IoT-Based Real-Time Medical-Related Human Activity Recognition Using Skeletons and Multi-Stage Deep Learning for Healthcare

The Internet of Things (IoT) and mobile technology have significantly transformed healthcare by enabling real-time monitoring and diagnosis of patients. Recognizing medical-related human activities (MRHA) is pivotal for healthcare systems, particularly for identifying actions that are critical to patient well-being. However, challenges such as high computational demands, low accuracy, and limited adaptability persist in Human Motion Recognition (HMR). While some studies have integrated HMR with IoT for real-time healthcare applications, limited research has focused on recognizing MRHA as essential for effective patient monitoring. This study proposes a novel HMR method for MRHA detection, leveraging multi-stage deep learning techniques integrated with IoT. The approach employs EfficientNet to extract optimized spatial features from skeleton frame sequences using seven Mobile Inverted Bottleneck Convolutions (MBConv) blocks, followed by ConvLSTM to capture spatio-temporal patterns. A classification module with global average pooling, a fully connected layer, and a dropout layer generates the final predictions. The model is evaluated on the NTU RGB+D 120 and HMDB51 datasets, focusing on MRHA, such as sneezing, falling, walking, sitting, etc. It achieves 94.85% accuracy for cross-subject evaluations and 96.45% for cross-view evaluations on NTU RGB+D 120, along with 89.00% accuracy on HMDB51. Additionally, the system integrates IoT capabilities using a Raspberry Pi and GSM module, delivering real-time alerts via Twilios SMS service to caregivers and patients. This scalable and efficient solution bridges the gap between HMR and IoT, advancing patient monitoring, improving healthcare outcomes, and reducing costs.

From Images to Insights: Transforming Brain Cancer Diagnosis with Explainable AI

Brain cancer represents a major challenge in medical diagnostics, requisite precise and timely detection for effective treatment. Diagnosis initially relies on the proficiency of radiologists, which can cause difficulties and threats when the expertise is sparse. Despite the use of imaging resources, brain cancer remains often difficult, time-consuming, and vulnerable to intraclass variability. This study conveys the Bangladesh Brain Cancer MRI Dataset, containing 6,056 MRI images organized into three categories: Brain Tumor, Brain Glioma, and Brain Menin. The dataset was collected from several hospitals in Bangladesh, providing a diverse and realistic sample for research. We implemented advanced deep learning models, and DenseNet169 achieved exceptional results, with accuracy, precision, recall, and F1-Score all reaching 0.9983. In addition, Explainable AI (XAI) methods including GradCAM, GradCAM++, ScoreCAM, and LayerCAM were employed to provide visual representations of the decision-making processes of the models. In the context of brain cancer, these techniques highlight DenseNet169's potential to enhance diagnostic accuracy while simultaneously offering transparency, facilitating early diagnosis and better patient outcomes.

Machine Learning-Based Differential Diagnosis of Parkinson's Disease Using Kinematic Feature Extraction and Selection

Parkinson's disease (PD), the second most common neurodegenerative disorder, is characterized by dopaminergic neuron loss and the accumulation of abnormal synuclein. PD presents both motor and non-motor symptoms that progressively impair daily functioning. The severity of these symptoms is typically assessed using the MDS-UPDRS rating scale, which is subjective and dependent on the physician's experience. Additionally, PD shares symptoms with other neurodegenerative diseases, such as progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) and multiple system atrophy (MSA), complicating accurate diagnosis. To address these diagnostic challenges, we propose a machine learning-based system for differential diagnosis of PD, PSP, MSA, and healthy controls (HC). This system utilizes a kinematic feature-based hierarchical feature extraction and selection approach. Initially, 18 kinematic features are extracted, including two newly proposed features: Thumb-to-index vector velocity and acceleration, which provide insights into motor control patterns. In addition, 41 statistical features were extracted here from each kinematic feature, including some new approaches such as Average Absolute Change, Rhythm, Amplitude, Frequency, Standard Deviation of Frequency, and Slope. Feature selection is performed using One-way ANOVA to rank features, followed by Sequential Forward Floating Selection (SFFS) to identify the most relevant ones, aiming to reduce the computational complexity. The final feature set is used for classification, achieving a classification accuracy of 66.67% for each dataset and 88.89% for each patient, with particularly high performance for the MSA and HC groups using the SVM algorithm. This system shows potential as a rapid and accurate diagnostic tool in clinical practice, though further data collection and refinement are needed to enhance its reliability.

Parkinson Disease Detection Based on In-air Dynamics Feature Extraction and Selection Using Machine Learning

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a progressive neurological disorder that impairs movement control, leading to symptoms such as tremors, stiffness, and bradykinesia. Many researchers analyzing handwriting data for PD detection typically rely on computing statistical features over the entirety of the handwriting task. While this method can capture broad patterns, it has several limitations, including a lack of focus on dynamic change, oversimplified feature representation, lack of directional information, and missing micro-movements or subtle variations. Consequently, these systems face challenges in achieving good performance accuracy, robustness, and sensitivity. To overcome this problem, we proposed an optimized PD detection methodology that incorporates newly developed dynamic kinematic features and machine learning (ML)-based techniques to capture movement dynamics during handwriting tasks. In the procedure, we first extracted 65 newly developed kinematic features from the first and last 10% phases of the handwriting task rather than using the entire task. Alongside this, we also reused 23 existing kinematic features, resulting in a comprehensive new feature set. Next, we enhanced the kinematic features by applying statistical formulas to compute hierarchical features from the handwriting data. This approach allows us to capture subtle movement variations that distinguish PD patients from healthy controls. To further optimize the feature set, we applied the Sequential Forward Floating Selection method to select the most relevant features, reducing dimensionality and computational complexity. Finally, we employed an ML-based approach based on ensemble voting across top-performing tasks, achieving an impressive 96.99\% accuracy on task-wise classification and 99.98% accuracy on task ensembles, surpassing the existing state-of-the-art model by 2% for the PaHaW dataset.

Multi-class heart disease Detection, Classification, and Prediction using Machine Learning Models

Heart disease is a leading cause of premature death worldwide, particularly among middle-aged and older adults, with men experiencing a higher prevalence. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), non-communicable diseases, including heart disease, account for 25\% (17.9 million) of global deaths, with over 43,204 annual fatalities in Bangladesh. However, the development of heart disease detection (HDD) systems tailored to the Bangladeshi population remains underexplored due to the lack of benchmark datasets and reliance on manual or limited-data approaches. This study addresses these challenges by introducing new, ethically sourced HDD dataset, BIG-Dataset and CD dataset which incorporates comprehensive data on symptoms, examination techniques, and risk factors. Using advanced machine learning techniques, including Logistic Regression and Random Forest, we achieved a remarkable testing accuracy of up to 96.6\% with Random Forest. The proposed AI-driven system integrates these models and datasets to provide real-time, accurate diagnostics and personalized healthcare recommendations. By leveraging structured datasets and state-of-the-art machine learning algorithms, this research offers an innovative solution for scalable and effective heart disease detection, with the potential to reduce mortality rates and improve clinical outcomes.

Enhancing PTSD Outcome Prediction with Ensemble Models in Disaster Contexts

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a significant mental health challenge that affects individuals exposed to traumatic events. Early detection and effective intervention for PTSD are crucial, as it can lead to long-term psychological distress if untreated. Accurate detection of PTSD is essential for timely and targeted mental health interventions, especially in disaster-affected populations. Existing research has explored machine learning approaches for classifying PTSD, but many face limitations in terms of model performance and generalizability. To address these issues, we implemented a comprehensive preprocessing pipeline. This included data cleaning, missing value treatment using the SimpleImputer, label encoding of categorical variables, data augmentation using SMOTE to balance the dataset, and feature scaling with StandardScaler. The dataset was split into 80\% training and 20\% testing. We developed an ensemble model using a majority voting technique among several classifiers, including Logistic Regression, Support Vector Machines (SVM), Random Forest, XGBoost, LightGBM, and a customized Artificial Neural Network (ANN). The ensemble model achieved an accuracy of 96.76\% with a benchmark dataset, significantly outperforming individual models. The proposed method's advantages include improved robustness through the combination of multiple models, enhanced ability to generalize across diverse data points, and increased accuracy in detecting PTSD. Additionally, the use of SMOTE for data augmentation ensured better handling of imbalanced datasets, leading to more reliable predictions. The proposed approach offers valuable insights for policymakers and healthcare providers by leveraging predictive analytics to address mental health issues in vulnerable populations, particularly those affected by disasters.

ChatGPT in Research and Education: Exploring Benefits and Threats

In recent years, advanced artificial intelligence technologies, such as ChatGPT, have significantly impacted various fields, including education and research. Developed by OpenAI, ChatGPT is a powerful language model that presents numerous opportunities for students and educators. It offers personalized feedback, enhances accessibility, enables interactive conversations, assists with lesson preparation and evaluation, and introduces new methods for teaching complex subjects. However, ChatGPT also poses challenges to traditional education and research systems. These challenges include the risk of cheating on online exams, the generation of human-like text that may compromise academic integrity, a potential decline in critical thinking skills, and difficulties in assessing the reliability of information generated by AI. This study examines both the opportunities and challenges ChatGPT brings to education from the perspectives of students and educators. Specifically, it explores the role of ChatGPT in helping students develop their subjective skills. To demonstrate its effectiveness, we conducted several subjective experiments using ChatGPT, such as generating solutions from subjective problem descriptions. Additionally, surveys were conducted with students and teachers to gather insights into how ChatGPT supports subjective learning and teaching. The results and analysis of these surveys are presented to highlight the impact of ChatGPT in this context.

FireLite: Leveraging Transfer Learning for Efficient Fire Detection in Resource-Constrained Environments

Fire hazards are extremely dangerous, particularly in sectors such as the transportation industry, where political unrest increases the likelihood of their occurrence. By employing IP cameras to facilitate the setup of fire detection systems on transport vehicles, losses from fire events may be prevented proactively. However, the development of lightweight fire detection models is required due to the computational constraints of the embedded systems within these cameras. We introduce FireLite, a low-parameter convolutional neural network (CNN) designed for quick fire detection in contexts with limited resources, in response to this difficulty. With an accuracy of 98.77\%, our model -- which has just 34,978 trainable parameters achieves remarkable performance numbers. It also shows a validation loss of 8.74 and peaks at 98.77 for precision, recall, and F1-score measures. Because of its precision and efficiency, FireLite is a promising solution for fire detection in resource-constrained environments.

Multimodal Attention-Enhanced Feature Fusion-based Weekly Supervised Anomaly Violence Detection

Weakly supervised video anomaly detection (WS-VAD) is a crucial area in computer vision for developing intelligent surveillance systems. This system uses three feature streams: RGB video, optical flow, and audio signals, where each stream extracts complementary spatial and temporal features using an enhanced attention module to improve detection accuracy and robustness. In the first stream, we employed an attention-based, multi-stage feature enhancement approach to improve spatial and temporal features from the RGB video where the first stage consists of a ViT-based CLIP module, with top-k features concatenated in parallel with I3D and Temporal Contextual Aggregation (TCA) based rich spatiotemporal features. The second stage effectively captures temporal dependencies using the Uncertainty-Regulated Dual Memory Units (UR-DMU) model, which learns representations of normal and abnormal data simultaneously, and the third stage is employed to select the most relevant spatiotemporal features. The second stream extracted enhanced attention-based spatiotemporal features from the flow data modality-based feature by taking advantage of the integration of the deep learning and attention module. The audio stream captures auditory cues using an attention module integrated with the VGGish model, aiming to detect anomalies based on sound patterns. These streams enrich the model by incorporating motion and audio signals often indicative of abnormal events undetectable through visual analysis alone. The concatenation of the multimodal fusion leverages the strengths of each modality, resulting in a comprehensive feature set that significantly improves anomaly detection accuracy and robustness across three datasets. The extensive experiment and high performance with the three benchmark datasets proved the effectiveness of the proposed system over the existing state-of-the-art system.

A Comprehensive Methodological Survey of Human Activity Recognition Across Divers Data Modalities

Human Activity Recognition (HAR) systems aim to understand human behaviour and assign a label to each action, attracting significant attention in computer vision due to their wide range of applications. HAR can leverage various data modalities, such as RGB images and video, skeleton, depth, infrared, point cloud, event stream, audio, acceleration, and radar signals. Each modality provides unique and complementary information suited to different application scenarios. Consequently, numerous studies have investigated diverse approaches for HAR using these modalities. This paper presents a comprehensive survey of the latest advancements in HAR from 2014 to 2024, focusing on machine learning (ML) and deep learning (DL) approaches categorized by input data modalities. We review both single-modality and multi-modality techniques, highlighting fusion-based and co-learning frameworks. Additionally, we cover advancements in hand-crafted action features, methods for recognizing human-object interactions, and activity detection. Our survey includes a detailed dataset description for each modality and a summary of the latest HAR systems, offering comparative results on benchmark datasets. Finally, we provide insightful observations and propose effective future research directions in HAR.