Optimal Artificial Intelligence Based Automated Skin Lesion Detection and Classification Model

Skin lesions have become a critical illness worldwide, and the earlier identification of skin lesions using dermoscopic images can raise the survival rate. Classification of the skin lesion from those dermoscopic images will be a tedious task. The accuracy of the classification of skin lesions is improved by the use of deep learning models. Recently, convolutional neural networks (CNN) have been established in this domain, and their techniques are extremely established for feature extraction, leading to enhanced classification. With this motivation, this study focuses on the design of artificial intelligence (AI) based solutions, particularly deep learning (DL) algorithms, to distinguish malignant skin lesions from benign lesions in dermoscopic images. This study presents an automated skin lesion detection and classification technique utilizing optimized stacked sparse autoencoder (OSSAE) based feature extractor with backpropagation neural network (BPNN), named the OSSAE-BPNN technique. The proposed technique contains a multi-level thresholding based segmentation technique for detecting the affected lesion region. In addition, the OSSAE based feature extractor and BPNN based classifier are employed for skin lesion diagnosis. Moreover, the parameter tuning of the SSAE model is carried out by the use of sea gull optimization (SGO) algorithm. To showcase the enhanced outcomes of the OSSAE-BPNN model, a comprehensive experimental analysis is performed on the benchmark dataset. The experimental findings demonstrated that the OSSAE-BPNN approach outperformed other current strategies in terms of several assessment metrics.     

Evolutionary design of neural network architectures: a review of three decades of research

We present a comprehensive review of the evolutionary design of neural network architectures. This work is motivated by the fact that the success of an Artificial Neural Network (ANN) highly depends on its architecture and among many approaches Evolutionary Computation, which is a set of global-search methods inspired by biological evolution has been proved to be an efficient approach for optimizing neural network structures. Initial attempts for automating architecture design by applying evolutionary approaches start in the late 1980s and have attracted significant interest until today. In this context, we examined the historical progress and analyzed all relevant scientific papers with a special emphasis on how evolutionary computation techniques were adopted and various encoding strategies proposed. We summarized key aspects of methodology, discussed common challenges, and investigated the works in chronological order by dividing the entire timeframe into three periods. The first period covers early works focusing on the optimization of simple ANN architectures with a variety of solutions proposed on chromosome representation. In the second period, the rise of more powerful methods and hybrid approaches were surveyed. In parallel with the recent advances, the last period covers the Deep Learning Era, in which research direction is shifted towards configuring advanced models of deep neural networks. Finally, we propose open problems for future research in the field of neural architecture search and provide insights for fully automated machine learning. Our aim is to provide a complete reference of works in this subject and guide researchers towards promising directions.

     

Preparation and biological evaluation of <Superscript>99<Emphasis Type="Italic">m</Emphasis></Superscript>Tc-timonacic acid as a new complex for hepatobiliary imaging

Timonacic acid (TCA) was successfully labeled with ^99m Tc. The influence exerted on the reaction by the substrate and reducing agent concentrations, pH of the reaction mixture, and reaction time was examined, and in vitro stability of ^99m Tc-TCA was evaluated. The maximum labeling yield was 98.5 ± 0.6%. The complex was stable throughout the working period (6 h). A study of in-vivo biodistribution in mice showed that the maximum uptake of ^99m Tc-TCA in the liver was 22.3 ± 0.3% of the injected activity per gram of the tissue or organ (% ID/g) at 30 min post injection. The clearance from the mice appeared to proceed via the circulation mainly through the kidneys and urine (approximately 56% of the injected dose at 1 h after injection). The liver uptake of ^99m Tc-TCA is higher than that of ^99m Tc-UDCA (ursodeoxycholic acid); therefore, ^99m Tc-TCA shows more promise for liver SPECT.     

Generalized thermoelastic diffusion in a nanoscale beam using eigenvalue approach

In this paper, the effect of mass diffusion in a thermoelastic nanoscale beam in context Lord and Shulman theory is studied. The analytical solution in the Laplace domain is obtained for lateral deflection, temperature, displacement, concentration, stress and chemical potential. The both ends of the nanoscale beam are simply supported. The basic equations have been written in the form of a vector-matrix differential equation in the Laplace transform domain, which is then solved by an eigenvalue approach. The results obtained are presented graphically for the effect of time and mass diffusion to display the phenomena physical meaning.     

Fuzzy-HLSTM (Hierarchical Long Short-Term Memory) for Agricultural Based Information Mining

This research proposes a machine learning approach using fuzzy logic to build an information retrieval system for the next crop rotation. In case-based reasoning systems, case representation is critical, and thus, researchers have thoroughly investigated textual, attribute-value pair, and ontological representations. As big databases result in slow case retrieval, this research suggests a fast case retrieval strategy based on an associated representation, so that, cases are interrelated in both either similar or dissimilar cases. As soon as a new case is recorded, it is compared to prior data to find a relative match. The proposed method is worked on the number of cases and retrieval accuracy between the related case representation and conventional approaches. Hierarchical Long Short-Term Memory (HLSTM) is used to evaluate the efficiency, similarity of the models, and fuzzy rules are applied to predict the environmental condition and soil quality during a particular time of the year. Based on the results, the proposed approaches allows for rapid case retrieval with high accuracy.     

Fast computation of the prime implicants by exact direct-cover algorithm based on the new partial ordering operation rule

In this study, a novel OFF-set based direct-cover Exact Minimization Algorithm (EMA) is proposed for single-output Boolean functions represented in a sum-of-products form. To obtain the complete set of prime implicants covering the given Target Minterm (ON-minterm), the proposed method uses OFF-cubes (OFF-minterms) expanded by this Target Minterm. The amount of temporary results produced by this method does not exceed the size of the OFF-set. In order to achieve the goal of this study, which is to make faster computations, logic operations were used instead of the standard operations. Expansion OFF-cubes, commutative absorption operations and intersection operations are realized by logic operations for fast computation. The proposed minimization method is tested on several classes of benchmarks and then compared with the ESPRESSO algorithm. The results show that the proposed algorithm obtains more accurate and faster results than ESPRESSO does.     

Variational sensitivity analysis and design optimization

Variational method (VM) is employed to derive the co-state equations, boundary (transversality) conditions, and functional sensitivity derivatives. The converged solutions of the state equations together with the steady state solution of the co-state equations are integrated along the domain boundary to uniquely determine the functional sensitivity derivatives with respect to the design function. The application of the variational method to aerodynamic shape optimization problems is demonstrated on internal flow problems at supersonic Mach number range of 1.5. Optimization results for flows with and without shock phenomena are presented. The study shows that while maintaining the accuracy of aerodynamical objective function and constraint within the reasonable range for engineering prediction purposes, variational method provides a substantial gain in computational efficiency, i.e., computer time and memory, when compared with the finite difference computations.     

Prediction of deflection of reinforced concrete shear walls

Reinforced concrete shear walls are used in tall buildings for efficiently resisting lateral loads. Due to the low tensile strength of concrete, reinforced concrete shear walls tend to behave in a nonlinear manner with a significant reduction in stiffness, even under service loads. To accurately assess the lateral deflection of shear walls, the prediction of flexural and shear stiffness of these members after cracking becomes important. In the present study, an iterative analytical procedure which considers the cracking in the reinforced concrete shear walls has been presented. The effect of concrete cracking on the stiffness and deflection of shear walls have also been investigated by the developed computer program based on the iterative procedure. In the program, the variation of the flexural stiffness of a cracked member has been evaluated by ACI and probability-based effective stiffness model. In the analysis, shear deformation which can be large and significant after development of cracks is also taken into account and the variation of shear stiffness in the cracked regions of members has been considered by using effective shear stiffness model available in the literature. Verification of the proposed procedure has been confirmed from series of reinforced concrete shear wall tests available in the literature. Comparison between the analytical and experimental results shows that the proposed analytical procedure can provide an accurate and efficient prediction of both the deflection and flexural stiffness reduction of shear walls with different height to width ratio and vertical load. The results of the analytical procedure also indicate that the percentage of shear deflection in the total deflection increases with decreasing height to width ratio of the shear wall.