Advanced Machine Learning Algorithms Research Articles

Machine Learning in FTIR Spectrum for the Identification of Antibiotic Resistance: A Demonstration with Different Species of Microorganisms.

Recent studies introduced the importance of using machine learning algorithms in research focused on the identification of antibiotic resistance. In this study, we highlight the importance of building solid machine learning foundations to differentiate antimicrobial resistance among microorganisms. Using advanced machine learning algorithms, we established a methodology capable of analyzing the FTIR structural profile of the samples of Streptococcus pyogenes and Streptococcus mutans (Gram-positive), as well as Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae (Gram-negative), demonstrating cross-sectional applicability in this focus on different microorganisms. The analysis focuses on specific biomolecules-Carbohydrates, Fatty Acids, and Proteins-in FTIR spectra, providing a multidimensional database that transcends microbial variability. The results highlight the ability of the method to consistently identify resistance patterns, regardless of the Gram classification of the bacteria and the species involved, reinforcing the premise that the structural characteristics identified are universal among the microorganisms tested. By validating this approach in four distinct species, our study proves the versatility and precision of the methodology used, in addition to bringing support to the development of an innovative protocol for the rapid and safe identification of antimicrobial resistance. This advance is crucial for optimizing treatment strategies and avoiding the spread of resistance. This emphasizes the relevance of specialized machine learning bases in effectively differentiating between resistance profiles in Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria to be implemented in the identification of antibiotic resistance. The obtained result has a high potential to be applied to clinical procedures.

Continuous Service Improvement in IT Operations through Predictive Analytics

In the evolving landscape of IT operations, continuous service improvement is essential for maintaining high performance, reliability, and customer satisfaction. Predictive analytics, leveraging advanced data analysis techniques and machine learning algorithms, offers a transformative approach to enhancing IT service management. This research paper explores the integration of predictive analytics into IT operations to drive continuous service improvement. It investigates how predictive models can forecast potential issues, optimize resource allocation, and enhance decision-making processes, ultimately leading to improved operational efficiency and service quality. The study begins with an overview of traditional IT service management practices and the limitations they face in adapting to dynamic and complex IT environments. Conventional approaches often rely on reactive problem-solving and periodic reviews, which can lead to inefficiencies and missed opportunities for proactive intervention. Predictive analytics offers a paradigm shift by utilizing historical data and real-time information to predict future outcomes, enabling organizations to address potential problems before they impact operations.

Enhancing Urban Sustainability and Resilience: Employing Digital Twin Technologies for Integrated WEFE Nexus Management to Achieve SDGs

This research explores the application of digital twin technologies to progress the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) within the water-energy-food-environment (WEFE) nexus management in urban refugee areas. The study in Irbid Camp utilizes a detailed 3D Revit model combined with real-time data and community insights processed through advanced machine learning algorithms. An examination of 450 qualitative interviews indicates an 80% knowledge level of water conservation practices among the community but only 35% satisfaction with the current management of resources. Predictive analytics forecast a 25% increase in water scarcity and an 18% surge in energy demand within the next ten years, prompting the deployment of sustainable solutions such as solar energy installations and enhanced rainwater collection systems. By simulating resource allocation and environmental impacts, the digital twin framework helps in planning urban development in line with SDGs 6 (Clean Water and Sanitation), 7 (Affordable and Clean Energy), 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities), and 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production). This investigation highlights the capacity of digital twin technology to improve resource management, increase community resilience, and support sustainable urban growth, suggesting its wider implementation in comparable environments.

Real-time water quality monitoring using AI-enabled sensors: Detection of contaminants and UV disinfection analysis in smart urban water systems

This study introduces a novel method for assessing water quality, employing a cutting-edge sensor system integrated with artificial intelligence (AI) technologies. Addressing the global challenge of water scarcity and pollution, the research focuses on the innovative use of spectroscopic analysis for real-time water quality monitoring. The study evaluates the effectiveness of this system in distinguishing between clean, contaminated, and UV-disinfected water samples, highlighting its precision in detecting variations in water quality. Central to the research is the deployment of advanced machine learning algorithms, including Random Forest, Support Vector Machines (SVM), and Neural Networks, to process and classify spectral data. These models demonstrate remarkable accuracy in real-time classification, underscoring the synergy between AI and environmental science in addressing critical public health issues. Significantly, the study showcases the potential of UV disinfection in water treatment, as evidenced by the spectral changes observed in disinfected water samples. This aspect of the research emphasizes the role of spectral analysis in verifying the efficacy of water treatment processes. Overall, this study paves the way for more sophisticated and accessible water quality monitoring systems, offering a promising solution to one of the most pressing environmental challenges. The integration of AI and spectral analysis in this research offers a breakthrough in ensuring a safe water supply and effective water resource management. This study utilizes advanced machine learning algorithms, including Random Forest, Support Vector Machines (SVM), and Neural Networks, for water quality assessment. These models process and classify spectral data with high precision, highlighting variations in water quality.

Effect of Data Integration Techniques on Operational Efficiency in Manufacturing Industries in Iran

Purpose: The aim of the study was to assess the effect of data integration techniques on operational efficiency in manufacturing industries in Iran. Materials and Methods: This study adopted a desk methodology. A desk study research design is commonly known as secondary data collection. This is basically collecting data from existing resources preferably because of its low cost advantage as compared to a field research. Our current study looked into already published studies and reports as the data was easily accessed through online journals and libraries. Findings: The study found that by seamlessly amalgamating data from disparate sources across production lines, supply chains, and customer feedback systems, manufacturers have been able to streamline processes, optimize resource allocation, and achieve significant cost savings. For instance, real-time data integration facilitates timely decision-making, allowing for adaptive production planning and inventory management. Furthermore, the integration of advanced analytics and machine learning algorithms has enabled predictive maintenance strategies, reducing downtime and enhancing overall equipment effectiveness (OEE). These technological advancements not only bolster operational efficiency but also foster innovation, as companies leverage integrated data insights to drive continuous improvement initiatives and meet evolving consumer demands. Implications to Theory, Practice and Policy: Resource-based view (RBV), technology acceptance model and dynamic capabilities theory may be used to anchor future studies on assessing the effect of data integration techniques on operational efficiency in manufacturing industries in Iran. Manufacturing firms should prioritize strategic implementation plans for data integration technologies to ensure that investments in IoT, AI, ETL, data warehousing, data virtualization, and APIs are aligned with their overall business objectives. Policymakers should provide incentives and support for the adoption of advanced data integration technologies in the manufacturing sector.

Predicting Economic Trends and Stock Market Prices with Deep Learning and Advanced Machine Learning Techniques

The volatile and non-linear nature of stock market data, particularly in the post-pandemic era, poses significant challenges for accurate financial forecasting. To address these challenges, this research develops advanced deep learning and machine learning algorithms to predict financial trends, quantify risks, and forecast stock prices, focusing on the technology sector. Our study seeks to answer the following question: “Which deep learning and supervised machine learning algorithms are the most accurate and efficient in predicting economic trends and stock market prices, and under what conditions do they perform best?” We focus on two advanced recurrent neural network (RNN) models, long short-term memory (LSTM) and Gated Recurrent Unit (GRU), to evaluate their efficiency in predicting technology industry stock prices. Additionally, we integrate statistical methods such as autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) and Facebook Prophet and machine learning algorithms like Extreme Gradient Boosting (XGBoost) to enhance the robustness of our predictions. Unlike classical statistical algorithms, LSTM and GRU models can identify and retain important data sequences, enabling more accurate predictions. Our experimental results show that the GRU model outperforms the LSTM model in terms of prediction accuracy and training time across multiple metrics such as RMSE and MAE. This study offers crucial insights into the predictive capabilities of deep learning models and advanced machine learning techniques for financial forecasting, highlighting the potential of GRU and XGBoost for more accurate and efficient stock price prediction in the technology sector.

Improved motor imagery training for subject's self-modulation in EEG-based brain-computer interface.

For the electroencephalogram- (EEG-) based motor imagery (MI) brain-computer interface (BCI) system, more attention has been paid to the advanced machine learning algorithms rather than the effective MI training protocols over past two decades. However, it is crucial to assist the subjects in modulating their active brains to fulfill the endogenous MI tasks during the calibration process, which will facilitate signal processing using various machine learning algorithms. Therefore, we propose a trial-feedback paradigm to improve MI training and introduce a non-feedback paradigm for comparison. Each paradigm corresponds to one session. Two paradigms are applied to the calibration runs of corresponding sessions. And their effectiveness is verified in the subsequent testing runs of respective sessions. Different from the non-feedback paradigm, the trial-feedback paradigm presents a topographic map and its qualitative evaluation in real time after each MI training trial, so the subjects can timely realize whether the current trial successfully induces the event-related desynchronization/event-related synchronization (ERD/ERS) phenomenon, and then they can adjust their brain rhythm in the next MI trial. Moreover, after each calibration run of the trial-feedback session, a feature distribution is visualized and quantified to show the subjects' abilities to distinguish different MI tasks and promote their self-modulation in the next calibration run. Additionally, if the subjects feel distracted during the training processes of the non-feedback and trial-feedback sessions, they can execute the blinking movement which will be captured by the electrooculogram (EOG) signals, and the corresponding MI training trial will be abandoned. Ten healthy participants sequentially performed the non-feedback and trial-feedback sessions on the different days. The experiment results showed that the trial-feedback session had better spatial filter visualization, more beneficiaries, higher average off-line and on-line classification accuracies than the non-feedback session, suggesting the trial-feedback paradigm's usefulness in subject's self-modulation and good ability to perform MI tasks.

Novel physics-informed optimization framework for complex multi-physics problems: Implementation for a sweeping gas membrane distillation module

The application of advanced machine learning algorithms such as deep learning is limited for the surrogate-based process optimization of complex multi-physics problems because high-quality experimental and numerical training samples required for deep-learning model training are expensive and scarce. To address this issue, in this study, a novel physics-informed process optimization (PIPO) framework was introduced. In the first step, surrogate models based on conventional neural networks (NN) were trained using a few available high-quality training samples. In the second step, the trained NN models were coupled to the process optimization solver in which the loss of physical laws was added to the optimizer’s objective function to find optimal design points that satisfy the laws of physics. As a result, the generalization performance of the framework was greatly improved for design targets outside the training range of NN models. PIPO is substantially different from the physics-informed neural networks where the loss of physics is added to the loss function used during NN model training. The PIPO framework was used to optimize a sweeping gas membrane distillation (SGMD) module. Eight input design variables, including process and geometrical parameters, were optimized for different challenging targets to achieve the best SGMD performance in terms of ammonia recovery ratio and concentration. It was shown that for noticeably few training samples of 68 experiments, the proposed framework was able to achieve the optimization targets within a reasonable computational cost. The optimum designs were verified and analyzed in detail by high-resolution computational fluid dynamics models.

Green Energy Management in Manufacturing Based on Demand Prediction by Artificial Intelligence—A Review

Energy efficiency in production systems and processes is a key global research topic, especially in light of the Green Deal, Industry 4.0/5.0 paradigms, and rising energy prices. Research on improving the energy efficiency of production based on artificial intelligence (AI) analysis brings promising solutions, and the digital transformation of industry towards green energy is slowly becoming a reality. New production planning rules, the optimization of the use of the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), industrial cyber-physical systems (ICPSs), and the effective use of production data and their optimization with AI bring further opportunities for sustainable, energy-efficient production. The aim of this study is to systematically evaluate and quantify the research results, trends, and research impact on energy management in production based on AI-based demand forecasting. The value of the research includes the broader use of AI which will reduce the impact of the observed environmental and economic problems in the areas of reducing energy consumption, forecasting accuracy, and production efficiency. In addition, the demand for Green AI technologies in creating sustainable solutions, reducing the impact of AI on the environment, and improving the accuracy of forecasts, including in the area of optimization of electricity storage, will increase. A key emerging research trend in green energy management in manufacturing is the use of AI-based demand forecasting to optimize energy consumption, reduce waste, and increase sustainability. An innovative perspective that leverages AI’s ability to accurately forecast energy demand allows manufacturers to align energy consumption with production schedules, minimizing excess energy consumption and emissions. Advanced machine learning (ML) algorithms can integrate real-time data from various sources, such as weather patterns and market demand, to improve forecast accuracy. This supports both sustainability and economic efficiency. In addition, AI-based demand forecasting can enable more dynamic and responsive energy management systems, paving the way for smarter, more resilient manufacturing processes. The paper’s contribution goes beyond mere description, making analyses, comparisons, and generalizations based on the leading current literature, logical conclusions from the state-of-the-art, and the authors’ knowledge and experience in renewable energy, AI, and mechatronics.

Unveiling Wheat’s Future Amidst Climate Change in the Central Ethiopia Region

Quantifying how climatic change affects wheat production, and accurately predicting its potential distributions in the face of future climate, are highly important for ensuring food security in Ethiopia. This study leverages advanced machine learning algorithms including Random Forest, Maxent, Boosted Regression Tree, and Generalised Linear Model alongside an ensemble approach to accurately predict shifts in wheat habitat suitability in the Central Ethiopia Region over the upcoming decades. An extensive dataset consisting of 19 bioclimatic variables (Bio1–Bio19), elevation, solar radiation, and topographic positioning index was refined by excluding collinear predictors to increase model accuracy. The analysis revealed that the precipitation of the wettest month, minimum temperature of the coldest month, temperature seasonality, and precipitation of the coldest quarter are the most influential factors, which collectively account for a significant proportion of habitat suitability changes. The future projections revealed that up to 100% of the regions currently classified as moderately or highly suitable for wheat could become unsuitable by 2050, 2070, and 2090, illustrating a dramatic potential decline in wheat production. Generally, the future of wheat cultivation will depend heavily on developing varieties that can thrive under altered conditions; thus, immediate and informed action is needed to safeguard the food security of the region.

Railways Tender Price Prediction Using Machine Learning and Deep Learning Algorithms

The idea of determining the optimum bid amount in any railway tender competition has been a complex and critical task. Reasonable pricing is the main gateway in the process of winning contracts. The approach presented here is based on data-driven pricing to maximize tender wins and reduce potential profit loss. The model shall make use of historical tender data, competitor pricing data, and market indicators in order to predict the optimal bid amounts. This advanced ML model runs advanced machine learning algorithms, including regression models and ensembles, to study the intricate relationship between factors that would affect the successful execution of a bid. Deep learning models are integrated into the model to provide it with better handling of temporal dependencies and other hidden patterns in data, hence yielding accurate and robust predictions. The key objective of the work is to increase the winning rate of tender contracts by at least 10%, while competitive profitability is ensured. Because of precise competitor price predictions, business success criteria are oriented to reaching this higher win rate on tenders. The Machine learning success criteria target a price prediction accuracy of at least 90%. Another important set of economic success criteria that should be targeted is an improvement in profit margins of at least 5% through more accurate pricing strategies and a reduction in the number of rejected bids. It will offer great value to the businesses operating in the railway industry in making proper decisions on operations and strategic planning. The paper develops a fusion of traditional statistical methodologies with advanced ML and DL techniques in order to provide a robust solution for competitive advantage and increased profitability in the dynamic and competitive railway tender market.

Drone Technology for Precision Agriculture: Advancements and Optimization Strategies

This paper delves into the development and optimization of an intelligent agricultural monitoring system that makes use of drone technology to enhance agricultural productivity and sustainability. With the world's population on the rise and the scarcity of arable land, precision agriculture becomes essential in guaranteeing food security. By harnessing state-of-the-art sensors and imaging technologies, drone technology offers a new and innovative approach to agricultural monitoring. Efficiently collecting vital data on vegetation indices, soil moisture, and crop health. This study seeks to create a state-of-the-art drone-based monitoring system that uses advanced machine learning algorithms and data processing technologies to analyze agricultural data with exceptional precision. It explores the most efficient methods for operating drones, including flight planning and data collection protocols, with the aim of creating a comprehensive agricultural monitoring system. This platform provides the convenience of automating monitoring processes, leading to lower labor costs, improved resource allocation, and a beneficial impact on agricultural modernization. The article delves into the effects of the latest developments in drone technology and the subsequent decrease in costs on the agriculture industry worldwide. It highlights the ways in which these advancements are transforming conventional farming methods.

What Radio Waves Tell Us about Sleep!

The ability to assess sleep at home, capture sleep stages, and detect the occurrence of apnea (without on-body sensors) simply by analyzing the radio waves bouncing off people's bodies while they sleep is quite powerful. Such a capability would allow for longitudinal data collection in patients' homes, informing our understanding of sleep and its interaction with various diseases and their therapeutic responses, both in clinical trials and routine care. In this article, we develop an advanced machine learning algorithm for passively monitoring sleep and nocturnal breathing from radio waves reflected off people while asleep. Validation results in comparison with the gold standard (i.e., polysomnography) (n=880) demonstrate that the model captures the sleep hypnogram (with an accuracy of 80.5% for 30-second epochs categorized into Wake, Light Sleep, Deep Sleep, or REM), detects sleep apnea (AUROC = 0.89), and measures the patient's Apnea-Hypopnea Index (ICC=0.90; 95% CI = [0.88, 0.91]). Notably, the model exhibits equitable performance across race, sex, and age. Moreover, the model uncovers informative interactions between sleep stages and a range of diseases including neurological, psychiatric, cardiovascular, and immunological disorders. These findings not only hold promise for clinical practice and interventional trials but also underscore the significance of sleep as a fundamental component in understanding and managing various diseases.

Machine learning-based energy management and power forecasting in grid-connected microgrids with multiple distributed energy sources

The growing integration of renewable energy sources into grid-connected microgrids has created new challenges in power generation forecasting and energy management. This paper explores the use of advanced machine learning algorithms, specifically Support Vector Regression (SVR), to enhance the efficiency and reliability of these systems. The proposed SVR algorithm leverages comprehensive historical energy production data, detailed weather patterns, and dynamic grid conditions to accurately forecast power generation. Our model demonstrated significantly lower error metrics compared to traditional linear regression models, achieving a Mean Squared Error of 2.002 for solar PV and 3.059 for wind power forecasting. The Mean Absolute Error was reduced to 0.547 for solar PV and 0.825 for wind scenarios, and the Root Mean Squared Error (RMSE) was 1.415 for solar PV and 1.749 for wind power, showcasing the model’s superior accuracy. Enhanced predictive accuracy directly contributes to optimized resource allocation, enabling more precise control of energy generation schedules and reducing the reliance on external power sources. The application of our SVR model resulted in an 8.4% reduction in overall operating costs, highlighting its effectiveness in improving energy management efficiency. Furthermore, the system’s ability to predict fluctuations in energy output allowed for adaptive real-time energy management, reducing grid stress and enhancing system stability. This approach led to a 10% improvement in the balance between supply and demand, a 15% reduction in peak load demand, and a 12% increase in the utilization of renewable energy sources. Our approach enhances grid stability by better balancing supply and demand, mitigating the variability and intermittency of renewable energy sources. These advancements promote a more sustainable integration of renewable energy into the microgrid, contributing to a cleaner, more resilient, and efficient energy infrastructure. The findings of this research provide valuable insights into the development of intelligent energy systems capable of adapting to changing conditions, paving the way for future innovations in energy management. Additionally, this work underscores the potential of machine learning to revolutionize energy management practices by providing more accurate, reliable, and cost-effective solutions for integrating renewable energy into existing grid infrastructures.

Exploring safety determinants in historic urban areas of Iran: an artificial neural network study in Ardakan historic fabric

ABSTRACT This research aims to identify the most important predictors of residents’ satisfaction with urban safety in historical urban areas. Using advanced machine learning algorithms, a case study was conducted on the old city centre of Ardakan in Iran. The study analyzed literature to identify important variables related to urban safety and collected data were processed using Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) to discover the patterns underlying them. Results revealed that physical and design-oriented issues such as mixed land use and diversity of activities, street permeability and readable pattern, and formal and informal surveillance were the most critical aspects affecting residents’ satisfaction with urban safety. The study proposes some design and operational measures based on expert knowledge and outcomes of the study to improve urban safety in historical urban areas. Overall, the research suggests that urban safety is a multi-faceted concept that requires careful consideration of physical and design-oriented factors alongside social and environmental factors.

Modelling occupant behaviour in residential buildings: A systematic literature review

This systematic literature review examines Occupant Behaviour (OB) modelling in residential buildings, focusing on its role in narrowing the energy performance gap and enhancing occupant comfort. It provides an overview of methodologies from simple statistical models to advanced machine learning algorithms. We conducted a chronological literature review on OB modelling in residential buildings, identifying the algorithms and the main remarks and limitations of each study. We also present sample populations for each study, offering a comprehensive view of OB modelling's evolution. Our study shows a trend towards incorporating intelligent technologies like IoT and Artificial Intelligence, highlighting an evolution towards more advanced and precise techniques. The review evaluates studies utilizing monitoring, diary, or survey data to improve behavioural model accuracy, covering aspects such as occupant presence, window manipulation, lighting and shading regulation, thermostat adjustment, and usage patterns of domestic hot water and appliances. The review underscores the importance of standardized data collection and integrating OB into building standards. It advocates for adaptive OB models leveraging IoT data with privacy considerations and calls for comparative analysis of modelling techniques. Future research should develop adaptable occupancy profile repositories and integrated modelling frameworks to address OB complexities.

Human activity recognition using smart phone for physical activity analysis

Human Activity Recognition (HAR) is an active research area that is useful in many applications, such as elderly people monitoring, health parameter analysis, fall detection, video surveillance, etc. There are many challenges in HAR, such as generalized feature extraction, varying background and illumination, etc. The sensor based and image based are two major approaches in HAR. Image based is complex and can be used in the monitoring area only.The sensor based appraches are not user friendly as an individuals need to wear the sensors on the body which is not comfortable. The use of smart phones for HAR is increasing due to advancements in machine learning algorithms. We have proposed a convolutional neural network model for the classification of activities of daily leaving (ADLs) performed by 30 individuals carrying a smartphone. The model consists of two and three dense layers, respectively. We trained the model using 7352 unique samples from the database. We obtained the highest accuracy of 95.02% when testing the result on 2947 samples with 15 epochs. The accuracy and loss plotted is shown in fig 5 a to d which indicates the proper traing of the model. The model is neither overfitted nor underfitted. The hyper-parameter tuning helped in increasing the accuracy. The classification of the physical activities can be and useful inferences can be obtained by analyzing the activities and its time. This will useful in generating the health related alerts to an individual for the activities.

Predicting prognostic factors in kidney transplantation using a machine learning approach to enhance outcome predictions: a retrospective cohort study.

Accurate forecasting of clinical outcomes after kidney transplantation is essential for improving patient care and increasing the success rates of transplants. Our study employs advanced machine learning (ML) algorithms to identify crucial prognostic indicators for kidney transplantation. By analyzing complex datasets with ML models, we aim to enhance prediction accuracy and provide valuable insights to support clinical decision-making. Analyzing data from 4077 KT patients (June 1990 - May 2015) at a single center, this research included 27 features encompassing recipient/donor traits and peri-transplant data. The dataset was divided into training (80%) and testing (20%) sets. Four ML models-eXtreme Gradient Boosting (XGBoost), Feedforward Neural Network, Logistic Regression, and Support Vector Machine-were trained on carefully selected features to predict the success of graft survival. Performance was assessed by precision, sensitivity, F1 score, Area Under the Receiver Operating Characteristic (AUROC), and Area Under the Precision-Recall Curve. XGBoost emerged as the best model, with an AUROC of 0.828, identifying key survival predictors like T-cell flow crossmatch positivity, creatinine levels two years post-transplant and human leukocyte antigen mismatch. The study also examined the prognostic importance of histological features identified by the Banff criteria for renal biopsy, emphasizing the significance of intimal arteritis, interstitial inflammation, and chronic glomerulopathy. The study developed ML models that pinpoint clinical factors crucial for KT graft survival, aiding clinicians in making informed post-transplant care decisions. Incorporating these findings with the Banff classification could improve renal pathology diagnosis and treatment, offering a data-driven approach to prioritizing pathology scores.

High-throughput image processing software for the study of nuclear architecture and gene expression

High-throughput imaging (HTI) generates complex imaging datasets from a large number of experimental perturbations. Commercial HTI software programs for image analysis workflows typically do not allow full customization and adoption of new image processing algorithms in the analysis modules. While open-source HTI analysis platforms provide individual modules in the workflow, like nuclei segmentation, spot detection, or cell tracking, they are often limited in integrating novel analysis modules or algorithms. Here, we introduce the High-Throughput Image Processing Software (HiTIPS) to expand the range and customization of existing HTI analysis capabilities. HiTIPS incorporates advanced image processing and machine learning algorithms for automated cell and nuclei segmentation, spot signal detection, nucleus tracking, nucleus registration, spot tracking, and quantification of spot signal intensity. Furthermore, HiTIPS features a graphical user interface that is open to integration of new analysis modules for existing analysis pipelines and to adding new analysis modules. To demonstrate the utility of HiTIPS, we present three examples of image analysis workflows for high-throughput DNA FISH, immunofluorescence (IF), and live-cell imaging of transcription in single cells. Altogether, we demonstrate that HiTIPS is a user-friendly, flexible, and open-source HTI software platform for a variety of cell biology applications.

Integrated machine learning and geospatial analysis enhanced gully erosion susceptibility modeling in the Erer watershed in Eastern Ethiopia

Land degradation from gully erosion poses a significant threat to the Erer watershed in Eastern Ethiopia, particularly due to agricultural activities and resource exploitation. Identifying erosion-prone areas and underlying factors using advanced machine learning algorithms (MLAs) and geospatial analysis is crucial for addressing this problem and prioritizing adaptive and mitigating strategies. However, previous studies have not leveraged machine learning (ML) and GIS-based approaches to generate susceptibility maps identifying these areas and conditioning factors, hindering sustainable watershed management solutions. This study aimed to predict gully erosion susceptibility (GES) and identify underlying areas and factors in the Erer watershed. Four ML models, namely, XGBoost, random forest (RF), support vector machine (SVM), and artificial neural network (ANN), were integrated with geospatial analysis using 22 geoenvironmental predictors and 1,200 inventory points (70% used for training and 30% for testing). Model performance and robustness were validated through the area under the curve (AUC), accuracy, precision, sensitivity, specificity, kappa coefficient, F1 score, and logarithmic loss. The relative slope position is most influential, with 100% importance in SVM and RF and 95% importance in XGBoost, while annual rainfall (AR) dominated ANN (100% importance). Notably, XGBoost demonstrated robustness and superior prediction/mapping, achieving an AUC of 0.97, 91% accuracy, 92% precision, and 81% kappa while maintaining a low logloss (0.0394). However, SVM excelled in classifying gully resistant/susceptible areas (97% sensitivity, 98% specificity, and 91% F1 score). The ANN model predicted the most areas with very high gully susceptibility (13.74%), followed by the SVM (11.69%), XGBoost (10.65%), and RF (7.85%) models, while XGBoost identified the most areas with very low susceptibility (70.19%). The ensemble technique was employed to further enhance GES modeling, and it outperformed the individual models, achieving an AUC of 0.99, 93.5% accuracy, 92.5% precision, 97.5% sensitivity, 95.4% specificity, 85.8% kappa, and 94.9% F1 score. This technique also classified the GES of the watershed as 36.48% very low, 26.51% low, 16.24% moderate, 11.55% high, and 9.22% very high. Furthermore, district-level analyses revealed the most susceptible areas, including the Babile, Fedis, Harar, and Meyumuluke districts, with high GES areas of 32.4%, 21.3%, 14.3%, and 13.6%, respectively. This study offers robust and flexible ML models with comprehensive validation metrics to enhance GES modeling and identify gully prone areas and factors, thereby supporting decision-making for sustainable watershed conservation and land degradation prevention.