Automated COVID-19 and Heart Failure Detection Using DNA Pattern Technique with Cough Sounds.

COVID-19 and heart failure (HF) are common disorders and although they share some similar symptoms, they require different treatments. Accurate diagnosis of these disorders is crucial for disease management, including patient isolation to curb infection spread of COVID-19. In this work, we aim to develop a computer-aided diagnostic system that can accurately differentiate these three classes (normal, COVID-19 and HF) using cough sounds. A novel handcrafted model was used to classify COVID-19 vs. healthy (Case 1), HF vs. healthy (Case 2) and COVID-19 vs. HF vs. healthy (Case 3) automatically using deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) patterns. The model was developed using the cough sounds collected from 241 COVID-19 patients, 244 HF patients, and 247 healthy subjects using a hand phone. To the best our knowledge, this is the first work to automatically classify healthy subjects, HF and COVID-19 patients using cough sounds signals. Our proposed model comprises a graph-based local feature generator (DNA pattern), an iterative maximum relevance minimum redundancy (ImRMR) iterative feature selector, with classification using the k-nearest neighbor classifier. Our proposed model attained an accuracy of 100.0%, 99.38%, and 99.49% for Case 1, Case 2, and Case 3, respectively. The developed system is completely automated and economical, and can be utilized to accurately detect COVID-19 versus HF using cough sounds

Sintering effects on chemical and physical properties of bioactive ceramics

The objective of this study was to characterize the chemical and physical properties of bioactive ceramics prepared from an aqueous paste containing hydroxyapatite (HA) and beta tri-calcium phosphate (β-TCP). Prior to formulating the paste, HA and β-TCP were calcined at 800 °C and 975 °C (11 h), milled, and blended into 15%/85% HA/β-TCP volume-mixed paste. Fabricated cylindrical rods were subsequently sintered to 900 °C, 1100 °C or 1250 °C. The sintered specimens were characterized by helium pycnometry, X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform-infrared (FT-IR), and inductively coupled plasma (ICP) spectroscopy for evaluation of porosity, crystalline phase, functional-groups, and Ca:P ratio, respectively. Mechanical properties were assessed via 3-point bending and diametral compression. Qualitative microstructural evaluation using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) showed larger pores and a broader pore size distribution (PSD) for materials sintered at 900 °C and 1100 °C, whereas the 1250 °C samples showed more uniform PSD. Porosity quantification showed significantly higher porosity for materials sintered to 900 °C and 1250 °C (p< 0.05). XRD indicated substantial deviations from the 15%/85% HA/β-TCP formulation following sintering where lower amounts of HA were observed when sintering temperature was increased. Mechanical testing demonstrated significant differences between calcination temperatures and different sintering regimes (p < 0.05). Variation in chemical composition and mechanical properties of bioactive ceramics were direct consequences of calcination and sintering.Peer reviewedChemical Engineerin