A robust adaptive wavelet-based method for classification of meningioma histology images

Intra-class variability in the texture of samples is an important problem in the domain of histological image classification. This issue is inherent to the field due to the high complexity of histology image data. A technique that provides good results in one trial may fail in another when the test and training data are changed and therefore, the technique needs to be adapted for intra-class texture variation. In this paper, we present a novel wavelet based multiresolution analysis approach to meningioma subtype classification in response to the challenge of data variation.We analyze the stability of Adaptive Discriminant Wavelet Packet Transform (ADWPT) and present a solution to the issue of variation in the ADWPT decomposition when texture in data changes. A feature selection approach is proposed that provides high classification accuracy

Contemporary Issues in Current Account Operations in Pakistani IBs - Sharia Compliant Solution

Contemporary Sharia scholars have three stances about the Current Account Operations in Pakistani Islamic Banks (IBs) i.e., (i) Ijarah based contract (ii) Wadi'ah based contract, and (iii) Qard based contract. This paper is an attempt to delve into the root causes of the differences of scholars and to find the Sharia-compliant solution acceptable for all. Descriptive as well as applied approaches are used in this paper. Clearing of ambiguity on this issue may result in twofold benefits: from the public point of view, it would satisfy practising Muslims which may result in form of huge deposits in this account (ii) from IBs viewpoint the Current Account is a bonus deposit

Local magnetic anisotropy in BaFe2_2As2_2: a polarized inelastic neutron scattering study

The anisotropy of the magnetic excitations in BaFe$_2$As$_2$ was studied by polarized inelastic neutron scattering which allows one to separate the components of the magnetic response. Despite the in-plane orientation of the static ordered moment we find the in-plane polarized magnons to exhibit a larger gap than the out-of-plane polarized ones indicating very strong single-ion anisotropy within the layers. It costs more energy to rotate a spin within the orthorhombic {\it a-b} plane than rotating it perpendicular to the FeAs layers.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

CBDI: Combined Banzhaf & Diversity Index for Finding Critical Nodes

Critical node discovery plays a vital role in assessing the vulnerability of a network to an abrupt change, such as an adversarial attack or human intervention. In this paper, we propose a new metric to characterize the criticality of a node in an arbitrary network which we refer to as the Combined Banzhaf & Diversity Index (CBDI). The metric utilizes a diversity index which is based on the variability of a node’s attributes relative to its neighbors and the Banzhaf Power Index which characterizes the degree of participation of a node in forming shortest paths. The Banzhaf power index is inspired from the theory of voting games in game theory. We evaluate the performance of the new metric using simulations. Our results indicate that in a number of network topologies, the proposed metric outperforms other proposals which have appeared in the literature. The proposed CBDI index chooses more critical nodes which, when removed, degrade network performance to a greater extent than if critical nodes based on other criticality metrics were removed

On the Complexity of Average Path length for Biological Networks and Patterns

Path length calculation is a frequent requirement in studies related to graph theoretic problems such as genetics. Standard method to calculate average path length of a graph requires traversing all nodes in the graph repeatedly, which is computationally expensive for graphs containing large number of nodes. We propose a novel method to calculate average path length for graphs commonly required in the studies of genetics. The proposed method is computationally less expensive and less time consuming compared to standard method. In this paper, a mathematical formulation is provided that calculates Average Path Length for graphs commonly present in biological networks, at the cost of uniform time complexity, for different size of networks

Maternal anaemia and its impact on perinatal outcome in a tertiary care hospital in Pakistan

Maternal anaemia is a common problem in pregnancy, particularly in developing countries. We investigated the relationship between maternal anaemia and perinatal outcome in a cohort of 629 pregnant women from October 2001 to 2002. Of these, 313 were anaemic (haemoglobin \u3c 11 g/L). Perinatal outcomes included preterm delivery, low birth weight, intrauterine growth retardation, perinatal death, low Apgar scores and intrauterine fetal death. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed. The risk of preterm delivery and low birth weight among the anaemic women was 4 and 1.9 times more respectively than the non-anaemic women. The neonates of anaemic women also had 1.8 times increased risk having low Apgar scores at 1 minute and there was a 3.7 greater risk of intrauterine fetal death among the anaemic women than the non-anaemic women

Combined Banzhaf & Diversity Index (CBDI) for critical node detection

Critical node discovery plays a vital role in assessing the vulnerability of a computer network to malicious attacks and failures and provides a useful tool with which one can greatly improve network security and reliability. In this paper, we propose a new metric to characterize the criticality of a node in an arbitrary computer network which we refer to as the Combined Banzhaf & Diversity Index (CBDI). The metric utilizes a diversity index which is based on the variability of a node׳s attributes relative to its neighbours and the Banzhaf power index which characterizes the degree of participation of a node in forming shortest paths. The Banzhaf power index is inspired from the theory of voting games in game theory. The proposed metric is evaluated using analysis and simulations. The criticality of nodes in a network is assessed based on the degradation in network performance achieved when these nodes are removed. We use several performance metrics to evaluate network performance including the algebraic connectivity which is a spectral metric characterizing the connectivity robustness of the network. Extensive simulations in a number of network topologies indicate that the proposed CBDI index chooses more critical nodes which, when removed, degrade network performance to a greater extent than if critical nodes based on other criticality metrics were removed

Spectral Partitioning for Node Criticality

Finding critical nodes in a network is a significant task, highly relevant to network vulnerability and security. We consider the node criticality problem as an algebraic connectivity minimization problem where the objective is to choose nodes which minimize the algebraic connectivity of the resulting network. Previous suboptimal solutions of the problem suffer from the computational complexity associated with the implementation of a maximization consensus algorithm. In this work, we use spectral partitioning concepts introduced by Fiedler, to propose a new suboptimal solution which significantly reduces the implementation complexity. Our approach, combined with recently proposed distributed Fiedler vector calculation algorithms enable each node to decide by itself whether it is a critical node. If a single node is required then the maximization algorithm is applied on a restricted set of nodes within the network. We derive a lower bound for the achievable algebraic connectivity when nodes are removed from the network and we show through simulations that our approach leads to algebraic connectivity values close to this lower bound. Similar behaviour is exhibited by other approaches at the expense, however, of a higher implementation complexity

Tocotrienols-induced inhibition of platelet thrombus formation and platelet aggregation in stenosed canine coronary arteries

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Dietary supplementation with tocotrienols has been shown to decrease the risk of coronary artery disease. Tocotrienols are plant-derived forms of vitamin E, which have potent anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, anticancer, hypocholesterolemic, and neuroprotective properties. Our objective in this study was to determine the extent to which tocotrienols inhibit platelet aggregation and reduce coronary thrombosis, a major risk factor for stroke in humans. The present study was carried out to determine the comparative effects of α-tocopherol, α-tocotrienol, or tocotrienol rich fraction (TRF; a mixture of α- + γ- + δ-tocotrienols) on <it>in vivo platelet thrombosis </it>and <it>ex vivo </it>platelet aggregation (PA) after intravenous injection in anesthetized dogs, by using a mechanically stenosed circumflex coronary artery model (Folts' cyclic flow model).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Collagen-induced platelet aggregation (PA) in platelet rich plasma (PRP) was decreased markedly after treatment with α-tocotrienol (59%; <b><it>P </it></b>< 0.001) and TRF (92%; <b><it>P </it></b>< 0.001). α-Tocopherol treatment was less effective, producing only a 22% (<b><it>P </it></b>< 0.05) decrease in PA. Adenosine diphosphate-induced (ADP) PA was also decreased after treatment with α-tocotrienol (34%; <b><it>P </it></b>< 0.05) and TRF (42%; <b><it>P </it></b>< 0.025). These results also indicate that intravenously administered tocotrienols were significantly better than tocopherols in inhibiting cyclic flow reductions (CFRs), a measure of the acute platelet-mediated thrombus formation. Tocotrienols (TRF) given intravenously (10 mg/kg), abolished CFRs after a mean of 68 min (range 22 -130 min), and this abolition of CFRs was sustained throughout the monitoring period (50 - 160 min).</p> <p>Next, pharmacokinetic studies were carried out and tocol levels in canine plasma and platelets were measured. As expected, α-Tocopherol treatment increased levels of total tocopherols in post- vs pre-treatment specimens (57 vs 18 μg/mL in plasma, and 42 vs 10 μg/mL in platelets). However, treatment with α-tocopherol resulted in slightly decreased levels of tocotrienols in post- vs pre-treatment samples (1.4 vs 2.9 μg/mL in plasma and 2.3 vs 2.8 μg/mL in platelets). α-Tocotrienol treatment increased levels of both tocopherols and tocotrienols in post- vs pre-treatment samples (tocopherols, 45 vs 10 μg/mL in plasma and 28 vs 5 μg/mL in platelets; tocotrienols, 2.8 vs 0.9 μg/mL in plasma and 1.28 vs 1.02 μg/mL in platelets). Treatment with tocotrienols (TRF) also increased levels of tocopherols and tocotrienols in post- vs pre-treatment samples (tocopherols, 68 vs 20 μg/mL in plasma and 31.4 vs 7.9 μg/mL in platelets; tocotrienols, 8.6 vs 1.7 μg/mL in plasma and 3.8 vs 3.9 μg/mL in platelets).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The present results indicate that intravenously administered tocotrienols inhibited acute platelet-mediated thrombus formation, and collagen and ADP-induced platelet aggregation. α-Tocotrienols treatment induced increases in α-tocopherol levels of 4-fold and 6-fold in plasma and platelets, respectively. Interestingly, tocotrienols (TRF) treatment induced a less pronounced increase in the levels of tocotrienols in plasma and platelets, suggesting that intravenously administered tocotrienols may be converted to tocopherols. Tocotrienols, given intravenously, could potentially prevent pathological platelet thrombus formation and thus provide a therapeutic benefit in conditions such as stroke and myocardial infarction.</p