ABSTRACT
Crude oil is an imperative energy source for the global economy. The future value of crude oil is challenging to anticipate due to its nonstationarity in nature. The focus of this research is to appraise the explosive behavior of crude oil during 2007-2022, including the most recent influential crisis COVID-19 pandemic, to forecast its prices. The crude oil price forecasts by the traditional econometric ARIMA model were compared with modern Artificial Intelligence (AI)-based Long Short-Term Memory Networks (ALSTM). Root mean square error (RMSE) and mean average percent error (MAPE) values have been used to evaluate the accuracy of such approaches. The results showed that the ALSTM model performs better than the traditional econometric ARIMA forecast model while predicting crude oil opening price on the next working day. Crude oil investors can effectively use this as an intraday trading model and more accurately predict the next working day opening price.
ABSTRACT
Background: Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a common complication of COVID-19 and is associated with poor outcomes. The aim of this study was to describe the incidence of AKI and to compare its clinical impact with other risk factors on the severity and outcomes of hospitalized COVID-19 patients. Method(s): We conducted a retrospective study on patients >= 18 years old who were admitted to our institution with a laboratory-confirmed diagnosis of COVID-19 infection from March 2020 to December 2020. Data on demographics, kidney function prior to and during hospitalization, inflammatory biomarkers, comorbidities, medications, and outcomes including mortality, mechanical ventilation (MV) and renal replacement therapy (RRT) were collect from electronic medical record. Definition and staging of AKI were based on the KDIGO guidelines. Survival and use of MV by AKI and AKI stage was analyzed using Chi-square test;strength of association was measured using correlation coefficients;and significance was assessed at p < 0.05. Result(s): Of 240 inpatients admitted for COVID-19, 153 (63.7%) survived to discharge. A total of 121 (50.4%) patients developed AKI during hospitalization: 43.7% stage 1, 34.5% stage 2, and 21.8% stage 3. Almost 1 in 4 patients with AKI (23.1%) required RRT. Fifty-eight (49.2% overall, 37.3%, 51.2%, and 70.8% for AKI stage 1, 2, and 3, respectively) patients with AKI required mechanical ventilation, compared to 15 (13.5%) with normal renal function (p< 0.001). Age, presence of AKI, AKI stage, history of coronary artery disease, and initial lactate dehydrogenase were significantly associated with in-hospital death. Development of AKI (r=0.33, p< 0.001) and AKI stage (r=0.38, p<0.001) were more strongly associated with in-hospital mortality than the remaining bivariate associations. Survival at discharge was strongly associated with renal function, with survival declining from 79.5% among patients with normal renal function to 61.5%, 41.5%, and 30.7% among AKI stage 1, 2, and 3 patients (p <0.001). Conclusion(s): AKI is more strongly associated with increased mortality among patients with COVID-19 infection compared with demographics, comorbidities, and inflammatory biomarkers. Patients with Stage 2-3 AKI are more likely to have greater severity and worse outcomes.
ABSTRACT
Introduction: Kidney involvement is common in multiple myeloma (MM) and is associated with increased mortality. Light chain cast nephropathy, monoclonal immunoglobulin deposition disease and light chain amyloidosis are the most frequent presentations. Very few cases are reported of MM presenting as crescentic glomerulonephritis (CGN). Here, we present a case of a female with rapidly progressive loss of renal function and proteinuria who was found to have MM and CGN. Case Description: A 45-year old woman with h/o hypertension, diabetes mellitus, GERD, iron deficiency anemia, nephrolithiasis and COVID infection six months presented with worsening renal function. Her baseline creatinine three months prior was 0.88 mg/dL eGFR >60 and had recently increased to 2.81 mg/dL eGFR of 22. Laboratory investigations revealed a hemoglobin 8.3 g/dL, platelet count 404 x 10x9/L. Serum calcium and uric acid levels were within normal limits. Urinalysis showed proteinuria without hematuria with a urine protein/creatinine ratio 1.9 g/g, urine albumin/creatinine ratio 506 mg/g and urine albumin/protein ratio of 0.27. Complement levels, ANCA, Anti-GBM, ANA, RF and hepatitis serology were all unrevealing. Serum Kappa and Lambda free light chains were elevated with ratio being of 0.09. Bone marrow was done which demonstrated approximately 10% lambda restricted plasma cell clones. In view of progressive renal dysfunction she was admitted with the suspicious of light chain nephropathy for consideration of plasma exchange therapy. Kidney biopsy was obtained which showed findings consistent with crescentic GN, with weak linear IgG staining along glomerular basement membranes without evidence of cast nephropathy, monoclonal immunoglobulin deposition or amyloidosis. The patient was started on Cyclophosphamide-Bortezomib-Dexamethasone regimen and since then her kidney function has remained stable. Discussion(s): Rare kidney findings in patients with MM include membranoproliferative GN, cryoglobulinemia, immunotactoid and fibrillary glomerulopathy. MM associated Crescentic GN is extremely rare. Its etiology and pathophysiology is unclear but it seems that treatment of MM may temporarily halt its progression as in this case.
ABSTRACT
Background: Virtual platforms are used to share educational content and improve medical education learning. With the COVID-19 pandemic, the Radiation Oncology (RO) field is using these platforms to augment the quality and size of the audience reached. Objective(s): The hypothesis is that using Twitter to discuss the latest RO literature in a global journal club format can improve clinical practice and opportunities for collaboration. Method(s): This Twitter journal club is on the 3rd weekend each month. It has an asynchronous portion that allows for global participation (to overcome time zone differences) and a one-hour live Twitter chat to facilitate active discussion between authors, invited discussants and participants. A short summary and guiding questions are posted on the website prior and is broadcast to a mailing list. Participants use dual hashtags (#RadOnc #JC) in tweets to follow the discussion. This analysis focuses on the January 2021-February 2022 experience. NodeXL (Social Media Research Foundation, CA) and Symplur (W2O, CA) were used for analytics. Result(s): Mean total number of participants was 56 (range: 36-97). Mean increase in the Altmetric Attention Score (AAS), a measure of volume and source of attention chosen articles received, was 22 (Range: 4 to 83). The Prostate Cancer and Exercise journal club in January 2022 had the most participants (n=97). At baseline, 45% of respondents would sometimes encourage patients to exercise, 32% always, 15% rarely and 8% never (n=47). At the end of the journal club, 82% would recommend exercise to patients in the future and 12% would consider it (n=36). Exercise options encouraged were Group Programs (60.8%, 76/125), Monitoring Apps (24.8%, 31/125), Online Classes (12/125), and Pamphlets/Brochures (4.8%, 6/125). The most active journal clubs were on Bladder Cancer (BCON, 696 tweets and 57 participants), Postoperative Prostate Cancer (RADICALS, 599 tweets and 51 participants), and Radiobiology/Toxicity (HyTEC, 580 tweets). Conclusion(s): COVID-19 has shifted the medical education landscape in RO and the global oncology community. Twitter and social media platforms can be used to engage learners and discuss RO advances with the help of experts worldwide. This can foster interdisciplinary, global conversations for the benefit of medical education, integrated collaboration, and potentially translate to improved clinical outcomes (Table 1).
ABSTRACT
Background: Novel coronavirus pandemic has emerged as a grave global health crisis. The pandemic curve is still on the rise. Dental professionals face unique challenges and work pressure due to the fear of the spread of disease while coming in close contact with the potential carriers. Aim: The aim is to assess the knowledge and preparedness level toward novel coronavirus diseases among the dental professionals of India. Methodology: Online survey was carried out from May 2020 to June 2020 on dental health care professionals through snowball sampling. A 24-item structured closed-ended online questionnaire was used. Statistical Analysis Used: Frequency distribution and proportions of the responses were analyzed using the SPSS version 21. Results: A total of 154 dental professionals participated in the study. Majority of the respondents (72.72%) were aware about the correct genomic structure of the virus and aptly identified the early neurological symptom of novel coronavirus disease. 85.71% of the respondents were appropriately informed about the infection control protocol to be followed. However, regarding the protection level to be used while dealing COVID patients, only 24.03% of respondents correctly identified it as Level III. Regarding the amendments required in dental practice and level of preparedness, only 50% of the dental health-care workers were aware of the sequence of donning of personal protective equipment. Conclusions: In the present study, dentists were found to have good knowledge toward novel coronavirus disease with optimum preparedness level for dental practice modification. Dental fraternity is further advised to follow the standard guidelines overcoming this pandemic.