Predictability and forecasting automotive price based on a hybrid train algorithm of MLP neural network

In this paper, using the Hurst exponent value H, we first show that the automotive price in Iran Khodro Company (IRAN) is predictable and therefore a good forecasting can be done using neural networks. We then introduce a new global and fast hybrid multilayer perceptron neural network (MLP-NN) in order to forecast the automotive price. In our new framework, we hybridize the genetic algorithm (GA) and least square (LS) method in order to train the connected weights of the network, which leads us to have a global and fast network. To do so, the connected weights between input and hidden layers are trained by GA and the connected weights between the hidden and output layers are trained by LS method. We finally apply our new MLP-NN to forecast the automotive price in Iran Khodro Company, which is the biggest automotive manufacturing in IRAN. The results are well promising compared with the cases when we apply the GA and LS individually. We also compare the results with the case when we employ the gradient-based optimization techniques such as Levenberg–Marquardt method as well as some heuristic algorithms such as extended tabu search algorithm instead of LS method and hybridization of MLP-LM with GA.     

CCGA packages for space applications

Commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) area array packaging technologies in high reliability versions are now being considered for applications, including use in a number of NASA electronic systems being utilized for both the Space Shuttle and Mars Rover missions. Indeed, recently a ceramic package version specifically tailored for high reliability applications was used to provide the processing power required for the Spirit and Opportunity Mars Rovers built by NASA-JPL. Both Rovers successfully completed their 3-months mission requirements and continued exploring the Martian surface for many more moths, providing amazing new information on previous environmental conditions of Mars and strong evidence that water exists on Mars.Understanding process, reliability, and quality assurance (QA) indicators for reliability are important for low risk insertion of these newly available packages in high reliability applications. In a previous investigation, thermal cycle test results for a non-functional daisy-chained peripheral ceramic column grid array (CCGA) and its plastic ball grid array (PBGA) version, both having 560 I/Os, were gathered and are presented here. Test results included environmental data for three different thermal cycle regimes (−55/125 °C, −55/100 °C, and −50/75 °C). Detailed information on these—especially failure type for assemblies with high and low solder volumes—are presented. The thermal cycle test procedure followed those recommended by IPC-9701 for tin–lead solder joint assemblies. Its revision A covers guideline thermal cycle requirements for Pb-free solder joints. Key points on this specification are also discussed.In a recent investigation a fully populated CCGA with 717 I/Os was considered for assembly reliability evaluation. The functional package is a field-programmable gate array that has much higher processing power than its previous version. This new package is smaller in dimension, has no interposer, and has a thinner column wrapped with copper for reliability improvement. This paper will also present thermal cycle test results for assemblies of this and its plastic package version with 728 I/Os, both of which were exposed to four different cycle regimes. Two of these cycle profiles are specified by IPC-9701A for tin–lead, namely, −55 to 100 °C and −55 to 125 °C. One is a cycle profile specified by Mil-Std-883, namely, −65/150 °C, generally used for ceramic hybrid packages screening and qualification. The last cycle is in the range of −120 to 85 °C, a representative of electronic systems directly exposed to the Martian environment without use in a thermal control enclosure. Per IPC-9701A, test vehicles were built using daisy chain packages and were continuously monitored and/or manually checked for opens at intervals. The effects of many process and assembly variables—including corner staking commonly used for improving resistance to mechanical loading such as drop and vibration loads—were also considered as part of the test matrix. Optical photomicrographs were taken at various thermal cycle intervals to document damage progress and behavior. Representative samples of these are presented along with cross-sectional photomicrographs at higher magnification taken by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) to determine crack propagation and failure analyses for packages.     

Nano levels detection of beryllium by a novel beryllium PVC-based membrane sensor based on 2,3,5,6,8,9-hexahydro-1,4,7,10-benzotetra oxacyclododecine-12-carbaldehyde-12-(2,4-dinitrophenyl)hy

A novel poly(vinyl chloride)-based 2,3,5,6,8,9-hexahydro-1,4,7,10-benzotetra oxacyclododecine-12-carbaldehyde-12-(2,4-dinitrophenyl)hy (PBC) with sodium tetraphenyl borate (NaTPB) as an anion excluder, benzyl acetate (BA), acetophenon (AP) and o-nitrophenyloctyl ether (NPOE) as plasticizing solvent mediators was prepared and investigated as a beryllium selective sensor. The best performance was observed with the membrane having the PVC–NaTPB–NPOE–PBC composition 30%:3%:62%:5%, which worked well over a very wide concentration range (1.0×10⁻⁷ M to 1.0×10⁻¹ M). The sensor exhibits a Nernstian slope of 29.9 mV per decade of Be²⁺ activity. The detection limit of the sensor is 7.0×10⁻⁸ M (630 ppt). The proposed electrode shows excellent discriminating ability toward Be²⁺ ion with regard to alkali, alkaline earth, transition and heavy metal ions. It was successfully applied to the determination of beryllium in a mineral sample.     

Predicting the spontaneous termination of atrial fibrillation based on poincare section in the electrocardiogram phase space

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is a commonly encountered cardiac arrhythmia. Predicting the conditions under which AF terminates spontaneously is an important task that would bring great benefit to both patients and clinicians. In this study, a new method was proposed to predict spontaneous AF termination by employing the points of section (POS) coordinates along a Poincare section in the electrocardiogram (ECG) phase space. The AF Termination Database provided by PhysioNet for the Computers in Cardiology Challenge 2004 was applied in the present study. It includes one training dataset and two testing datasets, A and B. The present investigation was initiated by producing a two-dimensional reconstructed phase space (RPS) of the ECG. Then, a Poincare line was drawn in a direction that included the maximum point distribution in the RPS and also passed through the origin of the RPS coordinate system. Afterward, the coordinates of the RPS trajectory intersections with this Poincare line were extracted to capture the local behavior related to the arrhythmia under investigation. The POS corresponding to atrial activity were selected with regard to the fact that similar ECG morphologies such as P waves, which are corresponding to atrial activity, distribute in a specific region of the RPS. Thirteen features were extracted from the selected intersection points to quantify their distributions. To select the best feature subset, a genetic algorithm (GA), in combination with a support vector machine (SVM), was applied to the training dataset. Based on the selected features and trained SVM, the performance of the proposed method was evaluated using the testing datasets. The results showed that 86.67% of dataset A and 80% of dataset B were correctly classified. This classification accuracy is in the same range as or higher than that of recent studies in this area. These results show that the proposed method, in which no complicated QRST cancelation algorithm was used, has the potential to predict AF termination.     

Scattering of elastic P- and SV-waves by a circular coated nanofiber based on Gurtin–Murdoch model of surface elasticity: Scattering cross section results

In this article, an analytical study of elastic P- and SV-wave scattering by a circular nanofiber is presented. The nanofiber is assumed to be surrounded by an inhomogeneous interphase layer, and Gurtin–Murdoch's model of surface elasticity is utilized to study the surface/interface effects in the regions between the fiber and interphase and also interphase and matrix. The simultaneous effects of surface elasticity and interphase inhomogeneity are considered here; by taking the inhomogeneous interphase to be composed of several sublayers, a transfer matrix approach is used to find the unknown field variables and, consequently, the scattering cross sections. The results indicate that considering the effects of surface elasticity and interphase inhomogeneity has a considerable impact on the calculated scattering cross sections.     

New Approaches in Monitoring Multivariate Categorical Processes based on Contingency Tables in Phase II

In some statistical process control (SPC) applications, quality of a process or product is characterized by contingency table. Contingency tables describe the relation between two or more categorical quality characteristics. In this paper, two new control charts based on the WALD and Stuart score test statistics are designed for monitoring of contingency table‐based processes in Phase‐II. The performances of the proposed control charts are compared with the generalized linear test (GLT) control chart proposed in the literature. The results show the better performance of the proposed control charts under small and moderate shifts. Moreover, new schemes are proposed to diagnose which cell corresponding to different levels of categorical variables is responsible for out‐of‐control signal. In addition, we propose EWMA–WALD and EWMA–Stuart score test control charts to improve the performance of Shewhart‐based control charts in detecting small and moderate shifts in contingency table parameters. Meanwhile, we compare the performances of two proposed EWMA‐based control charts with the ones of three existing control charts called EWMA–GLT, EWMA–GLRT and an EWMA‐type control chart for multivariate binomial/multinomial processes along with the ones of the corresponding Shewhart‐based control charts. A numerical example is given to show the efficiency of the proposed methods. Finally, the effect of parameter estimation in Phase I based on m historical contingency table on the performance of the Shewhart‐based control charts is studied. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A platform for electrochemical sensing of biomolecules based on Europia/reduced graphene oxide nanocomposite

This study aimed at preparing and evaluating the europium oxide–reduced graphene oxide (rGO) composites. Inorganic nanoparticles anchored onto rGO sheets through a facile sonochemical method. The resultant products were characterized by FT-IR, XRD, SEM. Their activity in biomolecules’ analysis were examined by cyclic voltammetry. The rectified electrodes revealed an incredibly electroactive manner. The obtained progress provided excellent materials for scrutiny of biomolecules. The linear relationship was used in the region of 100–1500 µM ascorbic acid (AA), 50–600 µM dopamine (DA), and 10–700 µM uric acid (UA), between current intensities and concentrations. The detection restrictions (LOD) (S/N?=?3) decreased to 8 µM, 1.1 µM and 0.085 µM for AA, DA and UA respectively by differential pulse voltammetry (DPV).     

Structural,magnetic and microwave absorption characteristics of BaCoxMnxTi2xFe12 − 4xO19

The effect of Mn⁺²Co⁺²Ti⁺⁴ substitution on microwave absorption has been studied for BaCo_xMn_xTi_2xFe_12 ? 4xO₁₉ ferrite–acrylic resin composites, where x varies from 0.3 to 0.5 in steps of 0.1, in frequency range from 12 to 20 GHz. X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM), vibrating sample magnetometer, and vector network analyzer were used to analyze the structures, electromagnetic and microwave absorption properties. The results showed that, the magnetoplumbite structures for all samples have been formed. Based on microwave measurement on reflectivity, BaCo_xMn_xTi_2xFe_12 ? 4xO₁₉ may be a good candidate for electromagnetic compatibility and other practical applications at high frequency.     

Association between antiinflammatory cytokine,IL‐10, and sleep quality in patients on maintenance hemodialysis

Elevated proinflammatory cytokines have been attributed to poor sleep quality in patients receiving hemodialysis. This is the first investigation about the relationship between sleep quality and circulating levels of antiinflammatory markers in these patients. A total of 72 patients who were receiving maintenance hemodialysis were enrolled in this cross‐sectional study. The Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) was used to measure sleep quality. Patients were divided into two groups: good sleepers (PSQI score < 5) and poor sleepers (PSQI score ≥ 5). Assessments were made for serum biochemical parameters (albumin, parathyroid hormone), inflammatory (interleukin [IL]‐6, tumor necrosis factor‐alpha [TNF‐α], and high‐sensitivity c‐reactive protein [hs‐CRP] ) and antiinflammatory (IL‐10) markers. Fifty‐four patients (75%) were classified as poor sleepers. Poor sleepers showed significantly lower levels of serum IL‐10 and higher serum triglyceride and parathyroid hormone concentrations. These patients were more likely to have more comorbidities. The global PSQI score was significantly correlated with serum IL‐10 (p = 0.03) and triglyceride levels (p = 0.01). Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed a direct correlation between PSQI and having comorbidities (p = 0.011, odds ratio [OR] = 3.918; confidence interval 95% [CI] = 2.742–19.031), between PSQI and serum triglyceride (p = 0.027, OR = 1.027 [95% CI = 1.007–1.048] ), and an inverse correlation between PSQI and serum IL‐10 level (p = 0.021, OR = 0.424 [95% CI = 0.195–0.922]). Reduced circulating levels of the antiinflammatory cytokine IL‐10 were significantly associated with poor sleep quality in hemodialysis patients. Factors including serum IL‐10 and triglyceride concentrations and having comorbidities may predict patients prone to poor sleep quality.