Toward insights on antimicrobial selectivity of host defense peptides via machine learning model interpretation.

Host defense peptides are promising candidates for the development of novel antibiotics. To realize their therapeutic potential, high levels of target selectivity is essential. This study aims to identify factors governing selectivity via the use of the random forest algorithm for correlating peptide sequence information with their bioactivity data. Satisfactory predictive models were achieved from out-of-bag prediction that yielded accuracies and Matthew's correlation coefficients in excess of 0.80 and 0.57, respectively. Model interpretation through the use of variable importance metrics and partial dependence plots indicated that the selectivity was heavily influenced by the composition and distribution patterns of molecular charge and solubility related parameters. Furthermore, the three investigated bacterial target species (Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus) likely had a significant influence on how selectivity was realized as there appears to be a similar underlying selectivity mechanism on the basis of charge-solubility properties (i.e. but which is tailored according to the target in question).

Classification of White Blood Cells: A Comprehensive Study Using Transfer Learning Based on Convolutional Neural Networks.

White blood cells (WBCs) in the human immune system defend against infection and protect the body from external hazardous objects. They are comprised of neutrophils, eosinophils, basophils, monocytes, and lymphocytes, whereby each accounts for a distinct percentage and performs specific functions. Traditionally, the clinical laboratory procedure for quantifying the specific types of white blood cells is an integral part of a complete blood count (CBC) test, which aids in monitoring the health of people. With the advancements in deep learning, blood film images can be classified in less time and with high accuracy using various algorithms. This paper exploits a number of state-of-the-art deep learning models and their variations based on CNN architecture. A comparative study on model performance based on accuracy, F1-score, recall, precision, number of parameters, and time was conducted, and DenseNet161 was found to demonstrate a superior performance among its counterparts. In addition, advanced optimization techniques such as normalization, mixed-up augmentation, and label smoothing were also employed on DenseNet to further refine its performance.