Multiple description video coding for stereoscopic 3D

In this paper, we propose an MDC schemes for stereoscopic 3D video. In the literature, MDC has previously been applied in 2D video but not so much in 3D video. The proposed algorithm enhances the error resilience of the 3D video using the combination of even and odd frame based MDC while retaining good temporal prediction efficiency for video over error-prone networks. Improvements are made to the original even and odd frame MDC scheme by adding a controllable amount of side information to improve frame interpolation at the decoder. The side information is also sent according to the video sequence motion for further improvement. The performance of the proposed algorithms is evaluated in error free and error prone environments especially for wireless channels. Simulation results show improved performance using the proposed MDC at high error rates compared to the single description coding (SDC) and the original even and odd frame MDC

Orthosis reduces breast pain and mechanical forces through natural and augmented breast tissue in women lying prone

BACKGROUND: Breast implant displacement or rupture can cause aesthetic problems and serious medical complications. Activities with prone positioning and loading of the anterior chest wall, such as massage, chiropractic or osteopathic therapies may increase the risk of implant failure and can also cause discomfort in women with natural breast tissue. Here we test the effectiveness of a newly developed orthosis on pain, mechanical pressure and displacement of breast tissue in women with cosmetic augmentation, post-mastectomy reconstruction, lactating or natural breast tissue. METHODS: Thirty-two females volunteers, aged 25–56 years with augmented, reconstructed, natural or lactating breast tissue and cup sizes B-F, participated in this open-label clinical trial. We measured pain perception, peak pressure, maximum force, and breast tissue displacement using different sizes of the orthosis compared to no orthosis. Different densities of the orthosis were also tested in a subgroup of women (n = 7). Pain perception was rated using a validated 11-point visual-analogue scale. Peak pressure and maximum force were assessed using a bilateral set of capacitance-pliance® sensor strips whilst participants were load bearing in a prone position, and breast displacement was measured by magnetic-resonance-imaging. RESULTS: The orthosis significantly reduced pain, breast displacement and mechanical pressures in women with natural and augmented breast tissue in prone position. Greater relief of pain and greater reduction in mechanical forces were found with increased size and density of the orthosis. Use of the orthosis improved overall comfort by 64-100%, lowered peak pressure by up to 85% and maximum force by up to 96%. Medio-lateral displacement of breast tissue was reduced by 16%, resulting in a 51% desirable increase of breast tissue height. CONCLUSION: Our study demonstrated that the newly developed orthosis significantly reduced pain, mechanical pressure and breast tissue displacement in women with augmented and natural breast tissue when lying prone. Our findings are of clinical significance, potentially reducing the risk of complication from prone activities in women with breast augmentation or reconstruction, as well as improving comfort whilst undergoing prone procedures. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Australia and New Zealand Clinical Trials Register, ACTRN12613000541707

A REVIEW ON: ATRIGEL–THE MAGICAL TOOL

The widely effective and most common form of drug delivery is parenteral administration for active drug substances with poor bio-availability and the drugs with a narrow therapeutic index. Though parenteral administration of drug is often critical and associated with problems such as limited number of acceptable excipients, stringent requirements of aseptic production process, safety issues, patient noncompliance. Still this route maintains its value due to special advantages like quicker onset of action in case of emergency, target the drug quickly to desired site of action, prevention of first pass metabolism etc. The application of advanced drug delivery technology to parenteral administration lead to development of liposomes, nanosuspensions, solid implants etc. to overcome limitations of conventional parenteral delivery. Solid implants are reported to produce very reproducible release profiles. However, because of their size, they require surgical implantation or the use of large trochars to administer the product. Delivery systems consisting of microparticles can be injected into the body using conventional needles and syringes and have been the most widely accepted biodegradable polymer system for parenteral use. However, the manufacturing processes for microparticles are often complex and difficult to control leading to batch-to-batch product non uniformity. These methods of administration often limit the product's market potential due to patient and physician acceptance issues. Therefore, a delivery system that combines the simplicity and reliability of solid implant devices alongwith convenience and ease of administration of microparticles is desired. In situ gel forming systems represent a desired alternate. This article gives the idea about In situ gel forming system to provide drug release in sustained release manner

Path Independence in Adiabatic Quantum Computing for Hadamard Gate

The computation time in adiabatic quantum computing (AQC) is determined by the time limit of the adiabatic evolution, which in turn depends on the evolution path. In this research we have used the variational method to find an optimized path. For the simplest case involving a single qubit and for the most general path involving one or more independent interpolating functions, the result is path independent. This result does not change when there is an extra Hamiltonian term. We have also applied these two scenarios in AQC to a Hadamard gate. Adding an extra Hamiltonian gives a non-trivial result compared to the normal AQC, however it does not result in a speed-up. Moreover, we show that in these two scenarios we can choose an arbitrary path provided that it satisfies the boundary conditions

Reliable protein folding on non-funneled energy landscapes: the free energy reaction path

A theoretical framework is developed to study the dynamics of protein folding. The key insight is that the search for the native protein conformation is influenced by the rate r at which external parameters, such as temperature, chemical denaturant or pH, are adjusted to induce folding. A theory based on this insight predicts that (1) proteins with non-funneled energy landscapes can fold reliably to their native state, (2) reliable folding can occur as an equilibrium or out-of-equilibrium process, and (3) reliable folding only occurs when the rate r is below a limiting value, which can be calculated from measurements of the free energy. We test these predictions against numerical simulations of model proteins with a single energy scale.Comment: 13 pages, 9 figure

Keanekaragaman Jenis Vegetasi pada Hutan Rawa Gambut Sekunder dan Belukar Rawa Desa Sungai Pelang Kabupaten Ketapang

Peat swamp forest has a valuable natural richness in the form of plants. This study aimed to find out the composition and dominance of species, species diversity, and stand structure in secondary peat swamp forest and thicket swamp. The vegetation analysis in secondary peat swamp forest and thicket swamp is done by using combination method. Mentibu (Daetylocladus stenostachys Oliver) is dominant in secondary peat swamp forest of tree growth level, and mempening (Quercus conocarpa OUD) is dominant in pole, sapling, and seedling of growth level (INP = 34,74%, 32,57%, 28,96%, respectively). In thicket swamp, prepat (Combretocarpus rotundatus Danser) is a dominant for the whole of growth level (INP = 261.89%, 126,12%, 98.96%, 64.99%, respectively). The diversity index of Shannon-Wienner (H) in secondary peat swamp forest is abundant (H > 1) and low in thicket swamp (H < 1). The secondary peat swamp forest have a normal stand structure according to de Liocourts law. In thicket swamp, the forest had been fire, but the vegetation development now has led to a succession of normal vertical forest structure and almost reach climax. Keywords: Peat swamp forest, composition and dominance of species, species diversity and stand structure

Tumor necrosis factor-α-308 G/A polymorphisms and risk of hepatocellular carcinoma: A meta-analysis

Context: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a common disorder throughout the world that can develop due to various factors, including genetics. Tumor necrosis factor- α (TNF- α) is the most frequently studied cytokine related to the risk of developing HCC, and an association between the 308 position of the TNF-α promoter (TNF- α -308) andHCCrisk has been confirmed in various reports. Evidence Acquisition: The PubMed, Scopus, and Google Scholar databases were searched through July 12, 2015, for studies on associations between TNF-₋₃₀₈ and the risk of HCC. To determine this association, odds ratios (ORs) and 95 confidence intervals (95 CIs) were calculated. Results: A total of 23 case-control studies were investigated, involving 3,389 cases and 4,235 controls. The overall conclusion was that the A allele was more frequent in case groups compared to control groups (13.4 vs. 8.4). Thus, the A allele was significantly associated with increased HCC risk (OR = 1.77; 95 CI = 1.26-2.50; P value < 0.002). In addition to the allelic model, the dominant model (AA +AGvs. GG) was significantly associated withHCCrisk (OR = 1.80; CI = 1.29-2.51; P value< 0.001). In the sensitivity analysis for co-dominant (AA vs. GG) and recessive models (AA vs. AG + GG), no trustworthy associations with the risk of HCC development were observed. Conclusions: This meta-analysis indicated that the TNF- α -308 G/A polymorphism is significantly associated with increased susceptibility to HCC. However, to confirm this finding, more studies are needed on TNF- α -308 G/A polymorphisms associated with HCC. © 2016, Kowsar Corp

Penentuan Pola Dropout Mahasiswa Dengan Pendekatan Data Mining Menggunakan Algoritma c4.5 (Studi kasus : Program Studi Teknik Informatika Universitas Pasundan Bandung)

Penentuan pola Dropout mahasiswa diperlukan untuk melakukan prediksi terhadap status mahasiswa. Hal ini bertujuan untuk membantu pihak perguruan tinggi dalam penanganan kasus Dropout. Dengan penerapan pola ini, diharapkan dapat membantu pihak perguruan tinggi dalam menentukan kebijakan dan melakukan tindakan pencegahan dini terhadap kasus Dropout mahasiswa. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mendapatkan model pohon keputusan dan pengetahuan mengenai Dropout Mahasiswa yang dihasilkan dari penerapan Data Mining sehingga dapat digunakan untuk memprediksi status Mahasiswa. Algoritma yang digunakan adalah algoritma C4.5. Pemilihan model didasarkan pada tingkat akurasi, precision dan recall yang didapatkan dari proses evaluasi menggunakan metode 10 fold validation dan tool confusion matrix. Penelitian ini menghasilkan model pohon keputusan dengan akurasi,precision dan recall sebesar 100% serta menunjukan bahwa variabel status awal, jenis kelamin, asal sekolah, total satuan kredit semester mahasiswa dan index prestasi mahasiswa dari semester 1 sampai dengan semester 4, status keaktifan mahasiswa dalam kegiatan diluar akademik seperti pengurus lembaga kemahasiswaan, mempengaruhi status mahasiswa. Kata Kunci: Pola Dropout Mahasiswa, prediksi status mahasiswa, Data Mining, Decision Tree, Algoritma C4.5