DIAGNOSE: Avoiding Out-of-distribution Data using Submodular Information Measures

Avoiding out-of-distribution (OOD) data is critical for training supervised machine learning models in the medical imaging domain. Furthermore, obtaining labeled medical data is difficult and expensive since it requires expert annotators like doctors, radiologists, etc. Active learning (AL) is a well-known method to mitigate labeling costs by selecting the most diverse or uncertain samples. However, current AL methods do not work well in the medical imaging domain with OOD data. We propose Diagnose (avoiDing out-of-dIstribution dAta usinG submodular iNfOrmation meaSurEs), a novel active learning framework that can jointly model similarity and dissimilarity, which is crucial in mining in-distribution data and avoiding OOD data at the same time. Particularly, we use a small number of data points as exemplars that represent a query set of in-distribution data points and a private set of OOD data points. We illustrate the generalizability of our framework by evaluating it on a wide variety of real-world OOD scenarios. Our experiments verify the superiority of Diagnose over the state-of-the-art AL methods across multiple domains of medical imaging.Comment: Accepted to MICCAI 2022 MILLanD Worksho

Enteric coated HPMC capsules plugged with 5-FU loaded microsponges: a potential approach for treatment of colon cancer

The work was aimed at developing novel enteric coated HPMC capsules (ECHC) plugged with 5 Florouracil (5-FU) loaded Microsponges in combination with calcium pectinate beads. Modified quasi-emulsion solvent diffusion method was used to formulate microsponges based on 32 factorial design and the effects of independent variables (volume of organic solvent and Eudragit RS100 content) on the dependent variables (Particle size, %EE & % CDR) were determined. The optimized microsponges (F4) were characterized by SEM, PXRD, TGA and were plugged along with calcium pectinate beads in HPMC capsules and the HPMC capsules were further coated with enteric polymer Eudragit L 100 (Ed-L100) and/ or Eudrgit S 100 (Ed-S 100) in different proportions. In vitro release study of ECHC was performed in various release media sequentially SGF for 2 h, followed by SIF for the next 6 h and then in SCF (in the presence and absence of pectinase enzyme for further 16 h). Drug release was retarded on coating with EdS-100 in comparison to blend of EdS-100: EdL-100 coating. The percentage of 5-FU released at the end of 24 h from ECHC 3 was 97.83 ± 0.12% in the presence of pectinase whereas in control study it was 40.08 ± 0.02% drug. The optimized formulation was subjected to in vivo Roentgenographic studies in New Zealand white rabbits to analyze the in vivo behavior of the developed colon targeted capsules. Pharmacokinetic studies in New Zealand white rabbits were conducted to determine the extent of systemic exposure provided by the developed formulation in comparison to 5-FU aqueous solutions. Thus, enteric coated HPMC capsules plugged with 5-FU loaded microsponges and calcium pectinate beads proved to be promising dosage form for colon targeted drug delivery to treat colorectal cancer.O trabalho teve como objetivo o desenvolvimento de novas cápsulas com revestimento entérico HPMC (ECHC) conectadas com microesponjas carregadas com fluoruracila (5-FU) em combinação com grânuos de pectinato de cálcio. O método de difusão de solvente modificado quasi-emulsão foi usado para formular microesponjas com base no planejamento fatorial 32 e determinaram-se os efeitos das variáveis independentes (volume de solvente orgânico e conteúdo Eudragit RS100) sobre as variáveis dependentes (tamanho de partícula, EE% e % CDR). As microesponjas otimizadas (F4) foram caracterizadas por SEM, PXRD, TGA e ligadas aos grânulos de pectinato de cálcio em cápsulas de HPMC e estas foram, ainda, revestidas com polímero entérico Eudragit L 100 (Ed-L100) e/ou Eudrgit S 100 (Ed S 100) em diferentes proporções. No estudo de liberação in vitro de ECHC foi realizada em vários meios de liberação sequencial SGF durante 2 h, seguido de SIF para as próximas 6 h, e, em seguida, em SCF (na presença e na ausência de enzima pectinase por mais 16 h). A liberação do fármaco foi retardada em revestimento com a EDS-100, em comparação com mistura de EDS-100: EDL-100, de revestimento. O percentual de 5-FU liberado de ECHC 3 ao final de 24 h foi 97,83 ± 0,12% em presença de pectinase, enquanto que para o controle foi de 40,08 ± 0,02% do fármaco. A formulação otimizada foi submetida a estudos Roentgenográficos in vivo, em coelhos brancos Nova Zelândia, para analisar o comportamento das cápsulas desenvolvidas direcionadas ao cólon. Os estudos de farmacocinética em coelhos brancos da Nova Zelândia foram conduzidos para determinar a extensão da exposição sistêmica propiciada pela formulação desenvolvida, em comparação com solução aquosa de 5-FU. Assim, cápsulas entéricas de HPMC revestidas e conectadas com microesponjas carregadas com 5-FU e grânulos de pectinato de cálcio se mostraram promissoras como formulação para liberação do fármaco no cólon no tratamento do câncer colorretal

Clinico-physiological profile of patients of pulmonary impairment after tuberculosis at a tertiary care centre

Background: Pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) is a unique infectious disease that more often results in permanent structural changes in the lung parenchyma. It is by virtue of these changes that the patients even after bacteriological cure continue to suffer the after effects of the disease. Objective of study was to assess the clinico-physiological profile of patients of pulmonary impairment after tuberculosis (PIAT) attending S. N. Medical College, Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India.Methods: Over the time period of 2 years, 350 patients of healed pulmonary tuberculosis were identified and studied about their clinico-physiological profile. This profile included age, sex, category of treatment, pulmonary function test pattern, exercising capacity, exercise tolerance and quality of life.Results: It was found that majority of the patients were males, >60 years of age and had taken Category-II treatment. Most of the patients were having an obstructive pattern on PFT, poor exercise tolerance and exercise capacity and a poor quality of life.Conclusions: Patients of healed pulmonary TB continue to experience respiratory symptoms owing to the permanent anatomical changes in the lung conferred by the disease

Microbial beta glucosidase enzymes: recent advances in biomass conversation for biofuels application

The biomass to biofuels production process is green, sustainable, and an advanced technique to resolve the current environmental issues generated from fossil fuels. The production of biofuels from biomass is an enzyme mediated process, wherein β-glucosidase (BGL) enzymes play a key role in biomass hydrolysis by producing monomeric sugars from cellulose-based oligosaccharides. However, the production and availability of these enzymes realize their major role to increase the overall production cost of biomass to biofuels production technology. Therefore, the present review is focused on evaluating the production and efficiency of β-glucosidase enzymes in the bioconversion of cellulosic biomass for biofuel production at an industrial scale, providing its mechanism and classification. The application of BGL enzymes in the biomass conversion process has been discussed along with the recent developments and existing issues. Moreover, the production and development of microbial BGL enzymes have been explained in detail, along with the recent advancements made in the field. Finally, current hurdles and future suggestions have been provided for the future developments. This review is likely to set a benchmark in the area of cost effective BGL enzyme production, specifically in the biorefinery area

Transliteration Systems Across Indian Languages Using Parallel Corpora

Hindi is the lingua-franca of India. Al-though all non-native speakers can com-municate well in Hindi, there are only a few who can read and write in it. In this work, we aim to bridge this gap by building transliteration systems that could transliter-ate Hindi into at-least 7 other Indian lan-guages. The transliteration systems are de-veloped as a reading aid for non-Hindi read-ers. The systems are trained on the translit-eration pairs extracted automatically from a parallel corpora. All the transliteration sys-tems perform satisfactorily for a non-Hindi reader to understand a Hindi text.

Psychological Flexibility Determines COVID-19 Peritraumatic Distress and Severity of Depression

COVID-19 implied social distancing, forced behavioural changes, and the economic downturn has been associated with poor mental health and wellbeing. Depression and suicide are the highly predicted psychosocial risks caused by the pandemic crises. Early studies evaluating the effect of COVID-19 on psychiatric health have succeeded in developing screening measures. However, they have been limited in understanding its relations with individual psychological flexibility. An individual's psychological flexibility determines the ability to fight against such adversities on an immediate time scale and the future psychotherapeutic treatment. We conducted an online study to examine the relationship between psychological flexibility and risks to depression and their relationship with COVID-19 peritraumatic distress. We used Multidimensional Psychological Flexibility Inventory (MPFI), Beck's Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II) and COVID-19 Peritraumatic Distress Index (CPDI) to measure the above psychological factors. The results are discussed in light of individual psychological flexibility and its association with BDI-II and CPDI outcomes

Enteric coated HPMC capsules plugged with 5-FU loaded microsponges: a potential approach for treatment of colon cancer

The work was aimed at developing novel enteric coated HPMC capsules (ECHC) plugged with 5 Florouracil (5-FU) loaded Microsponges in combination with calcium pectinate beads. Modified quasi-emulsion solvent diffusion method was used to formulate microsponges based on 32 factorial design and the effects of independent variables (volume of organic solvent and Eudragit RS100 content) on the dependent variables (Particle size, %EE & % CDR) were determined. The optimized microsponges (F4) were characterized by SEM, PXRD, TGA and were plugged along with calcium pectinate beads in HPMC capsules and the HPMC capsules were further coated with enteric polymer Eudragit L 100 (Ed-L100) and/ or Eudrgit S 100 (Ed-S 100) in different proportions. In vitro release study of ECHC was performed in various release media sequentially SGF for 2 h, followed by SIF for the next 6 h and then in SCF (in the presence and absence of pectinase enzyme for further 16 h). Drug release was retarded on coating with EdS-100 in comparison to blend of EdS-100: EdL-100 coating. The percentage of 5-FU released at the end of 24 h from ECHC 3 was 97.83 ± 0.12% in the presence of pectinase whereas in control study it was 40.08 ± 0.02% drug. The optimized formulation was subjected to in vivo Roentgenographic studies in New Zealand white rabbits to analyze the in vivo behavior of the developed colon targeted capsules. Pharmacokinetic studies in New Zealand white rabbits were conducted to determine the extent of systemic exposure provided by the developed formulation in comparison to 5-FU aqueous solutions. Thus, enteric coated HPMC capsules plugged with 5-FU loaded microsponges and calcium pectinate beads proved to be promising dosage form for colon targeted drug delivery to treat colorectal cancer

Improvement of the “Triangle Method” for Soil Moisture Retrieval Using ECOSTRESS and Sentinel-2: Results over a Heterogeneous Agricultural Field in Northern India

For the purpose of deriving spatiotemporal estimates of soil moisture, the triangle method is one of the most widely used approaches today utilizing remote sensing data. Generally, those techniques are based on the physical relationships that exist when a satellite-derived land surface temperature (Ts) is plotted against a spectral vegetation index (VI). The present study proposes an improvement in the triangle method in retrieving soil moisture over heterogeneous areas. In particular, it proposes a new approach in robustly identifying the extreme points required for the technique’s implementation. Those extreme points are then used in calculating fractional vegetation cover (Fr) and scaled Ts. Furthermore, the study proposes a new approach for calculating the coefficients required to develop the relationships between surface soil moisture (SSM) and Fr/Ts, which is implemented using a model and field data. As a case study, an agricultural field in the Varanasi district in India has been used, on which the triangle method is implemented using ECOSTRESS and Sentinel-2 data. The much-improved spatial resolution satellite data of ~70 m from ECOSTRESS allowed deriving more vivid results of SSM spatial variability for the study area. Comparisons between field soil moisture calculated using the proposed method returned an RMSE of 0.03 and R2 value of 0.84, which are considered very satisfactory. The methodology proposed herein and the results obtained are of significant value with regards to the triangle method, contributing to ongoing efforts at present examining its use for operational product development at a global scale