SSDT: Distance Tracking Model Based on Deep Learning

Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is an infectious disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus and population vulnerability increased all over the world due to lack of effective remedial measures. Nowadays vaccines are available; but in India, only 18.8% population has been fully vaccinated till now. Therefore, social distancing is only precautionary norm to avoid the spreading of this deadly virus. The risk of virus spread can be avoided by adhering to this norm. The main objective of this work is to provide a framework for tracking social distancing violations among people. This paper proposes a deep learning platform-based Smart Social Distancing Tracker (SSDT) model which is trained on MOT (Multiple Object Tracking) datasets. The proposed model is a hybrid approach that is a combination of YOLOv4 as object detection model merged with MF-SORT, Kalman Filter and brute force feature matching technique to distinguish people from background and provide a bounding box around these. Further, the results are also compared with another model, namely, Faster- RCNN in terms of FPS (frames per second), mAP(mean Average Precision) and training time over the dataset. The results show that the proposed model provides better and more balanced results. The experiment has been carried out in challenging conditions including, occlusion and under lighting variations with mAP of 97% and a real-time speed of 24 fps. The datasets provide numerous classes and from all the classes of objects, only people class has been used for identifying people in a closet. The ultimate goal of the model is to provide a tracking solution that will be helpful for different authorities to redesigning the layout of public places and reducing the risk. This model is also helpful in computing the distance between two people in an image and the results confirm that the proposed model successfully distinguishes between individuals who walk too close or breach the social distancing norms

Event Classification and Intensity Discrimination for Forest Fire Inference With IoT

Simultaneously occurring random events are often reported by multiple nodes. However, the accuracy of the event detection at every node is dependent on the node’s relative position from the event, and hence, not reliable. Moreover, the factors influencing the event inference are so many, that the accuracy of such an event detection is compromised. Targeting the problem of accurate event inference in the detection of priority events, such as forest fire, a fuzzy rule-based method is proposed. Four parameters are identified for which fuzzified values are obtained by a membership function for every variable. A set of 256 rules are used to generate different permutations of the fire index with respect to the identified variables. Extensive analysis of the results proves the efficacy of the proposed scheme with a significantly reduced error rate of 2.01% for humidity and an error rate of 1.94% for temperature

Implementation challenges of Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana: A Cross- Sectional study in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh

Background: Ayushman Bharat – Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana has been launched to provide financial protection expenditure to nearly 500 million vulnerable Indians. For expanding the coverage under the scheme, it is necessary to understand the perspective of health care service providers involved in the scheme. Aim & Objective: To find out the bottlenecks in implementation of PMJAY scheme using empanelled hospitals’ perspective Settings and Design: Cross sectional study Methods and Material: 8 Public and 23 Private hospitals were selected through Simple Random Sampling from the list of PMJAY empanelled hospitals. The PMJAY Medical Officer co-ordinators in the empanelled hospitals were interviewed using a predesigned and pretested questionnaire. Statistical analysis used: Data was analysed using descriptive statistics in Epiinfo software. Results: Among the 31 empanelled hospitals studied, 93.5% were satisfied with the process for empanelment under PMJAY. 64.5% hospitals were not satisfied with the Health Benefit Packages. 77.4% hospitals perceived the PMJAY to be poorer as compared to private health insurance with reasons being poor grievance reprisal, poor claim processing and settlement, denial of reimbursement of health packages, poor rates of health packages and little information about the scheme. Conclusions: Various hurdles are being faced in the implementation of the scheme. There definitely remains a huge scope for further improvements so as to enhance the insurance coverage in the country

Antibacterial, antioxidant, and phytochemical analysis of Piper longum fruit extracts against multi-drug resistant non-typhoidal Salmonella strains in vitro

Most bacteria are becoming resistant to almost all of the currently recommended drugs, leading to difficulty in their treatment. The present study focused on evaluating the therapeutic potential of Piper longum fruit extracts in terms of bactericidal, antioxidant and phytochemical evaluation by conducting antibacterial sensitivity tests against four multidrug-resistant Salmonella strains (Salmonella enterica subsp. arizonae, Salmonella Newport, Salmonella enterica ser. Typhi, and Salmonella enterica ser. Paratyphi) obtained from the Institute of Microbial Technology (IMTECH), Chandigarh. The Agar Well Diffusion method and the Minimum Inhibitory concentration (MIC) methods were performed to implement the anti-sensitivity test of crude extracts of the plant. The present study showed that the MIC of the P. longum  was between 0.25-0.0625mg/ml, which was lowest in the aqueous extract at 0.5mg/100µl, and the highest in the methanol extract (1mg/100µl). The Minimum Bactericidal Concentration (MBC) was lowest in aqueous (0.5mg/100µl) and highest in methanol plant extract (1mg/100µl). The methanol extract had the maximum antibacterial potency, whereas the aqueous extract had the lowest. The antioxidant capacity of the plant extracts was determined using a DPPH assay. Methanol plant extract revealed the highest antioxidant power (81.92%) and the lowest was found in the aqueous extract (62.84%). The GC-MS approach identified active bioingredients, important botanicals including caryophyllene, eicosane, and piperazine (potent antibacterial agent) as naphthyridine (having antimicrobial, anticancer, and anti-inflammatory activities), among others. The unique aspect of the study was the effectiveness of P. longum against Salmonella strains that are resistant to multiple antibiotics. This suggests that P. longum can be a great source of novel antibacterial compound for the development of herbal formulations

Myths and misbelieves regarding COVID vaccines in India

Background: - COVID-19 is the most important public health problem of recent time. Many people require hospitalization after infection. COVID vaccination is the most effective way to prevent the disease. Due to extensive negative publicity through social media channels/platforms,significant number of individuals are not coming forward for vaccination. Therefore, study is needed to evaluate adverse effects associated with different vaccines available in India. Objectives: - To assess the adverse effects associated with COVID-19 vaccination and compare the side effect of two most commonly used COVID vaccines in India. Methods:- In the current report, a cross sectional study was conducted among beneficiaries of COVID-19 vaccines at the vaccination center of the LLRM Medical college, India. After institutional ethical clearance and informed consent, patients were asked about the symptoms they experienced after vaccination. A very simple random sampling approach was used to select beneficiaries. Information was collected on predesigned Google form and total 391 patients submitted the responses. Results:- Out of total respondents 77 % individuals reported one or more symptoms. Fever was reported to be most common problem (59.3%) followed by body ache (57.5%). Out of total beneficiaries, 68.3% experienced mild symptoms while 23% remain asymptomatic. Only few subjects reported moderate adverse effects (8.7%).  None of the respondent reported severe and serious adverse effect. Conclusions:- Vaccine associated adverse effects were found less than 3 days and of mild variety in most of the beneficiaries. There was no difference in adverse effect profile of two commonly used vaccines in India. People must come forward for vaccination in mass without fearing of adverse effects of vaccines

White-Light Emission from Annealed ZnO:Si Nanocomposite Thin Films

As grown ZnO:Si nanocomposites of different compositional ratios were fabricated by thermal evaporation techniques. These films were subjected to post deposition annealing under high vacuum at a temperature of $\rm 250C^o$ for 90min. The photoluminescence (PL) spectra of annealed samples have shown marked improvements both in terms of intensity and broadening. For the first time in ZnO:Si nanocomposite films we see huge UV, red and orange peaks at 310, 570 and 640nm. Structural and Raman analysis show formation of a Zn-Si-O shell around ZnO nano clusters wherein on heating $\rm Zn_2SiO_4$ compound forms. The new emissions are due to $\rm Zn_2SiO_4$ which completes white light spectrum.Comment: 9 figure

Obesity in Adolescents: Prevalence and Association with Sociodemographic and Lifestyle Factors

Introduction: Overweight and obesity has become a worldwide epidemic and is a growing public health concern. The increase in prevalence and severity of obesity among children and adolescents has been attributed largely to behavioral factors such as changing eating habits and sedentary lifestyles. Objective: To determine prevalence of obesity and abdominal obesity among adolescents and its association with sociodemographic factors and lifestyle. Methods: Present cross-sectional study was conducted in the urban field practice area under the Community Medicine Department of LLRM Medical College, Meerut, among 872 adolescents. All localities in the field area were covered and house to house survey was done. Questions were asked about eating patterns, physical activity and sedentary lifestyle. Data was collected and analyzed using appropriate statistical tests. Results: The prevalence of overweight and obesity was 17.43, 6.88%, respectively. Obesity was significantly higher among females, those who indulged in unhealthy eating habits were physically inactive, watched television for a longer duration and ate junk while watching television. Conclusion: In the present study, we found that high junk food consumption and a sedentary lifestyle were found to be significantly associated with childhood overweight/obesity. As a result, timely interventions should be taken to improve awareness about healthy lifestyle behavior to prevent obesity and its complications among adolescents

Pharmacological and ethnobotanical studies of angiosperms from Shamli region of district Meerut, Uttar Pradesh, India

Plants are essential to our life as they provide us with food and, through photosynthesis, release oxygen into the atmosphere. Historical accounts about plants demonstrate their many benefits to humans and other living things. Rapid population growth and industrialization have damaged agricultural and forest flora. Raising awareness of the value of plants for sustainable development is necessary. This study focuses on the medicinal benefit of the phyto-diversity of angiosperms from the Shamli region of Uttar Pradesh and their medicinal value for mankind. Shamli is located near the Ganga River, on the eastern side of the Yamuna River at an elevation of 248 meters above sea level. This region's ideal temperature is between 13.8°C and 33.2°C. The vegetation of Shamli is enhanced by a variety of trees, shrubs, and plants. In addition to documenting fifty plant species that belong to several angiosperm genera and families, such as Abutilon indicum, Aegle marmelos, Azadirachta Indica, Moringa oliefera, and Calotropis gigantea, a critical study of the area's plant life has been conducted. The engagement with the locals of the Shamli region recorded the ethnomedicinal significance of the collected plants

Green extraction of glycosides from Stevia rebaudiana (Bert.) with low solvent consumption: A desirability approach

AbstractThe sweet flavor of Stevia rebaudiana (Bert.) leaf extract is well known and has raised the interest of huge food companies due to its natural bid. The extraction of their main glycosides stevioside and rebaudioside A is an important step on the preparation of final Stevia granules. The aim of the work reported here was to study and optimize the dynamic maceration of Stevia leaves using water and ethanol as green solvents. For instance, a fractional factorial design was chosen to evaluate the individual effects of the drug powder size, weight ratio of drug to solvent, temperature, agitation, and time on the yield of these glycosides. The glycosides were quantified by high pressure liquid chromatography. An exhaustive extraction by successive maceration steps showed that ethanol 70% was superior to water and ethanol 90% for stevioside and rebaudioside extraction. The liquid extract composition in dry basis and the yield of stevioside and rebaudioside A were significantly affected by the drug to solvent weight ratio, showing that larger volumes of solvent should be used. Furthermore, increasing solvent volume favors the extraction of the stevioside by a twofold factor as compared to rebaudioside A. Among the other factors, only drug powder size affected the yield of rebaudioside A significantly. The optimal solution for S. rebaudiana leaves dynamic extraction estimated by desirability functions methodology led to a condition which allows obtaining extraction yields of 2.31 and 1.24% for stevioside and rebaudioside A and their concentrations in dried extract corresponding to 8.38 and 4.51%, respectively. These high yields were obtained with drug to solvent ratio (1:10, w/w) much higher than previous works, thus resulting in a more sustainable and green process

Deep phenotyping and genomic data from a nationally representative study on dementia in India

The Harmonized Diagnostic Assessment of Dementia for the Longitudinal Aging Study in India (LASI-DAD) is a nationally representative in-depth study of cognitive aging and dementia. We present a publicly available dataset of harmonized cognitive measures of 4,096 adults 60 years of age and older in India, collected across 18 states and union territories. Blood samples were obtained to carry out whole blood and serum-based assays. Results are included in a venous blood specimen datafile that can be linked to the Harmonized LASI-DAD dataset. A global screening array of 960 LASI-DAD respondents is also publicly available for download, in addition to neuroimaging data on 137 LASI-DAD participants. Altogether, these datasets provide comprehensive information on older adults in India that allow researchers to further understand risk factors associated with cognitive impairment and dementia.Peer reviewe