Edge, Shade and Mixed Range Detection by Fuzzy Gaussian Filter for an Autonomous Robot

Extraction of edge, shade and mixed ranges are the first stage in the process of image understanding. This paper highlights the difficulties for a mobile robot to find out these features from a video stream of images transmitted from the robot. As the robot moves through the uneven lighting condition in its surrounding, the image quality differs from point to point. The paper proposes a recursive formulation of fuzzy Gaussian filter, by varying its parameters, i.e., window size and value to get the dominant features of the online video images. The method has been implemented on a client machine for the video images transmitted by the mobile robot Pioneer DX-2. The result shows that the method is suitable for the online images taken in varying lighting conditions.     

Dynamic Analysis of the Arrow Distributed Protocol

Distributed queuing is a fundamental coordination problem that arises in a variety of applications, including distributed directories, totally ordered multicast, and distributed mutual exclusion. The arrow protocol is a solution to distributed queuing that is based on path reversal on a pre-selected spanning tree of the network. We present a novel and comprehensive competitive analysis of the arrow protocol. We consider the total cost of handling a finite number of queuing requests, which may or may not be issued concurrently, and show that the arrow protocol is -competitive to the optimal queuing protocol, where s and D are the stretch and the diameter, respectively, of the spanning tree. In addition, we show that our analysis is almost tight by proving that for every spanning tree chosen for execution, the arrow protocol is -competitive to the optimal queuing protocol. Our analysis reveals an intriguing connection between the arrow protocol and the nearest neighbor traveling salesperson tour on an appropriately defined graph.     

Exploring the potential of complex formation between a mutant DNA and the wild type protein counterpart: a MM and MD simulation approach

We have demonstrated that the methods of molecular modeling and molecular dynamics simulation might be used to assess whether a specific mutation in the DNA would destabilize a known DNA-protein complex. The approach is based on probing the changes in the interaction that would be induced into the complex if within the already formed wild type complex the mutation could be introduced. We have used Hoxc8-DNA complex as a test system where it is known that the Hoxc8 binding affinity of the DNA is completely lost upon mutation of the DNA by replacing TAAT stretch to GCCG. Mutation was obtained by changing the relevant base pairs into the DNA of the model of the corresponding wild type complex developed by homology modeling and MD simulation in water for 2.0 ns. Comparison of the structure, dynamics and interactions between the hypothetical mutant model with those of the similarly refined wild type model shows that the loss of affinity of the mutant DNA to Hoxc8 has two different origins: (i) loss of several strong H-bonds as the direct consequences of mutation and (ii) reduced H-bonds in the common parts due to a net loss or inferior H-bonding geometry induced by the mutation as indirect effects. The net change in the interaction energy between the DNA and the protein in the best possible configuration indicated the experimentally observed destabilization effects. No significant change in the groove width was observed and no correlation was found between the water-bridges and the loss of affinity.     

Novel Technique for Saccharification of Cassava Fibrous Waste for Alcohol Production

A novel technique, involving the hydrolysis of starch present in cassava fibrous waste in shallow layers in stainless steel trays, is developed to facilitate the use of higher slurry concentrations. The use of slurry containing 30% solids, 4% sulphuric acid, 30 min saccharification time at 121°C resulted in the complete conversion of the starch into reducing sugars. The spent residue, after separation of the hydrolysate, contained about 24% of the total sugars formed and these were recovered to the extent of 90–94% by using a counter-current extraction technique. A large scale saccarification of a 75 kg batch gave 75 1 pooled hydrolysate containing 15% reducing sugars. An overall process efficiency of 76.4% was observed with the fermentation of hydrolysate pooled with the counter-current extract for alcohol production. However, fermentation of the whole saccharified pulp without the separation of the hydrolysate and acid-enzyme hydrolysis of the waste gave lower efficiencies.     

Monitoring persistent items in the union of distributed streams

A persistent item in a stream is one that occurs regularly in the stream without necessarily contributing significantly to the volume of the stream. Persistent items are often associated with anomalies in network streams, such as botnet traffic and click fraud. While it is important to track persistent items in an online manner, it is challenging to zero-in on such items in a massive distributed stream. We present the first communication-efficient distributed algorithms for tracking persistent items in a data stream whose elements are partitioned across many different sites. We consider both infinite window and sliding window settings, and present algorithms that can track persistent items approximately with a probabilistic guarantee on the approximation error. Our algorithms have a provably low communication cost, and a low rate of false positives and false negatives, with a high probability. We present detailed results from an experimental evaluation that show the communication cost is small, and that the false positive and false negative rates are typically much lower than theoretical guarantees.     

Critical evaluation of references in drug advertisements: an Indian experience

Drug advertisements have important effect in prescribing habits of physicians. WHO states that all the claims in drug advertisements should be supported by suitable documentary evidences (references). The present study evaluated citations (mentioned/not mentioned), sources (journals, books, conferences/symposia, personal testimonial, unpublished data in file) and adequacy (complete/incomplete) of the references in 585 drug advertisements supplied by medical detail persons to different clinical departments of our hospital. The references were cited only in 37.9% of the drug advertisements. In total, 1032 references (76% of journals, 15% of books, 2% of conferences/symposia, 4% of personal testimonials, 1% of unpublished data and 2% of data in file) were cited. Only 10% references of journals, 7% of books and 12% of conferences/symposia were found complete (according to standard bibliographic norms). The current situation can be improved if the government, industry and the prescribers formulate some guidelines for the mentioning of adequate references in drug advertisements.     

Techno-economic feasibility of ethanol production from fresh cassava tubers in comparison to dry cassava chips

The use of unpeeled and peeled fresh cassava tubers for the production of ethanol indicated that the extent of liquefaction and saccharification is comparable to that of dry chips. However, the fermentation efficiencies were lower by about 13 and 2% with the use of fresh unpeeled and peeled tubers respectively. The use of unpeeled tubers can be ruled out due to viscous mass formation after saccharification and consequent resistance in solid-liquid separation. The viscosity of the hydrolysed slurry of peeled tubers was nearly the double and the recovery of hydrolysate was lower by 5% as compared to those with dry chips. Additional machinery, land and building are also essential for processing fresh tubers in harvest season. These will involve heavy depreciation and financial expenses due to idling over eight months when the plant will have to depend on dry chips. The studies establish that the gain obtainable due to differences in the cost of fresh tubers and dry chips is surpassed by various techno-economic factors.     

Comparison of the yield and quality of cheese made with calf-rennet and treated enzyme preparations of Rhizopus oligosporus as coagulants

The curd working properties and chemical compositions of Cheddar cheese prepared with different enzyme preparations of Rhizopus oligosporus No. 1104 were compared with calf-rennet cheese. Three coagulants derived from R. oligosporus exoenzyme: heat treated (HT), aluminium trioxide adsorbed (ATA) and heated and aluminium trioxide adsorbed (HATA), having considerably less proteolytic activity were used along with crude enzyme (RO) for cheese making. These enzyme preparations did not affect significantly the renneting time, acidity development, fat loss in whey and the yields of green cheese as compared to calf-rennet, but they did show higher proteolysis and lipolysis. Cheese made with these enzymes graded slightly inferior in the organoleptic qualities to calf-rennet cheese. However, in the early stages of ripening these cheese exhibited body and flavour closer to calf-rennet cheese.