Persistence probabilities in centered, stationary, Gaussian processes in discrete time

Lower bounds for persistence probabilities of stationary Gaussian processes in discrete time are obtained under various conditions on the spectral measure of the process. Examples are given to show that the persistence probability can decay faster than exponentially. It is shown that if the spectral measure is not singular, then the exponent in the persistence probability cannot grow faster than quadratically. An example that appears (from numerical evidence) to achieve this lower bound is presented.Comment: 9 pages; To appear in a special volume of the Indian Journal of Pure and Applied Mathematic

Sporadic Medullary Microcarcinoma in a Young Patient - A Rare Case

Sporadic medullary microcarcinoma of thyroid is a rare disease detected usually in 0.15% of all thyroid malignancy. We report a case of sporadic medullary microcarcinoma (MMC) of thyroid in a 24 year old male presenting as solitary thyroid nodule. There was no family history of medullary carcinoma of thyroid. Although medullary carcinoma in a familial setting have been reported, sporadic MMC is rare especially in a young patient

Performance of direct seeded rice in Tungabhadra command area of Karnataka

A large scale demonstration was taken on direct seeded rice in four locations (one at ARS, and three at Farmers field in 50 acres each) in and around the Agricultural Research Station, Dhadesugur, University of Agricultural Sciences, Raichur, Karnataka. Our analysis showed that, the yield performance of direct seeded rice (DSR) varied with transplanted rice (TPR) and with different locations. This may be due to variety used and crop management practices adopted by the farmers. In L2, maximum grain yield was recorded in DSR (6500 kg/ha) and TPR (6200 kg/ ha) compared to other three locations. Further, the grain yield was higher in DSR compared to TPR in all the locations. Similarly, economics of DSR varied with TPR and with different locations. This may be due to yield variation at different locations. In L2, net returns and B:C ratio were higher in DSR (` 93628/ha and 3.93, respectively) and TPR (`79868/ ha and 3.0, respectively) compared to other three locations. Further, net returns and B:C ratio were higher in DSR compared to TPR. Further, 47% of the labour requirement was saved in DSR compared to TPR. Therefore, concluded that, farmers can grow rice by direct seeding instead of planting to save the labour and the expenditure

Seed anatomical studies on dormancy and germination in Chamaecrista absus

Present study was conducted to analyze the anatomical structure of seed to study the dormancy behaviour in Chamaecrista absus. Seed germination behaviour was also studied after breaking the seed dormancy by artificial seed treatments. The anotamical studies revealed that seed has apical hilar region and seed coat has four layers consisting of outer cuticle, sub cuticle, palisade layer and inner tegma leading to physical dormancy. Outer cuticle and sub cuticle layers are very hard to break naturally and hence seeds possess hard seed coat dormancy. This physically hard seed coat should be made soft to enhance germination. Studies to break dormancy were conducted involving treatments like hot water, hormones and in combinations of both. The results revealed that seeds dipped in boiling water made inner layers permeable for water absorption in hilar region and thus germination enhanced. In specific seeds treated with boiling water for 5 minutes recorded higher germination (82 %) over untreated control (26 %). . Other artificial treatments with hormones gibberellic acid (33 % ) and ethrel (34 % ) did not enhanced the germination significantly over control. C. absus has hard coat dormancy and can be overcame by treating seeds with boiling water treatment

HSRA: Hindi stopword removal algorithm

In the last few years, electronic documents have been the main source of data in many research areas like Web Mining, Information Retrieval, Artificial Intelligence, Natural Language Processing etc. Text Processing plays a vital role for processing structured or unstructured data from the web. Preprocessing is the main step in any text processing systems. One significant preprocessing technique is the elimination of functional words, also known as stopwords, which affects the performance of text processing tasks. An efficient stopword removal technique is required in all text processing tasks. In this paper, we are proposing a stopword removal algorithm for Hindi Language which is using the concept of a Deterministic Finite Automata (DFA). A large number of available works on stopword removal techniques are based on dictionary containing stopword lists. Then pattern matching technique is applied and the matched patterns, which is a stopword, is removed from the document. It is a time consuming task as searching process takes a long time. This makes the method inefficient and very expensive. In comparison of that, our algorithm has been tested on 200 documents and achieved 99% accuracy and also time efficient

Ocular Surface Squamous Neoplasia in Xeroderma Pigmentosum

Xeroderma pigmentosum (XP) is a rare genetic disorder associated with multiple oculocutaneous and neurological manifestations. It occurs due to deficiency of the enzymes responsible for repairing ultraviolet radiation-induced DNA damage. Persistence of un-repaired DNA results in somatic mutations, leading to neoplasia of the skin and ocular surface. As this condition is rare, only isolated case reports of XP with ocular surface squamous neoplasia (OSSN) are found in literature

SHORT COMMUNICATION: Status of Physical Fitness Index (PFI %) and Anthropometric Parameters in Residential School Children Compared to Nonresidential School Children

Background: Physical fitness is the prime criterion for survival, to achieve any goal and to lead a healthy life. Effect of exercise to have a good physical fitness is well known since ancient Vedas. Physical fitness can be recorded by cardiopulmonary efficiency test like Physical Fitness Index (PFI %) which is a powerful indicator of cardiopulmonary efficiency. Regular exercise increases PFI by increasing oxygen consumption. Residential school children are exposed to regular exercise and nutritious food under the guidance. Aims and Objectives: Our study is aimed to compare the physical fitness index status and anthropometric parameters in Residential Sainik (n=100) school children compared to Non-Residential (n=100) school children (aged between 12-16 years) of Bijapur. Material and Methods: PFI was measured by Harvard Step Test [1]. TheAnthropometrical parameters like Height (cms), Weight (Kg), Body Surface Area (BSA) in sq.mts), Body Mass Index (BMI in Kg/m2), Mid Arm Circumference (cms), Chest Circumference (cms) and Abdominal Circumference (cms) were recorded. Results: Mean score of PFI(%), Height(cms), Weight(Kg), BSA(sq.mts), BMI(Kg/m2), Mid Arm Circumference(cms), Chest Circumference (cms) and Abdominal Circumference (cms) were significantly higher (p=0.000) in Residential school children compared to Non Residential school children. In conclusion regular exercise and nutritious diet under the guidance increases the physical fitness and growth in growing children

SHORT COMMUNICATION: Reduction of Spirometric Lung Function Tests in Habitually Smoking Healthy Young Adults: Its Correlation with Pack Years

Background: Adolescent smoking and the subsequent health problems are a major concern today. However there are very few studies done on spirometric lung functions and its relation with pack years in young adult habitual smokers who are apparently healthy. Aims and Objectives: The present study is undertaken to assess the change in lung functions in apparently healthy young adult habitual smokers compared to their age matched controls. Materials and Methods: A random sample of apparently healthy young adult habitual smokers (n=40) and nonsmokers (n=40) between age group17-35 years with history suggesting of pack years of 2-10 years were selected from students & employees of B.L.D.E.Us Sri B.M. Patil Medical College,Hospital & Research Centre Bijapur (Karnataka), India. Spirometric lung functions recorded were forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1), FEV1%, Peak expiratory flow rate (PEFR) and Maximal expiratory pressure (MEP). Results: The results suggested that inapparently healthy habitual smokers there was significant decrease in FEV1 (L) (-13.34%, p<0.001), FEV1 % (-10.76%, p<0.001), PEFR (-45.26%, p<0.0001) and MEP (-35.51%, p<0.0001) compared to nonsmokers and decrease in FEV1 was negatively correlated withpack years in smokers (r2=0.063, p=0.001). Reduced lung functions and negative correlation to pack years may be attributed todecreased airway diameter & reflex broncho- constriction in response to inhaled smoke particles. Conclusions: In conclusion young adulthabitual smokers who were apparently healthy are more prone for respiratory dysfunction than their nonsmoker counterparts. FEV1 reduction in relation to pack years acts as an important determinant for detecting lung dysfunction in the early stage of the disease. As the risk of having smoking related diseases depends mainly on number of pack years, it is suggested that quitting smoking earliest helps to get greatest health benefits in apparently healthy young adult habitual smokers