An Intelligent Multi-Resolutional and Rotational Invariant Texture Descriptor for Image Retrieval Systems

To find out the identical or comparable images from the large rotated databases with higher retrieval accuracy and lesser time is the challenging task in Content based Image Retrieval systems (CBIR). Considering this problem, an intelligent and efficient technique is proposed for texture based images. In this method, firstly a new joint feature vector is created which inherits the properties of Local binary pattern (LBP) which has steadiness regarding changes in illumination and rotation and discrete wavelet transform (DWT) which is multi-resolutional and multi-oriented along with higher directionality. Secondly, after the creation of hybrid feature vector, to increase the accuracy of the system, classifiers are employed on the combination of LBP and DWT. The performance of two machine learning classifiers is proposed here which are Support Vector Machine (SVM) and Extreme learning machine (ELM). Both proposed methods P1 (LBP+DWT+SVM) and P2 (LBP+DWT+ELM) are tested on rotated Brodatz dataset consisting of 1456 texture images and MIT VisTex dataset of 640 images. In both experiments the results of both the proposed methods are much better than simple combination of DWT +LBP and much other state of art methods in terms of precision and accuracy when different number of images is retrieved.  But the results obtained by ELM algorithm shows some more improvement than SVM. Such as when top 25 images are retrieved then in case of Brodatz database the precision is up to 94% and for MIT VisTex database its value is up to 96% with ELM classifier which is very much superior to other existing texture retrieval methods

Radiation Induced Optic Neuritis: A Role for Steroids?

Radiation induced optic neuropathy is a devastating complication of radiotherapy to the anterior visual pathway, resulting in significant, permanent vision loss. Systemic steroids have not demonstrated a proven benefit in stabilizing or reversing vision loss. We report a case of radiation induced optic neuropathy with visual acuity improvement after initiation of high dose steroids.A 55-year-old male presented with 5 days of decreased vision in the right eye. Two years prior to presentation, he was diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma of the skin and treated with a cumulative radiation dose of 70 Gy. ENT and oncology were monitoring the patient for a squamous cell carcinoma of the maxillary sinus without current treatment at that time. On ophthalmologic exam, his baseline visual acuity of 20/20 had decreased to counting fingers. Dilated fundus exam and fluorescein angiogram showed optic disc edema and hemorrhage. MRI orbits showed no interval increase in size of the squamous cell carcinoma with slight enhancement of the optic nerve and laboratory workup was unremarkable. The patient was diagnosed with radiation induced optic neuropathy. After risks and benefits were discussed with the patient, he agreed to a trial of high dose steroid therapy. The patient received three days of intravenous solumedrol (1 mg/kg/day), followed by a twelve day taper of oral prednisone (starting at 80 mg). Ten days after steroid initiation, the patient’s visual acuity improved to 20/40. Two months later, his visual acuity remained improved at 20/50.Acute high dose steroids may be beneficial in reversing radiation induced optic neuropathy.https://scholarlycommons.henryford.com/merf2019caserpt/1061/thumbnail.jp

Improved Hybrid Model of HMM/GMM for Speech Recognition

In this paper, we propose a speech recognition engine using hybrid model of Hidden Markov Model (HMM) and Gaussian Mixture Model (GMM). Both the models have been trained independently and the respective likelihood values have been considered jointly and input to a decision logic which provides net likelihood as the output. This hybrid model has been compared with the HMM model. Training and testing has been done by using a database of 20 Hindi words spoken by 80 different speakers. Recognition rates achieved by normal HMM are 83.5% and it gets increased to 85% by using the hybrid approach of HMM and GMM

SYNTHESIS AND IN-VITRO ANTIMICROBIAL STUDIES OF SOME NEW PYRAZOLONES

In the present scenario antibacterial agents are the greatest contribution of chemotherapy. They have great importance in the developing countries where infectious diseases predominate. Pyrazolone derivatives are an important class of heterocyclic compounds that occur in many drugs and synthetic products. It has a particular value due to their broad spectrum of biological activities and their utility as synthetic tools in the design of various bioactive molecules. It is also exhibited analgesic, antipyretic and anti-inflammatory activity. In the present study, a series of 3-methyl-N-(substituted phenyl)-5-oxo-4,5-dihydro-1H-pyrazole-1-carbothioamide (3a-g) were synthesized by the reaction of thiosemicarbazides (1) and ethylacetoacetate (2) in DMF. The synthesized compounds were characterized on the basis of IR, 1H-NMR, 13C-NMR and elemental analysis. All synthesized compounds were screened for antimicrobial activities using disc diffusion technique against four bacterial pathogens viz Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Bacillus anthracis and Pseudomonas aeruginosa & two fungal pathogens namely Candida albicanes, Aspergillus niger. Chloramphenicol and Fluconazole were used as standard drug respectively. The compounds exhibit moderate activity

Severe morbidity with sublingual misoprostol in a post-partum patient: a case report

Misoprostol is highly useful in preventing and treating postpartum hemorrhage. However, it may be associated with side effects like fever, chills and vomiting. Rarely may it cause severe morbidity and even death. We witnessed a case of 30 year old female, who developed postpartum hemorrhage immediately after her delivery. Patient was administered various uterotonics including 800 mcg sublingual misoprostol, with which her PPH was finally controlled. However, she developed hyperthermia, hypotension, tachycardia and fall in saturation of O2, after few hours of misoprostol administration. Patient was managed by strict monitoring in ICU setting and mechanical ventilation. She gradually recovered over a period of 48 hours and was discharged in stable condition. Misoprostol should be carefully used as it has a potential to cause serious adverse effects in pregnant and postpartum phase

Role of Spectral Peaks in Autocoorelation Domain for Robust Speech Recognition

This paper presents a new front-end for robust speech recognition. This new front-end scenario focuses on the spectral features of the filtered speech signals in the autocorrelation domain. The autocorrelation domain is well known for its pole preserving and noise separation properties. In this paper we will use the autocorrelation domain as an appropriate candidate for robust feature extraction. The proposed method introduces a novel representation of speech for the cases where the speech signal is corrupted by additive noises. In this method, the speech features are computed by reducing additive noise effects via an initial filtering stage, followed by the extraction of autocorrelation spectrum peaks. Robust features based on theses peaks are derived by assuming that the corrupting noise is stationary in nature. A task of speaker-independent isolated-word recognition is used to demonstrate the efficiency of these robust features. The cases of white noise and colored noise such as factory, babble and F16 are tested. Experimental results show significant improvement in comparison to the results obtained using traditional front end methods. Further enhancement has been done by applying cepstral mean normalization (CMN) on the above extracted features

Targeting Omicron (B.1.1.529) SARS CoV-2 spike protein with selected phytochemicals: an in-silico approach for identification of potential drug

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus -2 (S ARS-CoV-2) emerging variants particularly those of concern contain numerous mutations that influence the behavior and transmissibility of the virus and could adversely affect the efficacies of existing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccines and immunotherapies. The emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants have resulted in different waves of the pandemic within the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. On 26 November 2021 World Health Organization designated omicron (B.1.1.529) as the fifth variant of concern which was first reported from South Africa on November 24, 2021, and thereafter rapidly spread across the globe owing to its very high transmission rates along with impeding efficacies of existing vaccines and immunotherapies. Omicron contains more than 50 mutations with many mutations (26-32) in spike protein that might be associated with high transmissibility. Natural compounds particularly phytochemicals have been used since ancient times for the treatment of different diseases, and owing to their potent anti-viral properties have also been explored recently against COVID-19. In the present study, molecular docking of nine phytochemicals (Oleocanthal, Tangeritin, Coumarin, Malvidin, Glycitein, Piceatannol, Pinosylnin, Daidzein, and Naringenin) with omicron spike protein (7QNW (electron microscopy, resolution 2.40 Å) was done. The docking study revealed that selected ligands interact with the receptor with binding energy in the range of -6.2 to-7.0 kcal/mol. Pinosylnin showed the highest binding energy of -7.0 kcal/mol which may be used as potential ligands against omicron spike protein. Based on the docking studies, it was suggested that these phytochemicals are potential molecules to be tested against omicron SARS-CoV-2 and can be used to develop effective antiviral drugs

Utilisation of Honey in Processed Food Products

Honey is a unique food owing to its rich composition. Honey consumption in the diets dates back to older times where it was used as a remedy for stomach aches, dehydration, allergies, intercellular damage, skin and hair problems, as well as for its astringent. Honey is used in several food formulations these days. The majority of population is demanding partial or complete replacement of sugar with some healthy sweeteners. Honey is one of the replacers offering so many benefits from being sweet to therapeutic. The unique healing properties of honey such as antiseptic, antibacterial and antiviral are well recognised. By harnessing the unique benefits of honey for formulating healthier products is very beneficial for overall nutrition and well-being. Many honey-containing products such as honey candy, honey spreads, honey bread, honey yoghurt and honey flakes have been prepared which showed increased therapeutic potential. Also, honey-containing beverages are becoming popular owing to its natural sweetness. Honey offers great scope for the development of value-added products or as an ingredient in several formulations

In silico targeting enterotoxin from Staphylococcus aureus with selected flavonoids: Hope for the discovery of natural anti-mastitis agents

Staphylococcus aureus is a facultative anaerobe and catalase-positive bacterium responsible for various skin infections and life-threatening problems, including bacteremia and pneumonia. This bacterium produces a bunch of superantigens in the blood called enterotoxin. This toxin is responsible for food poisoning and toxic shock syndrome. Moreover, Bovine mastitis is also associated with S. aureus. Further, S. aureus related to drug resistance makes the infection more dreadful. Now a day, various natural compounds such as phytochemicals are gaining importance as they are effective against many diseases, including S. aureus infections. The present study used molecular docking of three ligands, i.e., Kaempferol, Apigenin, and Quercetin, with enterotoxin A from S. aureus. The docking study revealed that the binding energy of ligands with receptors was -6.6 to -6.9 Kcal/mol. Kaempferol had the highest binding affinity of -6.9 Kcal/mol, suggesting it has a potential against S. aureus. Therefore, in the current research, we have tried to identify occurring compounds that might be used to develop an effective anti-S.aureus agent. The findings are encouraging and will aid researchers in creating new mastitis-fighting medications based on natural phytochemicals

In silico targeting of osmoporin protein of Salmonella to identify anti-Salmonellosis phyto-compounds

Salmonella enterica serotype typhi is a gram-negative, rod-shaped bacterium, and has flagella with the human body as its only reservoir. Typhoid fever was found to cause 21.7 million illnesses and 216,000 fatalities worldwide in 2000, and the International Vaccine Institute estimated 11.9 million cases and 129,000 deaths in low- and middle-income countries in 2010. More than 10 million patients were infected with S. typhi each year and the mortality rate is associated with more than 0.1 million patients. Moreover, it is also associated with drug resistance globally which makes the disease more dreadful. Other than antibiotics, various flavonoids showed medicinal effects against many diseases including S. typhi infection. Flavonoids are a type of plant bioactive metabolite that have potential medicinal efficacy. The goal of this study was to see if certain flavonoids (ellagic acid, eriodictyol, and naringenin) could interact with the outer membrane of osmoporin (PDB ID: 3uu2) receptor in Salmonella and helps in inhibiting its growth. To look for probable ligand-receptor binding relationships, we used Pyrxmolecular docking software. The molecular docking results were analyzed using the Biovia discovery studio visualizer. The current study discovered that selected plant-based compounds interacted with an outer membrane of the osmoporin receptor, resulting in minimization of energy in the range of-6.6 to -7.8 Kcal/mol