Algorithmic as well as Space and Time comparison of various Deep Learning Algorithms

Deep learning is an artificial intelligence subfield within machine learning. Now- a-days, deep learning has been used in various applications like computer vision, natural language processing, speech recognition, social network filtering, neural machine translation, etc. Deep learning, Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) is a set of deep neural networks mainly designed for image analysis. Deep learning strong ability is mainly due to multiple feature extraction. In this pa- per, we will discuss and compare AlexNet,VGGNet-16,Residual Network(ResNet-50,101,152)

Diagnostic accuracy of Calypte HIV-1 Urine EIA kit in Pakistan

Background: HIV is one of the major public health issues of modern world. The elevation in numbers calls for increased and efficient diagnostic testing protocols. A great number of HIV diagnostic tests have been approved and in use in the developed world but developing countries are still lagging in terms of testing HIV. These reasons are the motives behind this study which is aimed at testing the accuracy and use of Calypte HIV-1 Urine EIA in the Pakistani population.Methods: 516 subjects are included in the study from different HIV centers of Pakistan. The test results of Calypte-HIV-1 Urine EIA were compared with the routinely used 3-kit method.Results: The results exhibited 100% specificity but low sensitivity (74.67%). However, the positive predictive value and negative predictive value were 100% and 52.94%, respectively. Overall accuracy result for this kit was observed to be 81.40% for Calypte HIV-1 Urine EIA in the selected sample.Conclusion: Pakistan has a low population prevalence of HIV and keeping in view of the WHO recommended guidelines for HIV testing, the use of Calypte HIV-1 Urine EIA is not ideal in the current scenario. Even though the test can be of great value in high prevalence populations and can be an excellent means of surveillance procedures, it is not as fit to be used in diagnostic settings in the current situation in developing countries

Comparative antimicrobial activity of clove and fennel essential oils against food borne pathogenic fungi and food spoilage bacteria

Antifungal and antibacterial activities of essential oils obtained from fennel seeds (Feoniculum vulgare Mill) and clove buds (Syzygium aromaticum) were studied by agar well dilution technique. Both essential oils (EOs) from fennel and clove exhibited pronounced and varying degrees of growth inhibition against fungal (86 to 39%) and bacterial pathogens (42 to 20%). Fennel oil depicted significant and greater fungitoxicity in case of three fungal strains Alternaria alternate (7.7, 3.8 cm) Fusarium oxysporum (5.9, 4.1 cm) and Aspergillus flavus (4.5, 3.7 cm) except two Aspergillus strains, Aspergillus acculeatus and Apergillus fumigatus where clove oil showed greater inhibition zone (5.5, 5.9 cm) (3.5, 3.7 cm) respectively. A. alternate was found to be most sensitive strain, which growth was suppressed up to 86% by fennel seeds oil. Bactericidal activity of culinary spices was evaluated against five food spoilage bacteria namely: Pseudomonas syringae, Bacillus subtilis, Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus sp., and Aeromicrobium erythreum. Fennel oil was found fairly active against bacterial strains as compared to clove oil with highest antibacterial activity against Gram positive bacteria Bacillus subtilis (3.8 cm) and least against Gram negative bacteria E. coli (2.2 cm). The summarizing results from the present investigation showed that fennel seeds oil is a relatively stronger antimicrobial agent against broad range of pathogens as compared to clove oil, except in case of certain Aspergillus strains and E. coli.Key words: Food spoilage, anti-bacterial, pathogenic fungi, clove, fennel, essential oil

Hepatitis C Virus Infection: Molecular Pathways to Insulin resistance

Chronic Hepatitis C virus has the potential of inducing insulin resistance and type 2 Diabetes Mellitus in vitro as well as in vivo . Structural and non-structural proteins of HCV modulate cellular gene expression in such a way that insulin signaling is hampered, concomitantly leads toward diabetes mellitus. A number of mechanisms have been proposed in regard to the HCV induced insulin resistance involving the upregulation of Inflammatory cytokine TNF-α, hypophosphorylation of IRS-1 and IRS-2, phosphorylation of Akt, up-regulation of gluconeogenic genes, accumulation of lipids and targeting lipid storage organelles. This review provides an insight of molecular mechanisms by which HCV structural and non-structural proteins can induce insulin resistance

Machine Learning Based Diagnostic Paradigm in Viral and Non-Viral Hepatocellular Carcinoma

© 2024 The Author(s). This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY), https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Viral and non-viral hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is becoming predominant in developing countries. A major issue linked to HCC-related mortality rate is the late diagnosis of cancer development. Although traditional approaches to diagnosing HCC have become gold-standard, there remain several limitations due to which the confirmation of cancer progression takes a longer period. The recent emergence of artificial intelligence tools with the capacity to analyze biomedical datasets is assisting traditional diagnostic approaches for early diagnosis with certainty. Here we present a review of traditional HCC diagnostic approaches versus the use of artificial intelligence (Machine Learning and Deep Learning) for HCC diagnosis. The overview of the cancer-related databases along with the use of AI in histopathology, radiology, biomarker, and electronic health records (EHRs) based HCC diagnosis is given.Peer reviewe

The potential of IFN-λ, IL-32γ, IL-6, and IL-22 as safeguards against human viruses: a systematic review and a meta-analysis

Many studies have investigated the antiviral activity of cytokines, including interleukin-6 (IL-6), interleukin-22 (IL-22), interleukin-32 gamma (IL-32γ), and interferon-lambda (IFN-λ) in diverse populations. This study aims to evaluate the role of these cytokines in inhibition of various human and animal viruses when administered exogenously. A comprehensive meta-analysis and systematic review were conducted on all the relevant studies from three databases. Standard mean differences (SMDs) of overall viral inhibition were used to generate the difference in the antiviral efficacy of these cytokines between control and experimental groups. A total of 4,618 abstracts for IL-6, 3,517 abstracts for IL-22, 2,160 abstracts for IL-32γ, and 1,026 abstracts for IFN-λ were identified, and 7, 4, 8, and 35 studies were included, respectively, for each cytokine. IFN-λ (SMD = 0.9540; 95% CI: 0.69–0.22) and IL-32γ (SMD = 0.459; 95% CI: 0.02–0.90) showed the highest influence followed by IL-6 (SMD = 0.456; CI: −0.04–0.95) and IL-22 (SMD = 0.244; 95% CI: −0.33–0.81). None of the cytokines represented heterogeneity (tau² > 0), but only IFN-λ indicated the funnel plot asymmetry (p = 0.0097). Results also indicated that IFN-λ and IL-32γ are more potent antivirals than IL-6 and IL-22. The collective findings of this study emphasize that exogenously administered pro-inflammatory cytokines, specifically IFN-λ and IL-32, exhibit a significant antiviral activity, thereby underscoring them as potent antiviral agents. Nonetheless, additional research is required to ascertain their clinical utility and potential for integration into combinatorial therapeutic regimens against viral infections

Identification of ionotrophic purinergic receptors in Huh-7 cells and their response towards structural proteins of HCV genotype 3a

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a major health problem in developing countries including Pakistan. Chronic HCV infection results in progressive liver disease including fibrosis, cirrhosis, insulin resistance and eventually hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Ionotrophic purinergic (P2X) receptors are identified to involve in a spectrum of physiological and pathophysiological processes. However, the role of P2X receptors in HCV liver associated diseases still remains to be investigated. The current study was designed to identify the presence of P2X receptors in human liver cells. Furthermore, it investigates the response of P2X receptors towards HCV structural proteins (E1E2). To determine that how many isoforms of P2X receptors are expressed in human liver cells, human hepatoma cell line (Huh-7) was used. Transcripts (mRNA) of five different isoforms of P2X receptors were identified in Huh-7 cells. To examine the gene expression of identified isoforms of P2X receptors in presence of HCV structural proteins E1E2, Huh-7/E1E2 cell line (stably expressing HCV structural proteins E1E2) was used. The results showed significant increase (6.2 fold) in gene expression of P2X4 receptors in Huh-7/E1E2 cells as compared to control Huh-7 cells. The findings of present study confirmed the presence of transcripts of five different isoforms of P2X receptors in human liver cells and suggest that P2X4 receptors could be represented an important component of the purinergic signaling complex in HCV induced liver pathogenesis

Gravitationally decoupled charged anisotropic solutions in Rastall gravity

This paper develops the stellar interior geometry for charged anisotropic spherical matter distribution by developing an exact solution of the field equations of Rastall gravity using the notion of gravitational decoupling. The main purpose of this investigation is the extension of the well-known isotropic model within the context of charged isotropic Rastall gravity solutions. The second aim of this work is to apply gravitational decoupling via a minimal geometric deformation scheme in Rastall gravity. Finally, the third one is to derive an anisotropic version of the charged isotropic model previously obtained by applying gravitational decoupling technology. We construct the field equations which are divided into two sets by employing the geometric deformation in radial metric function. The first set corresponds to the seed (charged isotropic) source, while the other one relates the deformation function with an extra source. We choose a known isotropic solution for spherical matter configuration including electromagnetic effects and extend it to an anisotropic model by finding the solution of the field equations associated with a new source. We construct two anisotropic models by adopting some physical constraints on the additional source. To evaluate the unknown constants, we use the matching of interior and exterior spacetimes. We investigate the physical feasibility of the constructed charged anisotropic solutions by the graphical analysis of the metric functions, density, pressure, anisotropy parameter, energy conditions, stability criterion, mass function, compactness, and redshift parameters. For the considered choice of parameters, it is concluded that the developed solutions are physically acceptable as all the physical aspects are well-behaved

Figurations of displacement in and beyond Pakistan: empirical findings and reflections on protracted displacement and translocal connections of Afghans

Pakistan currently hosts up to three million Afghans, a number that is likely to increase due to the Taliban's recent return to power in Afghanistan. This working paper is based on empirical research on the experience of Afghan displacement in Pakistan from 2019 until early 2021 as part of the European Union funded TRAFIG project. Findings show that Afghans' protracted displacement is classed. Many low-skilled, low-income and largely non-educated Afghans experience barriers to upward social mobility, particularly leading the Afghan youth to consider migrating to Europe. First-generation Afghan refugees who migrated mainly in the 1980s and 1990s prefer to stay in Pakistan; only few would return if the conditions allowed it. While aiming to incentivise return, Pakistani government policies hamper the opportunity for Afghans to move around within and beyond Pakistan and remain connected to their translocal and transnational networks. Many Afghan refugees have family members who live in other parts of Pakistan or in other countries, but the potential of these networks to lift those in Pakistan out of protracted displacement is limited. We also found that social cohesion between Afghan refugees and the Pakistani host society has been decreasing. Local networks are highly significant in day-to-day life, but intergroup relations do not yield any emancipatory potential for Afghans. Afghans' presence in Pakistan needs to be reconsidered by all actors, namely the country of origin, host and donor countries. The current approach of 'administering Afghans' keeps them in protracted displacement without the opportunity to integrate legally or sustainably. It needs to be replaced with a new narrative and operational approach - one that acknowledges Afghans' contributions to Pakistan's economy, society and culture, and that secures their right to remain in Pakistan. Such an approach is particularly important today given the looming prospect of more Afghans entering Pakistan to escape from living under a government headed by the Taliban