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Background: Skin diseases are severe diseases. Identification of these severe diseases depends upon the abstraction of atypical skin regions. The segmentation of these skin diseases is essential to rheumatologists in risk impost and for valuable and vital decision‐making. Skin lesion segmentation from images is a crucial step toward achieving this goal—timely exposure of malignancy in psoriasis expressively intensifies the persistence ratio. Defies occur when people presume skin diseases they have without accurately and precisely incepted. However, analyzing malignancy at runtime is a big challenge due to the truncated distinction of the visual similarity between malignance and non‐malignance lesions. However, images' different shapes, contrast, and vibrations make skin lesion segmentation challenging. Recently, various researchers have explored the applicability of deep learning models to skin lesion segmentation. Materials and methods: This paper introduces a skin lesions segmentation model that integrates two intelligent methodologies: Bayesian inference and edge intelligence. In the segmentation model, we deal with edge intelligence to utilize the texture features for the segmentation of skin lesions. In contrast, Bayesian inference enhances skin lesion segmentation's accuracy and efficiency. Results: We analyze our work along several dimensions, including input data (datasets, preprocessing, and synthetic data generation), model design (architecture, modules), and evaluation aspects (data annotation requirements and segmentation performance). We discuss these dimensions from seminal works and a systematic viewpoint and examine how these dimensions have influenced current trends. Conclusion: We summarize our work with previously used techniques in a comprehensive table to facilitate comparisons. Our experimental results show that Bayesian‐Edge networks can boost the diagnostic performance of skin lesions by up to 87.80% without incurring additional parameters of heavy computation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Education quality has undoubtedly become an important local and international benchmark for education, and an institute’s ranking is assessed based on the quality of education, research projects, theses, and dissertations, which has always been controversial. Hence, this research paper is influenced by the institutes ranking all over the world. The data of institutes are obtained through Google Scholar (GS), as input to investigate the United Kingdom’s Research Excellence Framework (UK-REF) process. For this purpose, the current research used a Bespoke Program to evaluate the institutes’ ranking based on their source. The bespoke program requires changes to improve the results by addressing these methodological issues: Firstly, Redundant profiles, which increased their citation and rank to produce false results. Secondly, the exclusion of theses and dissertation documents to retrieve the actual publications to count for citations. Thirdly, the elimination of falsely owned articles from scholars’ profiles. To accomplish this task, the experimental design referred to collecting data from 120 UK-REF institutes and GS for the present year to enhance its correlation analysis in this new evaluation. The data extracted from GS is processed into structured data, and afterward, it is utilized to generate statistical computations of citations’ analysis that contribute to the ranking based on their citations. The research promoted the predictive approach of correlational research. Furthermore, experimental evaluation reported encouraging results in comparison to the previous modification made by the proposed taxonomy. This paper discussed the limitations of the current evaluation and suggested the potential paths to improve the research impact algorithm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: To determine the frequency and severity of psychotic symptoms in users of methamphetamine. Study Design: Cross sectional analytic study. Place and Duration of Study: Combined Military Hospital, Quetta, from Aug 2018 to Jan 2019. Methodology: Sixteen to sixty years old patients already using methamphetamine for at least 1 month were included in this study. Purposive non-probability sampling technique was used. A total of 134 patients of methamphetamine use were studied after consent, using Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS). Data was entered in a specially designed semi structured proforma. The data was analysed by using One Way Anova Calculator. Results: Psychotic symptoms were found in 42 (31.3%) enrolled patients in our study. Out of 134 patients 63 (47%) were >25 years and 71 (53%) were < 25 years of age. Conclusion: The results of our study showed that a significant proportion of methamphetamine users had psychotic symptoms. A strategy should be made to promote awareness in population about harmful consequences of methamphetamine use, timely identification of psychosis in its users and their rehabilitation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This retrospective study presents a comparative analysis of the overall survival and toxicities, as side effects, of docetaxel plus cyclophosphamide (TC) and doxorubicin plus cyclophosphamide (AC). The study measured their efficacies during adjuvant chemotherapy, treating Pakistani breast cancer patients by validating the results obtained, with the published analysis of the same treatment given to US patients. Patients and methods: Between June 2015 and September 2017, for four chemotherapy cycles, 189 patients out of 358 received TC (75 mg/m2 of docetaxel, 600 mg/m2 of cyclophosphamide) and 169 were treated with AC (60 mg/m2 of doxorubicin, 600 mg/m2 of cyclophosphamide). On the basis of using pathological markers to assess patients, toxicities, as side effects, (due to docetaxel, doxorubicin, and cyclophosphamide) were listed in the database of this study. Common factors with respect to common terminology criteria for adverse events version 5.0 and side effects listed in MedlinePlus, NIH US database, and from the database of this study were then separated to be included in comparison for this study. Statistically, chi-squared test was used at α=0.05. Results: There was no statistically significant difference between the proportions of patients with vomiting, extreme tiredness, diarrhea, mild anemia, stability, and overall survival because P-value >0.05. However, AC remained less toxic (P-value <0.05) by 22.6%, 25.7%, 25.3%, 12.4%, 20.8%, and 16.4% compared to TC for changes in taste, muscle pain, burning hands, change in hemoglobin level, moderate anemia, and needing blood transfusion respectively, whereas TC remained less toxic by 52.9%, 32.5%, and 26.3% for dizziness, weight loss, and sores in throat and mouth, respectively. Conclusion: At 27 months, TC was more toxic than AC, whereas both combinations had the same overall survival rate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Collaborative Virtual Reality Environment (CVRE) facilitates distributed cooperated activities. CVRE provides the graphically digital environment for multiple user interface to interact with each other. Mostly virtual reality systems are developed for the individuals. Therefore, CVRE faces the technical and systematic challenges. In this paper we discuss the existing challenges of CVRE. First part highlights the nature of the virtual reality, collaboration and virtual reality activities, in contrast of the challenges of CVRE. Following this, we discuss the future research directions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A mobile robot is an autonomous machine that is not fixed to one physical area. It has ability to move around in the environment to give versatile kind of services to user. The environmental knowledge (context assessment) is important for the successful navigation of robot in current environment. This survey aims to define clearly the meanings of context and context-aware system. We contribute a structure for the categorization of context-aware approaches within each viewpoint by studying, analyzing and comparing the existing approaches. The satisfactory characteristics of mobile robots related to context awareness are proposed in this paper. In this paper, contextual awareness approaches are grouped into several categories such as context acquisition, context modeling, service oriented architecture (SOA) and their frameworks, user perception approaches and others. These categories are further subcategorized and compared regarding several general characteristics. Each category is populated with old as well as current literature by discussing merits and demerits of the models. According to current literature there is not such model that fully satisfied all the requirement of context modeling e.g., context representation from heterogeneous sources, context reasoning, context management of distributed systems, dynamic service composition and service discovery etc. The open areas for further research are described as well in this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nigella sativa (N. sativa), remedial usage against different diseases associated with skeleton, cardiovascular, digestive and urinary systems has a long-standing history. At present, efforts are underway to study its effects against various cancers at both the cellular and molecular levels. In this review, the role of active constituents like thymoquinone (TQ) on different types of cancer has been explored. TQ putative involvement in metastasis has been assessed by elucidating its effects on cell proliferation, adhesion, invasion and angiogenesis. Up regulation of caspase 3, Smac and down regulation of p-AKT, p65, XIAP, Bcl-2, COX-2 is also influenced by N. sativa. These findings prove a significant positive correlation between TQ concentrations and induction of apoptosis, decrease in motility and a reduction in invasion and angiogenesis in cancerous cells. However, there are still quite a few unaddressed domains, which need to be understood. One of these may include target specificity of N. sativa against cancerous tissues, mode of administration, dosage and downstream regulators in mediating these effects. In reference to earlier findings and low cost availability, N. sativa may, also, be suggested as either a suitable sole remedy for cancer or as a complementary to ongoing conventional therapy based extensive and rigorous in vivo optimization and validation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To assess the Positive and Negative Symptoms Scale pattern and World Health Organization Quality of Life-BREF scale scores of patients with schizophrenia after seven years of the initial diagnosis. Study Design: A cross sectional observational study. Place and Duration of Study: Department of Psychiatry, Military Hospital Rawalpindi from Jan 2007 to Dec 2008. Material and Methods: Thirty patients who were invalided out of military service with the diagnosis of schizophrenia in 2000 and 2001 were subjected to psychometric evaluation seven years after the initial diagnosis in 2007 and 2008. They were assessed for their current symptoms and Quality of life using Positive and Negative Symptoms Scale (PANSS) and World Health Organization Quality of Life (WHOQoL-BREF) scale respectively. Both are established psychometric tools to assess the entire spectrum of schizophrenia and quality of life. Result: All patients were males. Forty three percent of the subjects had Positive and Negative Symptoms Scale (PANSS) score i.e. below cut off value of 65. Mean PANSS score of the group was 72. A score of more than 12 on World Health Organization Quality of Life-BREF (WHOQoL-BREF) scale indicating better quality of life was seen in 43 % of the patients. Factors linked with PANSS score > 65 and poor Quality of life (Qol score 4-12) were being single, unemployed, living in cities, using psychoactive substances and in initial years of military service. Conclusion: More than half of the patients with diagnosis of schizophrenia continue to show high Positive and Negative Symptoms Scale (PANSS) score and poor quality of life after seven years of initial diagnosis of schizophrenia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nigella sativa (N. sativa), remedial usage against different diseases associated with skeleton, cardiovascular, digestive and urinary systems has a long-standing history. At present, efforts are underway to study its effects against various cancers at both the cellular and molecular levels. In this review, the role of active constituents like thymoquinone (TQ) on different types of cancer has been explored. TQ putative involvement in metastasis has been assessed by elucidating its effects on cell proliferation, adhesion, invasion and angiogenesis. Up regulation of caspase 3, Smac and down regulation of p-AKT, p65, XIAP, Bcl-2, COX-2 is also influenced by N. sativa. These findings prove a significant positive correlation between TQ concentrations and induction of apoptosis, decrease in motility and a reduction in invasion and angiogenesis in cancerous cells. However, there are still quite a few unaddressed domains, which need to be understood. One of these may include target specificity of N. sativa against cancerous tissues, mode of administration, dosage and downstream regulators in mediating these effects. In reference to earlier findings and low cost availability, N. sativa may, also, be suggested as either a suitable sole remedy for cancer or as a complementary to ongoing conventional therapy based extensive and rigorous in vivo optimization and validation.