VOLARE: Adaptive Web Service Discovery Middleware for Mobile Systems

With the recent advent and widespread use of smart mobile devices, the flexibility and versatility offered by Service Oriented Architecture's (SOA) makes it an ideal approach to use in the rapidly changing mobile environment. However, the mobile setting presents a set of new challenges that service discovery methods developed for nonmobile environments cannot address. The requirements a mobile client device will have from a Web service may change due to changes in the context or the resources of the client device. In a similar manner, a mobile device that acts as a Web service provider will have different capabilities depending on its status, which may also change dramatically during runtime. This paper introduces VOLARE, a middleware-based solution that will monitor the resources and context of the device, and adapt service requests accordingly. The same method will be used to adapt the Quality of Service (QoS) levels advertised by service providers, to realistically reflect each provider's capabilities at any given moment. This approach will allow for more resource-efficient and accurate service discovery in mobile systems and will enable more reliable provider functionality in mobile devices

Study of urinary tract infection in febrile children below 2 years of age

Background: Urinary Tract Infection (UTI) in age group 0-2 years is of special interest to clinicians and assumes importance as it can lead to pyelonephritis, septicemia or meningitis in newborn and infants which can be fatal. This study is undertaken to calculate the incidence of UTI in febrile children less than 2 years of age and to compare the incidence with afebrile children visiting pediatric OPD and IPD of SRMS IMS.Methods: Two hundred and two febrile infants and children constituted the case group. A control group, constituted of one hundred and ninety seven, age and sex matched afebrile patients from IPD/OPD. Urine collected was subjected to microscopic and microbiological examination.Results: There were ten cases of UTI in the study group and none was found in the control group. The overall incidence of UTI in febrile infants and children less than 2 years was 4.95%. Infants and children admitted with diagnosis other than UTI were screened for UTI and it was found in 4.6% of the cases whereas babies admitted without definite focus had an incidence of 5.56% which signifies that UTI should be screened in all febrile infants irrespective of their other etiologies of fever. Maternal illiteracy was found to be statistically significant as 5 out of 10 cases of UTI were associated with illiterate mothers.Conclusions: In the present study, we found that the screening of the infants for identification of UTI is useful irrespective of the presence of other etiologies thus early initiation of treatment prevents most complications of UTI, so the importance of early diagnosis cannot be overemphasized

The Value of Incremental Development and Design in Affordable Housing

Abstract This article criticizes the overwhelming emphasis in the Unite

Squatters as developers? : Mumbai's slum dwellers as equity partners in redevelopment

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, 2000.Includes bibliographical references (p. 191-201).This dissertation analyzes the slum redevelopment strategy introduced by the state government of Maharashtra (India) in its capital city, Mumbai (Bombay). The strategy involves demolishing the existing slums and building on the same sites at a higher density, new, medium rise apartment-blocks including entirely cross-subsidized housing for the original slum dwellers. Slum redevelopment is distinctly different from the two prevalent conventional strategies with respect to slums in developing countries - slum clearance and slum upgrading. Interestingly, the strategy appears to enjoy considerable support of slum dwellers, NGOs, private developers and politicians. The study focuses on a single slum redevelopment case - the Markandeya Cooperative Housing Society (MCHS) - to show how the state government amended the land development regulations to enhance the potential land values and allowed the slum dwellers to share in the high development values. This analysis of the role of the State in promoting a new housing strategy and providing crucial support in implementation contributes to our understanding of housing provision policy in three ways. First, it provides insights into slum redevelopment as an alternative housing strategy. It analyzes the problems faced and the solutions innovated in the implementation of this strategy. It argues that despite slum redevelopment's shortcomings, the strategy may be superior to other alternatives, especially if the State can provide implementation support. Second, it identifies nontraditional issues, often overlooked in housing improvement that may help make slum upgrading programs more successful. Contrary to the conventional focus only on private property rights, the dissertation argues for policy to be based on a differentiated view of property rights (including common property rights) that also considers the property values, the physical structure of the property-holdings and the interplay among these issues. Third, the study reveals the complexities involved in housing production for low-income groups and demonstrates that enabling housing provision, even with the participation of private sector agents, requires an active government role. Paradoxically, enabling may require four levels of seeming contradictions - both decentralization and centralization; both demand-driven and supply driven development; both private as well as public investment; and both deregulation and new regulations.by Vinit Mukhija.Ph.D

Komparativna analiza primjene optimalnog upravljanja za automatsko upravljanje sustavima za proizvodnju električne energije

In this study, an attempt is made to present the application and comparative performance analysis of optimal control approach for automatic generation control (AGC) of electric power generating systems. Optimal controller is designed utilizing performance index minimization criterion. To conduct the study, various single and multi-area models with/without system nonlinearities from the literature are simulated under sudden load perturbation. In this comparative study, to corroborate the worth of optimal controller, the performance of optimal AGC controller is compared with that of I/PI controller optimized adopting recently published the best established techniques such as teacher learning based optimization (TLBO), differential evolution (DE), genetic algorithm (GA), particle swarm optimization (PSO), hybrid bacteria foraging optimization algorithm-PSO (hBFOA-PSO), craziness based PSO (CBPSO), firefly algorithm (FA), krill herd algorithm (KHA), moth-flame optimization (MFO), glow swarm optimization (GSO), simulated annealing (SA), bat algorithm (BA), stochastic fractal search (SFS) and hybrid SFS-local unimodal sampling (hSFS-LUS) technique. The simulated results are compared in terms of settling time (ST), peak undershoot (PU)/overshoot (PO), various performance indices (PIs), minimum damping ratio and system eigenvalues. A sensitivity study is conducted to certify the robustness of optimal controller.U ovom radu se razmatra primjena i komparativna analiza sustava za automatsko planiranje proizvodnje proizvođača električne energije. Sinteza optimalnog regulatora proporcionalno-integralne strukture je provedena korištenjem integralnih kriterija. Različiti modeli s jednim područjem i više područja te s i bez nelinearnosti korišteni su u simulaciji nagle promjena opterećenja. Kako bi se pokazala važnost optimalnog regulatora, u komparativnoj analizi su performanse dizajniranog optimalnog regulatora uspoređene s peformansama postignutim korištenjem I i PI regulatora sintetiziranih primjenom postojećih uobičajeno korištenih metoda kao što su "teacher learning optimization", diferencijska evolucija, genetski algoritam, optimizacija rojem čestica, "hybrid bacteria foraging" optimizacijski algoritam, "craziness based" optimizacija rojem čestica, "firefly" algoritam, "krill herd" algoritam, "moth-flame" optimizacija, "glow swarm" optimizacija, metoda simuliranog kaljenja, "bat" algoritam, stohastično fraktalno traženje (eng. "stochastic fractal search", SFS) i metoda hibridnog SFS lokalnog unimodalnog uzorkovanja. Performanse primijenjenih algoritama upravljanja vrednovani su usporedbom ostvarenih vremena ustaljivanja, iznosa podbačaja i prebačaja te drugih pokazatelja performansi, minimalnih relativnih koeficijentima prigušenja i svojstvenih vrijednosti sustava upravljanja. Provedena analiza osjetljivosti potvrđuje robusnost parametara optimalnog regulatora za širok raspon radnih točaka i parametara sustava

In Vitro Antiproliferative Efficacy, Antioxidant Activity and LC MS Based Metabolite Profiling of Premna Barbata Stem Bark

Premna barbata Wall. ex Schauer is used traditionally as folkloric medicines for the treatment of differentpathological conditions. The first reported constituent from the bark of the plant was an iridoid glycoside premnosidic acid having antioxidant activity. Other species of this genus i.e., Premna latifolia, Premna tomentosa has shown to have antioxidant and cytotoxic activities. Despite the ethnomedicinal uses, no scientific evidence in support of antitumor activity on the stem bark of Premna barbata is reported so far. Hence, the current work aims to assess anticancer potentiality of different extracts of P. barbata on various cancer cell lines. Different extracts i.e., Petroleum ether extract (PBPE), Chloroform extract (PBCE), Ethyl acetate extract (PBEE) and Alcoholic extract (PBAE) were prepared and on each extract in-vitro antiproliferative activity was performed by using SRB assay. The most potent extract i.e., PBEE was then evaluated for antioxidant activity. Qualitative phytochemical investigation of different extracts indicates the presence of proteins, carbohydrates, steroids/triterpenoids, alkaloids, glycosides, flavonoids, and phenolic constituents. Ethyl acetate extract of Premna barbata gives potent cytotoxic activity in all cancer cell lines but more selectively to human colon cancer cell line (COLO-205) with GI 50 44.6 μg/ml. The phenolic and flavonoid content in ethyl acetate extract was 3.43±0.09 mg GE/g and 4.28±0.18mg QE/g respectively. Nineteen compounds were observed in positive (+) ESI mode chromatograms when LC-MS analysis was carried out. The LC-MS analysis by positive ionization mode, the predicted compounds such as Geniposidic acid (synonym: Premnosidic acid) and Rutin were detected. The cytotoxicity observed on cancerous cell lines in our study may be due to the presence of observed compounds. So, it can be concluded that Premna barbata stembark has remarkable cytotoxic activity against different tumor cell lines but the effect is more on colon cell lines as compared to others

Outcomes of Descemet's membrane endothelial keratoplasty performed in combination with, before, or after cataract surgery in Fuchs' endothelial dystrophy: A review of the literature and meta-analysis

This review aimed to compare the outcomes of Descemet's membrane endothelial keratoplasty (DMEK) in combination with (category 1), before (category 2), or after cataract surgery (category 3) in patients with Fuchs' endothelial dystrophy (FED). Primary outcome was gain in best-corrected log of minimum angle of resolution (logMAR) visual acuity (BCVA). Secondary outcomes were graft detachment, rebubbling rates, rejection, failure, and endothelial cell loss (ECL). In category 1, 2, and 3, 12 studies (N = 1932) were included (five in category 1 [n = 696], one in category 2 [n = 286], and two in category 3 [n = 950], and the remaining four compared between two of the three categories). At 6 months, the gain in BCVA was 0.34 ± 0.04, 0.25 ± 0.03, and 0.38 ± 0.03 logMAR in category 1, 2, and 3, respectively. The difference was significant between categories 1 and 2 (Chi2 = 11.47, P < 0.01) and categories 2 and 3 (Chi2 = 35.53, P < 0.01). At 12 months, the gain in BCVA was 0.52 ± 0.05 and 0.38 ± 0.06 logMAR in categories 1 & 3 (Chi2 = 14.04, P < 0.01). The rebubbling rates were 15%, 4%, and 10% (P < 0.01) and the graft detachment rates were 31%, 8%, and 13% (P < 0.01) in categories 1, 2, and 3, respectively. However, graft rejection, survival rates, and ECL at 12 months were not different between categories 1 and 3. There is low certainty evidence that gain in BCVA in category 1 was comparable to category 3 at 6 months; however, it was significantly better with category 3 at 12 months. Although rebubbling and graft detachment rates were highest in category 1, there was no significant difference in graft rejection, survival rates, and ECL. Further high-quality studies are likely to change the effect estimate and have an impact on the confidence of the estimate

Disruptive Technology in Digital Notice Board using Flutter

In early days, notice boards were used to place notices which is a very hard process. First a teacher has to make a notice on his computer and edit to make it attractive then he must get it approved by the HOD. Then when it gets approved, he must print it then the teacher must go to every notice board and physically pin the notice on the notice board Which is a very hard and time-consuming process. In order to make this experience easy we are proposing a digital notice board Which will make the process very easy and very efficient. Our main aim is to make information easy to access to students and at the same time make it easy for teachers to build a notice using their phones and the templates provided on the app

Tubercular Retropharyngeal Abscess in Association with Aberrant Retropharyngeal Internal Carotid Arteries - A Rare Entity: Imaging Diagnosis and a Word of Caution

Retropharyngeal (RP) abscess is rarely encountered in adults. Still rare is an abscess of tubercular etiology especially without involvement of the underlying cervical spine. We present a case of an immunocompetent woman with a tubercular RP abscess diagnosed on contrast-enhanced cervical computed tomography and confirmed on cytology. Another interesting feature was an aberrant RP course of the internal carotid arteries in this patient. This case report stresses the importance of imaging in establishing an unexpected diagnosis of an RP abscess, suggesting its likely cause, and also in demonstrating the aberration in regional vascular anatomy, and warns the clinician of life-threatening hemorrhagic complication in the event of any diagnostic or therapeutic intervention