Longitudinal Analysis of Mask and No-Mask on Child Face Recognition

Face is one of the most widely employed traits for person recognition, even in many large-scale applications. Despite technological advancements in face recognition systems, they still face obstacles caused by pose, expression, occlusion, and aging variations. Owing to the COVID-19 pandemic, contactless identity verification has become exceedingly vital. To constrain the pandemic, people have started using face mask. Recently, few studies have been conducted on the effect of face mask on adult face recognition systems. However, the impact of aging with face mask on child subject recognition has not been adequately explored. Thus, the main objective of this study is analyzing the child longitudinal impact together with face mask and other covariates on face recognition systems. Specifically, we performed a comparative investigation of three top performing publicly available face matchers and a post-COVID-19 commercial-off-The-shelf (COTS) system under child cross-Age verification and identification settings using our generated synthetic mask and no-mask samples. Furthermore, we investigated the longitudinal consequence of eyeglasses with mask and no-mask. The study exploited no-mask longitudinal child face dataset (i.e., extended Indian Child Longitudinal Face Dataset) that contains 26,258 face images of 7,473 subjects in the age group of [2, 18] over an average time span of 3.35 years. Due to the combined effects of face mask and face aging, the FaceNet, PFE, ArcFace, and COTS face verification system accuracies decrease by approximately , , , and , respectively. © 2022 ACM.

COVID-19 opens the door for right iliac fossa pain treatment pathway

IntroductionThe COVID-19 pandemic has increased the risks of surgery and management of common surgical conditions has changed, with greater reliance on imaging and conservative management. The negative appendectomy rate (NAR) in the UK has previously remained high. The aim of this study was to quantify pandemic-related changes in the management of patients with suspected appendicitis, including the NAR.MethodsA retrospective study was performed at a single high volume centre of consecutive patients aged over five years presenting to general surgery with right iliac fossa pain in two study periods: for two months before lockdown and for four months after lockdown. Pregnant patients and those with previous appendectomy, including right colonic resection, were excluded. Demographic, clinical, imaging and histological data were captured, and risk scores were calculated, stratifying patients into higher and lower risk groups. Data were analysed by age, sex and risk subgroups.ResultsThe mean number of daily referrals with right iliac fossa pain or suspected appendicitis reduced significantly between the study periods, from 2.92 before lockdown to 2.07 after lockdown (p<0.001). Preoperative computed tomography (CT) rates increased significantly from 22.9% to 37.2% (p=0.002). The NAR did not change significantly between study periods (25.5% prior to lockdown, 11.1% following lockdown, p=0.159). Twelve (75%) out of sixteen negative appendectomies were observed in higher risk patients aged 16–45 years who did not undergo preoperative CT. The NAR in patients undergoing CT was 0%.ConclusionsGreater use of preoperative CT should be considered in risk stratified patients in order to reduce the NAR.

Use of Antimicrobials among Suspected COVID-19 Patients at Selected 12 Hospitals in Bangladesh: Findings from the First Wave of COVID-19 Pandemic

Background. Antimicrobials are empirically used in COVID-19 patients resulting in inappropriate stewardship and increased antimicrobial resistance. Our objective was to assess antimicrobial use among suspected COVID-19 in-patients while waiting for the COVID-19 test report. Methods. From March to August 2020, we collected data from in-patients of 12 tertiary-level hospitals across Bangladesh. We identified suspected COVID-19 patients;collected information on antimicrobial received within 24 h before and on hospitalization;and tested nasopharyngeal swab for SARS-CoV-2 using rRT-PCR. We used descriptive statistics and a regression model for data analysis. Results. Among 1188 suspected COVID-19 patients, the median age was 34 years (IQR:2-56), 69% were male, 40% had comorbidities, 53% required oxygen, and 1% required ICU or ventilation support after admission. Antibiotics were used in 92% of patients, 47% within 24 h before, and 89% on admission. Patients also received antiviral, mostly favipiravir (1%) and antiparasitic drugs particularly ivermectin (3%). Third-generation cephalosporin use was the highest (708;60%), followed by macrolide (481;40%), and the majority (853;78%) who took antibiotics were SARS-CoV-2 negative. On admission, 77% mild and 94% moderately ill patients received antibiotics. Before admission, 3% patients had two antibiotics, and on admission, 27% received two to four classes of antibiotics at the same time. According to WHO AWaRe classification, the Watch group antibiotics were mostly used before (43%) as well as on admission (80%). Reserve group antibiotic particularly linezolid was used in 1% patients includes mild cases on admission. Antibiotic use on admission was higher among severely ill patients (AOR = 11.7;95%CI:4.5-30.1) and those who received antibiotics within 24 h before hospital admission (AOR = 1.6;95%CI:1.0-2.5). Antimicrobials used among suspected COVID-19 patients and SARS-CoV-2 positive and negative patients 24 h before and on hospital admission at 12 selected hospitals in Bangladesh, March-August 2020 Antimicrobials used on admission among suspected COVID-19 patients according to disease severity at 12 selected hospitals in Bangladesh, March-August 2020 Conclusion. Antimicrobial use was highly prevalent among suspected COVID-19 in-patients in Bangladesh. Initiating treatment with Watch group antibiotics like third-generation cephalosporin and azithromycin among mild to moderately ill patients were common. Promoting antimicrobial stewardship with monitoring is essential to prevent blanket antibiotic use, thereby mitigating antimicrobial resistance.

COVID-19 opens the door for right iliac fossa pain treatment pathway.

INTRODUCTION: The COVID-19 pandemic has increased the risks of surgery and management of common surgical conditions has changed, with greater reliance on imaging and conservative management. The negative appendectomy rate (NAR) in the UK has previously remained high. The aim of this study was to quantify pandemic-related changes in the management of patients with suspected appendicitis, including the NAR. METHODS: A retrospective study was performed at a single high volume centre of consecutive patients aged over five years presenting to general surgery with right iliac fossa pain in two study periods: for two months before lockdown and for four months after lockdown. Pregnant patients and those with previous appendectomy, including right colonic resection, were excluded. Demographic, clinical, imaging and histological data were captured, and risk scores were calculated, stratifying patients into higher and lower risk groups. Data were analysed by age, sex and risk subgroups. RESULTS: The mean number of daily referrals with right iliac fossa pain or suspected appendicitis reduced significantly between the study periods, from 2.92 before lockdown to 2.07 after lockdown (p<0.001). Preoperative computed tomography (CT) rates increased significantly from 22.9% to 37.2% (p=0.002). The NAR did not change significantly between study periods (25.5% prior to lockdown, 11.1% following lockdown, p=0.159). Twelve (75%) out of sixteen negative appendectomies were observed in higher risk patients aged 16-45 years who did not undergo preoperative CT. The NAR in patients undergoing CT was 0%. CONCLUSIONS: Greater use of preoperative CT should be considered in risk stratified patients in order to reduce the NAR.

Acute acalculous cholecystitis: An unusual first manifestation of COVID-19

Introduction: COVID-19 pandemic has become a major global health challenge, with more than 178 million confirmed cases and over 3.86 million deaths to date. While general and respiratory symptoms are common, it may have atypical GI involvement. We chronicle here an extremely rare case of acute acalculous cholecystitis (AAC) in a patient with COVID-19. Case Description/Methods: A previously healthy 35-year-old male presented to the emergency room with abdominal pain and non-biliary vomiting. He was nonsmoker, nonalcoholic, and drugfree. His vitals revealed: temperature 37.1°C, heart rate 82 bpm, blood pressure 114/72 mm Hg, respiratory rate 16/minute, and an oxygen saturation of 99% in room air. Physical examination revealed a positive Murphy's sign. Laboratory parameters revealed leukocytosis and high CRP level. Abdominal ultrasound showed marked gallbladder wall thickening, normal CBD, with no cholelithiasis or sludge formation. EUS also ruled out stones in the gallbladder. Therein, coronavirus rRTPCR came back positive. CT chest revealed bilateral patchy peripheral ground-glass opacities in the lungs, consistent with COVID-19. Based on these findings and exclusion of probable causes of AAC, COVID-19-related AAC was diagnosed. The patient was initiated on standard COVID-19 treatment for the mild disease and conservative treatment for AAC. His hospital course remained unremarkable, except for fever and dyspnea on day 4 of admission. He remained hemodynamically stable. On day 7 of admission, his abdominal pain, vomiting, and fever disappeared with treatment. On day 9 of admission, he was afebrile, dyspnea had resolved, and had no abdominal pain. He was then discharged home in a stable condition. He continues to do well for 2 months now. Discussion: Published medical literature is bereft of reports on the association between AAC and COVID-19. A PubMed search was conducted for all case reports of AAC amidst COVID-19 till June 2021. Search terms included ''acalculus cholecystitis'' and ''COVID-19''. The search resulted in only 4 case reports to date. This case highlights that the GI symptoms may precede the pulmonary manifestations of COVID-19. It further provides the clinical evidence behind a causal relationship between SARS-CoV-2 infection and biliary involvement. The extrapulmonary symptomology of this infection has not been extensively studied, warranting a high index of suspicion for rare manifestations like AAC. Thus, new-onset GI symptoms may indicate COVID-19, requiring prompt testing for SARSCoV- 2.

COVID-19 opens door for new Right Iliac Fossa pain Treatment (RIFT) pathway

Aims: The COVID-19 pandemic has increased pressure on surgical services, increased the risks of surgery, and forced changes in surgical practice. The UK has a high negative appendicectomy rate (NAR) compared to other countries. We aimed to quantify change in the use of pre-operative imaging due to the pandemic in patients with suspected appendicitis and whether this has reduced the NAR. Methods: We performed a retrospective single-centre cohort study including consecutive patients aged 16-45 referred with right iliac fossa pain or suspected appendicitis in 2 periods: from Jan 26th to Mar 25th, and from Mar 26th until Jul 25th, 2020. Patients who had previously had an appendicectomy or were pregnant were excluded. Patients were analysed according to age, sex and risk score. Results: 85 male and 165 female patients were included across both study periods. 94 (37.6%) patients were identified as low-risk, of whom 0 (0%) underwent appendicectomy. The use of CT imaging was significantly greater in high-risk patients post-lockdown, increasing from 24.2% to 56.1% (P = 0.008817) in males and 18.2% to 41.7% in females (P = 0.03108). In high-risk patients across both periods the NAR was 0% in those undergoing pre-operative CT and 33.3% in those not imaged (P = 0.003995). The NAR did not differ between study periods. The number needed to CT to prevent 1 negative appendicectomy was 9. Conclusion: The use of pre-operative CT imaging is associated with a reduction in NAR to 0%. Risk stratification, and pre-operative CT in high-risk adults, should be considered to reduce the NAR.

Combination anti-coronavirus therapies based on nonlinear mathematical models.

Using nonlinear mathematical models and experimental data from laboratory and clinical studies, we have designed new combination therapies against COVID-19.

Contactless multi-biometric system using fingerprint and palmprint selfies

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, automated contactless person identification based on the human hand has become very vital and an appealing biometric trait. Since, people are expected to cover their faces with masks, and advised avoiding touching surfaces. It is well-known that usually contact-based hand biometrics suffer from issues like deformation due to uneven distribution of pressure or improper placement on sensor, and hygienic concerns. Whereas, to mitigate such problems, contactless imaging is expected to collect the hand biometrics information without any deformation and leading to higher person recognition accuracy;besides maintaining hygienic and pandemic concerns. Towards this aim, in this paper, an effective multi-biometric scheme for person authentication based on contactless fingerprint and palmprint selfies has been proposed. In this study, for simplicity and efficiency, three local descriptors, i.e., local phase quantization (LPQ), local Ternary patterns (LTP), and binarized statistical image features (BSIF), have been employed to extract salient features from contactless fingerprint and palmprint selfies. The score level fusion based multi-biometric system developed in this work combines the matching scores using two different fusion techniques, i.e., transformation based-rules like triangular norms and classifier based-rules like SVM. Experimental results on two publicly available databases (i.e., PolyU contactless to contact-based fingerprint database and IIT-Delhi touchless palmprint dataset) show that the proposed contactless multi-biometric selfie system can easily outperform uni-biometrics. © 2020 Lavoisier. All rights reserved.