A Detailed Systematic Review on Retinal Image Segmentation Methods.

The separation of blood vessels in the retina is a major aspect in detecting ailment and is carried out by segregating the retinal blood vessels from the fundus images. Moreover, it helps to provide earlier therapy for deadly diseases and prevent further impacts due to diabetes and hypertension. Many reviews already exist for this problem, but those reviews have presented the analysis of a single framework. Hence, this article on retinal segmentation review has revealed distinct methodologies with diverse frameworks that are utilized for blood vessel separation. The novelty of this review research lies in finding the best neural network model by comparing its efficiency. For that, machine learning (ML) and deep learning (DL) were compared and have been reported as the best model. Moreover, different datasets were used to segment the retinal blood vessels. The execution of each approach is compared based on the performance metrics such as sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy using publically accessible datasets like STARE, DRIVE, ROSE, REFUGE, and CHASE. This article discloses the implementation capacity of distinct techniques implemented for each segmentation method. Finally, the finest accuracy of 98% and sensitivity of 96% were achieved for the technique of Convolution Neural Network with Ranking Support Vector Machine (CNN-rSVM). Moreover, this technique has utilized public datasets to verify efficiency. Hence, the overall review of this article has revealed a method for earlier diagnosis of diseases to deliver earlier therapy.

Strain-mediated ferromagnetism and low-field magnetic reversal in Co doped monolayer [Formula: see text].

Strain-mediated magnetism in 2D materials and dilute magnetic semiconductors hold multi-functional applications for future nano-electronics. Herein, First principles calculations are employed to study the influence of biaxial strain on the magnetic properties of Co-doped monolayer [Formula: see text]. The non-magnetic [Formula: see text] shows ferromagnetic signature upon Co doping due to spin polarization, which is further improved at low compressive (-2 %) and tensile (+2 %) strains. From the PDOS and spin density analysis, the opposite magnetic ordering is found to be favourable under the application of compressive and tensile strains. The double exchange interaction and p-d hybridization mechanisms make Co-doped [Formula: see text] a potential host for magnetism. More importantly, the competition between exchange and crystal field splittings, i.e. ([Formula: see text]), of the Co-atom play pivotal roles in deciding the values of the magnetic moments under applied strain. Micromagnetic simulation reveals, the ferromagnetic behavior calculated from DFT exhibits low-field magnetic reversal (190 Oe). Moreover, the spins of Co-doped [Formula: see text] are slightly tilted from the easy axis orientations showing slanted ferromagnetic hysteresis loop. The ferromagnetic nature of Co-doped [Formula: see text] suppresses beyond [Formula: see text] strain, which is reflected in terms of decrease in the coercivity in the micromagnetic simulation. The understanding of low-field magnetic reversal and spin orientations in Co-doped [Formula: see text] may pave the way for next-generation spintronics and straintronics applications.

Investigating genetic variability in Hsp70 gene-5'-fragment and its association with thermotolerance in Murrah buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) under sub-tropical climate of India.

The present study was undertaken to investigate genetic variability in a fragment comprising 5'UTR along with partial coding sequence of Hsp70 gene and its association with thermotolerance traits in Murrah buffalo at ICAR-Research Complex for Eastern Region, Patna (India). The allelic variants were identified from genomic DNA samples using SSCP technique. The PCR products were sequenced and analyzed. Data on different thermotolerance traits recorded in three seasons were analyzed by least squares ANOVA taking the SSCP genotypes as fixed effect. Two allelic variants (A and B), each of 503-bp in size, were documented with frequency of 0.59 and 0.41, respectively, and three genotypes (AA, AB and BB) with corresponding frequency of 0.30, 0.58 and 0.12. The allelic variants were due to single nucleotide substitution at 55th base position leading to a change of threonine (A) to methionine (B) in amino acid sequence. Both the allelic variants had 99.8% similarity in nucleotide sequence. In phylogenetic tree, allele A was in a cluster while allele B and Gangatiri cattle sequence formed a different cluster. The SSCP genotypes had significant effect on different thermotolerance traits in summer with thermo-humidity index of ≥ 84. Buffaloes with AA genotype had the highest (P Ë‚ 0.05) summer evening rectal temperature, respiration rate and pulse rate, inferring that the buffaloes carrying AA genotype had more stress in summer than those with AB and BB genotype. These SSCP genotypes might have differential role in heat shock protein response to induce thermotolerance of Murrah buffaloes in Gangetic plains.

Genetic profiling of Hsp70 gene in Murrah buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) under sub-tropical climate of India.

This study was aimed to genetic profiling of heat shock protein 70 (Hsp70) gene in Murrah buffalo investigating 50 unrelated adult animals at ICAR-Research Complex for Eastern Region, Patna (India) in winter, spring, and summer. PCR ready genomic DNA samples and season-wise total RNA samples were prepared. The PCR products of Hsp70 eluted from agarose gel were sequenced and analyzed. The first-strand cDNA was synthesized and concentration was equalized to 25 ng/µl. Expression kinetics of mRNA transcripts in different seasons was studied using Brilliant SYBR Green QPCR technique and the data retrieved was analyzed by least-squares ANOVA. DNA sequencing by primer walking revealed four allelic variants of Hsp70 gene. Alignment study revealed one substitution in 5'UTR, six substitutions in coding region, and one addition in 3'UTR. The highest percent identity and negligible phylogenetic distance were found among the alleles and reference bovine sequences. The relative mRNA expression was significantly higher in summer when THI ≥ 84 than the spring and winter; fold change increased by 4.5 times in summer than the spring whereas found nearly half in winter. These findings can be useful for heat stress management in buffaloes and help in understanding the mechanism of thermo-regulation well.

Codon degeneracy and amino acid abundance influence the measures of codon usage bias: improved Nc (N̂c ) and ENCprime (N̂'c ) measures.

Effective number of codons (N^c) and its variant N^'c (effective number of codons prime) are the two widely used methods for measuring unequal usage of synonymous codons in coding sequences, known as the codon usage bias (CUB). The mathematical formula used in calculating N^c and N^'c values is giving inappropriate measures of CUB in case of low abundance of amino acids. In addition, the magnitude of error also varies according to codon degeneracy. In this study, a modified formula for N^c and N^'c has been developed to measure the CUB more accurately. Online implementations of the modified formula are available in the web portal at http://agnigarh.tezu.ernet.in/~ssankar/cub.php.