Robust Facial Expression Recognition Using Local Binary Patterns and Gabor Filters

Facial expressions and gestures provide intuitional cues for interpersonal communication. Imparting intelligence to computer for identifying facial expressions is a crucial task. Facial expressions and emotions are governed by identification of facial muscle movement by visual cortex and training a machine to identify these highly in-situ movements is our primary interest. This thesis presents robust facial expression analysis algorithms for static images as well as an efficient extension to sequence of images. We present an efficient preprocessing method which eliminates the effect of illumination on the detected face images thus making them efficient for feature extraction. Robust Local Binary Patterns and Gabor filters are implemented for feature extraction which are known to provide efficient face representation and analysis.LBP facial features are represented in form of weighted histograms which are best classified using Kullback Leibler divergence measure .Artificial Neural Network classifier is also tested for classification of fused Gabor and LBP features. Further expressions are rarely defined by static images as their complete essence lies in a sequence of images. So further exploration is concentrated on analyzing expressions from a sequence of images. To eliminate head pose variations in consecutive frames and register images to keep the spatial information intact which is necessary for LBP feature representation we adopted SIFT flow alignment procedure and further tested the resultant image classification with implemented algorithms. The classification accuracy resulted in 95.24% for static expression images and 86.31% for sequence of images which is indeed appreciable when compared to other standard methods

Microalbuminuria, peripheral artery disease, and cognitive function

Kidney disease may be linked to a decline in cognitive activity. We examined the association of microalbuminuria and cognitive function in a general population of older adults in the United States drawn from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey of 1999–2002. Cognitive function was measured by digit symbol substitution in 2386 participants 60 years of age and older of whom 448 had microalbuminuria. Covariates included age, gender, race/ethnicity, education, smoking, diabetes, and hypertension. Among participants with peripheral artery disease, those with microalbuminuria had a significantly lower cognitive function score compared to those with a normal albumin-to-creatinine ratio. The association between microalbuminuria and cognitive function was weak in those without peripheral artery disease. But in those with peripheral artery disease, the odds of microalbuminuria associated with cognitive function in the lowest and middle tertiles was 6.5 and 3.5, respectively

Robust Facial Expression Recognition Using Local Binary Patterns and Gabor Filters

Facial expressions and gestures provide intuitional cues for interpersonal communication. Imparting intelligence to computer for identifying facial expressions is a crucial task. Facial expressions and emotions are governed by identification of facial muscle movement by visual cortex and training a machine to identify these highly in-situ movements is our primary interest. This thesis presents robust facial expression analysis algorithms for static images as well as an efficient extension to sequence of images. We present an efficient preprocessing method which eliminates the effect of illumination on the detected face images thus making them efficient for feature extraction. Robust Local Binary Patterns and Gabor filters are implemented for feature extraction which are known to provide efficient face representation and analysis.LBP facial features are represented in form of weighted histograms which are best classified using Kullback Leibler divergence measure .Artificial Neural Network classifier is also tested for classification of fused Gabor and LBP features. Further expressions are rarely defined by static images as their complete essence lies in a sequence of images. So further exploration is concentrated on analyzing expressions from a sequence of images. To eliminate head pose variations in consecutive frames and register images to keep the spatial information intact which is necessary for LBP feature representation we adopted SIFT flow alignment procedure and further tested the resultant image classification with implemented algorithms. The classification accuracy resulted in 95.24% for static expression images and 86.31% for sequence of images which is indeed appreciable when compared to other standard methods

STUDY OF AWARENESS AMONG HEALTHCARE PROVIDERS FOR THE NEED TO PERIODICALLY SCREEN RENAL FUNCTIONS IN DIABETIC PATIENTS RECEIVING METFORMIN

Objectives: To evaluate the awareness of serum creatinine monitoring and maximum daily dose of metformin among healthcare providers. Methods: We conducted the prospective-observational study among healthcare providers like attending physicians, resident doctors, medical students and nurses. A questionnaire with multiple choice questions was designed and circulated among various healthcare providers in a tertiary care hospital in Hoskote, Bangalore, Karnataka. The participants were unaware of the study objective. Results: Total of 100 Healthcare Providers participated in our survey. The majority of them were faculty members (attending physicians or HODs; n= 33) or resident doctors (n=50) contributed towards 83% of the participants while students (n= 7) and nurses (n= 10) were the minority participants at the hospital. Awareness of serum creatinine monitoring in patients receiving metformin in the Attending Physicians (84%) seem to be higher as compared to the Resident Doctors (72%). Medical students (14%) and nurses (30%) had a very low awareness. Awareness of maximum daily dose for metformin in the Attending Physicians (78%) seem to be higher as compared to the Resident Doctors (64%). Medical students (14%) and nurses (30%) had a very low awareness. Conclusion: Awareness of maximum daily dose of metformin and serum creatinine monitoring was high among physicians as compared to resident doctors. Nurses and medical students lacked in this knowledge. Clinical pharmacist can play a vital role by providing concise information about new drug therapies, warnings and precautions about old/new drugs to health care providers. Working together, clinical pharmacists and physicians can improve the patient care

Prevalence and functional significance of 25-hydroxyvitamin D deficiency and vitamin D receptor gene polymorphisms in Asian Indians

Background: Recent studies show a wide prevalence of hypovitaminosis D in Asian Indians. Objective: The objective was to assess the functional significance of 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] deficiency, vitamin D receptor (VDR) gene, and parathyroid hormone (PTH) gene polymorphisms in relation to bone mineral density (BMD) in urban Asian Indians. Design: Serum total calcium, inorganic phosphorus, alkaline phosphatase, 25(OH)D, intact PTH, and BMD at lumbar spine, proximal femur, and forearm were measured in 105 adult subjects. The genotyping related to VDR (BsmI, FokI, and TaqI) and PTH (BstBI and DraII) gene single-nucleotide polymorphisms was carried out by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis. Results: The mean serum 25(OH)D concentration in the whole cohort was 9.8 ± 6.0 ng/mL, which was inversely related with serum intact PTH values (P = 0.042). Ninety-nine (94.3%) of the 105 subjects had vitamin D deficiency with 25(OH)D concentrations < 20 ng/mL. The age- and body mass index (BMI)-adjusted BMD value at the hip was higher in subjects with serum 25(OH)D values > 9.0 ng/mL than in those with values ≤9.0 ng/mL (0.893 ± 0.114 compared with 0.839 ± 0.112 g/cm2, respectively; P = 0.001). The mean forearm and spine BMD values in subjects with TT (VDR, TaqI) or bb (PTH, BstBI) genotypes were significantly higher than the values in subjects with Tt genotype and BB or Bb genotype, respectively. Conclusion: Functionally significant 25(OH)D deficiency affecting BMD at the hip region is prevalent in urban Asian Indians. However, variation in BMD at the spine and forearm is related to VDR and PTH gene polymorphisms rather than to vitamin D status, at least in this hypovitaminotic D population

Orthostatic Hypotension and Incident Chronic Kidney Disease: The Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study

Orthostatic hypotension (OH) is associated with increased rates of cardiovascular disease and mortality, particularly among middle-aged persons. However, little is known about the association of OH with chronic kidney disease (CKD)

Decreased GFR estimated by MDRD or Cockcroft-Gault equation predicts incident CVD: the Strong Heart Study

Background—Kidney function, expressed as glomerular filtration rate (GFR), is commonly estimated from serum creatinine (Scr) and, when decreased, may serve as a nonclassical risk factor for incident cardiovascular disease (CVD). The ability of estimated GFR (eGFR) to predict CVD events during 5–10 years of follow-up is assessed using data from the Strong Heart Study (SHS), a large cohort with a high prevalence of diabetes. Methods—eGFRs were calculated with the abbreviated Modification of Diet in Renal Disease study (MDRD) and the Cockcroft-Gault (CG) equations. These estimates were compared in participants with normal and abnormal Scr. The association between eGFR and incident CVD was assessed. Results—More subjects were labeled as having low eGFR (<60 ml/min per 1.73 m2) by the MDRD or CG equation, than by Scr alone. When Scr was in the normal range, both equations labeled similar numbers of participants as having low eGFRs, although concordance between the equations was poor. However, when Scr was elevated, the MDRD equation labeled more subjects as having low eGFR. Persons with low eGFR had increased risk of CVD. Conclusions—The MDRD and CG equations labeled more participants as having decreased GFR than did Scr alone. Decreased eGFR was predictive of CVD in this American Indian population with a high prevalence of obesity and type 2 diabetes mellitus

Kidney disease and the cumulative burden of life course socioeconomic conditions: The Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) Study.

The authors investigated the cumulative effects of life course social class and neighborhood socioeconomic conditions on the prevalence of chronic kidney disease (CKD) in adulthood. Subjects were members of the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) Study, a longitudinal cohort study of four US communities. CKD was defined by glomerular filtration rate <45ml/min/1.73m(2) or hospital discharge diagnosis. Working class was defined by workplace roles for subjects and their fathers; area socioeconomic status (SES) was based on census information. Being working class for all life course periods or for some life course periods was associated with increased odds of CKD, compared to being non-working class for all periods (adjusted odds ratio, OR, for all periods (95% confidence interval) 1.4 (0.9, 2.0) in Whites and 1.9 (1.3, 2.9) in African-Americans; OR for some periods 1.3 (1.0, 1.9) in Whites and 1.4 (0.9, 2.2) in African-Americans). Low area SES over the life course was not significantly related to CKD compared to living in a higher SES areas at all life course periods. Adjustment for age, gender, community of residence, cumulative social class (for neighborhood measures), cumulative low-neighborhood SES (for cumulative individual social class), hypertension and diabetes does not account for these associations. Our conclusion is that chronic kidney disease is associated with life course socioeconomic conditions. As such, life course social class and neighborhood conditions deserve further attention in accounting for socioeconomic disparities in kidney disease.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/60950/1/Kidney disease and the cumalive burden of life course socioeconomic conditions - The ARIC study.pd

Occupational Silica Exposure and Chronic Kidney Disease

Occupational exposure to silica may be associated with chronic kidney disease (CKD). Most studies have been conducted in occupational cohorts with high levels of exposure but small numbers of cases. We analyzed data from a population-based case-control study of occupational silica exposure and CKD