Image segmentation using bi-level thresholds works well for straightforward scenarios; however, dealing with complex images that contain multiple objects or colors presents considerable computational difficulties. Multi-level thresholding is crucial for these situations, but it also introduces a challenging optimization problem. This paper presents an improved Reptile Search Algorithm (RSA) that includes a Gbest operator to enhance its performance. The proposed method determines optimal threshold values for both grayscale and color images, utilizing entropy-based objective functions derived from the Otsu and Kapur techniques. Experiments were carried out on 16 benchmark images, which included COVID-19 scans along with standard color and grayscale images. A thorough evaluation was conducted using metrics such as the fitness function, peak signal-to-noise ratio (PSNR), structural similarity index measure (SSIM), and the Friedman ranking test. The results indicate that the proposed algorithm seems to surpass existing state-of-the-art methods, demonstrating its effectiveness and robustness in multi-level thresholding tasks.
Recently, environmental noise has arisen from various sources, such as those from exhaust mufflers of combustion engines found in cars, trucks, or power generators, which produce significant noise during their operation. Controlling the radiated noise from these mufflers is a major factor in improving acoustic comfort and minimizing the impact on the surrounding communities. Numerous research has been presented for this reason by modification of the internal structure of the exhaust muffler. The main objective of this work is to reduce the noise level emitted from exhaust mufflers. This can be achieved by adjusting structure parameters to attenuate the surrounding environment's radiated noise. Analysis of pressure-wave propagation h
... Show MoreThe impacts of numerous important factors on the Energy Absorption (EA) of torsional Reinforced Concrete (RC) beams strengthened with external FRP is the main purpose and innovation of the current research. A total of 81 datasets were collected from previous studies, focused on the investigation of EA behaviour. The impact of nine different parameters on the Torsional EA of RC-beams was examined and evaluated, namely the concrete compressive strength (f’c), steel yield strength (fy), FRP thickness (tFRP), width-to-depth of the beam section (b/h), horizontal (ρh) and vertical (ρv) steel ratio, angle of twist (θu), ultimate torque (Tu), and FRP ultimate strength (fy-FRP). For the evaluation of the energy absorption capacity at di
... Show MoreOne of the most popular causes for implant infection is dental plaque bacteria. Previous studies have shown the bactericidal effect of CO2 laser irradiation on bacteria associated with soft tissue surrounding the implant materials. No published studies have examined the effect of irradiation by CO2 laser on Streptococcus oralis and Staphylococcus aureus.The aim of this study was to evaluate the bactericidal effect of CO2 laser on bacteria that are causing dental implant infections. This study was carried out on two isolates of bacterial species out of 25 samples, isolated from patients having soft tissue infections around the dental implant. These two pure isolates including Streptococcus oralis and Staphylococcus aureus were identified
... Show MoreIn this paper, we establish the conditions of the occurrence of the local bifurcations, such as saddle node, transcritical and pitchfork, of all equilibrium points of an eco-epidemiological model consisting of a prey-predator model with SI (susceptible-infected) epidemic diseases in prey population only and a refuge-stage structure in the predators. It is observed that there is a transcritical bifurcation near the axial and free predator equilibrium points, near disease-free equilibrium point is a saddle-node bifurcation and near positive (coexistence) equilibrium point is a saddle-node bifurcation, a transcritical bifurcation and a pitchfork bifurcation. Further investigations for Hopf bifurcation near coexistence equilibrium point
... Show MoreAxial spondyloarthritis (axSpA) is a chronic rheumatic inflammatory disease affecting mainly the spine and sacroiliac joints. Since the copper-to-zinc ratio (Cu/Zn) indicates an inflammatory response, the change in ratio is expected to correlate with axSpA. This study compared levels of Cu/Zn in the serum of axSpA patients. Serum samples were obtained from 53 patients with axSpA divided according to biological treatment into cohorts A and B, and 28 healthy control as cohort C. Serum levels of Cu and Zn were determined first by a fully automated chemistry analyzer TC-Matrix Plus, then the ratio was obtained. The elevated serum Cu concentration means of cohort B (189.32 ± 13.808 µg/dL) compared to cohort A (168.85 ± 7.244 µg/dL) a
... Show MoreNumerical Investigation was done for steady state laminar mixed convection and thermally and hydrodynamic fully developed flow through horizontal rectangular duct including circular core with two cases of time periodic boundary condition, first case on the rectangular wall while keeping core wall constant and other on both the rectangular duct and core walls. The used governing equations are continuity momentum and energy equations. These equations are normalized and solved using the Vorticity-Stream function and the Body Fitted Coordinates (B.F.C.) methods. The Finite Difference approach with the Line Successive Over Relaxation (LSOR) method is used to obtain all the computational results the (B.F.C.) method is used to generate th
... Show MoreBackground: Obesity is considered an important risk factor for periodontal disease. It has been reported that reactive oxygen species linking both diseases, systemic melatonin supplementation as antioxidant therapy, was addressed as an adjuvant to scaling and root surface debridement (SRP) to enhance the treatment of periodontitis. Objective: To investigate the efficacy of systemic melatonin administration in periodontitis-obese patients as an adjuvant to scaling and root surface debridement (SRP). Methods: A randomized clinical trial was conducted at a dental-specialized center. Eighty subjects were included and allocated into group-I: twenty periodontium-healthy, normal-weight people; group-II: 30 obese patients with stage-III tre
... Show MoreMost studies on deep beams have been made with reinforced concrete deep beams, only a few studies investigate the response of prestressed deep beams, while, to the best of our knowledge, there is not a study that investigates the response of full scale (T-section) prestressed deep beams with large web openings. An experimental and numerical study was conducted in order to investigate the shear strength of ordinary reinforced and partially prestressed full scale (T-section) deep beams that contain large web openings in order to investigate the prestressing existence effects on the deep beam responses and to better understand the effects of prestressing locations and opening depth to beam depth ratio on the deep beam performance and b
... Show MoreThis paper reports a numerical study of flow behaviors and natural convection heat transfer characteristics in an inclined open-ended square cavity filled with air. The cavity is formed by adiabatic top and bottom walls and partially heated vertical wall facing the opening. Governing equations in vorticity-stream function form are discretized via finite-difference method and are solved numerically by iterative successive under relaxation (SUR) technique. A computer program to solve mathematical model has been developed and written as a code for MATLAB software. Results in the form of streamlines, isotherms, and average Nusselt number, are obtained for a wide range of Rayleigh numbers 103-106 with Prandtl number 0.71
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