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Construction project proposal evaluations received much attention during the recent years due to increased awareness of sustainability, value for money, and transparency. The bid evaluation matrix is the commonly used method in the construction industry for project proposal evaluation. The subjective judgments used for evaluation criteria are associated with significant uncertainty. Moreover, the transformation of qualitative evaluations raises significant data uncertainty. Attempts have been made by previous researchers to incorporate uncertainties associated with project bid evaluations, but the ability of those methods to account for 'true uncertainty' is questionable. The objective of this paper is to develop a fuzzy logic-based evaluation framework for project proposal evaluation. This use of type-2 fuzzy numbers sets the proposed approach apart from the current body of knowledge. An algorithm using type-2 fuzzy numbers was developed to define input uncertainty and parameter weights. The developed method was demonstrated using a building construction project case study. The proposed approach enables quantifying qualitative evaluations more comprehensively from a scientific basis, forming a generic proposal evaluation method applicable to various industry sectors. Key words: project proposal evaluation, data uncertainty, fuzzy set theory, type-2 fuzzy numbers. Les evaluations des propositions de projet de construction ont recu beaucoup d'attention au cours des dernieres annees en raison d'une sensibilisation accrue a la durabilite, a l'optimisation des ressources et a la transparence. La matrice devaluation des soumissions est la methode couramment utilisee par l'industrie de la construction pour revaluation des propositions de projet. Les jugements subjectifs utilises pour les criteres devaluation sont associes a une incertitude importante. De plus, la transformation des evaluations qualitatives souleve d'importantes incertitudes en matiere de donnees. Des chercheurs precedents ont tente d'integrer les incertitudes associees aux evaluations des soumissions de projet, mais la capacite de ces methodes a tenir compte de la <> est douteuse. Le present document vise a elaborer un cadre devaluation fonde surune logique floue pour revaluation des propositions de projet. Cette utilisation des nombres flous de type 2 distingue l'approche proposee de l'ensemble des connaissances actuelles. Un algorithme utilisant des nombres flous de type 2 a ete mis au point pour definir l'incertitude d'entree et les poids des parametres. La methode mise au point a ete demontree a l'aide d'une etude de cas sur un projet de construction de batiments. L'approche proposee permet de quantifier les evaluations qualitatives de facon plus complete sur le plan scientifique, formant une methode generique devaluation des propositions applicable a divers secteurs industriels. [Traduit par la Redaction] Mots-cles: evaluation des propositions de projet, incertitude des donnees, theorie des ensembles flous, nombres flous de type 2., Introduction Infrastructure spending is a major strategy to stimulate economic development. A one billion dollar investment in infrastructure is estimated to generate $1.64 billion in economic benefits and create 18 [...]

In recent decades, India has been highlighted specific to the increasing incidence of sexual violence against women. A few cases in metropolitan cities in India have received significant media coverage [...]

Background: Rhino-orbito-cerebral-mucormycosis (ROCM) associated with COVID-19 infection was at its peak during and immediately after the second wave of the pandemic in India during 2021. Many of the risk factors were implicated in the development of this deadly fungal infection, when there was a sudden surge of cases, especially who had a history of COVID-19 infection. Objectives: The objective of the study was to describe the characteristic magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings in invasive mucormycosis and to evaluate the extent and severity of invasive mucormycosis. Materials and Methods: A retrospective study was carried out for 4 months which included 60 patients who underwent MRI using a Siemens Avanto 1.5 Tesla scanner. During our study, 68 cases were selected based on clinicoradiological features suspected of ROCM. However, 8 patients were excluded on the basis of exclusion criteria as either there was no definitive evidence of COVID infection or were proven to be negative for mucormycosis on microbiological examination. Results: On the basis of the spectrum of MRI findings, post-COVID-19 related ROCM was broadly categorized into three stages. Out of total of 60 patients, the disease was localized to the nasal and paranasal sinus region (Stage I) in 7 patients (11.66%), extending to adjacent extrasinus orofacial soft tissue structures (Stage II) in 36 patients (60%), and intracranial extension of disease (Stage III) was seen in 17 patients (28.33%). Conclusion: In post-COVID-19 patients presenting with clinical features suspected of ROCM, MRI imaging helps in early diagnosis and staging/severity of ROCM, so that timely intervention can be planned to reduce mortality as well as morbidity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Byline: Paramdeep. Singh, Pushpinder. Singh, Simmi. Aggarwal, Chaitanya. Tapasvi Intracranial neurenteric cysts are uncommon congenital space-occupying lesions that may be misinterpreted for other more frequent nonneoplastic cysts and cystic tumors. [...]

Background: Radio-contrast media are the agents which are used on daily basis in the radiological practice for either diagnostic or therapeutic purpose. Currently used agents are considered to be safe but not devoid of side effects. Objectives: Objectives of the study were to assess the incidence of adverse drug reactions (ADRs) in the patients who receive radiographic contrast media for computed tomography (CT) and intravenous pyelography (IVP), to stratify the ADRs into different types based on their time of appearance and as per their severity. Materials and Methods: A prospective and observational study of 1-year duration was done on all the patients who received radio-contrast media (Iohexol) intravenously for CT and IVP in the radiodiagnosis department. Patients who experienced ADRs were recorded for the basic demographic characteristics and types of ADRs. Stratification of ADRs as per their severity was done using common terminology criteria for adverse events scale and Modified Hartwig and Siegel ADR Severity Assessment Scale, and casualty assessment was done using Naranjo's Algorithm. Results: Out of the total 3522 patients who were included in the study, eight patients got 12 suspected ADRs with some of the patients having more than one type of ADR. The most frequent ADR was nausea and vomiting (25%), followed by fever, chills, or sweating. Incidence of ADRs was 0.23%. All the ADRs were acute and occurred within 30 min of contrast administration. As per the severity scales used, all the ADRs were mild (75%) to moderate (25%) in nature with none of the reactions to be severe. Causality assessment showed 87.5% of the reactions to be "probable" in nature. Conclusion: Low osmolar nonionic radio contrast media are associated with very low incidence of ADRs in the North Indian population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Computerized advances affected individuals' lives. Most of these computerized gadgets depend on cloud capacity to meet their memory needs. A huge number of pictures, recordings, and sound documents are being moved to distributed storage. Large number of individuals all throughout the planet access these media consistently. Unapproved admittance to these media should be stayed away from. One of the flimsy parts for information breaks is the client end encryption. This paper proposes a procedure for further developing cloud information security by consolidating the AES and blowfish encryption and decoding calculations. AES-256 is utilized as the main layer, followed by blowfish as the subsequent layer, in the crossover arrangement. The yield of the principal layer is contribution to the second layer and the eventual outcome is examined. The proposed strategy likewise talks about other consolidated approaches, for example, AES with other customary calculations however the proposed strategy gives huge results contrasted with different methodologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the huge incidents of terrorist attacks and sniffing of security personnel, there is a need to integrate the higher degree of security in the defense vehicles. The key modus operandi by terrorists is that they intrude bypassing the security devices because of the vulnerabilities in the scenarios. In such a manner, to ensure sight and sound substance, cryptology, which has all the earmarks of being a compelling path for data security, has been utilized in numerous handy applications. In this manuscript, the key mechanisms related to cryptography and dynamic encryption are presented which can be used so that the defense personnel can communicate with each other with a higher degree of security, privacy, and anti-sniffing attempts. This paper presents the cryptography and hash-based approaches on assorted parameters with key features and the availability of specific secured implementations. The paper presents the assorted approaches and algorithms which can be integrated into the laser-guided defense weapons as well as vehicles so the overall communication will be secured. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Recreational drug abuse is a serious health problem that poses detrimental effects on central nervous system. Neuroimaging plays a pivotal role in the detection of these abnormal changes in the brain associated with the drug abuse. This study focuses on the grading of cerebral atrophy in the opioid-addicted patients and their association with the age and duration of opioid abuse. Objectives: Grading of cerebral atrophy in opioid-addicted patients and to assess the probable association between chronic opioid abuse and cerebral atrophy in patients admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) of a tertiary care hospital. Materials and methods: A retrospective study was carried out on 40 patients of opioid abuse who were admitted in the ICU of the hospital over a period of 2 years. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan of these patients was done using Siemens Avanto 1.5 Tesla scanner. Results: All the patients were male with 25 patients having varying degrees of cerebral atrophy as assessed from Pasquier scale. Majority of the patients (n = 14) on chronic opioid abuse had global cortical atrophy (GCA) score of 1 indicative of mild cerebral atrophy. The associated factors like the duration of abuse and age of presentation had significant association with the cerebral atrophic changes in the brain (p < 0.05). Conclusion: Opioid-dependent patients with long-term substance abuse had probable association with the atrophic changes in brain as assessed from neuroimaging. The progressing age and longer duration of drug abuse may foster significant alterations to the brain structure leading to varied degree of cerebral atrophy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In most of the commonly used approaches, the ranking of generalized fuzzy numbers is calculated based on the only one criterion i.e., rank criteria. However, there are some weaknesses associated with this criterion. In this paper, we discuss the insufficiency of considering only rank for the ordering of generalized fuzzy numbers. Some shortcomings in existing ranking methods have been pointed out. To overcome these drawbacks, we present a new ranking method which considers not only rank, but also some other criteria, such as mode, divergence and left or right spread of generalized fuzzy numbers, which are very important for the ordering of generalized fuzzy numbers. Several numerical examples are provided to illustrate the superiority of the proposed method. Some results in the support of the proposed method are also presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Local infiltration of knee joint in arthroplasty, provide postoperative analgesia and preserves motor power of quadriceps, which helps in early mobilisation, as compared to femoral nerve block which paralyses vastus medialis., Aim: To compare the quality of postoperative analgesia provided by femoral nerve block and local infiltration in unilateral Total Knee Arthroplasty (TKA)., Materials and Methods: A prospective study was conducted on 60 patients (25-65 years) of ASA I and II, which were randomly(using random number table) divided into two groups - Group 1-femoral nerve block (FNB) and Group 2-Local Infiltration Analgesia (LIA). Patients with chronic pain and on opioids were excluded. Numeric rating scale (primary objective), sedation score, nausea vomiting score and motor power were analysed. The results were analysed by parametric and nonparametric tests using SPSS software version 22. p<0.05 was considered significant., Results: Pain relief was better in FNB Group (p-value <0.001) with less fentanyl demand (p-value <0.001), low sedation score (0.013, 0.179, 0.018, 0.129, 0.287, 0.432) but associated with low muscle power grading (<0.001)., Conclusion: FNB has better pain relief than LIA Group but range of motion was reduced in FNB Group grossly, effect on mobilisation remained comparable in both group.