Roli Bansal

Using PSO in a spatial domain based image hiding scheme with distortion tolerance

With tremendous advancement in digital technology, efficient steganography techniques are needed for the security and copyright protection of digital information being transmitted over the internet and for secret data communication. However, during transmission, a stego object may be exposed to noise or compression due to which the secret data cannot be extracted correctly at the receivers end. This paper presents an efficient spatial domain based image hiding scheme, using Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO). Here, PSO is used to find the best pixel locations in a gray scale cover image where the secret gray scale image pixel data can be embedded. The objective function for PSO is defined in such a way that both quality and robustness of the stego image are acceptable. This results in a stego image which is not only good in quality but is also able to sustain certain noise and compression attacks during transmission. The results when compared with some recent data hiding techniques in the spatial domain show better stego image quality along with distortion tolerance.

Using PSO in Image Hiding Scheme Based on LSB Substitution

With the massive growth in internet applications, there is a continuous need of efficient steganography techniques for the purpose of secret data communication and for the authentication and ownership identification of host data. This paper presents an efficient image hiding scheme using Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) in the spatial domain of digital images. The proposed technique uses PSO to find the best pixel locations in an image where the secret image pixel data can be embedded. This PSO algorithm uses the Structural similarity Index (SSIM) as the objective function which is based on the simple visual effect of the human visual perception capability. As a result, the pixel positions generated by the proposed method, when used for embedding secret image data, result in minimum distortion of the host image. The results of the proposed technique have been analyzed qualitatively and quantitatively and also compared with some recent LSB techniques. The results show better stego image quality along with high embedding capacity.

Fingerprint Image Enhancement Using Type-2 Fuzzy Sets

High-quality images are a prerequisite for accurate matching of fingerprint images. However, fingerprint images are rarely of perfect quality. They may be degraded or corrupted due to variations in skin and impression conditions. Thus, fingerprint images must be enhanced before use. In this work, we demonstrate the efficacy of applying Type-2 fuzzy logic to fingerprint image enhancement when the input is pre-processed by the Hong’s algorithm. We have measured the fuzzy quality visually and quantitatively to note the effectiveness of the proposed technique for enhancement.

Securing Fingerprint Images Using PSO-Based Wavelet Domain Watermarking

ABSTRACT Watermarking techniques are used in biometric systems for the purpose of protecting and authenticating biometric data. This paper presents an efficient scheme to protect and authenticate fingerprint images by watermarking with their corresponding facial images in the wavelet domain using Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO). The key idea is to use PSO to find the best discrete wavelet transform (DWT) coefficients where the facial image data can be embedded. The objective function for PSO is based on the fingerprint image quality with respect to the Structural Similarity index (SSIM) and Orientation Certainty Level index (OCL). As a result, embedding the facial image data in the selected coefficients generated by the proposed method not only results in minimum distortion of the host image but also retains the feature set of the original fingerprint to be used in fingerprint recognition. The robustness of the watermark extracted using the proposed technique has been tested against various image processing attacks. This concept of watermarking a biometric image with another biometric image finds application in multimodal biometric authentication for a more secure system of personal recognition at the receivers end.

A Novel Framework for Enhancing Images Corrupted by Impulse Noise Using Type-II Fuzzy Sets

This paper presents a novel type-II fuzzy filter to remove impulse noise in an image. The filter processes impulses as type-II fuzzy sets. Type-II fuzzy sets model uncertainties more effectively than type-I fuzzy sets because the membership function for a type-I fuzzy set for a particular input is a crisp value. The proposed algorithm firstly detects impulses by considering grayscale distribution amongst neighbouring pixels and then determines the presence of impulsive pixels by comparing it with a range of threshold values using an S - shaped fuzzy membership function that is itself fuzzy. As the level of contamination varies from pixel to pixel, the modified value for the noisy pixel is calculated depending on the impulse noise present in it. The better performance of the filter is demonstrated on the basis of PSNR values calculated from the original and restored images respectively.

Multi-agent system for intelligent watermarking of fingerprint images

This paper presents a multi- agent system architecture for intelligent watermarking for securing fingerprint images. The proposed watermarking method uses a fuzzy-PSO based hybrid approach to secure a persons fingerprint image by watermarking it with its corresponding face image. As fingerprint databases are large, processing huge image data in real time is difficult. The proposed work uses a multi-agent system as a distributed system for performing watermarking of fingerprint images, where various subtasks are performed in parallel in the distributed system. For watermarking input fingerprints, each image is divided into blocks and type-2 fuzzy logic is used to calculate the watermarking strength of each block based on its features. Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) is used to find optimum DCT coefficients of the image block to be used for watermark embedding in such a way that the quality and minutia matching ability of the host fingerprint are preserved. The proposed system WoFMAS (Watermarking of Fingerprints using Multi-Agent System) has multiple agents working on different blocks of the input fingerprint concurrently for efficiently distributing data and gathering results. The experimental study is done on the FVC 2004 fingerprint database and the results show that our hybrid approach gives better results in terms of watermarked image quality and robustness than other fuzzy based and other PSO based approaches in the literature.

Can malaria trigger systemic lupus erythematosus

A 17-year-old girl presented with a 7-day history of fever and oliguria. There was no history of arthralgia, rash, haematuria, altered sensorium, convulsions, oral ulcers, alopecia or photosensitivity. Her family history was unremarkable. On examination she had tachypnoea, fever, anaemia, anasarca, bilateral basal crepitations in the chest and splenomegaly. Investigations on admission confirmed the anaemia (Hb: 8.6 g/dl), a normal white count (4100/mm), thrombocytopaenia (platelets: 19,000/mm), normal clotting (INR: 1.1), raised erythrocyte sedimentation (ESR: 55mm/1st h), abnormal renal function (urea: 29.6mmol/L, creatinine: 503.8 mmol/L). Liver function test was unremarkable, serum albumin was 0.078mmol/L and 24-h urinary protein excretion was 1 g. An immunochromatographic test for Plasmodium vivax was positive. Serological tests for dengue, leptospira, HIV, Hepatitis B and C virus and theMantoux test were all negative. An abdominal ultrasound scan showed a normal liver, a large spleen of 12.5 cm in length, bilateral hyperechoic kidneys, mild ascites and moderate bilateral pleural effusions. Our patient was treated with injectable artesunate and received haemodialysis in view of her oliguria, but continued to have persistent proteinuria and deranged renal function tests. Further evaluation revealed strongly positive antinuclear (ANA) and anti-double-stranded (ds) DNA antibody tests. Complement C3 levels were decreased. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing for Cytomegalovirus (CMV) and Epstein–Barr virus (EBV) was negative. A renal biopsy showed diffuse proliferative glomerulonephritis (class IV lupus nephritis) with ‘full house’ immunofluorescence (Figures 1 and 2). A diagnosis of SLE (class IV) nephritis with plasmodium vivax malaria was made. Our patient was treated with pulsed methylprednisolone and cyclophosphamide monthly for 6 months together with oral prednisolone. Her renal function, proteinuria and 24-h urinary protein excretion normalized after 3 months of starting therapy.

Massive Lower Gastrointestinal Bleed caused by Typhoid Ulcer: Conservative Management

Typhoid fever is caused by gram-negative organism Salmonella typhi. The usual presentation is high-grade fever, but complications like gastrointestinal (GI) hemorrhage and perforation are also seen frequently. With the advent of antibiotics, these complications are rarely seen now. We present a case of a young female who was admitted with a diagnosis of typhoid fever presented with a massive GI bleed from ulcers in the terminal ileum and was managed conservatively without endotherapy and surgery. How to cite this article: Goel A, Bansal R. Massive Lower Gastrointestinal Bleed caused by Typhoid Ulcer: Conservative Management. Euroasian J Hepato-Gastroenterol 2017;7(2):176-177.

Retroperitoneal Spread of Fournier’s Gangrene: A Rare but Fatal Presentation

La gangrena de Fournier es una fascitis infectiva infecciosa necrotizante de los genitales externos predominantemente en varones ancianos. Generalmente se asocia con shock séptico y falla multiorgánica. Un varón de 55 años presentó edema escrotal, dolor y enrojecimiento sobre la pared abdominal inferior y ambos flancos con características de sepsis e íleo. Los hallazgos intraoperatorios sugieren una fascitis necrotizante extensa del escroto que se extiende tanto a la región inguinal como a la pared parietal lateral derecha y al músculo psoas derecho. Palabras claves: La fascitis necrotizante, La gangrena de fournier, Septicemia.

Intelligent wavelet domain watermarking of fingerprint images

This paper presents a hybrid intelligent watermarking scheme for securing fingerprint images in the wavelet domain. The proposed method uses an NN-PSO based hybrid approach to secure a persons fingerprint image by watermarking it with its corresponding face image and demographic information. The input fingerprint image is divided into blocks in the proposed approach and a feed forward neural network is used to calculate the number of bits to be embedded in each image block based on its features. PSO is used to find optimum wavelet coefficients of the image block to be used for watermark embedding in such a way that the quality and minutia matching ability of the host fingerprint are preserved. The experimental study is done on the FVC 2004 fingerprint database and the results show that our hybrid approach gives better results (quality and robustness) than other neural network based and PSO based approaches in the wavelet domain. As the host fingerprint is watermarked with other biometric information of the same person, the proposed work finds application in security implementations based on multimodal biometric authentication.