A New Class of Topp–Leone Power Series Distributions with Reliability Application

Okasha et al. (J Failure Anal Prevention, 2017. doi: 10.1007/s11668-017-0263-x) introduced the novel Topp–Leone geometric distribution. Here, we introduce a class of distributions containing [32]’s distribution as a particular case. The class of distributions contains several important distributions, including the Topp–Leone geometric, Topp–Leone Poisson, Topp–Leone logarithmic, Topp–Leone binomial and Topp–Leone negative binomial distributions. We derive comprehensive mathematical properties of the class. We obtain closed form expressions for the density function, cumulative distribution function, survival and hazard rate functions, moments, mean residual lifetime, mean past lifetime, order statistics and moments of order statistics. The class is shown to be more flexible by reanalyzing the real data set in [32].     

Quantized robust ℋ∞ control of discrete-time systems with random communication delays

The article considers stability and robust ?_∞ controller design of discrete-time systems with random communication delays and state quantization. A finite state Markov process is used to model communication delays between sensors and controllers. Measurements are assumed to be quantized by a logarithmic quantizer, and the effect of quantization errors are incorporated into the controller design. Based on a Lyapunov–Krasovskii approach, novel methodologies for analysing stability and designing a time-delay mode-dependent quantized state feedback controller are proposed. The controller is obtained through solving bilinear matrix inequalities (BMIs) using the cone complementarity linearisation algorithm.     

Antibacterial activity directed isolation of compounds from Punica granatum

ABSTRACT:  Chemical investigation of the methanolic extract of pomegranate fruit following antibacterial activity directed isolation led to the isolation of pelargonidin-3-galactose, cyanidin-3-glucose, gallic acid, quercetin, and myricetin. All these compounds exhibited substantial activity against species of corynebacteria, staphylococci, streptococci, Bacillus subtilis , Shigella , Salmonella , Vibrio cholera , and Escherichia coli . However, all these compounds were more active against Gram-positive species. On comparing the activity of all the isolated pure compounds, it was found that gallic acid showed the highest antibacterial activity against all the tested sensitive strains and the activity of the remaining pure compounds was almost same due to the structural similarities of the compounds. The reason for antibacterial activity of all pure compounds was attributed to their phenolic structure.     

Optimization of phenol removal from wastewater by activation of persulfate and ultrasonic waves in the presence of biochar catalyst modified by lanthanum chloride

In this paper, the effects of phenol concentration, pH, catalyst dose, persulfate concentration, temperature and contact time on the phenol removal from wastewater by activation of persulfate (S₂O₈^?2) in the presence of biochar modified by lanthanum chloride and ultrasonic waves (US) are optimized. Experimental design and optimization were carried out by response surface methodology. The optimum conditions for the maximum phenol removal were obtained pH of 4, phenol concentration of 86 mg/L, catalyst dose of 43 mg/L, persulfate concentration of 86 mg/L, temperature of 41 °C and contact time of 63 min. The optimum phenol removal from synthetic wastewater was attained 97.68%. Phenol removal by the mentioned system was fitted with the first‐order kinetic model. The combination of the ingredients of ‘S₂O₈^?2/US/Biochar‐LaCl₃’ system had a synergistic effect on the phenol removal.     

New designs of low/high‐pass and mid‐pass/stop FIR digital filters

New designs of highly efficient low/high‐ and mid‐pass/stop (centre‐symmetric band‐pass/stop) FIR non‐recursive digital filters are presented. The designs are based on the modulation property of DFT, applied to the already presented MAXFLAT halfband low‐pass filters. The presented filters have explicit formulas for their tap‐coefficients, and therefore are very easy to design. They have highly smooth frequency response and wider transition regions like MAXFLAT filters. The design formulae are modified to give new classes of low/high‐ and mid‐pass/stop filters, for which, like in equiripple filters, the transition bandwidth can be reduced by increasing the size of ripple on magnitude response. It is shown, with the help of design examples, that the performance of these filters is comparable to that of equiripple filters. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Access control aware data retrieval for secret sharing based database outsourcing

Enforcing dynamic and confidential access control policies is a challenging issue of data outsourcing to external servers due to the lack of trust towards the servers. In this paper, we propose a scalable yet flexible access control enforcement mechanism when the underlying relational data, on which access policies are defined, has been shared through a secret sharing scheme. For sharing values of an attribute in a relation, the attribute is assigned a secret distribution key and its values are split and distributed among data servers according to a Shamir based secret sharing scheme. Given access control policies over attributes of the relation schema, access to distribution keys, used further for reconstructing original values, is managed using the Chinese remainder theorem. Our solution, in addition to preserving the confidentiality of access control policies, is flexible to efficiently adopt grant and revoke of authorizations. Moreover, it prevents the possibility of information leakage caused by query processing through an access control aware retrieval of data shares. That is, our solution not only enforces access control policies for reconstructing shares and obtaining original values, but also for retrieving shares in query processing scenario. We implemented our mechanism and performed extensive experiments, whose results confirm its efficiency and considerable scalability in practice.     

Regorafenib and Ruthenium Complex Combination Inhibit Cancer Cell Growth by Targeting PI3K/AKT/ERK Signalling in Colorectal Cancer Cells

Cancer is one of the leading cause of lethality worldwide, CRC being the third most common cancer reported worldwide, with 1.85 million cases and 850,000 deaths annually. As in all other cancers, kinases are one of the major enzymes that play an essential role in the incidence and progression of CRC. Thus, using multi-kinase inhibitors is one of the therapeutic strategies used to counter advanced-stage CRC. Regorafenib is an FDA-approved drug in the third-line therapy of refractory metastatic colorectal cancer. Acquired resistance to cancers and higher toxicity of these drugs are disadvantages to the patients. To counter this, combination therapy is used as a strategy where a minimal dose of drugs can be used to get a higher efficacy and reduce drug resistance development. Ruthenium-based compounds are observed to be a potential alternative to platinum-based drugs due to their significant safety and effectiveness. Formerly, our lab reported Ru-1, a ruthenium-based compound, for its anticancer activity against multiple cancer cells, such as HepG2, HCT116, and MCF7. This study evaluates Ru-1′s activity against regorafenib-resistant HCT116 cells and as a combination therapeutic with regorafenib. Meanwhile, the mechanism of the effect of Ru-1 alone and with regorafenib as a combination is still unknown. In this study, we tested a drug combination (Ru-1 and regorafenib) against a panel of HT29, HCT116, and regorafenib-resistant HCT116 cells. The combination showed a synergistic inhibitory activity. Several mechanisms underlying these numerous synergistic activities, such as anti-proliferative efficacy, indicated that the combination exhibited potent cytotoxicity and enhanced apoptosis induction. Disruption of mitochondrial membrane potential increased intracellular ROS levels and decreased migratory cell properties were observed. The combination exhibited its activity by regulating PI3K/Akt and p38 MAP kinase signalling. This indicates that the combination of REG/Ru-1 targets cancer cells by modulating the PI3K/Akt and ERK signalling.     

Analytical model for the effects of the variation of ferrolectric material parameters on the minimum subthreshold swing in negative capacitance capacitor

In this paper, we analytically study the relationship between the coercive field, remnant polarization and the thickness of a ferroelectric material, required for the minimum subthreshold swing in a negative capacitance capacitor. The interdependence of the ferroelectric material properties shown in this study is defined by the capacitance matching conditions in the subthreshold region in an NC capacitor. In this paper, we propose an analytical model to find the optimal ferroelectric thickness and channel doping to achieve a minimum subthreshold swing, due to a particular ferroelectric material. Our results have been validated against the numerical and experimental results already available in the literature. Furthermore, we obtain the minimum possible subthreshold swing for different ferroelectric materials used in the gate stack of an NC-FET in the context of a manufacturable semiconductor technology. Our results are presented in the form of a table, which shows the calculated channel doping, ferroelectric thickness and minimum subthreshold for five different ferroelectric materials.