Active Sensing as Bayes-Optimal Sequential Decision Making

Sensory inference under conditions of uncertainty is a major problem in both machine learning and computational neuroscience. An important but poorly understood aspect of sensory processing is the role of active sensing. Here, we present a Bayes-optimal inference and control framework for active sensing, C-DAC (Context-Dependent Active Controller). Unlike previously proposed algorithms that optimize abstract statistical objectives such as information maximization (Infomax) [Butko & Movellan, 2010] or one-step look-ahead accuracy [Najemnik & Geisler, 2005], our active sensing model directly minimizes a combination of behavioral costs, such as temporal delay, response error, and effort. We simulate these algorithms on a simple visual search task to illustrate scenarios in which context-sensitivity is particularly beneficial and optimization with respect to generic statistical objectives particularly inadequate. Motivated by the geometric properties of the C-DAC policy, we present both parametric and non-parametric approximations, which retain context-sensitivity while significantly reducing computational complexity. These approximations enable us to investigate the more complex problem involving peripheral vision, and we notice that the difference between C-DAC and statistical policies becomes even more evident in this scenario.Comment: Scheduled to appear in UAI 201

Challenges and Opportunities of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education with Special Reference to COVID-19 Pandemic: A Global Perspective

More than 200 countries and almost 1.5 billion students have been impacted by the pandemic COVId-19, which had far-reaching and significant impacts on educational systems all over the world. The most obvious impact of the pandemic has been the closure of schools and universities, causing one of the biggest tech revolutions in educational history to arise. Social exclusion and restrictive movement regulations had a significant impact on traditional brick-and-mortar educational methods. Numerous investigators have highlighted their results on teaching and learning in numerous ways in the fallout of the pandemic that started in Wuhan, China. Different higher educational institutes turned off their face-to-face teaching-learning procedures. This unanticipated transition in the instructional method raised new challenges and opportunities. Even though there were many hindrances for teachers, universities, institutions, and the government regarding novel learning approaches, the pandemic provided chances to build a foundation for digital learning. Innovative and new instructional approaches and evaluation methods were used promptly. The current study aims to present a complete assessment of the challenges and opportunities of teaching and learning in higher education during the COVID-19 pandemic. Keywords: Covid-19, Challenges, Opportunities, Higher Education, Teaching and Learning DOI: 10.7176/RJFA/14-7-01 Publication date: April 30th 2023

SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT IN BHANPUR BHOPAL: STATUS AND NEED- A CASE STUDY

Solid waste management is perhaps the most important service required by urban dwellers to maintain their quality of life.         Huge      amount of solid waste is generated in India, in Urban, municipal and                industrial sectors which are finally disposed to the solid waste          disposal               sites.Bhopal is not an exception. The Bhopal city has 75 acres of land for waste disposal. The waste generated in the city is deposited at this landfill site which is 4uated in Bhanpura village at a distance of 16 km from the city. No scientific method of waste disposal is adopted. All waste     is disposed off at the landfill. This present system of disposal by open dumping of waste creates a lot of environmental problems and                public    health hazards. Madhya Pradesh state Agro Industries Development Corporation limited has set up an Organic manure plant based on solid waste which produces organic manure from the solid waste which is    being sold to the farmers of M.P.   The organic mantic is made in this plant through Bio-augmentation      process. The non- biodegradable war left after the segregation from               the plant is used for land filling. KEY WORDS- Solid waste, organic manure, bio-augmentation         process,                land Hag. Segregation

Influence of sowing dates and nitrogen levels on growth, yield and quality of scented rice cv. Pusa Sugandh-3 in Kashmir valley

A field experiment was carried out to determine the optimum sowing date and nitrogen (N) level for the scented rice cv. Pusa Sugandh-3. Twelve treatment combinations of 3 sowing dates, viz., 15th, 16th and 18th standard meteorological week (SMW) at an interval of 10 days and 4 nitrogen levels (‘0’, ‘40’, ‘60’ and ‘80’ kg N ha-1) were tested randomized in split plot design with three replications. Significant highest plant height (98.56 cm), tillers m-2 (333.41), dry matter (98.38 q ha-1), panicles m-2 (310.05), spikelets panicle-1(130.25) and grains panicle-1 (98.55), grain yield (45.2 q ha-1), harvest index (41.20 %), head rice recovery (47.5 %) and B:C ratio (3.03) were recorded for the early sown 15th SMW crop. Among the different nitrogen levels tested significant highest plant height (98.12 cm), tillers m-2 (342.33) dry matter (100.68 q ha-1), panicles m-2 (321.83), spikelets panicle-1(132.83) grains panicle-1 (96.79), grain yield (48.0 q ha-1), harvest index (42.68 %), head rice recovery (44.54 %) and B:C ratio (3.38) were recorded with the application of 80 kg N ha-1.Therefore, the variety, Pusa Sugandh-3 should be sown earlier in season from 15th to 16th SMW and with nitrogen application of 60-80 kg N ha-1 for realizing economically higher grain yield and profit under the temperate climatic conditions of Kashmir valley

Antimicrobial Activity of Catharanthus Roseus

The aim of the present study is to investigate the antimicrobial activity and phytochemical analysis of Acetone extract of Catharanthus roseus whole plant against the wound isolates. Two different solvents such as ethanol and methanol were used to extract the bioactive compounds from the whole plant of Catharanthus roseus and screened for their antimicrobial activity against the isolated wound pathogens under well diffusion method. The maximum antibacterial activity was observed in crude Ethanolic extract of Catharanthus roseus against Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Qualitative analysis of phytochemical screening reveals the presence of Flavonoids, Tannin, Alkaloids and Terpenoids. KEY WORDS: - Catharanthus roseus, Antimicrobial activity and Phytochemical analysi

Comparative study of inhaled steroids versus inhaled steroids plus long acting beta agonists in childhood asthma: a randomized controlled study

Background: Asthma is a chronic inflammatory condition of lung airways resulting in episodic airflow obstruction causing considerable morbidity in paediatric population. The main objective of the study was to find out whether addition of long acting beta agonists to steroids provides better asthma control.Methods: This randomized controlled trial study was performed in children aged 6-15 years of age, with clinically stable and moderate persistent asthma.Results: The findings of this study indicate SABA use in Budesonide/formoterol group patients was significantly less compared to budesonide group patients (1.5±1.1 v/s 2.13±0.9, p-value 0.01). Both groups experienced decrease in night time symptoms and acute exacerbations however there was no significant difference between the two groups in these variables.Conclusions: This study showed addition of LABA to inhaled steroids in moderate persistent asthma provided better asthma control and LABA is mainly recommended to be used as add-on therapy for patients whose asthma is not controlled on low to high doses of inhaled corticosteroids

Procjena različitih razina Bacillus sp. (HCYL03) fitaze u brojlera hranjenih obrocima na bazi kukuruza i soje s niskim udjelom nefitatnog fosfora

The objective of the present study was to evaluate the impact of various levels of phytase derived from Bacillus sp. (HCYL03) in corn-soy diets fed to broilers. Experimental treatments included a positive control (PC) with a calculated non-phytate phosphorus (nPP) level of 4.0g/kg for the 35 days of trial. The negative control (NC) diet included a reduction in nPP to 3.0g/kg during the experiment, and commercially available phytase (@500FTU/kg), as well as new bacterial phytase added to the NC diet in increasing amounts of 500, 800, and 1100FTU/kg. Treatment effects on growth performance, the apparent digestibility of P, tibia mineralization, and Ca and P status in blood plasma were evaluated on day 35. The NC diet decreased feed intake (P<0.05), body weight gain (BWG) (P<0.05), and improved feed conversion ratio (FCR) (P<0.05) compared to the PC. Phytase addition improved all growth parameters. Birds fed the NC diet displayed lower (P<0.05) digestibility of P, reduced (P<0.05) tibial mineralization, and decreased (P<0.05) P and Ca concentrations in blood plasma compared to birds fed the PC diet. Improvements in digestibility of P, tibia mineralization, and mineral contents in blood plasma were observed with phytase addition. High level inclusion of phytase (1100FTU/kg) yielded the greatest improvement in bird performance, nutrient digestibility, and bone mineralization in the NC group and low levels of phytase treatments. It may be concluded that inorganic P incorporated in the normal-nPP diet of chickens could be effectively replaced by a Bacillus sp. (HCYL03) phytase diet without any adverse effect on the performance and nutrient use of broilers.Cilj istraživanja bio je procijeniti utjecaj različitih razina fitaze izdvojene iz Bacillus sp. (HCYL03) i dodane u obroke od kukuruza i soje kojima se hrane brojleri. Istraživanje je uključilo pozitivnu kontrolu (PC) s izračunatom razinom nefitatnog fosfora (nPP) od 4,0 g/kg tijekom 35 dana trajanja istraživanja. Prehrana brojlera u negativnoj kontroli (NC) uključila je smanjenje nPP-a na 3,0 g/kg tijekom trajanja pokusa, komercijalno dostupnu fitazu (@500FTU/kg), kao i novu bakterijsku fitazu dodanu NC prehrani, u količini koja se povećavala na 500, 800 i 1100 FTU/kg. Učinci na rast, probavljivost fosfora, mineralizaciju tibije i razinu kalcija i fosfora u krvnoj plazmi procijenjeni su 35. dan pokusa. U skupini NC smanjeni su unos hrane (P<0,05) i prirast tjelesne mase (BWG) (P<0,05), dok je stopa konverzije hrane povećana (FCR) (P<0,05) u usporedbi sa skupinom PC. Dodatak fitaze pozitivno je utjecao na sve pokazatelje rasta. Brojleri u skupini NC pokazali su manju probavljivost fosfora (P<0,05), smanjenu mineralizaciju tibije (P<0,05) te smanjenu količinu fosfora i kalcija (P<0,05) u krvnoj plazmi u usporedbi s brojlerima iz skupine PC. Utvrđeno je da dodatak fitaze poboljšava probavljivost fosfora, mineralizaciju tibije i sadržaj minerala u krvnoj plazmi. Dodatak veće količine fitaze (1100 FTU/kg) rezultirao je najvećim poboljšanjem u istraženim svojstvima brojlera, probavljivosti hrane i mineralizaciji kosti u skupini NC. Zaključeno je da bi se anorganski fosfor uključen u uobičajenu nPP prehranu pilića mogao učinkovito zamijeniti Bacillus sp. (HCYL03) fitazom, bez štetnih učinaka na prehranu i svojstva brojlera

Impact of Income on the Insurance Potential-A Case Study of Rural Sector of Jammu and Kashmir State

The Indian Insurance industry is flourishing with several national and international players competing and growing at rapid rates. The globalisation has allowed the Indian insurance sector to flourish as there is huge market potential for insurance in India and this potential will definitely increase further in future.  The survey was conducted from the state of Jammu and Kashmir using primary and secondary sources of data. This study has explored and assessed insurance potential in rural areas of Jammu and Kashmir State by analysing relationship between disposable income and Insurance potential. Looking at the source of information for households, it was found that television is the primary source for both insured and uninsured households. Other sources of information are friends, relatives and neighbours, news papers, radios, and transistors. Keywords: Households, Insurance, Information, Potential, Regulation

Dairy Extension Strategies in Australia: Application to the Pakistan Dairy Industry

Extension services in Pakistan focus on the application of technology and practices rather than on farmer needs. This is illustrated by the lack of "dairy-specific" staff employed for dairy extension in Pakistan until the recent introduction of the concept of the 'White Revolution'. Private and public sectors in Pakistan operate "competing and overlapping" agricultural extension programs, and when providing extension information to farmers, they tend to favour those who are educated and own land. Given the large number of poorly educated and tenant farmers in Pakistan, there is a need for reorganisation, redesign and restructuring of dairy extension strategies particularly for the medium size farm sector that contribute some 7 percent of the country's milk production. Extension strategies used in the Australian dairy industry have played an important role in information dissemination of new technologies and have for some time involved participant led and group focused approaches which could possibly be adapted to Pakistan. This thesis investigated strategies employed by extension professionals (government and private) and dairy farmers operating in New South Wales (NSW) and Victoria. The aim was to identify perceptions of the effectiveness of extension strategies; and thereafter determine if these strategies may be appropriate for use with the Pakistani medium-sized dairy sector. The research involved case studies of 18 extension professionals and seven dairy Farmers across the states of NSW and Victoria. These individuals were interviewed using semi-structured interview techniques and responses were transcribed and then thematically analyzed qualitatively using Nvivo version 9. The findings revealed that the participants use at least four extension strategies, namely "group", "one to one", "mass-media" and "web-based" with group extension being the most commonly used in both NSW and Victoria. However "one to one" extension was considered to be the most effective extension strategy by all the participants. Respondents highlighted the importance of "web based" extension and considered it to be an emerging effective strategy for the future. Mass media was also considered as a good supportive extension strategy. These findings suggest that there will be a particular need for development of public-private extension collaboration within the Pakistani industry