WiFi RSSI and inertial sensor based indoor localisation system: a simplified hybrid approach

Indoor Localisation has been an interesting and significant area of research in the recent times because of its diverse applications. There is always a trade-off between the number of devices used and the accuracy obtained for any indoor localisation system. In our work we make use of WiFi access points, a smart phone with inertial sensors and a server. Since RSSI value is not very much reliable, we go with a hybrid approach where fingerprinted RSSI values of different access points are used to initialise the position using Maximum Likelihood estimate and thereafter the inertial sensors takes over the localisation. After certain distance is travelled, the error accumulated is corrected by access points' RSSI values. The proposed simple hybrid system1 yields an accuracy of minimum 2m consistently, with only 3 access points in the indoor space. Hence, the system is overall better than most of the indoor localisation systems present

An assessment of the variation in the practice of lumbar discectomy and its role in axial back pain

Background: Lumbar discectomy is performed for symptomatic lumbar disc herniation and is one of the most widely performed spinal surgical procedures worldwide in a variety of ways. This survey aimed at providing an overview/perspective of different practice patterns and the impact of lumbar discectomy on axial back pain with or without sciatica. Methods: An online survey was performed using the application “Google Forms.” The link to the questionnaire was distributed to neurosurgeons through personal E-mail and social media platforms. Results: We received 333 responses. The largest percentage of responses across five continents was from Asia (66.97%, n = 223). The mean age of the respondents was 40.08 ± 10.5 years. A total of 66 respondents (20%) had a spine practice of 7%–90%, and 28 respondents had a spine practice of 90%–100% (8.4%). The number of respondents who practiced microscopic discectomy using a tubular retractor (n = 143 respondents, 42.9%) was nearly equal to the number of respondents who practiced open discectomy (n = 142 respondents, 42.6%). An almost equal proportion of respondents believed discectomy does not help in relieving axial back pain. Only 20.4% (n = 68) of respondents recommend bed rest for a longer duration postoperatively. Conclusions: Our survey revealed that only 22.2% of spine surgeons recommended discectomy in patients with radiological disc herniation with axial back pain alone and preferred a minimally invasive method of discectomy. Almost half of them believed discectomy to be ineffective for axial low back pain and only a few recommended prolonged bed rest postoperatively

The non-linear and lagged short-term relationship between rainfall and leptospirosis and the intermediate role of floods in the Philippines

Background: Leptospirosis is a worldwide bacterial zoonosis. Outbreaks of leptospirosis after heavy rainfall and flooding have been reported. However, few studies have formally quantified the effect of weather factors on leptospirosis incidence. We estimated the association between rainfall and leptospirosis cases in an urban setting in Manila, the Philippines, and examined the potential intermediate role of floods in this association. Methods/Principal findings: Relationships between rainfall and the weekly number of hospital admissions due to leptospirosis from 2001 to 2012 were analyzed using a distributed lag non-linear model in a quasi-Poisson regression framework, controlling for seasonally varying factors other than rainfall. The role of floods on the rainfall?leptospirosis relationship was examined using an indicator. We reported relative risks (RRs) by rainfall category based on the flood warning system in the country. The risk of post-rainfall leptospirosis peaked at a lag of 2 weeks (using 0 cm/week rainfall as the reference) with RRs of 1.30 (95% confidence interval: 0.99?1.70), 1.53 (1.12?2.09), 2.45 (1.80?3.33), 4.61 (3.30?6.43), and 13.77 (9.10?20.82) for light, moderate, heavy, intense and torrential rainfall (at 2, 5, 16, 32 and 63 cm/week), respectively. After adjusting for floods, RRs (at a lag of 2 weeks) decreased at higher rainfall levels suggesting that flood is on the causal pathway between rainfall and leptospirosis. Conclusions: Rainfall was strongly associated with increased hospital admission for leptospirosis at a lag of 2 weeks, and this association was explained in part by floods

From Agricultural Waste to Biofuel: Enzymatic Potential of a Bacterial Isolate Streptomyces fulvissimus CKS7 for Bioethanol Production

Purpose To avoid a negative environmental and economic impact of agricultural wastes, and following the principles of circular economy, the reuse of agricultural wastes is necessary. For this purpose, isolation of novel microorganisms with potential biotechnological application is recommended. The current researches in bioethanol production are aimed to reduce the production costs using low-cost substrates and in-house produced enzymes by novel isolated microorganisms. In line with this, in this study valorization of these agricultural by-products by novel isolate S. fulvissimus CKS7 to biotechnological value added products was done. Methods Standard microbiological methods were used for the isolation and characterization of strain. Enzymes activities were determinated using DNS method while, the ethanol concentration was determined based on the density of the alcohol distillate at 20 degrees C. Results The maximal enzymatic activities for amylase, cellulases (carboxymethyl cellulase and Avicelase), pectinase and xylanase were achieved using rye bran as a waste substrate for CKS7 growth. Obtained crude bacterial enzymes were used for enzymatic hydrolysis of lignocellulosic materials including horsetail waste, yellow gentian waste, corn stover, cotton material and corona pre-treated cotton material. The maximum yield of reducing sugars was obtained on horsetail waste and corona pre-treated cotton material. Waste brewer's yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae was successfully used for the production of bioethanol using horsetail waste hydrolysate and corona pre-treated cotton material hydrolysate. Conclusion The obtained results showed that bacterial strain CKS7 has a significant, still unexplored enzymatic potential that could be used to achieve a cleaner, environmental friendly and economically acceptable biofuel production. [GRAPHICS]