Effective framework for Environmental-flows estimation for data deficient Indian rivers

Data deficiency is a major problem in recommending appropriate environmental flows (e-flows) requirements for rivers in many parts of the world. Several studies have been done using a variety of e-flows assessment methodologies. Large dams and hydropower projects are major manipulators of the flow regimes resulting in degraded ecosystems ubiquitously. In India attempts have been made to develop e-flows requirements of rivers to maintain a good riverine ecosystem. Most of the studies are based on hydrological methods, which do not take all the variables affecting flow-regimes into consideration. This paper highlights the problems in assessment of e-flows and their on-ground implications in India. In this study, probable solutions to these problems are suggested a conceptual framework for data deficient areas is proposed. This framework is based upon extensive baseline surveys of fluvial morphology, ecology and of indigenous population. Framework has six steps namely: monitoring the baseline conditions, setting up objectives, hydrological analysis, ecological analysis, climatic anomalies incorporation and recommendations. Finally, e-flows recommendations are made based on hydrological studies, habitat suitability curves and area of inland water body which should be maintained in the river basin. All these recommendations are compared and suitable e-flows recommendations are made based on studied variables. The review also suggests for bottom-up approach for e-flows assessment i.e. e-flows assessment and application should be done on small tributaries of rivers in initial phase of projects and those methods which deliver satisfactory results should only be applied to larger rivers.&nbsp

Understanding the processes of Information Systems deployment and evaluation: The challenges facing e-health

This thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and awarded by Brunel University.Information Systems (IS) innovations in healthcare sector are seen as panacea to control burgeoning demand on healthcare resources and lack of streamlining in care delivery. Two particular manifestations of such innovations are telehealth and electronic records in its two forms: the electronic medical records and the electronic health records. Deployment efforts concerning both of these IS-innovations have encountered a rough terrain and have been slow. Problems are also faced while evaluating the effectiveness of innovations on health and care delivery outcomes through strategies such as randomised controlled trials- particularly in case of telehealth. By taking these issues into account, this research investigates the issues that affect IS innovation deployment and its evaluation. The strategy adopted in this research was informed by recursive philosophy and theoretical perspectives within IS that strived to expound this recursive relationship. It involved conducting two longitudinal case studies that are qualitative in nature. The first study involved telehealth deployment and its evaluation in the UK, while the second case study involved the deployment of electronic medical/health records in the US. Data was collected through focus group discussions, interviews and online discussion threads; and was analysed thematically. The results of this research indicate that there are nine issues that arise and affect the deployment and evaluation of IS innovation in healthcare; and these are design, efficiency and effectiveness, optimality and equity, legitimacy, acceptance, demand and efficacy, expertise, new interaction patterns, and trust. These issues are attributes of relationships between the IS innovation, context of healthcare and the user. The significance of these attributes varies during the deployment and evaluation process, and due to iterative nature of IS innovation. This research further indicates that all the attributes have either direct or indirect impact on work practices of the user.Multidisciplinary Assessment of Technology Centre for Healthcare (MATCH

Image Compression using an efficient hybrid algorithm

This research paper proposes a method for the compression of medical images using an efficient hybrid algorithm. The objective of this hybrid (DWT,DCT and Huffman quantization) scheme is to calculate the compression ratio, peak signal to noise ratio and mean square error by changing the DWT level and Huffman quantization factor. The goal is to achieve higher compression ratio by applying different compression thresholds for the wavelet coefficient of each DWT band and then DCT with varying Huffman quantization factor while preserving the quality of reconstructed image. First DWT and DCT is applied on individual components RGB. After applying this image is quantized using Huffman quantization to calculate probability index for each unique quantity so as to find out the unique binary code for each unique symbol for their encoding

Convection Currents in Nanofluids under Small Temperature Gradient

Nanobiotechnology has huge number of applications in medical science thereby improving health care practices. Keeping in mind the applications of nanoparticles and the convection patterns in biological fields, behaviour of nanofluids is explored for small temperature difference in the layer. The flow of nanofluids is usually described by system of differential equations. A mathematical model for the system based on conservation laws of mass, momentum and energy is formed. To get the insight of the problem, complex equations are simplified wherever needed to get interesting results without violating the necessary physics. The influence of physical properties such as density and conductivity of metallic/non-metallic nanoparticles is examined on the onset of convection currents in the fluid layer

Polycystic ovarian syndrome among adolescent and young women: a hospital based observational study in a tertiary care teaching Hospital

Background: Polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) is one of the most common endocrine disorder among women of fertile age. The incidence of PCOS as claimed by various observer ranges from 2.2% to as high as 26%. India is considered as an emerging epidemic area for PCOS and limited studies are done. Hence aim of this study is to find the prevalence of PCOS and determine the associated determining factors in adolescent girls.Methods: All the girls aged 15-24 years were approached and after undergoing detailed history, examination and investigations were further diagnosed as PCOS. The study subjects were then classified into two group: the PCOS and non-PCOS group and compared to determine significant differences as per the Rotterdam criteria.Results: The prevalence of PCOS was 7.5%, 18.68% and 11.18% as per NIH, Rotterdam and AES criteria respectively. BMI more than 30, waist circumference > 80 cm, hyperandrogenic manifestations, menstrual irregularity (oligomenorrhea) and family history of PCOS and DM showed statistically significant association with PCOS. Serum LH, LH/FSH ratio, S. Testosterones, serum insulin and HOMA-IR had significant association with PCOS. No significant association of Fasting blood sugar levels and deranged lipid profile was found with PCOS.Conclusions: PCOS is an emerging disorder during adolescents and hence awareness creation, early screening in order to inculcate early life style modifications and prevent metabolic and reproductive complications of this disease

Lossless Compression of Medical Image Sequences Using a Resolution Independent Predictor and Block Adaptive Encoding

The proposed block-based lossless coding technique presented in this paper targets at compression of volumetric medical images of 8-bit and 16-bit depth. The novelty of the proposed technique lies in its ability of threshold selection for prediction and optimal block size for encoding. A resolution independent gradient edge detector is used along with the block adaptive arithmetic encoding algorithm with extensive experimental tests to find a universal threshold value and optimal block size independent of image resolution and modality. Performance of the proposed technique is demonstrated and compared with benchmark lossless compression algorithms. BPP values obtained from the proposed algorithm show that it is capable of effective reduction of inter-pixel and coding redundancy. In terms of coding efficiency, the proposed technique for volumetric medical images outperforms CALIC and JPEG-LS by 0.70 % and 4.62 %, respectively

Magneto Binary Nanofluid Convection in Porous Medium

The effect of an externally impressed magnetic field on the stability of a binary nanofluid layer in porous medium is considered in this work. The conservation equations related to the system are solved using normal mode technique and Galerkin method to analyze the problem. The complex expressions are approximated to get useful results. Mode of heat transfer is stationary for top heavy distribution of nanoparticles in the fluid layer and top heavy nanofluids are very less stable than regular fluids. Oscillatory motions are possible for bottom heavy distribution of nanoparticles and they are not much influenced by properties of different nanoparticles. A comparative analysis of the instability of water based nanofluids with metallic (Cu, Ag) and semiconducting (TiO2, SiO2) nanoparticles under the influence of magnetic field is examined. Semiconducting nanofluids are found to be more stable than metallic nanofluids. Porosity destabilizes the layer while solute difference (at the boundaries of the layer) stabilizes it. Magnetic field stabilizes the fluid layer system significantly

Flavonoids and Other Polyphenols Act as Epigenetic Modifiers in Breast Cancer.

Breast cancer is a common cancer that occurs due to different epigenetic alterations and genetic mutations. Various epidemiological studies have demonstrated an inverse correlation between breast cancer incidence and flavonoid intake. The anti-cancer action of flavonoids, a class of polyphenolic compounds that are present in plants, as secondary metabolites has been a major topic of research for many years. Our review analysis demonstrates that flavonoids exhibit anti-cancer activity against breast cancer occurring in different ethnic populations. Breast cancer subtype and menopausal status are the key factors in inducing the flavonoid\u27s anti-cancer action in breast cancer. The dose is another key factor, with research showing that approximately 10 mg/day of isoflavones is required to inhibit breast cancer occurrence. In addition, flavonoids also influence the epigenetic machinery in breast cancer, with research demonstrating that epigallocatechin, genistein, and resveratrol all inhibited DNA methyltransferase and altered chromatin modification in breast cancer. These flavonoids can induce the expression of different tumor suppressor genes that may contribute to decreasing breast cancer progression and metastasis. Additional studies are required to confirm the contribution of epigenetic modifications by flavonoids to breast cancer prevention