Feature Extraction Method using HoG with LTP for Content-Based Medical Image Retrieval

An accurate diagnosis is significant for the treatment of any disease in its early stage. Content-Based Medical Image Retrieval (CBMIR) is used to find similar medical images in a huge database to help radiologists in diagnosis. The main difficulty in CBMIR is semantic gaps between the lower-level visual details, captured by computer-aided tools and higher-level semantic details captured by humans. Many existing methods such as Manhattan Distance, Triplet Deep Hashing, and Transfer Learning techniques for CBMIR were developed but showed lower efficiency and the computational cost was high. To solve such issues, a new feature extraction approach is proposed using Histogram of Gradient (HoG) with Local Ternary Pattern (LTP) to automatically retrieve medical images from the Contrast-Enhanced Magnetic Resonance Imaging (CE-MRI) database. Adam optimization algorithm is utilized to select features and the Euclidean measure calculates the similarity for query images. From the experimental analysis, it is clearly showing that the proposed HoG-LTP method achieves higher accuracy of 98.8%, a sensitivity of 98.5%, and a specificity of 99.416%, which is better when compared to the existing Random Forest (RF) method which displayed an accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity of 81.1%, 81.7% and 90.5% respectively

Fabrication and In-vitro characterization of chitosan derivative and strontium apatite composite sheets for periodontal tissue engineering

BACKGROUND: Periodontal regeneration is defined as regeneration of the tooth-supporting tissues including cementum, periodontal ligament and alveolar bone. A potential tissue-engineering (TE) approach to periodontal regeneration involves the incorporation of progenitor cells and instructive messages in a prefabricated three dimensional construct and subsequent implantation of the construct into the defect site. The third generation guided tissue regeneration (GTR) membranes are based on the concept of TE. Biomaterials consist of biodegradable polymers and bioactive ceramics, are suitable for regenerative medicine. Chitosan, a biodegradable natural polymer and it possess excellent biological properties such as biocompatibility, antibacterial effect, and rapid healing capacity. It has several limitations including poor solubility under physiological conditions, to overcome these limitations, we focused on Chitosan derivative. Strontium, a trace element in the natural bones, can be substituted for calcium in hydroxyapatite, producing beneficial effects on bone, including stimulation of osteoblast differentiation, inhibition of osteoclast formation and bone resorption in-vitro. It also showed an excellent healing capacity. So we incorporating strontium in synthesized hydroxyapatite. Thus in this study an attempt is being made to fabricate new generation GTR membrane for periodontal tissue engineering application. AIM OF THIS STUDY: The aim of this study was to fabricate GTR membrane of chitosan derivative and strontium apatite of varying concentration via freeze drying technique and comparing their in-vitro properties. MATERIALS AND METHODS: GTR membranes made of chitosan derivative and strontium apatite of varying concentration via freeze drying technique and comparing their in-vitro properties. Morphological Properties analysed using scanning electron microscope (SEM).The mechanical properties such as tensile strength, elongation break and tear strength of samples were determined by using universal testing machine. Average membrane thickness was measured using thickness gauge. Chemical analysis are analysed using Fourier transformation infrared (FTIR)Spectroscopy In-vitro degradation test of the scaffold were conducted by incubating the membrane in PBS at 37ºC for 1, 5, 9, 13, 17, 21, 26 and 29days. Invitro bioactivity test of the scaffold were conducted by incubating the membrane in SBF at 37ºC for 3 and 7 days. Cytotoxicity assessment are observed using L-929 mouse fibroblasts. RESULT: All the fabricated scaffolds were highly porous and had interconnected pore structure. The mechanical properties of fabricated membranes observed. Among these, chitosan derivative- strontium apatite membrane (7.5 mg and 10 mg) possess increased thickness (mm) [0.50±0.02], chitosan derivative possess increased tensile strength and chitosan derivative- strontium apatite (7.5mg) exhibited highest tear strength (MPa) [0.65±0.05]. Evaluating the chemical stability of the fabricated membrane by FTIR, results clearly indicate the strong bonding between chitosan derivative-strontium apatite composite membrane. For degradation analysis and invitro bioactivity composite containing strontium apatite experienced higher weight loss. In cell culture composite membrane showed positive response to mouse fibroblasts L929 cell attachment, here chitosan derivative-strontium apatite (7.5mg) (85.69%) exhibited enhanced viability than chitosan derivative. CONCLUSION: From the observation of the study it was concluded that chitosan derivative - strontium apatite composite membrane could be suitable for use as a GTR membrane. Further studies are needed for chitosan derivative -strontium apatite composite membrane for clinical use

An Efficient Privacy Preserving Search Scheme with Access Control for Cloud Data Centers

AbstractThe internet and the emergence of social networks produce terabytes of data every day. In this big data scenario, the ability to outsource the data to a cloud storage facility saves the data management and storage facility cost. Some major challenges with this scheme are providing security and ensuring the privacy of the outsourced data. Although data security can be achieved through encryption, searching on encrypted data become a complex task. The proposed work suggests an efficient searching scheme for encrypted cloud data based on hierarchical clustering of documents. The hierarchical clustering method preserves the semantic relationship between the documents in the encrypted domain to speed up the search process. Consequently, the proposed system has linear computational complexity during the search phase in response to an exponential increase in the number of documents. The system also ensures data privacy by providing only limited access of the documents to the different types of users by implementing access control mechanisms resulting in more secured data storage in the cloud

Prescription pattern of anti-diabetic drugs in a rural area of South Malabar region of Kerala, South India

Background: Diabetes is a chronic metabolic disease associated with significant morbidity, mortality and cost to the community.  This study was conducted to evaluate the prescription pattern of type 2 diabetes mellitus in a rural population scenario including different age groups and gender.Methods: It was a prospective observational study carried out at Pulikkal village, Malappuram from January 2018 to June 2018. One hundred and four patients of Type II diabetes mellitus who confirmed to the specified inclusion and exclusion criteria were enrolled for the study after taking consent.Results: This study shown that 62.5% of patients were on the age group of 41 to 60 and 96% of these patients were literate. This study shown that mono therapy was observed in 38.46% patients and combination therapy in 61.54% patients and metformin as the predominantly prescribed oral anti diabetic drug both in combination and monotherapy. In the sulfonylureas, glimepiride followed by glipizide were the prominently prescribed drugs.  There is also a significant increase in the prescriptions of newer OHAs like thiazolidinedione’s, alpha glucosidase inhibitors and DPP-4 inhibitors.Conclusions: Metformin is the most prescribed anti-diabetic drug in monotherapy. In combination therapy, most frequently prescribed combination was the glimepiride and metformin and followed by metformin+glipizide and glibenclamide and metformin

A prospective study on assessment of risk factors and impact of patient counselling in health-related quality of life of patients with coronary artery diseases

Background: Cardiovascular disease is the most frequent cause of morbidity and mortality throughout the world. The aim of the study was to determine assessment of risk factors and impact of patient counseling in health-related quality of life of the patient.Method: This was a prospective observational study conducted in the department of cardiology. A suitably designed standard SF-36 questionnaire was given to all patients enrolled in the study before and after counseling. All information relevant to the study were collected in suitably designed proforma from case records and discussions conducted with the patients and bystanders during ward rounds. Proper counseling was given to patients and bystanders and the score was analyzed using SAS descriptive analysis.Result: The most common risk factors encountered in the study are diabetes mellitus, hypertension, dyslipidemia, irregular exercise, smoking, alcoholism, obesity and family history. The health-related quality of life of the patients were assessed, a total of 67 patients QOL was improved after counseling and 27 patients with no improvement. We found that patient counseling was effective for majority of patients.Conclusions: We can conclude that the role of clinical pharmacist has a significant role in improving the health-related quality of life of patients through proper counseling. And more than half of the patients have a modifiable risk factor which can be managed through lifestyle modifications

Nutritional evaluation of protein isolate from rubber seed in the diet of Labeo rohita: Effects on growth performance, nutrient utilization, whole body composition and metabolic enzymes activity

A 45-days feeding trial was conducted to study the immunomodulatory effect and interferon gamma gene expression of dietary fucoidan rich seaweed extract (FRSE) from Sargassum wightii on Pangasianodon hypophthalmus fingerlings. One hundred and eighty fingerlings were distributed into six experimental groups in triplicates. Each group was stocked with 10 fish and fed to satiation with iso-nitrogenous (34.96 � 0.09–35.18 � 0.03 CP%) and iso-caloric (368.65 � 0.86–375.09 � 0.26 Kcal/100 g) purified diets containing either 0% FRSE (control), 1% FRSE (TF1), 2% FRSE (TF2), 3% FRSE (TF3), 3% seaweed powder (TS3) or 6% seaweed powder (TS6) in the feed. After feeding trial the experimental fish were challenged with Aeromonas hydrophila. Immunological parameters like respiratory burst activity, lysozyme activity, phagocytic activity and total leukocyte count (TLC) were increased with the increasing level of dietary FRSE, whereas serum Albumin/ Globulin (A/G) ratio and blood glucose level exhibited decreasing trend (P < 0.05)

Documentation of Indigenous Traditional Knowledge (ITKs) system prevalent among poultry farmers of Palakkad district, Kerala

A number of communities, most of which have distinctive long-established knowledge and know-how base, populate Kerala state. Indigenous technological knowledge can be encouraged through a scientific approach as one of the means of sustainable agricultural practices, which will be environment-friendly. ITK that are in practice all over rural India is little acknowledged and there is a threat of loss of this knowledge. Hence some of the local knowledge and technologies were studied and the importance of the same has been evaluated. The study was carried out within the scaffold of poultry farming and allied activities. A broad range of varied sectors including poultry housing, feeding and disease management were taken into account for the purpose of the study. It is observed from the study that farmers adopt traditional knowledge in every aspects of poultry farming including housing, brooding, feeding management, hatching process, seasonal management, poultry health management etc. The documented ITKs showed the richness of the time-tested traditional knowledge applied to animal husbandry in the region specified under the study.

Validity of self-reported height and weight and factors associated with errors in self-report

The aim of this investigation is to assess the validity of self-reported height and weight and to examine factors associated with errors in self-report. A cross-sectional study was conducted in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, South India, from June 20 to August 20, 2011. The study involved 389 men and 355 women aged 20 years and above. We found that self-reported height and weight were significantly correlated with measured height and weight for men and women [Pearson’s correlation coefficient(r) for men and women: 0.61 and 0.44 in height, 0.91 and 0.85 in weight, 0.76 and 0.64 in body mass index (BMI), respectively]. The prevalence of obesity based on self-reported height and weight were 7.9 and 15.8% for men and women, respectively, which was slightly smaller than that based on measured data 7.7 and 19.7%, respectively. Sensitivity and specificity of obesity based on self-report for both men and women were 97, 62% in men and 89, 64% in women, respectively. Participants with higher measured BMI significantly underestimated their weight compared to those with smaller BMI. It is also observed that among both men and women with measured BMI above 18.5 kg/m2 were likely to underestimate their weight and BMI below 18.5 kg/m2were likely to overestimate their weight. However, the presence of diabetes, hypertension and heart disease was not associated with the difference between measured and self-reported height and weight for both men and women. Our findings indicate that self-reported weight has an acceptable agreement with measured data, but self-reported height has only a moderate agreement with measured data. There were no significant differences by presence of chronic disease and educational level between the self-reported and measured height and weight in both men and women

Erratum: Ferosekhan et al. Influence of Genetic Selection for Growth and Broodstock Diet n-3 LC-PUFA Levels on Reproductive Performance of Gilthead Seabream, Sparus Aurata. Animals 2021, 11, 519

The authors wish to make the following corrections to this paper [...