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In the quantitative assessment on the success of treatment, the automatic detection of acne pixels from digital color images would be helpful. In this paper, we proposed an automatic acne detection method through the processing of facial images taken by the smartphone based on the image processing. In this approach, the RGB image is transformed into various color spaces based on the differences between features of each acne lesion type. This method has been used the a* channel of the CIELab color space to detect the inflammatory acne (papules and pustules). The S channel of HSV color space was used to detect the non-inflammatory acne (whiteheads and blackheads). A multi-level threshold is then used to make acne extraction and blob detection. The effectiveness of the proposed procedure is shown by experimental results. We showed the possibility of detecting 4 types of acne lesions (whiteheads, blackheads, papules, pustules) with different skin colors and different smartphones in this experiment by applying a combination of several color spaces. The result shows a recall of about 85.71% in detecting different acne types at a reasonable processing time. This is the remise to help doctors to assess the level of acne on the patient's face in an effective and time-saving way.

Background The emergence and spread of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) pose a major threat to the effective treatment and control of typhoid fever. The ongoing outbreak of extensively drug-resistant Salmonella Typhi (S. Typhi) in Pakistan has left azithromycin as the only remaining broadly efficacious oral antimicrobial for typhoid in South Asia. Ominously, azithromycin-resistant S. Typhi organisms have been subsequently reported in Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Nepal. Methods Here, we aimed to understand the molecular basis of AMR in 66 S. Typhi organisms isolated in a cross-sectional study performed in a suburb of Chandigarh in Northern India using whole-genome sequencing and phylogenetic analysis. Results We identified 7 S. Typhi organisms with the R717Q mutation in the acrB gene that was recently found to confer resistance to azithromycin in Bangladesh. Six out of the seven azithromycin-resistant S. Typhi isolates also exhibited triple mutations in gyrA (S83F and D87N) and parC (S80I) genes and were resistant to ciprofloxacin. These contemporary ciprofloxacin/azithromycin-resistant isolates were phylogenetically distinct from each other and from those reported from Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Nepal. Conclusions The independent emergence of azithromycin-resistant typhoid in Northern India reflects an emerging broader problem across South Asia and illustrates the urgent need for the introduction of typhoid conjugate vaccines in the region., We identified ciprofloxacin/azithromycin-resistant Salmonella Typhi in Chandigarh in Northern India. The independent emergence of ciprofloxacin/azithromycin-resistant typhoid in Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal, and India and the continued spread of extensively drug-resistant typhoid in Pakistan highlight the limitations of licensed oral treatments for typhoid fever in South Asia.

A novel polyvinyl alcohol/chitosan-thermally reduced graphene modified glassy carbon electrode (PVA/chitosan-TRG/GCE) has been studied for determination of lead (Pb) in aqueous samples by square wave anodic stripping voltammetry (SWASV). The graphene was obtained from thermal exfoliation-reduction of graphite oxide in the nitrogen atmosphere with an eco-friendly procedure. Chitosan was blended with polyvinyl alcohol to obtain advances in electrochemical and mechanical properties. The surface of the PVA/chitosan-TRG composite exhibited a homogeneous and well-dispersed status, as observed from FESEM images. The electrochemical characteristics of the electrode before and after the modification were characterized via electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and SWASV. The effects of experimental conditions such as buffer pH, pre-concentration time, pre-concentration potential, ratio of graphene to PVA/chitosan were systematically investigated. The modified electrode displayed a significant enhancement in sensitivity and selectivity for the detection of Pb. Under optimized conditions, the modified electrode revealed a detection range from 1 ppb to 50 ppb for Pb with a correlation coefficient of 0.996. The limit of detection (LOD) at the modified electrode, based on the signal-to-noise ratio (S/N = 3), gave a value of 0.05 ppb with a preconcentration time of 5 min. The selectivity study revealed that most common foreign ions did not bring significant interference for Pb detection. Besides, the electrode has been successfully applied for Pb detection in real water samples. The proposed method offers scope for on-site detection of Pb at trace level in aqueous samples with a cost-effective, easy-to-use, and environmentally friendly procedure without using complicated apparatus.