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.
Coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic led to a massive global socio-economic tragedy that has impacted the ecosystem. This paper aims to contextualize urban and rural environmental situations during the COVID-19 pandemic in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Region.
An online survey was conducted, 6770 participants were included in the final analysis, and 64% were females. The majority of the participants were urban citizens (74%). Over 50% of the urban residents significantly (
In the tenth century, Turks began to convert into Islam and adopted for official and literary use the Arabic language to study the teachings of the new religion they believed in. The use of many of the loanwords have become absolute in the Ottoman period, but even in Modern Turkish a large number of loanwords from Arabic can be often recognized because they are not subject to the strict rules of Turkish. Yet, some of these words lost its original meaning and acquired new different Turkish meaning. Moreover, some of the Arabic nouns of singular form in Turkish, modified the plural Turkish form. The present study entitled “the adaptation and the different modifications of borrowed Arabic Plurals in Modern Turkish” sheds light on
... Show MoreThe importance of this research comes from the possibility of achieving positive interaction between accounting and tax through the interest in setting accounting standards and adapting them to local tax legislation, as the adoption of the application of the international standard (IAS 12) for income taxes helps to measure and determine the base for income tax and may lead to an increase in the tax outcome. Through the reliance of enterprises on many accounting bases, and that the tax administration in Iraq depends on the element of personal judgment in determining the tax base, which leads to lack of objectivity in determining the tax outcome, as the impact of the accounting standard (IAS 12) on the tax base and tax outcome is one of th
... Show MoreThe aim of the research is to show the extent of the impact of administrative coordination on municipal performance after the state’s tendency to implement administrative decentralization and transfer of powers (administrative, legal, financial, and technical) from the Federal Ministry (construction, housing, municipalities, and public works) to local governments (governorates), to meet local needs, And since the municipality is considered one of the local administrative institutions and most of its goal is to provide increased municipal services to citizens due to population growth and urban expansion of cities by coordinating their actions using their powers, and in order to address gaps i
... Show MoreAddition chloro acetyl isothiocyanate (C3H2ClNOS) with 3-Aminoaceto phenone (C8H9NO) to prepare a fresh Ligand [N-(3-acetyl phenyl carbamothioyl)-2-chloroacetamide](L). The ligand (L) behaves as bidentate coordinating through O and S donor with metal ions, the general formula of all complexes [M(L)2(Cl)2](M+2 = Manganese(II), Cobalt(II), Cadmium(II) and Mercury(II)). Compounds were investigation by Proton-1, Carbon -13 NMR spectra (ligand (L) only), Element Microanalysis for C, N, H, O, S, Fourier-transform infrared, UV visible, Conductance
Antibiotic resistance is a problem of deep scientific concern both in hospital and community settings. Rapid detection in clinical laboratories is essential for the judicious recognition of antimicrobial resistant organisms. So, the growth of Uropathgenic Escherichia coli (UPEC) isolates with Multidrug-resistant (MDR) and Extensively Drug-resistant (XDR) profiles that thwart therapy for (UTIs) has been detected and has straight squeezed costs and extended hospital stays. This study aims to detect MDR- and XDR-UPEC isolates. Out of 42 UPEC clinical isolates were composed from UTI patients. The bacterial strains were recognized by standard laboratory protocols. Susceptibility to antibiotic was measured by the standard disk diffusi
... Show MoreInsulin like growth factor-1 has metabolic and growth-related roles all over the body and is strongly associated and regulated by growth hormone. It is produced by almost any type of tissue, especially the liver. The study aimed to measure insulin like growth factor in growth hormone deficient patients and find its relation with other studied parameters. The Subjects in the study were 180 studied in the National Diabetic Center for Treatment and Research/Al-Mustansiriya University in Baghdad/Iraq for the period from November 2021 to April 2022. Blood was drawn and investigated for the levels of IGF-1, IGFBP-3, LH, and FSH. Also testosterone and statistical analysis was carried out to find the potential correlations. The results relived t
... Show MoreTwo local fish Himri Carasobarbus luteus (Heckel, 1843) and Hishni Liza abu (Heckel, 1843) were stained with Alizarin Red and featured some anatomical qualities which cleared the difference of the muscular and skeletal fabric for each fish. Since clear Histologic differences appeared in these two species, it was intended from this study the possibility of adopting a diagnosis between local fish species by staining bones and tissues.
This work represents the preparation of the starting material, 3-chloro-2-oxo-1,4-dithiacyclohexane (S) using a new method. This material was reacted with, 4-phenylthiosemicarbazide to give (H3NS3) as a tetradentate ligand H3L. New complex of rhenium (V) with this ligand of the formula [ReO(L)] was prepared. New complexes of the general formula [M(HL)] of this ligand when reacted with some metal ions where: M = Ni(II), Cu(II), Cd(II), Zn(II), Hg(II) have been reported. The ligand and the complexes were characterized by infrared, ultraviolet–visible, mass, 1H nuclear magnetic resonance and atomic absorption spectroscopic techniques and by (HPLC), elemental analysis, and electrical conductivity. The proposed structure for H3L with Re (V) i
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