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Earlier it was said that Asthma is a disease which can never be cured completely. It is primarily a disease of the respiratory system and one of the most disconcerting of respiratory bug. Asthma affects 5-10% of the world’s population or an estimated 23.4 million persons, including 7 million children and caused 461000 deaths. The prevalence of Asthma in India is about 30 million patients which is 3% of total population, with a prevalence of 2.4% in adults aged >15 years and about 27%children are asthmatic. There are more than 4,000 deaths occurred due to asthma each year. Not only standard medical treatment but now yoga is also a powerful weapon in defeating asthma. The healing and therapeutic aspects of yoga provide relief in asthma. This analysis furnished some data that yoga may be an effective method in management of asthma.

This study aims to determine the role of religiosity as mediation in the relationship between online transactions and customer satisfaction and loyalty in Sharia banking in the Jakarta area. The population of this research is all sharia banking customers in Jakarta. The number of samples in this study was 175 Sharia banking customers in Jakarta by sampling purposive sampling method. The data processing method used is Structural Equation Modelling. The results showed: 1) there is no effect of failure on the experience of online transactions in Sharia banking; 2) there is an effect of service recovery on the customer experience of online transactions in Sharia banking; 3) there is an influence of customer experience on customer satisfaction in online transactions in Sharia banking; 4) there is an effect of customer satisfaction on customer loyalty using online transactions in Sharia banking; 5) customer religiosity moderates between customer experience to satisfaction using online transactions; 6) Customer religiosity moderates the satisfaction of customer loyalty using online transactions in Sharia banking.

Internationalization in higher education is rapidly gain importance as educational institutions respond to globalization effects. Earlier, there are several models and frameworks indicated by researchers to analyze the internationalization process in any institution; this study uses the Dynamic Systems Theory (DST) framework to analyze the nature and development of the internationalization of Indian higher education and suggest that the internationalization process is dynamic. The framework of DST includes 5 primary levels, i.e., Global, National, Institutional, Program and Personal, each level includes further 5 components such as Purposes, Programs, Approaches, Projects and Outcomes, and every level has its environment, and a developmental range depends on the dynamic connection across the factors. There are three states, such as Initial, Attractor, and Control Parameters are other vital factors in examining the internationalization of higher education at individual levels. Internationalization of O.P. Jindal Global University will be discussed as a case study of implementing a dynamic systems approach to the internationalization of Indian higher education. This study aims to provide theoretical and practical implications for defining, developing, and strengthening the internationalization of Indian higher education through the DST framework.

Natural fibers are environmentally friendly, cost-effective, lightweight, renewable, and have high thermal stability with corrosion resistance capabilities. The addition of natural fibers with ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBS) in light weight aggregate concrete (LWAC) will be a long-term step toward improving mechanical properties and encouraging green construction. Coconut fibers are the least expensive of all-natural fibers and are widely available in a several developing countries. This study describes the impact of using coconut fibers in LWACs for sustainable construction. The effect of coconut fiber and GGBFS on the mechanical strength of LWACs including compressive strength, split tensile strength, and flexural strength, is reported. The effect of varying coconut fiber length and content on the mechanical strength of LWACs has been described, and optimum coconut fiber length and content have been reported. The current research initiative aims to increase understanding of the issues and challenges encountered during the production of coconut fiber reinforced GGBS with LWACs. In this study, it was determined that incorporating coconut fibers with GGBS can improve the strength properties of LWACs when used in shorter lengths and lower volume contents, whereas higher volume contents of coconut fibers degraded the strength properties of LWACs. Furthermore, current research on the practical applications of coconut fiber reinforced LWACs is quite limited, and more research is required in the future to determine their applications in civil engineering construction. Moreover, this review will aid in the promotion of the use of coconut fiber in the green construction of LWACs with the addition of GGBS.

Introduction Stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) is an effective treatment for early-stage non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients who are either medically inoperable or who decline surgery. SBRT improves tumor control and overall survival (OS) in medically inoperable, early-stage, NSCLC patients. In this study, we investigated the effectiveness of two different SBRT doses commonly used and present our institutional experience. Purpose To determine the clinical outcomes between two treatment regiments (50 Gray [Gy] vs. 55 Gy in five fractions) among Stage I NSCLC patients treated with SBRT at a state academic medical center. Methods We performed a retrospective analysis of 114 patients with Stage I (T1-2 N0 M0) NSCLC treated at a state academic medical center between October 2009 and April 2019. Survival analyses with treatment regimens of 50 Gy and 55 Gy in five fractions were conducted to detect any improvement in outcomes associated with the higher dose. The primary endpoints of this study included OS, local control (LC), and disease-free survival (DFS). Log-rank test and the Kaplan-Meier method were used to analyze the survival curves of the two treatment doses. The SPSS v.24.0 (IBM Corp., Armonk, NY, USA) was used for statistical analyses. Results The 114 early-stage NSCLC patients (median age, 68 years; range 12 to 87 years) had a median follow-up of 25 months (range two to 86 months). The number of males (n = 72; 63.2 %) exceeded the number of females (n = 42; 36.8 %). The majority of patients in this study were Caucasians (n = 68; 59.6 %) and 46 patients were African Americans (40.4 %). Two-thirds of the patients (n = 76; 66.7 %) were treated with 50 Gy in five fractions, and 38 patients (33.3 %) with 55 Gy in five fractions. The one-, two-, and three-year OS and DFS rates were improved in the patients treated with 55 Gy [OS, 81.7 % vs. 72.8 %; 81.7 % vs. 58.9 %; 81.7 % vs. 46.7 % (p = 0.049)], [DFS, 69.7 % vs. 69.7 %; 61.9 % vs. 55.7 %; 61.9 % vs. 52.0 % (p = 0.842)], compared to those treated with 50 Gy. Adenocarcinoma was the most common histology in both groups (51.3 % and 68.4 %). Failure rates were elevated for the 50 Gy regimen [39 (34.2 %) vs. 12 (8.5 %)]. Three year control rates were (66.3 % vs. 96.6 %; p = 0.002) local control; (63.3 % vs. 94.4 %; p = 0.000) regional control; and (65.7 % vs. 97.1 %; p = 0.000) distant control, compared to those treated with 55 Gy. Conclusion Early-stage NSCLC patients treated with SBRT 55 Gy in five fractions did better in terms of local control, overall survival, and disease-free survival rates compared to the 50 Gy in five fractions group.

In modern era, pattern recognition is becoming increasingly popular and important, attracting interest from an ever-widening range of sources. In this paper, we developed a rect-octo pattern that may be used in conjunction with a rapid block motion estimation approach. When compared to prior patterns utilised in the block motion estimation technique, the proposed rect-octo pattern is capable of identifying the motion vector with less search points and hence requires fewer search points. The new proposed rect-octo pattern outperforms previously implemented approaches, most noticeably while searching for big motion vectors. In this work, we demonstrate how the suggested pattern decreases search points in comparison to prior techniques and improves the accuracy of the motion vector.

Introduction Extracapsular extension (ECE) in the lymph nodes for patients with head and neck cancer has been found to be a poor prognostic factor in multiple studies. The purpose of the study is to evaluate the predictive factors for ECE on computer tomography (CT) imaging for patients undergoing surgery and to analyze outcomes. Methods We conducted an Institutional Review Board-approved, Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)-compliant retrospective review of 82 patients with biopsy-proven squamous cell carcinomas of the head and neck who underwent definitive surgery without neoadjuvant chemotherapy or radiation therapy. CT scans were evaluated for the level of involvement, size, and presence or absence of central necrosis. Extracapsular extension in lymph nodes on the postoperative pathology was correlated with the central necrosis in the lymph nodes appreciated on the CT neck with contrast. Survival estimates were evaluated using the Kaplan-Meier test. Results ECE on postoperative pathology was seen in 74.07% of patients who had evidence of central necrosis in lymph nodes on preoperative CT neck compared to 46.43% without CT necrosis (p=0.013). The incidence of ECE is higher in poorly differentiated tumors and also nodal stages >N2c at presentation. Patents with ECE had inferior disease-free and overall survival (OS). Conclusions Our results reveal that patients with necrosis on CT and with moderately to poorly differentiated tumors have a high incidence of extracapsular extension. There was no difference in local control (LC) between the groups of patients, but the OS was inferior in patients with ECE. Predicting extracapsular extension upfront helps to formulate the appropriate treatment. We propose to study additional chemotherapy to improve outcomes in patients with positive extracapsular extension.

Six Sigma is a technique devised by Bill Smith of Motorola in 1985, operates with the help of numerous statistical, data-based tools and techniques in order to yield an appropriate result that substantially increases profits and ensures delivery of value by deteriorating the variation and eradication of defects. With global economy facing simultaneous slowdowns in the past few years, organizations are keen on finding an opportunity to curb the costs and lead the competition. Thus, a procedure known as Lean Six Sigma is used, that can aid in achieving such economic desires. Lean Six Sigma has been the one to show significant cost reduction by increasing the rate of material flow and information, making the process more efficient, and improves the grade of the product that is composed by the process. Lean Six Sigma has successfully been implemented by organizations to significantly improve a variety of processes in many different domains. The intent of this review paper is to link Lean Six Sigma with certain sustainability factors and sustainability itself.

Due to fast growing digitalization, huge amount of data, especially video, is generated all over the world which is very difficult to store, process, and transmit. Many international coding standards are used to compress high quality video content at low bitrates for wide range of video applications. This research is to provide an enhanced efficiency of coding to provide higher compression capabilities with high perceptual quality. Motion Estimation is an important as well as computational step in video coding. This paper presents improved version of pattern in Adaptive Rood-Pattern Search (ARPS) algorithm for estimating a motion to compress a video. This improved version is comprised of Rectangular Shaped Search (RSS) Pattern which gives better results which are based on number of computational points for searching pattern as well as PSNR values.

Due to rapid growing of digital video, it was very complicated task for storing, processing and transferring a sequence of video. Motion Estimation (ME) is a primary tool for video compression. This paper comprises new pattern i.e. rectangular search pattern used in place of diamond search pattern in block-based motion estimation algorithm. The performance can be measured in terms of number of points searching in searching area per macro-block and quality of video by using PSNR value.

OBJECT: To compare the consistency of the agreement between the Convolution and TMR10 algorithms using a homogeneous phantom and to identify target characteristics that lead to large changes in target isodose coverage when the Convolution algorithm is used in GammaPlan as opposed to the TMR10 algorithm. METHODS: The IROC phantom end-to-end test was performed and RTDose for both the TMR10 and Convolution algorithm were submitted for comparison to the measurement. Treatment plans for 16 patients and 26 different targets were retrospectively re-calculated with the Convolution algorithm when originally planned with the TMR10 algorithm. Multivariate regression was used to find statistically significant predictors of loss in target prescription isodose coverage. RESULTS: Both algorithms agreed well with the IROC TLD measurement (within 1 %) and slightly better agreement was seen in the film analysis for the Convolution algorithm. After multivariate regression, small target volumes, < 1cm from air cavity, and minimum dose to target were potential predictors of large percentage loss of prescription isodose coverage (p = 0.049, 0.026, and 0.002, respectively). CONCLUSION: Convolution and TMR10 appear to be equivalent in homogeneous situations. Some target characteristics have been identified that might be indications for use of the Convolution algorithm in clinical practice.

Small cell carcinoma of the prostate (SCCP) is a rare malignancy that is considered a lethal entity of prostate cancer. Once it is diagnosed, patients characteristically experience an aggressive clinical course with poor overall survival rates, which unfortunately still holds even with modern treatments. In this report, we discuss the case of a 63-year-old African American male who initially presented to the hospital with an elevated prostate-specific antigen (PSA) level of 9.41 ng/mL and was found to have locally extensive SCCP. After one cycle of chemotherapy, the patient's symptoms worsened, and his disease continued to progress with an increased metastatic burden. In a matter of just a few months, the patient's disease progressed from a locally advanced entity to a diffusely metastatic one, showcasing the true aggressive nature of this disease. Through an extensive literature review, this case report also sheds further light on SCCP's histological characteristics, its apparent differences from adenocarcinoma of the prostate, and its aggressive nature even through treatment.

Background Peer review systems within radiation oncology are important to ensure quality radiation care. Several individualized methods for radiation oncology peer review have been described. However, despite the importance of peer review in radiation oncology barriers may exist to its effective implementation in practice. The purpose of this study was to quantify the rate of plan changes based on our group peer review process as well as the quantify amount of time and resources needed for this process. Methods Data on cases presented in our institutional group consensus peer review conference were prospectively collected. Cases were then retrospectively analyzed to determine the rate of major change (plan rejection) and any change in plans after presentation as well as the median time of presentation. Univariable logistic regression was used to determine factors associated with major change and any change. Results There were 73 cases reviewed over a period of 11 weeks. The rate of major change was 8.2% and the rate of any change was 23.3%. The majority of plans (53.4%) were presented in 6–10 min. Overall, the mean time of presentation was 8 min. On univariable logistic regression, volumetric modulated arc therapy plans were less likely to undergo a plan change but otherwise there were no factors significantly associated with major plan change or any type of change. Conclusion Group consensus peer review allows for a large amount of informative clinical and technical data to be presented per case prior to the initiation of radiation treatment in a thorough yet efficient manner to ensure plan quality and patient safety.

In this investigation, in-situ Al-5Mg-XAl4Sr (X = 0, 2.5, 5 and 7.5 wt.%) composites have been developed by the addition of Al-10Sr master alloy in Al-5Mg alloy through gravity casting method. During solidification, in situ Al4Sr particles are formed, and the morphology of the Al4Sr particle is needle or rod-like. The average α-Al grain size is decreased, but the sphericity of the α-Al grain and the volume fraction and size (length) of Al4Sr particles increase with an increase in Sr concentration in the alloy. As a result, the bulk hardness and tensile strength are increased, but the ductility is increased up to 5 wt.% of Al4Sr addition and then decreased at 7.5 wt.% of Al4Sr added composite. The overall fracture surface exhibits the mixed mode of fracture (ductile and brittle), and the proportion of the brittle mode of fracture is increased with the increase in Al4Sr concentration in the composite. Finally, a good combination of strength (UTS = 371 MPa) and ductility (% elongation = 16.6) is achieved in Al-5Mg-5 wt.% Al4Sr composite.

Finite element analysis has been carried out to understand the effect of various processing routes and condition on the microscale deformation behavior of Al-4.5Cu-2Mg alloy. The alloy has been developed through four different routes and condition, i.e. conventional gravity casting with and without refiner, rheocasting and SIMA process. The optical microstructures of the alloy have been used to develop representative volume elements (RVEs). Two different boundary conditions have been employed to simulate the deformation behavior of the alloy under uniaxial loading. Finally, the simulated stress–strain behavior of the alloy is compared with the experimental result. It is found that the microstructural morphology has a significant impact on stress and strain distribution and load carrying capacity. The eutectic phase always carries a higher load than the α(Al) phase. The globular α(Al) grains with thinner and uniformly distributed eutectic network provide a better stress and strain distribution. Owing to this, SIMA processed alloy has better stress and strain distribution than other processes. Finally, the simulated yield strength of the alloy is verified by experiment and they have great agreement.

In this investigation, the hypereutectic in-situ Al-X wt. %Mg2Si (X=15, 20, 25 and 30) composites have been developed through gravity casting technique with the use of commercially pure Al, Si and Mg metals. This composite comprises of three phases, namely the primary Mg2Si phase, which is formed during the pseudo-eutectic transformation at the time of solidification engulfed by the matrix (α-Al) and the binary eutectic (Al-Mg2Si) phase. Microstructure evaluation and the mechanical properties of these composites has been investigated. It is observed that the change Mg2Si concentration has a great impression not only on the morphology and volume fraction but also in the hardness of all the phases that exist. The size and volume percentage of Mg2Si particle increases with the increase in Mg2Si concentration. Bulk hardness also increases with higher Mg2Si concentration. The micro hardness of the reinforcement (primary Mg2Si) particle decreased slightly with the increase in the Mg2Si concentration due to the less compact particle. On the contrary, the micro hardness of the other phases showed a gradual rise with the rise in Mg2Si concentration. The higher values of Quality Index, % elongation, ultimate tensile strength and toughness are achieved in the samples where the Mg2Si concentration is nearer to the pseudo-eutectic (13.9 wt. %) region. The yield strength, firstly shows a rising trend up to 25 wt. % Mg2Si and then decreases at 30 wt. % Mg2Si concentration.

Motion Estimation (ME) is curial of every video compression standards which involve time consuming and high level computations. In this research paper, we’ve got proposed improved technique of quick block-matching algorithm that is easy and economical as compared to Diamond Search (DS) and Adaptive-Rood-Pattern Search algorithm.

Nowadays, The incorporation of different function of the network, as well as routing, administration, and security, is basic to the effective operation of a mobile circumstantial network these days, in MANET thought researchers manages the problems of QoS and security severally. Currently, each the aspects of security and QoS influence negatively on the general performance of the network once thought-about in isolation. In fact, it will influence the exceptionally operating of QoS and security algorithms and should influence the important and essential services needed within the MANET. Our paper outlines 2 accomplishments via; the accomplishment of security and accomplishment of quality. The direction towards achieving these accomplishments is to style and implement a protocol to suite answer for policy-based network administration, and methodologies for key administration and causing of IPsec in a very MANET.

Purpose/Objective(s): Stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) is an effective treatment for patients with early-stage non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who are not surgical candidates or who refuse surgical management. In this study, we report on our clinical outcomes and toxicity in the treatment of early-stage NSCLC with SBRT. Methods and Materials: Fifty-five patients with 59 T1-2N0M0 NSCLC lesions were treated at our institution between December 2009 and August 2014. The majority of the patients [38 (69%)] were treated with 50 Gy in 5 fractions, 7 patients (13%) with 48 Gy in 4 fractions, 8 patients (14%) with 60 Gy in 3 fractions, 1 patient (2%) with 62.5 Gy in 10 fractions, and 1 patient (2%) with 54 Gy in 3 fractions. Tumor response was evaluated using RECIST 1.1, and toxicity was graded using the CTCAE (Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events) version 3.0. The primary endpoints of this retrospective review included rates of overall survival, disease-free and progression-free survival, local failure, regional failure, and distant failure. A secondary endpoint included radiation-related toxicities. Results: The median follow-up was 23.8 months (range 1.1-57.6). The 3-year local control, progression-free survival, and overall survival rates were 91, 55, and 71%, respectively. The median age at diagnosis was 67.9 years (range 51.4-87.1). There were a total of 54 T1N0 tumors (92%) and 5 T2N0 lesions (8%). Adenocarcinoma was the most common pathology, comprising 54% of the lesions. A total of 16 of the patients (29%) failed. Among these, 5 local (9%), 14 regional (25%), and 4 distant failures (7%) were observed. On follow-up, one patient had grade 2 and another had grade 5 pneumonitis. Three patients experienced grade 2 chest wall tenderness. Two patients had grade 1 rib fractures, one of which could not be discerned from radiation-induced toxicity versus a traumatic fall. Conclusion: The University of Mississippi Medical Center SBRT experience has shown that SBRT provides satisfactory local control and overall survival rates with minimal toxicity in early-stage NSCLC patients.

PurposeThis paper aims to explore the strategy development process followed by firms during the current economic and financial crisis through the relationship between changes in performance measures and strategic success factors.Design/methodology/approachA survey to executives of global firms asking the importance of widely accepted performance indicators and strategic success factors has been performed obtaining 53 usable surveys. Test has been performed to identify respondent bias. Empirical results from the survey are presented and t‐tests have been performed to validate the statistical significance of the change in importance of performance indicators and strategic success factors.FindingsThe findings suggest that firms followed a reactive strategic development process since they adjusted their strategic direction to the short‐term problems in their performance affected by the economic crisis. While firms may focus their attention to similar set of performance measures during the crisis, their strategic behavior to face the crisis differs.Research limitations/implicationsWhile the sample is small (53 respondents), the authors believe that the quality of the respondents, senior managers and directors with responsibility for strategic development processes, compensates for the small number of responses.Practical implicationsRehearsing strategies can be a powerful tool to avoid reactive strategic behavior either anticipating environmental constraints through scenario planning or testing the robustness of strategic initiatives using diverse tools like strategic modeling.Originality/valueThe paper offers an empirical validation of strategic development processes under uncertainty considering the linkage between changes in organizational performance, performance indicators and strategic success factors.

Recent years have witnessed successful real-world deployments of wireless sensor networks (WSNs) in a wide range of civil and military applications. Sensing coverage and network connectivity are two of the most fundamental issues to ensure effective environmental sensing and robust data communication in a WSN application. This chapter presents fundamental studies on the sensing coverage and the network connectivity from mathematical modeling, theoretical analysis, and performance evaluation perspectives. Both lattice WSNs that follow a pattern-based deployment strategy and random WSNs that follow a random deployment strategy are considered. The aim of this chapter is to deliver a systematic study on the fundamental problems in WSNs and provide guidelines in selecting critical network parameters for WSN design and implementation in practice.

This chapter discusses how to raise the funding for your Internet venture. First we sketch out what venture capital is and where you may find it. We then look at what motivates a venture capitalist (VC) and outline how they evaluate Internet investment opportunities. This leads to a pragmatic and innovative framework which will increase your chances of getting the funding. Finally, we look at the tactical do’s and don’ts of identifying and meeting venture capitalists, pitching your idea and securing the funding.