Enhanced Characterness for Text Detection in the Wild

Text spotting is an interesting research problem as text may appear at any random place and may occur in various forms. Moreover, ability to detect text opens the horizons for improving many advanced computer vision problems. In this paper, we propose a novel language agnostic text detection method utilizing edge enhanced Maximally Stable Extremal Regions in natural scenes by defining strong characterness measures. We show that a simple combination of characterness cues help in rejecting the non text regions. These regions are further fine-tuned for rejecting the non-textual neighbor regions. Comprehensive evaluation of the proposed scheme shows that it provides comparative to better generalization performance to the traditional methods for this task

ADVERSE IMPACT OF LOCKDOWN ON INDIAN SOCIAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL BEHAVIOUR-A REVIEW

Due to high infectivity and death rates, the novel coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) disease has caused worldwide social and psychologicalimpact by causing mass hysteria, economic burden, and feelings of aloneness during illness and financial losses. Studies have identified“coronaphobia” as a byproduct of the pandemic, where people have an extreme terror of contracting the virus. Mass fear of COVID-19 hascreated an overabundance of psychiatric manifestations across almost all strata of society. In this review, the psycho-social impacts ofCOVID-19 have been studied. As a data source Pubmed and Google Scholar are searched with the following key terms- “COVID-19 andsocial impact,” “SARS-CoV2 and social effects,” “social impact of current Pandemic,” “Psychological impact of COVID-19,” “Psycho-socialeffects and Coronavirus.” Many current published data and news were extracted that provide significant data. Our study revealed thatnationwide lockdowns and forced quarantine to fight against COVID-19 had produced acute panic, anxiety, obsessive behaviors, domesticabuse, hoarding, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and food insecurity, including marked impairment in daily lifefunctioning. The psycho-social aspects of older people, their caregivers, psychiatric patients and marginalized communities are badlyaffected in different ways and need special attention. From the present work, it can be concluded that there is an urgent need to find outeffective ways to treat people and bring them out of fear and stress. As these symptoms are seen in large population sizes, we also need tostudy the long-term effects of these adverse effects on the mass level

Audit Research in Australian Charitable Organisations: A Review of Literature

In the last 5 years, discussions on research opportunities in the audit service area for the large, medium, and small Australian charitable organisations have garnered a lot of interest among academics, practitioners, standard-setters, and regulators in Australia. Principally, this has been the result of increased focus on accounting standards and reporting concerning to charitable organisations. However, up until recently, research in the audit of charitable organisations is still in the stage of infancy and therefore, the development of a research program is crucial to narrow the knowledge gap. In this paper, we review prior literature that investigates auditing-related issues for the not-for-profit sector (i.e., charitable and other types of not-for-profit organisations). We classify extant auditing literature in two broad categories: (1) effectiveness of governance in financial reporting quality in not-for-profit organisations and (2) audit quality in not-for-profit organisations. We will use this categorisation to assess the cumulative knowledge generated in the past 5 years, as well as to identify knowledge gaps and opportunities for future research. Based on the literature review, we aim to develop exemplars of audit research mainly for medium and large Australian charitable organisations with a view of the terrain over which research can be progressed, in particular, we aim to address the following research questions: Category 1: Effectiveness of Governance in Financial Reporting Quality in not-for-profit organisations (i) To what extent governance mechanisms (e.g., audit committee, internal audit) are effective in producing quality financial reports in large Australian charities? (ii) How are audit committees of charities in Australia related to each other? What is the issue if they are related? Category 2: Audit Quality in non-for-profit organisations (iii) Are audit-related factors (e.g., auditor size, auditor specialisation, auditor tenure and audit fees) associated with audit quality in large and medium charities in Australia? (iv) Is there any evidence of earnings management in large and medium charities in Australia? (v) Do sophisticated donors discount accounting information more than mum-dad donors if audited by “Non-Big 4” auditors rather than “Big 4” auditors? (vi) Is there any difference in audit quality between pro-bono, low pro-bono and non-pro-bono audits of large and medium charities in Australia

Effect of Silver Nanoparticles on the Synthesis of Algal Lipids

In light of the increasing depletion of fossil fuel reserves throughout the world, excessive pollution from greenhouse gases, and a gradual increase in carbon dioxide (CO2) content in the atmosphere as a result of many anthropogenic interventions that have significantly altered the global carbon cycle, renewable energy sources have major future potential. Due to the ability to alter their lipid processes in response to environmental changes, microalgae can be utilized as a replacement since they are versatile enough to thrive in a range of environments and serve as a source of bioenergy. It is also an appealing medium for absorbing the extra CO2 existing in the atmosphere. Water samples with visible algal colonies were collected from different sources in India and isolated on BG11 medium. To boost the lipid yield of the strains, silver nanoparticles prepared from ginger (Zingiber officinale) extracts were added after the specific strains of microalgae had their biomass production assessed. According to morphological analyses, all the isolates were spherical, green in colour, unicellular in structure, and had a range of cell sizes. The highest lipid concentration was identified in the microalgal isolate JUMAC-7 whereas the lowest was found in JUMAC-4 according to research on how silver nanoparticles triggered lipid synthesis. Therefore, the inclusion of silver nanoparticles opens a new paradigm for efficient lipid production and consequent quality biodiesel production