Blind Detection of Copy-Move Forgery in Digital Audio Forensics

Although copy-move forgery is one of the most common fabrication techniques, blind detection of such tampering in digital audio is mostly unexplored. Unlike active techniques, blind forgery detection is challenging, because it does not embed a watermark or signature in an audio that is unknown in most of the real-life scenarios. Therefore, forgery localization becomes more challenging, especially when using blind methods. In this paper, we propose a novel method for blind detection and localization of copy-move forgery. One of the most crucial steps in the proposed method is a voice activity detection (VAD) module for investigating audio recordings to detect and localize the forgery. The VAD module is equally vital for the development of the copy-move forgery database, wherein audio samples are generated by using the recordings of various types of microphones. We employ a chaotic theory to copy and move the text in generated forged recordings to ensure forgery localization at any place in a recording. The VAD module is responsible for the extraction of words in a forged audio, and these words are analyzed by applying a 1-D local binary pattern operator. This operator provides the patterns of extracted words in the form of histograms. The forged parts (copy and move text) have similar histograms. An accuracy of 96.59% is achieved, and the proposed method is deemed robust against noise

Efficacy of Retrograde Intrarenal Surgery Versus Percutaneous Nephrolithotomy In Treating Lower Pole Stones of 1-2 cms

Introduction Urologists are always inclined to find techniques with minimal complication and hospital stays with maximum stone-free rates to mitigate not only health concerns but financial burdens too. PCNL is known as the gold standard for large stones, however, RIRS is known for its less invasive and minor complications. Methodology This is a cross-sectional, prospective study conducted at the public hospital of Jamshoro. Patients with renal stones located at the lower pole, measuring 1-2 cm were included. Patients were evaluated before enrollment and detailed history was taken. Intraoperative and post-operative details were documented. SPSS 21 was used to analyze the data, and to assess significance chi-square test was used, a p-value < 0.05 was considered significant. Results The mean age was 42.7 ± 12.8 and 43.2 ± 13.2 in the RIRS and PCNL groups respectively. The RIRS group showed 07 (17.5%) partial clearance cases while PCNL group showed 02 (5%). Hemoglobin drop was measured as minimal (< 2.5ml) and excessive (>2.5ml) after surgery, and only 01 (2.5%) cases of RIRS had excessive blood loss, PCNL group had higher hemoglobin drop cases with 3 (7.5%) cases. Blood transfusion was required in 1 (2.5%) and 2 (5%) cases in the RIRS and PCNL groups respectively. Conclusion RIRS can be beneficial in small stones while PCNL can be an ideal procedure for lower pole renal stones of 1-2 cm size