Non parametric statistical tools in biological research: A Review

Nonparametric statistical tools, also known as distribution-free methods, are a set of techniques used to analyze data when certain assumptions about the underlying population distribution are not met or when little is known about the population parameters. Unlike parametric methods, nonparametric methods do not rely on specific assumptions about the shape or parameters of the population distribution. Nonparametric statistical tools are useful in situations where the data may not follow a specific distribution, have outliers, or exhibit nonlinearity. They are also valuable when dealing with small sample sizes or ordinal or categorical data. Nonparametric methods can provide robust and reliable results in such cases

Automatic Intruder Combat System: A way to Smart Border Surveillance

Security and safeguard of international borders have always been a dominant issue for every nation. A large part of a nation’s budget is provided to its defense system. Besides wars, illegal intrusion in terms of terrorism is a critical matter that causes severe harm to nation’s property. In India’s perspective, border patrolling by Border Security Forces (BSF) has already been practiced from a long time for surveillance. The patrolling parties are equipped with high-end surveillance equipments but yet an alternative to the ply of huge manpower and that too in harsh environmental conditions hasn’t been in existence. An automatic mechanism for smart surveillance and combat is proposed in this paper as a solution to the above-discussed problems. Smart surveillance requires automatic intrusion detection in the surveillance video, which is achieved by using optical flow information as motion features for intruder/human in the scene. The use of optical flow in the proposed smart surveillance makes it robust and more accurate. Use of a simple horizontal feature for fence detection makes system simple and faster to work in real-time. System is also designed to respond against the activities of intruders, of which auto combat is one kind of response

An Efficient Web Service Discovery Architecture for Static and Mobile Environments

The widely adopted and implemented core web servicesstandards SOAP and WSDL have achieved extraordinaryinteroperability across highly disparate software systems. The serviceoriented architecture SOA has become widely recognized for itsimportant role in information technology (IT) projects. A SOA is a styleof design that guides an organization during all aspects of creating andusing business services (including conception, modeling, design,development, deployment and management). SOA has been the idealcombination of architecture and technology for consistently deliveringrobust, reusable services that support today’s business needs and that canbe easily adapted to satisfy changing business requirements. As systemsbecome more complex, the overall system structure-or architecture---becomes a central design problem. A system's architecture provides amodel of the system that suppresses implementation detail.Unfortunately, current representations of SOA architecture are informaland ad hoc. Currently many state of the art formal methods have beenapplied into the modeling, interoperability, dependability andtrustworthiness of web services and this could have a significant impacton the ongoing standardization efforts for services and cloudtechnologies. This paper presents a formal verification of proposed x-SOA based architecture for UDDI based web service discoveryframework. The paper attempts to establish the proposed architecture forlocating services in mobile computing environment as well. Potentially,extending the state of art formal method techniques could have asignificant impact on the ongoing standardization efforts for web servicesand cloud technologies for both fixed and mobile networks

An Intelligent Reconnaissance Framework for Homeland Security

The cross border terrorism and internal terrorist attacks are critical issues for any country to deal with. In India, such types of incidents that breach homeland security are increasing now a day. Tracking and combating such incidents depends only on the radio communications and manual operations of security agencies. These security agencies face various challenges to get the real-time location of the targeted vehicles, their direction of fleeing, etc. This paper proposes a novel application for automatic tracking of suspicious vehicles in real-time. The proposed application tracks the vehicle based on their registration number, type, colour and RFID tag. The proposed approach for vehicle recognition based on image processing achieves 92.45 per cent accuracy. The RFID-based vehicle identification technique achieves 100 per cent accuracy. This paper also proposes an approach for vehicle classification. The average classification accuracy obtained by the proposed approach is 93.3 per cent. An integrated framework for tracking of any vehicle at the request of security agencies is also proposed. Security agencies can track any vehicles in a specific time period by using the user interface of the application

Probiotics as nutrient supplement in artificial feed of gold fish (Carassius auratus)

Ornamental fish culture is an important component of aquaculture industry and is one of the most economic and profitable areas of fish farming activities. The last four decades has witnessed considerable growth and diversification in the international trade in ornamental fishes. Gold fish, Carassius auratus (Linnaeus, 1758), a member of the cyprinidae family is one of the most popular aquarium fish and are extremely valuable commercially. Goldfish are not having only attractive colour but also are hardy and easy to culture, so they make excellent aquarium species as well . as laboratory species. Moreover, their hardiness and ready availability give them scientific value for genetic and physiological research also

Economic evaluation of benzodiazepines versus cognitive behavioural therapy among older adults with chronic insomnia

L’insomnie, commune auprès de la population gériatrique, est typiquement traitée avec des benzodiazépines qui peuvent augmenter le risque des chutes. La thérapie cognitive-comportementale (TCC) est une intervention non-pharmacologique ayant une efficacité équivalente et aucun effet secondaire. Dans la présente thèse, le coût des benzodiazépines (BZD) sera comparé à celui de la TCC dans le traitement de l’insomnie auprès d’une population âgée, avec et sans considération du coût additionnel engendré par les chutes reliées à la prise des BZD. Un modèle d’arbre décisionnel a été conçu et appliqué selon la perspective du système de santé sur une période d’un an. Les probabilités de chutes, de visites à l’urgence, d’hospitalisation avec et sans fracture de la hanche, les données sur les coûts et sur les utilités ont été recueillies à partir d’une revue de la littérature. Des analyses sur le coût des conséquences, sur le coût-utilité et sur les économies potentielles ont été faites. Des analyses de sensibilité probabilistes et déterministes ont permis de prendre en considération les estimations des données. Le traitement par BZD coûte 30% fois moins cher que TCC si les coûts reliés aux chutes ne sont pas considérés (231$CAN vs 335$ CAN/personne/année). Lorsque le coût relié aux chutes est pris en compte, la TCC s’avère être l’option la moins chère (177$CAN d’économie absolue/ personne/année, 1,357$ CAN avec les BZD vs 1,180$pour la TCC). La TCC a dominé l’utilisation des BZD avec une économie moyenne de 25, 743$ CAN par QALY à cause des chutes moins nombreuses observées avec la TCC. Les résultats des analyses d’économies d’argent suggèrent que si la TCC remplaçait le traitement par BZD, l’économie annuelle directe pour le traitement de l’insomnie serait de 441 millions de dollars CAN avec une économie cumulative de 112 billions de dollars canadiens sur une période de cinq ans. D’après le rapport sensibilité, le traitement par BZD coûte en moyenne 1,305$CAN, écart type 598$ (étendue : 245-2,625)/personne/année alors qu’il en coûte moyenne 1,129$CAN, écart type 514$ (étendue : 342-2,526)/personne/année avec la TCC. Les options actuelles de remboursement de traitements pharmacologiques au lieu des traitements non-pharmacologiques pour l’insomnie chez les personnes âgées ne permettent pas d’économie de coûts et ne sont pas recommandables éthiquement dans une perspective du système de santé.Insomnia is common in the geriatric population, typically treated with benzodiazepine drugs which can increase the risk of falls. Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is a non-pharmacological intervention with equivalent efficacy and no adverse events. This thesis compares the cost of benzodiazepines versus CBT for the treatment of insomnia in older adults, with and without consideration of the additional cost of falls incurred by benzodiazepine use. A decision tree model was constructed and run from the health payer’s perspective over 1 year. The probability of falls, ER visits, hospitalisation with and without hip fracture, cost data and utilities were derived from a comprehensive literature review. Cost consequence, cost utility and potential cost saving analyses were performed. Both probabilistic and deterministic sensitivity analyses were conducted to account for uncertainty around the data estimates. Benzodiazepine treatment costs 30% less than the price of CBT when the costs of falls are not considered (CAN $231 vs. CAN$335 per individual per year). When the cost of falls is considered, CBT emerges as the least expensive option (absolute cost-saving CAN$177 per person per year, CAN$1,357 with benzodiazepines vs. $1,180 for CBT). CBT dominated benzodiazepines, with a mean cost saving of CAN$ 25,743 per QALY gained with CBT due to fewer falls. The cost savings analysis shows that if the CBT were to completely replace benzodiazepine therapy, the expected annual direct cost savings for the treatment of insomnia would be $441 million CAD dollars, with a cumulative cost savings of$112 billion CAD dollars over 5-years. The PSA report shows that even at different varying parameters, benzodiazepines cost CAD$1,305, S.D$ 598 (range 245-2,625) on average / person / year vs. CAD$1,129, S.D$ 514 (range 342-2,526) on average / person / year for CBT. Current treatment reimbursement options that fund pharmacologic therapy instead of non-pharmacologic therapy for geriatric insomnia are neither cost-saving nor ethically recommendable from the health system’s perspective

A reconceptualization of utopia as akairological rupture

This thesis argues that utopia is negatively articulated through akairological rupture, and engendered by an individual through particular musical creation. Akairological rupture is a qualitative state of incompatibility, where the contradictions in rational articulation are rendered apparent. This rupture is juxtaposed against a reading of utopia as the teleological result of chronological and collectively plotted out reform. The introduction provides a contextual justification for the argument, and a history of the key concepts: utopia and kairos. Chapter one focuses upon Friedrich W. Nietzsche’s conceptions of self-overcoming, transvaluation and perspectivism, and how these relate in an essential way to Dionysian music as engendering ruptures that may be deemed akairological, and that correspond with a negative articulation of utopia. Chapter two examines Ernst Bloch’s response to Nietzsche’s Dionysian aesthetic theory through a historical materialist reading of utopia as concrete and kairological. Chapter three presents Theodor W. Adorno’s inversion of Bloch’s positive dialectic, and a development of Nietzsche’s aesthetic theory, to render a negative utopia in line with akairos. Discussed by the three primary thinkers, music is a strand that runs throughout the argument, insofar as it may express the contradictions of rational articulation, and is therefore central to the discussion of utopia as akairological rupture

A dynamic file replication based on CPU load and consistency mechanism in a trusted distributed environment

Pokušalo se predložiti dinamički, kooperativni, pouzdani i sigurni pristup replikaciji datoteke utemeljen na opterećenosti CPU uz konzistenciju među replikama datoteke za distribuirano okruženje. Rezultati simulacije koja se sastoji od 100 potrebnih čvorova, tri servera datoteke i datoteke veličine od 677 KB to 11 MB pokazuju da kada se uzme u obzir opterećenje CPU, prosječno smanjenje vremena potrebnog za popunjavanje datoteke je oko 22,04 ÷ 24,81 %. Tako se optimiziralo opterećenje CPU i smanjilo traženo vrijeme popunjavanja datoteke. Opterećenje CPU smanjuje se za 4,25 ÷ 5,58 %. Rezultati pokazuju da se prosječno kašnjenje upisa (write latency) s predloženim mehanizmom smanjuje za 6,12 % u usporedbi sa Spinnakerovim, a prosječno vrijeme čekanja čitanja (read latency) je 3 puta bolje od Cassandra Quorum Read (CQR). Predložena parcijalna propagacija ažuriranja za održavanje konzistencije datoteke povećava se do 69,67 % u odnosu na vrijeme potrebno za ažuriranje zastarjelih replika. Tako je integritet datoteka i ponašanje zahtijevanih čvorova i servera datoteke zagarantirano za čak manje vremena. Konačno, kroz algebra postupak uspostavljen je odnos između formalnih aspekata jednostavnog modela sigurnosti i sigurnog pouzdanog modela replikacije datoteke zasnovanog na sigurnom pouzdanom opterećenju datoteke.An effort has been made to propose a CPU load based dynamic, cooperative, trust based, and secure file replication approach based along with consistency among file replicas for distributed environment. Simulation results consisting of 100 requesting nodes, three file servers and file size ranging from 677 KB to 11 MB establishes that, when the CPU load is taken into consideration, the average decrease in file request completion time is about 22,04 ÷ 24,81 % thus optimizing the CPU load and minimizing the file request completion time. The CPU load decreases by 4,25 ÷ 5,58 %. Results show that, the average write latency with proposed mechanism decreases by 6,12 % as compared to Spinnaker writes and the average read latency is 3 times better than Cassandra Quorum Read (CQR). The proposed partial update propagation for maintaining file consistency stands to gain up to 69,67 % in terms of time required to update stale replicas. Thus the integrity of files and behaviour of the requesting nodes and file servers is guaranteed within even lesser time. Finally, a relationship between the formal aspects of simple security model and secure reliable CPU load based file replication model is established through process algebra

Significance of Stone Waste in Strength Improvement of Soil

The evolution of industries is essential for the economic growth of any country; however, this growth often comes with exploitation of natural resources and generation of wastes. The safe disposal and utilisation of industrial wastes has become essential for sustainable development. A possible approach would be to utilize these wastes in construction industries. The stone industry is one such flawed industries that generates waste in dust or slurry form; this leads harmful impacts on human beings, animals, and surrounding areas which, in turn, can lead to soil infertility. In the present study, stone waste was examined for its influence on maximum dry density (MDD), optimum water content (OMC) and unconfined compressive strength (UCS) of soil experimentally. Stone waste was used at 0%, 4%, 8%, 12%, 16% and 20% by weight of soil and UCS tests were conducted at maturing periods of 7, 14 and 21 days. Test results reported that the incorporation of stone waste improved the compressive strength value significantly. Maximum dry density was enhanced; however, optimum water content was reduced with the use of stone waste in soil due to its fine particles. Linear regression equations were also derived for various properties