Background: Glaucoma and diabetic retinopathy are the leading causes of blindness due to an irreversible damage to the retina which results in vision loss. Early detection of these diseases through regular screening is especially important to prevent progression. The image of retinal fundus is the main evaluating strategy for the glaucoma and diabetic retinopathy detection. Then, automated eye disease detection is an important application of retinal image analysis. Compared with classical diagnostic techniques, image classification by convolutional neural networks (CNN) have the potential for better cost-effective performance. Methods: In this paper, we propose the use of MATLAB – retrained AlexNet CNN for computerized eye diseases identification, particularly glaucoma and diabetic retinopathy, by employing retinal fundus images. The acquisition of the database was carried out through free access databases and access upon request. A transfer learning technique is used for retraining the AlexNet CNN. Specifically, the model divides the fundus image dataset into training and testing data. Results: As datasets were added by network training, different values were reported for validation accuracy, false positives and false negatives, precision, and recall. Thus, having NetTransfer I with a validation accuracy value of 94.3% for two classes. NetTransfer II with a validation accuracy value of 91.8% for two classes. NetTransfer III with a validation accuracy value of 89.7% for three classes. Net transfer IV with a validation accuracy value of 93.1% for three classes. Finally, NetTransfer V with a validation accuracy value of 92.1% for three classes. Conclusions: Re-training of the AlexNet network proved to be a powerful tool to create disease detection systems having high accuracy values and being able to discern between more than two diseases.

Low back pain (LBP) is a highly common musculoskeletal condition and the leading cause of work absenteeism. This project aims to develop a medical test to help healthcare professionals decide on and assign physical treatment for patients with nonspecific LBP. The design uses machine learning (ML) models based on the classification of motion capture (MoCap) data obtained from the range of motion (ROM) exercises among healthy and clinically diagnosed patients with LBP from Imbabura–Ecuador. The following seven ML algorithms were tested for evaluation and comparison: logistic regression, decision tree, random forest, support vector machine (SVM), k-nearest neighbor (KNN), multilayer perceptron (MLP), and gradient boosting algorithms. All ML techniques obtained an accuracy above 80%, and three models (SVM, random forest, and MLP) obtained an accuracy of >90%. SVM was found to be the best-performing algorithm. This article aims to improve the applicability of inertial MoCap in healthcare by making use of precise spatiotemporal measurements with a data-driven treatment approach to improve the quality of life of people with chronic LBP.

Background Glaucoma and diabetic retinopathy (DR) are the leading causes of irreversible retinal damage leading to blindness. Early detection of these diseases through regular screening is especially important to prevent progression. Retinal fundus imaging serves as the principal method for diagnosing glaucoma and DR. Consequently, automated detection of eye diseases represents a significant application of retinal image analysis. Compared with classical diagnostic techniques, image classification by convolutional neural networks (CNN) exhibits potential for effective eye disease detection. Methods This paper proposes the use of MATLAB – retrained AlexNet CNN for computerized eye diseases identification, particularly glaucoma and diabetic retinopathy, by employing retinal fundus images. The acquisition of the database was carried out through free access databases and access upon request. A transfer learning technique was employed to retrain the AlexNet CNN for non-disease (Non_D), glaucoma (Sus_G) and diabetic retinopathy (Sus_R) classification. Moreover, model benchmarking was conducted using ResNet50 and GoogLeNet architectures. A Grad-CAM analysis is also incorporated for each eye condition examined. Results Metrics for validation accuracy, false positives, false negatives, precision, and recall were reported. Validation accuracies for the NetTransfer (I-V) and netAlexNet ranged from 89.7% to 94.3%, demonstrating varied effectiveness in identifying Non_D, Sus_G, and Sus_R categories, with netAlexNet achieving a 93.2% accuracy in the benchmarking of models against netResNet50 at 93.8% and netGoogLeNet at 90.4%. Conclusions This study demonstrates the efficacy of using a MATLAB-retrained AlexNet CNN for detecting glaucoma and diabetic retinopathy. It emphasizes the need for automated early detection tools, proposing CNNs as accessible solutions without replacing existing technologies.

Low back pain (LBP) is a common issue that negatively affects a person’s quality of life and imposes substantial healthcare expenses. In this study, we introduce the (Back-pain Movement) BackMov test, using inertial motion capture (MoCap) to assess lumbar movement changes in LBP patients. The test includes flexion–extension, rotation, and lateralization movements focused on the lumbar spine. To validate its reproducibility, we conducted a test-retest involving 37 healthy volunteers, yielding results to build a minimal detectable change (MDC) graph map that would allow us to see if changes in certain variables of LBP patients are significant in relation to their recovery. Subsequently, we evaluated its applicability by having 30 LBP patients perform the movement’s test before and after treatment (15 received deep oscillation therapy; 15 underwent conventional therapy) and compared the outcomes with a specialist’s evaluations. The test-retest results demonstrated high reproducibility, especially in variables such as range of motion, flexion and extension ranges, as well as velocities of lumbar movements, which stand as the more important variables that are correlated with LBP disability, thus changes in them may be important for patient recovery. Among the 30 patients, the specialist’s evaluations were confirmed using a low-back-specific Short Form (SF)-36 Physical Functioning scale, and agreement was observed, in which all patients improved their well-being after both treatments. The results from the specialist analysis coincided with changes exceeding MDC values in the expected variables. In conclusion, the BackMov test offers sensitive variables for tracking mobility recovery from LBP, enabling objective assessments of improvement. This test has the potential to enhance decision-making and personalized patient monitoring in LBP management.

Background The rise of antibiotic-resistant bacteria presents a pressing need for exploring new natural compounds with innovative mechanisms to replace existing antibiotics. Bacteriocins offer promising alternatives for developing therapeutic and preventive strategies in livestock, aquaculture, and human health. Specifically, those produced by LAB are recognized as GRAS and QPS. Methods In this study was used a deep learning neural network for binary classification of bacteriocin amino acid sequences, distinguishing those produced by LAB. The features were extracted using the k-mer method and vector embedding. Ten different groups were tested, combining embedding vectors and k-mers: EV, ‘EV+3-mers’, ‘EV+5-mers’, ‘EV+7-mers’, ‘EV+15-mers’, ‘EV+20-mers’, ‘EV+3-mers+5-mers’, ‘EV+3-mers+7-mers’, ‘EV+5-mers+7-mers’, and ‘EV+15-mers+20-mers’. Results Five sets of 100 characteristic k-mers unique to bacteriocins produced by LAB were obtained for values of k = 3, 5, 7, 15, and 20. Significant difference was observed between using only and concatenation. Specially, ‘5-mers+7-mers+EV ’ group showed superior accuracy and loss results. Employing k-fold cross-validation with k=30, the average results for loss, accuracy, precision, recall, and F1 score were 9.90%, 90.14%, 90.30%, 90.10%, and 90.10% respectively. Folder 22 stood out with 8.50% loss, 91.47% accuracy, and 91.00% precision, recall, and F1 score. Conclusions The model developed in this study achieved consistent results with those seen in the reviewed literature. It outperformed some studies by 3-10%. The lists of characteristic k-mers pave the way to identify new bacteriocins that could be valuable for therapeutic and preventive strategies within the livestock, aquaculture industries, and potentially in human health.

Background The rise of antibiotic-resistant bacteria presents a pressing need for exploring new natural compounds with innovative mechanisms to replace existing antibiotics. Bacteriocins offer promising alternatives for developing therapeutic and preventive strategies in livestock, aquaculture, and human health. Specifically, those produced by LAB are recognized as GRAS and QPS. This study aims to develop a deep learning model specifically designed to classify bacteriocins by their LAB origin, using interpretable k-mer features and embedding vectors to enable applications in antimicrobial discover. Methods We developed a deep learning neural network for binary classification of bacteriocin amino acid sequences (BacLAB vs. Non-BacLAB). Features were extracted using k-mers (k=3,5,7,15,20) and vector embeddings (EV). Ten feature combinations were tested (e.g., EV, EV+5-mers+7-mers). Sequences were filtered by length (50–2000 AA) to ensure uniformity, and class balance was maintained (24,964 BacLAB vs. 25,000 Non-BacLAB). The model was trained on Google Colab, demonstrating computational accessibility without specialized hardware. Results The ‘5-mers+7-mers+EV’ group achieved the best performance, with k-fold cross-validation (k=30) showing: 9.90% loss, 90.14% accuracy, 90.30% precision, 90.10% recall and F1 score. Folder 22 stood out with 8.50% loss, 91.47% accuracy, and 91.00% precision, recall, and F1 score. Five sets of 100 LAB-specific k-mers were identified, revealing conserved motifs. Despite high accuracy, sequence length variation (50–2000 AA) may bias k-mer representation, favoring longer sequences. Additionally, experimental validation is required to confirm the biological activity of predicted bacteriocins. These aspects highlight directions for future research. Conclusions The model developed in this study achieved consistent results with those seen in the reviewed literature. It outperformed some studies by 3-10%. Its implementation in resource-limited settings is feasible via cloud platforms like Google Colab. The identified k-mers could guide the design of synthetic antimicrobials, pending further in vitro validation.