We detected Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus infections in 4 provinces of Pakistan during 2017-2018. Overall, seroprevalence was 2.7% in humans and 36.2% in domestic livestock. Antibody ...prevalence in humans was highest in rural areas, where increased contact with animals is likely.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, ODKLJ, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
The numbers of diagnosed patients by melanoma are drastic and contribute more deaths annually among young peoples. An approximately 192,310 new cases of skin cancer are diagnosed in 2019, which shows ...the importance of automated systems for the diagnosis process. Accordingly, this article presents an automated method for skin lesions detection and recognition using pixel‐based seed segmented images fusion and multilevel features reduction. The proposed method involves four key steps: (a) mean‐based function is implemented and fed input to top‐hat and bottom‐hat filters which later fused for contrast stretching, (b) seed region growing and graph‐cut method‐based lesion segmentation and fused both segmented lesions through pixel‐based fusion, (c) multilevel features such as histogram oriented gradient (HOG), speeded up robust features (SURF), and color are extracted and simple concatenation is performed, and (d) finally variance precise entropy‐based features reduction and classification through SVM via cubic kernel function. Two different experiments are performed for the evaluation of this method. The segmentation performance is evaluated on PH2, ISBI2016, and ISIC2017 with an accuracy of 95.86, 94.79, and 94.92%, respectively. The classification performance is evaluated on PH2 and ISBI2016 dataset with an accuracy of 98.20 and 95.42%, respectively. The results of the proposed automated systems are outstanding as compared to the current techniques reported in state of art, which demonstrate the validity of the proposed method.
Current research proposed a new auto system for skin lesions detection, recognition using pixel‐based seed segmented images fusion, and multilevel features reduction. Finally, using a SVM via cubic kernel functions, skin lesions are classified.
The herbicide 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) is applied directly to aquatic and conventional farming systems to control weeds, and is among the most widely distributed pollutants in the ...environment. Non-target organisms are exposed to 2,4-D via several ways, which could produce toxic effects depending on the dose, frequency of exposure, and the host factors that influence susceptibility and sensitivity. An increasing number of experimental evidences have shown concerns about its presence/detection in the environment, because several investigations have pointed out its potential lethal effects on non-target organisms. In this review, we critically evaluated the environmental fate and behavior of 2,4-D along with its eco-toxicological effects on aquatic, plants and human life to provide concise assessment in the light of recently published reports. The findings demonstrate that 2,4-D is present in a low concentration in surface water of regions where its usage is high. The highest concentrations of 2,4-D were detected in soil, air and surface water surrounded by crop fields, which suggest that mitigation strategies must be implanted locally to prevent the entry of 2,4-D into the environment. A general public may have frequent exposure to 2,4-D due to its wide applications at home lawns and public parks, etc. Various in vivo and in vitro investigations suggest that several species (or their organs) at different trophic levels are extremely sensitive to the 2,4-D exposure, which may explain variation in outcomes of reported investigations. However, implications for the prenatal exposure to 2,4-D remain unknown because 2,4-D-induced toxicity thresholds in organism have only been derived from juveniles or adults. In near future, introduction of 2,4-D resistant crops will increase its use in agriculture, which may cause relatively high and potentially unsafe residue levels in the environment. The recent findings indicate the urgent need to further explore fate, accumulation and its continuous low level exposure impacts on the environment to generate reliable database which is key in drafting new regulation and policies to protect the population from further exposure.
•Discusses the prevalence of 2,4-D in the environment•Describes current state of knowledge regarding 2,4-D use and its detrimental impacts•Highlights possible exposure routes to humans and potential for adverse impacts on farmers' health•Highlights risks associated with advance formulations of 2,4-D and herbicide resistant crops
The emergence of cloud infrastructure has the potential to provide significant benefits in a variety of areas in the medical imaging field. The driving force behind the extensive use of cloud ...infrastructure for medical image processing is the exponential increase in the size of computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data. The size of a single CT/MRI image has increased manifold since the inception of these imagery techniques. This demand for the introduction of effective and efficient frameworks for extracting relevant and most suitable information (features) from these sizeable images. As early detection of lungs cancer can significantly increase the chances of survival of a lung scanner patient, an effective and efficient nodule detection system can play a vital role. In this article, we have proposed a novel classification framework for lungs nodule classification with less false positive rates (FPRs), high accuracy, sensitivity rate, less computationally expensive and uses a small set of features while preserving edge and texture information. The proposed framework comprises multiple phases that include image contrast enhancement, segmentation, feature extraction, followed by an employment of these features for training and testing of a selected classifier. Image preprocessing and feature selection being the primary steps—playing their vital role in achieving improved classification accuracy. We have empirically tested the efficacy of our technique by utilizing the well‐known Lungs Image Consortium Database dataset. The results prove that the technique is highly effective for reducing FPRs with an impressive sensitivity rate of 97.45%.
A novel classification framework for lungs nodule classification is proposed to reduce false positive rate and achieve impressive sensitivity rate. It is computationally effective, precise results by using few features while preserving edge and texture information.
Damage is an inevitable occurrence in metallic structures and when unchecked could result in a catastrophic breakdown of structural assets. Non-destructive evaluation (NDE) is adopted in industries ...for assessment and health inspection of structural assets. Prominent among the NDE techniques is guided wave ultrasonic testing (GWUT). This method is cost-effective and possesses an enormous capability for long-range inspection of corroded structures, detection of sundries of crack and other metallic damage structures at low frequency and energy attenuation. However, the parametric features of the GWUT are affected by structural and environmental operating conditions and result in masking damage signal. Most studies focused on identifying individual damage under varying conditions while combined damage phenomena can coexist in structure and hasten its deterioration. Hence, it is an impending task to study the effect of combined damage on a structure under varying conditions and correlate it with GWUT parametric features. In this respect, this work reviewed the literature on UGWs, damage inspection, severity, temperature influence on the guided wave and parametric characteristics of the inspecting wave. The review is limited to the piezoelectric transduction unit. It was keenly observed that no significant work had been done to correlate the parametric feature of GWUT with combined damage effect under varying conditions. It is therefore proposed to investigate this impending task.
Among precision medical techniques, medical image processing is rapidly growing as a successful tool for cancer detection. Skin cancer is one of the crucial cancer types. It is identified through ...computer vision (CV) techniques using dermoscopic images. The early diagnosis skin cancer from dermoscopic images can be decrease the mortality rate. We propose an automated system for skin lesion detection and classification based on statistical normal distribution and optimal feature selection. Local contrast is controlled using a brighter channel enhancement technique, and segmentation is performed through a statistical normal distribution approach. The multiplication law of probability is implemented for the fusion of segmented images. In the feature extraction phase, optimized histogram, optimized color, and gray level co‐occurrences matrices features are extracted and covariance‐based fusion is performed. Subsequently, optimal features are selected through a binary grasshopper optimization algorithm. The selected optimal features are finally fed to a classifier and evaluated on the ISBI 2016 and ISBI 2017 data sets. Classification accuracy is computed using different Support Vector Machine (SVM) kernel functions, and the best accuracy is obtained for the cubic function. The average accuracies of the proposed segmentation on the PH2 and ISBI 2016 data sets are 93.79 and 96.04%, respectively, for an image size 512 × 512. The accuracies of the proposed classification on the ISBI 2016 and ISBI 2017 data sets are 93.80 and 93.70%, respectively. The proposed system outperforms existing methods on selected data sets.
Brighter channel contrast stretching technique is proposed. Statistical normal distribution approach is design to segment. Features are extracted and covariance‐based fusion is performed, Binary Grass Hopper approach is utilized for optimal solutions.
Drought stress not only effect the population and activities of microorganisms inhabiting the rhizosphere but also various physiological and biochemical process in plants that is, photosynthesis, ...respiration, translocation, uptake of ions, carbohydrates, and nutrient metabolism. Plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) and their exopolysaccharides (EPS) showed profound effects on plant growth and drought tolerance. Reactions of bacteria to drought stress at various organizational levels are different which depends on intensity of stress, duration, species, and growth stage. PGPR could be effectively utilized in developing strategies to facilitate water conservation strategies of plants. They have the ability to improve plant growth directly by enhancing level of phytohormones, siderophore, biofilm, and exopolysaccharides production and by increasing the nutrient availability in the rhizosphere or indirectly by protecting plants from pathogen attack. EPS producing bacteria are capable to maintain higher soil moisture content and growth of plants even under severe dried sandy soils. The evidence of survival of rhizobacteria under low moisture content obtained from the fact of rhizobacterial occurrence in the soil of desert and effective nodule formation in desert soil. Beside this, EPS produced by PGPR form rhizosheath around the roots and thus protect the plant roots from desiccation for a longer period of time. Important role exhibited by exopolysaccharides includes, protection from desiccation, microbial aggregation, plant‐microbe interaction, surface attachment, bioremediation and its use by many industries for stabilizing, thickening, coagulating, gelling, suspending and for film forming. Plants inoculated with EPS‐producing bacteria showed higher accumulation of proline, sugars, and free amino acids under water deficit stress. Biofilms formed by the PGPR around the roots are made up of bacterial populations or bacterial communities that encased inside the polymeric extracellular matrix formed by bacteria itself, they adhered to the external surfaces that contain sufficient moisture. It is concluded that the application of PGPR in combination with their EPS is a promising measure to combat drought stress thus, increasing global food security.
In this work, an integrated antenna system with Defected Ground Structure (DGS) is presented for Fourth Generation (4G) and millimeter (mm)-wave Fifth Generation (5G) wireless applications and ...handheld devices. The proposed design with overall dimensions of 110 mm <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">\times75 </tex-math></inline-formula> mm is modeled on 0.508 mm thick Rogers RT/Duroid 5880 substrate. Radiating structure consists of antenna arrays excited by the T-shape <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">1\times2 </tex-math></inline-formula> power divider/combiner. Dual bands for 4G centered at 3.8 GHz and 5.5 GHz are attained, whereas the 10-dB impedance bandwidth of 24.4 - 29.3 GHz is achieved for the 5G antenna array. In addition, a peak gain of 5.41 dBi is demonstrated across the operating bandwidth of the 4G antenna array. Similarly, for the 5G mm-wave configuration the attained peak gain is 10.29 dBi. Moreover, significant isolation is obtained between the two antenna modules ensuring efficient dual-frequency band operation using a single integrated solution. To endorse the concept, antenna prototype is fabricated and far-field measurements are procured. Simulated and measured results exhibit coherence. Also the proposed design is investigated for the beam steering capability of the mm-wave 5G antenna array using CST®MWS®. The demonstrated structure offers various advantages including compactness, wide bandwidth, high gain, and planar configuration. Hence, the attained radiation characteristics prove the suitability of the proposed design for the current and future wireless handheld devices.
Purpose of Review
To commemorate the 50th anniversary of the groundbreaking discovery of a remarkably strong association between HLA-B*27 and ankylosing spondylitis (AS).
Recent Findings
In addition ...to
HLA-B*27
, more than 116 other recognized genetic risk variants have been identified, while epigenetic factors largely remain unexplored in this context. Among patients with AS who carry the
HLA-B*27
gene, clonally expanded CD8 + T cells can be found in their bloodstream and within inflamed tissues. Moreover, the α and β chain motifs of these T-cell receptors demonstrate a distinct affinity for certain self- and microbial-derived peptides, leading to an autoimmune response that ultimately results in the onset of the disease. These distinctive peptide-binding and presentation characteristics are a hallmark of the disease-associated HLA-B*27:05 subtype but are absent in HLA-B*27:09, a subtype not associated with the disease, differing by only a single amino acid. This discovery represents a significant advancement in unraveling the 50-year-old puzzle of how HLA-B*27 contributes to the development of AS.
Summary
These findings will significantly accelerate the process of identifying peptides, both self- and microbial-derived, that instigate autoimmunity. This, in return, will pave the way for the development of more accurate and effective targeted treatments. Moreover, the discovery of improved biomarkers, in conjunction with the emerging technology of electric field molecular fingerprinting, has the potential to greatly bolster early diagnosis capabilities. A very recently published groundbreak paper underscores the remarkable effectiveness of targeting and eliminating disease-causing T cells in a HLA-B*27 patients with AS. This pivotal advancement not only signifies a paradigm shift but also bolsters the potential for preventing the disease in individuals carrying high-risk genetic variants.
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