An Improved Segmentation and Classifier Approach Based on HMM for Brain Cancer Detection

Author(s): Shruti Sharma & Dr. Munish Rattan

Journal: The Open Biomedical Engineering Journal

Abstract

Introduction:

Brain tumors are fatal diseases that are spread worldwide and affect all types of age groups. Due to its direct impact on the central nervous system, if tumor cells prevail at certain locations in the brain, the overall functionality of the body is disturbed and chances of a person approaching death are high. Tumors can be cancerous or non-cancerous but in many cases, the chances of complete recovery are less and as a result death rate has increased all over the world despite recent advancements in technology, equipment and awareness. So the main concern is to detect brain related diseases at early stages so that they do not spread into vital parts of brain and disrupt body functions. Also, more precise and accurate technologies are required to serve as aid in the diagnosis, treatment and surgery of brain.

Aims & Objectives:

Therefore, its high alarming time to monitor mortality statistics and develop faster and accurate methods to curb the situation by simulating tissue deformation and locating cancerous nodes which is currently the prominent area of interest.

Methods:

A brain tumor is used to design the deformation model. Early stage detection of tumors is difficult from images. Moreover, the accuracy involved is low. Keeping all this into consideration, a machine learning approach has been developed for classification of cancerous and non-cancerous tissues so that the tissues having risk of future problem can also be recognized. The patient’s deformation model can be designed and brain tumor patterns are given as input on the basis of which tumor in the brain is marked. The proposed method of segmentation is based on a statistical model called Hidden Markov Model (HMM) which extricates the cancerous portion out of fed input MRI image along with the calculation of parameters such as Peak Signal-to-Noise Ratio (PSNR), Mean Square Error (MSE), fault rate dust detection and accuracy.

Results & Discussion:

The results obtained from parametric analysis show that HMM has performed better than the technique of Support Vector Regression (SVR) for brain cancer segmentation in terms of PSNR, MSE, fault rate dust detection and accuracy. So image processing is used in combination with Hidden Markov Model for classification and analysis to which MRI images are fed as input.

Conclusion:

In this way, integration of artificial intelligence techniques with image processing can serve as a good way for segmentation of tumors and for classification purposes with good accuracy.

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https://benthamopen.com/ABSTRACT/TOBEJ-13-33

Experimental Investigation of Skirt Footing Subjected to Lateral Loading

Author(s): Faris Waleed Jawad et al.

Journal: The Open Civil Engineering Journal

Abstract

Background:

The skirt foundation is one of the powerful types of foundations to resist the lateral loads produced from natural forces, such as earthquakes and wind action, or from the type of structures, such as oil platforms and offshore wind turbines.

Objective and Methodology:

This research experimentally investigated the response of skirted footing resting on sandy soil of different states to lateral applications of loads on a small-scale physical model manufactured for this purpose. The parameters studied are the distance between the footing and the skirt and its depth.

Results and Conclusion:

The results show that the presence of the skirt behind the footing loads to an increase in bearing load and a reduction in the lateral movement whereas the skirt near or adjacent to the footing edge causes maximum increases in bearing load and reduction in lateral movement, for skirted footing. The ratio between the wall distance and the width of the footing has no effect when it is greater than one. On the other hand, the state of the soil influences the bearing load and lateral movement with different ratio of wall distance and wall depth to the width of the footing, especially when the wall distance to the footing width is less than one and the state of the soil has no effect on the bearing load and lateral movement when the ratio is more than one.

 

A general view of the model*. (a) Photo for the test setup. (b) Drawing of the test setup. *The details of the general view of the model as marked of 7 numbers, are listed below: 1-proving ring to read the static vertical load 2-dail gauge to read the vertical and lateral movement 3-known weight to apply lateral loads. 4-steel box 5-wire steel was connected to the footing lateral load 6-steel footing with dimensions 50 × 50 × 10 mm 7-steel pulley

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https://benthamopen.com/ABSTRACT/TOCIEJ-13-20

Seismic Behaviour of 17th Century Khusro Tomb due to Site-Specific Ground Motion

Author(s): Arjun Prasad et al.

Journal: The Open Civil Engineering Journal

Abstract

Introduction:

Site Specific time history analysis is performed on a 17^th century old Khusro Tomb built-in 1622 A.D. by Sultan Nisar Begum. It is a beautiful example of Mughal architecture.

Methods:

A 3-D finite element model is prepared on Ansys Workbench. Gravity analysis results show the behaviour of Tomb due to its geometry and stress variation is plotted in a form of contour. Modal analysis results show the first three frequencies of Khusro Tomb viz., 21.62, 21.68 and 25.38 Hz. In the absence of earthquake record, the stochastic finite fault model is used to generate synthetic site-specific time history to assess the seismic behaviour of the tomb.

Results and Conclusion:

Time history analysis results shows that the Khusro Tomb’s geometrical configuration is adequate to withstand the earthquake due to nearest Allahabad fault. The critical elements of the Tomb are highlighted based on analysis that can be effectively used for the maintenance of the Tomb.

Location of Khusrobagh Tomb built in A.D. 1622 by Sultan Nisar Begum (Location Map: Google Map)

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https://benthamopen.com/ABSTRACT/TOCIEJ-13-26

Recently Published Article: “Control of Early Blight of Tomato Caused by Alternaria Solani and Screening of Tomato Varieties against the Pathogen”

Author(s): Chapol K. Roy et al.

Journal: The Open Microbiology Journal

Abstract

Introduction:

Early blight is a common disease of tomato, which is caused by Alternaria solani.

Objectives:

This work was accompanied to find an alternative to chemical fungicides and to screen tomato varieties against Alternaria solani.

Methods:

The infected leaves were collected from five tomato fields of Shere-e-Bangla Agricultural University, Dhaka and were cultured for the identification of the infectious fungus and The phytobiocidal role of six plants against Alternaria solani was evaluated in vitro model.

Results & Discussion:

Alternaria solani was identified as the infectious fungus. The growth of the test fungi Trichoderma spp. viz., Trichoderma viride, T. harzianum collected form NAMDEC and Trichoderma sp collected from field of BCSIR was monitored as optimum P_H. All the selected Trichoderma spp. were antagonistic to A. solani. Antagonistic capacity of the Trichoderma spp. was tested by dual culture, volatile as well as non-volatile method. It was observed, T. viride was most effective in the reduction process of A. solani and T. harzianum. T. viride also showed highest inhibition in volatile and non-volatile trials. Six plant extracts viz., Adhatoda vasica (Nees), Azadirachta indica (A Juss). Ocimujm sanctum (L), Allium sativum (L), Datura metal(Linn) and Zingiber officinale (Rose) were selected to evaluate their in vitro efficacy of 5%, 10% and 20% concentration against the A. solani. Allium sativum was the most effective one against A. solani, followed by Azadirachta indica. The efficacy of five fungicides viz., Bavistin 50WP, Mancozeb 80WP, Indofil M-45, Sulcox 50WP and Tall 25EC were evaluated for their fungitoxicity against the A. solani at 100, 200,100, 600 and 800 ppm. Tall 25EC was the most effective fungicide against Alternaria solani followed by Mancozeb 80WP. After screening the five tomato varieties against A. solani, it was revealed that BARI Tomato-9 had the highest Percentage of Disease Index (PDI) and the leaf of BARI Tomato-7 had the lowest Percentage of Disease Index (PDI).

Conclusion:

The extract of Allium sativum was effective to control Alternaria solani at prescribed concentration. The highest PDI was found in BARI tomato-9 against Alternaria solani.

Pathogenicity test of Alternaria solani T1 = Control (Unpricked), T2 = Control (Pricked), T4 =Pricked dorsally inoculated leaf T5 = Unpricked ventraly leaf, T3 = Unpricked dorsally inoculated leaf T6 = Pricked ventrally inoculated leaf.

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https://benthamopen.com/ABSTRACT/TOMICROJ-13-41

Aqueous Enzymatic Extraction of Buriti (Mauritia Flexuosa) Oil: Yield and Antioxidant Compounds

Author(s): Jezica P.P. Silva, Antonio M.C. Rodrigues, Luiza H.M. Silva

Journal: The Open Food Science Journal

Abstract

Introduction:

Enzyme-assisted aqueous extraction is considered an emerging green technique that has been applied to different oilseeds.

Objective:

This study aimed to study the enzymatic aqueous extraction process of buriti oil using a central composite rotatable design (CCRD) combined with the response surface methodology aiming to obtain higher yield and antioxidant compounds in the oil.

Methods:

The study was carried out in two steps. The first assessed the efficiency of different enzymes (cellulase, pectinase, and protease) and the variables of greater influence in the extraction process, being conducted for each enzyme a CCRD design. The second step was carried out with the enzyme that showed the best performance on the extraction yield, changing the experimental bands of the variables that had greater significance in the first step, with the goal of broadening the spectrum of study. Were also evaluated in this step, total carotenoids, total phenolic compounds, and the antioxidant capacity of the oils extracted.

Results:

In the first experiment, cellulase gave the highest yield, while the most significant variables were temperature and time. For the second design, performed with cellulase, were defined as optimal operating conditions at 55 °C temperature, 2% enzyme concentration and 6 hours extraction. For these conditions, the yield obtained was 76.5%, with total carotenoid concentration of 3,119.5 µg β-carotene.g^-1. Analysis of variance was performed and showed the significance of the regression and non-significance of the lack-of-fit (p<0.05). The coefficients of determination of the yield and carotenoid content were 95.6% and 94.5%, respectively. The highest value of total phenolic compounds determined for buriti oil in this study was 254 ± 5 µg GAE.g^-1 oil, while for the antioxidant capacity was 218.0 ± 0.3 µmol Trolox.g^-1 oil.

Conclusion:

The enzymatic aqueous extraction process is viable for buriti oil and produced oils with high concentrations of antioxidant compounds.

Response surface for effects of (a) enzyme concentration with temperature; (b) time with temperature; and (c) time with enzyme concentration for oil extraction yield using cellulase, pectinase, and protease.

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https://benthamopen.com/ABSTRACT/TOFSJ-11-9

A New Ready-To-Bake Seafood Meal Based on Pacific White Shrimp: Product Development, Cost Evaluation, Consumer Acceptability, and Shelf Life Stability

Author(s): Alex Augusto Gonçalves & Sinthya Meire Lopes de Araújo

Journal: The Open Food Science Journal

Abstract

Background:

Considering that consumers are increasingly demanding and attentive to a healthy diet, while also looking for food that is easy to prepare, the objective of this work was to develop a new value-added product with Pacific white shrimp.

Methods:

Fresh shrimps were headless, eviscerated, cut, washed, immersed in brine (10% NaCl + 5% sodium tripolyphosphate – STPP, 30 min), drained, weighed, immersed in sweet-sour sauce (15 min), drained, stuffed with cream cheese, weighed, vacuum packed, frozen (-30°C / 24h), and stored (-18ºC). Microbiological, centesimal composition and physico-chemical analyzes were performed for fresh and stuffed shrimp. Confirmed the microbiological safety, samples were baked (180ºC, 20 min) and sensorially evaluated. The shelf life study for the frozen stuffed shrimp was carried out during 180 days of storage (-18ºC) and at each 45 days, samples were withdrawn for microbiological and physico-chemical analyzes.

Results:

All parameters analyzed were within the limits of Brazilian legislation, which demonstrated the initial shrimp freshness, and hygienic health care. The overall acceptance test was 8.72, the acceptability index of 96% and purchase intention of 82%. The final cost per piece was lower and viable. The nutritional value was in accordance to the literature for this shrimp, and the physico-chemical results during the shelf life evaluation were stable.

Conclusion:

The vacuum packaging, and freezing storage, associated with hygienic-sanitary care promoted the stability of microbiological assessment, and physical-chemical properties, and the overall quality and safety product for the consumer, which can be a new alternative for the shrimp industry.

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https://benthamopen.com/ABSTRACT/TOFSJ-11-18

Impact of Enterovirus Molecular Assay Turnaround Time on Hospitalization Length During an Echovirus 30 Meningitis Outbreak, France, Fall 2014

Author: Yohan N’Guyen

Journal: The Open Virology Journal

Abstract

Background:

The impact of Enterovirus Real Time-Polymerase Chain Reaction assay (EV RT-PCR) on hospitalization lengths of patients with aseptic meningitis has been investigated but the impact of early EV RT-PCR results released on time before patient discharge remains unclear during Echovirus meningitis outbreaks.

Objective:

To assess a potential correlation between EV RT-PCR turn-around time and hospitalization lengths during an Echovirus meningitis outbreak.

Method:

Eighteen patients demonstrating a positive EV RT-PCR assay performed on Cerebrospinal Fluid (CSF) samples collected between October 1^st 2014 and December 31st 2014 were retrospectively included. Viral protein 1 (VP1) gene region was amplified and sequenced using a classical Sanger sequencing reaction. Clinical data were retrospectively collected from patient’s records. Quantitative variables expressed as median values and ranges were compared using Mann Whitney U test. Correlations were performed using simple regression analysis.

Results:

Phylogenetic VP1 sequence analyses identified that the outbreak was related to an Echovirus 30 strain in 7 out of the 10 cases with available sequencing data. The three remaining sequences analyses evidenced Echovirus 14, 9 and 7 strains. Hospitalization length was statistically shorter in children without comorbidity (n=5) than in adult patients (n=10) or neonates and children with comorbidity (n=3) (p=0.003 and 0.01 respectively), whereas EV RT-PCR turnaround time was not statistically different between these groups. Correlation between hospitalization length and EV RT-PCR turnaround time was poor (R²=0.06), especially in adults (R²=0.01)

Conclusion:

Our data indicated that EV RT-PCR turnaround time was not correlated to hospitalization length during a short Echovirus meningitis outbreak.

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https://benthamopen.com/ABSTRACT/TOVJ-13-1