Melanoma Classification from Dermoscopy Images Using Ensemble of Convolutional Neural Networks

Human skin is the most exposed part of the human body that needs constant protection and care from heat, light, dust, and direct exposure to other harmful radiation, such as UV rays. Skin cancer is one of the dangerous diseases found in humans. Melanoma is a form of skin cancer that begins in the cells (melanocytes) that control the pigment in human skin. Early detection and diagnosis of skin cancer, such as melanoma, is necessary to reduce the death rate due to skin cancer. In this paper, the classification of acral lentiginous melanoma, a type of melanoma with benign nevi, is being carried out. The proposed stacked ensemble method for melanoma classification uses different pre-trained models, such as Xception, Inceptionv3, InceptionResNet-V2, DenseNet121, and DenseNet201, by employing the concept of transfer learning and fine-tuning. The selection of pre-trained CNN architectures for transfer learning is based on models having the highest top-1 and top-5 accuracies on ImageNet. A novel stacked ensemble-based framework is presented to improve the generalizability and increase robustness by fusing fine-tuned pre-trained CNN models for acral lentiginous melanoma classification. The performance of the proposed method is evaluated by experimenting on a Figshare benchmark dataset. The impact of applying different augmentation techniques has also been analyzed through extensive experimentations. The results confirm that the proposed method outperforms state-of-the-art techniques and achieves an accuracy of 97.93%.

Case Study on Moolakabeejadi Lepa in Dadru Kushta

In recent years; there has been a considerable increase in the incidence of skin problems in the developing countries like India and tropical countries due to less immunity, unhygienic, living conditions, and nutrition. The most exposed part of the body is skin. In cosmetic point of view patient who suffers with any skin diseases leads to experience physical, emotional and socio-economic embarrassment in his/her society because mirror that reflects internal & external pathology in such diseases is skin which helps in diagnosis. In among the various skin infections tinea/ringworm is one which is spreading rapidly and affecting all the age group of population. Skin infection is termed as Twak Vikara or Kushta roga in Ayurveda. In among the Kushta Roga, Dadru termed as a Dadru Kushta. In contemporary medicine, tinea/ringworm which is skin fungal infection is correlated to Dadru Kushta due to similarities in their signs and symptoms. Large community prevalence studies have demonstrated that between 20-30% of the population have various skin problems requiring attention. Present study was conducted on diagnosed patients of Dadru Kushta in patients Moolakabeejadi Lepa was applied. The drugs used in the formulations having Kandughana, Kushtahara, Krimighna, Shodhana and Tridoshahara in their properties. The results revealed highly significant effect of Moolakabeejadi Lepa in various subjective and objective parameters like Raga, Kandu and number of Pidika, number of Mandala after treatment. During follow up period of 15 days the drug effect suggested the sustained effect on the disease.

Waves and currents decrease the available space in a salmon cage

Due to increasing demand for salmon and environmental barriers preventing expansion in established sites, salmon farmers seek to move or expand their production to more exposed sites. In this study we investigate the effects of strong currents and waves on the behaviour of salmon and how they choose to use the space available to them. Using video cameras and echo sounders, we show that fish prefer to use the entire water column, narrowing their range only as a response to cage deformation, waves, or daylight. Conversely, fish show strong horizontal preference, mostly occupying the portions of the cage exposed to currents. Additionally, waves cause salmon to move away from the sides of the cage. Even when strong currents and waves decrease the amount of available space, salmon choose to occupy the more exposed part of the cage. This indicates that at least with good water exchange, the high biomass caused by limited vertical space is not so aversive that salmon choose to move to less desirable areas of the cage. However, the dispersal throughout the entire available water column indicates that keeping the cone portion of the cage available in strong currents would be beneficial to salmon welfare.

Discussion on Landscape and Greening Technology of Highway Structural Tunnel Entrance

Highway tunnel entrance is not only the exposed part of mountain in the tunnel engineering, but also an integral part of the highway breaking through the mountain. On the premise of ensuring the safety of tunnel entrance, it is important to realize the unity of safety and practical “stability” and landscape greening “beauty” of the expressway tunnel through reasonable aesthetic landscape greening design. In combination with the topographic and geomorphological conditions as well as the regional and humanistic conditions of the highway tunnel portal area, this paper introduces the cultural landscape and plant greening engineering of highway tunnel entrance by reference to the successful experience of tunnel entrance landscape greening, and puts forward the requirements for landscape and greening technology of highway tunnel entrance in accordance with the provisions of relevant regulations.

Examination of alteration and metasomatic zones based on the tectonic setting of the Kamoo region (northeast of Isfahan, Iran)

Kamoo region (northeast of Isfahan) has an anticline structure with a northwest-southeast trend. The exposed part of this anticline consists of siltstone-sandstone and Jurassic shale, which is located below the Cretaceous formation as an unconformity. Penetration by magmatic masses (dikes) and mineralization events are mainly related to fault systems and fractures in the region and follow the trend of the anticline. In addition, the intensity and variety of alterations are affected by tectonic factors, with alteration and metasomatic haloes having developed next to crushed areas. The alteration process is the main controller of mineral mass grade in the study area; therefore, iron grade in the Kamoo ore has increased by the effects of alteration. The alteration effects include propylitic haloes, iron hydroxides (limonite), and clay mineralization (argillic). The host rock consists of Jurassic shales with siltstone, sandstone, and Cretaceous limestone. Calcareous formations adjacent to granodiorite masses are the main hosts of iron skarns. The results of this study showed that the mineral samples from Kamoo were relatively rich in Light Rare Earth Elements (LREEs); the average La/Yb ratio is about 18.61 and Eu anomaly is between 0.52 and 1.94. Based on the findings of this study, the origin for Kamoo skarn was consistent with the model presented by Meinert, and the region’s mineralization and alteration characteristics correspond to the conditions prevailing in oceanic subduction and back-arc basin environments.

CHANGE OF HORIZONTAL WAVE PRESSURES ON A CAISSON DEPENDING ON THE CREST LEVEL OF ARMOR LAYERS ON THE RUBBLE MOUNTED CORE

This study reports physical experiment campaign to measure horizontal wave pressure acting on a solid caisson that is protected with double-layer Tetrapods and core-layer of rubble stones. The main focus of this study was to evaluate the effects of crest level of the armor layers on the measured wave pressures. The measurements were conducted with four different models in terms of the coverage of the front face of the caisson: no coverage, full coverage up to the crest of the caisson, and two different partial coverages where the crest level of the armor layers were lower than the crest of the caisson. The wave pressures above the still water level showed significant discrepancy depending on different armor coverages, especially for the caisson that are partially protected by armor blocks. It seemed that impulsive loadings acted at times on the top exposed part of the caisson if the caisson is imperfectly protected by armor blocks.Recorded Presentation from the vICCE (YouTube Link): https://youtu.be/e8oNZrmiTjo

Oral Ornaments: An Overview

Nowadays, people desire to look attractive and have become very alert about their appearance and smile. Since the face is most exposed part of our body, and mouth a prominent feature, teeth are getting enormous share of attention. Intraoral jewellery has currently gained popularity and is slowly becoming a craze, but this fashion trend is also associated with some significant health issues. These ornaments though are said to enhance beauty cause problems such as increase pain, infection, scar formation, tooth fractures, metal hyper-sensitivity reactions, localized periodontal disease, speech impediment, and nerve damage. This review draws special attention to the prevalence, complications, and side effects of dental jewellery in humans. Here we suggest people must be aware of all the risks associated with wearing dental jewellery, and they should undergo dental check-ups regularly.

Experimental Investigation of Horizontal Wave Pressure on the Caisson Protected by Armor Blocks on the Rubble-Mounted Core

The horizontal wave pressure on the front wall of the caisson protected by armor blocks on the rubble-mounted core is investigated by carrying out physical experiments. There have been few previous studies regarding this type of structure, and the characteristics of horizontal wave pressure on the structure are still unclear. Considering this, a series of experiments were performed by changing the configuration of the coverage rate in front of the caisson and the shoulder width of the armor blocks. For each of the different configurations of the model setup, wave pressure on the caisson was measured under 20 regular waves of different wave periods and heights. By analyzing the obtained experimental data, it was possible to quantify the effects of the coverage rate and the shoulder width on the wave pressure. The wave pressure tended to increase up to maximally 1.5 to 2 times at the exposed part of the caisson if it was incompletely protected. In addition, the wave pressure at the top part of the caisson was substantially reduced with the increase of the shoulder width of the armor layer. Based on these results, adjustment factors for evaluating such effects have been suggested, which can be applicable for the practical design of the caisson covered with armor blocks on the rubble-mounted core.

Microbial Community-Driven Etiopathogenesis of Peri-Implantitis

Osseointegrated dental implants are a revolutionary tool in the armament of reconstructive dentistry, employed to replace missing teeth and restore masticatory, occlusal, and esthetic functions. Like natural teeth, the orally exposed part of dental implants offers a pristine nonshedding surface for salivary pellicle-mediated microbial adhesion and biofilm formation. In early colonization stages, these bacterial communities closely resemble those of healthy periodontal sites, with lower diversity. Because the peri-implant tissues are more susceptible to endogenous oral infections, understanding of the ecological triggers that underpin the microbial pathogenesis of peri-implantitis is central to developing improved prevention, diagnosis, and therapeutic strategies. The advent of next-generation sequencing (NGS) technologies, notably applied to 16S ribosomal RNA gene amplicons, has enabled the comprehensive taxonomic characterization of peri-implant bacterial communities in health and disease, revealing a differentially abundant microbiota between these 2 states, or with periodontitis. With that, the peri-implant niche is highlighted as a distinct ecosystem that shapes its individual resident microbial community. Shifts from health to disease include an increase in diversity and a gradual depletion of commensals, along with an enrichment of classical and emerging periodontal pathogens. Metatranscriptomic profiling revealed similarities in the virulence characteristics of microbial communities from peri-implantitis and periodontitis, nonetheless with some distinctive pathways and interbacterial networks. Deeper functional assessment of the physiology and virulence of the well-characterized microbial communities of the peri-implant niche will elucidate further the etiopathogenic mechanisms and drivers of the disease.

Infections of Deep Hand and Wrist Compartments

The human hand is the most exposed part of the body to highest risk for injuries, loss of the skin integrity, and to the inoculation of bacteria, most commonly Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus β-haemolytic, and gram-negative. In case of an infection, the mobile anatomical structures and the synovial membranes in close proximity to each other may spread the pus towards deep spaces and compartments. Mild early infections without an abscess formation may respond to antibiotics, but at more advanced stage, erythema, swelling, stiffness, and severe pain may ensue. Abscess formation will cause debilitating pain, fever, systemic symptoms, and even sepsis. Necrotizing infections may threaten not only the limb, but also patient’s life. Therefore, an initially “trivial” hand injury should never be neglected, as it might turn into a deep space infection, which must be treated immediately with drainage, wound debridement, and i.v. antibiotics. Delay in diagnosis and inadequate initial management might rapidly lead to abscess formation, destruction of the gliding surfaces and the normal anatomy, and irreparable functional deterioration.