Computational methods toward early detection of neuronal deterioration

In today's world, because of developments in medical sciences, people are living longer, particularly in the advanced countries. This increasing of the lifespan has caused the prevalence of age-related diseases like Alzheimer’s and dementia. Researches show that ion channel disruptions, especially the formation of permeable pores to cations by Aβ plaques, play an important role in the occurrence of these types of diseases. Therefore, early detection of such diseases, particularly using non-invasive tools can aid both patients and those scientists searching for a cure. To achieve the goal toward early detection, the computational analysis of ion channels, ion imbalances in the presence of Aβ pores in neurons and fault detection is done. Any disruption in the membrane of the neuron, like the formation of permeable pores to cations by Aβ plaques, causes ionic imbalance and, as a result, faults occur in the signalling of the neuron.The first part of this research concentrates on ion channels, ion imbalances and their impacts on the signalling behaviour of the neuron. This includes investigating the role of Aβ channels in the development of neurodegenerative diseases. Results revealed that these types of diseases can lead to ionic imbalances in the neuron. Ion imbalances can change the behaviour of neuronal signalling. Therefore, by identifying the pattern of these changes, the disease can be detected in the very early stages. Then the role of coupling and synchronisation effects in such diseases were studied. After that, a novel method to define minimum requirements for synchronicity between two coupled neurons is proposed. Further, a new computational model of Aβ channels is proposed and developed which mimics the behaviour of a neuron in the course of Alzheimer's disease. Finally, both fault computation and disease detection are carried out using a residual generation method, where the residuals from two observers are compared to assess their performance

Ionic Imbalances and Coupling in Synchronization of Responses in Neurons

Most neurodegenerative diseases (NDD) are a result of changes in the chemical composition of neurons. For example, Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the product of A? peptide deposition which results in changes in the ion concentration. These changes in ion concentration affect the responses of the neuron to stimuli and often result in inducing excessive excitation or inhibition. This paper investigates the dynamics of a single neuron as ion changes occur. These changes are incorporated using the Nernst equation. Within the central and peripheral nervous system, signals and hence rhythms, are propagated through the coupling of the neurons. It was found that under certain conditions the coupling strength between two neurons could mitigate changes in ion concentration. By defining the state of perfect synchrony, it was shown that the effect of ion imbalance in coupled neurons was reduced while in uncoupled neurons these changes had a more significant impact on the neuronal behavior

Exploring undergraduates’ perceptions of and engagement in an AI-enhanced online course

In the age of globalization, an internet connection has become essential for enhancing various human activities across the economic, cultural, and defense sectors, among others. This is particularly true for online classrooms. Microsoft Teams, a widely used digital education platform, provides capabilities that allow online teachers to facilitate better interactions and create more effective learning environments in online settings. This study aimed to explore students’ perceptions of synchronous online learning that occurred in an AI-enhanced online course, delivered using MS Teams. As an explorative study that examines the educational intersection of engineering and artificial intelligence, it represents the convergence of these two branches of learning and thus enriches both fields. The research involved 35 online students at the Staffordshire University, with data collected via online questionnaires to gather information about students’ perceptions of online learning through Microsoft Teams. After completing the online course materials, the questionnaires were distributed to students via Google Forms. The data were then descriptively analyzed. The study’s findings revealed that although online learning through Microsoft Teams was a novel experience for the students, the platform’s interactive and engaging learning environment motivated them to participate more actively, ultimately leading to a better comprehension of the course materials. Incorporating AI-enhanced features within the Microsoft Teams platform further augmented the online learning experience, as students appreciated the personalized learning recommendations and real-time feedback, which showcases the synergistic potential of AI and education in the digital age

Semisupervised Vector Quantization in Visual SLAM Using HGCN

We present a novel vector quantization (VQ) module for the two state-of-the-art long-range simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) algorithms. The VQ task in SLAM is generally performed using unsupervised methods. We provide an alternative approach trough embedding a semisupervised hyperbolic graph convolutional neural network (HGCN) in the VQ step of the SLAM processes. The SLAM platforms we have utilized for this purpose are fast appearance-based mapping (FABMAP) and oriented fast and rotated short (ORB), both of which rely on extracting the features of the captured images in their loop closure detection (LCD) module. For the first time, we have considered the space formed by these SURF features, robust image descriptors, as a graph, enabling us to apply an HGCN in the VQ section which results in an improved LCD performance. The HGCN vector quantizes the SURF feature space, leading to a bag-of-word (BoW) representation construction of the images. This representation is subsequently used to determine LCD accuracy and recall. Our approaches in this study are referred to as HGCN-FABMAP and HGCN-ORB. The main advantage of using HGCN in the LCD section is that it scales linearly when the features are accumulated. The benchmarking experiments show the superiority of our methods in terms of both trajectory generation accuracy in small-scale paths and LCD accuracy and recall for large-scale problems

CUDA and OpenMp Implementation of Boolean Matrix Product with Applications in Visual SLAM

In this paper, the concept of ultrametric structure is intertwined with the SLAM procedure. A set of pre-existing transformations has been used to create a new simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) algorithm. We have developed two new parallel algorithms that implement the time-consuming Boolean transformations of the space dissimilarity matrix. The resulting matrix is an important input to the vector quantization (VQ) step in SLAM processes. These algorithms, written in Compute Unified Device Architecture (CUDA) and Open Multi-Processing (OpenMP) pseudo-codes, make the Boolean transformation computationally feasible on a real-world-size dataset. We expect our newly introduced SLAM algorithm, ultrametric Fast Appearance Based Mapping (FABMAP), to outperform regular FABMAP2 since ultrametric spaces are more clusterable than regular Euclidean spaces. Another scope of the presented research is the development of a novel measure of ultrametricity, along with creation of Ultrametric-PAM clustering algorithm. Since current measures have computational time complexity order, O(n3) a new measure with lower time complexity, O(n2) , has a potential significance

An Approach toward Artificial Intelligence Alzheimer's Disease Diagnosis Using Brain Signals

Background: Electroencephalography (EEG) signal analysis is a rapid, low-cost, and practical method for diagnosing the early stages of dementia, including mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and Alzheimer’s disease (AD). The extraction of appropriate biomarkers to assess a subject’s cognitive impairment has attracted a lot of attention in recent years. The aberrant progression of AD leads to cortical detachment. Due to the interaction of several brain areas, these disconnections may show up as abnormalities in functional connectivity and complicated behaviors. Methods: This work suggests a novel method for differentiating between AD, MCI, and HC in two-class and three-class classifications based on EEG signals. To solve the class imbalance, we employ EEG data augmentation techniques, such as repeating minority classes using variational autoencoders (VAEs), as well as traditional noise-addition methods and hybrid approaches. The power spectrum density (PSD) and temporal data employed in this study’s feature extraction from EEG signals were combined, and a support vector machine (SVM) classifier was used to distinguish between three categories of problems. Results: Insufficient data and unbalanced datasets are two common problems in AD datasets. This study has shown that it is possible to generate comparable data using noise addition and VAE, train the model using these data, and, to some extent, overcome the aforementioned issues with an increase in classification accuracy of 2 to 7%. Conclusion: In this work, using EEG data, we were able to successfully detect three classes: AD, MCI, and HC. In comparison to the pre-augmentation stage, the accuracy gained in the classification of the three classes increased by 3% when the VAE model added additional data. As a result, it is clear how useful EEG data augmentation methods are for classes with smaller sample numbers

Exploring undergraduates’ perceptions of and engagement in an AI-enhanced online course

In the age of globalization, an internet connection has become essential for enhancing various human activities across the economic, cultural, and defense sectors, among others. This is particularly true for online classrooms. Microsoft Teams, a widely used digital education platform, provides capabilities that allow online teachers to facilitate better interactions and create more effective learning environments in online settings. This study aimed to explore students’ perceptions of synchronous online learning that occurred in an AI-enhanced online course, delivered using MS Teams. As an explorative study that examines the educational intersection of engineering and artificial intelligence, it represents the convergence of these two branches of learning and thus enriches both fields. The research involved 35 online students at the Staffordshire University, with data collected via online questionnaires to gather information about students’ perceptions of online learning through Microsoft Teams. After completing the online course materials, the questionnaires were distributed to students via Google Forms. The data were then descriptively analyzed. The study’s findings revealed that although online learning through Microsoft Teams was a novel experience for the students, the platform’s interactive and engaging learning environment motivated them to participate more actively, ultimately leading to a better comprehension of the course materials. Incorporating AI-enhanced features within the Microsoft Teams platform further augmented the online learning experience, as students appreciated the personalized learning recommendations and real-time feedback, which showcases the synergistic potential of AI and education in the digital age

Dental Caries Risk Assessment in Children 5 Years Old and under via Machine Learning

Background: Dental caries is a prevalent, complex, chronic illness that is avoidable. Better dental health outcomes are achieved as a result of accurate and early caries risk prediction in children, which also helps to avoid additional expenses and repercussions. In recent years, artificial intelligence (AI) has been employed in the medical field to aid in the diagnosis and treatment of medical diseases. This technology is a critical tool for the early prediction of the risk of developing caries. Aim: Through the development of computational models and the use of machine learning classification techniques, we investigated the potential for dental caries factors and lifestyle among children under the age of five. Design: A total of 780 parents and their children under the age of five made up the sample. To build a classification model with high accuracy to predict caries risk in 0–5-year-old children, ten different machine learning modelling techniques (DT, XGBoost, KNN, LR, MLP, RF, SVM (linear, rbf, poly, sigmoid)) and two assessment methods (Leave-One-Out and K-fold) were utilised. The best classification model for caries risk prediction was chosen by analysing each classification model’s accuracy, specificity, and sensitivity. Results: Machine learning helped with the creation of computer algorithms that could take a variety of parameters into account, as well as the identification of risk factors for childhood caries. The performance of the classifier is almost unbiased, making it generalizable. Among all applied machine learning algorithms, Multilayer Perceptron and Random Forest had the best accuracy, with 97.4%. Support Vector Machine with RBF Kernel (with an accuracy of 97.4%) was better than Extreme Gradient Boosting (with 94.9% accuracy). Conclusion: The outcomes of this study show the potential of regular screening of children for caries risk by experts and finding the risk scores of dental caries for any individual. Therefore, in order to avoid dental caries, it is possible to concentrate on each individual by utilizing machine learning modelling

A novel data augmentation approach for influenza a subtype prediction based on HA proteins

Influenza, a pervasive viral respiratory illness, remains a significant global health concern. The influenza A virus, capable of causing pandemics, necessitates timely identification of specific subtypes for effective prevention and control, as highlighted by the World Health Organization. The genetic diversity of influenza A virus, especially in the hemagglutinin protein, presents challenges for accurate subtype prediction. This study introduces PreIS as a novel pipeline utilizing advanced protein language models and supervised data augmentation to discern subtle differences in hemagglutinin protein sequences. PreIS demonstrates two key contributions: leveraging pretrained protein language models for influenza subtype classification and utilizing supervised data augmentation to generate additional training data without extensive annotations. The effectiveness of the pipeline has been rigorously assessed through extensive experiments, demonstrating a superior performance with an impressive accuracy of 94.54% compared to the current state-of-the-art model, the MC-NN model, which achieves an accuracy of 89.6%. PreIS also exhibits proficiency in handling unknown subtypes, emphasizing the importance of early detection. Pioneering the classification of HxNy subtypes solely based on the hemagglutinin protein chain, this research sets a benchmark for future studies. These findings promise more precise and timely influenza subtype prediction, enhancing public health preparedness against influenza outbreaks and pandemics. The data and code underlying this article are available in https://github.com/CBRC-lab/PreIS

Predictive models for Alzheimer's disease diagnosis and MCI identification: The use of cognitive scores and artificial intelligence algorithms

The paper presents a comprehensive study on predictive models for Alzheimer's disease (AD) and mild cognitive impairment (MCI) diagnosis, implementing a combination of cognitive scores and artificial intelligence algorithms. The research includes detailed analyses of clinical and demographic variables such as age, education, and various cognitive and functional scores, investigating their distributions and correlations with AD and MCI. The study utilizes several machine-learning classifiers, comparing their performance through metrics like accuracy, precision, and area under the ROC curve (AUC). Key findings include the influence of gender on AD prevalence, the potential protective effect of education, and the significance of functional decline and cognitive performance scores in the models. The results demonstrate the effectiveness of ensemble methods and the robustness of the models across different data subsets, highlighting the potential of artificial intelligence in enhancing diagnostic accuracy for Alzheimer's disease and mild cognitive impairment