Search results for: remote sensing images

Authors: Felix Boehnisch, Alexander Lutz

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Based on the number of users and the amount of content posted daily, Facebook is considered the largest social network in the world. This content includes images or text posts from companies but also private persons, which are also commented on by other users. However, it can sometimes be difficult for companies to keep track of all the posts and the reactions to them, especially when there are several posts a day that contain hundreds to thousands of comments. To facilitate this, the following paper deals with the possible applications of sentiment analysis to social media comments in order to be able to support the work in social media marketing. In a first step, post comments were divided into positive and negative by a subjective rating, then the same comments were checked for their polarity value by the two german python libraries TextBlobDE and SentiWS and also grouped into positive, negative, or even neutral. As a control, the subjective classifications were compared with the machine-generated ones by a confusion matrix, and relevant quality criteria were determined. The accuracy of both libraries was not really meaningful, with 60% to 66%. However, many words or sentences were not evaluated at all, so there seems to be room for optimization to possibly get more accurate results. In future studies, the use of these specific German libraries can be optimized to gain better insights by either applying them to stricter cleaned data or by adding a sentiment value to emojis, which have been removed from the comments in advance, as they are not contained in the libraries.

Keywords: Facebook, German libraries, polarity, sentiment analysis, social media comments

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Authors: Bandar Alahmadi, Lethia Jackson

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Machine Learning model is used today in many real-life applications. The safety and security of such model is important, so the results of the model are as accurate as possible. One challenge of machine learning model security is the adversarial examples attack. Adversarial examples are designed by the attacker to cause the machine learning model to misclassify the input. We propose a method to generate adversarial examples to attack image classifiers. We are modifying the successfully classified images, so a classifier misclassifies them after the modification. In our method, we do not update the whole image, but instead we detect the important region, modify it, place it back to the original image, and then run it through a classifier. The algorithm modifies the detected region using two methods. First, it will add abstract image matrix on back of the detected image matrix. Then, it will perform a rotation attack to rotate the detected region around its axes, and embed the trace of image in image background. Finally, the attacked region is placed in its original position, from where it was removed, and a smoothing filter is applied to smooth the background with foreground. We test our method in cascade classifier, and the algorithm is efficient, the classifier confident has dropped to almost zero. We also try it in CNN (Convolutional neural network) with higher setting and the algorithm was successfully worked.

Keywords: adversarial examples, attack, computer vision, image processing

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Authors: Yi-Feng Kao, Huey-Jine Chai, Chin-I Chang, Yi-Chen Chen, June-Ru Chen

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Microglia is a macrophage that resides in brain, and overactive microglia may result in brain neuron damage or inflammation. In this study, the phospholipids was extracted from squid skin and manufactured into a liposome (SQ liposome) to mimic apoptotic body. We then evaluated anti-inflammatory effects of SQ liposome on mouse microglial cell line (BV-2) by lipopolysaccharide (LPS) induction. First, the major phospholipid constituents in the squid skin extract were including 46.2% of phosphatidylcholine, 18.4% of phosphatidylethanolamine, 7.7% of phosphatidylserine, 3.5% of phosphatidylinositol, 4.9% of Lysophosphatidylcholine and 19.3% of other phospholipids by HPLC-UV analysis. The contents of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) in the squid skin extract were 11.8 and 28.7%, respectively. The microscopic images showed that microglia cells can engulf apoptotic cells or SQ-liposome. In cell based studies, there was no cytotoxicity to BV-2 as the concentration of SQ-liposome was less than 2.5 mg/mL. The LPS induced pro-inflammatory cytokines, including tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) and interleukin-6 (IL-6), were significant suppressed (P < 0.05) by pretreated 0.03~2.5mg/ml SQ liposome. Oppositely, the anti-inflammatory cytokines transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-β) and interleukin-10 (IL-10) secretion were enhanced (P < 0.05). The results suggested that SQ-liposome possess anti-inflammatory properties on BV-2 and may be a good strategy for against neuro-inflammatory disease.

Keywords: apoptotic mimicry, neuroinflammation, microglia, squid processing by-products

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Authors: M.F. Elkady, Sahar Zaki, Desouky Abd-El-Haleem

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Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) are already widely prepared using different technologies. However, there are limited data on the effects of hydrogen ion concentration on nano-silver production. In this investigation, the impact of the pH reaction medium toward the particle size, agglomeration and the yield of the produced bio-synthesized silver were established. Quasi-spherical silver nanoparticles were synthesized through the biosynthesis green production process using the Egyptian E. coli bacterial strain 23N at different pH values. The formation of AgNPs has been confirmed with ultraviolet–visible spectra through identification of their characteristic peak at 410 nm. The quantitative production yield and the orientation planes of the produced nano-silver were examined using X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). Quantitative analyses indicated that the silver production yield was promoted at elevated pH regarded to increase the reduction rate of silver precursor through both chemical and biological processes. As a result, number of the nucleus and thus the size of the silver nanoparticles were tunable through changing pH of the reaction system. Accordingly, the morphological structure and size of the produced silver and its aggregates were determined using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) images. It was considered that the increment in pH value of the reaction media progress the aggregation of silver clusters. However, the presence of stain 23N biomass decreases the possibility of silver aggregation at the pH 7.

Keywords: silver nanoparticles, biosynthesis, reaction media pH, nano-silver characterization

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Authors: Muhammad Zainuddin Arriafdi, Hamudah Hakimah Abdullah, Mohd Helmi Sani, Wan Azlina Ahmad, Muhd Nazrul Hisham Zainal Alam

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The biotechnology process development demands numerous experimental works. In laboratory environment, this is typically carried out using a shake flask platform. This paper presents the design and fabrication of a miniature bioreactor system as an alternative research tool for bioprocessing. The working volume of the reactor is 100 ml, and it is made of plastic. The main features of the reactor included stirring control, temperature control via the electrical heater, aeration strategy through a miniature air compressor, and online optical cell density (OD) sensing. All sensors and actuators integrated into the reactor was controlled using an Arduino microcontroller platform. In order to demonstrate the functionality of such miniature bioreactor concept, series of batch Saccharomyces cerevisiae fermentation experiments were performed under various glucose concentrations. Results attained from the fermentation experiments were utilized to solve the Monod equation constants, namely the saturation constant, Ks, and cells maximum growth rate, μmax as to further highlight the usefulness of the device. The mixing capacity of the reactor was also evaluated. It was found that the results attained from the miniature bioreactor prototype were comparable to results achieved using a shake flask. The unique features of the device as compared to shake flask platform is that the reactor mixing condition is much more comparable to a lab-scale bioreactor setup. The prototype is also integrated with an online OD sensor, and as such, no sampling was needed to monitor the progress of the reaction performed. Operating cost and medium consumption are also low and thus, making it much more economical to be utilized for biotechnology process development compared to lab-scale bioreactors.

Keywords: biotechnology, miniature bioreactor, research tools, Saccharomyces cerevisiae

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Authors: Miho Tsukamoto

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Since the initial creation of the Barbie doll in 1959, it became a symbol of US society. Likewise, the Licca-chan, a Japanese doll created in 1967, also became a Japanese symbolic doll of Japanese society. Prior to the introduction of Licca-chan, Barbie was already marketed in Japan but their sales were dismal. Licca-chan (an actual name: Kayama Licca) is a plastic doll with a variety of sizes ranging from 21.0 cm to 29.0 cm which many Japanese girls dream of having. For over 35 years, the manufacturer, Takara Co., Ltd. has sold over 48 million dolls and has produced doll houses, accessories, clothes, and Licca-chan video games for the Nintendo DS. Many First-generation Licca-chan consumers still are enamored with Licca-chan, and go to Licca-chan House, in an amusement park with their daughters. These people are called Licca-chan maniacs, as they enjoy touring the Licca-chan’s factory in Tohoku or purchase various Licca-chan accessories. After the successful launch of Licca-chan into the Japanese market, a mixed-like doll from the US and Japan, a doll, JeNny, was later sold in the same Japanese market by Takara Co., Ltd. in 1982. Comparison of these cultural iconic dolls, Barbie and Licca-chan, are analyzed in this paper. In fact, these dolls have concepts of girls’ dreams. By using concepts of mythology of Jean Baudrillard, these dolls can be represented idealized images of figures in the products for consumers, but at the same time, consumers can see products with different perspectives, which can cause controversy.

Keywords: Barbie, dolls, JeNny, idealization, Licca-chan

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Authors: Nikolaos Papadakis, Constantinos Condaxakis, Konstantinos Savvakis

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The aim of this paper is to determine the elastic properties (elastic modulus and Poisson ratio) of a composite material based on noncontacting imaging methods. More specifically, the significantly reduced cost of digital cameras has given the opportunity of the high reliability of low-cost strain measurement. The open source platform Ncorr is used in this paper which utilizes the method of digital image correlation (DIC). The use of digital image correlation in measuring strain uses random speckle preparation on the surface of the gauge area, image acquisition, and postprocessing the image correlation to obtain displacement and strain field on surface under study. This study discusses technical issues relating to the quality of results to be obtained are discussed. [0]8 fabric glass/epoxy composites specimens were prepared and tested at different orientations 0[o], 30[o], 45[o], 60[o], 90[o]. Each test was recorded with the camera at a constant frame rate and constant lighting conditions. The recorded images were processed through the use of the image processing software. The parameters of the test are reported. The strain map output which is obtained through strain measurement using Ncorr is validated by a) comparing the elastic properties with expected values from Classical laminate theory, b) through finite element analysis.

Keywords: composites, Ncorr, strain map, videoextensometry

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Authors: Asiri Wijesinghe, N. D. Kodikara, Damitha Sandaruwan

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The Diabetic Retinopathy (DR) is a rapidly growing interrogation around the world which can be annotated by abortive metabolism of glucose that causes long-term infection in human retina. This is one of the preliminary reason of visual impairment and blindness of adults. Information on retinal pathological mutation can be recognized using ocular fundus images. In this research, we are mainly focused on resurrecting an automated diagnosis system to detect DR anomalies such as severity level classification of DR patient (Non-proliferative Diabetic Retinopathy approach) and vessel tortuosity measurement of untwisted vessels to assessment of vessel anomalies (Proliferative Diabetic Retinopathy approach). Severity classification method is obtained better results according to the precision, recall, F-measure and accuracy (exceeds 94%) in all formats of cross validation. In ROC (Receiver Operating Characteristic) curves also visualized the higher AUC (Area Under Curve) percentage (exceeds 95%). User level evaluation of severity capturing is obtained higher accuracy (85%) result and fairly better values for each evaluation measurements. Untwisted vessel detection for tortuosity measurement also carried out the good results with respect to the sensitivity (85%), specificity (89%) and accuracy (87%).

Keywords: fundus image, exudates, microaneurisms, hemorrhages, tortuosity, diabetic retinopathy, optic disc, fovea

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Authors: Newdeskarl Saint Fleur, Nathalie Feuillet, Raphaël Grandin, Éric Jacques, Jennifer Weil-Accardo, Yann Klinger

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The prevailing consensus is that the 2010 Mw7.0 Haiti earthquake left the Enriquillo–Plantain Garden strike-slip Fault (EPGF) unruptured but broke unmapped blind north-dipping thrusts. Using high-resolution topography, aerial images, bathymetry and geology we identified previously unrecognized south-dipping NW-SE-striking active thrusts in southern Haiti. One of them, Lamentin thrust (LT), cuts across the crowded city of Carrefour, extends offshore into Port-au-Prince Bay and connects at depth with the EPGF. We propose that both faults broke in 2010. The rupture likely initiated on the thrust and propagated further along the EPGF due to unclamping. This scenario is consistent with geodetic, seismological and field data. The 2010 earthquake increased the stress toward failure on the unruptured segments of the EPGF and on neighboring thrusts, significantly increasing the seismic hazard in the Port-au-Prince urban area. The numerous active thrusts recognized in that area must be considered for future evaluation of the seismic hazard.

Keywords: active faulting, enriquillo-plantain garden fault, Haiti earthquake, seismic hazard

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Authors: Victor Hugo Sanchez Rodriguez

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Amidst the challenges posed by pandemic-induced lockdowns, traditional educational models have been disrupted. To bridge the distance learning gap, our project introduces an innovative initiative focused on teaching high school students basic biotechnology techniques. We aim to empower young minds and foster curiosity by encouraging students to create their own DIY biotechnology laboratories using easily accessible materials found at home. This abstract outlines the key aspects of our project, highlighting its importance, methodology, and evaluation approach.In response to the pandemic's limitations, our project targets the delivery of biotechnology education at a distance. By engaging students in hands-on experiments, we seek to provide an enriching learning experience despite the constraints of remote learning. The DIY approach allows students to explore scientific concepts in a practical and enjoyable manner, nurturing their interest in biotechnology and molecular biology. Originally designed to assess professional-level research programs, we have adapted the URSSA to suit the context of biotechnology and molecular biology synthesis for high school students. By applying this tool before and after the experimental sessions, we aim to gauge the program's impact on students' learning experiences and skill development. Our project's significance lies not only in its novel approach to teaching biotechnology but also in its adaptability to the current global crisis. By providing students with a stimulating and interactive learning environment, we hope to inspire educators and institutions to embrace creative solutions during challenging times. Moreover, the insights gained from our evaluation will inform future efforts to enhance distance learning programs and promote accessible science education.

Keywords: DIY biotechnology, high school students, distance learning, pandemic education, undergraduate research student self-assessment (URSSA)

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Authors: Eman Alzahrani

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Magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) were fabricated using the chemical co-precipitation method followed by coating the surface of magnetic Fe3O4 nanoparticles with gum arabic (GA). The fabricated magnetic nanoparticles were characterised using transmission electron microscopy (TEM) which showed that the Fe3O4 nanoparticles and GA-MNPs nanoparticles had a mean diameter of 33 nm, and 38 nm, respectively. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images showed that the MNPs modified with GA had homogeneous structure and agglomerated. The energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDAX) spectrum showed strong peaks of Fe and O. X-ray diffraction patterns (XRD) indicated that the naked magnetic nanoparticles were pure Fe3O4 with a spinel structure and the covering of GA did not result in a phase change. The covering of GA on the magnetic nanoparticles was also studied by BET analysis, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. Moreover, the present study reports a fast and simple method for removal and recovery of methylene blue dye (MB) from aqueous solutions by using the synthesised magnetic nanoparticles modified with gum arabic as adsorbent. The experimental results show that the adsorption process attains equilibrium within five minutes. The data fit the Langmuir isotherm equation and the maximum adsorption capacities were 8.77 mg mg-1 and 14.3 mg mg-1 for MNPs and GA-MNPs, respectively. The results indicated that the homemade magnetic nanoparticles were quite efficient for removing MB and will be a promising adsorbent for the removal of harmful dyes from waste-water.

Keywords: Fe3O4 magnetic nanoparticles, gum arabic, co-precipitation, adsorption dye, methylene blue, adsorption isotherm

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Authors: Tshaiya Devi Thandauthapani, Adam J. Reeve, Adam S. Long, Ian J. Turner, James S. Sharp

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Fingermarks are a crucial form of evidence for identifying a person at a crime scene. However, visualising latent (hidden) fingermarks can be difficult, and the correct choice of techniques is essential to develop and preserve any fingermarks that might be present. Knives, firearms and other metal weapons have proven to be challenging substrates (stainless steel in particular) from which to reliably obtain fingermarks. In this study, time of flight secondary ion mass spectroscopy (ToF-SIMS) was used to image fingermarks on metal surfaces. This technique was compared to a conventional superglue based fuming technique that was accompanied by a series of contrast enhancing dyes (basic yellow 40 (BY40), crystal violet (CV) and Sudan black (SB)) on three different metal surfaces. The conventional techniques showed little to no evidence of fingermarks being present on the metal surfaces after a few days. However, ToF-SIMS images revealed fingermarks on the same and similar substrates with an exceptional level of detail demonstrating clear ridge definition as well as detail about sweat pore position and shape, that persist for over 26 days after deposition when the samples were stored under ambient conditions.

Keywords: conventional techniques, latent fingermarks, metal substrates, time of flight secondary ion mass spectroscopy

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Authors: Jiwon Lee, Yeong-Ju Go, Jong-Soo Choi

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Drones were first developed for military use and were used in World War 1. But recently drones have been used in a variety of fields. Several companies actively utilize drone technology to strengthen their services, and in agriculture, drones are used for crop monitoring and sowing. Other people use drones for hobby activities such as photography. However, as the range of use of drones expands rapidly, problems caused by drones such as improperly flying, privacy and terrorism are also increasing. As the need for monitoring and tracking of drones increases, researches are progressing accordingly. The drone detection system estimates the position of the drone using the physical phenomena that occur when the drones fly. The drone detection system measures being developed utilize many approaches, such as radar, infrared camera, and acoustic detection systems. Among the various drone detection system, the acoustic detection system is advantageous in that the microphone array system is small, inexpensive, and easy to operate than other systems. In this paper, the acoustic signal is acquired by using minimum microphone when drone is flying, and direction of drone is estimated. When estimating the Direction of Arrival(DOA), there is a method of calculating the DOA based on the Time Difference of Arrival(TDOA) and a method of calculating the DOA based on the beamforming. The TDOA technique requires less number of microphones than the beamforming technique, but is weak in noisy environments and can only estimate the DOA of a single source. The beamforming technique requires more microphones than the TDOA technique. However, it is strong against the noisy environment and it is possible to simultaneously estimate the DOA of several drones. When estimating the DOA using acoustic signals emitted from the drone, it is impossible to measure the position of the drone, and only the direction can be estimated. To overcome this problem, in this work we show how to estimate the position of drones by arranging multiple microphone arrays. The microphone array used in the experiments was four tetrahedral microphones. We simulated the performance of each DOA algorithm and demonstrated the simulation results through experiments.

Keywords: acoustic sensing, direction of arrival, drone detection, microphone array

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Authors: Maged Syed Ahamd, Manal Mohamed Yasser, Essam Sholkamy

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In this paper, we reported that selenium (Se) nanoparticles were firstly biosynthesized with a simple and eco-friendly biological method. Their shape, size, FTIR (Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy), UV–vis spectra, TEM (Transmission Electron Microscopy) images and EDS (Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy) pattern have been analyzed. TEM analyses of the samples obtained at different stages indicated that the formation of these Se nanostructures was governed by an incubation time (12- 24- 48 hours). The Se nanoparticles were initially generated and then would transform into crystal seeds for the subsequent growth of nanowires; however obtaining stable Se nanowire with a diameter of about 15-100 nm. EDS shows that Se nanoparticles are entirely pure. The IR spectra showed the peaks at 550 cm-1, 1635 cm-1, 1994 cm-1 and 3430 cm-1 correspond to the presence of Se-O bending and stretching vibrations. The concentrations of Se-NPs (0, 1, 2, 5 µg/ml) did not give significantly effect on both two cell lines while the highest concentrations (10- 100 µg/ml gave significantly effects on them. The lethal dose (ID50%) of Se-NPs on Hep2 G and MCF-7 cells was obtained at 75.96 and 61.86 µg/ml, respectively. Results showed that Se nanoparticles as anticancer agent against MCF-7 cells were more effective than Hep2 G cells. Our results suggest that Se-NPs may be a candidate for further evaluation as a chemotherapeutic agent for breast and liver cancers.

Keywords: selenium nanoparticle, Streptomyces bikiniensis, nanowires, chemotherapeutic agent

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Authors: Emine Akar

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The majority of privacy-related regulation has traditionally focused on concepts that are perceived to be well-understood or easily describable, such as certain categories of data and personal information or images. In the past century, such regulation appeared reasonably suitable for its purposes. However, technologies such as AI, combined with ever-increasing capabilities to collect, process, and store “big data”, not only require calibration of these traditional understandings but may require re-thinking of entire categories of privacy law. In the presentation, it will be explained, against the background of various emerging technologies under the umbrella term “emotional artificial intelligence”, why modern privacy law will need to embrace human emotions as potentially private subject matter. This argument can be made on a jurisprudential level, given that human emotions can plausibly be accommodated within the various concepts that are traditionally regarded as the underlying foundation of privacy protection, such as, for example, dignity, autonomy, and liberal values. However, the practical reasons for regarding human emotions as potentially private subject matter are perhaps more important (and very likely more convincing from the perspective of regulators). In that respect, it should be regarded as alarming that, according to most projections, the usefulness of emotional data to governments and, particularly, private companies will not only lead to radically increased processing and analysing of such data but, concerningly, to an exponential growth in the collection of such data. In light of this, it is also necessity to discuss options for how regulators could address this emerging threat.

Keywords: AI, privacy law, data protection, big data

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Authors: Gayatri Kanwar

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The purpose of this research paper is to explore the power of myth in changing human lives; it establishes patterns in the human psyche, affects the way of thinking, as myths unveil various subjects, ideas, and challenges. Through mythological stories one comes to understand the images behind the emotions and feelings, they influence him as it changes his thought patterns, their therapeutic sets the individual on the path of healing and transforms human lives. Every civilization in the olden times had a vast source of myths which they lived by. They were not ordinary stories of everyday life, but exemplary cases narrated through oral traditions in a sacred manner revealed the 'way to live life'. The mythical stories have a spiritual touch which brought him to the acceptance of suffering or finding a solution to his life problems. In modern times, the significance of the age old myth has lost their touch. Each one of us bears countless stories inside ourselves of our own lives and all its happenings. Therefore, each being is a natural narrator. Everybody tells stories about their lives; hence, one tends to know oneself as well as seeks understanding of others through them. When one remembers their stories they speak in narratives. As stated by Jung, these narratives grow into a personal mythology one lives by. Nonetheless, there are times when one becomes stuck in their own stories or myths. Hence, mythology can change one’s perception and can open pathways to other ways of discovering, feeling and experiencing one’s lives.

Keywords: Power of Myths, Significance of myths in modern times, Transforming human lives, Benefits to Society

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Authors: Uchenna Sydney Mbamara, Bolu Olofinjana, Ezekiel Oladele B. Ajayi

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Elaborate surface metrology of undoped ZnO thin films, deposited by organometallic chemical vapour deposition (OMCVD) technique at different precursor flow rates, was carried out. Dicarbomethyl-zinc precursor was used. The films were deposited on AISI304L steel and soda-lime glass substrates. Ultraviolet-visible-near-infrared (UV-Vis-NIR) spectroscopy showed that all the thin films were over 80% transparent, with an average bandgap of 3.39 eV, X-ray diffraction (XRD) results showed that the thin films were crystalline with a hexagonal structure, while Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy (RBS) results identified the elements present in each thin film as zinc and oxygen in the ratio of 1:1. Microscope and contactless profilometer results gave images with characteristic colours. The profilometer also gave the surface roughness data in both 2D and 3D. The asperity distribution of the thin film surfaces was Gaussian, while the average fractal dimension Da was in the range of 2.5 ≤ Da. The metrology proved the surfaces good for ‘touch electronics’ and coating mechanical parts for low friction.

Keywords: undoped ZnO, precursor flow rate, OMCVD, thin films, surface texture, tribology

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Authors: Bruce Wrightsman

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Traditionally, in architectural education, we develop studio projects with learning agendas that try to minimize conflict and reveal clear design objectives. Knowledge is gleaned only tacitly through confronting the reciprocity of site and form, space and light, structure and envelope. This institutional reality can limit student learning to the latent learning opportunities they will have to confront later in practice. One intent of academic design-build projects is to address the learning opportunities which one can discover in the messy grey areas of design. In this immersive experience, students confront the limitations of classroom learning and are exposed to challenges that demand collaborative practice. As a result, design-build has been widely adopted in an attempt to address perceived deficiencies in design education vis a vis the integration of building technology and construction. Hands-on learning is not a new topic, as espoused by John Dewey, who posits a debate between static and active learning in his book Democracy and Education. Dewey espouses the concept that individuals should become participants and not mere observers of what happens around them. Advocates of academic design-build programs suggest a direct link between Dewey’s speculation. These experiences provide irreplaceable life lessons: that real-world decisions have real-life consequences. The goal of the paper is not to confirm or refute the legitimacy and efficacy of online virtual learning. Rather, the paper aims to foster a deeper, honest discourse on the meaning of ‘making’ in architectural education and present projects that confronted the burdens of a global pandemic and developed unique teaching strategies that challenged design thinking as an observational and constructive effort to expand design student’s making skills and foster student agency.

Keywords: design/build, making, remote teaching, architectural curriculum

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Authors: Rita Magdalena, N. K. Caecar Pratiwi, Yunendah Nur Fuadah, Sofia Saidah, Bima Sakti

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Vessel segmentation of retinal fundus is important for biomedical sciences in diagnosing ailments related to the eye. Segmentation can simplify medical experts in diagnosing retinal fundus image state. Therefore, in this study, we designed a software using MATLAB which enables the segmentation of the retinal blood vessels on retinal fundus images. There are two main steps in the process of segmentation. The first step is image preprocessing that aims to improve the quality of the image to be optimum segmented. The second step is the image segmentation in order to perform the extraction process to retrieve the retina’s blood vessel from the eye fundus image. The image segmentation methods that will be analyzed in this study are Morphology Operation, Discrete Wavelet Transform and combination of both. The amount of data that used in this project is 40 for the retinal image and 40 for manually segmentation image. After doing some testing scenarios, the average accuracy for Morphology Operation method is 88.46 % while for Discrete Wavelet Transform is 89.28 %. By combining the two methods mentioned in later, the average accuracy was increased to 89.53 %. The result of this study is an image processing system that can segment the blood vessels in retinal fundus with high accuracy and low computation time.

Keywords: discrete wavelet transform, fundus retina, morphology operation, segmentation, vessel

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Authors: Catherine Mangan, Beth Anderson

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There has been a significant drive to use online or hybrid learning in Higher Education (HE) over recent years. HEs with a virtual presence offer their communities a range of benefits, including the potential for greater inclusivity, diversity, and collaboration; more flexible learning packages; and more engaging, dynamic content. Institutions can also experience significant challenges when seeking to extend learning spaces in this way, as can learners themselves. For example, staff members’ and learners’ digital literacy varies (as do their perceptions of technologies in use), and there can be confusion about optimal approaches to implementation. Furthermore, the speed with which HE institutions have needed to shift to fully online or hybrid models, owing to the COVID19 pandemic, has highlighted the significant barriers to successful implementation. HE environments have been shown to predict a range of organisational, academic, and experiential outcomes, both positive and negative. Much research has focused on the social aspect of virtual platforms, as well as the nature and effectiveness of the technologies themselves. There remains, however, a relative paucity of synthesised knowledge on the psychology of learners’ relationships with their institutions; specifically, how individual difference and interpersonal factors predict students’ ability and willingness to engage with novel virtual learning spaces. Accordingly, extending learning spaces remains challenging for institutions, and wholly remote courses, in particular, can experience high attrition rates. Focusing on the last five years, this pragmatic review summarises evidence from the psychological and pedagogical literature. In particular, the review highlights the importance of addressing the psychological and relational complexities of students’ shift from offline to online engagement. In doing so, it identifies considerations for HE institutions looking to deliver in this way.

Keywords: higher education, individual differences, interpersonal relationships, online learning, virtual environment

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Authors: Mohsen Adabi, Mahdi Adabi, Reza Saber

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The recent advancements in nanomaterials have provided a platform to develop efficient transduction matrices for sensors. Modified electrodes allow to electrochemists to enhance the property of electrode surface and provide desired properties such as improved sensing capabilities, higher electron transfer rate and prevention of undesirable reactions competing kinetically with desired electrode process. Nanostructured electrodes including arrays of carbon nanotubes have demonstrated great potential for the development of electrochemical sensors and biosensors. The aim of this work is to evaluate the concentration of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) on the conductivity of gold electrode. For this work, raw MWCNTs was functionalized and shortened. Raw and shorten MWCNTs were characterized using transfer electron microscopy (TEM). Next, 0.5, 2 and 3.5 mg of Shortened and functionalized MWCNTs were dispersed in 2 mL Dimethyl formamide (DMF) and cysteamine modified gold electrodes were incubated in the different concentrations of MWCNTs for 8 hours. Then, the immobilization of MWCNTs on cysteamine modified gold electrode was characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and the effect of MWCNT concentrations on electron transfer of modified electrodes was investigated by cyclic voltammetry (CV). The results demonstrated that CV response of ferricyanide redox at modified gold electrodes increased as concentration of MWCNTs enhanced from 0.5 to 2 mg in 2 mL DMF. This increase can be attributed to the number of MWCNTs which enhance on the surface of cysteamine modified gold electrode as the MWCNTs concentration increased whereas CV response of ferricyanide redox at modified gold electrodes did not changed significantly as the MWCNTs concentration increased from 2 to 3.5 mg in 2 mL DMF. The reason may be that amine groups of cysteamine modified gold electrodes are limited to a given number which can interact with the given number of carboxylic groups of MWCNTs and CV response of ferricyanide redox at modified gold do not enhance after amine groups of cysteamine are saturated with carboxylic groups of MWCNTs.

Keywords: carbon nanotube, cysteamine, electrochemical sensor, gold electrode

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Authors: Naylya Djumaeva

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Since the end of 2019, the world has been shaken by an infection that has claimed the lives of more than six and a half million patients. Currently, SARS-CoV-2 not only causes acute damage but has long-term consequences affecting every organ and has brought a wave of a new chronic disabling condition called Long-Covid..This preliminary study describes an application of un-explored properties of low-level laser radiation with laser- light emitter in the field of which is placed Copegus (Ribavirin) with the aim of treatment of patients with Long-Covid syndrome. The difference from the traditional use of the drug is that Copegus was not prescribed to the patient by the traditional method - orally or intravenously, and the medicinal properties of the drug were introduced into the patient’s body using the un-explored properties of low-power laser radiation. Ninety eight patients with Long- Covid syndrome were observed. The obtained findings suggest that under the influence of the field formed into the laser- light emitter with a Copegus placed inside the field, the remote transfer of pharmacological properties of Сopegus occurs. Conclusions about the produced effect of exposure were made based on improvement in the condition of patients, the disappearance of complaints, and positive changes in various diagnostic tests performed by the patients. Biography: Djumaeva N completed her PhD from the Institute of Epidemiology, Microbiology and Infectious Diseases in 2000. In her dissertation work devoted to the treatment of patients with chronic hepatitis B virus infection, she presented data on the possible influence of Complex Homeopathic Preparations on the organization of bound intracellular water in the cells of the body. She is the Consultant (Neurologist) at the Scientific-Research Institute for Virology, Uzbekistan, and an expert in “medicament testing” method (30 years). She has published 43 papers, including 2 patents.

Keywords: long covid, low level laser, copegus, laser- light emmiter

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Authors: Shafiullah Soomro

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Active contour is one of the image segmentation techniques and its goal is to capture required object boundaries within an image. In this paper, we propose a novel image segmentation method by using an active contour method based on anisotropic diffusion feature enhancement technique. The traditional active contour methods use only pixel information to perform segmentation, which produces inaccurate results when an image has some noise or complex background. We use Perona and Malik diffusion scheme for feature enhancement, which sharpens the object boundaries and blurs the background variations. Our main contribution is the formulation of a new SPF (signed pressure force) function, which uses global intensity information across the regions. By minimizing an energy function using partial differential framework the proposed method captures semantically meaningful boundaries instead of catching uninterested regions. Finally, we use a Gaussian kernel which eliminates the problem of reinitialization in level set function. We use several synthetic and real images from different modalities to validate the performance of the proposed method. In the experimental section, we have found the proposed method performance is better qualitatively and quantitatively and yield results with higher accuracy compared to other state-of-the-art methods.

Keywords: active contours, anisotropic diffusion, level-set, partial differential equations

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Authors: Surajit Chakrabarty, Piyush Chauhan, Subhasis Panda, Sujoy Bhattacharya

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A large proportion of roads in India are not well maintained as per the laid down public safety guidelines leading to loss of direction control and fatal accidents. We propose a technique to detect speed breakers and potholes using mobile sensor data captured from multiple vehicles and provide a profile of the road. This would, in turn, help in monitoring roads and revolutionize digital maps. Incorporating randomness in the model formulation for detection of speed breakers and potholes is crucial due to substantial heterogeneity observed in data obtained using a mobile application from multiple vehicles driven by different drivers. This is accomplished with Hidden Markov Models, whose hidden state sequence is found for each time step given the observables sequence, and are then fed as input to LSTM network with peephole connections. A precision score of 0.96 and 0.63 is obtained for classifying bumps and potholes, respectively, a significant improvement from the machine learning based models. Further visualization of bumps/potholes is done by converting time series to images using Markov Transition Fields where a significant demarcation among bump/potholes is observed.

Keywords: deep learning, hidden Markov model, pothole, speed breaker

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Authors: Shringika Soni, Utkarsh Jain, Nidhi Chauhan

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Aptamers are recently discovered ~80-100 bp long artificial oligonucleotides that not only demonstrated their applications in therapeutics; it is tremendously used in diagnostic and sensing application to detect different biomarkers and drugs. Synthesizing aptamers for proteins or genomic template is comparatively feasible in laboratory, but drugs or other chemical target based aptamers require major specification and proper optimization and validation. One has to optimize all selection, amplification, and characterization steps of the end product, which is extremely time-consuming. Therefore, we performed asymmetric PCR (polymerase chain reaction) for random oligonucleotides pool synthesis, and further use them in Systematic evolution of ligands by exponential enrichment (SELEX) for anti-psychotic drugs based aptamers synthesis. Anti-psychotic drugs are major tranquilizers to control psychosis for proper cognitive functions. Though their low medical use, their misuse may lead to severe medical condition as addiction and can promote crime in social and economical impact. In this work, we have approached the in-vitro SELEX method for ssDNA synthesis for anti-psychotic drugs (in this case ‘target’) based aptamer synthesis. The study was performed in three stages, where first stage included synthesis of random oligonucleotides pool via asymmetric PCR where end product was analyzed with electrophoresis and purified for further stages. The purified oligonucleotide pool was incubated in SELEX buffer, and further partition was performed in the next stage to obtain target specific aptamers. The isolated oligonucleotides are characterized and quantified after each round of partition, and significant results were obtained. After the repetitive partition and amplification steps of target-specific oligonucleotides, final stage included sequencing of end product. We can confirm the specific sequence for anti-psychoactive drugs, which will be further used in diagnostic application in clinical and forensic set-up.

Keywords: anti-psychotic drugs, aptamer, biosensor, ssDNA, SELEX

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Authors: Cristina Hotoleanu

Abstract:

Introduction: The recent Covid-19 pandemic accelerated the development of e-health, including telemedicine, smartphone applications, and medical wearable devices. Providing remote teleconsultations supposes challenges which may require further face-to-face medical interactions. The aim of this study was to assess the correlation between the types of teleconsultations and the need of onsite medical services (investigations and medical visits) for the diagnosis and treatment. Methods: a retrospective study including all the teleconsultations using the platform offered by a telehealth provider in Romania (Telios Care SA) between May 1, 2021- April 30, 2022, was performed. Binary data were analysed using the chi-square test with a significance level of p < 0.05. Results: out of 7163 consultations, 3961 were phone calls, 1981 were online messages, and 1221 were video calls. Onsite medical services were indicated in 3327 (46.44%) cases; the onsite investigations or the onsite visits were recommended for 2908 patients as follows: 2326 in case of phone calls, 582 in case of online messages, none in case of video calls. Both onsite investigations and visits were indicated for 419 patients. The need for onsite additional medical services was significantly higher in the case of phone calls than in the other 2 types of teleconsultations (Chi square= 1207.06, p= 0.00001). The indication for onsite services was done mainly after teleconsultations covering medical specialties (87.34%), significantly higher than the other specialties (Chi square=914.59, p=0.00001). Teleconsultations in surgical specialties and other fields (pharmacy, dentistry, psychology, wellbeing- nutrition, fitness) resulted in 12.13%, respective less than 1%, indication for onsite investigations or visits, explained by using of video calls in most of the cases. Conclusion: a further onsite medical service was necessary in less than a half of the teleconsultations. This indication was done mainly after phone calls and teleconsultations in medical specialties. Video calls were used mostly in psychology, nutrition, and fitness teleconsultations and did not require a further onsite medical service. Other studies are necessary to assess better the types of teleconsultations and the specialties bringing the biggest benefit for the patients.

Keywords: onsite medical services, phone calls, teleconsultations, telemedicine

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Authors: A. Chtourou, K. Ben Youssef, M. Friel, T. Leicht

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These Place attributes and destination images associated with tourism destinations are often crucial important for tourist travel decisions and choice behavior. Understanding the interactions between them is fundamental for developing sustainable place brands. Despite their extensive use on an empirical ground, little research has been done in terms of analyzing the constructs that determine the sense of place in the marketing of cultural heritage sites and on how tourist experiences at such places influence tourist motivations to revisit destinations. By referring to the Italian city of Vicenza, internationally renowned for its gold jewelry production and for the Palladian architectures and buildings which have been recognized World Heritage by the UNESCO, the paper aims to identify how destination image, place familiarity and travel satisfaction influence tourists’ motivations to revisit Vicenza. After an introduction and literature review, the paper investigates the importance of the core constructs that determine the sense of place in the tourist practice. In accordance with previous research, the results provide evidence that favorable travel experiences influence revisit intentions positively. The managerial implications and recommendations for the city of Vicenza are discussed.

Keywords: consumer behavior, heritage tourism, sense of place, place branding, territorial marketing

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Authors: Marzieh Jafarzadeh, Fatemeh Rezaee

Abstract:

Introduction: The effect of ionizing radiation on human health can be effective for genomic integrity and cell viability. It also increases the risk of cancer and malignancy. Therefore, X-ray behavior and absorption dose calculation are considered. One of the applicable tools for calculating and evaluating the absorption dose in human tissues is Monte Carlo simulation. Monte Carlo offers a straightforward way to simulate and integrate, and because it is simple and straightforward, Monte Carlo is easy to use. The Monte Carlo BEAMnrc code is one of the most common diagnostic X-ray simulation codes used in this study. Method: In one of the understudy hospitals, a certain number of CT scan images of patients who had previously been imaged were extracted from the hospital database. BEAMnrc software was used for simulation. The simulation of the head of the device with the energy of 0.09 MeV with 500 million particles was performed, and the output data obtained from the simulation was applied for phantom construction using CT CREATE software. The percentage of depth dose (PDD) was calculated using STATE DOSE was then compared with international standard values. Results and Discussion: The ratio of surface dose to depth dose (D/Ds) in the measured energy was estimated to be about 4% to 8% for bone and 3% to 7% for bone marrow. Conclusion: MC simulation is an efficient and accurate method for simulating bone marrow and calculating the absorbed dose.

Keywords: Monte Carlo, absorption dose, BEAMnrc, bone marrow

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Authors: Yun-An Chen, Hung-Jun Lin, Tai-Horng Young, Der-Zen Liu

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Decellularized brain extracellular matrix had been shown that it has the ability to influence on cell proliferation, differentiation and associated cell phenotype. However, this scaffold is thought to have poor mechanical properties and rapid degradation, it is hard for cell recellularization. In this study, we used decellularized brain extracellular matrix combined with chitosan, which is naturally occurring polysaccharide and non-cytotoxic polymer, forming a 3-D scaffold for neural stem/precursor cells (NSPCs) regeneration. HE staining and DAPI fluorescence staining confirmed decellularized process could effectively vanish the cellular components from the brain. GAGs and collagen I, collagen IV were be showed a great preservation by Alcain staining and immunofluorescence staining respectively. Decellularized brain extracellular matrix was well mixed in chitosan to form a 3-D scaffold (DB-C scaffold). The pore size was approximately 50±10 μm examined by SEM images. Alamar blue results demonstrated NSPCs had great proliferation ability in DB-C scaffold. NSPCs that were cultured in this complex scaffold differentiated into neurons and astrocytes, as reveled by NSPCs expression of microtubule-associated protein 2 (MAP2) and glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP). In conclusion, DB-C scaffold may provide bioinformatics cues for NSPCs generation and aid for CNS injury functional recovery applications.

Keywords: brain, decellularization, chitosan, scaffold, neural stem/precursor cells

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Authors: Mawloud Mosbah, Bachir Boucheham

Abstract:

We present here the results for a comparative study of some techniques, available in the literature, related to the relevance feedback mechanism in the case of a short-term learning. Only one method among those considered here is belonging to the data mining field which is the K-Nearest Neighbours Algorithm (KNN) while the rest of the methods is related purely to the information retrieval field and they fall under the purview of the following three major axes: Shifting query, Feature Weighting and the optimization of the parameters of similarity metric. As a contribution, and in addition to the comparative purpose, we propose a new version of the KNN algorithm referred to as an incremental KNN which is distinct from the original version in the sense that besides the influence of the seeds, the rate of the actual target image is influenced also by the images already rated. The results presented here have been obtained after experiments conducted on the Wang database for one iteration and utilizing colour moments on the RGB space. This compact descriptor, Colour Moments, is adequate for the efficiency purposes needed in the case of interactive systems. The results obtained allow us to claim that the proposed algorithm proves good results; it even outperforms a wide range of techniques available in the literature.

Keywords: CBIR, category search, relevance feedback, query point movement, standard Rocchio’s formula, adaptive shifting query, feature weighting, original KNN, incremental KNN

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