Obtaining Approximation with Data Cube using Map-Reduce

Data mining is a field that has an important contribution to data analysis, discovery of new meaningful knowledge, and autonomous decision making. Whereas, the rough set theory offers a viable approach for decision rule extraction from data. With the data cube we tried to put data in multidimensional way and accessed that data via map reduce. The adequate quantity or supply of data, coupled with the need for powerful data analysis tools, i.e. where data is rich but information is in poor situation. The proposed algorithm is been compared with other different rough set approximation approaches. Our algorithm to achieve approximation for decision rules has better performance. This proposed algorithm has been more efficient to obtain approximation. DOI: 10.17762/ijritcc2321-8169.150710

Analysis of Web Log from Database System utilizing E-web Miner Algorithm

Enormous content of information on the World Wide Web makes it clear for contender for data mining research. Data Mining Technique application is used to the World Wide Web referred as Web mining where this term has been used diverse ways. Web Log Mining is one of the Web based application where it confronts with large amount of log information. In order to produce the web log through portal usage patterns and user behaviors’ recognition, this intended work is an endeavor to apply an efficient web mining algorithm for web log analysis, which is applied to identify the context related with the web design of an e- business web portal that requests security. Because of tremendous utilization of web, web log documents have a tendency to become large resulting in noisy data files. It can find the browsing patterns of client and some class of relationships between the web pages. Here we analyze the logs using web mining algorithm. Whatever the result we will get compare within the Apriori, AprioriAll and E-Web Miner Algorithm. Through the analysis we recognize that web mining algorithm called E-web miner i.e. Efficient Web Mining performs better considering space and time complexity. It can likewise be verified by comparison, candidate sets are much smaller and our results show number of database scanning get reduced due to implementation of E-Web Miner Algorithm. DOI: 10.17762/ijritcc2321-8169.15077

STANDARDIZATION OF MODEL OF INDUCTION OF HEPATOTOXICITY WITH ANTI-TUBERCULOSIS DRUGS IN WISTAR ALBINO RATS

Objective: The objective of the study to standardize the model of hepatotoxicity induced by ATT drugs in Wistar Albino rats. Isoniazid (INH), rifampicin (RMP), pyrazinamide (PZA), the first line drugs used in the treatment of tuberculosis (TB) associated with the potential adverse effect. Numerous animal studies were reported endeavoring induction and cure of anti-TB (ATT) drug-induced hepatotoxicity using herbal and chemical drugs. However, the previous reported study failed to replicate where Wistar albino rats were treated with INH, RMP, and PZA and had shown the significant development of liver injury. Hence in present paper, aimed to develop a standardize model of induction of hepatotoxicity with ATT drugs.Methods: Wistar rats were treated with ATT drugs in combination in various doses up to 4-8 weeks. Total nine experiments were conducted to achieve successful hepatotoxicity. The aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) were the biochemical parameters of assessment. Histopathological changes in the liver were also examined.Results: No evidence of any liver injury or an inflammatory infiltrate has been observed as had been reported in the previous studies. Rather decrease in serum ALT levels has been observed by researcher. In short, hepatic injury cannot be developed with the doses used in previous reported papers. The successful attempt to induce hepatotoxicity can be achieved with the doses of INH - 100, RMP - 300, PZA - 700 mg/kg. The findings were confirmed by the raised ALT, AST, and ALP levels compared with baseline. The histopathological changes also support the findings.Conclusion: The dose of INH - 100, RMP – 300 and PZM - 700 mg/kg. Succeeds to induce hepatotoxicity in Wistar albino rats and Swiss albino mice as well

Seats of corporate convenience and international investment law

Seats of corporate convenience (SCCs) include tax havens, offshore finance centres and other locations frequently used by transnational corporations to channel their investments around the world. They form some of the important structural elements of the global economy. This thesis examines the role of SCCs in the evolution and growth of investor-state arbitration (ISA). By analysing 463 ISA cases through the lens of SCCs, it highlights how bilateral investment treaties (BITs) came to be used in the context of investments that were not bilateral, being routed via one or more SCCs. The Research Question in this thesis was: If the provision of Investor-State Arbitration (ISA) in Bilateral Investment Treaties (BITs) was intended to promote flows of investments between the signatories to such treaties, how did it come to apply to indirect investments channelled through one or more seats of corporate convenience (SCCs)? There are two aspects to this question, namely: (a) What crucial changes took place in the global economy after the 1950s to enable ISA to be used in the context of indirect investments? (b) What was the input of key actors such as states (particularly, the US and the developing countries), transnational corporations (TNCs), international organisations (IOs), and professionals (mainly, lawyers) in this process? ISA was first proposed in the context of a treaty and an investor-state agreement. The idea was then promoted in the form of a multilateral convention by Shell and a few individuals led by Herman Abs, a banker, and a British attorney general, Lord Shawcross. It did not culminate into a treaty despite the support of the World Bank, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and other international organisations. Germany and Switzerland then used the draft to enter into BITs, not all of which embraced investor-state arbitration. Around the 1950s and the 1960s, foreign investment in a host state tended to be made by a multinational with a clearly defined home state. The usual mode was the setting up of a subsidiary or a branch office. Foreign direct investment (FDI) was associated with an investor’s control and a 10-25% ownership over the investment vehicle. FDI was distinguishable from portfolio investments and debts. It tended to be in the sectors of extraction, production, or manufacturing. The developing countries tended to borrow money for their development objectives. States’ right to regulate investments in their territories was generally accepted albeit that the compensation payable tended to be disputed. Indeed, the OECD countries themselves used this right when necessary. BITs surged in numbers in the 1990s. The oft-cited justification for burgeoning numbers of BITs was that they would help the developing countries to attract FDI, a source of non-debt financing. However, in a globalised and highly financialised economy, the concept of FDI itself transformed to drop its association with control or a minimum ownership. In the context of ISA, it also ceased to be distinguished from loans, portfolio investments, and indeed, from a need to bring in new capital to a host state. The investors’ character was no longer that of a multinational with a clearly defined home state. The major investors were TNCs who can claim allegiance with a home state, if they need to, but whose businesses were increasingly mobile and financialised. BITs clearly contained the expectation that their signatory states would promote and protect investments from one state into the other, for their mutual benefit. Investments, however, tend to be made via SCCs thus rendering the bilateral focus on their promotion inapposite. Each investment can potentially have several investors and home states, even if they may be under the control of one ultimate investor. Expensive jurisdiction battles waged between the investors and states are indicative of the difficulty of applying BITs to the conditions they were not designed for. The mismatch between the design and function of BITs was not aleatory, but was brought about by landmark ISA awards, and it was facilitated by the actions of key actors (both state and non-state), and by the radical changes in the global economy. FDI statistics are, therefore, difficult to correlate to home or host states, and their BITs. The first twenty years of ISA appear to have been based on express agreements for such arbitrations between investors and home states. This would change to the consent to ISA being derived from BITs and investment laws, without the need for an express agreement between investors and states. Application of ISA to the radically transformed actors and situations has come about with the input of states (particularly, the US and the developing countries), TNCs, international organisations (IOs), and professionals (lawyers). There was no urgent demand in the 1980s-90s to protect investors against expropriation (the incidence of which had peaked in the mid-1970s, and declined). There was no reasonable justification for states to have privatised and outsourced their disputes in BITs, particularly commercial disputes. Yet, developing countries signed BITs, perhaps reluctantly due to their debt-vulnerability; the BITs did not clearly indicate how ISA would work, if indeed, the developing countries understood it at the time. The BITs that appear to have been against the developing countries’ interests were probably signed for the potential (not a promise) of increased investments. The US, an SCC, legitimised the use of other SCCs and offshore entities. It promoted and encouraged indirect investments. The US legal framework endorses the use, by the US investors, of BITs negotiated by other states. The US used both its aid programme and its influence in the IMF and the World Bank to promote various measures of deregulation, privatisation, and liberalisation of the developing countries. Various IOs promoted BITs and other liberalisation measures, without a focus on their effect on the developing countries’ ability to service, much less reduce, their overall debt. Their emphasis was on the improvement of the investment climate; the World Bank set up a specialist advisory agency for foreign investment. The Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) actively encouraged conferences and workshops to bring countries together to draft BITs. IOs’ thus played an important part in encouraging the developing countries to enter into BITs as a tool to attract FDI. No IO appears to have drawn to the attention of the developing countries to the possibility of BITs, without further agreement, leading to potential ISA with any investor who could fulfil their expansive eligibility criteria. The US also created and nurtured the conditions that allowed oligopolistic TNCs to emerge, expand and thrive. This involves allowing TNCs a substantial say in the US policy-making and implementation. TNCs made a big contribution to the US drafting of its model BIT. Some of the corporations had the early movers’ advantage because they had also contributed to the early drafts at the time of the involvement of Abs and Shawcross; that involvement in international norm-making was spearheaded by the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC). The ICC also led the making of the operative norms that make international arbitration a powerful, effective, and largely self-regulating tool. Various lawyers, accountancy and consultancy firms helped in the convergence of practices of TNCs whether it was in relation to stabilisation clauses, tax-arrangements via SCCs, transfer pricing, or the use of offshore special purpose entities. Arbitration lawyers were mainly responsible for expanding the scope of ISA to the point that an express consent to arbitration was no longer the cornerstone of this institution that was founded on party autonomy. States’ authority to regulate the investments in their territories was transferred to private arbitration tribunals in a continuum; the original idea for such a transfer was promoted by the close association of the banker Abs, the British lawyers Shawcross and Lauterpacht, and the Anglo-Dutch TNC, Shell; this was followed by a wider, looser coordination involving the ICC, the United Nations, International Bar Association, the OECD, and so on. The World Bank set up the International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) in 1964, but it was slow off the mark. Another period of close association of a few arbitration lawyers gave it the boost it needed by (a) dispensing with express consent to arbitration, and (b) deriving a consent to arbitration from states’ BITs or investment legislations. A small pool of arbitrators ensured that the early ICSID cases promoted this interpretation. The scope of ISA expanded by treating BITs as, a) open offers of arbitration for all and sundry investments, and b) the last hoops through which the investment had to pass cursorily, even if it did so in a restructuring carried out after its initial entry in the host state. The extensive use of SCCs meant that the ISA-eligible investors were an expanding and moveable class in respect of any investment. With the feedback loops provided by the long-term BITs and persuasive awards, the path-dependent ISA got increasingly away from its original justification, while undermining the political bargains underpinning any bilateral commitment to promote investments from a home state to a host state. This analysis demonstrates the need to re-think the whole concept and the framework of investment protection. The framework needs to be aligned with (a) the realities of the 21st century investments routinely channelled through SCCs, and (b) the balance between states’ and private actors’ powers and interests. Arbitration awards have interpreted BITs to include within the scope of ISA, not just FDI, but also, portfolio investments and loans. This expansion coupled with the effective operative norms for the enforcement of ISA awards, effectively make BITs work as a regime for the enforcement of sovereign debt. BITs also provide an additional tool to enforce investors’ commercial contractual rights. BITs’ role in promoting developmental objectives (e.g. by reducing debt) have been all but abandoned along with any need for investors to negotiate express investor-state arbitration agreements with their host states. BITs were primarily drafted in the days of regulated economies, i.e. pre-1990. It is uncertain, however, whether, and to what extent, they remain relevant within a deregulated, neoliberal and laissez faire environment. The failure to ask this question indicates how significant an advantage the ISA option is to the interests of TNCs, the main beneficiaries of ISA. In carrying out the necessary research, I have conducted library research (primary and secondary sources) and devoted a large part of my research to the content analysis of Bilateral Investment Treaties and 463 Investor-State Arbitration Awards

THE EFFICACY OF VASAGUDUCHYADI KASHAYAM IN ALCOHOLIC LIVER DISEASE

Alcoholic liver disease (ALD) is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in India. Chronic consumption of alcohol results in variations in alcohol metabolism, oxidative stress, antigenic adducts formation and acetaldehyde toxicity. These factors cause inflammation, fatty changes, fibrosis of liver cells and raising the transaminases in the blood. There is no specific treatment for ALD.Vasaguduchyadi Kashayam is a classical Ayurvedic formulation stated in Ashtanga Hridayam for the treatment of Jaundice and anemia. The study focuses on the effect of the Vasaguduchyadi Kashayam in ALD for restoration of normal liver function, with the help of investigating 10 subjective and 2 objective parameters. As the Vasaguduchyadi Kashayam is Yakritgami, Kamalanashak and Pandunashak, was used as Trial Drug.Clinical Trials were conducted at Anandvan De-Addiction Centre, Pune. By ballot method 60 well diagnosed male patients of ALD were included in both Control and Trial group each. The diagnosis of ALD was made by documentation of alcohol excess and evidence of liver disease.The control group was allowed to partake symptomatic line of treatment advised by the centre while the trial group was administered Vasaguduchyadi kashayam in a dose of 15ml with luke warm water after meal for the duration of 45 days. Patients of both groups followed complete abstinence from Alcohol and Pathyakar aahar-vihar.The statistical analysis revealed that Trial drug is effective in ALD. It significantly reduces Agnimandya, Aruchi, Hrillas, Trishna and Pitatva besides it significantly normalizes the LFT too

Evaluation of wound healing activity of topical phenytoin in an excision wound model in rats

Background: Wound healing is a significant healthcare problem in today’s medical practice. Despite extensive treatment modalities that are supposed to hasten the wound healing process, the outcomes of existing methods are far from optimal. One such agent that has been tried previously and found controversial in wound healing is phenytoin. Therefore, this study was planned to evaluate and compare wound healing effect of topical phenytoin with povidone iodine ointment in rats.Methods: This study was conducted after approval from Institutional Animal Ethics Committee (IAEC). Wound healing activity of topical phenytoin (1 g% and 2 g%) was assessed in excision wound model in Sprague Dawley rats (n=8), which was compared with topical petroleum jelly and povidone iodine ointment. Parameters studied included wound area on day 0, 4, 8, 12, 16, 20, percentage wound contraction, percentage wound healing from day 0 to day 20 and period of re-epithelisation.Results: Wound surface area decreased in all treatment groups from day 0 through day 20 and the percentage wound closure was better in both the preparations (1% and 2%) of phenytoin when compared wih control and povidone iodine, but this was not statistically significant. Furthermore, the days required for complete re-epithelisation were less with phenytoin treated groups. There was no statistical difference between both the preparations of phenytoin.Conclusion: In this study, it was found that topical phenytoin accelerates wound healing process in an excision wound model

Peanut oral immunotherapy transiently expands circulating Ara h 2–specific B cells with a homologous repertoire in unrelated subjects

Background Peanut oral immunotherapy (PNOIT) induces persistent tolerance to peanut in a subset of patients and induces specific antibodies that might play a role in clinical protection. However, the contribution of induced antibody clones to clinical tolerance in PNOIT is unknown. Objective We hypothesized that PNOIT induces a clonal, allergen-specific B-cell response that could serve as a surrogate for clinical outcomes. Methods We used a fluorescent Ara h 2 multimer for affinity selection of Ara h 2–specific B cells and subsequent single-cell immunoglobulin amplification. The diversity of related clones was evaluated by means of next-generation sequencing of immunoglobulin heavy chains from circulating memory B cells with 2x250 paired-end sequencing on the Illumina MiSeq platform. Results Expression of class-switched antibodies from Ara h 2–positive cells confirms enrichment for Ara h 2 specificity. PNOIT induces an early and transient expansion of circulating Ara h 2–specific memory B cells that peaks at week 7. Ara h 2–specific sequences from memory cells have rates of nonsilent mutations consistent with affinity maturation. The repertoire of Ara h 2–specific antibodies is oligoclonal. Next-generation sequencing–based repertoire analysis of circulating memory B cells reveals evidence for convergent selection of related sequences in 3 unrelated subjects, suggesting the presence of similar Ara h 2–specific B-cell clones. Conclusions Using a novel affinity selection approach to identify antigen-specific B cells, we demonstrate that the early PNOIT-induced Ara h 2–specific B-cell receptor repertoire is oligoclonal and somatically hypermutated and shares similar clonal groups among unrelated subjects consistent with convergent selection. Key words Immunotherapy; antigen-specific B cells; peanut allergy; food allergy; antibody repertoire Abbreviations used APC, Allophycocyanin; BCR, B-cell receptor; CDR, Complementarity-determining region; NGS, Next-generation sequencing; OIT, Oral immunotherapy; PNOIT, Peanut oral immunotherapyNational Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (U.S.) (NIAID U19 AI087881)National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (U.S.) (NIAID U19 AI095261)United States. National Institutes of Health (1S10RR023440-01A1)National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (U.S.) (NIAID F32 AI104182)United States. National Institutes of Health (UL1 TR001102

Studies on the effects of Adansonia Digitata Lin's fruits on diabetes

The point of this study is to look into how Adansonia digitata Linn plants can help people with diabetes. The bioactive extract was chosen by using the Haemoglobin Glycosylation Inhibition Assay and α-Amylase Inhibition Assay in a lab setting.So, the ethanolic solution was the most effective at fighting diabetes. In vivo study was done on it because of this. The extract was determined to be safe up to a level of 5000 mg/kg in a trial on acute poisoning. Anti-diabetic action was tested using a model of diabetes mellitus caused by streptozotocin. The factors that were looked at were changes in body weight and blood sugar levels. It was determined that following significant necrotic alterations, a damaged β-cell population, and smaller cells, the cells in the diabetes control group developed atrophy and fibrosis. The group that got the test amount, on the other hand, had normal pancreatic cells, more and bigger islets, and no necrosis or fibrotic changes. These were about the same amounts as those found in people who took Glibenclamide, which is the common drug. The analysis of phytochemicals showed that flavonoids exist. These chemicals may be what give Adansonia digitata Linn's fruits their ability to help people with diabetes. The current study says that ethanolic extract greatly lowers the chance of getting diabetes in both lab-based and real-life setting

Quantification of joint mobility limitation in adult type 1 diabetes

AimsDiabetic cheiroarthropathies limit hand mobility due to fibrosis and could be markers of a global profibrotic trajectory. Heterogeneity in definitions and lack of a method to measure it complicate studying associations with organ involvement and treatment outcomes. We measured metacarpophalangeal (MCP) joint extension as a metric and describe magnetic resonance (MR) imaging determinants of MCP restriction.MethodsAdults with type 1 diabetes were screened for hand manifestations using a symptom questionnaire, clinical examination, and function [Duruoz hand index (DHI) and grip strength]. Patients were segregated by mean MCP extension (<20°, 20°–40°, 40°–60°, and >60°) for MR imaging (MRI) scanning. Patients in the four groups were compared using ANOVA for clinical features and MRI tissue measurements (tenosynovial, skin, and fascia thickness). We performed multiple linear regression for determinants of MCP extension.ResultsOf the 237 patients (90 men), 79 (33.8%) with cheiroarthropathy had MCP extension limitation (39° versus 61°, p < 0.01). Groups with limited MCP extension had higher DHI (1.9 vs. 0.2) but few (7%) had pain. Height, systolic blood pressure, and nephropathy were associated with mean MCP extension. Hand MRI (n = 61) showed flexor tenosynovitis in four patients and median neuritis in one patient. Groups with MCP mobility restriction had the thickest palmar skin; tendon thickness or median nerve area did not differ. Only mean palmar skin thickness was associated with MCP extension angle on multiple linear regression.ConclusionJoint mobility limitation was quantified by restricted mean MCP extension and had structural correlates on MRI. These can serve as quantitative measures for future associative and interventional studies

Cluster-randomised controlled trial of community mobilisation in Mumbai slums to improve care during pregnancy, delivery, postpartum and for the newborn

Background: The United Nations Millennium Development Goals look to substantial improvements in child and maternal survival. Morbidity and mortality during pregnancy, delivery and the postnatal period are prime obstacles to achieving these goals. Given the increasing importance of urban health to global prospects, Mumbai's City Initiative for Newborn Health aims to improve maternal and neonatal health in vulnerable urban slum communities, through a combination of health service quality improvement and community participation. The protocol describes a trial of community intervention aimed at improving prevention, care seeking and outcomes.Objective: To test an intervention that supports local women as facilitators in mobilising communities for better health care. Community women's groups will build an understanding of their potential to improve maternal and infant health, and develop and implement strategies to do so.Design: Cluster-randomized controlled trial.Methods: The intervention will employ local community-based female facilitators to convene groups and help them to explore maternal and neonatal health issues. Groups will meet fortnightly through a seven-phase process of sharing experiences, discussion of the issues raised, discovery of potential community strengths, building of a vision for action, design and implementation of community strategies, and evaluation.The unit of allocation will be an urban slum cluster of 1000-1500 households. 48 clusters have been randomly selected after stratification by ward. 24 clusters have been randomly allocated to receive the community intervention. 24 clusters will act as control groups, but will benefit from health service quality improvement. Indicators of effect will be measured through a surveillance system implemented by the project. Key distal outcome indicators will be neonatal mortality and maternal and neonatal morbidity. Key proximate outcome indicators will be home care practices, uptake of antenatal, delivery and postnatal care, and care for maternal and neonatal illness.Data will be collected through a vital registration system for births and deaths in the 48 study clusters. Structured interviews with families will be conducted at about 6 weeks after index deliveries. We will also collect both quantitative and qualitative data to support a process evaluation.Trial registration: Current controlled trials ISRCTN9625679