V. Dmitrieva
Pages: 109-114
Abstract: One of the signs of acute leukemia is the blast cells emergence in the peripheral blood. If you suspect acute leukemia it is mandatory to analyze a blood smear under the microscope. In this paper we proposed a method of automated blood smears image analysis for detection of blast cells. An experiment on the estimation of classification errors of blast cells in blood smears is described. The analysis of the experimental results confirms the novelty of the proposed method for solving the problem of automation of diagnostics of acute leukemia.
Title of the Paper: Effect of Alternative Framework Designs on Stresses in Zirconia-Ceramic Dental Crowns
Authors: Liliana Porojan, Florin Topală, Sorin Porojan, Cristina Savencu
Pages: 102-108
Abstract: Advances in CAD/CAM technology have enabled the dental applications of zirconia ceramics, which become increasingly popular as frameworks of dental prosthetic restorations. Because the strength of all-ceramic restorations depends not only on the fracture resistance of the material, but also on a suitable design and adequate material thickness, the objective of this study was to provide alternative framework designs of zirconia-ceramic crowns. Three different framework designs were found to be possible to create using the soft of the CAD/CAM system. The framework design modifications have been suggested by the soft, in order to improve strength by providing support to veneering porcelain and also to improve aesthetics without compromising strength. The finite element analysis (FEA) was used to understand and predict the biomechanical behavior of the prosthetic restored teeth, related to the shape of the zirconia substructure. Based on computational methods, different framework designs for zirconia-ceramic crowns can be chosen in order to provide adequate support for the veneering material. Recent advances in CAD/CAM technology and simulation platforms offer a wide range of tools to investigators, the decision to provide an adequate individual design during modeling and simulation involves interdisciplinary and skilled developers.
Title of the Paper: A Lie Symmetry Analysis of the Prieto-Langraica Model for Bacteria Activity on a Surface of a Medical Implant
Authors: J. M. Manale
Pages: 87-101
Abstract: The traditional Lie symmetry analysis to equations usually does not deliver. One common reason is the rarity of symmetries. Where they do exist, the results are often unintegrable. In this paper, we propose an infinitesimal parameter ! to Lie’s definition of point transformations, allowing for symmetries to exist where none could. The analysis leads to expressions that can be evaluated through basic limit and continuity principles. This we apply to the model developed by Alicia Prieto-Langraica et. al., that describes the interaction of blood cells and bacteria on a surface of a medical implant.
Title of the Paper: Biophysical Basis for the Mechanism of Action Potential Initiation in Presence of Static Magnetic Fields
Authors: Shahriar Jamasb
Pages: 80-86
Abstract: A biophysical model accounting for the experimentally-observed response of neurons to a low-level static magnetic field is proposed. This model explains the reduced excitability observed in neurons exposed to steady magnetic flux densities of the order of 10mT. In presence of a steady magnetic field reduced excitability is manifested as an increase in the excitation threshold associated with the neural membrane. The separation of charge resulting from the Lorentz force exerted on moving intracellular ions leads to formation of an electric field in a direction perpendicular to that of action potential transmission. As a result, the ionic displacement current available for discharging the membrane capacitance and bringing the transmembrane potential to the threshold level is diminished. The quantitative approaches undertaken in order to validate the proposed model were aimed at determining the change in the excitation threshold in presence of a static magnetic field. To this end applicability of the Rattay’s modified cable equation was assessed, and the variation of the transmembrane potential corresponding to the excitation threshold was examined based on recently-proposed generalizations of the Hodgkin and Huxley (HH) model accounting for action potential initiation. A further generalization of the HH model is also proposed which allows modeling the response of a neuron to a magnetic field of arbitrary time dependence. Accordingly, an expanded equivalent circuit model for the neuronal membrane with a magnetic field-dependent source term is derived from the generalized HH model. The proposed model is shown to be consistent with the biophysical basis for the dynamical mechanism of action potential initiation in class 3 pain neurons.
Title of the Paper: Novel Approach to Classification of Abnormalities in the Mammogram Image
Authors: Khalid El Fahssi, Abdelali Elmoufidi, Abdenbi Abenaou, Said Jai-Andaloussi, Abderrahim Sekkaki
Pages: 72-79
Abstract: Mammography remains the most effective tool for the early detection of breast cancer and Computer Aided Diagnosis (CAD) is usually used as a second opinion by the radiologists. segmentation and classification of breast masses in mammography play a crucial role in Computer Aided Diagnosis system (CAD) . In this paper we propose an approach based on the theory of adaptive orthogonal transformation that will calculate the informative characteristics of regions of interest of mammography images and classification by comparison of the similarity between the vectors of the characteristics of regions of interest by use of the coefficient of matrix of correlation. The result obtained by this calculation method allows the increase the efficiency of diagnosis. To illustrate the effectiveness of the method we present the results of experiments carried out on the basis of images MIAS mammograms.
Title of the Paper: Arbitrary Multi-Scale (AMS) Systems Biology and Biomedical Engineering Effective Modeling and Simulation
Authors: Rodolfo A. Fiorini
Pages: 61-71
Abstract: The addiction to IC (Infinitesimal Calculus), in the mathematical treatment of EM (electromagnetic) and BEM (bioelectromagnetic) biology and biomedical engineering modeling problems, is such that, since the digital computer requires an algebraic formulation of physical laws, it is preferred to discretize the differential equations, rather than considering other more convenient tools for problem mathematical description like, for instance, FDC (Finite Differences Calculus) or more sophisticated algebraic methods. Unfortunately, even traditional FDC, FDTD, etc., approaches are unable to conserve overall system information description. As a matter of fact, current Number Theory and modern Numeric Analysis still use mono-directional interpretation for numeric group generator and relations, so information entropy generation cannot be avoided in current computational algorithm and application. Furthermore, traditional digital computational resources are unable to capture and to manage not only the full information content of a single Real Number R, but even Rational Number Q is managed by information dissipation (e.g. finite precision machine, truncating, rounding, etc.). CICT PG approach can offer exact arithmetic and an effective and convenient "Science 2.0" universal framework, by considering information not only on the statistical manifold of model states but also on the combinatorial manifold of low-level discrete, phased generators and empirical measures of noise sources, related to experimental high-level overall perturbation. We present an effective example; how to unfold the full information content hardwired into Rational OpeRational (OR) representation (nano-microscale discrete representation) and to relate it to a continuum framework (meso-macroscale) with no information dissipation. This paper is a relevant contribute towards arbitrary multi-scale systems biology and biomedical engineering modeling, to show how CICT PG approach can offer a powerful, effective and convenient "Science 2.0" universal framework
Title of the Paper: Research Tools to Develop Identification and Measurement of Stress Factors in Two Groups of Athletic Population
Authors: Věra Strnadová, Petr Voborník, Kateřina Provazníková
Pages: 47-60
Abstract: The article presents the results of the research focused on stress factors followed in two groups – top-level athletes and recreational sportsmen. With regard to the methods used in the research the answers obtained in subjective questioning were statistically processed and then the respondents were classified into the zones of stress potential. In the field of frustration tolerance half of the top-level sportsmen group have low to average value of stress factors. The situation is similar in the recreational sportsmen group where 50% of them also show low to average value of stress factors. As far as coping with stress is concerned it has been revealed that about two thirds of the surveyed top-level athletes. In terms of handling stress it has been found out that 68% of people from the top-level athletes group fall into the third stress zone and in the common population group 72% of its members again fall into the healthiest third zone. The electronic online application which enabled subjective questioning and classification into stress factors was set up and placed on the web.
Title of the Paper: On How to Achieve Visual Sensory Substitution
Authors: Dragos Moraru, Costin A. Boiangiu
Pages: 40-46
Abstract: This paper tries to find the answer to a question that throughout the time many writers and philosophers have debated on: is it possible to genuinely replace a human sense with the help of other senses and some clever technology? Starting with the 80’s, technology capable of aiding damaged human senses started to emerge, the first commonly used device being the cochlear implant. Visual prosthesis (retinal implants and brain implants) as well as sensory substitution devices give artificial sight to blind persons (although the number of patients which benefited from such implants is relatively low compared to the number of cochlear implant users). This paper investigates existing technologies able to aid persons with a visual sense deficit, either by implantation of a visual prosthesis or by substituting the defective sensory modality with another functional sensory modality.
Title of the Paper: Contact Monitoring of Un-gelled Stainless-Steel ECG Electrodes
Authors: M. J. Burke, C. Molloy, H. Fossan
Pages: 30-39
Abstract: A circuit is developed to measure the quality of contact of un-gelled stainless-steel ECG electrodes with the mother’s skin in a heart rate monitor used during childbirth. The circuit measures the contact impedance continually and gives a visual indication of whether the impedance is above or below an acceptable threshold. The output signal interfaces with an ultrasonic heart rate transducer being used to measure the unborn infant’s heart-rate. This allows the midwifery staff to ensure that the ultrasound monitor is actually measuring the infant’s heart rate correctly and not that of the mother. The circuit developed measures the quality of contact of stainless-steel electrodes having contact impedance as high as 100kΩ using an injected signal at a frequency of 5 kHz. It assesses the contact of individual left and right electrodes independently.
Title of the Paper: Two Approaches to Reverse Engineering of the Activating-Repressive Boolean Gene Networks
Authors: Evgeny Pshenichnyy, Dmitry Romanov, Natalia Ponomareva, Olga Lyangasova
Pages: 25-29
Abstract: This paper considers two approaches to the problem of reverse engineering of synchronous Boolean gene regulatory networks. Under this model, a gene network is a directed graph with each vertices corresponding to a gene. Each gene is associated with a Boolean variable enoting gene activity state, and with a Boolean function that determines the dependence of the state of a gene in the next moment of time on the state of genes connected with this one in the current moment of time. In this paper we makes an assumption about the nature of connections between nodes in the network based on the biological nature of modeled objects and consider gene networks of activating-repressive type. We propose two algorithms (A-Reverse and N-Reverse) for reverse engineering this specific type of Boolean networks.
Title of the Paper: Molecular Modeling of Ribavirin - DNA Interaction
Authors: L. E. Vîjan, C. M. Topală
Pages: 18-24
Abstract: Ribavirin is a purine nucleoside analogue that is active against a number of DNA and RNA viruses. Our experimental results point out that in the ribavirin - nucleic acid complexes, the 1,2,4-triazole-3-carboxamide chromophore is intercalated between the bases of the nucleic acid helix, the carboxamidic group is set outside of the helix toward the major groove, the 2-hydroxymethyl-tetrahydrofuran-3,4-diol fragment being located in the minor groove. In this work, the interactions of two polymorphic modifications of ribavirin (denoted V1 and V2) with nucleic acids by the molecular mechanic method were investigated. In order to stress the sequence specificity of drug, some model mono- and double- stranded nucleic acid containing the bases: adenine (A), thymine (T), cytosine (C) and guanine (G) in AAAAAA, TTTTTT, CCCCCC, GGGGGG, ATATAT, CGCGCG, ATCGAT and CGATCG sequences were used. The theoretical results points out that the complexes of ribavirin with nucleic acids are stabilized mainly by van der Waals forces involving the 1,2,4-triazole-3-carboxamide chromophore and the nitrogenous bases from the nucleic acids structure and that the electrostatic term brings a minimal contribution to the binding energy. For both ribavirin conformers, a slight preference for nucleic acids sequences containing adenine and/or thymine bases was found. As a result of the ribavirin – nucleic acid interaction, only the nucleic acids structure is significantly perturbed, the structure of the drug being practically unchanged. In addition, the theoretical calculations in the ribavirin – nucleic acid system predict an increase of the distance between the adjacent bases at the intercalation site level. The turning of the polynucleotidic helix is produced and the “accordion type” motion takes place determining a breaking in the hydrogen bonds between base pairs from double-stranded nucleic acid structure.
Title of the Paper: Flexible Antenna Array for Early Breast Cancer Detection Using Radiometric Technique
Authors: A. Afyf, L. Bellarbi, F. Riouch, A. Errachid, M. A. Sennouni
Pages: 10-19
Abstract: Radiometry (or Microwave Thermography) as an early non-invasive and highly sensitive method helps on the detection of the malign tumors in the early curable stages, contributing to diminish the mortality which appears in the cases where the breast cancer was detected in late incurable stages. In this paper we present a novel design of an antenna array structure which is a crucial part in a radiometer system. The flexible compact antenna array is composed of two elements coupled with a T-junction, feded by a co-planar waveguide (CPW). Using both CST Microwave Studio and HFSS Software The antenna array prototype has been built and carried out. The proposed smart structure provides a bandwidth of 480 MHz around operating frequency of 3 GHz with a total gain of about 6 dBi.
Title of the Paper: A Comparison of Different Ridge Parameters in an Asthma Persistence Prediction Model
Authors: Ioannis I. Spyroglou, Eleni A. Chatzimichail, E. N. Paraskakis, Alexandros G. Rigas
Pages: 1-9
Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the important role of the ridge parameter in a logistic regression model by comparing several different ridge parameters. These are applied in the study of an asthma persistent prediction problem. High collinearity among the explanatory variables leads to the use of a logistic ridge regression model in order to obtain better predictions. The use of different ridge parameters results to different logistic ridge regression models which predict asthma with different accuracies, as far as positive and negative predictive values are concerned. Additionally, the most interesting conclusion in using different ridge parameters for constructing the logistic ridge regression model, is the existence of different factors which are statistically significant, making the asthma persistence prediction problem more complex. For the evaluation of the model, a method which combines bootstrapping and randomized quantile residuals of the estimated models is used.
