Investigation of the multiple-demand network at multiple spatial scales

This dissertation investigates the frontoparietal ‘multiple-demand’ (MD) network that is involved in the processing of diverse cognitive demands. This network is active when the task at hand is made more demanding, in a variety of different tasks including working memory, task switching, inhibition, math, language etc. While the different MD regions have partly different functions, they are highly interconnected allowing them to function together as a network. The experiment in Chapter 2 looked at the interplay between functional differences as well as co-recruitment within this multiple-demand network. Quantitative differences between regions were more prominent in simple tasks. A strong co-recruitment was seen with increased challenge or incentive. In Chapter 3, task preferences were studied at the voxel level. MD regions were equally well localised in single-subjects using any of three task demands. Voxels localised by all three tasks also captured the underlying neural representations to a similar level in a separate criterion task. Chapter 4 investigated if task representations, as measured by multi-voxel patterns, were modified due to external motivation. The effect was limited to the cue phase and did not extend to the stimulus processing phase where the stimulus is integrated with the cue to arrive at the response. Chapter 5 examined neural representations in frontal and parietal regions more directly through single unit activity and local field potentials (LFPs), during a spatial working memory task. While single neurons showed dynamic coding of target information rather than persistent coding, LFPs held this information constant through time. The impact of reference voltages on LFP data was further investigated. Together, these results explore the functional differences between and within the MD regions, and provide evidence for flexible task representations at the voxel and neuronal level.Funded by Gates Cambridg

Content Evaluation of Library Websites/Webpages of National Importance of Karnataka: A Survey

Purpose: In this study the prime focus was to study the web contents of the library websites of nine institutes of national importance of Karnataka. To examine information regarding introductory information about the library, collections, services, facilities, and Web 2.0 tools used in websites. Design/ Methodology/ Approach: To analyse the websites, standard criteria were identified and framed the checklist based previous studies. The data was collected from selected websites through an online survey and observation techniques. Findings: The analysis revealed that more than half (55.56%) of the libraries have dedicated websites. Most websites had general introductory information about the library and working hours. Only fifty percent of libraries have information on physical collections, and more than half (66.7%) of the websites have information and links on electronic resources. The majority (77.78%) of the websites have links to Web OPAC, and fifty percent of libraries have information on reprographic, grammar checking, and remote access facilities. Only few libraries are familiar with implementing Web 2.0 technologies through their library websites

IoT and Its Application in Library: A Review of Emerging Trends

The library activities are always oriented towards offering the best possible resources and services to its users. From time to time, technological advancements have benefited them in accomplishing their objectives effectively. The internet of things (IoT) has recently been predicted to be a technology that will benefit librarians in their endeavours. The purpose of this article is to review selected scholarly papers on IoT applications in libraries in order to demonstrate the potential of IoT applications in library activities, particularly in the academic environment. The paper discusses several elements of IoT applications in libraries and cautions readers about possible consequences. The study is exploratory in nature, and national and international articles were culled from a variety of sources. Articles that recommended or advocated the use of IoT technology in libraries are included in the study. The study offers an in-depth analysis of IoT ­­­technologies for library use in five sections: introduction, concept of IoT, application of IoT in libraries, advantages and challenges in adopting IoT. Our review reveals that while several IoT applications have been developed for library usage, only a few libraries in western nations have implemented them, and the technology has not been extensively accepted, particularly in Indian libraries. Finally, concludes that, despite the cyber security concerns and hurdles, the introduction of IoT technology in libraries is critical for providing current services alongside traditional services to a vast mass of techno dexterous users at their chosen location

A study on farmer’s perception on ill effects of agro chemicals in north eastern part of Karnataka

The present study was conducted in Yadgir district of Karnataka to know about the perception of farmers on the ill effects of agro chemicals. One hundred and twenty farmers were interviewed personally with the help of pre-structured schedule. The results revealed that a large number of respondents had perceived delay in ripening (70.83%), less resistance to diseases (76.66 %), through emission of toxic gases (80.83%) and changes in soil organic matter decomposition (80.00%). Cent per cent respondents expressed resistance developed to pesticides by helicoverpa, spodoptera and parthenium and beneficial organisms like earth worms and predators were affected. Killing of natural enemies by pesticides affect Trichograma (80.00%) and lady bird beetle (75.00%), while handling agro chemicals cent per cent perceived it is going poison human body. The correlation indicates attitude towards chemical fertilizers, extension participation and mass media had shown positive highly significant at 1% level. Regarding factors influencing on agro chemicals land holding and education observe 50.63 per cent of variation. On the other hand farmers were suggested to make the availability of pest resistance variety by majority (83.33%) of the respondents

Food Expenditures in Rural Households in the Northern Region of Ghana

The objective of the paper is to identify farmer and farm characteristics that determine the food expenditure in rural households in the Northern Region of Ghana. The results indicate income, implicit wealth, age, family structure, cultivation staple or cash crop, and buying dry goods in bulks are the major determinants.Northern Ghana, Farm characteristics, Food expenditure, Consumer/Household Economics, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety,

Algorithms and methods for video transcoding.

Video transcoding is the process of dynamic video adaptation. Dynamic video adaptation can be defined as the process of converting video from one format to another, changing the bit rate, frame rate or resolution of the encoded video, which is mainly necessitated by the end user requirements. H.264 has been the predominantly used video compression standard for the last 15 years. HEVC (High Efficiency Video Coding) is the latest video compression standard finalised in 2013, which is an improvement over H.264 video compression standard. HEVC performs significantly better than H.264 in terms of the Rate-Distortion performance. As H.264 has been widely used in the last decade, a large amount of video content exists in H.264 format. There is a need to convert H.264 video content to HEVC format to achieve better Rate-Distortion performance and to support legacy video formats on newer devices. However, the computational complexity of HEVC encoder is 2-10 times higher than that of H.264 encoder. This makes it necessary to develop low complexity video transcoding algorithms to transcode from H.264 to HEVC format. This research work proposes low complexity algorithms for H.264 to HEVC video transcoding. The proposed algorithms reduce the computational complexity of H.264 to HEVC video transcoding significantly, with negligible loss in Rate-Distortion performance. This work proposes three different video transcoding algorithms. The MV-based mode merge algorithm uses the block mode and MV variances to estimate the split/non-split decision as part of the HEVC block prediction process. The conditional probability-based mode mapping algorithm models HEVC blocks of sizes 16×16 and lower as a function of H.264 block modes, H.264 and HEVC Quantisation Parameters (QP). The motion-compensated MB residual-based mode mapping algorithm makes the split/non-split decision based on content-adaptive classification models. With a combination of the proposed set of algorithms, the computational complexity of the HEVC encoder is reduced by around 60%, with negligible loss in Rate-Distortion performance, outperforming existing state-of-art algorithms by 20-25% in terms of computational complexity. The proposed algorithms can be used in computation-constrained video transcoding applications, to support video format conversion in smart devices, migration of large-scale H.264 video content from host servers to HEVC, cloud computing-based transcoding applications, and also to support high quality videos over bandwidth-constrained networks

Cropping practices and labor requirements in field operations for major crops in Ghana: What needs to be mechanized?

This study is to examine the labor requirements associated with different cropping systems in Ghana in order to guide the prioritization of investments in mechanization in the country. First, major cropping systems are identified in the country by adopting the cropping pattern approach of Ruthenberg (1983), who defined farming systems according to the leading crop activities. Second, labor requirements and costs of production of crops in the various systems are examined at various levels of substitution of either herbicides or animal and mechanical traction for labor. We found that the total labor requirements varied among cropping systems. The requirements were particularly high in the two cocoa cropping systems in the forest zones. The requirements were particularly high for land preparation and crop maintenance. Looking across crops, land preparation and crop maintenance took the largest share of labor for cassava, yam, and maize. Rice, on the other hand, required large shares of labor for land preparation and harvesting. When all the systems are considered together, however, crop maintenance required more labor than land preparation. In response to apparent unavailability and cost of labor, farmers are increasingly demanding mechanical traction for land preparation in Ghana. The benefits of mechanizing land preparation depend on both the system and the type of crop cultivated. Mechanization of land preparation for cassava in the vegetable belt, for instance, is more labor saving and cost effective than m Mechanization of land preparation for cassava in cereals belt. Within systems, there is also variation across crops. Where mechanization is not feasible for land preparation or not yet adopted for other field operations such as weeding, an alternative and common substitution for labor in crop production is herbicides. Herbicides are used to clear land for planting as well as to control weeds in standing crops. We found that where herbicide was used, its application reduced labor requirements for land preparation significantly. Selective herbicides were used to control weeds in all the crops examined and in all the belts except the vegetable belt. They also reduced labor use for weeding drastically.Cropping systems, labor requirements, mechanization, seasonal labor, Development strategies,

eta-Einstein (k, mu)-Space Forms

In this paper we obtain the scalar curvatures of a (k, mu)-space form under h-projective, phi-projective semi symmetric and h-Weyl and phi-Weyl semisymmetry conditions