Improving the Accuracy of Diabetes Diagnosis Applications through a Hybrid Feature Selection Algorithm

Artificial intelligence is a future and valuable tool for early disease recognition and support in patient condition monitoring. It can increase the reliability of the cure and decision making by developing useful systems and algorithms. Healthcare workers, especially nurses and physicians, are overworked due to a massive and unexpected increase in the number of patients during the coronavirus pandemic. In such situations, artificial intelligence techniques could be used to diagnose a patient with life-threatening illnesses. In particular, diseases that increase the risk of hospitalization and death in coronavirus patients, such as high blood pressure, heart disease and diabetes, should be diagnosed at an early stage. This article focuses on diagnosing a diabetic patient through data mining techniques. If we are able to diagnose diabetes in the early stages of the disease, we can force patients to stay home and care for their health, so the risk of being infected with the coronavirus would be reduced. The proposed method has three steps: preprocessing, feature selection and classification. Several combinations of Harmony search algorithm, genetic algorithm, and particle swarm optimization algorithm are examined with K-means for feature selection. The combinations have not examined before for diabetes diagnosis applications. K-nearest neighbor is used for classification of the diabetes dataset. Sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy have been measured to evaluate the results. The results achieved indicate that the proposed method with an accuracy of 91.65% outperformed the results of the earlier methods examined in this article.

Time-series analysis of blood pressure changes after the guideline update in 2019 and the coronavirus disease pandemic in 2020 using Japanese longitudinal data

We assessed blood pressure (BP) changes during fiscal years (April to March of the following year) 2015–2020 to clarify the effect of the state of emergency due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in 2020. We then considered BP in 2019 separately, as the Japanese hypertension guidelines were updated in 2019. The present retrospective cohort study extracted data from 157,510 Japanese individuals aged <75 years (mean age: 50.3 years, men: 67.5%) from the annual health check-up data of the DeSC database. The trends in BP were assessed using a repeated measures linear mixed model. After adjusting for the month of health check-ups to exclude seasonal BP variation, systolic BP linearly increased during fiscal years 2015–2018. From the value estimated by the trend in 2015–2018, systolic BP was lower by ≤1 mmHg in fiscal year 2019 among the treated participants. Meanwhile, systolic/diastolic BP (95% confidence interval) increased by 2.11 (1.97–2.24)/1.05 (0.96–1.14) mmHg for untreated women (n = 43,292), 1.60 (1.51–1.70)/1.17 (1.11–1.24) mmHg for untreated men (n = 88,479), 1.92 (1.60–2.23)/0.46 (0.25–0.67) mmHg for treated women (n = 7855), and 1.00 (0.79–1.21)/0.39 (0.25–0.53) mmHg for treated men (n = 17,884) in fiscal year 2020. These increases remained time-dependent covariates after adjustments for age, body mass index, alcohol consumption, smoking, physical activity, and blood sampling indices. Social change due to the pandemic might have increased BP by approximately 1–2/0.5–1 mmHg. Meanwhile, only a slight decrease in BP was observed immediately after the guideline update in Japan.

Stroke Hospital Admissions during the COVID-19 Outbreak in São Paulo, Brazil

Background

Globally, stroke remains an important cause of death and long-term disability, and the impact of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) on the health system may have impaired stroke care. Previous studies suggest significant reduction in hospital admissions for stroke after COVID-19 onset as patients may hesitate seeking medical help due to fear of exposure.

Methods

This cross-sectional study included cases of hospital admissions for stroke, identified from the Hospital Information System of the Unified Health System (Sistema Único de Saúde), which contains official and public data in Brazil. Data were collected in duplicate, then categorized according to the International Classification of Diseases, tenth revision (ICD-10), considering codes I60–I69. Linear regression was used to estimate the variation in hospital admissions for stroke in the city of São Paulo (SP) − the largest and most populous city in Brazil and Latin America, between January and June of each analyzed year (2017–2020). The percentage variation between June and January 2020 was also compared. The level of significance was set at 5%, and the statistical program used was Stata, version 14.0.

Results

In the city of SP, during the first wave of COVID-19, from January to June 2020, there were registered decreases in absolute numbers and mean monthly admissions for stroke. Compared to January 2020, data from June 2020 showed 17% reduction in hospitalizations for intracerebral hemorrhage, 32% for cerebral infarction, 26% for stroke unspecified, and 47% for other cerebrovascular diseases.

Conclusion

We argue for policies aimed at improving stroke care and developing awareness campaigns regarding the importance of early diagnosis and treatment, as even in less severe presentations, stroke can trigger an increase in mortality, cost, and long-term disability.

Epidemiology, risk factors and prognosis of cardiovascular disease in the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic era: a systematic review

BACKGROUND

Since the emergence of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) from China, the novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has caused more than five milion deaths worldwide. Several studies have elucidated the role of risk factors in the prognosis of cardiovascular disease (CVD) in the progression of COVID-19 pandemic. This systematic review assesses the link between COVID-19 and cardiovascular risk factors, and investigates the prognosis in the case of myocardial injury.

METHODS

A literature search was performed to identify relevant articles in Pubmed, MEDLINE, Elsevier, and Google Scholar the last two years using the terms: COVID-19, CVD, risk factors, cardiovascular risk factors, SARS-CoV-2, lockdown, hypertension, and diabetes mellitus. Exclusion criteria were the studies associated with pediatric and pregnant COVID-19 patients.

RESULTS

After screening through 3071 articles, 10 studies were included in this review that captured the findings from 3912 participants. Included studies found that preexisting CVD was linked to worse outcomes and increased risk of death in patients with COVID-19, whereas COVID-19 itself also induced myocardial injury, arrhythmia, acute coronary syndrome, and venous thromboembolism.

CONCLUSIONS

Cardiovascular risk factors such as hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and obesity were associated with intensive care unit admission and poor prognosis. Cardiovascular risk factors are crucial for the progression of COVID-19, and infected patients should be constantly monitored and follow strict hygiene and decrease their social interactions.

Impact of the Coronavirus Disease Pandemic on the Annual Thyroid, Parathyroid, and Adrenal Surgery Volume in a Tertiary Referral Endocrine Surgery Center in 2020

Objective:

The purpose of the study was to evaluate the impact of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic on endocrine surgical volumes.

Methods:

There were periodic surgical restriction sin our country in 2020 due to the pandemic. Endocrine surgery volumes at the Division of Endocrine Surgery, Istanbul Medical Faculty were compared between 2019 and 2020.

Results:

The surgical volume reduction in 2020 compared to 2019 was 20%, 54.5%, and 40% for thyroid, parathyroid, and adrenal surgery, respectively. Surgical volume for thyroidectomy for benign nodular goiter and parathyroidectomy significantly decreased, whereas adrenal surgery showed no significant difference in 2020 compared to 2019. No significant difference was found in the rates of thyroid cancer and adrenocortical cancer surgery in 2020compared to 2019.

Conclusion:

The COVID-19 outbreak led to a significant reduction in the annual rates of parathyroidectomy and thyroidectomy for benign goiter, whereas the volume of thyroid cancer and adrenal surgeries were similar to the previous year.

Early life predictors of positive change during the coronavirus disease pandemic

BACKGROUND

The COVID-19 pandemic is a crisis unprecedented in its size and scope. Yet studies of resilience suggest most individuals will successfully negotiate this challenge and some may even experience growth and positive change. Some evidence suggests that the capacity to enact positive change in the face of adversity may be shaped by early life experiences.

METHODS

In a subset of 374 participants (57% female, mean age = 29 years) in the Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development (SECCYD), a longitudinal, birth cohort, prospective models were tested to determine whether early life adversities in family and neighborhood contexts predict positive change events in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Childhood family and neighborhood contexts were assessed using a combination of self-report questionnaires and US Census data. Adulthood positive change events (e.g., becoming more appreciative of things usually taken for granted) were assessed using the Epidemic-Pandemic Impacts Inventory (EPII).

RESULTS

In regression analyses, neighborhood disadvantage in childhood, measured both by objective and subjective assessments, predicted a higher number of positive change events in response to the COVID-19 pandemic (β = .18, p = .004 and β = .15, p = .006, respectively). Examination of the positive change event subscales showed neighborhood disadvantage in childhood predicted increases in events related to 'perspective taking and charitable giving' (β = .20, p = .022 and β = .17, p = .002, respectively) and improved 'social relationships' (β = .18, p = .004 and β = .13, p = .020, respectively), but not to positive 'health behaviors' (ps > .05). All associations were independent of sociodemographic factors and childhood family dysfunction.

CONCLUSIONS

Findings suggest that neighborhood disadvantage in childhood may shape prosocial responses to stress in adulthood, potentially through early life adaptions to stress that are protective when facing adversity. There are several notable implications of the study findings. Although adversity in early life has clear negative impacts, it is possible that adversity experiences may also provide opportunities to develop adaptive strategies that foster resilience and growth when facing stress. Intervention efforts should consider leveraging such stress-adapted strengths to reduce the many negative impacts of early life adversity.

Can human overcome viral hijack-? Comprehensive review on COVID-19 in the view of diagnosis and mitigation across countries

The novel COVID-19, a pandemic disease, is showing an alarming spread and severity throughout the world. Globally, the community transmission of this disease is affecting people in large clusters and so it is necessary to mitigate and control them in order to minimise the social and economic consequences. This review emphasize on the origin of the coronoviral epidemics, discussion on the structural and functional basis of SARS-CoV-2, epidemiology, pathognomonic symptoms, fatality, available rapid diagnostic methods and proposed possible treatment methods for the treatment of COVID-19. The diagnostic markers with respect to genetic material of the virus based on PCR, CRISPR & APTAMER and with respect to proteins based on Antigens were discussed which provides new arena for the development. In control of a pandemic situation the policy adoption and implementation by the governments plays a major role and the policy implementation in different countries are discussed which establishes the effectiveness of the policies framed by the governments. The effectiveness of ethnic traditional medicines of various countries such as India and China in Immunity enhancement, along with their utilisation is also discussed. This review provides an insights towards the COVID-19 which helps in continuous investigation on different dimensions which could help us to understand the mysteries behind the havoc created by this invisible creature.