Showing papers by "Amit Joshi published in 2016"

Breast Cancer Risk From Modifiable and Nonmodifiable Risk Factors Among White Women in the United States.

Abstract: Importance An improved model for risk stratification can be useful for guiding public health strategies of breast cancer prevention. Objective To evaluate combined risk stratification utility of common low penetrant single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and epidemiologic risk factors. Design, Setting, and Participants Using a total of 17 171 cases and 19 862 controls sampled from the Breast and Prostate Cancer Cohort Consortium (BPC3) and 5879 women participating in the 2010 National Health Interview Survey, a model for predicting absolute risk of breast cancer was developed combining information on individual level data on epidemiologic risk factors and 24 genotyped SNPs from prospective cohort studies, published estimate of odds ratios for 68 additional SNPs, population incidence rate from the National Cancer Institute-Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Program cancer registry and data on risk factor distribution from nationally representative health survey. The model is used to project the distribution of absolute risk for the population of white women in the United States after adjustment for competing cause of mortality. Exposures Single nucleotide polymorphisms, family history, anthropometric factors, menstrual and/or reproductive factors, and lifestyle factors. Main Outcomes and Measures Degree of stratification of absolute risk owing to nonmodifiable (SNPs, family history, height, and some components of menstrual and/or reproductive history) and modifiable factors (body mass index [BMI; calculated as weight in kilograms divided by height in meters squared], menopausal hormone therapy [MHT], alcohol, and smoking). Results The average absolute risk for a 30-year-old white woman in the United States developing invasive breast cancer by age 80 years is 11.3%. A model that includes all risk factors provided a range of average absolute risk from 4.4% to 23.5% for women in the bottom and top deciles of the risk distribution, respectively. For women who were at the lowest and highest deciles of nonmodifiable risks, the 5th and 95th percentile range of the risk distribution associated with 4 modifiable factors was 2.9% to 5.0% and 15.5% to 25.0%, respectively. For women in the highest decile of risk owing to nonmodifiable factors, those who had low BMI, did not drink or smoke, and did not use MHT had risks comparable to an average woman in the general population. Conclusions and Relevance This model for absolute risk of breast cancer including SNPs can provide stratification for the population of white women in the United States. The model can also identify subsets of the population at an elevated risk that would benefit most from risk-reduction strategies based on altering modifiable factors. The effectiveness of this model for individual risk communication needs further investigation.

VCP recruitment to mitochondria causes mitophagy impairment and neurodegeneration in models of Huntington’s disease

Abstract: Mutant Huntingtin (mtHtt) causes neurodegeneration in Huntington's disease (HD) by evoking defects in the mitochondria, but the underlying mechanisms remains elusive. Our proteomic analysis identifies valosin-containing protein (VCP) as an mtHtt-binding protein on the mitochondria. Here we show that VCP is selectively translocated to the mitochondria, where it is bound to mtHtt in various HD models. Mitochondria-accumulated VCP elicits excessive mitophagy, causing neuronal cell death. Blocking mtHtt/VCP mitochondrial interaction with a peptide, HV-3, abolishes VCP translocation to the mitochondria, corrects excessive mitophagy and reduces cell death in HD mouse- and patient-derived cells and HD transgenic mouse brains. Treatment with HV-3 reduces behavioural and neuropathological phenotypes of HD in both fragment- and full-length mtHtt transgenic mice. Our findings demonstrate a causal role of mtHtt-induced VCP mitochondrial accumulation in HD pathogenesis and suggest that the peptide HV-3 might be a useful tool for developing new therapeutics to treat HD.

A Cross-Cancer Genetic Association Analysis of the DNA Repair and DNA Damage Signaling Pathways for Lung, Ovary, Prostate, Breast, and Colorectal Cancer.

Abstract: Background: Though DNA damage is an established mediator of carcinogenesis, GWAS have identified few significant loci, associated with cancer predisposition, within DNA repair gene regions. This cross-cancer site, pooled analysis was performed to increase the power to detect common variants of DNA repair genes associated with cancer susceptibility. Methods:We conducted a cross-cancer analysis of 60,297 SNPs, at 229 DNA repair gene regions, using data from the NCI Genetic Associations and Mechanisms in Oncology (GAME-ON) Network. Our analysis included data from 32 GWAS and 48,734 controls and 51,537 cases across five cancer sites (breast, colon, lung, ovary, and prostate). Meta-analysis was performed using the Association analysis for SubSETs (ASSET) software package. To test for genetic associations that might escape individual variant testing due to small effect sizes, pathway analysis of eight DNA repair pathways was performed using hierarchical modeling. Results: We identified three susceptibility DNA repair genes, RAD51B (p < 5.09 x 10-6), MSH5 (p < 5.09 x 10-6) and BRCA2 (p = 5.70 x 10-6). Hierarchical modeling identified several pleiotropic associations with cancer risk in the base excision repair, nucleotide excision repair, mismatch repair, and homologous recombination pathways. Conclusions: Only three individual susceptibility loci were identified, which had all been previously reported. In contrast, hierarchical modeling identified several pleiotropic cancer risk associations in key DNA repair pathways. Impact: These data suggest that many common variants in DNA repair genes are likely associated with cancer susceptibility through small effect sizes that do not meet stringent significance testing criteria.

Visceral Adiposity, Genetic Susceptibility, and Risk of Complications Among Individuals with Crohn's Disease.

Abstract: Introduction: Adipose tissue in mesenteric fat plays a key role in systemic and luminal inflammation through production of Tumor Necrosis Factor-α (TNF-α) and inhibition of adiponectin, an anti-inflammatory cytokine, in patients with Crohn's disease (CD). However, little is known about the role of visceral adipose tissue (VAT) and its interaction with genetic predisposition on CD progression. We therefore sought to examine the association between VAT and its interaction with genetic susceptibility on risk of CD complications. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study of CD patients enrolled in Prospective Registry in Inflammatory Bowel Disease Study at Massachusetts General Hospital (PRISM). Information on diagnosis of CD and its complications were collected and confirmed through review of medical records. VAT volume was measured from CT scans prior to development of disease complications, using Aquarius 3D (TeraRecon Inc., version 4.4.12). A genetic risk score was calculated using previously reported single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) associated genome-wide with CD susceptibility. We used logistic regression models to estimate the multivariable-adjusted odds ratio (MV-adjusted OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) while adjusting for age at diagnosis, duration of disease, body mass index (BMI), and smoking. We evaluated for effect modification by genetic predisposition using multiplicative interaction terms. Results: Among 470 CD patients with available data on VAT, 73 required surgery, 57 with penetrating disease, 60 with stricturing disease, and 143 with perianal disease. The risk of surgery appeared to increase with higher VAT volume (Ptrend = 0.007). Specifically, compared to individuals in the lowest quartile of VAT volume (≤ 904 cm3), the MV-adjusted OR of surgery among individuals in the highest quartile (> 3809 cm3) was 5.75 (95% CI, 1.61-20.56). We did not observe an association between VAT volume and risk of penetrating, structuring, or perianal disease (All Ptrend > 0.40). We also explored the possibility that the effect of VAT on CD complications may be modified by genetic predisposition as assessed by genetic risk score and observed no effect modification (All Pinteraction > 0.25). Conclusions: In this cohort of patients with CD, we show that VAT volume measured prior to development of disease complications may be associated with a significantly increase in risk of surgery. Taken together with previous findings that BMI is not associated with risk of CD complications, our data suggest that visceral adiposity as measured by VAT and not total obesity, may negatively impact long-term progression of CD. (Figure Presented).

Identification and characterization of a novel association between dietary potassium and risk of Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis

Abstract: Background: Recent animal studies have identified that dietary salt intake may modify the risk and progression of autoimmune disorders through modulation of the IL23/TH17 pathway, which is critical in the pathogenesis of ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn’s disease (CD). Methods: We conducted a prospective study of U.S. women enrolled in the Nurses’ Health Study (NHS) and NHSII who provided detailed and validated information on diet and lifestyle beginning in 1984 in NHS and 1991 in NHSII. We confirmed incident cases of UC and CD reported through 2010 in NHS and 2011 in NHSII. We used Cox proportional hazards models to calculate hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). In a case-control study nested within these cohorts, we evaluated the interaction between single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in genes involved in TH17 pathway and dietary potassium on risk of CD and UC. In a cohort of healthy volunteers, we also assessed the effect of supplemental potassium on development of naive and memory T cells, differentiated with TGFβ1 or TH17 conditions. Results: Among a total of 194,711 women over a follow up of 3,220,247 person-years, we documented 273 cases of CD and 335 cases of UC. Dietary intake of potassium (Ptrend = 0.005) but not sodium (Ptrend = 0.44) was inversely associated with risk of CD. Although, both dietary potassium and sodium were not significantly associated with risk of UC, there was a suggestion of an inverse association with dietary potassium (Ptrend = 0.08). The association of potassium with risk of CD and UC appeared to be modified by loci involved in the TH17 pathway that have previously been associated with susceptibility to CD, particularly SNP rs7657746 (IL21) (Pinteraction = 0.004 and 0.01, respectively). In vitro, potassium enhanced the expression of Foxp3 in both naive and memory CD4+ T cells via activating Smad2/3 and inhibiting Smad7 in TH17 cells. Conclusion: Dietary potassium is inversely associated with risk of CD with both in vitro and gene-environment interaction data suggesting a potential role for potassium in regulating immune tolerance through its effect on Tregs and TH17 pathway.

Telomere structure and maintenance gene variants and risk of five cancer types

Abstract: Telomeres cap chromosome ends, protecting them from degradation, double-strand breaks, and end-to-end fusions. Telomeres are maintained by telomerase, a reverse transcriptase encoded by TERT, and an RNA template encoded by TERC. Loci in the TERT and adjoining CLPTM1L region are associated with risk of multiple cancers. We therefore investigated associations between variants in 22 telomere structure and maintenance gene regions and colorectal, breast, prostate, ovarian, and lung cancer risk. We performed subset-based meta-analyses of 204,993 directly-measured and imputed SNPs among 61,851 cancer cases and 74,457 controls of European descent. Independent associations for SNP minor alleles were identified using sequential conditional analysis (with gene-level p value cutoffs ≤3.08 × 10-5 ). Of the thirteen independent SNPs observed to be associated with cancer risk, novel findings were observed for seven loci. Across the DCLRE1B region, rs974494 and rs12144215 were inversely associated with prostate and lung cancers, and colorectal, breast, and prostate cancers, respectively. Across the TERC region, rs75316749 was positively associated with colorectal, breast, ovarian, and lung cancers. Across the DCLRE1B region, rs974404 and rs12144215 were inversely associated with prostate and lung cancers, and colorectal, breast, and prostate cancers, respectively. Near POT1, rs116895242 was inversely associated with colorectal, ovarian, and lung cancers, and RTEL1 rs34978822 was inversely associated with prostate and lung cancers. The complex association patterns in telomere-related genes across cancer types may provide insight into mechanisms through which telomere dysfunction in different tissues influences cancer risk.

Potential biomarkers to follow the progression and treatment response of Huntington’s disease

Abstract: Huntington's disease (HD) is a rare genetic disease caused by expanded polyglutamine repeats in the huntingtin protein resulting in selective neuronal loss. Although genetic testing readily identifies those who will be affected, current pharmacological treatments do not prevent or slow down disease progression. A major challenge is the slow clinical progression and the inability to biopsy the affected tissue, the brain, making it difficult to design short and effective proof of concept clinical trials to assess treatment benefit. In this study, we focus on identifying peripheral biomarkers that correlate with the progression of the disease and treatment benefit. We recently developed an inhibitor of pathological mitochondrial fragmentation, P110, to inhibit neurotoxicity in HD. Changes in levels of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) and inflammation markers in plasma, a product of DNA oxidation in urine, mutant huntingtin aggregates, and 4-hydroxynonenal adducts in muscle and skin tissues were all noted in HD R6/2 mice relative to wild-type mice. Importantly, P110 treatment effectively reduced the levels of these biomarkers. Finally, abnormal levels of mtDNA were also found in plasma of HD patients relative to control subjects. Therefore, we identified several potential peripheral biomarkers as candidates to assess HD progression and the benefit of intervention for future clinical trials.

The Role of Mitochondrial Aldehyde Dehydrogenase 2 (ALDH2) in Neuropathology and Neurodegeneration.

Abstract: Aldehydes-induced toxicity has been implicated in many neurodegenerative diseases. Exposure to reactive aldehydes from (1) alcohol and food metabolism; (2) environmental pollutants, including car, factory exhausts, smog, pesticides, herbicides; (3) metabolism of neurotransmitters, amino acids and (4) lipid peroxidation of biological membrane from excessive ROS, all contribute to 'aldehydic load' that has been linked to the pathology of neurodegenerative diseases. In particular, the α, β-unsaturated aldehydes derived from lipid peroxidation, 4-hydroxynonenal (4-HNE), DOPAL (MAO product of dopamine), malondialdehyde, acrolein and acetaldehyde, all readily form chemical adductions with proteins, DNA and lipids, thus causing neurotoxicity. Mitochondrial aldehyde dehydrogenase 2 (ALDH 2) is a major aldehyde metabolizing enzyme that protects against deleterious aldehyde buildup in brain, a tissue that has a particularly high mitochondrial content. In this review, we highlight the deleterious effects of increased aldehydic load in the neuropathology of ischemic stroke, Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease. We also discuss evidence for the association between ALDH2 deficiency, a common East Asianspecific mutation, and these neuropathologies. A novel class of small molecule aldehyde dehydrogenase activators (Aldas), represented by Alda-1, reduces neuronal cell death in models of ischemic stroke, Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease. Together, these data suggest that reducing aldeydic load by enhancing the activity of aldehyde dehydrogenases, such as ALDH2, represents as a therapeutic strategy for neurodegenerative diseases.

Clinical Outcome in Definitive Concurrent Chemoradiation With Weekly Paclitaxel and Carboplatin for Locally Advanced Esophageal and Junctional Cancer.

Abstract: There are little data on the efficacy and safety of taxane/platinum with definitive radiotherapy (RT) for esophageal/GEJ cancer. This article is a retrospective analysis of patients who received weekly paclitaxel 50 mg/m(2) and carboplatin AUC 2 with radical definitive RT for locally advanced esophageal/GEJ cancer. Between February 2011 and July 2014, 179 patients were included. The median age was 54 years. Ninety-two percent of patients had squamous histology. Mean RT dose was 58.7 Gy in 32 fractions over 53 days, with mean of six chemotherapy cycles. Fifty-six percent of patients developed ≥grade 3 acute toxicities, commonly febrile neutropenia (12%) and infection (11%); ≥grade 3 laboratory abnormalities included hyponatremia (38%), leukopenia (49%), neutropenia (27%), and anemia (16%). Twelve percent of patients developed ≥grade 3 chronic toxicity. Fatal toxicities included six during CRT, eight within 30 days of completing CRT, and three chronic. Radiologic response was 49% (CR 5.6%, PR 43%). Follow-up endoscopy showed remission in 53% and residual disease in 14%. At a median follow-up of 28 months, median PFS was 11 months (95% CI: 8-13.9), median OS was 19 months (95% CI: 15.4-22.6), and estimated 1-year, 2-year, and 3-year survivals were 70%, 47%, and 39%, respectively. Weekly paclitaxel-carboplatin concurrently with definitive RT is efficacious with manageable toxicity. [The trial was registered with the Clinical Trials Registry-India (CTRI), registration number: CTRI/2014/07/004776.].

FPGA prototyping of video watermarking for ownership verification based on H.264/AVC

Abstract: Digital video watermarking has drawn the attention towards authentication and proof of ownership. Uncompressed domain watermarking has flourished over the years and related algorithms have been implemented on the software platform. Software watermarking algorithms work offline where videos are captured through device and embedding algorithms run on a PC that is used to embed the watermark in the original video content. It doesn't suffice real time requirements because of the delay that takes place between capturing and embedding the watermark. This delay involvement is more prone to attacks. Thus, it is essential to develop the system where the watermark gets embedded at the same time when video is being captured. In this paper, an efficient watermark embedding process has been portrayed which is suited to H.264/AVC standard. The proposed algorithm introduces the concept of scene change detection based on Integer Discrete Cosine Transform (Integer-DCT) using scene change detection. The different frames of a scene are embedded with different bit planes of the same watermark in order to improve the performance against temporal attacks. The algorithm is validated on the MATLAB platform and is prototyped on FPGA to show its feasibility for real-time application.

Physical activity from menarche to first pregnancy and risk of breast cancer.

Abstract: Breast tissue is particularly susceptible to exposures between menarche and first pregnancy, and a longer interval between these reproductive events is associated with elevated breast cancer risk. Physical activity during this time period may offset breast cancer risk, particularly for those at highest risk with longer menarche-to-first-pregnancy intervals. We used data from 65,576 parous women in the Nurses' Health Study II free of cancer in 1989 (baseline) and recalled their leisure-time physical activity at ages 12-34 in 1997. Current activity was collected at baseline and over follow-up. Relative risks (RRs) were estimated using multivariable Cox proportional hazards regression models. Between 1989 and 2011, 2,069 invasive breast cancer cases were identified. Total recreational activity between menarche and first pregnancy was not significantly associated with the risk of breast cancer. However, physical activity between menarche and first pregnancy was associated with significantly lower breast cancer risk among women in the highest category of a menarche-to first-pregnancy interval (≥20 years; RR for the highest versus the lowest quartile = 0.73, 95% confidence interval = 0.55-0.97; Ptrend = 0.045; Pinteraction = 0.048). This was not observed in women with a shorter interval. Physical activity between menarche and first pregnancy was associated with a lower risk of breast cancer among women with at least 20 years between these reproductive events. This may provide a modifiable factor that women can intervene on to mitigate their breast cancer risk associated with a longer interval.

Red meat, poultry, and fish intake and breast cancer risk among Hispanic and Non-Hispanic white women: The Breast Cancer Health Disparities Study.

Abstract: There is suggestive but limited evidence for a relationship between meat intake and breast cancer (BC) risk. Few studies included Hispanic women. We investigated the association between meats and fish intake and BC risk among Hispanic and NHW women. The study included NHW (1,982 cases and 2,218 controls) and the US Hispanics (1,777 cases and 2,218 controls) from two population-based case–control studies. Analyses considered menopausal status and percent Native American ancestry. We estimated pooled ORs combining harmonized data from both studies, and study- and race-/ethnicity-specific ORs that were combined using fixed or random effects models, depending on heterogeneity levels. When comparing highest versus lowest tertile of intake, among NHW we observed an association between tuna intake and BC risk (pooled OR 1.25; 95 % CI 1.05–1.50; trend p = 0.006). Among Hispanics, we observed an association between BC risk and processed meat intake (pooled OR 1.42; 95 % CI 1.18–1.71; trend p < 0.001), and between white meat (OR 0.80; 95 % CI 0.67–0.95; trend p = 0.01) and BC risk, driven by poultry. All these findings were supported by meta-analysis using fixed or random effect models and were restricted to estrogen receptor-positive tumors. Processed meats and poultry were not associated with BC risk among NHW women; red meat and fish were not associated with BC risk in either race/ethnic groups. Our results suggest the presence of ethnic differences in associations between meat and BC risk that may contribute to BC disparities.

DWT-DCT based blind audio watermarking using Arnold scrambling and Cyclic codes

Abstract: Currently over the millions of digital audio files such as digital songs are copied illegally during file-sharing over the networks. It has resulted as the loss of revenue for music and broadcasting industries. The traditional protection schemes are no longer useful to protect copyright and ownership of multimedia objects. These challenges have prompted significant research in digital audio watermarking for protection and authentication. It helps to prevent forgery and impersonation of audio signal. In this paper, a novel audio watermarking based algorithm is proposed using Discrete Wavelet Transform (DWT) and Discrete Cosine Transform (DCT). Furthermore, the Arnold transform and error correction technique are utilized to improve the performance of proposed algorithm. The performance is measured using Bit Error Rate (BER), Peak Sound to Noise Ratio (PSNR) and Structural Similarity Index (SSIM) between the extracted watermark and original watermark. The experimental results show excellent resilience against typical signal processing attacks compared to the previous algorithm. The performance is improved in terms of BER for 0–3.9%, PSNR higher than 62-db and Structural Similarity Index (SSIM) from 0.99 to 1.

FPGA implementation of advanced Encryption Standard algorithm

Abstract: An AES is the most popular security algorithm and it is required to improve the performance of AES with increasing the demand of internet security. AES is a symmetric key algorithm in which only one key is requires for encryption and decryption process, key must be same. The AES implementation is possible for software and hardware but hardware implementation has better speed in comparison to software. In the proposed work, we implemented AES on FPGA as it provides reconfigurable hardware to verify the real-time implementation. The proposed design uses repetitive looping method with 128 bits block size and key size. AES implementation of our design is also compared with other designs to show the hardware utilization.

Design and implementation of a high speed digital FIR filter using unfolding

Abstract: The paper presents the design and implementation of a high speed digital Finite Impulse Response (FIR) filter using unfolding transformation technique. FIR Filter has widespread applications in signal processing such as image processing, biomedical signal processing, high speed communication systems, noise elimination and many more. The speed of FIR filter can be improved with high speed vedic multiplier and with low propagation delay carry increment adder. In the proposed design, the FIR filter is unfolded by a factor 3 which results in scheduling the filter to a smaller iteration period and along with this throughput of the filter also increases. The propagation delay is reduced to almost three times in FIR filter by using faster adder, high speed multiplier and unfolding transformation technique. We have synthesized the proposed design on Xilinx ISE 14.7 with Virtex IV FPGA family. The obtained results also confirm the faster performance of the FIR filter.

Analysis of compressive sensing for non stationary music signal

Abstract: Compressive Sensing (CS) is the key method to reconstruct the signal with very few number of measurements as compared to conventional methods. According to the conventional Shannon-Nyquist sampling theory, the signal has to sample twice the bandwidth in order to have the proper reconstruction. It is required to store a large amount of data according to the conventional method. CS helps to resolve this issue with two important parameters such as the measurement matrix and the basis matrix. They should satisfy two properties which are Restricted Isometric Property (RIP) and Independent and Identically Distributed (IID). There are various reconstruction algorithms which are useful for the proper recovery of the signal after applying the CS technique. The work is carried out on different types of audible signals which are non-stationary in the nature. For the single tone audio signal, the value of SNR is quiet good. Whereas the SNR value of the music signal and the instrumental signal has been degraded because of the single tone frequency component. The value of RIP constant varies with the change in number of measurements.

Fingerprint based biometric watermarking architecture using integer DCT

Abstract: The recent growth in multimedia technologies has simplified the ways for the transmission, reproduction and manipulation of data. This has raised the concern over security issues of the data transmitted over the channel. Watermarking is the practice of embedding information into multimedia object for authentication and ownership identification. In present time, biometric identification has acquired much attention because of its distinctiveness and reliability. The fingerprints are believed to be one of the most popular biometric scheme. In the paper, the image watermarking algorithm is developed where fingerprint based biometric identification is inserted for authentication. The robustness and invisibility of the proposed method is confirmed on MATLAB platform. The payload of the proposed algorithm is higher than other existing scheme where watermark is embedded in each three color components of an RGB image. The algorithm is synthesized on Virtex 7 FPGA family using Xilinx ISE 14.7 to verify the hardware performance.

Internet of Things: A Beginners’ Précis and Future Scope

Abstract: Background/Objectives: The chief objective of this paper is to enlighten the society, especially youth and beginners, about the Internet of Things paradigm and its applications in various scenarios. Methods/Statistical analysis: The methodology adapted to study the objective and the various incorporating technologies is through extensive literature survey. Several journals, research papers, handbooks and published articles had been referred to during the course of elaboration of this paper. The Internet has been a valuable asset for the study of the emerging terminologies. Findings: The major findings from this study are mentioned - Applications of IoT: The Internet of Things finds its applications in various scenarios ranging from individual level, like as house security, utilities, and personalization to global level, like automated machines and systems, traffic monitoring system, smart rescue facilitation systems. Advantages and disadvantages of employment of IoT: The employment of IoT features the advantages like ubiquitous network, connected computing, reduction of efforts, and economy of energy and currency, whereas the disadvantages are privacy issues, compatibility issues, security threats and complexity. Challenges and Future scopes: The developments in IoT paradigm still face challenges like security of data, data management, and network architecture. The existence of these challenges breed the future scopes in the development of IoT based systems, like increased security, efficient data management, and enhanced architectures. The exposure to these findings shall spark new ideas towards overcoming the challenges faced in development and support the development of new IoT based systems. Application/Improvements: The purpose of this paper is also to cater these findings for future references for knowledge addition, and to give insights towards development of smart systems for a sustainable environment.

Blind Image Watermarking of Variable Block Size for Copyright Protection

Abstract: The development of multimedia technology has paved a way for rapid and fast communication. Various multimedia objects are transmitted through Internet once they have been captured. This has lifted up the concern over secure communication and also copyright protection issue. It is likely a case for the creator to be in dilemma whether the data had reached the intended person with all its imbibes integrity or not. Watermarking is an art of hiding owner’s signature in terms of text, audio, video, or image to prove the authenticity of an owner. This serves as safeguard for the originator in case of any misshape. In this paper, an efficient and blind watermark embedding method has been developed using Haar wavelet. The binary logo is used as a watermark that carries a sequence of zeros and ones. The single bit of watermark is embedded in k block size of the original image. The proposed scheme shows an excellent performance and has admirable robustness against various attacks.

Interactions between breast cancer susceptibility loci and menopausal hormone therapy in relationship to breast cancer in the Breast and Prostate Cancer Cohort Consortium

Abstract: Current use of menopausal hormone therapy (MHT) has important implications for postmenopausal breast cancer risk, and observed associations might be modified by known breast cancer susceptibility loci. To provide the most comprehensive assessment of interactions of prospectively collected data on MHT and 17 confirmed susceptibility loci with invasive breast cancer risk, a nested case-control design among eight cohorts within the NCI Breast and Prostate Cancer Cohort Consortium was used. Based on data from 13,304 cases and 15,622 controls, multivariable-adjusted logistic regression analyses were used to estimate odds ratios (OR) and 95 % confidence intervals (CI). Effect modification of current and past use was evaluated on the multiplicative scale. P values <1.5 × 10(-3) were considered statistically significant. The strongest evidence of effect modification was observed for current MHT by 9q31-rs865686. Compared to never users of MHT with the rs865686 GG genotype, the association between current MHT use and breast cancer risk for the TT genotype (OR 1.79, 95 % CI 1.43-2.24; P interaction = 1.2 × 10(-4)) was less than expected on the multiplicative scale. There are no biological implications of the sub-multiplicative interaction between MHT and rs865686. Menopausal hormone therapy is unlikely to have a strong interaction with the common genetic variants associated with invasive breast cancer.

VLSI implementation of 3D integer DCT for video coding standards

Abstract: The paper presents a VLSI architecture of three dimensional discrete cosine transform (3D DCT) for video recent compression. By making use of the separability property of DCT, the 3D DCT is decomposed into 1D DCTs computed in each of the three dimensions. Each 1D DCT is carried out as an integer DCT using the butterfly structure. It is useful for reducing the computation time and also makes our structure fully modular. Finally, we have achieved compression by element multiplication of 3D DCT output with quantization matrix and then zigzag coding of the resultant output. The proposed method is implemented in Xilinx 14.7 software using Verilog and the results are verified by its MATLAB implementation. The result computes the mean square error and similarity factor for the original frames and reconstructed frames from the standard videos. The results show the comparable performance of proposed 3D DCT and helps in efficient implementation of video coding standard.

Response to Day et al.

Abstract: To the Editor: Day et al. present a striking example of how adjusting for heritable covariates correlated with the outcome in a genetic association study can bias genetic effect estimates—possibly creating a strong association where genotype has no causal effect on outcome. This bias was the focus of our recent report.1 As Day et al. point out, this phenomenon is a special case of the broader concept of collider-stratification bias2,3. By choosing an outcome that is not associated with autosomal variation (gender), but strongly associated with the covariate (height), Day et al.

Multiplier less high speed VLSI architecture for lifting based 1-D discrete wavelet transform

Abstract: An efficient VLSI architecture of 1-D DWT based on lifting scheme is proposed for high speed applications. Multipliers are difficult to fabricate on chip and occupy more area. The paper presents multiplier-less DWT architecture. Since the lifting scheme suffers the longer critical path, irregular datapath, data dependencies. The critical path of proposed architecture is Ta which is the minimum possible critical path delay of DWT architecture. We have also used parallel flipping technique where addition and multiplication are processed in parallel manner. The proposed architecture archives 100% hardware utilization efficiency. The architecture is synthesized on Virtex-IV Xc4vfx20-12ff672 using VHDL.

Analysis of Static Noise Margin for Novel Power Gated SRAM

Abstract: Data stability is one of the important parameter of SRAM with scaling of CMOS technology. However the move to nanometer technology not only nodes has increased, but the variability in device characteristics has also increased due to large process variations. Static random access memory (SRAM) is a popular component which is used in modern microprocessors and occupies a considerable chip area. It is useful to store the data as well as read and write operation. The performance of SRAM circuit is measured with data stability and read-write SNM (Static Noise Margin). A novel power gated SRAM cell is presented in this paper with enhanced data stability and reduced leakage power. The data becomes completely isolated form bit line during read operation in new power gated SRAM. The SNM of the new power gated cell is thereby increased by 2 times in comparison to a conventional six transistor (6T) SRAM cell. The paper also covers the comparative analysis and simulation of both SRAM cell on the basis of Read Noise Margin and Write Noise Margin. The novel power gated SRAM cell has larger read and write SNM as compared to conventional 6T SRAM cell at different technologies. All results are carried out on 45nm, 32nm and 22nm CMOS technology using HSPICE simulation tool.