On a registration-based approach to sensor network localization

We consider a registration-based approach for localizing sensor networks from range measurements. This is based on the assumption that one can find overlapping cliques spanning the network. That is, for each sensor, one can identify geometric neighbors for which all inter-sensor ranges are known. Such cliques can be efficiently localized using multidimensional scaling. However, since each clique is localized in some local coordinate system, we are required to register them in a global coordinate system. In other words, our approach is based on transforming the localization problem into a problem of registration. In this context, the main contributions are as follows. First, we describe an efficient method for partitioning the network into overlapping cliques. Second, we study the problem of registering the localized cliques, and formulate a necessary rigidity condition for uniquely recovering the global sensor coordinates. In particular, we present a method for efficiently testing rigidity, and a proposal for augmenting the partitioned network to enforce rigidity. A recently proposed semidefinite relaxation of global registration is used for registering the cliques. We present simulation results on random and structured sensor networks to demonstrate that the proposed method compares favourably with state-of-the-art methods in terms of run-time, accuracy, and scalability

Design and Implementation of Rijindael’s Encryption and Decryption Algorithm using NIOS-II Processor

One of the foremost vital problems in communication customary is that the secure transport protocols. This paper can offer a doable resolution for Rijindael’s encryption and decoding algorithmic program using NIOS II processor, provided by ALTERA to be enforced in FPGA. We are going to see the performance of Rijindael’s AES using NIOS II/e (economic), NIOS II/s (standard) and NIOS II/f (fast). The FPGA has the potential of data processing and hardware modification. The NIOS II is a versatile embedded processor family that represents high performance, lower overall cost, power consumption, complexity combining several functions into one chip. The look of the Rijindael algorithmic program supported “NIOS II + FPGA” are able to do a better processing speed whereas it occupies comparatively low resources. The AES algorithmic program is written in VHDL and is interfaced with the system using general purpose input and output (GPIO) and also the management part is enforced in software in NIOS II integrated development environment (IDE). The implementation is completed on Cyclone II FPGA kit. DOI: 10.17762/ijritcc2321-8169.160413

Study of effect of myoinositol on menstrual irregularities and skin problems in polycystic ovarian syndrome cases

Background: Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), first identified in 1935 as Stein-Leventhal syndrome, is a complex neuro-endocrine disorder affecting approximately 5% to 10% of women reproductive age. Typically PCOS is characterized by hyperandrogenism (extremely variable in its occurrence), chronic anovulation, polycystic ovaries at ultrasound evaluation and dermatological problems such as acne, hirsute and seborrhoea. PCOS is indeed the most common cause of female infertility.Methods: This prospective interventional study was conducted during December 2012 to June 2013 in Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru Memorial Medical College and Associated Dr. Bhim Rao Ambedkar Memorial Hospital, Raipur (C.G.) India, after obtaining permission of ethical committee of institute. All young girls and married women who attended GOPD of Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology having polycystic ovarian syndrome as defined by Rotterdam Criteria were registered and screened for inclusion in the study. At the end of three months’ data were compiled in MS-Excel and checked for its completeness and correctness then it was analysed suitable statistical test was applied and p-value <0.05 was considered statistically significant.Results: Maximum no of cases were between 21 to 25 yrs age, youngest one was of 15 yrs and oldest one was of 33 yrs. 72% cases belonged to urban area and only 28% cases belonged to rural area. 94.67% of cases were presented with abnormal menstrual cycle. The most common menstrual abnormality was Oligomenorrhoea (43.66%) followed by Oligomenorrhoea+Menorrhagia (21.13%) than Amenorrhoea (19.71%) and Hypomenorrhoea+Oligomenorrhoea (15.49%). 42.7% cases had oily skin, 26.7% cases had hirsutism, 20% cases had acne and 9.3% cases had acanthosis nigricans. 74.65% cases (53/75) were improved in their menstrual complaints; most common menstrual abnormality improved was Oligomenorrhoea+ Menorrhagia i.e. 88.67% (13/15). Out of all cases of oligomenorrhoea 77.4% cases (24/31) achieved regular menses. Out of all cases of oligomenorrhoea+ hypomenorrhoea 81.8%% cases (2/11) achieved regular menses.Conclusions: Present study confirms that Myoinositol, an insulin sensitizer, by improving insulin signalling reduces insulin resistance and improves menstrual irregularities and skin problems of PCOS cases

Association of biochemical markers with time of onset and severity of hypertensive disorder of pregnancy

Background: Hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDP) are a common cause of morbidity and mortality. Inflammation is considered as one of the etiologic factors along with a complex interplay of multiple genetic, nutritional and other environmental agents. This study was undertaken to find association of biochemical markers with severity and time of onset of HDP. Methods: Institutional review board and ethics committee approval was taken prior to the study. History and examination was done. Blood pressure was recorded at each antenatal visit. Blood samples were taken for the study of biochemical markers-hsCRP and interleukin 6 levels. Data was analyzed. P value &lt;0.05 was taken as significant. Results: Of the 80 women, 27.5% had early onset HDP. 72.5% had severe HDP. Inflammatory indices were altered as compared to the range of normal pregnant women. Mean IL-6 and hsCRP levels were found to be raised but no statistically significant association was observed between IL-6 levels or hs-CRP levels and time of onset of HDP (p value = 1 and 0.5859 respectively and severity of onset of HDP (p value = 0.197 and 0.453 respectively). Conclusions: Biochemical indices, IL-6 and hs-CRP levels were elevated in women with HDP, indicative of increased inflammation

Real-world evaluation of safety and effectiveness of dydrogesterone in the management of threatened abortion

Background: Threatened abortion is a relatively common complication during pregnancy. Inadequate production of endogenous progesterone is implicated as a risk factor for miscarriages. Thus, supplementation of external progesterone can be used as a preventive strategy in these women. Dydrogesterone a stereoisomer of progesterone has a good safety and tolerability profile and is known to effectively prevent pregnancy loss in women with threatened miscarriage, however, real-world data safety and effectiveness analysis of dydrogesterone in Indian patients was lacking. Therefore, this real-world retrospective analysis of the case reports was done to evaluate the safety, effectiveness, compliance, and tolerability of oral dydrogesterone in the treatment of women with threatened abortion.Methods: Data was collected from 194 obstetricians and gynaecologists in India, on the use of oral dydrogesterone in women presenting with threatened abortion in the first trimester of pregnancy.Results: Completed case report forms of patients who met the eligibility criteria (n = 617) were considered for the analysis. The main presenting symptom was vaginal bleeding/spotting with an additional symptom of abdominal cramp/pelvic pain/low back pain in 364 (69.07%) patients. Miscarriage was reported in 45 (7.29%) patients and 23 (3.98%) patients needed surgical intervention before 20 weeks of gestation with dydrogesterone treatment. The median time for relief of symptoms from the start of dydrogesterone tablets was 3.32 days for low back pain, 3.9 days for abdominal pain, and 4.37 days for the establishment of hemostasis. Treatment with dydrogesterone was found to be well-tolerated and adverse events were reported in 3.72% of the patients.Conclusions: This retrospective analysis suggests that dydrogesterone is safe and effective in reducing the incidence of pregnancy loss in women with threatened abortion

Real-world evaluation of safety and effectiveness of ferrous bis-glycinate and its combination in pregnant women with iron deficiency anemia

Background: Iron deficiency is the most common cause of anemia during pregnancy. It leads to adverse outcomes on maternal and infant morbidity/mortality. There is a reduction in hemoglobin levels due to an increase in iron demand during pregnancy. Many pregnant women have poor or depleted iron stores and the amount of iron from the diet together with mobilized stores from the body is insufficient to meet the maternal demands. To meet iron demands, regular iron supplementation is recommended. Conventional iron supplements report frequent gastrointestinal side effects. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the safety, effectiveness, tolerability, and compliance of ferrous bis-glycinate and it’s combination for treating iron deficiency anemia during pregnancy. Methods: This was a retrospective analysis of data collected from 34 obstetricians and gynecologists across India, on the use of ferrous bis-glycinate and it’s combination as iron supplementation to pregnant women. The clinical records were analyzed for the objective i.e., rise in hemoglobin, safety, tolerability, and compliance. Results: 374 completed case records forms were considered for the analysis. These pregnant women had taken supplementation with ferrous bis-glycinate and its combination for an average of 58.5 days. The use of ferrous bis-glycinate and it’s combination improved mean hemoglobin concentration from 8.86 gm/dL to 11.27 gm/dL. With respect to safety, 97.6% of pregnant women did not report any adverse events. The remaining 2.4% had mild gastrointestinal side effects. Furthermore, 93% of pregnant women rated the tolerability as very good to good, and &gt;98% of patients complied with &gt;80% of treatment with ferrous bis-glycinate. Conclusions: This retrospective analysis suggests that ferrous bis-glycinate and it’s combination as iron supplementation in pregnancy is safe, effective, and well-tolerated

Use of Hydrothermal Carbonization and Cold Atmospheric Plasma for Surface Modification of Brewer’s Spent Grain and Activated Carbon

This paper presents results that show the effect of hydrothermal carbonization and subsequent cold plasma jet treatment with helium and argon on the structure and sorption properties of a material—spent brewery grain. Treatment of activated carbon, with a cold atmospheric plasma jet, was used comparatively. The effect of activation on the pore structure of the materials was carried out by the volumetric method at low pressure (N2, 77 K). The specific surface area as well as the total pore volume, average pore size, and pore size distribution were determined using different theoretical models. A high improvement in the sorption capacity parameter was obtained for hydrochars after cold atmospheric plasma jet treatment with an increase of 7.5 times (using He) and 11.6 times (using Ar) compared with hydrochars before cold atmospheric plasma jet treatment. The increase in specific surface area was five-fold (He) and fifteen-fold (Ar). For activated carbon, such a large change was not obtained after plasma activation. Regardless of the gas used, the increase in structural parameter values was 1.1–1.3

The autophagy protein Atg7 is essential for hematopoietic stem cell maintenance.

The role of autophagy, a lysosomal degradation pathway which prevents cellular damage, in the maintenance of adult mouse hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) remains unknown. Although normal HSCs sustain life-long hematopoiesis, malignant transformation of HSCs leads to leukemia. Therefore, mechanisms protecting HSCs from cellular damage are essential to prevent hematopoietic malignancies. In this study, we crippled autophagy in HSCs by conditionally deleting the essential autophagy gene Atg7 in the hematopoietic system. This resulted in the loss of normal HSC functions, a severe myeloproliferation, and death of the mice within weeks. The hematopoietic stem and progenitor cell compartment displayed an accumulation of mitochondria and reactive oxygen species, as well as increased proliferation and DNA damage. HSCs within the Lin(-)Sca-1(+)c-Kit(+) (LSK) compartment were significantly reduced. Although the overall LSK compartment was expanded, Atg7-deficient LSK cells failed to reconstitute the hematopoietic system of lethally irradiated mice. Consistent with loss of HSC functions, the production of both lymphoid and myeloid progenitors was impaired in the absence of Atg7. Collectively, these data show that Atg7 is an essential regulator of adult HSC maintenance

Global burden and strength of evidence for 88 risk factors in 204 countries and 811 subnational locations, 1990–2021: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021

Background: Understanding the health consequences associated with exposure to risk factors is necessary to inform public health policy and practice. To systematically quantify the contributions of risk factor exposures to specific health outcomes, the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2021 aims to provide comprehensive estimates of exposure levels, relative health risks, and attributable burden of disease for 88 risk factors in 204 countries and territories and 811 subnational locations, from 1990 to 2021. Methods: The GBD 2021 risk factor analysis used data from 54 561 total distinct sources to produce epidemiological estimates for 88 risk factors and their associated health outcomes for a total of 631 risk–outcome pairs. Pairs were included on the basis of data-driven determination of a risk–outcome association. Age-sex-location-year-specific estimates were generated at global, regional, and national levels. Our approach followed the comparative risk assessment framework predicated on a causal web of hierarchically organised, potentially combinative, modifiable risks. Relative risks (RRs) of a given outcome occurring as a function of risk factor exposure were estimated separately for each risk–outcome pair, and summary exposure values (SEVs), representing risk-weighted exposure prevalence, and theoretical minimum risk exposure levels (TMRELs) were estimated for each risk factor. These estimates were used to calculate the population attributable fraction (PAF; ie, the proportional change in health risk that would occur if exposure to a risk factor were reduced to the TMREL). The product of PAFs and disease burden associated with a given outcome, measured in disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs), yielded measures of attributable burden (ie, the proportion of total disease burden attributable to a particular risk factor or combination of risk factors). Adjustments for mediation were applied to account for relationships involving risk factors that act indirectly on outcomes via intermediate risks. Attributable burden estimates were stratified by Socio-demographic Index (SDI) quintile and presented as counts, age-standardised rates, and rankings. To complement estimates of RR and attributable burden, newly developed burden of proof risk function (BPRF) methods were applied to yield supplementary, conservative interpretations of risk–outcome associations based on the consistency of underlying evidence, accounting for unexplained heterogeneity between input data from different studies. Estimates reported represent the mean value across 500 draws from the estimate's distribution, with 95% uncertainty intervals (UIs) calculated as the 2·5th and 97·5th percentile values across the draws. Findings: Among the specific risk factors analysed for this study, particulate matter air pollution was the leading contributor to the global disease burden in 2021, contributing 8·0% (95% UI 6·7–9·4) of total DALYs, followed by high systolic blood pressure (SBP; 7·8% [6·4–9·2]), smoking (5·7% [4·7–6·8]), low birthweight and short gestation (5·6% [4·8–6·3]), and high fasting plasma glucose (FPG; 5·4% [4·8–6·0]). For younger demographics (ie, those aged 0–4 years and 5–14 years), risks such as low birthweight and short gestation and unsafe water, sanitation, and handwashing (WaSH) were among the leading risk factors, while for older age groups, metabolic risks such as high SBP, high body-mass index (BMI), high FPG, and high LDL cholesterol had a greater impact. From 2000 to 2021, there was an observable shift in global health challenges, marked by a decline in the number of all-age DALYs broadly attributable to behavioural risks (decrease of 20·7% [13·9–27·7]) and environmental and occupational risks (decrease of 22·0% [15·5–28·8]), coupled with a 49·4% (42·3–56·9) increase in DALYs attributable to metabolic risks, all reflecting ageing populations and changing lifestyles on a global scale. Age-standardised global DALY rates attributable to high BMI and high FPG rose considerably (15·7% [9·9–21·7] for high BMI and 7·9% [3·3–12·9] for high FPG) over this period, with exposure to these risks increasing annually at rates of 1·8% (1·6–1·9) for high BMI and 1·3% (1·1–1·5) for high FPG. By contrast, the global risk-attributable burden and exposure to many other risk factors declined, notably for risks such as child growth failure and unsafe water source, with age-standardised attributable DALYs decreasing by 71·5% (64·4–78·8) for child growth failure and 66·3% (60·2–72·0) for unsafe water source. We separated risk factors into three groups according to trajectory over time: those with a decreasing attributable burden, due largely to declining risk exposure (eg, diet high in trans-fat and household air pollution) but also to proportionally smaller child and youth populations (eg, child and maternal malnutrition); those for which the burden increased moderately in spite of declining risk exposure, due largely to population ageing (eg, smoking); and those for which the burden increased considerably due to both increasing risk exposure and population ageing (eg, ambient particulate matter air pollution, high BMI, high FPG, and high SBP). Interpretation: Substantial progress has been made in reducing the global disease burden attributable to a range of risk factors, particularly those related to maternal and child health, WaSH, and household air pollution. Maintaining efforts to minimise the impact of these risk factors, especially in low SDI locations, is necessary to sustain progress. Successes in moderating the smoking-related burden by reducing risk exposure highlight the need to advance policies that reduce exposure to other leading risk factors such as ambient particulate matter air pollution and high SBP. Troubling increases in high FPG, high BMI, and other risk factors related to obesity and metabolic syndrome indicate an urgent need to identify and implement interventions