Plant diseases and pests are risk factors that threaten global food security. Excessive chemical pesticide applications are commonly used to reduce the effects of plant diseases caused by bacterial ...and fungal pathogens. A major concern, as we strive toward more sustainable agriculture, is to increase crop yields for the increasing population. Microbial biological control agents (MBCAs) have proved their efficacy to be a green strategy to manage plant diseases, stimulate plant growth and performance, and increase yield. Besides their role in growth enhancement, plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria/fungi (PGPR/PGPF) could suppress plant diseases by producing inhibitory chemicals and inducing immune responses in plants against phytopathogens. As biofertilizers and biopesticides, PGPR and PGPF are considered as feasible, attractive economic approach for sustainable agriculture; thus, resulting in a “win-win” situation. Several PGPR and PGPF strains have been identified as effective BCAs under environmentally controlled conditions. In general, any MBCA must overcome certain challenges before it can be registered or widely utilized to control diseases/pests. Successful MBCAs offer a practical solution to improve greenhouse crop performance with reduced fertilizer inputs and chemical pesticide applications. This current review aims to fill the gap in the current knowledge of plant growth-promoting microorganisms (PGPM), provide attention about the scientific basis for policy development, and recommend further research related to the applications of PGPM used for commercial purposes.
Brain tumors are considered one of the most serious, prominent and life-threatening diseases globally. Brain tumors cause thousands of deaths every year around the globe because of the rapid growth ...of tumor cells. Therefore, timely analysis and automatic detection of brain tumors are required to save the lives of thousands of people around the globe. Recently, deep transfer learning (TL) approaches are most widely used to detect and classify the three most prominent types of brain tumors, i.e., glioma, meningioma and pituitary. For this purpose, we employ state-of-the-art pre-trained TL techniques to identify and detect glioma, meningioma and pituitary brain tumors. The aim is to identify the performance of nine pre-trained TL classifiers, i.e., Inceptionresnetv2, Inceptionv3, Xception, Resnet18, Resnet50, Resnet101, Shufflenet, Densenet201 and Mobilenetv2, by automatically identifying and detecting brain tumors using a fine-grained classification approach. For this, the TL algorithms are evaluated on a baseline brain tumor classification (MRI) dataset, which is freely available on Kaggle. Additionally, all deep learning (DL) models are fine-tuned with their default values. The fine-grained classification experiment demonstrates that the inceptionresnetv2 TL algorithm performs better and achieves the highest accuracy in detecting and classifying glioma, meningioma and pituitary brain tumors, and hence it can be classified as the best classification algorithm. We achieve 98.91% accuracy, 98.28% precision, 99.75% recall and 99% F-measure values with the inceptionresnetv2 TL algorithm, which out-performs the other DL algorithms. Additionally, to ensure and validate the performance of TL classifiers, we compare the efficacy of the inceptionresnetv2 TL algorithm with hybrid approaches, in which we use convolutional neural networks (CNN) for deep feature extraction and a Support Vector Machine (SVM) for classification. Similarly, the experiment’s results show that TL algorithms, and inceptionresnetv2 in particular, out-perform the state-of-the-art DL algorithms in classifying brain MRI images into glioma, meningioma, and pituitary. The hybrid DL approaches used in the experiments are Mobilnetv2, Densenet201, Squeeznet, Alexnet, Googlenet, Inceptionv3, Resnet50, Resnet18, Resnet101, Xception, Inceptionresnetv3, VGG19 and Shufflenet.
Abstract
This paper described a four-band implantable RF rectifier with simplified circuit complexity. Each RF-rectifier cell is sequentially matched to the four operational frequencies to accomplish ...the proposed design. The proposed RF rectifier can harvest RF signals at 1.830, 2.100, and white space Wi-Fi bands between 2.38 to 2.68 GHz, respectively. At 2.100 GHz, the proposed RF harvester achieved a maximum (radio frequency direct current) RF-to-DC power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 73.00% and an output DC voltage
$$V_{DC}$$
V
DC
of 1.61 V for an RF power of 2 dBm. The outdoor performance of the rectenna shows a
$$V_{DC}$$
V
DC
of 0.440 V and drives a low-power bq25504-674 evaluation module (EVM) at 1.362 V. The dimension of the RF-rectifier on the FR-4 PCB board is 0.27
$$\lambda _{g}$$
λ
g
$$\times$$
×
0.29
$$\lambda _{g}$$
λ
g
. The RF-rectifier demonstrates the capacity to effectively utilize the frequency domain by employing multi-band operation and exhibiting a good impedance bandwidth through a sequential matching technique. Thus, by effectively controlling the rectenna’s ambient performance, the proposed design holds the potential for powering a range of low-power biomedical implantable devices. (BIDs).
In the era of digital microscopic imaging, Image Processing, data analysis, classification, decision support systems have emerged as one of the most important tools for diagnostic research. ...Physicians can observe cellular internal structures abnormalities by visualizing and analyzing images. Leukemia is a malignant disease characterized by the uncontrolled accumulation of abnormal white blood cells. The recognition of acute leukemia blast cells in colored microscopic images is a challenging task. The first important step in the automatic recognition of this disease, image segmentation, is considered to be the most critical step. In this study, we present a decision support system that includes the panel selection, segmentation using K-means clustering to identify the leukemia cells and features extraction, and image refinement. After the decision support system successfully identifies the cells and its internal structure, the cells are classified according to their morphological features of this analysis the decision support system was tested using a public dataset designed to test segmentation techniques for identifying specific cells, and the results of this analysis were compared with those of other techniques, which were suggested by other researchers, applied to the same data. The algorithm was then applied to another dataset, extracted under the supervision by an expert pathologist, from a local hospital; the total dataset consisted of 757 images gathered from two datasets. The images of the datasets are labeled with three different labels, which represents three types of leukemia cells: blast, myelocyte, and segmented cells. The process of labeling of these images was revised by the expert pathologist. The algorithm testing using this dataset demonstrated an overall accuracy of 99.517%, the sensitivity of 99.348%, and specificity of 99.529%. Therefore, this algorithm yielded promising results and warrants further research.
This paper presents a unique antenna that is designed to be efficient, with improved gain and partial flexibility, for use in wearable biomedical telemetry applications. The antenna design utilizes a ...semi-flexible RO5880 substrate material (dielectric constant, ε r = 2.2, loss tangent, (tan δ) = 0.0009) with physical dimensions measuring 0.47λ g × 0.47λ g . The model involves the incorporation of rectangular inverted "C" slots, which effectively results in a reduction of the resonant frequency. Additionally, a distributed rectangular slot is introduced on the ground plane, contributing to the augmentation of the operational bandwidth. The operational frequency of the proposed antenna design is 2.40 GHz, accompanied by a bandwidth (BW) of 320 MHz at a -10 dB level. This equates to a fractional percentage bandwidth (FBW) of 13.33% centered around the frequency of 2.40 GHz. The antenna design presented in this work demonstrates the preservation of improved gain and efficiency, achieving values of 3.67 dBi and 94%, respectively, at a frequency of 2.40 GHz. The work demonstrates through simulation and experimental outcomes that the antenna exhibits minimal impact on parameters such as gain reflection coefficient (|S11|), BW, and bending efficiency. Furthermore, the antenna underwent simulation and experimental testing in close proximity to the human body, revealing favorable operational characteristics. The proposed antenna exhibits substantial potential as a viable option for wearable biomedical instruments. Thus, the proposed wearable antenna design in this study offers a wideband antenna for ISM band applications, expanding bandwidth without compromising performance. Bending the antenna minimally affects gain, bandwidth, and efficiency when worn on the body, making it suitable for wearables. It also maintains a reasonably low Specific Absorption Rate (SAR), reducing wave absorption by the body. Unique features like rectangular inverted "C" slots and a distributed rectangular slot on the ground plane enhance bandwidth while maintaining performance during bending.
Lymphatic flow and anatomy can be challenging to study, owing to variable lymphatic anatomy in patients with diverse primary or secondary lymphatic pathologic conditions and the fact that lymphatic ...imaging is rarely performed in healthy individuals. The primary components of the lymphatic system outside the head and neck are the peripheral, retroperitoneal, mesenteric, hepatic, and pulmonary lymphatic systems and the thoracic duct. Multiple techniques have been developed for imaging components of the lymphatic system over the past century, with trade-offs in spatial, temporal, and contrast resolution; invasiveness; exposure to ionizing radiation; and the ability to obtain information on dynamic lymphatic flow. More recently, dynamic contrast-enhanced (DCE) MR lymphangiography (MRL) has emerged as a valuable tool for imaging both lymphatic flow and anatomy in a variety of congenital and acquired primary or secondary lymphatic disorders. The authors provide a brief overview of lymphatic physiology, anatomy, and imaging techniques. Next, an overview of DCE MRL and the development of an MRL practice and workflow in a hybrid interventional MRI suite incorporating cart-based in-room US is provided, with an emphasis on multidisciplinary collaboration. The spectrum of congenital and acquired lymphatic disorders encountered early in an MRL practice is provided, with emphasis on the diversity of imaging findings and how DCE MRL can aid in diagnosis and treatment of these patients. Methods such as DCE MRL for assessing the hepatic and mesenteric lymphatic systems and emerging technologies that may further expand DCE MRL use such as three-dimensional printing are introduced.
RSNA, 2024 Test Your Knowledge questions for this article are available in the supplemental material.
Background
Radiology serves in the diagnosis and management of many diseases. Despite its rising importance and use, radiology is not a core component of a lot of medical school curricula. This ...survey aims to clarify current gaps in the radiological education in Egyptian medical schools. In February–May 2021, 5318 students enrolled in Egyptian medical schools were recruited and given a 20-multiple-choice-question survey assessing their radiology knowledge, radiograph interpretation, and encountered imaging experiences. We measured the objective parameters as a percentage. We conducted descriptive analysis and used Likert scales where values were represented as numerical values. Percentages were graphed afterwards.
Results
A total of 5318 medical students in Egypt answered our survey. Gender distribution was 45% males and 54% females. The results represented all 7 class years of medical school (six academic years and a final training year). In assessing students’ knowledge of radiology, most students (75%) reported that they received ‘too little’ education, while 20% stated the amount was ‘just right’ and only 4% reported it was ‘too much.’ Sixty-two percent of students stated they were taught radiology through medical imaging lectures. Participants’ future career plans were almost equally distributed. Near half of participants (43%) have not heard about the American College of Radiology Appropriateness Criteria (ACR-AR), while 39% have heard about it but are not familiar with.
Conclusions
Radiology is a novel underestimated field. Therefore, medical students need more imaging exposure. To accomplish this, attention and efforts should be directed toward undergraduate radiology education to dissolve the gap between radiology and other specialties during clinical practice. A survey answered by medical students can bridge between presence of any current defect in undergraduate radiology teaching and future solutions for this topic.
This paper studies the groundwater logging problem in the Quaternary aquifer in Aswan city, Upper Egypt. Groundwater levels are already very high in Aswan city, but this has not been exploited, and ...it causes damage to the environment and infrastructure for roads, building, and templets. Rising groundwater leads to the deterioration and poor quality of agricultural lands. The main objective of this study is to assess and investigate the main reasons for the groundwater logging in the tourist city of Aswan using field investigation during different periods and gain a better understanding of the water dynamics in the study area. This study investigated the surface water levels in the High Dam Lake (HDL), the Kima Lake water levels, the recharge in the fish hatchery, the abstraction well rates in Kima and El-Shalal, and the leakage from the drinking water and wastewater network in Aswan city within the study area using field investigation. The results of this study show that the HDL is one of the most important sources feeding the aquifer in the study area, and it affects the rise and fall of the groundwater levels, but it is not the only factor that affects this problem. Moreover, the rise in the groundwater levels was due to the infiltration from the unlinking fish hatchery, the reduction in abstraction well rates from Kima Lake, the lack of abstraction from El shallal region, the increase in the leakage from drinking water pipelines, sewage networks and septic underground wastewater tanks; these factors are affecting groundwater logging in Aswan city. Potential groundwater level maps for the study area were generated using field data and ArcGIS technique for the years 2010, 2012, 2014, 2017, 2018, and 2020. Based on the results of the potential groundwater maps, the maximum and minimum difference for the groundwater levels in the study area between 2017 and 2012 reached 12.56 m and 0.83 m, respectively; also, between 2018 and 2017, the levels were 4.34 m and 0.25 m, respectively. Moreover, between 2020 and 2018, they were 8 m and 0.38 m, respectively.
This article reviews the relevant anatomy, imaging features on computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, and management of common processes involving the sciatic foramen. The anatomy of the ...sciatic foramen is complex and provides an important conduit between the pelvis, gluteus, and lower extremity. This paper reviewed the anatomy, common pathologies, and imaging features of this region including trauma, infection, nerve entrapment, tumor spread, hernia, and vascular anomaly.
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