Efficient Metal-Free Catalytic Reduction of Nitro to Amine Over Carbon Sheets Doped with Nitrogen

Catalysis Letters - A highly efficient nitrogen-doped carbon sheet-like material (NCS) is developed via simple pyrolysis of β-cyclodextrin and urea at different temperatures. The effect of the...     

Region-based hybrid medical image watermarking for secure telemedicine applications

In this paper we propose a novel region based hybrid medical image watermarking (MIW) scheme to ensure authenticity, integrity and confidentiality of medical images. In this scheme a digital medical image is partitioned into region of interest (ROI) and the region of non interest (RONI). To detect and localize ROI tampering with high accuracy pixel wise positional and relational bits are calculated. Positional bit is calculated with respect to MSBs, row and column of the pixel. Relational bit shows the relation between MSBs. Two original LSBs of each ROI pixel are replace by their corresponding positional and relational bits. Original LSBs of ROI pixels are concatenated and embedded in RONI for ROI recovery in the case of tampering. Multiple watermarks i.e. electronic patient record (EPR), hospitals logo and LSBs of ROI are embedded simultaneously as a robust watermark in RONI using IWT-SVD hybrid transform. The proposed scheme is blind and free from false positive detection. Various experiments have been carried out on different medical imaging modalities to evaluate the performance of the proposed scheme in terms of imperceptibility, robustness, tamper detection, localization, recovery and computation time. ROI tampering is detected and recovered with high accuracy. Thus, the proposed scheme is effective in telemedicine applications.

     

Multimedia tool as a predictor for social media advertising- a YouTube way

Multimedia has embraced the marketing industry with its innovative tools. Advertising as a part of marketing is not an exception. Social media is one of its tools which is growing with an accelerating speed and facilitating meaningful participation. YouTube is the second largest search engine after Google and is considered to leverage its features to provide nothing but the best to its users. Marketers of beauty products have also realized its potential and are using YouTube as a powerful marketing tool. The paper attempts to evaluate importance of YouTube as a multimedia tool. Content analysis of hundred YouTube advertisements of the beauty segment has been done to identify their critical success factors like Audio content (sound saturation, background music, loud and fast music, sound effects), Visual Category (No. of cuts, visual effects, intense imagery, slow motion, bold/ unusual colours), Content category (acted out, unexpected format, surprise ending), Message Appeals (Rational, Fear, Social, Youth, Statistics, Bandwagon and Celebrity Appeal) and viewers’ response through the number of views and likes. Accordingly, a framework has been proposed that may be useful for the managers who develop promotional strategies for the organizations. AIDA model has been used to validate the framework.     

A Simple Method for Synthesis of S-Doped TiO2 of High Photocatalytic Activity

S-doped TiO₂ samples were synthesized by use of thiourea. The elemental analysis was confirmed by X-ray fluorescence, the phases were identified by X-ray diffraction and further characterization was carried out by surface area measurement and UV–Vis spectroscopy. The photocatalytic activity was measured by exposing methylene blue to sunlight in the presence of TiO₂. It was observed that the S-doped anatase phase showed high photocatalytic activity in comparison to other samples.     

Study of electrochemically grown copper indium diselenide (CIS) thin films for photovoltaic applications

CIS thin films have been grown electrochemically from an aqueous electrolyte at room temperature on fluorine doped tin oxide coated glass substrate at different deposition potentials ranging from ?0.7 to ?1.0 V versus Ag/AgCl reference electrode. Cyclic voltammetry was studied at slow scan rate to optimize the deposition potential. The thin film samples were selenized in a tubular furnace at 400 °C for 20 min. X-ray diffraction and Raman analysis was used to study the structural properties. Optical absorption, scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDAX) have been used to investigate the band-gap, surface morphology and compositional analysis. Electrical properties were studied with the help of current–voltage measurements. Conductivity type for CIS thin films was studied by using photo-electrochemical study. The prominent reflections (112), (204/220) and (312/116) of tetragonal chalcopyrite CIS have been revealed for all as-grown and selenized samples. The energy band gap of the selenized CIS thin film deposited at various deposition potentials was found to be ~1.03 to 1.24 eV. Granular, uniform and void free surface was observed in as-prepared sample, while large clusters were noticed in selenized samples. EDAX results reveal that the stoichiometric CIS thin film are deposited ?0.8 V, however, Cu-rich and In-rich CIS layers were grown at lower and higher cathodic deposition potentials, deviated from ?0.8 V. The values ideality factor (η) calculated from I–V measurements were found to be decreased upon selenization. The Raman spectra of stoichiometric CIS thin film shows dominant A1 mode with spectral features sensitive to the microcrystalline quality of the layers. A ordered defect compound layer and secondary phases of CuSe are observed in In-rich and Cu-rich CIS layers, respectively.     

Efficacy of Artabotrys odoratissimus oil as a plant based antimicrobial against storage fungi and aflatoxin B1 secretion

The essential oil of Artabotrys odoratissimus R.Br. was evaluated for antifungal activity against some storage fungi causing contamination of food stuffs. Minimum inhibitory concentration of the oil was found to be 750 μL L⁻¹ against Aspergillus flavus Link. It was found superior over different prevalent synthetic fungicides which inhibited the growth of A. flavus between 1000–5000 μL L⁻¹. The oil exhibited broad fungitoxic spectrum against fourteen different storage fungi. Aspergillus fumigatus was inhibited at 1000 μL L⁻¹ whereas Cladosporium cladosporioides , Curvularia lunata , Fusarium oxysporum , Helminthosporium oryzae , Macrophomina phaseolina , Microsporum gypseum , Mucor racemosus , Penicillium italicum , Pythium debaryanum , Rhizoctonia solani , Sclerotium rolfsii and Trichoderma viride at 500 μL L⁻¹. Aspergillus niger was found to be inhibited only 84.9% at 1000 μL L⁻¹. In addition, the oil showed significant efficacy in arresting aflatoxin B₁ secretion by the toxigenic strain (Navjot 4NSt) of A. flavus at 750 μL L⁻¹. The efficacy of A. odoratissimus oil as aflatoxin suppressor is being reported for the first time.     

Design and Implementation of Hybrid Compression Algorithm for Personal Health Care Big Data Applications

Wireless Personal Communications - Advanced telemedicine requires the gathering of big data through wireless body area network or internet of things based applications. These networks perform...