Machine Learning Algorithms in Analysis, Diagnosing and Predicting COVID-19: A Systematic Literature Review

Since the COVID-19 corona virus first appeared at the end of 2019, in Wuhan province, China, the analysis, diagnosis, and prognosis of COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2) has attracted the greatest attention. Since then, every part of the world needs some sort of system or instrument to assist judgments for prompt quarantine and medical treatment. For a variety of uses, including prediction, classification, and analysis, machine learning (MLR) have demonstrated their accuracy and efficiency in the fields of education, health, and security. In this paper, three main questions will be answered related to COVID-19 analysis, predicting, and diagnosing. The performance evaluation, fast process and identification, quick learning, and accurate results of MLR algorithms make them as a base for all models in analyzing, diagnosing, and predicting COVID-19 infection. The impact of using supervised and unsupervised MLR can be used for estimating the spread level of COVID-19 to make the proper strategic decisions. The researchers next compared the effects of various datatypes on diagnosing, forecasting, and assessing the severity of COVID-19 infection in order to examine the effects of MLRs. Three fields are associated with COVID-19, according to the analysis of the chosen study (analysis, diagnosing, and predicting). The majority of researches focus on the subject of COVID-19 diagnosis, where they use their models to identify the infection. In the selected studies, several algorithms are employed, however, a study revealed that the neural network is the most used method when compared to other algorithms. The most used method for identifying, forecasting, and evaluating COVID-19 infection is supervised MLR

Palindromic Rheumatism: Biology and Treatment Options

Palindromic rheumatism is a syndrome characterized by recurrent, self-resolving, and inflammatory attacks in and around the joints that have long recognized association with rheumatoid arthritis. PR attacks mostly start in small joints i.e. knees, shoulder, and small joints of the hand. Whether PR should be considered as a single disease or prodrome of RA remains a thought-provoking question. Multiple genetic and environmental factors contribute to the development of PR. Many studies have explained the relationship between a high concentration of Anti-CCP antibodies and PR. Potential benefits of Gold therapy have been recognized in literature but still, there are some questions about toxicity and efficacy that need further considerations. In addition to that anti-malarial drugs, Abatacept, Tofacitinib, and Rituximab showed the variable result in different patients and needed further study to validate their medical use. Moreover, yarrow, oat, colchicum, dill, fennel, wild rue, bitter melon, willow, garlic, and burdock seem suitable candidates to treat rheumatoid although their use in PR is still not reported. Additional experimental researches on these drugs lead to an increase in our knowledge to fight against PR in the future using novel therapeutic approaches. We have attempted to cover this topic in a chapter form to provide a comprehensive view and hope that it will serve as a reference for clinicians who treat patients with PR

The impact of coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) on education: the role of virtual and remote laboratories in education

To avoid the spread of the COVID-19 crisis, many countries worldwide have temporarily shut down their academic organizations. National and international closures affect over 91% of the education community of the world. E-learning is the only effective manner for educational institutions to coordinate the learning process during the global lockdown and quarantine period. Many educational institutions have instructed their students through remote learning technologies to face the effect of local closures and promote the continuity of the education process. This study examines the expected benefits of e-learning during the COVID-19 pandemic by providing a new model to investigate this issue using a survey collected from the students at Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University. Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) was employed on 179 useable responses. This study applied Push-Pull-Mooring theory and examined how push, pull, and mooring variables impact learners to switch to virtual and remote educational laboratories. The Protection Motivation theory was employed to explain how the potential health risk and environmental threat can influence the expected benefits from e-learning services. The findings revealed that the push factor (environmental threat) is significantly related to perceived benefits. The pull factors (e-learning motivation, perceived information sharing, and social distancing) significantly impact learners' benefits. The mooring factor, namely perceived security, significantly impacts learners’ benefits

Unrecognized Functional Dyspepsia Among Those With Refractory Chronic Constipation: Analysis of a Tertiary Cohort

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Patients with functional constipation (FC) are frequently dissatisfied with current treatment options which may be related to persistent, unaddressed symptoms. We hypothesized that refractory FC may actually represent functional dyspepsia (FD) overlap. Among adults presenting with refractory FC, we sought to (1) identify the prevalence of concurrent FD and (2) identify the symptoms and presentations most frequently associated with concurrent FD and FC. METHODS: We assembled a retrospective cohort of 308 patients sequentially presenting to a tertiary neurogastroenterology clinic for evaluation of refractory FC, defined as having failed first-line therapy. Using Rome IV criteria, trained raters identified the presence and characteristics of concurrent FD in addition to demographics, presenting complaints, and psychological comorbidities. RESULTS: Among 308 patients presenting with refractory FC (average of 3.0 ± 2.3 constipation treatments tried unsuccessfully), 119 (38.6%) had concurrent FD. Aside from meeting FD criteria, the presence of concurrent FD was associated with patient complaints of esophageal symptoms (Odds ratio = 3.1; 95% confidence interval, 1.80-5.42) and bloating and distension (Odds ratio = 2.67; 95% confidence interval, 1.50-4.89). Patients with concurrent FD were more likely to have a history of an eating disorder (21.0% vs 12.7%) and were also more likely to present with current avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder-related symptoms (31.9% vs 21.7%). CONCLUSION: Almost 40% of adult patients referred for refractory FC met criteria for concurrent FD in a tertiary-level cohort. The presence of both FC and FD was associated with greater esophageal symptoms and bloating/distention. Determining presence of concurrent FD may represent an additional therapeutic opportunity in refractory patients who may attribute symptoms to FC alone

Access and Financial Burden for Patients Seeking Essential Surgical Care in Pakistan

Background: Pakistan is a lower middle-income country in South Asia with a population of over 220 million. With the recent development of national health programs focusing on surgical care, two areas of high priority for research and policy are access and financial risk protection related to surgery. This is the first study in Pakistan to nationally assess geographic access and expenditures for patients undergoing surgery. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study of patients undergoing laparotomy, cesarean section, and surgical management of a fracture at public tertiary care hospitals across the country. A validated financial risk protection tool was adapted for our study to collect data on the socio-economic characteristics of patients, geographic access, and out-of-pocket expenditure. Results: A total of 526 patients were surveyed at 13 public hospitals. 73.8% of patients had 2-hour access to the facility where they underwent their respective surgical procedures. A majority (53%) of patients were poor at baseline, and 79.5% and 70.3% of patients experienced catastrophic health expenditure and impoverishing health expenditure, respectively. Discussion: A substantial number of patients face long travel times to access essential surgical care and face a high percentage of impoverishing health expenditure and catastrophic health expenditure during this process. This study provides valuable baseline data to health policymakers for reform efforts that are underway. Conclusions: Strengthening surgical infrastructure and services in the existing network of public sector first-level facilities has the potential to dramatically improve emergency and essential surgical care across the country

Driver Drowsiness Detection and Monitoring System (DDDMS)

—The purpose of this paper is to develop a driver drowsiness and monitoring system that could act as an assistant to the driver during the driving process. The system is aimed at reducing fatal crashes caused by driver’s drowsiness and distraction. For drowsiness, the system operates by analysing eye blinks and yawn frequency of the driver while for distraction, the system works based on the head pose estimation and eye tracking. The alarm will be triggered if any of these conditions occur. Main part of the implementation of this system will be using python with computer vision, while Raspberry Pi, which is uniquely designed, for the hardware platform and the speaker for alarming. In short, this driver drowsiness monitoring system can always monitor drivers so as to avoid accidents in real time

Prevalence of Mistreatment or Belittlement among Medical Students – A Cross Sectional Survey at a Private Medical School in Karachi, Pakistan

Background: Mistreatment or belittlement of medical students either by faculty or fellow students has often been reported. Perception of mistreatment has also been associated with increased degree of psychological morbidity. There is a lack of such studies being conducted amongst the medical students of Pakistan. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence and forms of perceived mistreatment and presence of mental health morbidity in a private medical school in Pakistan. Also, any association between mental health morbidity and mistreatment was to be identified. Methods: A cross sectional study was carried out on medical students from Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi, Pakistan during the period of June-September 2007. A self administered questionnaire, adapted from Frank et al and Baldwin et al was distributed to a total of 350 students. The questionnaire consisted of three parts: the first dealing with the demographics of the population, the second concerning the various forms of mistreatment, while the third assessed the mental health of students using the General Health Questionnaire 12(GHQ12). Descriptive statistics were performed. The Chi-square test and Fisher\u27s exact tests were applied. Results: A total of 350 students were approached out of which 232 completed the questionnaire giving a response rate of 66.2%. Mistreatment was reported by 62.5% (145/232) of the respondents. Of these, 69.7% (83/145) were males and 54.9% (62/145) were females. There was a significant relationship between gender, year division, stress at medical school and possible use of drugs/alcohol and reported mistreatment but no statistical relationship was seen with psychiatric morbidity. The overall prevalence of psychological morbidity was 34.8% (77/221). Conclusion: This study suggests high prevalence of perceived mistreatment and psychological morbidity among Pakistani medical students. However, no association was found between these two aspects of medical student education. There is a need to bring about changes to make the medical education environment conducive to learning. Increased student feedback, support systems and guidance about progress throughout the year and the provision of adequate learning resources may provide help with resolving both of these issues