A Window-Oriented User-Interface for Image Processing Systems on UNIX based workstations.

The advent of digital image processing has led to the availability of a very large number of software systems. However there is an absence of a cohesive general-purpose image processing environment isolated from hardware or the underlying operating system. The trend in computing in science and engineering, is towards distributed workstations, especially with the availability of high-performance microprocessors. Hence there is a need for a unified software environment on workstations for use in scientific applications. This thesis describes the design and implementation of a window oriented user-interface. The interface runs on top of a Image Processing system, running on workstations under the UNIX † environment and uses the network transparent X window system ‡. The visual shell-like environment is targeted at the end-user with a scientific background needing image processing capabilities, but not necessarily with a computer background. The User-Interface is primarily a tool for use by a single user, although the underlying system operates in a multiuser multitasking environment. The objective of this exercise is aimed at providing rapid, easy and visual capability in processing images at a session level. It integrates graphics capabilities with high speed computing. All processing capabilities provided at the command line level, are available via dialog boxes, buttons & multi-level menus

Evaluation of different teaching-learning methods according to students’ preference and perception

Background: Improved teaching methodology is prerequisite for education systems so that students learn effectively. The present study was done with the objectives of evaluation of different teaching-learning methods according to students’ preference and perception.Methods: It was observational, non-interventional questionnaire based study. Total 100 students were selected randomly from second MBBS as participants of it. They filled questionnaires with 11 questions, by selecting appropriate options.Results: All students were interested in Pharmacology. Cardio-Vascular System and autocoids were the most interesting topics according to 40% of students. Total 53% of students preferred combination of chalk and board with PowerPoint presentation for understanding, while chalk and board alone (65%) as more interactive teaching method. Total 80% of students preferred interactive lecture session. Clinical case/bed side study was preferred by 89% of students. Total 40% of students preferred combination of teachers’ note and standard textbooks as reading materials. Total 80% of students mentioned that revision at the end of lecture is necessary. One and half year as ideal time to learn second MBBS, has been selected by 60% of students. Teaching with more clinical orientation is one of the changes suggested by 28% of students.Conclusions: Combination of traditional chalk and board method with modern powerpoint method, wherever necessary, is ideal for interactive and understandable lecture session. Integration/correlation of clinical cases with clinical Pharmacology will be more helpful in understanding and learning. Proper and effective management of time is essential for maximum utilization of MBBS duration with optimum output for students

IMACULAT - an open access package for the quantitative analysis of chromosome localization in the nucleus

The alteration in the location of the chromosomes within the nucleus upon action of internal or external stimuli has been implicated in altering genome function. The effect of stimuli at a whole genome level is studied by using two-dimensional fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) to delineate whole chromosome territories within a cell nucleus, followed by a quantitative analysis of the spatial distribution of the chromosome. However, to the best of our knowledge, open access software capable of quantifying spatial distribution of whole chromosomes within cell nucleus is not available. In the current work, we present a software package that computes localization of whole chromosomes - Image Analysis of Chromosomes for computing localization (IMACULAT). We partition the nucleus into concentric elliptical compartments of equal area and the variance in the quantity of any chromosome in these shells is used to determine its localization in the nucleus. The images are pre-processed to remove the smudges outside the cell boundary. Automation allows high throughput analysis for deriving statistics. Proliferating normal human dermal fibroblasts were subjected to standard a two-dimensional FISH to delineate territories for all human chromosomes. Approximately 100 images from each chromosome were analyzed using IMACULAT. The analysis corroborated that these chromosome territories have non-random gene density based organization within the interphase nuclei of human fibroblasts. The ImageMagick Perl API has been used for pre-processing the images

Intention to use and Adoption of IT Innovations in Organizations: A Meta-Analytic Examination of the Moderating Role of Innovation Type and Socio-Economic Context

Present paper conducts a meta-analysis of the innovation features that influence the intention to use and adoption of information technology (IT) innovation in the organizations. Previous studies that assessed the influence of innovation features on intention to use and adoption have found inconsistent results and thus created confusion among academicians and practitioners. Present study consolidates the findings of previous studies using meta-analysis to reveal the key factors behind organizations’ intention to use and adoption of IT innovations. The study takes a step further by also determining the moderating role of innovation type (product vs. service innovations) and socio-economic context (developing vs. developed countries) on the relationships of innovation features with intention to use and adoption of IT innovations. It also provides multiple insightful theoretical and practical implications

A STUDY TO EVALUATE THE EFFECT OF ADDING CLONIDINE TO ROPIVACAINE FOR AXILLARY PLEXUS BLOCKADE

Aims and objectives- The present study was undertaken to evaluate the effect of adding Clonidine to Ropivacaine for axillary plexus blockade. Material and methods- A total of 60 adult patients having physical status grade I or II according to American Society of Anaesthesiologists ( ASA ) undergoing hand or forearm surgery under axillary plexus blockade using nerve stimulator were included in the study. Patients were randomly allocated to one of the two groups. Each group consisted of 30 patients. Group 1 patients received 35 ml of Ropivacaine 0.5 % + 1 ml of normal saline.Group 2 patients received 35 ml of Ropivacaine + 1 ml of clonidine ( 150 µg). Sensory block, motor block and sedation were assessed every 5 minutes for 30 minutes. Postoperatively assessment was done every 15 minutes till complete regression of sensory and motor block. Results- Mean sensory onset time in patients of group 1 was 26.48 ± 7.88 min and in patients of group 2 was 26.55 ± 8.06 min, which was insignificant statistically. Patients of group 1 had a mean motor onset time 35.51 ± 10.4 min and patients of group 2 had a mean motor onset time 37.06 ± 14.19min, the difference being statistically comparable. Mean duration of sensory block in patients of group 1 was 422 ± 163.10 min and in patients of group 2 was 438 ± 133.93 min, which was statistically comparable. Patients belonging to group 1 had a mean duration of motor block 404 ± 160.60 min and patients belonging to group 2 had a mean duration of motor block 388 ± 151.63 min, which was statistically comparable. Conclusion- Addition of Clonidine ( 150 µg) is of no benefit in the onset and duration of axillary plexus block

Hypoglycemia in carbon monoxide poisoning: A case report

Carbon monoxide poisoning is a common presentation in the Emergency Department. The clinical presentation runs a spectrum, ranging from headache and dizziness to coma and death, with a mortality rate ranging from 1 to 3 %. Administration of normobaric 100% oxygen is the therapy of choice for most cases, while hyperbaric oxygen therapy is reserved for severe poisoning. Hyperglycemia is commonly seen with this poisoning but the association of hypoglycemia is not well described in human studies. Here, we present the case of hypoglycemia in carbon monoxide poisoning with good clinical outcome in a 22-year-old male

"Beware of deception": Detecting Half-Truth and Debunking it through Controlled Claim Editing

The prevalence of half-truths, which are statements containing some truth but that are ultimately deceptive, has risen with the increasing use of the internet. To help combat this problem, we have created a comprehensive pipeline consisting of a half-truth detection model and a claim editing model. Our approach utilizes the T5 model for controlled claim editing; "controlled" here means precise adjustments to select parts of a claim. Our methodology achieves an average BLEU score of 0.88 (on a scale of 0-1) and a disinfo-debunk score of 85% on edited claims. Significantly, our T5-based approach outperforms other Language Models such as GPT2, RoBERTa, PEGASUS, and Tailor, with average improvements of 82%, 57%, 42%, and 23% in disinfo-debunk scores, respectively. By extending the LIAR PLUS dataset, we achieve an F1 score of 82% for the half-truth detection model, setting a new benchmark in the field. While previous attempts have been made at half-truth detection, our approach is, to the best of our knowledge, the first to attempt to debunk half-truths

Otkrivanje i analiza varijacija u otpornosti na antibiotike među izolatima bakterije Staphylococcus aureus životinja i ljudi

In consideration of the importance of Staphylococcus aureus regarding its contribution to antibiotic resistance, the present study was designed to find variability among S. aureus isolates in relation to their multidrug resistance patterns. A total of 157 species-specific 23S rRNA based confirmed S. aureus isolates from various clinical and non- clinical animal sources (cattle, buffalo, goat, sheep, dog, camel, pig and horse), human and pieces of meat from butcher shops were included in the present study. Overall more than 95% isolates were recorded resistant to ampicillin and penicillin-G, while approximately 100% isolates were sensitive to chloramphenicol, meropenem and nitrofurantoin. The isolates from different sources showed highly significant (P≤0.01) variation in their resistance patterns for 39 antibiotics, significant variation (P≤0.05) for levofloxacin and nitrofurantoin, and no significant variation (P>0.05) for clindamycin. In Bonferroni correction, human isolates were significantly variable with a P˂0.0001 probability level of variance in relation to other pieces of meat and animal origin sources for most of the antibiotics. Human isolates had the highest (0.40) MAR index. A highly significant difference was observed in the antibiogram pattern between different sources of S. aureus, which may indicate the pattern and frequency of use of various antibiotics in humans and animals.S obzirom na važnost bakterije Staphylococcus aureus u smislu otpornosti na antibiotike, cilj je ovog istraživanja bio otkriti varijacije među njezinim izolatima s obzirom na rezistenciju prema brojnim lijekovima. Istraživanje je obuhvatilo ukupno 157 vrsno specifičnih 23S rRNA S. aureus izolata iz različitih kliničkih i nekliničkih izvora životinja (goveda, bivoli, koze, ovce, psi, deve, svinje i konji), ljudi i mesa iz mesnica. Zabilježeno je više od 95 % izolata otpornih na ampicilin i penicilin-G dok je gotovo 100 % izolata bilo osjetljivo na kloramfenikol, meropenem i nitrofurantoin. Izolati iz različitih izvora pokazali su znakovite varijacije (P ≤ 0,01) u rezistenciji na 39 antibiotika, znakovite varijacije (P ≤ 0,05) za levofloksacin i nitrofurantoin, no nije bilo znakoviith varijacija (P > 0,05) za klindamicin. Primjenom Bonferronijeve korekcije izolati iz ljudi bili su znakovito različiti (P ˂ 0,0001) u odnosu na uzorke iz mesa i drugih izvora animalnog podrijetla za većinu antibiotika. Izolati podrijetlom od ljudi imali su najviši MAR indeks (0,40). Uočena je vrlo znakovita razlika u antibiogramima među različitim izvorima bakterije S. aureus što može uputiti na način i učestalost primjene različitih antibiotika u ljudi i životinja

Ownership preserving AI Market Places using Blockchain

We present a blockchain based system that allows data owners, cloud vendors, and AI developers to collaboratively train machine learning models in a trustless AI marketplace. Data is a highly valued digital asset and central to deriving business insights. Our system enables data owners to retain ownership and privacy of their data, while still allowing AI developers to leverage the data for training. Similarly, AI developers can utilize compute resources from cloud vendors without loosing ownership or privacy of their trained models. Our system protocols are set up to incentivize all three entities - data owners, cloud vendors, and AI developers to truthfully record their actions on the distributed ledger, so that the blockchain system provides verifiable evidence of wrongdoing and dispute resolution. Our system is implemented on the Hyperledger Fabric and can provide a viable alternative to centralized AI systems that do not guarantee data or model privacy. We present experimental performance results that demonstrate the latency and throughput of its transactions under different network configurations where peers on the blockchain may be spread across different datacenters and geographies. Our results indicate that the proposed solution scales well to large number of data and model owners and can train up to 70 models per second on a 12-peer non optimized blockchain network and roughly 30 models per second in a 24 peer network

Lewis acid promoted synthesis of methylene-bridged α-and γ-bis-benzopyrones

43-50The Lewis acid promoted Fries rearrangement of O-methoxyacetyl derivatives of hydroxy-chromanones, coumarins and chromones under solvent-free condition gives isomeric methylene-bridged bischromanones, biscoumarins and bischromones, respectively, in good yields. The benzopyrone precursors undergo intermolecular rearrangement wherein two benzopyrone moieties are joined through their benzene rings via an un-substituted methylene bridge