Codes with Locality for Two Erasures

In this paper, we study codes with locality that can recover from two erasures via a sequence of two local, parity-check computations. By a local parity-check computation, we mean recovery via a single parity-check equation associated to small Hamming weight. Earlier approaches considered recovery in parallel; the sequential approach allows us to potentially construct codes with improved minimum distance. These codes, which we refer to as locally 2-reconstructible codes, are a natural generalization along one direction, of codes with all-symbol locality introduced by Gopalan \textit{et al}, in which recovery from a single erasure is considered. By studying the Generalized Hamming Weights of the dual code, we derive upper bounds on the minimum distance of locally 2-reconstructible codes and provide constructions for a family of codes based on Tur\'an graphs, that are optimal with respect to this bound. The minimum distance bound derived here is universal in the sense that no code which permits all-symbol local recovery from $2$ erasures can have larger minimum distance regardless of approach adopted. Our approach also leads to a new bound on the minimum distance of codes with all-symbol locality for the single-erasure case.Comment: 14 pages, 3 figures, Updated for improved readabilit

The Limits of intellectual property rights: Lessons from the spread of illegal transgenic seeds in India

Genetically modified seeds have to be approved by biosafety regulators before they can be commercialized. Illegal seeds are, however, common in many developing countries including Brazil, China and India. They potentially pose dangers to biosafety and also undermine the intellectual property rights of firms that own the genetically modifed traits. Their unchecked spread has been attributed to the near impossibility of enforcement when potential violators involve millions of small farmers. Based on a survey of cotton growers in Gujarat, India in 2004, and an examination of the structure of cotton seed production this paper finds that the government, in fact, possesed the information and means to enforce the law. A contingent valuation exercise reveals high relative valuations for illegal seeds correlated with the perceived costs of pesticide application. We discuss how that matters to the political cost of enforcement and to socially optimal policiesIntellectual Property Rights, Biosafety Regulation, Genetically Modified Seeds, Transgenic Varieties, Bt Cotton

Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) Performance Analysis, QoS Measures to Minimize Packet Loss, and Identifying Link Failures during Transmission

VoIP is the recent step of telephony evolution. VoIP stands for Voice over Internet Protocol packets. Voice over the IP network is a general term that refers to any means of converting voice calls into voice data packets that are transmitted over an IP network, either public or private. PSTN is circuit switched and VoIP is packet switched. In circuit switching irrespective of amount information to be sent, full bandwidth is reserved. In VoIP, distance between sender and receiver is not based on geographical distance. The transmission time depends on bandwidth and dynamic routing algorithms adopted. VoIP facilitates voice communication over Internet. One of the problems using VoIP is latency. When packets are sent in different routes, all the packets may not arrive at the same time. This causes latency. To retransmit/download a message all the packets are to be received. Even if one the packets are missing, complete message cannot be formed. This is not the case with PSTN. To overcome this problem, and to make transmission as efficient as PSTN, we adopt dynamic source routing algorithms. Secondly, potentiality decreases with the degradation of QoS. Some of the packets may be lost due to timeout or lack of buffer space. This cause erroneous data received and also requires the retransmission of the same message again and again. In this paper, we present generic algorithms to reduce latency and dynamic routing algorithms to minimize packet loss. Keywords: VoIP, Latency, QoS, Dynamic Source Routing algorithm

Fuzzy Logic - Retrieval of Data from Database

There has been a complicated relationship associated with fuzzy logic and probability theory. All thetechniques in fuzzy logic discuss possibility theory and probability theory which measure two kinds ofuncertainty. In classical probability theory, a probability measure is a number between 0 and 1. Fuzzy rulebased system consists of a set of fuzzy rules with partially overlapping conditions. This paper demonstrates newmethodologies for predicting an output, when a particular input triggers with multiple fuzzy rules. This paperanalyzes the behavior of width of an interval to represent imprecision of the probability estimates. We alsopropose new applications of possibility theory and probability theory as can be applied to Fuzzy logic

Rising healthcare costs and universal health coverage in India: an analysis of national sample surveys, 1986-2014

This paper focuses on the trends in health seeking behaviour of people and the cost of treatment and key determinants of health insurance premium payments amongst BPL and APL households by examining the National Sample Survey data pertaining to four rounds of 1986-87, 1995-96, 2004 and 2014. With variation across states, it is found that treatment seeking from public providers has declined and preference for private providers increased over the period. Although overall health seeking behaviour has improved for male and female population, a significant percentage of people, more in rural than in urban areas, do not seek treatment due to lack of accessibility and a perception that illness is ‘not serious enough to require treatment’. While the health care cost has increased over time, the gap between public and private costs has reduced owing perhaps to the increased cost of treatment in public health facilities following the levying of users fees and restrictions on distribution of free medicine. Since the mid-2000s, to address healthcare needs of the poor section of society, the public insurance companies introduced low-cost hospitalisation insurance schemes such as Jan Arogya Bima Policy and Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana. The analysis of the insurance premium showed that a larger proportion of households who had paid premium in 2004 as well as in 2014 belonged to higher Monthly Per Capita Expenditure (MPCE) group and was economically non-poor. Further, the inter-quintile MPCE differential (between the top and bottom quintile) shows vast inter-state inequalities in terms of both percentage of households who paid a premium and percentage having health insurance coverage. The determinants of a household getting enrolled for health insurance suggest that the gaps in odds ratios of several attributes either got reduced in magnitude or disappeared mainly due to encouraging enrollment from the poor households in RSBY. At all India level, the insured BPL/APL households on average had reported higher hospitalisation expenses than the non-insured households with much higher differential for urban households, thus indicating moral hazard and insurance collusions particularly in cities of economically prosperous states of Punjab, Haryana, Gujarat, and Maharashtra. The analysis further demonstrated that the insurance has provided a very minimal financial relief to BPL households especially living in rural India

Amniotic band syndrome at 14 weeks of gestation: a case report and literature review

Amniotic band syndrome comprises of a group of congenital anomalies involving the limbs, trunk, head and face characterised by asymmetry of involvement and varying severity. While mild variants have a good prognosis with normal life expectancy, severe cases may be incompatible with life. It is sporadic in occurrence with many theories postulated towards the pathogenesis. We report a case of amniotic band syndrome diagnosed at 14 weeks gestation in a 22 year old low risk primigravida-the foetus was seen as an amorphous mass with multiple anomalies, confirmed by autopsy. While early ultrasound helped detect lethal anomalies, correlation with autopsy provided an insight into possible disruptions in early foetal development leading to the various anomalies

Over-expression of c-Myc oncoprotein in oral squamous cell carcinoma in the South Indian population

Oral neoplasm constitutes a predominant class of cancer that is encountered in South India. This is in large part due to the elevated risk of oncogenesis as a result of the habit of chewing of quids containing betel leaves, areca nut and smokeless tobacco. An array of molecular events are induced during the transformation of the buccal epithelium, among them the over-expression of oncogene products plays a key role. The c-Myc protein, a regulator of a number of key cellular signalling pathways, plays a pivotal role in a number of malignancies. The present study was undertaken to evaluate expression of the c-Myc protein in tumours of the oral cavity from the South Indian population, predominantly oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). The c-Myc protein was over-expressed in 80% of the cases studied. Taking into account the pivotal role demonstrated for c-Myc in tumourigenesis, our observations suggest a key role for Myc oncoprotein in the genesis of OSCC as well as its potential as a therapeutic target in this population