Intensity-based statistical features for classification of lungs CT scan nodules using artificial intelligence techniques

A computer-aided diagnostic (CAD) system for effective and accurate pulmonary nodule detection is required to detect the nodules at early stage. This paper proposed a novel technique to detect and classify pulmonary nodules based on statistical features for intensity values using support vector machine (SVM). The significance of the proposed technique is, it uses the nodules features in 2D & 3D and also SVM for the classification that is good to classify the nodules extracted from the image. The lung volume is extracted from Lung CT using thresholding, background removal, hole-filling and contour correction of lung lobe. The candidate nodules are extracted and pruned using the rules based on ground truth of nodules. The statistical features for intensity values are extracted from candidate nodules. The nodule data are up-samples to reduce the biasness. The classifier SVM is trained using data samples. The efficiency of proposed CAD system is tested and evaluated using Lung Image Consortium Database (LIDC) that is standard data-set used in CAD Systems for Lungs Nodule classification. The results obtained from proposed CAD system are good as compare to previous CAD systems. The sensitivity of 96.31% is achieved in the proposed CAD system.     

Quality assessment of 3D synthesized images based on structural and textural distortion

Depth image based rendering (DIBR) is a popular technique for rendering virtual 3D views in stereoscopic and autostereoscopic displays. The quality of DIBR-synthesized images may decrease due to various factors, e.g., imprecise depth maps, poor rendering techniques, inaccurate camera parameters. The quality of synthesized images is important as it directly affects the overall user experience. Therefore, the need arises for designing algorithms to estimate the quality of the DIBR-synthesized images. The existing 2D image quality assessment metrics are found to be insufficient for 3D view quality estimation because the 3D views not only contain color information but also make use of disparity to achieve the real depth sensation. In this paper, we present a new algorithm for evaluating the quality of DIBR generated images in the absence of the original references. The human visual system is sensitive to structural information; any deg radation in structure or edges affects the visual quality of the image and is easily noticeable for humans. In the proposed metric, we estimate the quality of the synthesized view by capturing the structural and textural distortion in the warped view. The structural and textural information from the input and the synthesized images is estimated and used to calculate the image quality. The performance of the proposed quality metric is evaluated on the IRCCyN IVC DIBR images dataset. Experimental evaluations show that the proposed metric outperforms the existing 2D and 3D image quality metrics by achieving a high correlation with the subjective ratings.

     

A Study of Web Services Projects in the Financial Services Industry

This study examines the significance of technological, methodological, and business factors in contributing to the success of initial Web Services projects. Focusing on four case studies from the financial services sector, the authors' findings suggest that a strong focus on business factors is associated with successful Web Services strategies.     

Dental Composites with Magnesium Doped Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles Prevent Secondary Caries in the Alloxan-Induced Diabetic Model

Antibacterial restorative materials against caries-causing bacteria are highly preferred among high-risk patients, such as the elderly, and patients with metabolic diseases such as diabetes. This study aimed to enhance the antibacterial potential of resin composite with Magnesium-doped Zinc oxide (Mg-doped ZnO) nanoparticles (NPs) and to look for their effectiveness in the alloxan-induced diabetic model. Hexagonal Mg-doped ZnO NPs (22.3 nm diameter) were synthesized by co-precipitation method and characterized through ultraviolet-visible (UV-Vis), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) analysis. The Mg-doped ZnO NPs (1, 2.5 and 5% w/w) were then evaluated for antibacterial activity using a closed system in vitro biofilm model. Significant enhancement in the antibacterial properties was observed in composites with 1% Mg-doped ZnO compared to composites with bare ZnO reinforced NPs (Streptococcus mutans, p = 0.0005; Enterococcus faecalis, p = 0.0074, Saliva microcosm, p < 0.0001; Diabetic Saliva microcosm, p < 0.0001). At 1–2.5% Mg-doped ZnO NPs concentration, compressive strength and biocompatibility of composites were not affected. The pH buffering effect was also achieved at these concentrations, hence not allowing optimal conditions for the anaerobic bacteria to grow. Furthermore, composites with Mg-doped ZnO prevented secondary caries formation in the secondary caries model of alloxan-induced diabetes. Therefore, Mg-doped ZnO NPs are highly recommended as an antibacterial agent for resin composites to avoid biofilm and subsequent secondary caries formation in high-risk patients.     

Decoupling of hyperbolic conservation laws using an improved eigenvector matrix

Journal of Mechanical Science and Technology - The resolution of Harten’s non-oscillatory explicit second-order accurate total variation diminishing scheme was relatively high for...     

One-Dimensional Nanostructures of Polypyrrole for Shielding of Electromagnetic Interference in the Microwave Region

Polypyrrole one-dimensional nanostructures (nanotubes, nanobelts and nanofibers) were prepared using three various dyes (Methyl Orange, Methylene Blue and Eriochrome Black T). Their high electrical conductivity (from 17.1 to 60.9 S cm⁻¹), good thermal stability (in the range from 25 to 150 °C) and resistivity against ageing (half-time of electrical conductivity around 80 days and better) were used in preparation of lightweight and flexible composites with silicone for electromagnetic interference shielding in the C-band region (5.85–8.2 GHz). The nanostructures’ morphology and chemical structure were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, Brunauer–Emmett–Teller specific surface measurement and attenuated total reflection Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy. DC electrical conductivity was measured using the Van der Pauw method. Complex permittivity and AC electrical conductivity of respective silicone composites were calculated from the measured scattering parameters. The relationships between structure, electrical properties and shielding efficiency were studied. It was found that 2 mm-thick silicone composites of polypyrrole nanotubes and nanobelts shield almost 80% of incident radiation in the C-band at very low loading of conductive filler in the silicone (5% w/w). Resulting lightweight and flexible polypyrrole composites exhibit promising properties for shielding of electromagnetic interference in sensitive biological and electronic systems.     

Tetrahydroquinoline/4,5-Dihydroisoxazole Molecular Hybrids as Inhibitors of Breast Cancer Resistance Protein (BCRP/ABCG2)

Multidrug resistance (MDR) is one of the major factors in the failure of many chemotherapy approaches. In cancer cells, MDR is mainly associated with the expression of ABC transporters such as P-glycoprotein, MRP1 and ABCG2. Despite major efforts to develop new selective and potent inhibitors of ABC drug transporters, no ABCG2-specific inhibitors for clinical use are yet available. Here, we report the evaluation of sixteen tetrahydroquinoline/4,5-dihydroisoxazole derivatives as a new class of ABCG2 inhibitors. The affinity of the five best inhibitors was further investigated by the vanadate-sensitive ATPase assay. Molecular modelling data, proposing a potential binding mode, suggest that they can inhibit the ABCG2 activity by binding on site S1, previously reported as inhibitors binding region, as well targeting site S2, a selective region for substrates, and by specifically interacting with residues Asn436, Gln398, and Leu555. Altogether, this study provided new insights into THQ/4,5-dihydroisoxazole molecular hybrids, generating great potential for the development of novel most potent ABCG2 inhibitors.     

Influence of van der waals heterostructures of 2D materials on catalytic performance of ZnO and its applications in energy: A review

Recently, photocatalysis has received huge attention in order to overcome energy crisis worldwide. Many semiconductors, potential schemes and hierarchies have come to light during past few decades to fabricate efficient catalysts however, among all these methods heterostructures have taken the world by surprise. With the advancement in post-graphene 2D materials, van der Waals heterostructures have come to light exploring enhancement in photocatalysis. During a very short period a number of ZnO-based van der Waal heterostructures have taken the limelight in the field of photocatalysis. First principles calculations and DFT approach towards the heterostructures of GeC, GaN, WSe₂, WS₂ and other layered 2D materials unleased a series of properties and facts for the provision of enhanced catalysis. Reduction in bandgap of ZnO has also been observed which widens the pathways towards visible light irradiation. However, energy applications of zinc oxide are also fascinating feature as it can serve as a photoanode to replace TiO₂. Whereas the famous hydrogen production, batteries and solar cells have also been fabricated by the use of this semiconductor.     

Hydrogen treated TiO2 nanoparticles onto FTO glass as photoanode for dye-sensitized solar cells with remarkably enhanced performance

Hydrogen treatment is a facile and efficient approach for the enhancement in the functioning of TiO₂ nanoparticles for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSC). In this work, TiO₂ nanoparticles have been synthesized in the hydrogen environment followed by the deposition onto FTO glass substrates with various film thickness as photoanodes for DSSC. The synthesized hydrogen treated TiO₂ nanoparticles based photoanodes have showed significantly improved photocurrent in the resulting fabricated devices. SEM and TEM analyses have confirmed the particle size and morphology of TiO₂ nanoparticles at various magnifications. The crystalline structure and phase identification were studied by XRD analysis and Raman spectroscopic measurements. The UV–Vis spectroscopy analysis was carried out to find the response of samples for ultraviolet and visible light. The current-voltage measurements have confirmed the improvement of photocurrent that is principally due to improved photo-activity of hydrogen treated TiO₂ nanoparticles. Moreover, hydrogen treated TiO₂ nanoparticles-based photoanode with the film thickness of 11.65 μm has remarkably enhanced power conversion efficiency of 6.05% in DSSCs. The ability of highly photoactive hydrogen treated TiO₂ nanoparticles will provide the new openings in different fields that include photo-electrochemical water splitting and in many other applications.     

A systematic literature review on the detection of smells and their evolution in object-oriented and service-oriented systems

This systematic literature review paper investigates the key techniques employed to identify smells in different paradigms of software engineering from object-oriented (OO) to service-oriented (SO). In this review, we want to identify commonalities and differences in the identification of smells in OO and SO systems. Our research method relies on an automatic search from the relevant digital libraries to find the studies published since January 2000 on smells until December 2017. We have conducted a pilot and author-based search that allows us to select the 78 most relevant studies after applying inclusion and exclusion criteria. We evaluated the studies based on the smell detection techniques and the evolution of different methodologies in OO and SO. Among the 78 relevant studies selected, we have identified six different studies in which linguistic source code analysis received less attention from the researchers as compared to the static source code analysis. Smells like the yo-yo problem, unnamed coupling, intensive coupling, and interface bloat received considerably less attention in the literature. We also identified a catalog of 30 smells infrequently reported for SO systems and that require further attention. Moreover, a suite of 20 smells reported for SO systems can also be detected using static source code metrics in OO. Finally, our review highlighted three major research trends that are further subdivided into 20 research patterns initiating the detection of smells toward their correction.