DeepChestNet: Artificial intelligence approach for COVID-19 detection on computed tomography images

The conventional approach for identifying ground glass opacities (GGO) in medical imaging is to use a convolutional neural network (CNN), a subset of artificial intelligence, which provides promising performance in COVID-19 detection. However, CNN is still limited in capturing structured relationships of GGO as the texture and shape of the GGO can be confused with other structures in the image. In this paper, a novel framework called DeepChestNet is proposed that leverages structured relationships by jointly performing segmentation and classification on the lung, pulmonary lobe, and GGO, leading to enhanced detection of COVID-19 with findings. The performance of DeepChestNet in terms of dice similarity coefficient is 99.35%, 99.73%, and 97.89% for the lung, pulmonary lobe, and GGO segmentation, respectively. The experimental investigations on DeepChestNet-Lung, DeepChestNet-Lobe and DeepChestNet-COVID datasets, and comparison with several state-of-the-art approaches reveal the great potential of DeepChestNet for diagnosis of COVID-19 disease. © 2023 Wiley Periodicals LLC.

The Relationship between COVID-19 and Faith

This study aims to determine the relationship between the COVID-19 and religious belief. In this context, a questionnaire was applied to 344 students with the "COVID19-belief relationship scale" in order to determine how the students of Hitit University, Corum evaluate the COVID-19 virus and the resulting medical, psychological, social, etc. situations in terms of belief. In our study, the data obtained from the questionnaire were analyzed with the quantitative analysis method using SPSS. Considering the answers given by the participants, it has been determined that the way the epidemic was explained showed heterogeneity within the framework of the causality principle and in line with their social, cultural, and economic conditions. It has been expressed those impacts of situations such as epidemics, and natural disasters are inevitable in the human-religion relationship. Explanations in the religious context support the causality principle. Religious discourse suggests that disasters such as epidemics can be evaluated in the context of warning, punishment, and wisdom instead of living a life focused on human health and the world. In the light of the information obtained, it has been observed that even if the respondents had the idea that humans were producing the virus in a laboratory environment, they had an unchanging and written understanding of destiny, thus even if the virus was artificial, it was a test from God. It was seen that the culture in which the participants grew up and the religious belief they acquired from their environment played an essential role in their evaluation of the epidemic-type situations, and at the same time, the religious life of the individual, the level of education and the environment they lived affected the perspective of the events.

Ct-severity analysis of covid-19 pneumonia in rheumatic musculoskeletal diseases

Objectives: This study aims to focus on the radiological severity of covid-19 pneumonia in patients with rheumatic musculoskeletal diseases (RMD). Materials and Methods: A total of 342 Polymerase Chain Reaction positive patients were retrospectively reviewed. The patients were divided into two groups in terms of the presence of RMD. Chest Computed Tomography (CT) severity scores, demographic characteristics, hospitalization, intensive care unit (ICU) requirement, length of stay at the hospital were compared between RMD and non-RMD groups. Typical and atypical findings on CT images were identified with their incidence in both groups of patients. Results: Age and female gender were significantly higher in the RMD group (p=0.001, p=0.041). The average CT-severity score was higher in the RMD group, but the difference was not statistically significant (p=0.081). ICU transfer and mortality rates were higher in the RMD, whereas no difference was found in hospitalization rates and length of stay (p=0.002, p=0.036, p=0.280, p=0.168). Ground glass opacities, superimposed consolidation, and crazy paving patterns were the most common typical findings seen on both groups. Atypical CT findings for covid-19 pneumonia were found to be higher in the RMD group than in the non-RMD group. Conclusion: Chronic inflammation and the use of immunosuppressive drugs constitute a vulnerability to infections in RMD patients. In this study, mortality and ICU requirements were found to be higher in patients with RMD. Similarly, the higher rate of atypical chest CT findings in the RMD group may be of particular importance in the diagnosis and differential diagnosis of covid-19 pneumonia in this patient group. © 2021 Ankara Yildirim Beyazit University. All Rights Reserved.

Implementation of Distance Education to the Faculty of Theology Teaching Practices Lesson During the Covid-19 Pandemic: An Exemplary Application Model

This research aims to present a model for teaching practice lesson with distance education in Covid-19 process. Prospective teachers, who are senior students of the Near East University Faculty of Theology, completed eleven weeks of distance education by observing and practicing distance education with their students. The perceptions of pre-service teachers and students with distance education, their experiences about teaching practice lessons (Religious culture and ethics lesson, Arabic and Imam Hatip High School Vocational lessons) through distance education, their opinions about the model developed in this context are important. 150 students and 26 teacher candidates participated in the research conducted after the application. The research carried out by the mixed method was carried out in 2020. A quantitative questionnaire form and a qualitative semi-structured interview form were used. According to the research results, it has been determined that students’ perceptions about the effectiveness and efficiency of the teaching practice lessons they take through distance education are at a complete level. It was observed that students felt more comfortable in distance education, expressed themselves better in asking questions and answering, but had diffjiculties in motivating the lesson. “Open and Distance Learning” course can be given to prospective teachers in theology faculties. © 2020. All Rights Reserved.

Lung ultrasound and computed tomographic findings in pregnant woman with COVID-19.

Imaging modalities play a crucial role in the management of suspected COVID-19 patients. Before reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test results are positive, 60-93% of patients have positive chest computed tomographic (CT) findings consistent with COVID-19. We report a case of positive lung ultrasound findings consistent with COVID-19 in a woman with an initially negative RT-PCR result. The lung ultrasound-imaging findings were present between the negative and subsequent positive RT-PCR tests and correlated with CT findings. The point-of-care lung-ultrasound examination was easy to perform and, as such, could play an important role in the triage of women with suspected COVID-19. The neonatal swabs, cord blood and placental swab RT-PCR tests were negative for SARS-CoV-2, a finding consistent with the published literature suggesting no vertical transmission of this virus in pregnant women. Copyright © 2020 ISUOG. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.