VIT University

About: VIT University is a education organization based out in Vellore, Tamil Nadu, India. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Computer science & Cloud computing. The organization has 19943 authors who have published 24419 publications receiving 261879 citations. The organization is also known as: Vellore Engineering College.

Learning From Imbalanced Data

Abstract: Pattern Identification on various domains have become one of the most researched fields. Accuracy of all traditional and standard classifiers is highly proportional to the completeness or quality of the training data. Completeness is bound by various parameters such as noise, highly representative samples of the real world population, availability of training data, dimensionality etc. Another very pressing and domineering issue identified in real world data sets is that the data is well-dominated by typical occurring examples but with only a few rare or unusual occurrences. This distribution among classes make the real world data inherently imbalanced in many domains like medicine, finance, marketing, web, fault detection, anomaly detection etc. This chapter aims to highlight the existence of imbalance in all real world data and the need to focus on the inherent characteristics present in imbalanced data that can degrade the performance of classifiers. It provides an overview of the existing effective methods and solutions implemented towards the significant problems of imbalanced data for improvement in the performance of standard classifiers. Efficient metrics for evaluating the performance of imbalanced learning models followed by future directions for research is been highlighted.

Microbial Degradation of Petroleum Hydrocarbon Contaminants: An Overview

Abstract: One of the major environmental problems today is hydrocarbon contamination resulting from the activities related to the petrochemical industry. Accidental releases of petroleum products are of particular concern in the environment. Hydrocarbon components have been known to belong to the family of carcinogens and neurotoxic organic pollutants. Currently accepted disposal methods of incineration or burial insecure landfills can become prohibitively expensive when amounts of contaminants are large. Mechanical and chemical methods generally used to remove hydrocarbons from contaminated sites have limited effectiveness and can be expensive. Bioremediation is the promising technology for the treatment of these contaminated sites since it is cost-effective and will lead to complete mineralization. Bioremediation functions basically on biodegradation, which may refer to complete mineralization of organic contaminants into carbon dioxide, water, inorganic compounds, and cell protein or transformation of complex organic contaminants to other simpler organic compounds by biological agents like microorganisms. Many indigenous microorganisms in water and soil are capable of degrading hydrocarbon contaminants. This paper presents an updated overview of petroleum hydrocarbon degradation by microorganisms under different ecosystems.

Guidelines for the use and interpretation of assays for monitoring autophagy (4th edition)

Abstract: In 2008, we published the first set of guidelines for standardizing research in autophagy. Since then, this topic has received increasing attention, and many scientists have entered the field. Our knowledge base and relevant new technologies have also been expanding. Thus, it is important to formulate on a regular basis updated guidelines for monitoring autophagy in different organisms. Despite numerous reviews, there continues to be confusion regarding acceptable methods to evaluate autophagy, especially in multicellular eukaryotes. Here, we present a set of guidelines for investigators to select and interpret methods to examine autophagy and related processes, and for reviewers to provide realistic and reasonable critiques of reports that are focused on these processes. These guidelines are not meant to be a dogmatic set of rules, because the appropriateness of any assay largely depends on the question being asked and the system being used. Moreover, no individual assay is perfect for every situation, calling for the use of multiple techniques to properly monitor autophagy in each experimental setting. Finally, several core components of the autophagy machinery have been implicated in distinct autophagic processes (canonical and noncanonical autophagy), implying that genetic approaches to block autophagy should rely on targeting two or more autophagy-related genes that ideally participate in distinct steps of the pathway. Along similar lines, because multiple proteins involved in autophagy also regulate other cellular pathways including apoptosis, not all of them can be used as a specific marker for bona fide autophagic responses. Here, we critically discuss current methods of assessing autophagy and the information they can, or cannot, provide. Our ultimate goal is to encourage intellectual and technical innovation in the field.