Automated COVID-19 CT Image Classification using Multi-head Channel Attention in Deep CNN

The rapid spread of COVID-19 has necessitated efficient and accurate diagnostic methods. Computed Tomography (CT) scan images have emerged as a valuable tool for detecting the disease. In this article, we present a novel deep learning approach for automated COVID-19 CT scan classification where a modified Xception model is proposed which incorporates a newly designed channel attention mechanism and weighted global average pooling to enhance feature extraction thereby improving classification accuracy. The channel attention module selectively focuses on informative regions within each channel, enabling the model to learn discriminative features for COVID-19 detection. Experiments on a widely used COVID-19 CT scan dataset demonstrate a very good accuracy of 96.99% and show its superiority to other state-of-the-art techniques. This research can contribute to the ongoing efforts in using artificial intelligence to combat current and future pandemics and can offer promising and timely solutions for efficient medical image analysis tasks

Empowerment translated to transition

This is well noted that women have been subjugated by the throes of patriarchy. They have been bounded by certain gendered social and cultural norms.In this study, we have found that being empowered by joining the self help gropus and with change in lifestyle factors along with sense of self esteem women influence the child birth decision which is leading to demographic transition irrespectiv of their settlement places

Empowerment translated to transition

This is well noted that women have been subjugated by the throes of patriarchy. They have been bounded by certain gendered social and cultural norms.In this study, we have found that being empowered by joining the self help gropus and with change in lifestyle factors along with sense of self esteem women influence the child birth decision which is leading to demographic transition irrespectiv of their settlement places

Effect of fall in crude oil price on stock indices and exchange rates of India and China.

The present study makes an attempt to investigate the effect of sharp continuous falling crude oil prices on stock market indices and exchange rates of India and China. The period of the study spans from July 2009 to May 2016. Multivariate cointegration techniques along with vector error correction mechanism, impulse response functions are employed in this empirical researc

Gender and entrepreneurship in India: a right based perspective & ground reality

This paper unravels different right-based dimensions of gendered entrepreneurship in India and elaborates the hardcore reality the women entrepreneurs are facing right now, despite provisions of those rights and protection. Eventually the paper would justify the dire need of female enterprise in our socio-political and cultural space while contextualising the issue in economic perspective and locates the gender based dimension of entrepreneurship in Indian economy explaining the lacunae behind its slow growth. The following sections would sequentially clarify these issues. The paper opens up the discussion illustrating the constitutional provisions of women entrepreneurs as guaranteed by Indian constitution. Then consequently it elaborates the actual scenario of women entrepreneurs in Indian economy and assesses the reasons for its strengths and weaknesses. It also attempts to reason out the gap between actual and ideal position of women entrepreneurs especially from the rights based perspective. The concluding section summarises the whole analysis and suggesting some corrective measures as way ahead

Evaluation of anti-leishmanial activity of artemisinin combined with amphotericin B or miltefosine in Leishmania donovani promastigotes

Background: The increasing incidence of drug resistance in Leishmaniasis necessitates evaluation of combination chemotherapy. Miltefosine and amphotericin B are established anti-leishmanial drugs, while artemisinin has shown significant leishmanicidal activity in experimental models. In this study, we have evaluated the additive/synergistic effect of artemisinin with amphotericin B or miltefosine.Methods: Leishmania parasites were isolated from the bone marrow aspirate of a patient with visceral leishmaniasis. Parasites were typed as Leishmania donovani by restriction fragment length polymorphism of internal transcribed spacer 1 region of Leishmania genome. Promastigotes were incubated in a fixed ratio combination of artemisinin (0-500 µM) and amphotericin B (0-100 nM) or miltefosine (0-100 µM) and cell viability was assessed. An isobologram was constructed to evaluate the additive/synergistic effect, wherein it was considered additive if the mean sum fractional inhibitory concentration (mean ΣFIC) at the IC50 level was <2, but ≥1 and synergism, if the mean ΣFIC was <1.Results: The isobologram showed an additive effect for three combinations of artemisinin-amphotericin B and artemisinin-miltefosine, the mean ΣFICs ranging from 1.02 to 1.44 and 1.08 to 1.33 along with a synergistic effect with one combination, the mean ΣFICs being 0.58 and 0.81 respectively.Conclusions: This study supports the combination use of artemisinin-amphotericin B and artemisinin-miltefosine, worthy of future pharmacological consideration

Public Firm in Mixed Oligopolistic Structure: A Theoretical Exposition

The logic for state monopoly of public utilities arises from increasing returns to scale and the concern that private business in these areas results in monopolistic exploitation of consumers. The state monopoly however is fraught with the danger of production inefficiency. In this backdrop, the market form of mixed oligopoly is contemplated in markets like health, education, electricity, gas, telecommunications etc, where public and private sector coexists. The private firms maximize profit but the public firm maximizes social welfare. Despite this theoretical exposition, it is often observed that public firms fail to make contributions according to their potentiality. The public firm in an industry with rapid change in technology can perform inefficiently due to decision making delay, adherence to social obligation. The policy makers must rise to these occasions then survival of public firms will be smooth. The option of public private partnership also derives affirmative results for the society and the particular industry per se

Re-imaging Capitalism through Social Entrepreneurship

Abstract: Social Entrepreneurship focuses on activities that make world a better place to live in Social Entrepreneurship addresses various social issues. One such issue is rural development and poverty eradication. One way to achieve this is through self-Help groups. Self –Help group ( SHG) is a unique concept in India Self Help group is a homogenous group of people who have come together with the intention of increasing their income, improve their standard of living and status in society. Self –Help groups is a tool to eradicate poverty and encourage rural development. This study looks into journey of two women from two self-help groups of West Bengal. One SHG is located in rural area and another is in urban area. Self help groups helped them in developing their enterprise. These two micro entrepreneurs in turn provided livelihood to many women in their locality. They have been instrumental in providing other women in their locality with decent income. Self-Help groups not only helped in eradication of poverty but also helped in empowerment of women by providing them with income and social recognition

Impact of COVID-19 restrictive measures on income and health service utilization of tuberculosis patients in India.

BACKGROUND: The nationwide lockdown (March 25 to June 8, 2020) to curb the spread of coronavirus infection had significant health and economic impacts on the Indian economy. There is limited empirical evidence on how COVID-19 restrictive measures may impact the economic welfare of specific groups of patients, e.g., tuberculosis patients. We provide the first such evidence for India. METHODS: A total of 291 tuberculosis patients from the general population and from a high-risk group, patients from tea garden areas, were interviewed at different time points to understand household income loss during the complete lockdown, three and eight months after the complete lockdown was lifted. Income loss was estimated by comparing net monthly household income during and after lockdown with prelockdown income. Tuberculosis service utilization patterns before and during the lockdown period also were examined. Household income loss, travel and other expenses related to tuberculosis drug pickup were presented in 2020 US dollars (1 US$ = INR 74.132). RESULTS: 26% of households with tuberculosis patients in tea garden areas and 51% of households in the general population had zero monthly income during the complete lockdown months (April-May 2020). Overall income loss slowly recovered during July-August compared to April-May 2020. Approximately 7% of patients in the general population and 4% in tea garden areas discontinued their tuberculosis medicines because of the complete lockdown. CONCLUSION: Discontinuation of medicine will have an additional burden on the tuberculosis elimination program in terms of additional cases, including multidrug resistant tuberculosis cases. Income loss for households and poor restoration of income after the lockdown will likely have an impact on the nutrition of tuberculosis patients and families. Tuberculosis patients working in the informal sector were the worst affected group during the nationwide lockdown. This emphasizes that a policy priority must continue to protect those working in informal sectors from the economic consequences of such restrictive measures, including paid sick leave, additional food support, and direct benefit transfers. Alongside ensuring widespread access to COVID-19 vaccines, these policy actions remain pivotal in ensuring the well-being of those who are unfortunate enough to be living with tuberculosis