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Assessment of microsatellite instability for screening bladder cancer in high-risk population
Aims: This study aims to determine the diagnostic efficacy of microsatellite markers for screening bladder cancer in population at high risk. Materials and Methods: A population of 200 people was screened for bladder cancer using a set of microsatellite markers. Urine samples were obtained from four different types of population groups - Group 1 (healthy population group), Group 2 (current smokers with a smoking history of more than 10 years), Group 3 (bladder cancer group), and Group 4 (bladder cancer group who were former smokers with a history of more than 10 years). Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was performed to amplify microsatellite sequences at D9S63, D9S156, and D9S283. PCR products were separated on 1.8% agarose gel and were scanned using ultraviolet transilluminator. Results: In Group 2 (high-risk population group, mainly current smokers with a history of more than 10 years), microsatellite alterations were found in 36 out of 50 people. We observed microsatellite alterations in 38 out of 50 people in Group 3 (bladder cancer group) and in 39 out of 50 people in Group 4 (bladder cancer group, mainly former smokers with a history of more than 10 years). The sensitivity of this test in Group 2, Group 3, and Group 4 was found to be 72%, 76% and 78%, respectively. The specificity of this test in each group was found to be 90%. Conclusion: Using these set of microsatellite markers, medium sensitivity and high specificity were reported for this test. The current findings suggest that a set of microsatellite markers (D9S63, D9S156, and D9S283) can be used to detect bladder cancer in high-risk population. 2018 Medknow Publications. All Rights Reserved. -
Knowing Discovery from Legal Documents Dataset using Text Mining Techniques
International Journal of Computer Applications Vol.66, No.23, pp. 32-34 ISSN No. 0975-8887 -
A Novel Threshold based Method for Vessel Intensity Detection and Extraction from Retinal Images
Retinal vessel segmentation is an active research area in medical image processing. Several research outcomes on retinal vessel segmentation have emerged in recent years. Each method has its own pros and cons, either in the vessel detection stage or in its extraction. Based on a detailed empirical investigation, a novel retinal vessel extraction architecture is proposed, which makes use of a couple of existing algorithms. In the proposed algorithm, vessel detection is carried out using a cumulative distribution function-based thresholding scheme. The resultant vessel intensities are extracted based on the hysteresis thresholding scheme. Experiments are carried out with retinal images from DRIVE and STARE databases. The results in terms of Sensitivity, Specificity, and Accuracy are compared with five standard methods. The proposed method outperforms all methods in terms of Sensitivity and Accuracy for the DRIVE data set, whereas for STARE, the performance is comparable with the best method. 2021. All Rights Reserved. -
A Novel Fuzzy-Based Thresholding Approach for Blood Vessel Segmentation from Fundus Image
Retinal vessel segmentation is a vital part of pathological analysis in Fundus imaging. The automatic detection of blood vessels resolves several issues in the manual segmentation process. Most unsupervised segmentation methods depend on conventional thresholding techniques for final vessel extraction. It may lead to the loss of some vessel pixels, leading to inaccurate analysis of retinal diseases. In this work, we incorporate fuzzy concepts into two threshold-based vessel detection methods, namely mean-c thresholding and Iso-Data thresholding, which results in a mask consisting of membership values rather than binary values. The two fuzzy-based thresholding algorithms are applied independently on each image, and the resultant membership image (mask) is fused to get a single membership mask. The fusion is performed using fuzzy union operation. Experiments are carried out with Fundus images from DRIVE, STARE and CHASE_DB1 databases.ses. The proposed fusion framework gives a 3%, 6%, and 5% increase in sensitivity compared to traditional thresholding methods when applied to the DRIVE, STARE, and CHASE_DB1 databases, respectively. The accuracy obtained for the datasets is 96.02%, 94.57%, and 94.34%, respectively. 2023 by the authors. -
A Fusion Based Approach for Blood Vessel Segmentation from Fundus Images by Separating Brighter Optic Disc
Abstract: In ophthalmology, blood vessel segmentation from fundus images plays a significant role in automated retinal disease screening systems. Several research papers on blood vessel segmentation suggest enhancing fundus images before segmentation significantly to improve performance. The brightness of the optic disc region in a fundus image negatively influences the enhancement of relatively darker vessel pixels. Segregation of brighter optic disc from fundus images before its enhancement is the fundamental idea behind developing the proposed framework. Initially, the optic disc is extracted from the input fundus image to form two images, one containing optical disc and the other, fundus image without optical disk. In the second stage, both the images are enhanced independently, followed by blood vessel segmentation. Finally, the segmented blood vessels from the images are fused to obtain a single image. Experiments conducted with fundus images from DRIVE, STARE, and CHASE_DB1 databases show improvement in the identification of blood vessel pixels. 2021, Pleiades Publishing, Ltd. -
Cuda implementation of non-local means algorithm for GPU processors
Non-Local Means algorithm (NLM) is a prominent image denoising algorithm. One of the major limitations of NLM algorithm and its variants is the time requirement. In this era of high performance computing, an efficient alternative to reduce the time complexity of any algorithm is its parallelization. In this paper, a parallelized version of basic NLM algorithm using CUDA architecture is proposed. The algorithm is developed on NVIDIA GeForce 940M GPU which follows Maxwell architecture with 3 SMs and 384 CUDA cores. Experiments are carried out using selected set of natural and medical images of various sizes. Our proposed parallelized version of NLM algorithm reduces the time requirement approximately by 50% in comparison to its basic version and also achieves comparable denoising performance in terms of PSNR, SSIM and FSIM evaluation metrics. The proposal is a model which can be customized for newer GPU architectures. 2020, Engg Journals Publications. All rights reserved. -
Cross-Border Acquisitions and Shareholders Wealth: The Case of the Indian Pharmaceutical Sector
Cross-border acquisitions by Indian companies have increased tremendously, especially during the last two decades, and the pharmaceutical industry is one of the top acquiring industries. This study verifies the relationship between cross-border acquisitions and shareholders wealth in the Indian pharmaceutical sector. For this purpose, the data related to acquisitions were acquired from 2005 to 2019 and the event study methodology was applied along with two parametric tests. The findings of the current research prescribe that cross-border acquisitions have a positive and significant impact on shareholders wealth. Furthermore, the outcomes also indicate higher positive abnormal returns in the short run when the targets are based in the US and the UK as compared to the positive but insignificant abnormal returns when the targets are based in locations other than the US and the UK. 2022 by the authors. -
PEGylated Platinum Nanoparticles: A Comprehensive Study of Their Analgesic and Anti-Inflammatory Effects
Pain and inflammation are common symptoms of a majority of the diseases. Chronic pain and inflammation, as well as related dreadful disorders, remain difficult to control due to a lack of safe and effective medications. In this work, biocompatible platinum nanoparticles with significant analgesic and anti-inflammatory action were synthesized through a wet chemical method using polyethylene glycol-400 as a capping agent and sodium borohydride as a reducing agent. The average particle size of these Pt nanospheres was determined to be 3.26 nm using TEM analysis, and X-ray diffraction confirmed their face-centered cubic crystalline structure. Fourier transform infrared and UV-visible spectroscopy confirm that Pt-NPs are coated with the PEG-400 molecule. The significantly negative zeta potential value (?26.8 mV) indicates the stability of the produced nanoparticles. In vitro cytotoxicity studies on normal cell lines show nontoxic behavior with over 96% cell viability at 100 ?g/mL of the test sample. In vitro assays of inhibition of protein denaturation and DPPH free radical scavenging elucidated the anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties of PEGylated Pt NPs with promising EC50 values 57.99 and 9.324 ?g/mL, respectively. In vivo animal trials confirmed that PEG-capped Pt-NPs are more effective than conventional medicines. The in vivo hot plate assay for the analgesic study shows a maximum response time of 14.5 1.22 s (92.54% analgesia) at a dosage of 50 mg/kg and 13.8 0.71 s (86.05% analgesia) at a dosage of 25 mg/kg after 180 and 240 min of administration, respectively. In the rat paw edema model for anti-inflammatory activity, the PEG-capped Pt NPs exhibit significant inhibitory action, with the maximum percentage of edema inhibition at a dosage of 50 mg/kg identical to that of the aspirin-based standard medication administered at a higher dosage of 100 mg/kg, resulting in 42% inhibition, suggesting a versatile solution for inflammation and persistent pain. 2025 American Chemical Society. -
Microwave assisted structural engineering on efficient eco-friendly natural dye alizarin for dye sensitized solar cells application
The novel eco-friendly natural dyes, (9E, 10E), ? 9, 10-bis(2-(4-nitrobenzylidene) hydrazono) ? 9,10 dihydroanthracene-1,2-diol (NHA) have been synthesised using the one-pot microwave-assisted solvent evaporation method, and physicochemical characterizations were carried out using 1H NMR, 13C NMR, GC-MS, and FT-IR data. The photophysical properties of NHA dye were determined using experimental and theoretical techniques. The Stoke's shift shows a large bathochromic shift in polar solvents, which is due to the ??? * transition. The ground-state optimization of NHA dye was carried out using density functional theory (DFT) with the B3LYP/631 G level basis set. The HOMO-LUMO and energy band gap values computed from density functional theory and absorption threshold wavelengths are good agreement with each other. Further, the effect of TiO2 nanoparticles on NHA dye has been studied using spectroscopic and electrochemical techniques. It was observed that, NHA dye showed fluorescence quenching in the presence of TiO2 NPs, which is due to the photo induced electron transfer process. The apparent association constant of the interaction between NHA dye and TiO2 nanoparticles is also calculated using the Benesi-Hildebrand model. The Rehm-Weller relation infers that thermodynamically favourable electron transfer takes place between dyes and TiO2 NPs. Further, the solar cell was constructed using NHA dye as a sensitizer, and the photovoltaic conversion efficiency was found to be 1.16%. 2023 Elsevier GmbH -
Heat and mass transfer of AgH2O nano-thin film flowing over a porous medium: A modified Buongiorno's model
Due to their numerous applications, such as fibre and wire coating, polymer preparation, etc., thin films have recently come into focus in the analysis of heat and mass transport. As a result, the current article's main objective is to investigate how heat and mass are transferred when an AgH2O (sliverwater) thin film flows past a stretching sheet that is subject to thermal and velocity slips. The research takes into account other variables including porosity, thermal radiation, thermophoresis, and Brownian motion, among others, to ensure that the outcomes are consistent with real-world conditions. Along with these parameters, the impact of the nanoparticle volume fraction is also analysed by incorporating the modified model of the existing Buongiorno model. The resulting mathematical model is transformed into ordinary differential equations with the help of appropriate similarity transformation. The system of equations thus obtained is solved by employing the RKF-45 technique and the outcomes are expressed in terms of graphs and tables. The major outcomes indicate that the increase in the mixed convection parameter causes enhancement in the temperature profile while a reduction in the velocity profile. The thermophoresis is found to increase both the temperature and concentration profiles of the thin film. Whereas, the greater values of the volume fraction of the nanoparticles enhance the temperature and diminishes the velocity. 2023 The Physical Society of the Republic of China (Taiwan) -
Regarding Deeper Properties of the Fractional Order Kundu-Eckhaus Equation and Massive Thirring Model
In this paper, the fractional natural decomposition method (FNDM) is employed to find the solution for the Kundu-Eckhaus equation and coupled fractional differential equations describing the massive Thirring model. The massive Thirring model consists of a system of two nonlinear complex differential equations, and it plays a dynamic role in quantum field theory. The fractional derivative is considered in the Caputo sense, and the projected algorithm is a graceful mixture of Adomian decomposition scheme with natural transform technique. In order to illustrate and validate the efficiency of the future technique, we analyzed projected phenomena in terms of fractional order. Moreover, the behaviour of the obtained solution has been captured for diverse fractional order. The obtained results elucidate that the projected technique is easy to implement and very effective to analyze the behaviour of complex nonlinear differential equations of fractional order arising in the connected areas of science and engineering. 2022 Tech Science Press. All rights reserved. -
An Improved Combined Adaptive Outline for Contrast Enhancement of Blood Vessels
Appropriate vascular segmentation is dependent on effective picture pre-processing techniques that improve the contrast of the blood vessels, reduce noise, eliminate non-uniform illumination, highlight thin vessels, and retain background texture. These techniques are necessary for accurate vessel segmentation. Here, both the edge- and texture-smoothed data from the vessel probability map are used in the derivation of the adaptive optimal q-order in the G-L mask. The smooth information is not affected, the textures are maintained, and the contrast of the blood vessels is enhanced, thanks to the proposed filter. In addition to sharpening the focus on the vessels themselves, a Gaussian curve fitting is used to contrast stretch the entire image. Retinal fundus images processed with cerebral DSA are subjected to both qualitative and quantitative assessments of contrast enhancement. Quantitative performance indicators are tabulated and compared to other approaches to show how well this technique works for improving medical images everywhere. The suggested filter is easy to implement, flexible enough to adapt to different images, and effective at increasing both vessel contrast and overall image contrast. 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. -
Integrated Home-Based Palliative Care in Motor Neuron Disease: A Case Report from Low- Middle Income Country
In many international care guidelines, multidisciplinary palliative care forms a key to optimum management in Motor Neuron Disease (MND). We describe the home-based palliative care interventions for a client with MND and his family from a Low and Middle-income country context. This report also discusses the advantages and challenges of the same with suggestions for sustaining the quality of care for neuro palliative conditions. 2021 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC. -
Development of Guidelines for Spouses Engaged in Home-Based Care of Persons With Motor Neuron Disease From Indian Context
Background: The caregivers of persons with motor neuron disease (MND) have several needs that are usually not voiced on any platform. Aim: To explore the lived experience of spouses of persons with MND, identify their needs and develop guidelines for better home-based care. Method: An exploratory study with 3-point in-depth interviews among 13 participants was conducted. Participants were the spouses of persons with MND under treatment at a national quaternary referral center. The interpretative phenomenological analysis identified participants needs. These needs, with literature review synthesis, guided the drafting of guidelines, which was validated by experts. Results: The needs were emotional, social, care systems, and skills. The guidelines developed contained 2 sections (1) Information for the spouses: understanding MND, communication, symptom management, marital relationship, palliative care, and everyday life made easier. (2) Well-being of the spouse caregivers: well-being of the spouse caregivers, self-care, mental health, supporting carers in palliative care, where to find help. Conclusion: The guidelines can be developed as a manual for the caregivers and for training healthcare professionals working with neurodegenerative conditions. The Author(s) 2022. -
Facile combustion synthesis of highly active Mo doped BiVO4 for photocatalytic dye degradation, photo-oxidation of alcohols, antifungal and antioxidant activities
This work represents the facile and green synthesis of Molybdenum (Mo)-doped bismuth vanadate (BiVO4). Green synthesis of Mo-doped BiVO4 was done using combustion technique using Mangifera indica (Mango) leaf extract as the fuel for combustion. The material synthesised was pure and characterised using X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, high resolution transmission electron microscopy, ultravioletvisible diffuse reflectance spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and photoluminescence (PL). It was found that Mo-doped BiVO4 had monoclinic scheelite phase, with a bandgap of 3.71eV. Various application was possible from the synthesised material like photodegradation of Malachite Green, a typical organic which showed excellent degradation efficiency of 99% under 120minutes. The catalyst also gave up to 95% yields in the light-assisted oxidation of aromatic alcohols to corresponding aldehydes. The material also showed excellent antioxidant properties showing 6.7g of ascorbic acid equivalence (AAE). It gave an excellent minimum lethal dosage (MLD) of 500g against Penicillium and Trichoderma fungal strains and showed maximum of 32 mm zone of inhibition. These applications show the versatility of the material to be used in various fields. 2022 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. -
Highly Efficient Photocatalytic Conversion of Amine to Amide and Degradation of Methylene Blue Using BiOClTiO2 Nano Heterostructures
Abstract: Facile green synthesis of BiOClTiO2 was done using combustion technique by Ixora coccinea leaf extract as fuel source. The said material was characterized using XRD, SEM, EDX, HRTEM, SAED, FTIR, and UV-DRS. The particle size was found to be approximately 60nm and a crystallite size of 0.3nm from TEM. The photocatalytic activity of the material was found out using photoluminescence studies, dye degradation and photocatalytic organic conversion. The material showed excellent dye degradation capacity for methylene blue with 80% of the dye degraded under 3hrs. The stabilisation of electronhole pair by the heterostructure gave it the ability to perform easy degradation. The degradation kinetics have also been studied. It also showed an excellent organic conversion property with formylation yield reaching up to 96% and total conversion of the reactant molecule. The material is a potent photocatalyst due to its great efficiency and can have a remarkable role in the synthesis of important organic molecules and detoxification of environment. Graphical Abstract: The heterostructure catalyses the conversion of amine to amides and mineralizes methylene blue under visible light condition. [Figure not available: see fulltext.]. 2020, Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature. -
FUZZY MODULARITY AND FUZZY COMPLEMENTS IN FUZZY LATTICES
In this paper, we study the concept of fuzzy modularity in fuzzy lattices. We also define a fuzzy Birkhoff lattice and study fuzzy complements in fuzzy lattices. We prove that the notions of a right and a left complement coincide in a fuzzy lattice I??k University, Department of Mathematics, 2022; all rights reserved -
The role of energy efficiency in income inequality dynamics in developing Asia: Evidence from artificial neural networks
This study investigates the drivers of income inequality trends in seven developing Asian countries between 1990 and 2022, exploring the effects of energy efficiency, government spending, economic growth, globalization, and human development. The study investigates how these variables affect income inequality using various statistical methods, including long-run machine learning and prediction models. The findings indicate a negative impact of energy efficiency on income inequality, highlighting the potential of energy-saving measures in narrowing the income gaps between the rich and poor. Government spending, economic growth, globalization, and human development are also crucial in alleviating income inequality in developing Asian countries. This study underscores the importance of tailored policies, advocating for investments in energy efficiency, targeted government spending, larger economic integration, and inclusive growth strategies to address income inequality in developing Asia. 2024 -
Interepisodic functioning in patients with bipolar disorder in remission
Background and Objectives: Patients with bipolar disorder (BD), despite recovering symptomatically, suffer from several functional impairments even in remission. The actual causes of impaired functioning are less known. Materials and Methods: The study aimed to examine the clinical and psychosocial determinants of functioning in patients with BD in remission. A cross-sectional single-group design was adopted (n = 150). Participants meeting the study criteria were screened with Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview Scale. The selected participants were administered various tools to assess the level of functioning and the clinical, psychosocial determinants of functioning. Results: The clinical characteristics of the sample included early age of onset of illness, presence of precipitating factors, fewer episodes, minimal comorbidities, history of psychotic episodes, family history of mental illness, good medication adherence, and low depression and mania scores. Psychosocial factors included higher stress and moderate social support and self-esteem in the sample. Poor functioning patients had a history of longer hospital stay and had greater scores on depression, mania, stress, and maladaptive coping styles than better functioning patients. Conclusion: Higher depression, mania, stress, and maladaptive coping strategies were related to poor functioning, while higher medication adherence, self-esteem, and social support were related to better functioning. 2018 Indian Psychiatric Society - South Zonal Branch Published by Wolters Kluwer - Medknow. -
Challenging the dichotomy: Examining parent socialization goals and behaviors regarding positive affect in Bengaluru, India
Parents' responses to youth positive affect (PA) have been dichotomized as enhancing and dampening. This dichotomy may not fit with cultural scripts about emotion in communities where a balance between positive and negative emotions is preferred. To assess parents' PA socialization in a culturally relevant manner for urban, middle-class families in India, we developed a new measure of parental goals about happiness and adapted the Responses to Adolescent Happy Affect Scale (RAHAS). We tested the psychometric properties of these measures and assessed relations among parental socialization goals and behaviors across 5 months. Our sample included 377 adolescent (84.4% girls; Mage = 14.47) and parent (63.9% mothers) dyads, primarily Hindu, in Bengaluru, India. Two parental goals factors emerged: Balancing and Controlling and Maximizing and Sharing happiness. Three factors emerged for the adapted RAHAS. Two factors were the same as the original RAHAS: (a) Enhancing strategies to upregulate PA and (b) Dampening strategies to downregulate PA. A third factor emerged: (c) Balancing strategies, which were culturally salient for families in India and aimed for moderation. Among socialization behaviors, Enhancing and Dampening were inversely related, while Balancing related positively to each. Balancing and Controlling goals were only correlated to Balancing behaviors. Maximizing and Sharing goals were correlated positively with Enhancing and inversely with Dampening. Longitudinally, Maximizing and Sharing and Balancing and Controlling goals were related to a significant increase and marginal decrease in Dampening, respectively. Challenging the dichotomy, our findings highlight the relevance of balancing to theories of PA socialization. 2024 The Author(s). Journal of Research on Adolescence published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of Society for Research on Adolescence.