Feature Extraction and Classification of Flaws in Radio Graphical Weld Images Using ANN

In this paper, a novel approach for the detection and classification of flaws in weld images is presented. Computer based weld image analysis is most significant method. The method has been applied for detecting and discriminating flaws in the weld that may corresponds false alarms or all possible nine types of weld defects (Slag Inclusion, Wormhole, Porosity, Incomplete penetration, Under cuts, Cracks, Lack of fusion, Weaving fault Slag line), after being successfully tested on80 radiographic images obtained from EURECTEST, International scientific Association Brussels, Belgium, and 24 radiographs of ship weld provided by Technic Control Co. (Poland) were used, obtained from Ioannis Valavanis Greece.. The procedure to detect all the types of flaws and feature extraction is implemented by segmentation algorithm which can overcome computer complexity problem. Our problem focuses on the high performance classification by optimization of feature set by various selection algorithms like sequential forward search (SFS), sequential backward search algorithm (SBS) and sequential forward floating search algorithm (SFFS). Features are important for measuring parameters which leads in directional to understand image. We introduced 23 geometric features, and 14 texture features. The Experimental results show that our proposed method gives good performance of radiographic images

A review of objective structured practical examination (OSPE) in pharmacology at a rural medical college

Background: 1. To evaluate the attitudes of undergraduate medical students towards objectively structured practical examination (OSPE) component of Pharmacology practical examination. 2. To investigate any gender differences and any influence of medium of instruction in school on these attitudes.Methods: The scores of 40 undergraduate medical students were analysed at S R T R Government Medical College, Ambajogai, Maharashtra, India. A Likert scale containing 9 items was used to assess the attitudes of students towards OSPE in Pharmacology. Student perspectives regarding the OSPE were obtained by asking them to respond to a questionnaire.Results: The study revealed that the OSPE was an acceptable tool in Pharmacology practical examination. The overall mean attitude score was 3.99. The response of male students towards OSPE (4.2) was more favourable as compared to that of female students (3.9) Students strongly agreed that OPSE covers wide range of skills and it is a good form of examination and learning experience. Majority of students were in favour of continuing OSPE as a method for examination in Pharmacology.Conclusions: OSPE was found to be a valuable tool to check the depth of understanding of undergraduate students. OSPE can be used as an index of the learning attitude of students. The present study is a small step in a direction of changing the traditional patterns of practical examination to a more objective and reliable way of evaluation in Pharmacology. It will help in modifying teaching-learning strategies so that both, the teachers as well as the students can gain maximum advantage

Study of prescribing practices of injections in outpatients of a rural tertiary care teaching hospital

Background: Injections are probably the most common of all medical procedures. The combination of injection overuse and unsafe practices creates a major route of transmission of blood borne pathogenic infections. Unnecessary use of injections can also lead to unnecessary burden on the institution in terms of efficiency, infrastructure, staff requirement and poor utilization of resources. Monitoring and analysis of prescribing practices can help to achieve rational use of injections. The present study was carried out to study the injection prescription patterns in outpatients of a rural tertiary care teaching hospital, Ambajogai, Maharashtra, India. Methods: A cross sectional descriptive study was conducted for duration of two months and 744 prescriptions were randomly collected and analyzed.Results: The total number of injections prescribed in 744 prescriptions was 205. Most (71.70%) of the patients receiving them were above 35 years of age. The most common complaint for which the injections were prescribed was musculoskeletal pain (45.36%) followed by fever. About 155 (75.60%) prescriptions contained injection diclofenac which was the most commonly used drug followed by injection paracetamol (11.21%). There was a high tendency of using brand names in prescriptions (89.30%). Conclusion: The study revealed high proportion of use of injectable drugs. There was overuse of analgesic injections like diclofenac, most of which were unnecessary and irrational. This leads to unnecessary burden on the institution in terms of efficiency, infrastructure, staff requirement and poor utilization of resources. There is a need to develop local guidelines for injection usage along with educational sessions for prescribing doctors

Experimental evaluation of analgesic activity of PPAR γ agonists: pioglitazone and rosiglitazone

Background: To evaluate analgesic activity of pioglitazone and rosiglitazone by tail flick method in rats and acetic acid induced writhing method in mice.Methods: Albino wistar rats of either sex weighing 180-200 g and Swiss mice weighing 25-30 g were used. Study was conducted after approval from the Institutional Animal Ethics Committee. The tail flick method in rats described by D’Amour and Smith (1941) and acetic acid induced writhing in mice were used. The dose of pioglitazone and rosiglitazone were 20 mg/kg and 10 mg/kg respectively.Results: In tail flick method of analgesia, both, pioglitazone and rosiglitazone have analgesic activity which was statistically comparable to aspirin. In acetic acid induced writhing model of analgesia, the action of pioglitazone and rosiglitazone was significantly greater than the control group but it was less when compared to aspirin.Conclusions: Analgesic activity of pioglitazone and rosiglitazone was comparable to aspirin in tail flick model of analgesia in rats while it was significantly less when compared to tramadol. Analgesic activity of pioglitazone and rosiglitazone was significantly less than aspirin in acetic acid induced writhing method

The 2021 WHO catalogue of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex mutations associated with drug resistance: a genotypic analysis.

Background: Molecular diagnostics are considered the most promising route to achievement of rapid, universal drug susceptibility testing for Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTBC). We aimed to generate a WHO-endorsed catalogue of mutations to serve as a global standard for interpreting molecular information for drug resistance prediction. Methods: In this systematic analysis, we used a candidate gene approach to identify mutations associated with resistance or consistent with susceptibility for 13 WHO-endorsed antituberculosis drugs. We collected existing worldwide MTBC whole-genome sequencing data and phenotypic data from academic groups and consortia, reference laboratories, public health organisations, and published literature. We categorised phenotypes as follows: methods and critical concentrations currently endorsed by WHO (category 1); critical concentrations previously endorsed by WHO for those methods (category 2); methods or critical concentrations not currently endorsed by WHO (category 3). For each mutation, we used a contingency table of binary phenotypes and presence or absence of the mutation to compute positive predictive value, and we used Fisher's exact tests to generate odds ratios and Benjamini-Hochberg corrected p values. Mutations were graded as associated with resistance if present in at least five isolates, if the odds ratio was more than 1 with a statistically significant corrected p value, and if the lower bound of the 95% CI on the positive predictive value for phenotypic resistance was greater than 25%. A series of expert rules were applied for final confidence grading of each mutation. Findings: We analysed 41 137 MTBC isolates with phenotypic and whole-genome sequencing data from 45 countries. 38 215 MTBC isolates passed quality control steps and were included in the final analysis. 15 667 associations were computed for 13 211 unique mutations linked to one or more drugs. 1149 (7·3%) of 15 667 mutations were classified as associated with phenotypic resistance and 107 (0·7%) were deemed consistent with susceptibility. For rifampicin, isoniazid, ethambutol, fluoroquinolones, and streptomycin, the mutations' pooled sensitivity was more than 80%. Specificity was over 95% for all drugs except ethionamide (91·4%), moxifloxacin (91·6%) and ethambutol (93·3%). Only two resistance mutations were identified for bedaquiline, delamanid, clofazimine, and linezolid as prevalence of phenotypic resistance was low for these drugs. Interpretation: We present the first WHO-endorsed catalogue of molecular targets for MTBC drug susceptibility testing, which is intended to provide a global standard for resistance interpretation. The existence of this catalogue should encourage the implementation of molecular diagnostics by national tuberculosis programmes. Funding: Unitaid, Wellcome Trust, UK Medical Research Council, and Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

A 2<SUP>7-3</SUP> fractional factorial optimization of polybenzimidazole based membrane electrode assemblies for H<SUB>2</SUB>/O<SUB>2</SUB> fuel cells

We describe the usefulness of a statistical fractional factorial design to obtain consistent and reproducible behavior of a membrane-electrode-assembly (MEA) based on a phosphoric acid (PA) doped polybenzimidazole (PBI) membrane, which allows a H<SUB>2</SUB>/O<SUB>2</SUB> fuel cell to operate above 150°C. Different parameters involved during the MEA fabrication including the catalyst loading, amount of binder, processing conditions like temperature and compaction load and also the amount of carbon in the gas diffusion layers (GDL) have been systematically varied according to a 2<SUP>7-3</SUP> fractional factorial design and the data thus obtained have been analyzed using Yates's algorithm. The mean effects estimated in this way suggest the crucial role played by carbon loading in the gas diffusion layer, hot compaction temperature and the binder to catalyst ratio in the catalyst layer for enabling continuous performance. These statistically designed electrodes provide a maximum current density and power density of 1,800 mA cm<SUP>-2</SUP> and 280 mW cm<SUP>-2</SUP>, respectively, at 160°C using hydrogen and oxygen under ambient pressure

PknB remains an essential and a conserved target for drug development in susceptible and MDR strains of M. Tuberculosis

Abstract Background The Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M.tb) protein kinase B (PknB) which is now proved to be essential for the growth and survival of M.tb, is a transmembrane protein with a potential to be a good drug target. However it is not known if this target remains conserved in otherwise resistant isolates from clinical origin. The present study describes the conservation analysis of sequences covering the inhibitor binding domain of PknB to assess if it remains conserved in susceptible and resistant clinical strains of mycobacteria picked from three different geographical areas of India. Methods A total of 116 isolates from North, South and West India were used in the study with a variable profile of their susceptibilities towards streptomycin, isoniazid, rifampicin, ethambutol and ofloxacin. Isolates were also spoligotyped in order to find if the conservation pattern of pknB gene remain consistent or differ with different spoligotypes. The impact of variation as found in the study was analyzed using Molecular dynamics simulations. Results The sequencing results with 115/116 isolates revealed the conserved nature of pknB sequences irrespective of their susceptibility status and spoligotypes. The only variation found was in one strains wherein pnkB sequence had G to A mutation at 664 position translating into a change of amino acid, Valine to Isoleucine. After analyzing the impact of this sequence variation using Molecular dynamics simulations, it was observed that the variation is causing no significant change in protein structure or the inhibitor binding. Conclusions Hence, the study endorses that PknB is an ideal target for drug development and there is no pre-existing or induced resistance with respect to the sequences involved in inhibitor binding. Also if the mutation that we are reporting for the first time is found again in subsequent work, it should be checked with phenotypic profile before drawing the conclusion that it would affect the activity in any way. Bioinformatics analysis in our study says that it has no significant effect on the binding and hence the activity of the protein