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Introduction
In the digital era, signal processing has found application in daily life from medical diagnosis to social networking. The digital domain has evolved as the preferred choice in communication system design due to its advantages over analog systems, such as high-speed transmission, improved quality, and effortless copying with high precision. The advancement of digital media brings new opportunities. The internet boom of this millennium has allowed digital data to move around the world in real time. Efficient segmentation, recognition, and analysis of multidimensional data such as hyperspectral images, medical imaging, data analysis in social media, and audio signals are still challenging issues. Digital data produced through data-processing algorithms has the fundamental advantages of transportability, proficiency, and accuracy of information content; but such data is also at significant risk because perfect illegal replicas can be made in unlimited numbers. 2021 John Wiley & Sons Ltd. -
Biomass- or Biowaste-Derived Carbon Nanoparticles as Promising Materials for Electrochemical Sensing Applications
Modern human lifestyle incorporates the use of sensors to a great extent. Electrochemical sensors are the oldest and most commonly studied type of sensor with a wide commercial usage and numerous possibilities. Porous carbons are an important class of electrode materials and have a number of benefits compared to other materials in terms of sensor fabrications. Biomass pyrolysis and hydrothermal carbonization are important techniques to synthesize cost-effective, cheap, and more environmentally friendly porous carbon nanomaterials with higher electrocatalytic efficiency, selectivity, and sensitivity and better detection limits. The surface area of hierarchical porous architecture along with the graphitic nature of bio-derived carbon materials greatly affects the performance of electrochemical sensors. Numerous techniques are performed to improve the surface properties such as activation, doping, etc., in order to enhance the electrocatalytic behavior of working electrodes. The carbon materials discussed here are promising candidates as an effective alternative to many commercial electrochemical sensors. 2022 WILEY-VCH GmbH, Boschstra 12, 69469 Weinheim, Germany. All rights reserved -
Knowing Human Gaze
Studies have examined the understanding of human gaze in animals. Gaze following in human infants has been successfully demonstrated, showing that infants can follow the eye direction of another though the ability to represent the intentions of gaze behaviour emerges only after the onset of object permanence or a period over eighteen months of age. Comparative studies indicate that gaze following or gazing at humans vary in different species of animals. Wolves for example were observed to look least at human experimenters during a performance task, whereas dogs turned to look more often and monkeys looked to a lesser extent at their experimenters. It is of interest to discuss that gaze following is different from understanding gaze. Dogs have been observed to be successful in gaze following and almost at par with young children. However, the intention of another's gaze is not as clearly understood by dogs as in humans. We (Ittyerah and Gaunet 2009) have shown that the response of dogs to the gaze of their caretakers did not differ between guide dogs of the blind and pet dogs of sighted people. Both groups of dogs seemed to have responded to the head direction of their caretakers during a search task, indicating that the visual status of the caretaker did not affect the dog's understanding of human gaze. Further some breeds of dogs may respond more often to gaze, while larger inter ocular distances in large dogs could facilitate their response to visual cues. Therefore awareness of interactions between breed and physical size could contribute to studying gaze and cognition among dogs. 2012 Nova Science Publishers, Inc. -
Multifaceted Anticancer Potential of Trigonella foenum-graecum
The past decade saw a revolution in the discovery of genetic and epigenetic factors paving way for various types of cancers. With a better understanding of the causes, comes a chance of wider possibility of targeting the root causes of cancer. Nature is a storehouse of natural anticancer molecules, many yet to be explored. Trigonella foenumgraecum (fenugreek) is one such plant, having a huge potential for modulating prophylactic and therapeutic aspects of cancer. Cuisines world over make uses of this legume in multiple ways. This small herb has been found to be loaded with many secondary metabolites like diosgenin, coumarin, trigonelline and so on that reduce inflammation, promote apoptosis, act as antioxidants, regulates cell proliferation, etc., thereby reducing the effects of various hallmarks of cancer. Components of T. foenum-graecum extracts have been found to be effective in alleviating both solid tumours and blood cancers. The milieu of phytochemicals present in T. foenum-graecum has already been shown to have antimicrobial, antioxidant and neuroprotective properties by several studies done in different parts of the world. The current chapter attempts to have a comprehensive look at the potential of various bioactive principles in Trigonella foenum-graecum to be used for the prevention and treatment of cancer. In today's global scenario, where cancer incidences are alarmingly rising, such natural remedies would indeed go a long way in preventing various types of cancer and imparting a better quality of life. 2021 Nova Science Publishers, Inc. -
Conclusion
Digital data produced through data-processing algorithms has fundamental advantages of transportability, proficiency, and accuracy; but on the other hand, the data thus produced brings in several redundancies. To solve this challenging problem with data transmission in network surroundings, research on information security and forensics provides efficient solutions that can shield the privacy, reliability, and accessibility of digital information from malicious intentions. Despite two decades of rigorous research, multicarrier communications still suffer from high complexity and low convergence, which have an immense practical impact. It is also more challenging to ensure proper transmission of multimodal data. Novel techniques have been proposed that can effectively abate these problems and provide good symbol error rate performance. The singularity expansion method provides a superior way to identify targets. This type of method may be useful for addressing contemporary problems faced by radar and antenna researchers. 2021 John Wiley & Sons Ltd. -
Crowdsourcing in Higher Education: Theory and Best Practices
The widespread use of crowdsourcing strategies in higher education institutions improves the performance of students by using collective initiatives to enhance the skills of each student, efficiently optimizes the lecturing process by exchanging and pooling research materials, and also improves the financial situation of alumni by encouraging crowdfunding of tuition. We identify four main areas in this study where the use of crowdsourcing strategies plays an important role in the success of alumni in institutions of higher education. The proposed crowd teaching approach optimizes lecturing, allowing lecture notes to be shared and exchanged according to the various curricula of Higher Education Studies. With crowd learning, students learn by execution on collaborative projects in which different students share (effectively) teaching each other under the guidance of the lecturer, learn the necessary skills to achieve the projects goals and solve the proposed issue. In relation to accessing funding, the tuition fees of students can be financed by crowdsourcing approaches through crowd tuition and even crowdfunding can be used to procure laboratory and classroom content or the learning stays of students abroad. Using this crowdsourcing tool, students can find assistance in paying university taxes and also have an interest in further learning with other students. The application of crowdsourcing to education allows for optimization of the institutions budget and a more effective use of learning time, leading eventually to better outcomes for students. 2021, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG. -
Transforming Financial Sector Through Financial Literacy and Fintech Revolution
The current research focuses on the financial literacy among the women, youth and impact of fin-tech on the socioeconomic well-being of the economy. The researcher has incorporated extensive data mining on financial well-being and assesses the financial literacy along with attitude and behavior for financial knowledge mainly focusing on youth and usage of AI in financial services. It has been observed during research that the benefits of the technology are limited only to the urban areas, but the rural places are not much benefited and therefore more focus is needed for the financial technology to get amalgamated with rural lifestyle for convenience and transparency of financial transactions. This research paper contributes to the awareness of financial literacy and importance of financial reliance for the youth of today through knowledge sharing. The research also highlights the importance of government involvement in financial literacy and creating awareness at a global level for well-being of youth and women. Financial literacy can also improve the rate of entrepreneurs growth and financial decisions. Financial knowledge and fin-tech services can help in better financial decisions and saving culture for self-reliant youth. The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021. -
Healthy healthcare systems in India: A prognosis
India has been an emerging economy which has retained its second position in the global healthcare market that has been tackling its economic gaps, shifting demographics, thereby, facing a wide gap between the demand and supply of healthcare products and services due to technology and increasing cost. Affordable treatment facilities for the economically low strata is still a dream. The government scheme of "Swachh Bharat Abhiyan" and "Ayushman Bharat Yojna" are the steps to uplift the backward community and make all the facilities available to them at the lowest possible cost directly and indirectly. Hence, the objective of this research was to unfold the three pillars of Healthy Healthcare which revolves around healthcare systems in India, Healthcare Employees' wellbeing and resultant patient outcomes. This research also tried studying various interventions that can be taken to improve the present scenario of affordable and quality service to the needy people. Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020. -
Microbial Fuel Cells: The Microbial Route for Bioelectricity
The quest for sustainable energy sources serves as the essential pillar for development of humans since the dawn of civilization. The alarming increase in demand of energy, especially electricity propelled the need to screen for alternative sources of energy over the conventional fossil based non-renewable counterparts. Electricity generation through microbial route functions by the fundamental phenomena of electron transport chain and the microbes operate as the source of energy production utilizing the substrate. Since its initiation, microbial fuel cell has gained a lot of research focus from all over the world. The integration of waste treatment with power generation was highlighted as the most productive and sustainable part of microbial fuel cells. Over the past few decades, a lot of research and development was done on improving the design of fuel cells, searching for cost-effective electrodes and membranes for commercialization. Despite tremendous research done on this domain, its commercialization still faces a lot of hurdles especially once it comes to the overall maintenance and production cost. This chapter summarizes the basic architecture of different microbial fuel cells and the challenges that need to be addressed for making microbial fuel cells a sustainable route for the bioelectricity generation from microorganisms. Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2020. -
Microfinance Sector and the Supportive Role of Regulator in its Transformation: A Case Study from India
Microfinance is a proven business model to deliver financial services to unbanked. In the beginning years of microfinance, Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) were engaged in microfinance initiative and used to raise capital through grants for their microfinance program, similar to other grant-based development initiatives. To become self-sustainable financial institutions, NGOs started to transform their microfinance initiatives to a for-profit legal entity. Microfinance experienced commercialization in the process of transformation which neglected the basics of microfinance, especially in protecting the interest of clients. Supportive role of regulator transformed the Indian microfinance sectors and formed sustainable financial institutions. The successful story of Reserve Bank of Indias (RBI) intervention in shaping Indian microfinance sector counters the argument of free market principle in fixing the interest rate and healthy regulation for microfinance institutions. Supportive role of Reserve Bank of India created win-win situation for both microfinance borrowers, microfinance institutions and other stakeholders for the long-term sustainability. The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021. -
Educational technology at pivotal crossroads
Educational technology startups, commonly referred to as EdTech, combine education and innovative technology to transform school environments and improve student learning outcomes. Set against the backdrop of primary and secondary schools, this exploratory study uncovers the most important factors affecting the growth of EdTech startups in Bengaluru, India. Drawing on Isenberg's Entrepreneurship Ecosystem Model (2010, 2011) this exploratory, qualitative study concludes that "lack of conducive culture, infrastructure support, and finance as well as inadequacies in entrepreneurial approach and value addition" affect the growth of startups in EdTech Entrepreneurial landscape. The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021. All rights reserved. -
Advances in text steganography theory and research: A critical review and gaps
There is an immense advancement in science and technology, and computing systems with the highest degree of security are the present hot topic; however, the domination of hackers and espionage in terms of disclosing the sensitive information are steadily increasing. This chapter presents a theoretical view and critical examination of the few text steganography methods in the contemporary world. It tells the direction in which research has developed over the past few years. Cryptography, the encipherment to a certain extent, protects the data by making it unreadable but not safe. Improvisation of the same can be done using another layer of protection that is steganography in which the secret embedded inside the cover text will not be revealed. 2021, IGI Global. -
Computational statistics of data science for secured software engineering
The chapter focuses on exploring the work done for applying data science for software engineering, focusing on secured software systems development. With requirements management being the first stage of the life cycle, all the approaches that can help security mindset right at the beginning are explored. By exploring the work done in this area, various key themes of security and its data sources are explored, which will mark the setup of base for advanced exploration of the better approaches to make software systems mature. Based on the assessments of some of the work done in this area, possible prospects are explored. This exploration also helps to emphasize the key challenges that are causing trouble for the software development community. The work also explores the possible collaboration across machine learning, deep learning, and natural language processing approaches. The work helps to throw light on critical dimensions of software development where security plays a key role. 2021, IGI Global. -
Application of machine intelligence-based knowledge graphs for software engineering
This chapter focuses on knowledge graphs application in software engineering. It starts with a general exploration of artificial intelligence for software engineering and then funnels down to the area where knowledge graphs can be a good fit. The focus is to put together work done in this area and call out key learning and future aspirations. The knowledge management system's architecture, specific application of the knowledge graph in software engineering like automation of test case creation and aspiring to build a continuous learning system are explored. Understanding the semantics of the knowledge, developing an intelligent development environment, defect prediction with network analysis, and clustering of the graph data are exciting explorations. 2021, IGI Global. -
Digitization and smart tourism: Technological opportunities for luxury tourism and destination image
Commitment to technology, sustainability, innovation, and accessibility has not only improved the quality of life but has also created a niche for luxury tourism with smart tourism eco-space. Smart tourism destinations (STD) need vigorous, well-connected stakeholders with the help of a technological platform for data exchange. Instant data exchange creates extremely large data sets known as big data. This chapter aims to contribute to the understanding on how smart tourism destinations could potentially enhance luxury tourism that is more personalized to meet visitors' unique needs and preferences. Developing smart tourism destinations can be an effective mode to engage all the stakeholders and tourists. In improving destination performance, smart tourism ecosystem applies social media analytics and smart tourism technologies. This chapter aims to relate local area as smart tourism local service systems (S-TLSS) and luxury tourism. 2021 by IGI Global. All rights reserved. -
A secure bio-hash-based multiparty mutual authentication protocol for remote health monitoring applications
Remote health monitoring can benefit a large number of stake holders in healthcare industry, and it has the potential to make healthcare facilities available to a large number of masses at a reduced cost. Wireless Body Area networks (WBAN) comprising of sensors, capable of capturing and transferring physiological parameters of patients, provide an efficient and cost-effective solution for remote health monitoring. Data security is one among the major concerns preventing the widespread adoption of this technology by patients and healthcare sector. This chapter on remote health monitoring, presents a biometric-based authentication protocol. The work also proposes a multiparty mutual authentication protocol for authenticating the entities, such as users, sensors, personal devices, and medical gateway, participating in a WBAN. In the proposed protocol, a verifier table is not required to store the password of users. Formal security analysis and verification of the discussed protocols are performed using Scyther tool, and the results reveal that the protocols are resistant to privileged-administrator resilience attack, man-in-the-middle attack, replay attack, and impersonation attack. The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021. -
An impact of antibacterial efficacy of metal oxide nanoparticles: A promise for future
Since its advent, nanotechnology has seen applications in diverse fields including the biomedical domain. Many metal oxide nanoparticles (NP) have shown good antimicrobial properties. Their small size and ability to inhibit a broad spectrum of bacterial species have made them promising candidates in our search of antimicrobial agents. Since, they don't target a specific protein in a microbial species, the chances of the microbe gaining resistance is also less. This is indeed a great advantage over antibiotics, most of which target specific proteins of bacteria. Most of the pathogenic bacteria have gained resistance against commonly used antibiotics. In this context there is a dire need of antimicrobials with a broader spectrum of action. Metal oxide nanoparticles like: ZnO NPs and CuO NPs easily fit into this category. They can suppress microbial growth by reactive oxygen species production, thereby causing damage to biomolecules, cation release, interactions with membrane and ATP depletion. One of the challenges with metal oxide NP is their cytotoxicity. Scientists are in search of degradable and less toxic metal oxide NP. The current review focuses on the relative advantages and limitations of various metal oxides NPs in inhibiting microbial growth. The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021. All rights reserved. -
Anti-biofilm activities of nanocomposites: Current scopes and limitations
The past few decades have seen revolutions in the applications of nanomaterials in different walks of science. One of the significant applications in healthcare is the use of nanoparticles (NP) in killing both free floating and biofilm forming bacteria. Several nanoparticles like CuO, Fe3O4, TiO2, ZnO, MgO and Al2O3 NPs have been proven to achieve this feature with varying efficacies. A more advanced and efficient way to disrupt bacterial biofilms is the use of nanocomposite (NC) materials to eliminate bacteria. Along with various metal oxides, materials like graphene and chitosan can also be used to create various types of NC. One of the biggest advantages of NP and NC over antibiotics is their ability to circumvent the problem of bacterial resistance. The mechanisms by which NC disrupts biofilms, synthesis and characterization of NC and their relative advantages and limitations are discussed in this chapter. With the ever-increasing incidences of diseases caused by multidrug resistant and biofilm forming bacteria, there is an urgent need to devise materials like nanocomposites with a broader spectrum of action. The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021. All rights reserved. -
Applications of neuroscience in education practices: A research review in cognitive neuroscience
The human brain is the most complex and mysterious organ in the body responsible for learning. Applications of neuroscience and genetics need to be comprehended to modulate teaching and learning practices in education. Considering the scope for application of advanced sciences in education practices, this book chapter simplifies and reviews ten critical research findings relevant for students and teachers for classroom applications and for modulating learning patterns for different age groups. The concept is also relevant for parents and the academic fraternity at large. The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021. All rights reserved. -
Neurocognitive aspects of mathematical achievement in children
Neurocognitive factors, including information integration and executive functioning, contribute significantly to a child's early success in math achievement, even though the significance of home and school environments cannot be ignored. There are only a few studies that have systematically examined how information integration and executive function skills impact different aspects of learning math and math achievement. Using a comprehensive tool such as the brain-Based Intelligence Test (BBIT), a brain-based comprehensive approach to the understanding of cognition, for the assessment of information integration and executive function skills can have significant implications for mathematical education and remediation (brain plasticity). The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021. All rights reserved.