Hybrid Computerized Method for Environmental Sound Classification

Classification of environmental sounds plays a key role in security, investigation, robotics since the study of the sounds present in a specific environment can allow to get significant insights. Lack of standardized methods for an automatic and effective environmental sound classification (ESC) creates a need to be urgently satisfied. As a response to this limitation, in this paper, a hybrid model for automatic and accurate classification of environmental sounds is proposed. Optimum allocation sampling (OAS) is used to elicit the informative samples from each class. The representative samples obtained by OAS are turned into the spectrogram containing their time-frequency-amplitude representation by using a short-time Fourier transform (STFT). The spectrogram is then given as an input to pre-trained AlexNet and Visual Geometry Group (VGG)-16 networks. Multiple deep features are extracted using the pre-trained networks and classified by using multiple classification techniques namely decision tree (fine, medium, coarse kernel), k-nearest neighbor (fine, medium, cosine, cubic, coarse and weighted kernel), support vector machine, linear discriminant analysis, bagged tree and softmax classifiers. The ESC-10, a ten-class environmental sound dataset, is used for the evaluation of the methodology. An accuracy of 90.1%, 95.8%, 94.7%, 87.9%, 95.6%, and 92.4% is obtained with a decision tree, k-neared neighbor, support vector machine, linear discriminant analysis, bagged tree and softmax classifier respectively. The proposed method proved to be robust, effective, and promising in comparison with other existing state-of-the-art techniques, using the same dataset

Acute respiratory distress syndrome in Plasmodium vivax malaria. A case-control study of comparison between ARDS and non-ARDS patients in P. Vivax malaria

Background: Plasmodium vivax was conventionally considered to be a benign parasite for centuries but in the recent years have proved to be a virulent parasite causing severe malaria. Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is one of such severe complications with a significant morbidity and mortality. The objective of this study was to find the prevalence of ARDS and identify the associated factors that could potentially lead to ARDS in patients with vivax malaria. Methods: A retrospective case-control study was conducted at a tertiary hospital in New Delhi. 329 patients with an established diagnosis of Plasmodium vivax mono-infection were identified using hospital medical records, the associated factors were evaluated and compared to calculate the odds of developing ARDS. All patients were categorized into ARDS cases and non-ARDS controls. Results: The incidence of ARDS was 7% with a female sex predominance (60.86%). Mean urea (71.5 mg/dl), creatinine (2.7 mg/dl), and AST (97.8 units/l) elevation in addition to decreased hemoglobin (7.7 gm/dl) and platelets count (38,217 cells/µl) proved to be significantly associated with ARDS in our study. Conclusions: Plasmodium vivax is a virulent parasite and can cause severe malaria even in the setting of isolated infection. Cytokine mediated diffuse inflammatory response is a postulated pathophysiology causing ARDS

Dust Buried Compact Sources in the Dwarf Galaxy NGC 4449

Multi-wavelength images from the Hubble Space Telescope covering the wavelength range 0.27-1.6 $\mu$m show that the central area of the nearby dwarf galaxy NGC4449 contains several tens of compact sources that are emitting in the hydrogen recombination line Pa$\beta$ (1.2818 $\mu$m) but are only marginally detected in H$\alpha$ (0.6563 $\mu$m) and undetected at wavelengths $\lambda\le$0.55 $\mu$m. An analysis of the spectral energy distributions (SEDs) of these sources indicates that they are likely relatively young star clusters heavily attenuated by dust. The selection function used to identify the sources prevents meaningful statistical analyses of their age, mass, and dust extinction distributions. However, these cluster candidates have ages $\sim$5-6 Myr and A$_V>$6 mag, according to their SED fits, and are extremely compact, with typical deconvolved radii of 1 pc. The dusty clusters are located at the periphery of dark clouds within the galaxy and appear to be partially embedded. Density and pressure considerations indicate that the HII regions surrounding these clusters may be stalled, and that pre-supernova feedback has not been able to clear the clusters of their natal cocoons. These findings are in potential tension with existing models that regulate star formation with pre-supernova feedback, since pre-supernova feedback acts on short timescales, $\lesssim$4 Myr, for a standard Stellar Initial Mass function. The existence of a population of dusty star clusters with ages $>$4 Myr, if confirmed by future observations, paints a more complex picture for the role of stellar feedback in controlling star formation.Comment: 27 pages, 22 figures; accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journa

An approach to emotion recognition in single-channel EEG signals: a mother child interaction

In this work, we perform a first approach to emotion recognition from EEG single channel signals extracted in four (4) mother-child dyads experiment in developmental psychology -- Single channel EEG signals are analyzed and processed using several window sizes by performing a statistical analysis over features in the time and frequency domains -- Finally, a neural network obtained an average accuracy rate of 99% of classification in two emotional states such as happiness and sadness20th Argentinean Bioengineering Society Congress, SABI 2015 (XX Congreso Argentino de Bioingeniería y IX Jornadas de Ingeniería Clínica)28–30 October 2015, San Nicolás de los Arroyos, Argentin

Reducing the environmental impact of surgery on a global scale: systematic review and co-prioritization with healthcare workers in 132 countries

Abstract Background Healthcare cannot achieve net-zero carbon without addressing operating theatres. The aim of this study was to prioritize feasible interventions to reduce the environmental impact of operating theatres. Methods This study adopted a four-phase Delphi consensus co-prioritization methodology. In phase 1, a systematic review of published interventions and global consultation of perioperative healthcare professionals were used to longlist interventions. In phase 2, iterative thematic analysis consolidated comparable interventions into a shortlist. In phase 3, the shortlist was co-prioritized based on patient and clinician views on acceptability, feasibility, and safety. In phase 4, ranked lists of interventions were presented by their relevance to high-income countries and low–middle-income countries. Results In phase 1, 43 interventions were identified, which had low uptake in practice according to 3042 professionals globally. In phase 2, a shortlist of 15 intervention domains was generated. In phase 3, interventions were deemed acceptable for more than 90 per cent of patients except for reducing general anaesthesia (84 per cent) and re-sterilization of ‘single-use’ consumables (86 per cent). In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for high-income countries were: introducing recycling; reducing use of anaesthetic gases; and appropriate clinical waste processing. In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for low–middle-income countries were: introducing reusable surgical devices; reducing use of consumables; and reducing the use of general anaesthesia. Conclusion This is a step toward environmentally sustainable operating environments with actionable interventions applicable to both high– and low–middle–income countries

Role of neck circumference in measuring obesity in healthy adults

Background: Visceral fat or intra-abdominal fat is the adipose tissue surrounding mesenteries and omentum. This has been linked to lifestyle diseases like heart diseases, arthritis, stroke and even cancer. At present we have three tools to measure visceral fat area (VFA) – Bio impedance analysis, Magnetic resonance analyser and DEXA scan. Neck circumference measurement is a simple, easy to do and a quantifiable method of measuring visceral fat. Aim & Objective: This study aims to find correlation of visceral body fat with Neck Circumference (NC) and Body Mass Index. Methodology: A cross sectional study was carried out in a medical college of western Maharashtra, wherein 290 healthy males (>18 years) were selected by simple random sampling over a period of 7 months from (February 2018 – August 2018). Data was analyzed using SPSS version 20.0. Visceral body fat was measured using Body Space 720 and neck circumference using measuring tape. Results: We found a significant association between neck circumference and VFA. There is a strong association between NC of >35cm and VFA >100cm2. NC can be useful in field settings as it can be used easily by health care workers in predicting risk of lifestyle diseases