No Modes left behind: Capturing the data distribution effectively using GANs

Generative adversarial networks (GANs) while being very versatile in realistic image synthesis, still are sensitive to the input distribution. Given a set of data that has an imbalance in the distribution, the networks are susceptible to missing modes and not capturing the data distribution. While various methods have been tried to improve training of GANs, these have not addressed the challenges of covering the full data distribution. Specifically, a generator is not penalized for missing a mode. We show that these are therefore still susceptible to not capturing the full data distribution. In this paper, we propose a simple approach that combines an encoder based objective with novel loss functions for generator and discriminator that improves the solution in terms of capturing missing modes. We validate that the proposed method results in substantial improvements through its detailed analysis on toy and real datasets. The quantitative and qualitative results demonstrate that the proposed method improves the solution for the problem of missing modes and improves training of GANs.Comment: accepted to AAAI 2018 conferenc

Optimal Energy Management Policies for Energy Harvesting Sensor Nodes

We study a sensor node with an energy harvesting source. The generated energy can be stored in a buffer. The sensor node periodically senses a random field and generates a packet. These packets are stored in a queue and transmitted using the energy available at that time. We obtain energy management policies that are throughput optimal, i.e., the data queue stays stable for the largest possible data rate. Next we obtain energy management policies which minimize the mean delay in the queue.We also compare performance of several easily implementable sub-optimal energy management policies. A greedy policy is identified which, in low SNR regime, is throughput optimal and also minimizes mean delay.Comment: Submitted to the IEEE Transactions on Wireless Communications; 22 pages with 10 figure

Execution Plan for AGRINET: A Comprehensive Digital solution for Indian Farming Community

In this paper, we have proposed a business plan for AGRINET. AGRINET [10], introduced in our earlier paper is a digital model based on the concept of Internet of Things (IoT), which integrates the already existing technologies, such as mobile communications, Bluetooth, GPS, GSM, CDMA, GPRS, WLAN, Remote sensing, with micro sensors such as - moisture, thermal, level. chemical, light, movement, etc. to help the farmers to perform precision agriculture with minimal extra financial burden. Although earlier also there has been work related to precision farming using remote sensing and GIS, for small farms and dairy farms, but for some technological and financial issues, until recently, the impact of precision agriculture solutions (e.g., variable-rate spraying)— while an improvement over traditional methods—has been limited by the granularity and timeliness of the data the farmers use and their lack of day to-day operational decision support. Very less percent of acreage is managed using the technology due to the high cost of gathering precise field data. It’s clear that precision agriculture still has considerable untapped potential. Here, we propose business plan, Financial plan, marketing plan and operational plan for AGRINET not only to improve Indian farmer's financial position but also to meet the food needs of an expanding population

AGRINET: A Comprehensive Solution for Indian Farming Community

Looking at the primary occupation of rural population (agriculture) in India and lack of advanced information available that can help them perform their job better, this paper proposes to provide agricultural knowledge products tied with relevant service models that would provide a value preposition for rural market. The value preposition thus offered would motivate a sizable number from the rural population to opt for this service and would result in increased sales of products to the market. This would also establish an entirely new business line providing for technology solutions in agriculture and related areas. The primary thrust of this plan is to outline the product and service offering and its stated value preposition to the customers and other stakeholders in the business

Lipase production from a wild (LPF-5) and a mutant (HN1) strain of Aspergillus niger

In this study, a wild (LPF-5) and a mutant (HN1) strain of A. niger were compared for lipase production. Several physical parameters (carbon source, nitrogen source, pH, temperature and incubation period) were optimized for maximization of lipase production. Lipase activity between wild type and mutant strain were compared. Among all carbon sources, mixture of glucose (1%, w/v) and olive oil (1%, v/v) exhibited maximum increase in the production of lipases by both the wild (94.91 ± 0.60 U mL-1 min-1) and mutant (118.23 ± 0.73 U mL-1 min-1) strain. Addition of glucose into the production medium (containing olive oil) increased the production of lipase up to 20% in case of both the strains. The production of lipase by both the strains was higher in the medium of pH 7.0 containing peptone (1%, w/v) as nitrogen source after 3 days of incubation at 28°C. The activity of lipase from HN1 strain in optimized medium was 40% higher (147.65 ± 1.14 U mL-1 min-1) than in un-optimized medium (105.19 ± 0.91 U mL-1 min-1), while it was 38% higher for LPF-5 strain in optimized medium. Therefore the mutant strain (A. niger HN1) is prospective for the development of industrial biotechnology for production of extracellular lipase. Lipase enzyme was partially purified by ammonium sulfate precipitation and 70% precipitate showed highest specific activity of 66.12 U mg-1 for mutant strain as compared to specific activity of 29.88 U mg-1 in crude lysate.Keywords: Wild strain, mutant strain, Aspergillus niger, lipase activity, specific activity, ammonium sulfat

Bioactivity and Pharmacological Potential of Trianthema portulacastrum L. (Angiosperms: Aizoaceae): An Overview

Trianthema portulacastrum L. ( Biskhapra/ Horse purslane) is widely found in tropical and sub-tropical countries of the world. This weed automatically spread in cultivated fields. From the ancient time it is used for curative purposes. The plant pertains wide range of applicability and henceforth used as an Ayurvedic herb. The decoction of this herb utilized as a vermifuge, antidote prepared from that helps in treating alcohol poisoning and leaves cure the wound. In the era of phytomedicines lot of work has been done related to its morphology, ethno-pharmacology, medicinal uses, phyto-chemistry and pharmacological properties. Various pharmacological properties like antimicrobial properties, analgesic, anti-inflammatory, anti-diabetic, anti-hyperglycemic, hepato-protective activity makes this plant very renowned amongst researchers as they utilized it somewhat like a panacea. Different parts of plants are utilized for the therapeutic purposes and extract prepared in different solvents used in the treatment of various disorders. In this review, an attempt has been made to provide all inclusive information of this plant about its bioactive compounds and their pharmacologoical importance