Big Data in Health Care Analytics

In the 21st century, availability of large data makes the task of handling it even more difficult. Big data serves to tackle these problems. The growth of data in recent years has been exponential, therefore we explore the prospects, challenges and applications of Big Data. Digitization of Health Care data has seen health records, grown enormously. A patient’s medical insurance data, DNA data, medical test results and health history all stored electronically. This data, being unstructured make it very difficult to extract information and analyze patterns that can be useful. We examine the ways in which we can use Big data in health care so that it’s potential can be fully tapped

In Vitro screening of larvicidal and insecticidal activity of methanolic extracts of Artocarpus heterophyllus, Artocarpus altilis and Piper betle

The aim of this work was to evaluate the larvicidal and insecticidal activity of the selected plants namelyArtocarpus altilis, Piper betle and Artocarpus heterophyllus. The leaves of Artocarpus altilis and Artocarpus heterophyllus and roots of Piper betle were subjected to methanolic solvent extraction for the isolation of various bioactive constituents. The evaluation of larvicidal activity was carried out using late third instar larvae of Drosophila melanogaster. The insecticidal activity of extracts was studied against adult Bruchus pisorum, Tribolium castaneum, Sitophilus oryzae and was evaluated by direct contact application method .Nucleic acids and protein contents are regarded as important biomarkers of the metabolic potential of cells, as these play the main role in regulating the different activities of cells. Piper betle and Artocarpus heterophyllusextractshad a reducing effect on the nucleic acid and protein content in the larvae in a dose dependent manner whereas Artocarpus altilis extract did not exhibit any significant larvicidal activity. Piper betle and Artocarpus heterophyllusextractsshowed good insecticidal activity whereas A.altilis extract showed poor insecticidal activity. The results of the present study clearly indicate that Piper betle and Artocarpus heterophyllus extracts can be developed as ecofriendly larvicides and were also quite effective as insecticides for providing a better and excellent alternate for the control of insects

Detection of Coronary Heart Diseases using Data Mining Techniques

In recent times, heart diseases have been prevalent throughout the globe. Millions of people die every year because of misdiagnosis of heart diseases. There is a dire need to develop correct diagnosis of heart related diseases based on data from earlier case scenarios.To aid early and correct diagnosis of these Coronary Heart Diseases, many data mining techniques have been devised using large amount of data available to the hospitals. The various algorithms devised are used to assist physicians in the diagnosis of heart diseases based on various patient parameters such as fasting blood sugar, previous heart events, age, etc. This paper analyses the best of these techniques which include the decision tree algorithm, the Naïve Bayes algorithm and the neural networks algorithm, and enlists the good and the bad in each one of them

Amaranthus deflexus L. (Amaranthaceae), a new addition to Indian Flora

Few populations of Amaranthus deflexus L. were observed in Kerala region (SE-India), contributing the first record of this species to the national Flora. A morphological (macro and micro) description of the species, as well as ecological data are given. A note on the phenotypic plasticity exhibited by the taxon is also provided

Data Mining for Customer Relationship Management: A Review

In today’s competitive environment, the only way to proliferate one’s business, apart from providing with quality product, is to maintain sturdy relations with the customer. In order to maintain a stable profit inflow and retain customers, companies today employ customer relationship management techniques to ensure that existing customers remain faithful to the brand, and prospective customers are motivated to affiliate themselves to the brand. In this paper, we study various data mining techniques employed in different papers, for identifying trends among customers, and hence improving customer relations

Investigating the Effect of Front-End Planning in Fast-Track Delivery Systems for Industrial Projects

Numerous research studies to date have been conducted to examine the processes and effectiveness of Front-End Planning. However, very little is known about the impact of the “level” of Front-End Planning to the cost, schedule and change order performance, specifically for Fast-track Delivery Systems for Industrial projects. This study aims to address this issue by investigating correlation between the Front-End resource allocation and project performance, simultaneously comparing the Design-Build and Construction Manager at Risk delivery systems to the baseline traditional Design-Bid-Build system. The data used for statistical analysis were obtained from the Construction Industry Institute through a Project Level Survey conducted in 2009. The data compiled into a Benchmarking & Metrics database was used by this study for statistical analysis. 439 Industrial projects from both the Light and Heavy Industrial sectors were analyzed during this research. Spearman’s correlation analysis was performed to test the relationship between the “level” of FEP and project performance and Kruskal Wallis test was used to compare the different delivery systems in terms of their performance. Results from the statistical analysis revealed that Design-Build projects with higher level of FEP performed more effectively considering cost and change metrics, whereas the level of FEP in CM-at-Risk projects exhibited a strong relationship with schedule performance. FEP was more effective in Design-Build cost performance because of the collaboration between the designer and the builder in the early phases of the project resulting in accurate estimations and minimized likelihood of major change orders. The Guaranteed Maximum Price ensured in the CM-at-Risk system, hinders the effect of FEP on its cost performance. This study is expected to encourage more effort into the Front-End of the project and could become a decision making tool for project participants on the choice of delivery systems in Industrial projects. This thesis study recommends Design-Build as the ideal delivery system for Industrial projects and for the implementation of Front-End Planning, based on statistical evidence

Type and mode of diagnosis of carcinoma lung in a tertiary care centre: one year experience

Background: Lung cancer is one of the commonest cancers and cause of cancer related deaths all over the world. The reported incidence of adenocarcinoma is increasing globally and now reported to be the most common type of lung cancer. A panel of investigations are used for the diagnosis of lung cancer. Hence a study was planned to find out the pattern of malignancy and the most appropriate investigation for diagnosis. Objective of present study was to find out the type of carcinoma lung and to find out the best and easy method for diagnosis of carcinoma lung in a tertiary care centre.Methods: A hospital based cross sectional study was conducted in one unit of the Department of Pulmonary Medicine, Government Medical college, Thiruvananthapuram for a period of one year.148 diagnosed cases of carcinoma lung were enrolled. The type and the methods used for diagnosis were analysed.Results: Adenocarcinoma was the commonest malignancy 57 (38.5%), followed by squamous cell carcinoma 44 (29.7%) and small cell carcinoma 10 (6.75%). Rest of the cases 37 (25%) include non small cell carcinoma, poorly differentiated carcinoma and lymphoma. Diagnosis was established by FNA Lung in 46 (31.1%) patients and bronchoscopy and biopsy in 41 (27.7%). Other methods include TBNA 12 (8.1%), lymph node FNA/biopsy 11 (7.4%), pleural fluid cytology 24 (16.2%), sputum cytology and tru cut biopsy 14 (9.5%).Conclusions: The most common type of lung malignancy in present study was adenocarcinoma. Ultra sound guided FNAC lung and bronchoscopy biopsy were the best methods in present study to confirm the diagnosis

Amaranthus powellii (Amaranthaceae), a new addition for the flora of India and a preliminary list of the Indian Amaranthus species

Three populations of Amaranthus powellii were discovered in Kerala region (SE-India), representing the first record of this species for the national flora. A morphological description based on the Indian plants, as well as ecological data are given. A preliminary list of all the Amaranthus species occurring in India, which was never published during the last 135 years, is also provided

Analysis of cytology of germ cell tumors with histopathological and serum tumor marker correlation: a tertiary care centre experience

Background: Germ cell tumors are found primarily in children and young adults usually arising from gonads and rarely from extragonadal sites like mediastinum, retroperitoneum, pineal gland and sacrococcygeal region. Involvement of lymphnodes or bodycavities (pleural/peritoneal cavity) is usually associated with metastatic disease.Methods: This is a retrospective analysis of 96 cases of germ cell tumor for which a primary diagnosis of germ cell tumor was given by cytology from primary and metastatic sites. The study period is from January 1993- December 2013. Pap stained and Romanowsky stained smears and cell block sections (10cases) were studied. Serum tumor markers (LDH, BetaHCG and AFP) were correlated in all cases along with histopathology in available cases.Results: Among 96 cases 34 were diagnosed as seminoma/dysgerminoma,10 as embryonal carcinoma,9 as yolk sac tumor,6 as teratoma and 2 as mixed germ ell tumor. In 25 cases the cytology report was suggestive of germ cell tumor and in 10 cases malignant cells favouring germ cell tumor. Among the 10 cases the serum markers were high in six of the cases and the clinician after discussing with the pathologist treated them as germ cell tumors. 47 cases had histopathology and it correlated with cytology except in 14 cases which showed no residual neoplasm after chemotherapy. 15 cases expired immediately after the diagnosis or during the course of treatment 12cases were lost to follow up. Rest of the cases have completed the treatment. In our study the serum tumor markers showed a sensitivity of 92.75% and positive predictive value was 71.11%.Conclusions: The study highlights the importance of picking up the diagnosis of germ cell tumors by fine needle aspiration cytology so that patient can get an early diagnosis, effective treatment and a multidisciplinary approach is essential in diagnosing a difficult case of germ cell tumor. Previous history, radiology, clinical features and serum tumor markers all aid in the cytological diagnosis of germ cell tumor

Collision tumor of metastatic carcinoma and lymphoma in the bone marrow: Report of an extremely rare and interesting case and review of the literature

Collision tumors are composed of two or more histologically distinct tumor components occurring at the same anatomic location. Collision tumors composed of metastatic carcinoma and lymphoma in the bone marrow is an extremely rare occurrence which is not yet reported in literature. We are reporting a case of 61 year old male patient diagnosed as grey zone lymphoma in the oral cavity (B cell lymphoma unclassifiable with features intermediate between DLBCL and Burkitt lymphoma) and bone marrow showing collision tumor composed of metastatic carcinoma and lymphoma