Muhammad Attique Khan¹, Nazar Hussain¹, Abdul Majid¹, Majed Alhaisoni², Syed Ahmad Chan Bukhari³, Seifedine Kadry⁴, Yunyoung Nam^5,*, Yu-Dong Zhang⁶

CMC-Computers, Materials & Continua, Vol.66, No.3, pp. 2923-2938, 2021, DOI:10.32604/cmc.2021.013191

Abstract In medical imaging, computer vision researchers are faced with a variety of features for verifying the authenticity of classifiers for an accurate diagnosis. In response to the coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, new testing procedures, medical treatments, and vaccines are being developed rapidly. One potential diagnostic tool is a reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). RT-PCR, typically a time-consuming process, was less sensitive to COVID-19 recognition in the disease’s early stages. Here we introduce an optimized deep learning (DL) scheme to distinguish COVID-19-infected patients from normal patients according to computed tomography (CT) scans. In the proposed method, contrast enhancement is used to… More >

Meera Radhakrishnan^1,*, Anandan Panneerselvam², Nandhagopal Nachimuthu³

Intelligent Automation & Soft Computing, Vol.26, No.6, pp. 1185-1199, 2020, DOI:10.32604/iasc.2020.012069

Abstract Image segmentation is a crucial stage in the investigation of medical images and is predominantly implemented in various medical applications. In the case of investigating MRI brain images, the image segmentation is mainly employed to measure and visualize the anatomic structure of the brain that underwent modifications to delineate the regions. At present, distinct segmentation approaches with various degrees of accurateness and complexities are available. But, it needs tuning of various parameters to obtain optimal results. The tuning of parameters can be considered as an optimization issue using a similarity function in solution space. This paper presents a new Parametric… More >

Lei Chu^1,2, Yu Zhang^1,2, Long Qian^1,2, Dandan Zhu^1,2, Haijun Sun^1,2,*

Phyton-International Journal of Experimental Botany, Vol.89, No.4, pp. 1035-1042, 2020, DOI:10.32604/phyton.2020.014506

Abstract Biochar may affect the root morphology and nitrogen (N) use efficiency (NUE) of rice at seedling stage, which has not been clearly verified until now. To clarify it, we conducted a pot experiment regarding to two soil types (Hydragric Anthrosol and Haplic Acrisol), two biochar application rates (0.5 wt% and 1.5 wt %) and two rice varieties (common rice var. Xiushui134 and hybrid super rice var. Zhongkejiayou12-6) meanwhile. Seedling NUE of common rice Xiuhui134 was significantly increased (p < 0.05) by 78.2% in Hydragric Anthrosol and by 91.4% in Haplic Acrisol following biochar addition with 1.5 wt%. However, biochar addition… More >

Mo Hou^1,*, Weiyu Kevin Chiang^2,*, Weiqiang Hong¹, Maoyun Yang¹, Wenhua Yu^3,4

Molecular & Cellular Biomechanics, Vol.17, No.4, pp. 165-178, 2020, DOI:10.32604/mcb.2020.010805

Abstract To achieve the image registration/fusion and perfect the quality of the integration, with dual modality contrast agent (DMCA), a novel multi-scale representation registration method between ultrasound imaging (US) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is presented in the paper, and how DMCA influence on registration accuracy is chiefly discussed. Owing to US’s intense speckle noise, it is a tremendous challenge to register US with any other modality images. How to improve the algorithms for US processing has become the bottleneck, and in the short term it is difficult to have a breakthrough. In that case, DMCA is employed in both US… More >

Ahmet Elbir^1,∗, Hamza Osman Ilhan¹, Nizamettin Aydin¹

Computer Systems Science and Engineering, Vol.34, No.2, pp. 101-107, 2019, DOI:10.32604/csse.2019.34.101

Abstract The performances of the multivariate techniques are directly related to the variable selection process, which is time consuming and requires resources for testing each possible parameter to achieve the best results. Therefore, optimization methods for variable selection process have been proposed in the literature to find the optimal solution in short time by using less system resources. Contrast enhancement is the one of the most important and the parameter dependent image enhancement technique. In this study, two optimization methods are employed for the variable selection for the contrast enhancement technique. Particle swarm optimization (PSO) and artificial bee colony (ABC) optimization… More >

S. Deivalakshmi^*, P. Palanisamy¹, X. Z. Gao²

Intelligent Automation & Soft Computing, Vol.25, No.3, pp. 459-471, 2019, DOI:10.31209/2018.100000001

Abstract The main aim of this paper is to propose a new technique for enhancing the contrast of dark images using Dynamic Stochastic Resonance (DSR) and Multi Wavelet Transform (MWT), which is computationally more efficient than the conventional methods. In the work, for enhancing the contrast of dark images, the intrinsic noise (darkness) of dark images has been used. The proposed MWT-based DSR scheme (MWT-DSR) can yield better performances in terms of visual information and color preservation than already reported techniques. The desired output response is validated by the Relative Contrast Enhancement Factor (F), Perceptual Quality Measures (PQM) and Color Enhancement… More >

Waldemar F. Carlo¹, Steven T. Clark², Santiago Borasino³, Jeffrey A. Alten³

Congenital Heart Disease, Vol.12, No.4, pp. 540-545, 2017, DOI:10.1111/chd.12482

Abstract Objective: Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a frequent complication after cardiopulmonary bypass (CBP) for cardiac surgery in neonates. It is unclear if exposure to computed tomography angiography (CTA) in the preoperative period increases the risk of AKI. We hypothesized a short interval between CTA and CPB surgery would be associated with higher rates of AKI in infants.
Design: In this single center retrospective review of patients between 2012 and 2015, neonates less than one month old were analyzed if they had CTA prior to cardiac surgery with CPB. Baseline, demographic, fluid balance, and laboratory data was analyzed. AKI was staged… More >

Keri M. Shafer^1,2, Alexander R. Opotowsky^1,2, Jonathan Rhodes¹

Congenital Heart Disease, Vol.13, No.6, pp. 903-910, 2018, DOI:10.1111/chd.12661

Abstract Objective: Risk prediction using cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET) in complex congenital heart disease tends to either focus on single diagnoses or complete cohorts. We aimed to evaluate patients with two distinct anatomies cared for at a single institution over the same time period to determine CPET variables associated with mortality.
Design: All Fontan and tetralogy of Fallot (TOF) subjects with CPET between November 1, 2002 and December 31, 2014 and subsequently died were identified (cases). Cases were matched 1:3 to controls with similar age, underlying anatomy and timing of exercise test.
Results: Of the 42 cases, 27 had a Fontan… More >

Pablo Marino^1,2, Gabriella de Oliveira Lopes^1,3, Juliana Pereira Borges³, Maria Carolina Terra Cola¹, Daniel Arkader Kopiler¹, Eduardo Tibirica¹

Congenital Heart Disease, Vol.13, No.6, pp. 978-987, 2018, DOI:10.1111/chd.12660

Abstract Objective: Adults with congenital heart disease share some features with those with chronic heart failure. Although microvascular endothelial dysfunction has been de‐ scribed in chronic heart failure, evaluation of the microcirculation in adults with con‐ genital heart disease is lacking. The present study aimed to investigate systemic microvascular reactivity in adults with congenital heart disease.
Interventions: The patients initially underwent cardiopulmonary exercise testing. Then, the cutaneous microvascular reactivity was evaluated in these patients using a laser speckle contrast imaging system coupled with skin iontophoresis of endothelial‐de‐ pendent (acetylcholine) or ‐independent (sodium nitroprusside) vasodilators and pos‐ tocclusive reactive hyperemia (PORH) and… More >

Masashi Nishida, Shingo Kubo, Yuma Morishita, Kosuke Nishikawa, Kazuyuki Ikeda, Toshiyuki Itoi, Hajime Hosoi

Congenital Heart Disease, Vol.14, No.6, pp. 1087-1093, 2019, DOI:10.1111/chd.12853

Abstract Objective: This study aims to investigate the changes in renal function and levels of urinary biomarkers before and after cardiac angiography in children with congenital heart disease (CHD).
Setting: Children with CHD are at a risk for kidney injury during contrast exposure in cardiac angiography.
Outcome Measures: We measured urinary protein, albumin, N‐acetyl‐β‐D‐glucosaminidase (NAG), β2‐microglobulin (BMG), and liver‐type fatty acid‐binding protein (L‐FABP) levels, as well as serum creatinine and cystatin C levels, before and after cardiac angiography in 33 children with CHD.
Results: No significant decrease was noted in either the creatinine‐based or cystatin C‐based estimated glomerular filtration rate at… More >