Coronary Artery Calcium Score: Current Efficacy of Cardiac CT in Patients at Hail Region, Saudi Arabia

Calcium levels in the Coronary Artery are an indicative marker of the presence and extent of atherosclerosis. This serves as an additional prognostic indicator in addition to traditional risk factors. Moreover, the coronary calcium test is associated with a descriptor known as the calcium score or calcium score (Cs), which is primarily useful for stratifying the risk of asymptomatic patients, while for patients with acute or chronic chest pain, coronary axial computed tomography is generally required. A retrospective analysis of data was conducted in the radiology department of King Salman Specialist Hospital in Hail City, the kingdom of Saudi Arabia, between January and May 2022. A total of 40 patients were randomly selected, 25 males and 15 females. The study included all patients with or suspected of having a calcium deposit who underwent a CT scan using the Siemens SOMATOM definition MDC scan. Patients underwent a scan with the preparations and laboratory tests required for their coronary artery calcium scores. In this study, males were more likely to be affected by calcium deposits (64%), whereas females were 36%. Approximately 50 percent of the study populations were found to be normal (no identifiable calcium deposits) and 37.5% to have moderate calcium deposits. There is a significant association between CACS and moderate CVD risks based on age and gender in this study. Better control of cardiovascular system (CVS) risks is recommended in all primary care centers in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA).Copyright © 2022 International Journal of Pharmaceutical Research and Allied Sciences. All rights reserved.

Some Improved Classes of Estimators in Stratified Sampling Using Bivariate Auxiliary Information

This manuscript considers some improved combined and separate classes of estimators of population mean using bivariate auxiliary information under stratified simple random sampling. The expressions of bias and mean square error of the proposed classes of estimators are determined to the first order of approximation. It is exhibited that under some particular conditions, the proposed classes of estimators dominate the existing prominent estimators. The theoretical findings are supported by a simulation study performed over a hypothetically generated population.

The Impact of Post-traumatic Stress of SARS-CoV-2 Affliction on Psychological and Mental Health of Student Survivors: Cross Sectional Study.

Background: COVID-19 survivor's population is often associated with a long term impact on mental and psychological health. Recent included studies have also stated affliction of mental health due to fear of virus and preventive policies among the college students. Objectives: The research was conducted to find the psychological and mental impacts of SARS-CoV-2 affliction among the students' survivors in the university. Methods: The study design of the experiment was cross-sectional, sampling technique was non probability and sampling method being applied was convenience sampling. IBM Statistical Package for the Social Sciences version 20 was used for analyses. Descriptive data was examined and results were showed as mean and standard deviations, percentages, frequencies for continuous variables of IES-R scale (Intrusion, Avoidance, and Hyperarousal) using the total sample of n = 34. Results: Out of 34 only 24 student survivors responded to the online survey post COVID-19 recovery, with an overall participation level of 71%. Grading was given for the total IES-R score which was subdivided into a predefined range. Out of 24 participants, 9 (38%) participants showed the symptoms of mild (n = 2)-severe (n = 7) psychological impacts. On correlation of factors total IES-R score and taste and sense of smell were moderately correlated. The ordinal regression for complete loss of sense of taste and smell was also significant. Conclusion: The results from IES-R evaluation clearly outlines the presence of psychological sequels post recovery of COVID-19 episodes among the young college survivors. Complete loss of sense of smell and taste may be an indicator of psychological sequelae as compared to reduce sense of smell.

Quality of life among undergraduate university students during COVID-19 movement control order in Sarawak.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: This study aimed to examine the quality of life (QoL) and health satisfaction of undergraduate university students in Sarawak during MCO and its association with socio-demographic profiles. METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, QoL and satisfaction of health of 503 undergraduate university students (63.4% females) from a public university was assessed online using the World Health Organization QoL (WHOQOL)-BREF instrument. RESULTS: The overall QoL and satisfaction with health were 3.7 ± 0.87 and 3.9 ± 0.82, respectively. Male students showed significantly lower mean scores for the environmental domains than female students (63.37 ± 16.21 vs 68.10 ± 14.00, P < .01). Students who lived inside the campus (vs outside campus) showed significantly lower mean score for the physical health (61.49 ± 13.94 vs 67.23 ± 13.93, P < .01), environmental health (58.35 ± 15.07 vs 70.49 ± 13.21, P < .01), overall QoL (3.39 ± 0.90 vs 3.84 ± 0.83, P < .01), and satisfaction with health (3.71 ± 0.90 vs 3.97 ± 0.77, P < .01). Students with parent's income below RM5000 (vs parent's income more than RM5000) had significantly lower mean score for the environmental domain (65.06 ± 14.35 vs 68.20 ± 15.74, P < .05). Others ethnicity scored significantly lower than Bumiputera Sarawak and Malay while Bumiputera Sarawak scored significantly lower than Chinese in physical health domain (Malay = 65.73 ± 13.40, Chinese = 63.24 ± 15.35, Bumiputra Sarawak = 67.35 ± 13.30, Others = 60.84 ± 15.88, P < .05). Malay (69.99 ± 15.20) scored significantly higher than other ethnicities (Chinese = 63.58 ± 15.80; Bumiputera Malaysia = 65.23 ± 13.66; others = 63.98 ± 15.59) in environmental domain (P < .01). When comparing between religions, the results also showed there were significant differences between different religion groups in overall QoL (Islam = 3.75 ± 0.93, Christianity = 3.77 ± 0.79, Others = 3.34 ± 1.14, P < .05), physical health (Islam = 65.00 ± 13.86, Buddhism = 68.40 ± 11.99, Christianity = 64.77 ± 14.94, Others = 61.00 ± 16.03, P < .05), and environmental health (Islam = 69.66 ± 15.48, Buddhism = 64.99 ± 11.36, Christianity = 64.87 ± 15.61, Others = 62.13 ± 16.28, P < .05). CONCLUSION: By understanding university students' QoL in this global disaster, relevant authorities would provide a better rehabilitation and assistance to those affected ones.

SRIB Submission to Interspeech 2021 DiCOVA Challenge (preprint)

The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in more than 125 million infections and more than 2.7 million casualties. In this paper, we attempt to classify covid vs non-covid cough sounds using signal processing and deep learning methods. Air turbulence, the vibration of tissues, movement of fluid through airways, opening, and closure of glottis are some of the causes for the production of the acoustic sound signals during cough. Does the COVID-19 alter the acoustic characteristics of breath, cough, and speech sounds produced through the respiratory system? This is an open question waiting for answers. In this paper, we incorporated novel data augmentation methods for cough sound augmentation and multiple deep neural network architectures and methods along with handcrafted features. Our proposed system gives 14% absolute improvement in area under the curve (AUC). The proposed system is developed as part of Interspeech 2021 special sessions and challenges viz. diagnosing of COVID-19 using acoustics (DiCOVA). Our proposed method secured the 5th position on the leaderboard among 29 participants.

Determinants of Chest X-Ray Sensitivity for COVID- 19: A Multi-Institutional Study in the United States.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the sensitivity, specificity, and severity of chest x-rays (CXR) and chest CTs over time in confirmed COVID-19+ and COVID-19- patients and to evaluate determinants of false negatives. METHODS: In a retrospective multi-institutional study, 254 RT-PCR verified COVID-19+ patients with at least one CXR or chest CT were compared with 254 age- and gender-matched COVID-19- controls. CXR severity, sensitivity, and specificity were determined with respect to time after onset of symptoms; sensitivity and specificity for chest CTs without time stratification. Performance of serial CXRs against CTs was determined by comparing area under the receiver operating characteristic curves (AUC). A multivariable logistic regression analysis was performed to assess factors related to false negative CXR. RESULTS: COVID-19+ CXR severity and sensitivity increased with time (from sensitivity of 55% at ≤2 days to 79% at >11 days; p<0.001 for trends of both severity and sensitivity) whereas CXR specificity decreased over time (from 83% to 70%, p=0.02). Serial CXR demonstrated increase in AUC (first CXR AUC=0.79, second CXR=0.87, p=0.02), and second CXR approached the accuracy of CT (AUC=0.92, p=0.11). COVID-19 sensitivity of first CXR, second CXR, and CT was 73%, 83%, and 88%, whereas specificity was 80%, 73%, and 77%, respectively. Normal and mild severity CXR findings were the largest factor behind false-negative CXRs (40% normal and 87% combined normal/mild). Young age and African-American ethnicity increased false negative rates. CONCLUSION: CXR sensitivity in COVID-19 detection increases with time, and serial CXRs of COVID-19+ patients has accuracy approaching that of chest CT.