Audio processing on constrained devices

This thesis discusses the future of smart business applications on mobile phones and the integration of voice interface across several business applications. It proposes a framework that provides speech processing support for business applications on mobile phones. The framework uses Gaussian Mixture Models (GMM) for low-enrollment speaker recognition and limited vocabulary speech recognition. Algorithms are presented for pre-processing of audio signals into different categories and for start and end point detection. A method is proposed for speech processing that uses Mel Frequency Cepstral Coeffcients (MFCC) as primary feature for extraction. In addition, optimization schemes are developed to improve performance, and overcome constraints of a mobile phone. Experimental results are presented for some prototype applications that evaluate the performance of computationally expensive algorithms on constrained hardware. The thesis concludes by discussing the scope for improvement for the work done in this thesis and future directions in which this work could possibly be extended

Spectral domain optical coherence tomography changes following intravitreal dexamethasone implant, Ozurdex® in patients with uveitic cystoid macular edema.

PURPOSE: To correlate the structural and functional changes following intravitreal injection of dexamethasone 0.7 mg (Ozurdex®) implant in patients with recalcitrant uveitic cystoid macular edema (CME). MATERIALS AND METHODS: In a prospective, interventional, nonrandomized study, 30 eyes (27 patients) with uveitic CME received Ozurdex® implant and were followed-up for 24 weeks at periodic intervals to monitor structural alterations seen on spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT). The outcome measures included change in central macular thickness (CMT) and best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) as well as structural alterations seen on OCT such as change in the height of cystoid spaces (CSs) and sub-foveal serous retinal detachment (SSRD). The integrity of external limiting membrane and inner-outer segment junction was assessed at baseline and follow-up visits. RESULTS: Mean age of the patients was 46.09 ± 15.66 years. The mean CMT decreased by 96 μm at 1-day, 231.64 μm at 1-week, 254.21 μm at 4 weeks and 249.14 μm at 12 weeks (P \u3c 0.001) compared with baseline. BCVA improved from a baseline mean of 0.62 LogMAR units to 0.49 on day 1 to 0.31 at 24 weeks (P \u3c 0.001). A decrease in the mean height of CS, that is, 133.28 μm from a baseline of 317.71 μm was noted on the 1 st day (P \u3c 0.001). 4 eyes demonstrated the presence of CS at 4 weeks, 1 eye at 6 weeks and 3 eyes at 12 weeks. At baseline, 16 eyes (53.33%) demonstrated the presence of SSRD. Among these, 11 eyes showed resolution of SSRD on day 1. SSRD resolved in all patients at 4 weeks and was maintained up to 24 weeks. CONCLUSIONS: Ozurdex® implant improves the visual outcome of patients with recalcitrant uveitic CME. Reversibility of retinal changes may be possible following treatment with dexamethasone implant. Thus final visual outcome may be independent of pretreatment CMT, the height of CS or SSRD

Uncommon plasmacytoid myoepithelioma originating from ectopic minor salivary gland in neck: a rare case with rare site presentation

The aim of this case report is to present as case of plasmacytoid at ectopic minor salivary gland in the neck which is a rare neoplasm with uncommon presentation of site. Usually it is a tumor of major salivary gland and more common in parotid gland and less common in the minor salivary gland of the oral cavity predominantly in palate. Here authors are discussing a case of 10-year-old female who presented in our institute with complain of swelling over right mid cervical region which was clinically suspected as reactive cervical lymph node. Patient was evaluated further and cytologically diagnosed as a case of plasmacytoid myoepithelioma. It was also confirmed as a case of plasmacytoid myoepithelioma after histopathology and immunohistochemistry studies. Plasmacytoid myoepithelioma at ectopic minor salivary gland site in the neck is uncommon presentation and only a limited number of cases have been reported in literature

A comparative evaluation of bone marrow biopsy and bone marrow aspiration in different haematological condition with special reference to leukaemia and lymphoma

Background: For diagnosis of haematological disorders there are three modalities to examine bone marrow, bone marrow aspiration cytology (BMA), bone marrow imprint (BMI) and bone marrow biopsy (BMB). BMA gives cytological picture; BMI also gives cytological picture but cells are less in number and BMB gives cytological as well as architectural picture. BMA alone may not be sufficient to reach diagnosis therefore the present study was undertaken to compare the above modalities. The study was conducted with the aim to perform cytomorphological evaluation of bone marrow in various haematological disorders with special reference to leukaemia and lymphoma and to compare bone marrow aspiration smears with bone marrow trephine biopsy.Methods: The present study was conducted in department of pathology, LLRM Medical College, Meerut inpatients attending the outpatient department and in-patient department of pediatrics and medicine of SVBP Hospital attached to LLRM Medical College, Meerut, over a period of one year i.e. from March 2018 to May 2019. A detailed clinical history, physical examination and laboratory examination of all the cases was done.Results: Out of 50 cases, maximum number of cases were of anemia 26/50 (52%) followed by leukemia 17/50 (34%), lymphoma 5/50 (10%), multiple myeloma 1/50 (2%), myelofibrosis 1/50 (2%), leishmaniasis 1/50 (2%) and idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura 1/50(2%). BMA smears were compared with biopsy and concordance and discordance was established. The overall diagnostic accuracy of aspiration was 94%.Conclusions: Bone marrow examination is a safe, quick easy and cost-effective procedure with very less patient discomfort. BMA shows better cellular details when compared to BMI and BMB. BMB is diagnostic investigation in dry tap cases like aplastic anemia, myelofibrosis, myelodysplastic syndrome and metastatic tumors. In present study, concordance between BMA and BMB was seen in majority of the cases and diagnostic accuracy was 94% study concludes that bone marrow aspiration cytology and trephine biopsy complement each other and should be performed simultaneously for complete bone marrow work up and evaluation

In vitro study of some plant extracts against Alternaria brassicae and Alternaria brassicicola

Madhya Pradesh is an important rapeseed-mustard producing state of India contributing nearly of the total production in the country. The present study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of some botanicals viz., Neem, Eucalyptus, Datura, Pudina, Tulsi, Lantana under crude and Forms @ against 10% Alternaria brassicae under in vitro condition by poisoned food technique. Neem and Eucalyptus were also evaluated in the oil forms.  Nearly all the tested botanicals found effective against these fungi. Among the crude extract 10 per cent the minimum growth was recorded in Neem followed by Eucalyptus, Tulsi, Lantana, Datura and Pudina. Neem was significantly superior over Tulsi, Lantana, Datura and Pudina but at par with Eucalyptus. Under boil forms the minimum radial growth was also recorded in Neem. The oil extract (Neem and Eucalyptus) were found less effective as compared to crude and boil extracts

Effect of Kasni seed preparations on serum glutamic pyruvic transaminase and glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase levels in newly diagnosed patients of type 2 diabetes mellitus

Background: Kasni (Cichorium intybus L.) reported to play an important role in the effective management of serum liver enzymes SGPT & SGOT in various animal models and this study is extension to newly diagnosed patients of type 2 diabetes mellitus.Methods: Newly diagnosed 90 patients of Type2 DM, age 35-65years, of either sex were divided into 3 groups. In group I only Metformin sustained release once a day and in group II/III 6 grams crude seed powder or 50 ml decoction of crude seed powder was given twice a day for 90 days in combination with Metformin sustained release orally once in a day. Serum liver enzyme levels of SGPT & SGOT were measured at zero, 30th, 60th and 90th day.Results: All the three groups showed a significant reduction in SGPT & SGOT across the four time periods. Post hoc Tukey HSD test shown that there was a significant difference between group I & II (p=0.011) and group I & III (p=0.000) for SGPT and group I & II (p=0.012) and group I & III (p=0.000) for SGOT.Conclusions: The add on  therapy with Kasni seed preparations is more effective for the management of altered SGPT and SGOT levels in Type2 diabetes mellitus patients than only oral hypoglycaemic agent in decreasing SGPT & SGOT of selected patients. Among Kasni seed preparation treated groups, decoction was found more effective than crude seed powder.

Performance Evaluation of Various Routing Protocols and quality of service for Wireless Sensor Network

Wireless sensor networks (WSNs) provide great promise for target tracking and environmental monitoring. While many WSN routing protocols have been proposed till date, most of these focus on the mobility of observers and assume that targets are fixed. But, practically, many applications require for sensing data to be propagated from multiple mobile targets to multiple mobile observers. In addition, WSNs often operate under strict energy constraints, and therefore reducing energy dissipation is also an important issue. Clustering in wireless sensor networks (WSNs) is an important technique to ease topology management and routing. Clustering provides an effective method for prolonging lifetime of a WSN. In this paper we discuss the performance of two protocols like Dynamic Source Routing (DSR), Dynamic MANET On-demand Protocol (DYMO) using CBR (Constant Bit Rate) and Traffic-Gen for Multi-Clustering technique and compare various parameters like Average End-to-End Delay (sec.), Residual Battery Capacity (mAhr), No. of packets received at Coordinator, Average End-to-End Delay at PAN Coordinator (sec.) and Throughput at PAN Coordinator (bits/sec.

Transcriptional Profile of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in an in vitro Model of Intraocular Tuberculosis

Background: Intraocular tuberculosis (IOTB), an extrapulmonary manifestation of tuberculosis of the eye, has unique and varied clinical presentations with poorly understood pathogenesis. As it is a significant cause of inflammation and visual morbidity, particularly in TB endemic countries, it is essential to study the pathogenesis of IOTB. Clinical and histopathologic studies suggest the presence of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) cells.Methods: A human retinal pigment epithelium (ARPE-19) cell line was infected with a virulent strain of M. tuberculosis (H37Rv). Electron microscopy and colony forming units (CFU) assay were performed to monitor the M. tuberculosis adherence, invasion, and intracellular replication, whereas confocal microscopy was done to study its intracellular fate in the RPE cells. To understand the pathogenesis, the transcriptional profile of M. tuberculosis in ARPE-19 cells was studied by whole genome microarray. Three upregulated M. tuberculosis transcripts were also examined in human IOTB vitreous samples.Results: Scanning electron micrographs of the infected ARPE-19 cells indicated adherence of bacilli, which were further observed to be internalized as monitored by transmission electron microscopy. The CFU assay showed that 22.7 and 8.4% of the initial inoculum of bacilli adhered and invaded the ARPE-19 cells, respectively, with an increase in fold CFU from 1 dpi (0.84) to 5dpi (6.58). The intracellular bacilli were co-localized with lysosomal-associated membrane protein-1 (LAMP-1) and LAMP-2 in ARPE-19 cells. The transcriptome study of intracellular bacilli showed that most of the upregulated transcripts correspond to the genes encoding the proteins involved in the processes such as adherence (e.g., Rv1759c and Rv1026), invasion (e.g., Rv1971 and Rv0169), virulence (e.g., Rv2844 and Rv0775), and intracellular survival (e.g., Rv1884c and Rv2450c) as well as regulators of various metabolic pathways. Two of the upregulated transcripts (Rv1971, Rv1230c) were also present in the vitreous samples of the IOTB patients.Conclusions:M. tuberculosis is phagocytosed by RPE cells and utilizes these cells for intracellular multiplication with the involvement of late endosomal/lysosomal compartments and alters its transcriptional profile plausibly for its intracellular adaptation and survival. The findings of the present study could be important to understanding the molecular pathogenesis of IOTB with a potential role in the development of diagnostics and therapeutics for IOTB

Bilateral acute angle closure glaucoma as a presentation of isolated microspherophakia in an adult: case report

BACKGROUND: Bilateral simultaneous angle closure glaucoma is a rare entity. To our knowledge this is the first reported case of bilateral acute angle-closure glaucoma secondary to isolated microspherophakia in an adult. CASE PRESENTATION: A 45-year-old woman presented with bilateral acute angle closure glaucoma, with a patent iridotomy in one eye. Prolonged miotic use prior to presentation had worsened the pupillary block. The diagnosis was not initially suspected, and the patient was subjected to pars-plana lensectomy and anterior vitrectomy for a presumed ciliary block glaucoma. The small spherical lens was detected intraoperatively, and spherophakia was diagnosed in retrospect. She had no systemic features of any of the known conditions associated with spherophakia. Pars-plana lensectomy both eyes controlled the intraocular pressure successfully. CONCLUSION: This case demonstrates the importance of considering the diagnosis of isolated microspherophakia in any case of bilateral acute angle closure glaucoma. Lensectomy appears to be an effective first-line strategy for managing these patients