Clinical keratoconus (KCN) detection is a challenging and time-consuming task. In the diagnosis process, ophthalmologists must revise demographic and clinical ophthalmic examinations. The latter include slit-lamb, corneal topographic maps, and Pentacam indices (PI). We propose an Ensemble of Deep Transfer Learning (EDTL) based on corneal topographic maps. We consider four pretrained networks, SqueezeNet (SqN), AlexNet (AN), ShuffleNet (SfN), and MobileNet-v2 (MN), and fine-tune them on a dataset of KCN and normal cases, each including four topographic maps. We also consider a PI classifier. Then, our EDTL method combines the output probabilities of each of the five classifiers to obtain a decision based on the fusion of probabilities. Individually, the classifier based on PI achieved 93.1% accuracy, whereas the deep classifiers reached classification accuracies over 90% only in isolated cases. Overall, the average accuracy of the deep networks over the four corneal maps ranged from 86% (SfN) to 89.9% (AN). The classifier ensemble increased the accuracy of the deep classifiers based on corneal maps to values ranging (92.2% to 93.1%) for SqN and (93.1% to 94.8%) for AN. Including in the ensemble-specific combinations of corneal maps’ classifiers and PI increased the accuracy to 98.3%. Moreover, visualization of first learner filters in the networks and Grad-CAMs confirmed that the networks had learned relevant clinical features. This study shows the potential of creating ensembles of deep classifiers fine-tuned with a transfer learning strategy as it resulted in an improved accuracy while showing learnable filters and Grad-CAMs that agree with clinical knowledge. This is a step further towards the potential clinical deployment of an improved computer-assisted diagnosis system for KCN detection to help ophthalmologists to confirm the clinical decision and to perform fast and accurate KCN treatment.
In this research, a study is introduced on the effect of several environmental factors on the performance of an already constructed quality inspection system, which was designed using a transfer learning approach based on convolutional neural networks. The system comprised two sets of layers, transferred layers set from an already trained model (DenseNet121) and a custom classification layers set. It was designed to discriminate between damaged and undamaged helical gears according to the configuration of the gear regardless to its dimensions, and the model showed good performance discriminating between the two products at ideal conditions of high-resolution images.
So, this study aimed at testing the system performance at poor s
... Show MoreImage 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 inclu
The objective of the current research was to develop the posaconazole (PCZ) loaded NS into the carbopol 934 polymeric gel for prolonged drug release and improved topical delivery; seven different nanosponge formulations of PCZ were formulated using the emulsion solvent diffusion method using various amounts of polymer (ethylcellulose, EC). The aqueous and dispersed phases were prepared using polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and dichloromethane. The prepared nanosponges (NS) were studied for particle size, structural appearance, and in vitro drug release. Furthermore, the selected formula was formulated as hydrogel and was evaluated for physical characteristics, drug content, and in-vitro drug release. Morphological studies revealed irregular
... Show MoreIn cognitive radio system, the spectrum sensing has a major challenge in needing a sensing method, which has a high detection capability with reduced complexity. In this paper, a low-cost hybrid spectrum sensing method with an optimized detection performance based on energy and cyclostationary detectors is proposed. The method is designed such that at high signal-to-noise ratio SNR values, energy detector is used alone to perform the detection. At low SNR values, cyclostationary detector with reduced complexity may be employed to support the accurate detection. The complexity reduction is done in two ways: through reducing the number of sensing samples used in the autocorrelation process in the time domain and through using the Slid
... Show MorePreserving and saving energy have never been more important, thus the requirement for more effective and efficient heat exchangers has never been more important. However, in order to pave the way for the proposal of a truly efficient technique, there is a need to understand the shortcomings and strengths of various aspects of heat transfer techniques. This review aims to systematically identify these characteristics two of the most popular passive heat transfer techniques: nanofluids and helically coiled tubes. The review indicated that nanoparticles improve thermal conductivity of base fluid and that the nanoparticle size, as well as the concentrations of the nanoparticles plays a major role in the effectiveness of the nanofluids.
... Show MoreMalaria is a curative disease, with therapeutics available for patients, such as drugs that can prevent future malaria infections in countries vulnerable to malaria. Though, there is no effective malaria vaccine until now, although it is an interesting research area in medicine. Local descriptors of blood smear image are exploited in this paper to solve parasitized malaria infection detection problem. Swarm intelligence is used to separate the red blood cells from the background of the blood slide image in adaptive manner. After that, the effective corner points are detected and localized using Harris corner detection method. Two types of local descriptors are generated from the local regions of the effective corners which are Gabor based f
... Show MoreWith the wide developments of computer applications and networks, the security of information has high attention in our common fields of life. The most important issues is how to control and prevent unauthorized access to secure information, therefore this paper presents a combination of two efficient encryption algorithms to satisfy the purpose of information security by adding a new level of encryption in Rijndael-AES algorithm. This paper presents a proposed Rijndael encryption and decryption process with NTRU algorithm, Rijndael algorithm is widely accepted due to its strong encryption, and complex processing as well as its resistance to brute force attack. The proposed modifications are implemented by encryption and decryption Rijndael
... Show MoreWith the wide developments of computer science and applications of networks, the security of information must be increased and make it more complex. The most important issues is how to control and prevent unauthorized access to secure information, therefore this paper presents a combination of two efficient encryption algorithms to satisfy the purpose of information security by adding a new level of encryption in Rijndael-AES algorithm. This paper presents a proposed Rijndael encryption and decryption process with NTRU algorithm, Rijndael algorithm is important because of its strong encryption. The proposed updates are represented by encryption and decryption Rijndael S-Box using NTRU algorithm. These modifications enhance the degree of
... Show More