Use of Exploratory Data Analysis and Visualization in Identification of Commingled Human Remains

The field of Exploratory data analysis and Visualization is revolutionizing the way we perceive things. At times, Visualization is seen as a subset of Exploratory data analysis and then there are branches in Visualization, types, technologies, tools which makes one feel that Visualization is a standalone pillar. Either way, they both work well together to extract meaningful information from almost any kind of data. These fields can very well be the stepping stone for in-depth or conclusive research. They can direct research based on facts and observations rather than one’s intuition or even a brute force technique. This project was developed to address a specific problem but with an end goal of answering the bigger question of whether these methods can play a pivotal role in areas where they have not forayed a lot. The general procedure in identifying a human skeleton would be to carry out a DNA analysis and match it with records that the scientists have or measure every aspect of the skeletal bone and find an equivalent match based the dimensions of the bone. This process is not only time consuming, but it is also extremely cost intensive as well. So, this research project was carried out to understand how far Exploratory data analysis and Visualization can go in quickening the process of identification of skeletal bones. The idea of exploratory data analysis and visualization are conceived by using a JavaScript-based visualization library called D3.js and building an interactive dashboard using the Google data studio platform. This project has tried to highlight the advantages of using visualization to understand a complex dataset in a short interval of time

Rapid Scan White Light Pump-Probe Spectroscopy with 100 kHz Shot-to-Shot Detection

We demonstrate a femtosecond pump-probe spectrometer which utilizes a white light supercontinuum as input, and relies on mutual synchronization of acousto-optical chopper, pump-probe delay stage and the CCD camera to record shot-to-shot pump-probe spectra while the pump-probe delay is scanned synchronously with the laser repetition rate. The unique combination of technologies implemented here allows for electronically controllable and repetition-rate scalable detection throughput that is only limited by the camera frame rate. Despite RMS white-light probe fluctuations of ~5.5%, fully leveraging the temporal correlations in white light and fine sampling of pump-probe delay along with 30x reduction in equivalent data collection time compared to stepwise scanning leads to reduction of RMS noise without multichannel referencing down to ~0.33 mOD for a scattering nanotube sample. This demonstration opens door for impulsive pump-probe micro-spectroscopy of scattering samples with broadband spectral coverage and minimized sample exposure

Student Perception of the Integrated PBL MBCHB-III Program Curriculum in a Medical University

Introduction: Integrated PBL is now an accepted method of teaching the medical curriculum. The objective of this study was to determine MBChB-III students’ perceptions about some key aspects related to our integrated PBL curriculum.Methods: This was an anonymous, questionnaire based, descriptive study, involving the Walter Sisulu University MBChB year 3 students as participants. The short questionnaire focused on key student perception areas related to integrated PBL curriculumResults: More than half of the students felt that the curriculum enhanced analytical skills, and was reasoning and learning centered. 29.5% of the students felt that the desired goals and objectives were not clear enough. About 90% felt that they felt they could recognize discipline interrelations. While 61.7% of students felt that the curriculum facilitated active learning opportunities, more than 70% felt that it increased the workload and stress levels. About half of the students expressed overall satisfaction with the level of content integration.Conclusion: Students generally presented favorable perceptions of the integrated MBChB-III PBL curriculum.  There were concerns about the associated heavy workload and stress. Student counseling with respect to time and stress management coupled with improvements in curriculum design would be helpful in addressing the issue

Overseas Medical Students in Ukraine and War-Related Interruption in Education: Global Health Considerations from India

Background: The Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022 has caused a humanitarian crisis impacting millions of individuals within Ukraine and globally. While war-related healthcare delivery has been discussed in both the academic biomedical literature and in non-peer-reviewed sources, little academic attention has been paid to overseas medical students who have had to abandon their education. These constitute nearly a third of the 80,000 international students in Ukraine and represent a valuable part of the global healthcare workforce. Objective: This article utilizes the illustrative case of the over 18,000 Indian-origin medical students enrolled in Ukraine to review the state of overseas medical students in Ukraine and war-related interruption in education. Methods: Literature, both academic and non-academic, published up until October 1, 2022, pertaining to the conflict, the impact on students, the demands of various stakeholders, and the proposed solutions, was reviewed through the use of appropriate keyword-based searches. Findings: Factors influencing the decision to pursue education in Ukraine and their pre-crisis pathway to home practice are first discussed. Indian-origin students have historically gone on to Ukraine after securing insufficiently competitive ranks in the national medical school entrance exam, thus preventing them from getting a heavily subsidized education at publicly funded institutions in India. In the 2022 Russo-Ukrainian conflict, these students have faced not only actual and potential challenges related to their safety, shelter, food, and home return, they have been considerably impacted by the uncertainty regarding their educational prospects back home. The article then delineates the nuances and challenges in attempting to reintegrate a large potential healthcare workforce in the home country, and discusses possible solutions, especially those being implemented by the government. Conclusion: Urgent need exists for the involvement of all stakeholders and careful consensus-building before the proposed reintegration from an equity-based perspective

Evolution of ryegrass resistance to glyphosate changes soil microbial diversity 14 years continuous application

Glyphosate is the most widely used herbicides in agriculture. Short-term impacts of glyphosate on soil microbial communities have been reported but long-term effects are rarely studied. There is concern for non-target effects on soil microbial communities with potential to negatively affect soil functions after long-term use of glyphosate. Therefore, our objective was to investigate changes in bacterial community composition following long-term glyphosate application on annual ryegrass

AFMB-Net: DeepFake Detection Network Using Heart Rate Analysis

With advances in deepfake generating technology, it is getting increasingly difficult to detect deepfakes. Deepfakes can be used for many malpractices such as blackmail, politics, social media, etc. These can lead to widespread misinformation and can be harmful to an individual or an institution’s reputation. It has become important to be able to identify deepfakes effectively, while there exist many machine learning techniques to identify them, these methods are not able to cope up with the rapidly improving GAN technology which is used to generate deepfakes. Our project aims to identify deepfakes successfully using machine learning along with Heart Rate Analysis. The heart rate identified by our model is unique to each individual and cannot be spoofed or imitated by a GAN and is thus susceptible to improving GAN technology. To solve the deepfake detection problem we employ various machine learning models along with heart rate analysis to detect deepfakes

Pediatric Brain Tumors: From Modern Classification System to Current Principles of Management

Central nervous system (CNS) malignancies contribute significantly to the global burden of cancer. Brain tumors constitute the most common solid organ tumors in children and the second most common malignancies of childhood overall. Accounting for nearly 20% of all pediatric malignancies, these are the foremost cause of cancer-related deaths in children 0–14 years of age. This book chapter provides a state-of-the-art overview of pediatric brain tumors. It discusses their morbidity and mortality and introduces the WHO 2021 classification of CNS tumors, which is critical to therapeutic decision-making. It then describes the modern understanding of tumor grading and its clinical implications, followed by the general principles of diagnosis and management. The chapter then discusses, in detail, those brain tumors which have the highest disease burden in children, including medulloblastoma, astrocytoma, ependymoma, schwannoma, meningioma, amongst others. The landscape of treatment of pediatric brain tumors has been rapidly evolving, with several effective therapies on the horizon

Assessment of oral hygiene habits, oral hygiene practices and tooth wear among fertilizer factory workers of Northern India: a Cross sectional study

Background: The association between oral hygiene habits & practices and severity of tooth wear lesion varies from community to community and also from occupation to occupation. The present study was conducted with to assess oral hygiene habits & practices and tooth wear among fertilizer factory workers of Punjab, India. Material and Methods: A descriptive cross sectional survey was conducted among 965 male workers who were aged between 19–58 years, who were the workers of fertilizers factory of Bathinda, India. An interview on the demographic profile, oral hygiene practices, and adverse habits followed a clinical examination for recording the Tooth Wear (Smith and Knight Index 1984) using Type III examination. The Chi–square test and a Stepwise multiple linear regression analysis were used for the statistical analysis. Confidence interval and p-value set at 95% and ≤ 0.05 respectively. Results: In the present study majority (47.2%) of the study population used chew sticks for cleaning their teeth. Overall prevalence of adverse habits was reported (92.4%). Study population showed higher prevalence of tooth wear (77.1%). Best predictors identified for Tooth Wear were oral hygiene practices, adverse habits, years of work experience and age respectively. Conclusions: Considerable percentages of fertilizer factory workers have demonstrated a higher prevalence of tooth surface loss. This may be useful in designing the investigations that aim to further explore the causes for these findings and more importantly to plan oral health promotion program implementing both preventive and curative strategies

4-Bromo­benzoic acid–6-(4-bromo­phen­yl)-3-methyl-1,2,4-triazolo[3,4-b][1,3,4]thia­diazole (1/1)

In the title 1:1 co-crystal, C10H7BrN4S·C7H5BrO2, the triazolothia­diazole system is approximately planar [with a maximum deviation of 0.030 (4) Å] and forms a dihedral angle of 8.6 (1)° with the bromo­phenyl ring. In the carb­oxy­lic acid mol­ecule, the carboxyl group is rotated by 6.4 (3)° out of the benzene ring plane. The crystal structure features O—H⋯N and C—H⋯O hydrogen bonds, π–π stacking inter­actions [centroid–centroid distances = 3.713 (2), 3.670 (2) and 3.859 (3) Å] and short S⋯N [2.883 (4) Å] contacts