Precise higher-order reflectivity and morphology models for early diagnosis of diabetic retinopathy using OCT images.

This study proposes a novel computer assisted diagnostic (CAD) system for early diagnosis of diabetic retinopathy (DR) using optical coherence tomography (OCT) B-scans. The CAD system is based on fusing novel OCT markers that describe both the morphology/anatomy and the reflectivity of retinal layers to improve DR diagnosis. This system separates retinal layers automatically using a segmentation approach based on an adaptive appearance and their prior shape information. High-order morphological and novel reflectivity markers are extracted from individual segmented layers. Namely, the morphological markers are layer thickness and tortuosity while the reflectivity markers are the 1st-order reflectivity of the layer in addition to local and global high-order reflectivity based on Markov-Gibbs random field (MGRF) and gray-level co-occurrence matrix (GLCM), respectively. The extracted image-derived markers are represented using cumulative distribution function (CDF) descriptors. The constructed CDFs are then described using their statistical measures, i.e., the 10th through 90th percentiles with a 10% increment. For individual layer classification, each extracted descriptor of a given layer is fed to a support vector machine (SVM) classifier with a linear kernel. The results of the four classifiers are then fused using a backpropagation neural network (BNN) to diagnose each retinal layer. For global subject diagnosis, classification outputs (probabilities) of the twelve layers are fused using another BNN to make the final diagnosis of the B-scan. This system is validated and tested on 130 patients, with two scans for both eyes (i.e. 260 OCT images), with a balanced number of normal and DR subjects using different validation metrics: 2-folds, 4-folds, 10-folds, and leave-one-subject-out (LOSO) cross-validation approaches. The performance of the proposed system was evaluated using sensitivity, specificity, F1-score, and accuracy metrics. The system's performance after the fusion of these different markers showed better performance compared with individual markers and other machine learning fusion methods. Namely, it achieved [Formula: see text], [Formula: see text], [Formula: see text], and [Formula: see text], respectively, using the LOSO cross-validation technique. The reported results, based on the integration of morphology and reflectivity markers and by using state-of-the-art machine learning classifications, demonstrate the ability of the proposed system to diagnose the DR early.

Post-natal development in the linear and tric morphometrics of the camelidae skull.

The craniometric measurements in addition to the skull, cranial and facial indices undertaken in the immature and mature male Camelus dromedarius of the Malha phenotype (black) were: the skull length (35.99 cm), maximum width of neurocranium (11.33 cm), cranial length (15.45 cm), maximum zygomatic width (14.81 cm), viscerocranial length (20.55 cm), skull index (41.13), cranial index (73.70), facial index (72.31), cranial volume (231.73 ml) and skull weight (795.70 g) were measured in the immature camels. In the mature camels, the skulls gave the following measurements: the skull length (50.53 cm), maximum width of neurocranium (15.96 cm), cranial length (21.93 cm), maximum zygomatic width (22.75 cm), viscerocranial length (28.60 cm), skull index (45.06), cranial index (72.99), facial index (79.83), cranial volume (310.80 ml) and skull weight (2598.31 g). The results of a total of 30 skulls of immature and mature Malha camel revealed that all the measurements increased with age whereas the cranial index was the only parameter for which a decreased value was recorded. The anterior basicranial angle averaged about 203 degrees in the immature animal to increase to an insignificant value of 204 degrees in the mature camel skull. Similarly, the posterior basicranial angle did not exhibit a significant difference between the immature and mature values, which ranged between 110 and112 degrees,respectively.

Effect of freeze dried extract of Olea europaea on the pituitary-thyroid axis in rats.

The effect of an aqueous extract of olive (Olea europaea) leaf on the thyroid activity was studied. The results suggest a stimulatory action of the extract on the thyroid, unrelated to the pituitary.

Effect of lead exposure on the erythrocytic antioxidant levels in goats.

Fifteen adult female goats were orally exposed to 5.46 mg lead (as lead acetate) per kg body weight daily for 2 weeks to study the antioxidant enzymes of the erythrocyte, lipid peroxide level, total thiol groups and total antioxidant status (TAS) in plasma. Ten goats served as unexposed control. Blood samples were collected before exposure (day 0) and on days 7 and 14. Ten per cent erythrocyte haemolysate was prepared and analysed for glutathione peroxidase (GPx), superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), total thiol groups and lipid peroxide. TAS was determined in plasma. There was a significant (P < 0.05) increase of erythrocytic GPx, SOD, CAT, total thiol groups and TAS on day 7 which was followed by a significant (P < 0.05) decrease of all these parameters on day 14. Lipid peroxide level increased significantly (P < 0.05) and the maximum level was attained by day 14. The results obtained indicate a possible role of free radicals in lead poisoning pathogenicity.

Impairment in the pituitary-thyroid axis of the Camelus dromedarius infected with Trypanosoma evansi.

Camels infected with Trypanosoma evansi were diagnosed by the Passive Haemagglutination Test and Ag-ELISA and subjected to hormonal blood analyses to estimate the function of the thyroid gland. The results indicated that T. evansi caused a significant case of hypothyroidism evidenced as a decrease in the thyroid triiodothyronine (T3) and thyroxine (T4) blood levels associated with a parallel decrease in the level of blood pituitary thyrotropic hormone (TSH) as measured by the RIA technique.