CodEval

Grading coding assignments call for a lot of work. There are numerous aspects of the code that need to be checked, such as compilation errors, runtime errors, the number of test cases passed or failed, and plagiarism. Automated grading tools for programming assignments can be used to help instructors and graders in evaluating the programming assignments quickly and easily. Creating the assignment on Canvas is again a time taking process and can be automated. We developed CodEval, which instantly grades the student assignment submitted on Canvas and provides feedback to the students. It also uploads, creates, and edits assignments, thereby making the whole experience streamlined and quick for instructors and students. It is simple to use, easily integrated with the learning management system, and has a low learning curve. This report shows the background, implementation, and results of using CodEval for programming courses

Improving traffic and emergency vehicle clearence at congested intersections using fuzzy inference engine

Traffic signals play an important role in controlling and coordinating the traffic movement in cities especially in urban areas. As the traffic is exponentially increasing in cities and the pre-timed traffic light control is insufficient in effective timing of the traffic lights, it leads to poor traffic clearance and ultimately to heavy traffic congestion at intersections. Even the Emergency vehicles like Ambulance and Fire brigade are struck at such intersections and experience a prolonged waiting time. An adaptive and intelligent approach in design of traffic light signals is desirable and this paper contributes in applying fuzzy logic to control traffic signal of single four-way intersection giving priority to the Emergency vehicle clearance. The proposed control system is composed of two parallel controllers to select the appropriate lane for green signal and also to decide the appropriate green light time as per the real time traffic condition. Performance of the proposed system is evaluated by using simulations and comparing with pre-timed control system in changing traffic flow condition. Simulation results show significant improvement over the pre-timed control in terms of traffic clearance and lowering of Emergency vehicle wait time at the intersection especially when traffic intensity is high

Establishing Frame Relay Connections Using Packet Tracer

Frame Relay is a protocol used for connecting devices on a wide area network. It operates at the data link layer providing a connection-oriented network. A Data-Link Connection Identifier (DLCI) is used for finding a communication path between the source and destination nodes. Local Management Interface (LMI) message is used to check the status between Frame Relay DTE and DCE. The basic configuration of frame relay is simple, but the network administrator plans the Frame Relay configuration based on different factors. In this research work different configurations of establishing Frame Relay connections are analyzed using Cisco Packet Tracer

CodEval: Improving Student Success In Programming Assignments

CodEval is a code evaluation tool that integrates with the Canvas Learning Management System to automatically evaluates students' work within a few minutes of the submission. This early feedback allows students to catch and correct problems in their submissions before their submission is graded and gives them a clear idea of the quality of their submission. CodEval handles the tedious aspects of grading, such as compiling and running tests, leaving graders more time to spend on the qualitative aspect of grading. Before using CodEval, instructors would not have a clear view of the student's comprehension of the concept evaluated by the assignment until after the due date. CodeEval helps instructors identify and address the gaps in students' understanding and thus helps more students successfully complete the assignment. We implemented CodEval using Python using the public Canvas API. Any instructor or grader for a Canvas course can use CodEval to automatically evaluate submissions for programming assignments. We developed a syntax to express requirements of submissions such as compilation parameters, inputs, outputs, command-line arguments, timeouts, exit codes, functions used, files generated, output validators, and more. We have made CodEval open source. CodEval is an easy tool for students, graders, and instructors and seamlessly integrates with Canvas. We share our experience with using CodEval in two classes with a total of 90 students and multiple coding assignments

Effect of clinical rotation on attitude of medical students towards psychiatry and mental patients: a cross-sectional study from Western Rajasthan

Background: People with mental illnesses experience extreme stigmatization and discrimination despite their ubiquitous presentation. Studies have reported that these negative stereotypes are shared by health care professionals too. Attitude of undergraduate medical students towards psychiatry is vital as it reflects their willingness to deal with psychiatric and behavioral disorders in general practice.Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted in a government medical college in Rajasthan to explore the impact of sociodemographic variables and undergraduate psychiatry training on the attitude of medical students towards mental illness and psychiatry. 105 first year MBBS students and 75 interns participated in the study. Attitude towards mental illness (AMI) scale and attitude towards psychiatry-30 (ATP-30) scale were used to document AMI and ATP respectively. Data collected were analyzed using SPSS statistical software and appropriate tests were used to compare mean scores of both groups.Results: There was no statistically significant difference on AMI and ATP scores between the undergraduate medical students and interns. Females, students belonging to urban setting and more educated families had a favorable attitude towards psychiatric patients. A notable shift in scores on ATP scale towards positive side was reflected between male MBBS students and interns and among students coming from rural background with exposure to medical curriculum.Conclusions: No attitude change was observed in majority of participants indicating need for greater emphasis on mental health and psychiatry.

Cesarean scar pregnancy: scope for hysteroscopy

Scar ectopic pregnancy also known as cesarean scar pregnancy is a rare form of an extrauterine pregnancy. The blastocyst is implanted at the site of the previous cesarean scar. Most patients remain asymptomatic and are detected on routine ultrasonography imaging. The diagnosis and management of this condition is hence challenging and difficult. A timely ultrasonography in the early weeks of gestation is the key to preventing catastrophic events like uterine perforation and excessive hemorrhage. There is a wide armamentarium of treatment modalities to choose from, however each case must be individualised. Medical management has its own limitations and often patients are required to have a long-term follow-up. We present a case of a cesarean scar pregnancy managed conservatively with systemic methotrexate but subsequently requiring surgical intervention done successfully via hysteroscopy. A repeat ultrasonography done a fortnight later revealed no retained products of conception

Differences in ride-hailing adoption by older californians among types of locations

Ride-hailing services such as Lyft and Uber can complement rides offered by family, friends, paid providers, and public transit. To learn why older adults might wish to use ride-hail, we conducted an online survey of 2,917 California respondents age 55 and older. Participants were asked whether they would value four features hypothesized to be benefits of ride-hailing. We specified binary logit models and used market segmentation to investigate whether there were location-based differences in the use of ride-hailing. Our analysis showed that women, city dwellers, persons with disabilities, and those who rely on others for rides were more open to ride-hailing. Women in suburbs or small town/ rural settings were more likely to ride-hail than their male counterparts for reasons of independence, fear of being lost while driving, or getting help with carrying bags. Urban women, in contrast, were less likely than their male counterparts to ride-hail for these reasons. High-income individuals in suburbs or small town/rural locations were more likely to ride-hail than low-income respondents, while high-income urban residents were less likely to ride-hail. Adoption of ride-hailing services and the reasons for doing so showed strong variability by location even among respondents with similar socio-demographic attributes

Will Ride-Hailing Enhance Mobility for Older Adults? A California Survey

Ride-hailing services such as Lyft and Uber offer a potential mobility option for the growing numbers of aging Californians who risk social and economic isolation if they cannot drive for health or financial reasons. They could also serve older adults who currently have mobility options but would prefer a ride-hailing alternative for at least some trips. This study addressed whether and how older Californians use ride-hailing, as well as the potential of this travel mode to meet the needs of older adults now and in the coming decade. An online survey was completed by 2,917 California adults aged 55 and older. This age range was chosen to include both current seniors (age 65 and older) and individuals who will soon be entering that age group (age 55 to 64). The survey explored whether older Californians who have access to the internet used ride-hailing, how comfortable they were with ride-hailing service features that might present barriers to usage, whether they would value potential new ride-hailing service features designed to improve safety, accessibility, and payment options, and what reasons (if any) they saw to use ride-hailing. We also collected data on various factors hypothesized to influence ride-hailing use and behaviors, such as use of the internet and online banking. Key survey findings indicated that 44% of respondents 65 years old and older had experienced ride-hailing and 27% had booked a ride themselves via phone or using the app. Also, the potential new ride-hailing service features that appealed to large numbers of today’s and tomorrow’s seniors include having a driver trained to help older passengers and the option to pay with a ride-hailing card that is not linked to a bank account or credit card. Results also indicated that there were fewer large variations by personal characteristics than we anticipated would influence ride- hailing behavior and attitudes, such as gender, age, and regular use of technology. However, there were some clear differences by population subgroups, most noticeably by income, education, community type (e.g., urban vs. rural), and use of public transit

Trade-off between Noise and Banding in a Quantum Adder with Qudits

Quantum addition based on the quantum Fourier transform can be an integral part of a quantum circuit and proved to be more efficient than the existing classical ripple carry adder. Our study includes identifying the quantum resource required in a quantum adder in any arbitrary dimension and its relationship with the performance indicator in the presence of local noise acting on the circuit and when a limited number of controlled rotation operations is permitted, a procedure known as banding. We analytically prove an upper bound on the number of the controlled rotation gates required to accomplish the quantum addition up to an arbitrary defect in the fidelity between the desired and imperfect output. When the environment interacts with individual qudits, we establish a connection between quantum coherence and fidelity of the output. Interestingly, we demonstrate that when banding is employed in the presence of noise, approximate circuits of constant depth outperform circuits with a higher number of controlled rotations, establishing a complementary relationship between the approximate quantum adder and the strength of the noise. We exhibit that utilizing magnetic fields to prepare an initial state that evolves according to a one-dimensional spin chain for a specific amount of time can be a potential technique to implement quantum addition circuits in many-body systems.Comment: 17 pages, 12 figure

Knowledge and awareness of basic life support among MBBS students in tertiary care hospital in Uttar Pradesh

Background: Every medical student in India have to undergo a compulsory rotatory internship for completion of their course where they encounter various medical emergencies and apply their medical knowledge. An early encounter to a basic life support course and training will increase the efficacy of cardiopulmonary resuscitation and thus the outcome of the patient. This study was designed to test knowledge of MBBS students in a tertiary care hospital.Methods: This observational study was conducted in a tertiary care hospital in Uttar Pradesh and used a preformed validated questionnaire to test awareness and knowledge of basic life support and cardiopulmonary resuscitation in a sample of 500 MBBS students. Descriptive analysis was performed on the questionnaire responses. All data obtained from the questionnaire was evaluated and statistically analysed using software IBM SPSS Statistics software version 24 (IBM Corp., Armonk, NY, USA) for MS windows.Results: With a response rate of 47% among 500 MBBS students, the mean score obtained was 2.34±1.066 out of a maximum score of five. A maximum score of 2.804±1.055 obtained by 5th-year students. Surprisingly, first-year students achieved an average score of 2.66±0.97, which was higher than that of 2nd, 3rd, and 4th year students. 87% of students were like-minded to participate in the cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) awareness program. Only 45% of students correctly answered the order of CPR as C-A-B (chest compression-airway-breathing).Conclusions: The study showed that though the awareness and importance of basic life support (BLS) are high among the medical students, the accurate knowledge required in performing BLS is inadequate. This study also showed that the National medical commission has taken a positive step in the incorporation of BLS in the curriculum