Investigating the impact of image content on the energy efficiency of hardware-accelerated digital spatial filters

Battery-operated low-power portable computing devices are becoming an inseparable part of human daily life. One of the major goals is to achieve the longest battery life in such a device. Additionally, the need for performance in processing multimedia content is ever increasing. Processing image and video content consume more power than other applications. A widely used approach to improving energy efficiency is to implement the computationally intensive functions as digital hardware accelerators. Spatial filtering is one of the most commonly used methods of digital image processing. As per the Fourier theory, an image can be considered as a two-dimensional signal that is composed of spatially extended two-dimensional sinusoidal patterns called gratings. Spatial frequency theory states that sinusoidal gratings can be characterised by its spatial frequency, phase, amplitude, and orientation. This article presents results from our investigation into assessing the impact of these characteristics of a digital image on the energy efficiency of hardware-accelerated spatial filters employed to process the same image. Two greyscale images each of size 128 × 128 pixels comprising two-dimensional sinusoidal gratings at maximum spatial frequency of 64 cycles per image orientated at 0° and 90°, respectively, were processed in a hardware implemented Gaussian smoothing filter. The energy efficiency of the filter was compared with the baseline energy efficiency of processing a featureless plain black image. The results show that energy efficiency of the filter drops to 12.5% when the gratings are orientated at 0° whilst rises to 72.38% at 90°

Continuous maintenance and the future – Foundations and technological challenges

High value and long life products require continuous maintenance throughout their life cycle to achieve required performance with optimum through-life cost. This paper presents foundations and technologies required to offer the maintenance service. Component and system level degradation science, assessment and modelling along with life cycle ‘big data’ analytics are the two most important knowledge and skill base required for the continuous maintenance. Advanced computing and visualisation technologies will improve efficiency of the maintenance and reduce through-life cost of the product. Future of continuous maintenance within the Industry 4.0 context also identifies the role of IoT, standards and cyber security

Clinical Role of Micro RNA (miRNA) Expression Profiles in Oral Squamous Cell Carcinomas

INTRODUCTION: Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma (HNSCC) include squamous epithelial cancers of the upper aerodigestive tract. HNSCCS represent the sixth most common cancer in the world, and accounts for more than 500,000 new cases annually. HNSCC, especially oral cancers have a multifaceted aetiology. A plethora of lifestyle, environmental, viral and genetic factors has been identified as the risk factor for oral cancers. However, smoking, tobacco chewing, and alcohol consumption are widely considered to be major preventable risk factors. AIM OF THE STUDY: 1. To assess the feasibility of extracting miRNA in oral cancer tumour tissue samples. 2. To assess selected miRNAs expression profiles and compare it with epidemiological data, tumour characteristics and clinical behaviour of oral cancer patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Study Design: Prospective collaborative clinical and molecular research Place of Study: 1. Department of Surgical Oncology, Centre for Oncology Govt. Royapettah Hospital & Kilpauk Medical College, Chennai 2. Department of Genetics, Dr. ALM PG Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, University of Madras, Taramani Campus, Chennai. Duration of Study: October 2011 – December 2013. Number of Patients: 36 patients with oral squamous cell carcinomas. Inclusion Criteria: 1. Patients of age 18 to 70 years, 2. Oral squamous cell carcinomas, all sub sites, 3. Patients on regular follow-up, Exclusion Criteria: 1. Metastatic disease, 2. Recurrent or second primary cancers, 3. Patients who had previously undergone any treatment for the primary disease, 4. Other medical illness(es) precluding full study participation. Materials: 1. Clinical data of patients, 2. Tumour tissue samples from biopsies and surgical specimens. RESULTS: Thirty six patients with good quality RNA in the tumour tissue were selected for miRNAs analysis. MiRNAs Expressions of four miRNAs relevant to oral cancer based on available literature (miR-125b2, 184, 21 and 138) were analysed and compared with Clinical data of these 36 patients Epidemiology and Tumour Characteristics: Te male: female ratio was 25:11. The mean age of the patients was 51 years (SD±11, range: 26-70 years). Tongue (n=14, 39%) and buccal mucosa (n=8, 25%) were the most common sub sites. Left sided cancers were more common. Tobacco usage (61 %) in the form of cigarettes, beedis, smokeless tobacco like pan, etc was common. The other addictions seen were betel nut (27.8%), alcohol (33.3%), hans and cocaine. Locally advanced (T4) lesions constituted 47.2 percent of all tumours and node positivity was seen in 70 percent of patients. Using a three grade grading system, 44 percent of tumours were moderately differentiated and 19 percent of tumours were poorly differentiated. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS: The present study was a pilot study of a patient centric analysis of the use of miRNAs expression profiles in the assessing clinical behaviour of oral cancer patients. The study included analysis of 4 select miRNAs (miR - 21, 125 b2, 184 and 138) Expression Profiles in 36 oral cancer patients and their impact on the epidemiological and clinical characteristics of these patients. Based on this study the following conclusions can be made: 1. The extraction and analysis of miRNAs expressions from oral cancer tumour tissue sample is feasible provided care in taken in transportation, storage and processing of the samples. 2. MiRNAs altered expressions have definite and significant associations with many clinical and epidemiological characteristics of oral cancer patients. Development of newer, simpler, more efficient, safer and cost effective techniques for storage, transportation, extraction and analysis of RNA is the need of the hour. Further studies involving a panel of miRNAs are needed to provide conclusive evidences for use of miRNAs in assessing clinical behaviour of oral cancer patients and to influence their management

Resistivity and Thermopower of Ni2.19Mn0.81Ga

In this paper, we report results of the first studies on the thermoelectric power (TEP) of the magnetic heusler alloy Ni$_{2.19}$Mn$_{0.81}$Ga. We explain the observed temperature dependence of the TEP in terms of the crystal field (CF) splitting and compare the observed behavior to that of the stoichiometric system Ni$_2$MnGa. The resistivity as a function of temperature of the two systems serves to define the structural transition temperature, T$_M$, which is the transition from the high temperature austenitic phase to low temperatures the martensitic phase. Occurrence of magnetic (Curie-Weiss) and the martensitic transition at almost the same temperature in Ni$_{2.19}$Mn$_{0.81}$Ga has been explained from TEP to be due to changes in the density of states (DOS) at the Fermi level.Comment: 12 pages, 4 figures, Accepted in Physical Review B vol 70, Issue 1

A rare case of conjoined twins presenting as dicephalus parapagus: a case report

Conjoined twinning is a congenital abnormality resulting in various presentations of the fetuses in utero. It is a rare embryological developmental disorder occurring in one in 100,000 births. We present a case of conjoined twinning, which is characterized by the presence of two heads, single vertebral column and single symphysis pubis, with single genitor-urinary tract and single gastro intestinal tract. The present condition, referred to as dicephalus parapagus, is a rare entity among the conjoined twinning and has seldom positive outcomes. The mechanism of occurrence of conjoined twinning has been proposed either through fusion or fission of the embryos. In either case, surgical separation of the conjoined twins is often unsuccessful and results in increased morbidity and mortality. However, it is essential to screen for the presence of such congenital anomalies early during pregnancy, in order to terminate and provide parental counselling

A rare case of fetus papyraceous presenting in monozygotic biamniotic twins

Fetus papyraceous or compresses is characteristic of compressed mummified, parchment like remains of dead twin retained in utero after intrauterine death in the second trimester. It is an uncommon finding and we report in a G2P1L1 with 22 weeks with Monozygoticbiamniotic twins with fetus papyraceous stuck to left upper segment followed up to 36 weeks. The mother was advised regular antenatal visits and frequent feto-maternal monitoring was done. Patient delivered a single live baby and a placenta with mummified fetus within it. The incidence of fetus papyraceous is about 1 in 17000 to 1 in 20000 pregnancies. Early diagnosis of this condition helps in monitoring the surviving fetus

An Analysis on Contributions of Indian Medical Universities/Institutions Ranked by National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) in ResearchGate(RG)

This paper examines the contributions of various academic works by medical Institutions/Universities ranked by National Institutional Ranking Frameworks(NIRF) in the ResearchGate(RG).The study has considered the top ten NIRF Ranking Medical Universities/Institutions. The relevant data were extracted from the websites of NIRF (https://www.nirfindia.org/Home) and ResearchGate (https://www.researchgate.net/). The study has mainly focused on ResearchGate (RG) Score, Memberships and Publications of top NIRF Ranking Universities/Institutions. The results show that the All India Institute of Medical Sciences contributions are found high (RG Score: 25775.82, Membership: 1970 and Publications: 15410) and Jawaharlal Institute of Post Graduate Medical Education & Research are found less (RG Score: 5033.65, Membership: 816 and Publications: 1829) in the ResearchGate. The study also recommended that all the Medical Universities/Institutions should be encouraged to contribute their academic activities in ResearchGate

A Comprehensive Review on Intelligent Techniques in Crop Pests and Diseases

Artificial intelligence (AI) has transformative potential in the agricultural sector, particularly in managing and preventing crop diseases and pest infestations. This review discusses the significance of early detection and precise diagnosis of various AI tools and techniques for disease identification, such as image processing, machine learning, and deep learning. It also addresses the challenges of AI implementation in agriculture, including data quality, costs, and ethical concerns. The analysis classifies the hurdles and AI offers benefits such as improved resource management, timely interventions, and enhanced productivity. Collaborative efforts are essential to harness AI's potential for sustainable and resilient agriculture

Fuzzy clustering and fuzzy c-means partition cluster analysis and validation studies on a subset of citescore dataset

A hard partition clustering algorithm assigns equally distant points to one of the clusters, where each datum has the probability to appear in simultaneous assignment to further clusters. The fuzzy cluster analysis assigns membership coefficients of data points which are equidistant between two clusters so the information directs have a place toward in excess of one cluster in the meantime. For a subset of CiteScore dataset, fuzzy clustering (fanny) and fuzzy c-means (fcm) algorithms were implemented to study the data points that lie equally distant from each other. Before analysis, clusterability of the dataset was evaluated with Hopkins statistic which resulted in 0.4371, a value < 0.5, indicating that the data is highly clusterable. The optimal clusters were determined using NbClust package, where it is evidenced that 9 various indices proposed 3 cluster solutions as best clusters. Further, appropriate value of fuzziness parameter m was evaluated to determine the distribution of membership values with variation in m from 1 to 2. Coefficient of variation (CV), also known as relative variability was evaluated to study the spread of data. The time complexity of fuzzy clustering (fanny) and fuzzy c-means algorithms were evaluated by keeping data points constant and varying number of clusters