Ndegree35 - Neurophysiology solving the vomiting dilemma

Objectives: Post Covid severe vomiting together with proximal muscle weakness is a misleading combination, this describes a rare but definite clinical association between myasthenia gravis and autonomic failure and strengthen the concept that subacute autonomic neuropathy is an autoimmune disorder. Content: A 39 ys old adult female presented with postCovid severe vomiting for one year with 40 kgs loss Upper gastrointestinal endoscopy revealed gastric dilatation associated with eosophageal and gastric stasis and hypertrophic pyloric stenosis. the gastroenterologist sought neurological consultation for the coexisting unexplained limb weakness before operation EMG & NCV was all normal except instability of the MUAPs Slow rate Repetitive supramaximal stimulation (RNS) revealed significant decremental response with no significant high rate stimulation incrementation Chest CT revealed an anterior mediastinal mass Surprisingly, She had an old CT during the covid infection that showed the same mass. Thoracoscopic resection revealed type B1 thymoma Following tumor resection, the patient improved gradually, Few months later endoscopy revealed a normal stomach with strong peristaltic waves and the patient was symptom free Infections are recognized to trigger exacerbations and crisis in MG Dysautonomia is not a commonly recognized feature of myasthenia gravis, but there have been rare reports of myasthenia gravis coexisting with autonomic failure, usually in association with thymoma. The autonomic dysfunction can present as isolated gastroparesis these observations support a rare but definite clinical association between myasthenia gravis and autonomic failure Neurophysiology could reveal undiagnosed MG with thymoma causing autonomic dysfunction in the form of gastroparesis and agonizing vomiting. Keywords: Myasthenia gravis;Gastroparesis;Autonomic failure;Thymoma;PostCovid vomiting. French language not detected for EMBFRA articles source xmlCopyright © 2023

Possible role of IL-6 and IL-17 among COVID-19 patients

Cytokine storm has been reported in a number of patients with severe acute respiratory syndrome - corona virus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) due to elevated level of pro-inflammatory cytokine such as interleukin-6 and interleukin-17. The aim of this study was to evaluate the level of interleukin-6 and interleukin-17 among patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). This case control study included 78 confirmed cases with COVID-19 (58 males and 30 females;their age ranged between 15-83 years old) and compared with 10 apparently healthy individuals (8 males and 2 females), were admitted to Epidemiological Monitoring Unit, Emergency Department in Baqubah Teaching Hospital during the period from 1st of October to the 1st of December 2020. Nasopharyngeal swabs were collected from all patients who were included in this study and directly placed in tube contain 2ml of viral transport medium then stored at -20 °C until the time of RNA extraction and real time polymerase chain reaction processing as well as blood sample were collected from patients then the sera were separated, labelled and sored until the time of test for quantitative detection of interleukin-6 and interleukin-17. There is significant difference in level of interleukin-6 and interleukin-17 between patients and control using ELISA assay, 0.0398 and 0,0046 respectively, and the mean serum level of IL-6 were 136.25±12.55 µg and 72.93±15.02 µg respectively and IL-17 was 37.87±4.83 µg and 13.48±2.23 µg respectively. Most infections were noticed among males and age group 15-35 years old. © 2023 Author(s).

Investing information and communication technology to develop e-learning in Iraq: A survey

Despite the rapid development and spread of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) during the past four decades, which has become a prominent feature of the era, Iraq is still at the bottom of the list of developing countries, especially in the field of technology and communication by all standards. In fact, Iraq lies outside the scope of education quality alongside other six Arab countries. This, however, is attributed to the constant mis-management and lack of knowledge about issues relevant to the modes of technology development. What makes things worse is the outbreak and rapid spread of Covid-19. This, so to speak, has imposed a number of restrictions on education to the extent that the government has resorted to E-Learning. The researchers, however, briefly address the concept of (ICT) as well as the global technological diffusion indicator for the Arab group in which Iraq's position is analysed according to the main and sub-indicators. Moreover, the E-Learning, its advantages and disadvantages, is being brought into focus. To amend all the obstacles, solutions have been proposed in accordance with the general technological indicator. Besides, the research-paper concludes with recommendations and suggestions which will definitely contribute to the attainment of the goal aspired for. © 2023 Author(s).

Value of Montelukast as a potential treatment of Post COVID-19 Persistent cough: A randomized controlled pilot study

This pilot study included 68 cases with Post-COVID-19 persistent cough (> 8 weeks), randomly allocated into two groups;intervention group 32 patients received standard cough therapy and Montelukast 10 mg/day for14 days and control group 36 patients received cough sedatives. We found significant improvement in number of cough paroxysms/day, cough severity visual analog scale, cough severity index and cough quality of life, shorter duration improvement and minimal side effects in interventional group. We suggest that Montelukast may be effective to reduce duration, severity of persistent Post COVID-19 cough and improve quality of life.

Compliance with World Health Organization's COVID-19 guidelines among Iraqi health workers

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the World Health Organization (WHO) introduced guidelines with respect to hygiene practices, quarantine policies, and medical practices for health institutions to follow. Most studies examining compliance with WHO guidelines have been conducted at individual level but not at institutional level. This study investigates the availability of resources of health institutions in Iraq and their compliance with WHO COVID-19 guidelines. A total of 234 health workers, including physicians, nurses and medical technicians, were recruited in Babylon, Iraq. Self-reported number of health workers available in the health centre and the levels of compliance with the WHO's guidelines were assessed. Implementation of preventive measures for infected persons, fogging procedures, and having a crisis management team in the health centre were the top three common practices as recommended by WHO. There was a weak but significant positive relationship between the number of health workers in the healthcare centre and the levels of compliance with the WHO's COVID-19 guidelines (rho = 0.243, p < 0.05), indicating that manpower may determine the implementation of these guidelines. There is a correlation between the quantity of health workers and the levels of compliance with the WHO's COVID-19 guidelines, showing that it is important to ensure sufficient human resources available in the health centre to implement the standard practices. In addition, more financial resources are needed to provide sufficient protective equipment and disposable supplies to health workers in Iraq.Copyright © 2023 The Authors. World Medical & Health Policy published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of Policy Studies Organization.

SARS-CoV-2 and Helicobacter pylori and some hematological parameters: A case-control study

Background: The SARS-CoV-2 associated with bacterial infection represents a serious public health challenge. Recently, there is a remarkable increase in the number of researches that confirms the effect of Helicobacter pylori on pulmonary diseases. Aim(s): The goal of this research was to see how H. pylori affected the presentation of COVID-19 infections as a prospective risk factor. Material(s) and Method(s): This research was conducted in Babylon, Iraq, from January 1, 2022, to March 5, 2022. A total of 180 people were engaged in this study, with 90 patients identified with SARS-CoV-2 by polymerase chain reaction testing and 90 people serving as a control group. Antibody screening assays on blood samples were used to look for antibodies against H. pylori. The samples were processed for complete blood count and ABO blood group. Result(s): COVID-19 infection was more frequent in females than in males, especially between 31 and 45 years. When compared to healthy people, COVID-19 patients had a higher white blood cell count (P = 0.0001) and a lower lymphocyte count (P = 0.0001). H. pylori and COVID-19 have been found to have a strong relationship, especially in females. When comparing patients to healthy people, blood group A is the most common. Conclusion(s): People with H. pylori infections are considerably more sensitive to COVID-19 than people without H. pylori infections (P = 0.011). In combination with SARS-CoV-2, IgG for H. pylori might be a risk factor.Copyright © 2023 Journal of Medical Society Published by Wolters Kluwer-Medknow.

Lesion Sterilization and Tissue Repair of Laterally Luxated Primary Mandibular Incisor: A Case Report

Lateral luxation injuries are common during childhood and in young adolescence. These injuries involve the surrounding tissues that could lead to extensive clinical treatment problems with a risk of pulpal complications such as pulp necrosis. A case of a healthy 4-year-old Malay boy visiting the paediatric dental clinic after seven months of laterally luxated injury on the lower right lateral incisor (tooth 82) was reported. The traumatic tooth was splinted by a private practitioner three days after the trauma, however, the splint dislodged less than 24-hour after placement. In view of the mother's fear of bringing her child to the dentist due to the COVID-19, no follow-up and further treatment were carried out. This has resulted in the development of discolouration and pulpal necrosis to the injured tooth. Lesion sterilization and tissue repair technique (LSTR) was performed. This report highlights the rare occurrence of lateral luxation injury on tooth 82 and the management of pulp necrosis as a complication via lesion sterilization and tissue repair technique due to the uncooperative behaviour of the child.Copyright © 2022, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya. All rights reserved.

Clinical Characteristics and Cause of Death Among Hospitalized Decedents With Cancer and COVID-19.

There is scant information on the clinical progression, end-of-life decisions, and cause of death of patients with cancer diagnosed with COVID-19. Therefore, we conducted a case series of patients admitted to a comprehensive cancer center who did not survive their hospitalization. To determine the cause of death, 3 board-certified intensivists reviewed the electronic medical records. Concordance regarding cause of death was calculated. Discrepancies were resolved through a joint case-by-case review and discussion among the 3 reviewers. During the study period, 551 patients with cancer and COVID-19 were admitted to a dedicated specialty unit; among them, 61 (11.6%) were nonsurvivors. Among nonsurvivors, 31 (51%) patients had hematologic cancers, and 29 (48%) had undergone cancer-directed chemotherapy within 3 months before admission. The median time to death was 15 days (95% confidence interval [CI], 11.8 to 18.2). There were no differences in time to death by cancer category or cancer treatment intent. The majority of decedents (84%) had full code status at admission; however, 53 (87%) had do-not-resuscitate orders at the time of death. Most deaths were deemed to be COVID-19 related (88.5%). The concordance between the reviewers for the cause of death was 78.7%. In contrast to the belief that COVID-19 decedents die because of their comorbidities, in our study only 1 of every 10 patients died of cancer-related causes. Full-scale interventions were offered to all patients irrespective of oncologic treatment intent. However, most decedents in this population preferred care with nonresuscitative measures rather than full support at the end of life.

Habitat Imaging Biomarkers for Diagnosis and Prognosis in Cancer Patients Infected with COVID-19.

OBJECTIVES: Cancer patients have worse outcomes from the COVID-19 infection and greater need for ventilator support and elevated mortality rates than the general population. However, previous artificial intelligence (AI) studies focused on patients without cancer to develop diagnosis and severity prediction models. Little is known about how the AI models perform in cancer patients. In this study, we aim to develop a computational framework for COVID-19 diagnosis and severity prediction particularly in a cancer population and further compare it head-to-head to a general population. METHODS: We have enrolled multi-center international cohorts with 531 CT scans from 502 general patients and 420 CT scans from 414 cancer patients. In particular, the habitat imaging pipeline was developed to quantify the complex infection patterns by partitioning the whole lung regions into phenotypically different subregions. Subsequently, various machine learning models nested with feature selection were built for COVID-19 detection and severity prediction. RESULTS: These models showed almost perfect performance in COVID-19 infection diagnosis and predicting its severity during cross validation. Our analysis revealed that models built separately on the cancer population performed significantly better than those built on the general population and locked to test on the cancer population. This may be because of the significant difference among the habitat features across the two different cohorts. CONCLUSIONS: Taken together, our habitat imaging analysis as a proof-of-concept study has highlighted the unique radiologic features of cancer patients and demonstrated effectiveness of CT-based machine learning model in informing COVID-19 management in the cancer population.

Acute cervical dystonia following the BNT162b2 mRNA COVID-19 vaccine.

The coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is caused by a novel coronavirus SARS-Cov-2. Four major vaccine types are being used to fight against this deadly pandemic and save precious human lives. All types of vaccines have been associated with a risk of neurological complications ranging from mild to severe. Cervical dystonia occurring after a COVID-19 vaccine was not previously reported in the literature. In this article, we describe a case of acute cervical dystonia occurring after the first dose of the BNT162b2 COVID-19 vaccine. We attribute the occurrence of cervical dystonia to the vaccine due to the temporal relationship. This report adds to the literature a possible rare side effect of a COVID-19 vaccine and contributes to the limited literature on potential neurological side effects of mRNA-based vaccines. The likely mechanism is autoimmune. Further research is needed to probe and study the exact mechanism.

Reawakening Digital Innovation and Collaboration Strategy: Strategies to Improve Business Performance

Purpose: The objective of this study is to examine the effect of company resources on digital innovation, collaboration strategy, and business performance, as well as the effect of company resources on business performance through digital innovation and collaboration strategy. Research Design: This study uses a quantitative research approach. Observations were made in a cross-section time horizon, in 2022. The Population of this study is the ISP industry, which amounted to 474 companies, and the unit of observation was the management. Sampling used stratified random sampling. ISPs are grouped based on the size of each company based on the number of customers and branch cities are divided into 3 groups: small, medium, and large. Samples were taken many as 100 respondents. Sampling from each classification is done randomly based on a list of population members. Testing the causality hypothesis in this study used PLS (Partial Least Square). Results: the hypothesis testing reveals that company resources play a significant role in developing digital innovation and collaboration strategies. Company resources do not significantly directly affect business performance, but significantly affect business performance through digital innovation and collaboration strategy. Findings: The study provided managerial implications for ISP company management in Indonesia, that collaboration strategy and digital innovation can increase the influence of the development and utilization of company resources on business performance so that companies no longer have to develop and own all of their resources independently. By elaborating their collaboration strategy and digital innovation, companies can focus on developing key resources and additional digital innovations needed to increase the company's competitive advantage. Limitation: the measurement of variables was carried out based on the management's perception of the conditions and situations faced during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021-2022. To get a deeper understanding and truly describe the details of the empirical conditions, it is necessary to complement qualitative research through confirmatory and in-depth interviews. © 2023, World Scientific and Engineering Academy and Society. All rights reserved.

Role of lnterleukin-6 Receptor in the Clinical Status of Covid-19 Patients who Admitted to Al-Shifaa Epidemiological Hospital in Kirkuk City

Background: The clinical presentation of COVID-19 patients is varied from mild symptoms to severe respiratory failure with multiple organ failure. Aim of the study: This study was conducted to estimate the level of IL-6 receptor and some biochemical parameters: Patients and Methods: A case-control study done in Kirkuk city 1st of December 2021 to 28th of February 2022. The study included 60 people already infected with Covid-19 virus who admitted to Al-Shifaa Epidemiological Hospital in Kirkuk city with different age groups (> 50 years) of both sexes. Covid-19 patients derived in to 3 groups (20 patients with mild Covid-19 infection, 20 with moderate infection and 20 with severe infection) depending on specialized physicians in internal medicine in the hospital and CT-Scan outcomes.The study also included 30 healthy control individual who apparently haven't any chronic disease with the same age range and box sexes. The clinical spectrum of COVID-19 in this study was classified according to standards in the China Center for Disease Control and Prevention, covid-19 infection ranges from being asymptomatic to being in severe acute respiratory distress. Blood sample collected from each subject enrolled in this study for determination of IL-6R by ELISA Results: The study showed that majority of patients were above 60 years, as the risk of covid-19 infection increased with age as elderly was most affected and the severity increase with the increasing in age. The study also found that males were more affected by the virus from females. The study showed that, the prevalence of smoking among Covid-19 infection was 25% (15 of 60), as compared with 13.33% in the healthy control group. The study demonstrated that obesity revealed at s risk factor of covid-19 severity. The study showed that the highest mean of IL-6R was observed in Covid-19 patients (39.68±27.92 ng/ml) and the lowest mean was in the control group (13.65±4.56 ng/ml) and the difference was highly significant at P. value: 0.0001. The study showed negative correlation between IL-6R and P02 among Covid-19 patients. It was concluded that the highest mean of IL-6R, among Covid-19 patients and these elevations seem to reflect that the multiple organ injury. Recommended to uses IL-6R in parallel with other parameters (Ferritin, D-Dimer, CRP and LDH) as biomarkers for Covid 1-9 severity. © 2022, ResearchTrentz Academy Publishing Education Services. All rights reserved.

Correlation between severe acute respiratory syndrome Coronavirus-2 and cytomegalovirus

Background: Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV2), which causes the novel betacoronavirus 2019 disease (COVID-19), has become the first global pandemic in 100 years. Cytomegalovirus (CMV) is a prevalent herpesvirus that affects 40%-70% of the general population. This study aimed to see how CMV affected the presentation of COVID-19 infections as a prospective risk factor. Material and Methods: This study was conducted in Babylon, Iraq, from January to March, 2022. A total of 120 people were engaged in this study divided into four groups: mild, moderate, severe, and control group, 30 individuals in each group. Ninety patients identified with SARS-CoV-2 by PCR testing and 30 people serving as a control group. IgG antibody titer in blood samples were detected by mini vidas biomerieux. The samples were processed with the complete blood count (CBC) and ABO blood group. Independent T and Chi-square tests were used to examine the data using SPSS 21 software. Results: COVID-19 infection was more frequent in females than males. The COVID-19 patients were detected to have increased white blood cell count (p < 0.0001) and decreased lymphocytes compared to the healthy persons (p < 0.0001). No significant correlation between CMV and COVID-19 was discovered. CMV titer was not associated with disease severity. Blood group A is the most predominant type in patients compared to healthy persons. Conclusion: This study revealed no significant correlation between the severity of COVID-19 and CMV in spite of slightly increased in severe patients at mean 66.53 compared to the control group 58.80 (p = 0.26). Reactivation of CMV in COVID-19 patients may be associated with complications, so more attention should be taken into consideration regarding this virus, especially in severe patients. © 2022 Medical Journal of Dr. D.Y. Patil Vidyapeeth ;Published by Wolters Kluwer - Medknow.

Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Elderly Medical Admissions and Outcomes in a Tertiary Hospital in Northeastern Nigeria: A Comparative Retrospective Study.

BACKGROUND: The coronavirus infectious disease 2019 (COVID-19) has been shown to be more lethal in the elderly (>65 years), especially those with co-morbidities. This study examined the impact of the pandemic lockdown period on trends in elderly medical admissions and deaths. METHODOLOGY: This is a retrospective study of elderly medical admissions and deaths in the medical wards of a Nigerian hospital. Data for the months of March, April, May, June, and July of 2020 was compared to the same months before (2019) and after (2021). Analysis was done using STATA version 15.0. RESULTS: During the study period, two hundred and seventy-six elderly patients were admitted, with a mean age (±SD) of 73.4 ± 7.4 years. The most common diagnoses at admission were chronic kidney disease (CKD) (26.85%, n=74) and hypertensive heart disease (HHD) (21.7%, n=60). The highest admission was in 2021, with a total of 99 (35.9%). Overall, 60 mortalities were recorded, with a proportional mortality rate of 21.7%, which was highest in 2020 (25.0%) and lowest in 2021 (17.1%). There was no difference between the mortality rates of 2019 versus 2020 (P=0.82) and 2020 versus 2021(P=0.18). Sepsis (35.0%) and CKD (25.0%) were the major contributors in 2019. CONCLUSION: CKD and HHD were the most common diagnoses at admission, whereas sepsis, CKD, and CVD were the commonest causes of death. The Covid-19 pandemic did not significantly alter the elderly admission pattern in our setting.

CONTEXTE: Il a été démontré que la maladie infectieuse à coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) est plus mortelle chez les personnes âgées (>65 ans), en particulier celles qui présentent des comorbidités. Cette étude a examiné l'impact de la période de verrouillage pandémique sur les tendances des admissions médicales et des décès de personnes âgées. MÉTHODOLOGIE: Il s'agit d'une étude rétrospective des admissions et des décès de personnes âgées dans les services médicaux d'un hôpital nigérian. Les données relatives aux personnes âgées pour les mois de mars, avril, mai, juin et juillet 2020 ont été comparées aux mêmes mois avant (2019) et après (2021). L'analyse a été réalisée à l'aide de STATA version 15.0. RÉSULTATS: Au cours de la période, deux cent soixante-seize patients âgés ont été admis, avec un âge moyen et un écart-type (ET) de 73,4 7,4 ans. Les diagnostics les plus fréquents à l'admission étaient l'insuffisance rénale chronique (IRC) (26,85 %, n=74) et la cardiopathie hypertensive (HHD) (21,7 %, n=60). Le nombre d'admissions le plus élevé a été enregistré en 2021, avec un total de 99 (35,9 %). Au total, 60 décès ont été enregistrés, avec un taux de mortalité proportionnel de 21,7 %, qui était le plus élevé en 2020 (25,0 %) et le plus faible en 2021 (17,1 %). Les preuves étaient insuffisantes pour montrer une différence entre les taux de mortalité de 2019 par rapport à 2020 (P=0,82) et de 2020 par rapport à 2021 (P=0,18). Le sepsis (35,0 %) et l'IRC (25,0 %) étaient les principaux facteurs de mortalité en 2019. CONCLUSION: L'IRC et l'HHD étaient les diagnostics les plus courants à l'admission, tandis que la septicémie, l'IRC et les MCV étaient les causes les plus fréquentes de décès. La pandémie de Covid-19 n'a pas modifié de manière significative le schéma d'admission des personnes âgées dans notre contexte. Mots clés: COVID-19, Personnes âgées, Mode d'admission, Mortalité.

Usage of ACE2 as a biomarker in patients with COVID-19 severe infection in relation with LDH

Background: Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is an infectious disease caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2. Most of the people infected with the virus will have moderate respiratory illness and they recover without requiring special treatment. Aim: The aim of this study was to evaluate the role of ACE2 as a biomarker in patients with COVID-19 severe infection. Materials and methods: A case-control retrospective study included 90. subjects who were divided as the following : 60 COVID-19 patients who aged between 13-90 years with a positive real time -polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) for COVID-19,under monitoring the specialist doctor in terms of giving treatment and observing the clinical condition of the patient, patients with COVID-19 were divided in to 20 patients with severe symptoms who were admitted into the intensive care unit in the hospital, 20 patients with moderate symptoms who were admitted to the hospital ,and 20 patients with mild symptoms who were treated as an out patients. 30 individuals who were apparently healthy as a control group. Blood blood sample were collected from each patients fir determination of Serum Angiotensin Converting Enzyme 2 (ACE2) and LDH by ELISA. Results: The highest proportion of study group were aged ≥ 60years (55% and 40% respectively). According to gender the highest proportion of the study group were female s(51 % and 56.7% respectively), regarding the smoking status 28.3% of patient group and 50 % of control were current smokers, while the highest proportion of the patient group complained from severe COVID-19 infection . A significant difference p<0.05 in ACE2 levels between patient and control group so significant increase was observed in the level of the biomarkers (ACE2, LDH, ) with means (261.47pg/ml,495.28 iu/l, when measured in COVID-19 patients, in comparison with control group means ( 50.07 pg/ml, 288.16 iu/l,) respectively, which meaning that a positive correlations between ACE2 level and LDH ,Ferritin Conclusions: Present study revealed that ACE2 has a vital role in COVID-19 patients and in severity of systemic inflammation, , LDH, play an essential role in severity of COVID-19. © 2022, HIV Nursing. All rights reserved.

Health-promoting activities of clove (Syzygium aromaticum) extracts

Syzygium aromaticum (L.) Merril. & Perry commonly known as clove is an important herb with vast health benefits to human beings. S. aromaticum belongs to the Myrtaceae family and is considered one of the earliest known species for use as a spice. Clove has great potential for agricultural, cosmetic, food, and pharmaceutical applications. S. aromaticum extracts are commonly used to provide aroma, medicinal, nutritional, texture, and color functions in food products. They are light yellow to orange in color, have a pleasant aroma, and are considered a carbohydrate, dietary fiber, protein, and fat source. In addition, cloves are used to preserve food by inhibiting the growth of a wide range of pathogenic microorganisms, such as Listeria monocytogenes, Streptococcus agalactiae, and Penicillium digitatum, which cause foodborne illnesses and food poisoning. Furthermore, S. aromaticum extracts contain a diverse array of secondary metabolites, like flavonoids, hydroxybenzoic acids, hydroxycinnamic acids, hydroxyphenyl propenes, eugenol, eugenol acetate, and gallic acid, with a wide range of beneficial health-promoting activities. These metabolites have active biological properties and unique aromatic structures and are safe for use in food and medicinal applications. Clove metabolites are considered as new beneficial natural antimicrobial agents to potentially combat cytotoxin genes-producing drug-resistant Helicobacter pylori, gastrointestinal disorders, anti-inflammatory, antithrombotic, antidiabetic, anesthetic, and possess insect-repellent properties. In addition, clove has been proven to have insulin-like biological activity and regulate energy metabolism. This chapter gives insights into the effects of clove extracts on health promotion and their potential applications. © 2022 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The role of cryptocurrencies in predicting oil prices pre and during COVID-19 pandemic using machine learning.

This study aims to explore the role of cryptocurrencies and the US dollar in predicting oil prices pre and during COVID-19 pandemic. The study uses three neural network models (i.e., Support vector machines, Multilayer Perceptron Neural Networks and Generalized regression neural networks (GRNN)) over the period from January 1, 2018, to July 5, 2021. Our results are threefold. First, our results indicate Bitcoin is the most influential in predicting oil prices during the bear and bull oil market before COVID-19 and during the downtrend during COVID-19. Second, COVID-19 variables became the most influential during the uptrend, especially the number of death cases. Third, our results also suggest that the most accurate model to predict the price of oil under the conditions of uncertainty that prevailed in the world during the bear and bull prices in the wake of COVID-19 is GRNN. Though the best prediction model under normal conditions before COVID-19 during an uptrend is SVM and during a downtrend is GRNN. Our results provide crucial evidence for investors, academics and policymakers, especially during global uncertainties.

SARS-CoV-2 infection of companion animals in Egypt and its risk of spillover.

BACKGROUND: Reverse zoonoses occur because of interactions between humans and animals. Homology of ACE-2 cell receptors in different hosts and high mutation rate of SARS-CoV-2 enhance viral transmission among species. OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to investigate spillover of SARS-CoV-2 between humans and companion animals. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was constructed using nasopharyngeal/oropharyngeal swabs, serum and blood samples collected from 66 companion animals (33 cats and 33 dogs) that were in contact with SARS-CoV-2-positive owners from December 2020 to March 2021. Swabs were screened by rRT-PCR and some positive cases were confirmed by partial spike gene sequencing. Clinical pathology and pathological studies were also performed. RESULTS: Our findings revealed that 30% of cats (10/33) and 24% of dogs (8/33) were SARS-CoV-2 positive. While 33% of these animals were asymptomatic (6/18), 28% showed mild respiratory signs (5/18) and 39% displayed severe respiratory signs (7/18) including 4 dead cats 40% (4/10). Partial spike gene sequencing of 6 positive samples collected in December 2020 were identical to SARS-CoV-2 that was detected in humans in Egypt in that time frame. Clinical pathology findings revealed thrombocytopenia, lymphocytopenia, as well as elevated levels of D-dimer, LDH, CRP, and ferritin. Post-mortem and histopathological examinations illustrated multisystemic effects. CONCLUSIONS: There is a potential occurrence of SARS-CoV-2 spillover between humans and pet animals. IMPACTS: The present study highlighted the potential occurrence of SARS-CoV-2 spillover between humans and their companion animals. Biosecurity measures should be applied to decrease spread of SARS-CoV-2 among humans and pet animals.

Estimation of Serum Ferritin, LDH and Some Biomarker in Patients with COVID19 and Their Relation to Severity of Infection

Hyper inflammation is found in severely ill COVID-19 sufferers;corresponding biomarkers may be helpful for risk classification. Our goal was to look at examine the correlation between COVID-19 severity and several biomarkers, such as serum ferritin, D-dimer and C-reactive protein (CRP), procalcitonin (PCT). This study aimed to evaluate the value of the LDH, Ferritin, D-dimer, CRP, Na+, and K+ as biomarkers in COVID-19 patients. In Tikrit general hospital's isolation unit and Kirkuk general hospital's isolation unit, patients with coronavirus were the subjects of a case-control study from the beginning of January through the end of March 2022. Ninety participants in the study made up the following groups: 30 people who appear to be in good health yet have poor real: 60 COVID-19 patients aged between 13 and 90 years with positive real-time polymerase with moderate symptoms who were admitted to hospital and 20 patients with mild symptoms who were treated as outpatients. Blood samples are taken to measure the levels of these biomarkers LDH, ferritin, D-dimer, CRP, Na+, and K+, in COVID-19 patients, and compared with the control group, a significant rise in the levels of the biomarkers (LDH, ferritin, CRP, and D-dimer) was seen with means of (261.4 pg/ml, 495.2 iu/l, 394.6 ng/mL, 82.34 mg/l and 165 and there were significant positive associations between ACE2 level and all of these markers, in comparison with control group means (50.07 pg/mL, 288.16 iu/l, 62.6 ng/ml,4.02 mg/l,188.93 ng/mL) respectively. The severity of COVID-19 is highly influenced by LDH, D-dimer, CRP, and ferritin. So, these biomarkers play an essential role in the severity of COVID- 19. © 2023 by SPC (Sami Publishing Company)