Mathematical transforms and image compression: A review

It is well known that images, often used in a variety of computer and other scientific and engineering applications, are difficult to store and transmit due to their sizes. One possible solution to overcome this problem is to use an efficient digital image compression technique where an image is viewed as a matrix and then the operations are performed on the matrix. All the contemporary digital image compression systems use various mathematical transforms for compression. The compression performance is closely related to the performance by these mathematical transforms in terms of energy compaction and spatial frequency isolation by exploiting inter-pixel redundancies present in the image data. Through this paper, a comprehensive literature survey has been carried out and the pros and cons of various transform-based image compression models have also been discussed

IN VITRO ANALYSIS OF ANTICANCER POTENTIAL OF TRIGONELLA FOENUM-GRAECUM

Objective: The recent work was carried out to evaluate the presence of bioactive compounds and anticancer activities of selected plant Trigonella foenum-graecum extract. Methods: The crude extraction of whole plant was carried out using petroleum ether as a solvent by cold percolation as well as hot percolation method (Soxhlet method) both. The presence of phytochemicals was determined using standard protocols. The anticancer activities were evaluated by sulforhodamine B (SRB) dye assay method using Mitomycin-C (anticancer drug) as a positive control. Results: The qualitative analysis of plant extract showed the presence of bioactive compounds, namely, protein, alkaloids, steroids, phenolics, and flavonoids. The plant extract was tested for in vitro anticancer activity against human liver cancer (HEP-2) and colon cancer (HT-29) cell lines using SRB assay. The plant extract showed significant results against HT-29 and HEP-2 cancer cell lines. Conclusion: The study concluded that the extract of T. foenum-graecum can be further carefully used in herbal formulations for cancer therapy

Assessment of water quality in disease burdened industrializing town of mid hills of North India

Background: Anthropogenic activities associated with rapid urbanization and industrialization have deteriorated the water quality across the world. Rampant industrialization and poor water, sanitation and hygiene in an industrializing town of northern India necessitated the assessment of drinking water in the region. Methods: The study of physico-chemical parameter of the water and water quality index of the most commonly used ten drinking water sources in 2017-2018 was undertaken. Grab water samples were collected during monsoon, the rainy season (June, July and August) and post monsoon (September, October and November) during the years 2017 and 2018 by following the standard procedures. Weighted arithmetic index method was used for the water quality index (WQI) analysis. Results: Pooled analysis inferred water pH, temperature, total dissolved solids and carbonated oxygen demand to be within, whereas, electrical conductivity (91.00-431.50 µS/cm), turbidity (1.00-4.30 mg/l), dissolved oxygen (6.53-7.23 mg/l) and biological oxygen demand (6.12-7.62 mg/l), exceeding the Bureau of Indian standards permissible limits. Calcium, nitrate, chlorides and zinc were within limits, magnesium concentrations (9.16-29.35 mg/l) were below whereas lead (0.06-0.62 mg/l), chromium (0.01-0.12 mg/l), cadmium (0.00-0.25 mg/l) and mercury (0.00-0.08 mg/l) were above the standards. WQI was above 50 in all the drinking water sources. Conclusions: Water was of poor quality and unsuitable for drinking purposes, indicating alarming water pollution. WQI of the various drinking water sources of the region deteriorated more in the monsoon season as compared to the post monsoon season

Changing Men: Challenging Stereotypes. Reflections on Working with Men on Gender Issues in India

This article describes the journey and lessons of a 12?year?long and still ongoing experience of the two authors in working with men at the community level in different parts of India. Starting with addressing domestic violence, the work has proceeded to address issues of power, control and autonomy within the context of deep?seated cultural beliefs and practices, challenging and changing the roles of men both within homes and outside in different institutions. This work has been spread over a number of ‘projects’, most of which remain interconnected, and currently is spread across a number of states in India. In reviewing the lessons from their practice the authors propose a set of precepts or a ‘theory of change’ for working with men and boys to challenge gender discrimination within the South Asian context. To conclude the article, the authors discuss some of the challenges and predicaments in continuing this work within the current development paradigm

System Software Abstraction Layer - much more than Operating System Abstraction Layer

Current and future aircraft systems require real-time embedded software with greater flexibility compared to what was previously available due to the continuous advancements in the technology leading to large and complex systems. Portability of software as one of the aspects of this flexibility is a major concern in application development for avionics domain for fast development and integration of systems. Abstractions of the hardware platform which have been already introduced by the operating system community allow the software modules to be reused on different hardware and with different physical resources. Now operating system community has come up with an abstraction layer called operating system abstraction layer (OSAL) which along with the hardware abstraction unifies the OS architecture too. It provides a common set of primitives independent of the underlying operating system and its particular architecture. Factors such as reliability, scalability and determinism of any application largely depend on the design and architecture of the application. This is the most important and critical factor of real time systems such as mission computers of avionics systems, missile control system or control computers of space shuttle. It demands developer to perform feasibility of different software architecture to select the best alternative. Authors’ analysis shows that to make any real time application more secure, scalable, deterministic, and highly portable, OSAL has to be extended to more than just operating system abstraction. This new view of OSAL will be called as system software abstraction layer (SSAL). In this paper, authors attempt to highlight the efficiency of SSAL as well as detailed description of its main features and design considerations. Authors have implemented the SSAL on top of two well known OS (WinCE and Vxworks) and performed extensive evaluations, which shows that it effectively reduces portability efforts while achieving simplicity, predictability, security and determinism. This paper presents in brief, the API functionalities, its components, implementation, interfaces, advantages and overheads along with a case study.Defence Science Journal, 2013, 63(2), pp.214-222, DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.14429/dsj.63.426

tert-Butyl N-{2-[bis­(prop-2-yn-1-yl)amino]­phen­yl}carbamate

In the crystal of the title compound, C17H20N2O2, the molecules are linked by C—H⋯O interactions. Intra­molecular C—H⋯O and N—H⋯N hydrogen bonds also occur