Accelerometer based gesture recognition robot

Gesture recognition can be termed as an approach in this direction. It is the process by which the gestures made by the user are recognized by the receiver. Gestures are expressive, meaningful body motions involving physical movements of the fingers, hands, arms, head, face, or body with the intent of: conveying meaningful information orinteracting with the environment. They constitute one interesting small subspace of possible human motion. A gesture may also be perceived by the environment as a compression technique for the information to be transmitted elsewhere and subsequently reconstructed by the receiver. Classification hand and arm gestures: Recognition of hand poses, sign languages, and entertainment applications. head and face gestures: Nodding or shaking of head; direction of eye gaze; etc.; body gestures: involvement of full body motion, as in; tracking movements of two people interacting outdoors; analyzing movements of a dancer for generating matching music and graphics; Benefits: A human computer interface can be provided using gestures: Replace mouse and keyboard Pointing gestures Navigate in a virtual environment Pick up and manipulate virtual objects Interact with the 3D worl

Development and Validation of Physical Education Awareness Instrument (Pea-I)

Research Background: The importance of physical education in the development of young children has long been recognized. Despite this, there is a lack of a standardized instrument to accurately measure awareness of physical education among this demographic. The absence of such a tool hampers our understanding of children's perceptions and the impact of physical education on their overall well-being. Purpose: The primary objective of this study is to develop and validate the Physical Education Awareness Instrument (PEA-I) to assess young children's awareness of physical education. Through rigorous statistical techniques, including factor analysis and reliability assessment, the study seeks to establish the validity and reliability of the newly developed instrument. Materials and Methodology: The study involved 817 participants, randomly divided into two groups. The researchers utilized the expectation-maximization (EM) algorithm to handle potential missing values, although none were found in the collected responses. The first half of the sample (N = 317) underwent exploratory factor analysis (EFA) using IBM SPSS 26 for Windows. Latent root criteria and the Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) index determined the optimal number of factors, indicating significant adequacy for principal component analysis (PCA). The EFA revealed a one-factor scale, with nine items demonstrating strong internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha ranged from 0.740 to 0.796). Statistical Procedure: Following the EFA, confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was conducted on the second half of the sample using AMOS 23. All items in the CFA met the standard criterion, confirming the instrument's acceptable factor validity. The (PEA-I) exhibited good reliability and validity, establishing it as a robust tool to assess young children's awareness of physical education.  Results: The results solidify the PEA-I as a valid and reliable measure of physical education awareness among young children. Its factor loadings, internal consistency, and factor validity indicate its effectiveness in assessing individuals' perceived awareness of physical education accurately. Conclusion and practical implication: The (PEA-I) has practical implications, serving as a valuable tool for identifying individuals' awareness of physical education and evaluating the effectiveness of physical education programs. Its potential to aid policymakers, physical educators, and health professionals is significant, as it emphasizes the importance of physical education in overall well-being and advocates for its inclusion as a compulsory subject in schools. This study contributes substantially to the field, underscoring the significance of physical education in fostering healthier lifestyles and well-rounded individuals. The findings highlight the need for increased awareness and the positive impact of physical education on youth development, shaping the discourse on its promotion among policymakers, educators, and health professionals

Comparison of fasting and non-fasting serum lipid profile in healthy population

Background: Serum lipids are routinely used for the assessment of cardiovascular risk. The test is usually performed under fasting condition. However, recently non-fasting lipid profile is also measured in certain cases. The present study was intended to estimate the concentration of total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG), HDL cholesterol (HDL-C), LDL cholesterol (LDL-C) and VLDL cholesterol (VLDL-C) in fasting as well as non-fasting blood samples of a group of normal male and female subjects.Methods: The study recruited 50 normal healthy male and female subjects within the age group of 12-48 years. The concentration of TC, TG, HDL-C, LDL-C and VLDL-C in serum of these subjects were quantitatively determined using the commercially available kits based on CHOD/POD method.Results: The mean concentration of non-fasting TC, TG, HDL-C, LDL-C and VLDL-C was found to be 141.20 mg/dl, 132.20 mg/dl, 50.39 mg/dl, 64.30 mg/dl, 26.44 mg/dl respectively. On the other hand, the mean concentration of fasting TC, TG, HDL-C, LDL-C and VLDL-C was found to be 112.37 mg/dl, 100.90 mg/dl, 38.59 mg/dl, 53.59 mg/dl and 20.18 mg/dl respectively. The concentration of fasting lipid profile parameters was significantly low from the respective parameters of non-fasting lipid profile.Conclusions: The present study reveals that there was an increase in the levels of TC, TG, HDL-C, LDL-C, and VLDL-C in non-fasting state compared to the fasting state. Measuring the lipid profile parameters under non-fasting state cannot be usually considered for assessment of cardiovascular risk and for other clinical purposes

EvoCut : A new Generalization of Albert-Barab\'asi Model for Evolution of Complex Networks

With the evolution of social networks, the network structure shows dynamic nature in which nodes and edges appear as well as disappear for various reasons. The role of a node in the network is presented as the number of interactions it has with the other nodes. For this purpose a network is modeled as a graph where nodes represent network members and edges represent a relationship among them. Several models for evolution of social networks has been proposed till date, most widely accepted being the Barab\'asi-Albert \cite{Network science} model that is based on \emph{preferential attachment} of nodes according to the degree distribution. This model leads to generation of graphs that are called \emph{Scale Free} and the degree distribution of such graphs follow the \emph{power law}. Several generalizations of this model has also been proposed. In this paper we present a new generalization of the model and attempt to bring out its implications in real life

Synthesis and Structural Properties of Nanocrystalline (Pb1-xBix)S Thin Films

Nanocrystalline (Pb1-xBix)S thin films were successfully deposited on suitably cleaned glass substrate at constant room temperature, using the chemical bath deposition technique. After deposition the films were also annealed at 4000C for 1 hour in air. The crystal structures of the films were determined by X-ray diffraction studies. The films are adherent to the substrate and well crystallized according to cubic structure with the preferential orientation (200). The crystallite size of the pure PbS thin films at optimized deposition time 30 min was found to be 40.4 nm, which increased with Bi content in pure nanocrystalline PbS thin films. The surface roughness of the films was measured by AFM studies. Experiments showed that the growth parameters, doping and annealing influenced the crystal structure of the films. Key word: A. Thin films, B. Chemical synthesis C. Atomic force microscopy, D. X-ray diffraction Corresponding author. Tel: +91 788 2323997; Fax: +91 788 2210163 Email address: [email protected]

Impact of Shodhana on <em>Semecarpus anacardium</em> Nuts

Semecarpus anacardium is classified in Ayurveda under the category of toxic plants. However, this toxic plant is reported to possess anti-inflammatory activity, anti-arthritic effect, antioxidant activity, antimicrobial activity, anti- carcinogenic activity, hypoglycemic activity, cardioprotective, hepatoprotective, neuroprotective, and hypolipidemic activity etc. All these activities are attributed to its various constituents like phenolic compounds, flavonoids, carbohydrates, alkaloids, steroids, etc. In Ayurveda, a series of pharmaceutical procedures which converts a poisonous drug into a safe and therapeutically effective medicine is termed as Shodhana. Shodhana improves the yield, decreases the phenolic and flavonoid content; and converts toxic urushiol into nontoxic anacardol derivative thereby reducing toxicity of nuts of Semecarpus anacardium. There are reports of alteration in pharmacology and phytochemistry of nuts of Semecarpus anacardium due to Shodhana

EvoCut: A new Generalization of Albert-Barabasi Model for Evolution of Complex Networks

With the evolution of social networks, the network structure shows dynamic nature in which nodes and edges appear as well as disappear for various reasons. The role of a node in the network is presented as the number of interactions it has with the other nodes. For this purpose a network is modeled as a graph where nodes represent network members and edges represent a relationship among them. Several models for evolution of social networks has been proposed till date, most widely accepted being the Barabasi-Albert [1] model that is based on preferential attachment of nodes according to the degree distribution. This model leads to generation of graphs that are called Scale Free and the degree distribution of such graphs follow the power law. Several generalizations of this model has also been proposed. In this paper we present a new generalization of the model and attempt to bring out its implications in real life

Butea monosperma Reduces Haloperidol and Sulpiride Induced Hyperprolactinemia in Rats

Background: Prolonged administration of neuroleptic drugs cause disrupted D dopamine receptor which leads to increased prolactin level, causes gyanaecomastia. Presently, dopamine receptor agonist is the choice of treatment for hyperprolactinemia. Aim and Objectives: The study aims to determine the antihyperprolactinemic effect of methanolic extract of Butea monosperma (MEBM) against haloperidol (HPL) and sulpiride (SPD) induced hyperprolactinemia and to correlate with its active constituents. Material and Methods: To induce hyperprolactinemia HPL 5 mg/kg for 16 continuous days and SPD 20 mg/kg for 28 continuous days was administred. MEBM 200 mg/kg/day and 400 mg/kg/day were administered for 16 and 28 days respectively half an hour before administration of HPL and SPD. The serum prolactin (PRL) level, dopamine (DA) level and antioxidant status in the rat brain, hematological parameters were measured and histological examination of the anterior pituitary gland, adrenal gland and spleen were done. In addition, antioxidant enzymes like superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) were also estimated. Results: MEBM decreases serum PRL level and increased DA level in brain significantly. Further, MEBM also restored SOD and CAT status significantly. The inflammatory markers induced by HPL and SPD were suppressed by MEBM. Discussion: Neuronal DA inhibition by neuroleptic drugs decreases the release of DA which leads to hyperprolactinemia. MEBM (butrin) may activate DA neurones to ameliorate hyperprolactinaemia. The dopaminergic, anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory effect of MEBM may be attributed to its anti-hyperprolactinemic effect. Conclusion: Butea monosperma possesses anti-hyperprolactinemic effect which may be attributed to its marker constituent like Butrin