Application of a novel deep learning technique using CT images to implement the COVID-19 automatic diagnosis system on embedded systems

Problem A novel coronavirus (COVID-19) has created a worldwide pneumonia epidemic, and it's important to make a computer-aided way for doctors to use CT images to find people with COVID-19 as soon as possible. Aim: In this study, a fully automated, novel deep-learning method for diagnosis and prognostic analysis of COVID-19 on the embedded system is presented. Methods In this study, CT scans are utilized to identify individuals with COVID-19, pneumonia, or normal class. To achieve classification two pre-trained CNN models, namely ResNet50 and MobileNetv2, which are commonly used for image classification tasks. Additionally, a novel CNN architecture called CovidxNet-CT is introduced specifically designed for COVID-19 diagnosis using three classes of CT scans. To evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed method, k-fold cross-validation is employed, which is a common approach to estimate the performance of deep learning. The study is also evaluated the proposed method on two embedded system platforms, Jetson Nano and Tx2, to demonstrate its feasibility for deployment in resource-constrained environments. Results With an average accuracy of %98.83 and an AUC of 0.988, the system is trained and verified using a 4 fold cross-validation approach. Conclusion The optimistic outcomes from the investigation propose that CovidxNet-CT has the capacity to support radiologists and contribute towards the efforts to combat COVID-19. This study proposes a fully automated, deep-learning-based method for COVID-19 diagnosis and prognostic analysis that is specifically designed for use on embedded systems.

Anxiety Levels of People Living with HIV and Problems in Accessing Healthcare Services and Drugs During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Introduction: Since its emergence in December 2019, COVID-19 has caused severe morbidity and mortality. Access to healthcare services for individuals with chronic diseases including people living with HIV was disrupted due to many factors such as the density in hospitals and social closure strategies to stop the spread of the pandemic. The aim of this study was to determine whether HIV status and social and medical problems faced by people living with HIV caused anxiety during the COVID-19 pandemic. Materials and Methods: Between October 2021 and February 2022, the Beck anxiety scale and a 16-item questionnaire including questions on demographic information was completed by 100 people living with HIV who visited our Cukurova University Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology outpatient clinic and gave consent to be included in the study. Results: Overall, 93 (93%) participants were male and seven (7%) were female, with a mean age of 36 +/- 10 years. Among all participants, 44% reported a decrease in their general quality of life, 42.4% reported an increase in the level of anxiety, 33% reported a decrease in access to resources such as money and food, and 13% reported that they had difficulty in paying the rent of their own house. During the pandemic, 11.3% of the participants lost their jobs and 9.1% lost their health insurance;8.1% reported that they became homeless and moved to live with someone else. Access to antiretroviral treatment decreased in 7.2% of the participants, the number of hospital visits were reduced in 33.3%, and 26% reported a reduction in monitoring tests such as HIV RNA. The mean Beck anxiety score, which was used to evaluate the patients' anxiety level, was 12.32 +/- 12.35 (min-max= 0-54) and suggested mild anxiety symptoms. Conclusion: The difficulties and problems in the daily lives of individuals living with HIV have deepened with the COVID-19 pandemic. The data we obtained in our study helps us understand the difficulties and anxiety levels of people living with HIV in receiving healthcare.

Anxiety Levels of People Living with HIV and Problems in Accessing Healthcare Services and Drugs During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Introduction: Since its emergence in December 2019, COVID-19 has caused severe morbidity and mortality. Access to healthcare services for individuals with chronic diseases including people living with HIV was disrupted due to many factors such as the density in hospitals and social closure strategies to stop the spread of the pandemic. The aim of this study was to determine whether HIV status and social and medical problems faced by people living with HIV caused anxiety during the COVID-19 pandemic. Material(s) and Method(s): Between October 2021 and February 2022, the Beck anxiety scale and a 16-item questionnaire including questions on demographic information was completed by 100 people living with HIV who visited our Cukurova University Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology outpatient clinic and gave consent to be included in the study. Result(s): Overall, 93 (93%) participants were male and seven (7%) were female, with a mean age of 36 +/- 10 years. Among all participants, 44% reported a decrease in their general quality of life, 42.4% reported an increase in the level of anxiety, 33% reported a decrease in access to resources such as money and food, and 13% reported that they had difficulty in paying the rent of their own house. During the pandemic, 11.3% of the participants lost their jobs and 9.1% lost their health insurance;8.1% reported that they became homeless and moved to live with someone else. Access to antiretroviral treatment decreased in 7.2% of the participants, the number of hospital visits were reduced in 33.3%, and 26% reported a reduction in monitoring tests such as HIV RNA. The mean Beck anxiety score, which was used to evaluate the patients' anxiety level, was 12.32 +/- 12.35 (min-max= 0-54) and suggested mild anxiety symptoms. Conclusion(s): The difficulties and problems in the daily lives of individuals living with HIV have deepened with the COVID-19 pandemic. The data we obtained in our study helps us understand the difficulties and anxiety levels of people living with HIV in receiving healthcare.Copyright © 2022 Bilimsel Tip Yayinevi. All rights reserved.

Detection and classification of COVID-19 by using faster R-CNN and mask R-CNN on CT images

The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has a devastating impact on people's daily lives and healthcare systems. The rapid spread of this virus should be stopped by early detection of infected patients through efficient screening. Artificial intelligence techniques are used for accurate disease detection in computed tomography (CT) images. This article aims to develop a process that can accurately diagnose COVID-19 using deep learning techniques on CT images. Using CT images collected from Yozgat Bozok University, the presented method begins with the creation of an original dataset, which includes 4000 CT images. The faster R-CNN and mask R-CNN methods are presented for this purpose in order to train and test the dataset to categorize patients with COVID-19 and pneumonia infections. In this study, the results are compared using VGG-16 for faster R-CNN model and ResNet-50 and ResNet-101 backbones for mask R-CNN. The faster R-CNN model used in the study has an accuracy rate of 93.86%, and the ROI (region of interest) classification loss is 0.061 per ROI. At the conclusion of the final training, the mask R-CNN model generates mAP (mean average precision) values for ResNet-50 and ResNet-101, respectively, of 97.72% and 95.65%. The results for five folds are obtained by applying the cross-validation to the methods used. With training, our model performs better than the industry standard baselines and can help with automated COVID-19 severity quantification in CT images.

Gender differences on factors affecting the resting metabolic rate of academicians

BACKGROUND: There is an increasing interest to improve the physical activity level of people working in offices mostly spending their time in sitting who may be under the risks of obesity. this is especially increasing its importance worldwide due to recent 'stay at home trend' of covid-19 pandemics. academicians are the group of people having tendency to develop a sedentary lifestyle and become overweight due to long sitting hours of work. thus, the aim of this study is to understand the gender differences on factors affecting the resting metabolic rate of academic personnel. MethodS: data on demographic information, Body Mass index, resting metabolic rate (rMr), physical activity levels of academicians (n.=62, 32W, 30M) have been collected. reSUltS: their total weekly energy expenditure in relation to total physical activity was similar to each other as 1743.4+/-2189.10 MET-min/week for men and 1074.04+/-1299.09 MET-min/week for women. The RMR was significantly higher in men (1994.66+/-683.41 kcal/day) than women (1467.81+/-311.47 kcal/day) (p<0.001). Supporting this outcome, percent body fat was found higher in women (26.38+/-6.62%) than men (21.46+/-6.17%) (p<0.05). Men spent longer times "sitting" (p<0.05), it had a weak effect on their total physical activity (p<0.05). conclUSionS: although women were sitting less than men during day, they were less physically active. Men were more involved with heavy to moderate physical activities with higher resting metabolic rate. Since walking was a preferred activity in both genders, they may be motivated to increase their walking based physical activity in and out of the campus as well as at home.Copyright © 2020 Edizioni Minerva Medica.

Evaluation of maternal serum and umbilical cord brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) levels in COVID-19-infected pregnancies.

OBJECTIVE: COVID-19 is a disease that affects and damages the neurological system. The aim of this study was to evaluate the fetal neurodevelopmental status through maternal serum and umbilical cord BDNF levels. PATIENTS AND METHODS: In this prospective study, 88 pregnant women were evaluated. Demographic and peripartum characteristics of the patients were recorded. Samples were collected from pregnant women for maternal serum and the umbilical cord BDNF levels during delivery. RESULTS: In this study, 40 pregnant women hospitalized with COVID-19 formed the infected group and 48 pregnant women without COVID-19 formed the healthy control group. Demographic and postpartum characteristics were similar in both groups. Maternal serum BDNF values were significantly lower in the COVID-19 infected group (1597.0 ± 337.3 pg/ml) than in the healthy group (1783.2 ± 394.1 pg/ml) (p=0.019). Fetal BDNF levels were 1794.9 ± 440.3 pg/ml in the healthy group and 1691.0 ± 368.6 pg/ml in COVID-19 infected pregnant women group and statistically similar between groups (p=0.232). CONCLUSIONS: Results showed that while maternal serum BDNF levels decreased in the presence of COVID-19, there was no difference in umbilical cord BDNF levels. This may be an indication that the fetus is not affected and is protected.

Anxiety Levels of People Living with HIV and Problems in Accessing Healthcare Services and Drugs During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Introduction: Since its emergence in December 2019, COVID-19 has caused severe morbidity and mortality. Access to healthcare services for individuals with chronic diseases including people living with HIV was disrupted due to many factors such as the density in hospitals and social closure strategies to stop the spread of the pandemic. The aim of this study was to determine whether HIV status and social and medical problems faced by people living with HIV caused anxiety during the COVID-19 pandemic. Materials and Methods: Between October 2021 and February 2022, the Beck anxiety scale and a 16-item questionnaire including questions on demographic information was completed by 100 people living with HIV who visited our Çukurova University Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology outpatient clinic and gave consent to be included in the study. Results: Overall, 93 (93%) participants were male and seven (7%) were female, with a mean age of 36 ± 10 years. Among all participants, 44% reported a decrease in their general quality of life, 42.4% reported an increase in the level of anxiety, 33% reported a decrease in access to resources such as money and food, and 13% reported that they had difficulty in paying the rent of their own house. During the pandemic, 11.3% of the participants lost their jobs and 9.1% lost their health insurance;8.1% reported that they became homeless and moved to live with someone else. Access to antiretroviral treatment decreased in 7.2% of the participants, the number of hospital visits were reduced in 33.3%, and 26% reported a reduction in monitoring tests such as HIV RNA. The mean Beck anxiety score, which was used to evaluate the patients' anxiety level, was 12.32 ± 12.35 (min-max= 0-54) and suggested mild anxiety symptoms. Conclusion: The difficulties and problems in the daily lives of individuals living with HIV have deepened with the COVID-19 pandemic. The data we obtained in our study helps us understand the difficulties and anxiety levels of people living with HIV in receiving healthcare.

The relationship between arterial stiffness and disease severity in patients with COVID-19

Background and Aim: It is known that COVID-19 infection causes cardiovascular complications. It is thought that this may be related to endothelial dysfunction. The aim of this study is to reveal the relationship between arterial stiffness, which may be an indicator of endothelial dysfunction, and disease severity. Method(s): Patients with COVID-19 infection and age, sex and cardiac risk factors matched control group were included in the study. Arterial stiffness was measured in the early period (within the first month) of COVID-19 infection. Echocardiographic measurements were also performed at the same time. The patients were divided into two groups according to the severity of covid, as mild and severe. In order to determine the severity of the disease, oxygen or intensive care need, biochemical parameters such as C-reactive protein (CRP), hs-troponin, complete blood count (CBC) were used in line with the recommendations. Arterial stiffness measurements were made by the gold standard applanation tonometry method, from the radial, carotid and femoral arteries. Result(s): A total of 84 patients were included in the study, 27 of which were in the control, 32 in the mild disease and 25 in the severe disease groups. The mean age of the population was 48.6+/-12.9 years, and 69% (n=58) were male. The whole group had 30% hypertension (HT), 10% Diabetes Mellitus (DM), 11% coronary artery disease (CAD), 11% were smoking and 2% with hyperlipidemia (HL). There was no significant difference between the groups in terms of these risk factors. The mean pulse wave velocity (PWV) value obtained in arterial stiffness measurements was 8.02, 8.07 and 8.75 in the control group, mild disease group and severe disease group, respectively. These values were found to be statistically significant when the control group and mild disease groups were compared with the severe disease group. (p=0.007, p=0.008, respectively). Conclusion(s): The results of this study revealed that the deterioration in arterial stiffnes, which is a good indicator of endothelial dysfunction, is more significant in patients with severe COVID-19 infection. These patients should be followed more closely for subsequent cardiovascular complications.

A Social Change Theorist Recalled by the COVID-19 Pandemic: Ulrich Beck and the Risk Society

Ulrich Beck is a well-known German sociologist and one of the most cited social scientists in the world. His theory of social change focuses on questions of uncontrollability, ignorance, and uncertainty in the modern age, and he created the terms "risk society” and "second modernity” or "reflexive modernization”. He also defines three features that characterize global risks: de-localization, incalculableness, and noncompensability. Beck's risk society theory offers a functional perspective in which very accurate sociological theses are put forward in terms of containing the basic concepts that reside at the center of the phenomenon and the many discussions about the global epidemic that occupy the agenda of the countries and societies of the world. The COVID-19 pandemic justifies Beck's theory. From Beck's theoretical perspective, COVID-19 pandemic is characterized as a manufactured risk. © 2022 by World Scientific Publishing Europe Ltd.

Examination of physical activity and emotional status of university students

Aim: The main purpose of this research is to examine how measures taken against corona virus disease (COVID-19) affect the physical activity behavior of university students and to learn about the effect of physical activity on students' emotional states.

Adaptation and psychometric evaluation of the COVID-19 stress scales in Turkish sample

This study aimed to adapt the COVID-19 Stress Scales (CSS) into Turkish and provide evidence for construct validity. For this purpose, firstly, Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was applied for the 5-factor model obtained during the development of CSS and the theoretically expected 6-factor model with total of 546 respondents. The findings revealed that the 6-factor model of CSS had a better fit in the Turkish sample. Factor loadings varied between .62 -.95 and correlations between subscales were between .44 -.76. Cronbach's Alpha and McDonald's omega coefficients for each subscale indicated good-to-excellent internal consistency. To evaluate the criterion-related validity, the Turkish version of The Fear of COVID-19 Scale (FCV-19S) was administered to the participants and the correlation coefficients between this scale and the six subscale of CSS were calculated. We also conducted the Rasch analysis with related items to provide psychometric evidence for their unidimensional structure of each of the six subscales. Lastly, Differential item functioning (DIF) analysis was performed across subgroups by gender, having COVID-19, and being a student. Overall, the results of both CFA and Rasch analyses provided evidence to support the substantive aspect of validity and the appropriateness of the CSS as a measure of COVID-19 stress level in a Turkish sample.

Cerebrovascular radiological features of COVID-19 positive patients.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate acute cerebrovascular diseases (stroke and intracranial hemorrhage) by cranial radiologic examinations of patients infected with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and with neurological signs. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Between March 2020 and May 2021, patients who were admitted to the Emergency Department and had a positive reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test and underwent Multidetector Computed Tomography (MDCT) and/or Magnetic Resonance Images (MRI), and/or diffusion MRI due to neurological findings were included in the study. RESULTS: The study reviewed a total of 925 patients, including 404 (43.67%) female and 521 (56.32%) male patients. The distribution of imaging methods was as follows: 805 (71%) patients had cranial MDCT, 71 (6.35%) patients had MRI, and 241 (21.57%) patients had diffusion MRI. Of the total 925 patients, 128 (13.8%) patients were detected with cerebrovascular diseases, 92 (9.9%) patients were detected with ischemic or hemorrhagic stroke, 37 (4%) patients were detected with intraparenchymal hemorrhage, 10 (1.1%) patients were detected with subarachnoid hemorrhage, and four (0.43%) patients were detected with subdural hemorrhage. There was no statistically significant difference in the incidence of subdural, subarachnoid, parenchymal hemorrhage, and stroke in terms of gender. While there was a significant difference in stroke according to age, there was no statistically significant difference in subdural, subarachnoid, and parenchymal hemorrhagic. Three (0.32%) patients were diagnosed with acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (ADEM)'s-like demyelinating lesions. CONCLUSIONS: Cerebrovascular diseases, which may cause severe disability and even threaten the patient's life, should be kept in mind, especially in COVID-19 patients who present with neurological symptoms.

Deep learning-based approach for detecting COVID-19 in chest X-rays.

Today, 2019 Coronavirus (COVID-19) infections are a major health concern worldwide. Therefore, detecting COVID-19 in X-ray images is crucial for diagnosis, evaluation, and treatment. Furthermore, expressing diagnostic uncertainty in a report is a challenging duty but unavoidable task for radiologists. This study proposes a novel CNN (Convolutional Neural Network) model for automatic COVID-19 identification utilizing chest X-ray images. The proposed CNN model is designed to be a reliable diagnostic tool for two-class categorization (COVID and Normal). In addition to the proposed model, different architectures, including the pre-trained MobileNetv2 and ResNet50 models, are evaluated for this COVID-19 dataset (13,824 X-ray images) and our suggested model is compared to these existing COVID-19 detection algorithms in terms of accuracy. Experimental results show that our proposed model identifies patients with COVID-19 disease with 96.71 percent accuracy, 91.89 percent F1-score. Our proposed approach CNN's experimental results show that it outperforms the most advanced algorithms currently available. This model can assist clinicians in making informed judgments on how to diagnose COVID-19, as well as make test kits more accessible.

The Association Between Air Quality Parameters and COVID-19 in Turkey

Background: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is an invisible enemy that has made people observe issues such as eating habits, personal hygiene, and environmental factors that may affect their immune systems. Objectives: Because air pollution can affect the immune system, it is necessary to examine the relationship between air quality parameters and COVID-19. Methods: his study examines the correlation between air quality and COVID-19 considering 7 air pollutants: PM10, SO2, CO, NO2, NOx, NO, and O3. The confirmed COVID-19 cases were considered from 9 provinces, accounting for 78% of the total cases in Turkey. The required data were collected from the websites of the country’s relevant official institutions. Two statistical tests, the Pearson correlation, and Spearman Rho were conducted to determine any potential linear and monotonic relationships. Results: Based on both test results, a significant positive correlation was observed between air SO2 content and the number of COVID-19 cases in Turkey. Conclusion: The outcomes could help identify provincial actions or measures.

Cavitary Pulmonary Lesion Due to COVID-19 Infection Mimicking Lung Cancer

Various radiological findings have been detected associated with SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19). We present here a middle-aged patient with a thick-walled cavitary lesion resembling lung cancer radiologically after COVID-19. Most of the etiological factors for cavitary lung lesions were investigated, and no specific cause was found. After empirical dual antibiotic treatment, the cavitary and the nodular lesion were observed to regress almost completely in control thorax computed tomography. For this reason, we considered the cavity of our patient as a late complication of COVID-19 and also we advocate the importance of monitoring patients with clinical data and laboratory values as well as radiological findings after contracting COVID-19.

Post Intensive Care Tele Pulmonary Rehabilitation in Post-COVID-19: A Case Series

Muscle weakness acquired in intensive care, post-intensive care syndrome, psychological dysfunction and changes in body composition are the main reasons cited in Pulmonary Rehabilitation (PR) applications after discharge in cases followed up in the intensive care unit (ICU) due to COVID-19 pneumonia. Although the limitations of face-to-face PR applications during the pandemic have made tele-PR more common, the appropriate patient profile for PR is still unknown. In this case series, video conferencing-mediated tele-PR was applied as a hybrid approach and compared with PR in a face-to-face format in five cases referred after ICU. After the initial and final evaluations and the first two exercise sessions were performed in the outpatient PR unit, the program was continued via a video-conferencing method. At the end of the total 18 sessions, a decrease was noted in the perception of dyspnea, and an increase in exercise capacity and muscle strength. A decrease in the severity of COVID-19-related fatigue was also noted.

Changing the Demographic Characteristics of Males with Erectile Dysfunction During the Coronavirus Disease-2019 Pandemic: A Multi-institutional Comparative Analysis with the Non-pandemic Period

Objective: This study aimed to present the impact of coronavirus disease-2019 pandemic on seeking treatment in patients with erectile dysfunction (ED) and compare the clinical characteristics, demographics, and laboratory analysis of patients with ED during and before the pandemic period. Materials and Methods: The clinical and demographic characteristics and laboratory analysis of patients with ED were compared between the time interval of March 9, 2020, to June 1, 2020, and the previous 3 months from the pandemics. The International Index of Erectile Function-5 questionnaire was used to assess ED and the results from two groups were compared. Results: A 76.4% decreased total number of outpatient clinics and a 70.9% decreased number of patients with ED was observed;however a significant increase was detected in the ratio of patients with ED to the total number of patients during the pandemic period (1.7% vs. 2.1%, p=0.008). The median age of patients was smaller in the pandemic period. Mild ED was significantly higher in the pandemic period and moderate ED was detected higher in the period before the pandemic. Conclusion: The admission rate of patients with ED has increased in the pandemic period. The patients presenting with ED during the pandemic period were younger, with milder ED symptoms.

Translation and Interpreting Studies education in the midst of platform capitalism

In this study, we examine how TIS education unfolds within an all-encompassing digital education context that has been dramatically intensified by the sudden switch over to online-only instruction during the COVID-19 pandemic in major universities in Turkey. We surveyed 17 instructors (four were later interviewed) and 46 undergraduate students in order to find out how pedagogical relationships are impacted by the online-only distance education modalities. The disruptive effects as well as emancipatory potentials of these changes for TIS pedagogy were probed. In addressing these issues, the conceptual framework of the threefold division of educational purposes into qualification, socialisation, and subjectification was deployed. The analysis of our data suggests a lack of concerted attempts to address subjectification as a central issue in the online-only learning environment in TIS education. Both instructors and students have concerns regarding the domain of subjectification. Yet, instructors seem mostly focused on qualification- and socialisation-related issues rather than the needs of their students in terms of their subjectification. In this context, the so-called platform capitalism promotes pedagogical relationships that are not conducive to fostering the domain of subjectification and therefore poses a risk to the development of students' personal and professional identity. © 2021 University of Roehampton. All rights reserved.

A new exponential estimators for analysis of COVID-19 risk

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is the most crucial issue of all countries worldwide as it poses a threat and risk to people in many aspects such as health and economy. Since each country's development level, economy, and infrastructure differ, countries' struggle against COVID-19 varies. Therefore, understanding the COVID-19 risk levels of countries can be crucial in determining possible strategies to take specific measures for those at the highest risk. Also, determining the risk level of countries can be more critical than estimates, such as the number of cases and deaths, as the level of risk alone can be an informative indicator for all such issues. Unlike most studies, this study concentrates on evaluating and estimating the COVID-19 risk level of countries. This study proposes two families of multivariate exponential estimators using two auxiliary attributes. Theoretically, the mean square error (MSE) equations of all proposed exponential estimators are obtained and compared with existing estimators. Some exceptional cases of the multivariate exponential estimators are regarded and compared with MSE values of proposed multivariate exponential estimators. As a result, the multivariate exponential estimators provide more efficient results than all other estimators. These theoretical findings are supported by a numerical illustration using real dataset.

The economic and fiscal impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic in Turkey and around the world

Humanity has a long history of struggle against pandemics. Covid-19 is the most recent example of such kind of pandemics. Since its first outbreak appeared in China on December 31, 2019, the Covid-19 pandemic has spread rapidly across almost all over the globe within a few months. The Covid-19 has been a type of pandemic which requires compliance with social distancing rules, thereby it has caused both demand-side and supply-side slowdown in economic activities. It is estimated that as a result of the pandemics there will be a very sharp economic shrinkage, an increase in unemployment to the highest levels in the history and a significant decrease in global trade. Governments and international organizations have adopted various measures and incentive packages in order to overcome this problem. These packages mainly include monetary and fiscal tools;however, they have the risk of yielding an increase in government debts thus disrupting public fiscal equilibrium. This chapter aims to examine the economic and fiscal impacts of the pandemic and to examine practices both in Turkey and around the world accordingly. © Peter Lang GmbH Internationaler Verlag der Wissenschaften Berlin 2020. All rights reserved.