Prediction and Analysis of COVID-19 Epidemic Based on Improved GEP Algorithm to Optimize SEIR Mode

In 2019, COVID-19 (CoronaVirus Disease 2019) broke out all over the world. COVID-19 is an infectious disease, which has a huge impact on the global economy. It is very difficult to prevent and control the epidemic situation of this infectious disease. At present, many SEIR(Susceptible Exposed Infected Recovered)models are used to predict the number of infectious diseases, which has the shortcomings of low prediction accuracy and inaccurate inflection point prediction. Therefore, this paper proposes that the prediction and analysis of COVID-19 based on improved GEP algorithm and optimized SEIR model can improve the prediction accuracy and inflection point prediction accuracy, and provide a theoretical basis for epidemic prevention of large-scale infectious diseases in the future. The algorithm. First, establish SEIR (Susceptible Exposed Infected Recovered) model to analyze the epidemic trend, and then use improved GEP (Gene Expression Programming) algorithm to analyze the infection coefficient of SEIR model beta And coefficient of restitution y, perform parameter estimation to optimize the initial value I and recovery coefficient of the infected population y and so on to improve the accuracy of model prediction. The experimental data take the number of COVID-19 infected people in the United States, China, the United Kingdom and Italy as examples. The results show that the SEIR model optimized based on the improved GEP algorithm conforms to the inflection point of the actual data, and the average error value is 1.32%. The algorithm provides a theoretical basis for the future epidemic prevention. © 2022 IEEE.

CT Imaging Features of Patients Infected with 2019 Novel Coronavirus

Novel coronavirus pneumonia is an acute, infectious pneumonia caused by a novel coronavirus infection. Computed tomographic (CT) imaging is one of the main methods to screen and diagnose patients with this disease. Here, the importance and clinical value of chest CT examination in the diagnosis of COVID-19 is expounded, and the pulmonary CT findings of COVID-19 patients in different stages are briefly summarized, thus providing a reference document for the CT diagnosis of COVID-19 patients. © 2021 The Authors.

US physician perceptions of treatment decision making for advanced renal cell carcinoma

Background: The immuno-oncology (IO) therapy combination nivolumab + ipilimumab, and the IO-tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) combination pembrolizumab + axitinib, received US FDA approvals in 2018 and 2019, respectively, as first-line (1L) therapy for advanced renal cell carcinoma (aRCC). We examined physician perceptions of concerns about and barriers to 1L treatment by class of regimen (IO-IO, IO-TKI, and single-agent TKI [SA-TKI]) in the United States. Methods: US-based oncologists treating ≥ 5 aRCC patients in the prior 12 months were identified from the Cardinal Health network, a community of > 800 oncologists. Physicians were surveyed about concerns in prescribing and barriers to treating by class (scale of 1-5;1 = no concern/not a barrier, 5 = most concerning/major barrier);mean scores are reported. Adverse events (AEs) of concern were selected from a prespecified list and respondents rank-ordered from most to least concerning by class. Physicians were also asked to gauge affordability and to rank-order 13 characteristics to identify key factors in prescribing preference. The impact of COVID-19 on aRCC care in practice was also assessed. Results: A total of 49 providers (84% community, 16% academic) treating a median of 20 (IQR 14-30) aRCC patients from across the United States participated. For IO-IO, the top 3 concerns in prescribing were AEs (4.3), patient out-of-pocket costs (OOP;3.7), and unexpected late AEs (3.6), whereas patient OOP (4.3), AEs (4.1), and patient adherence (3.9) were of most concern for IO-TKI. For SA-TKIs, the top 3 concerns were patient adherence (3.9), patient OOP (3.9), and AEs (3.6). High patient OOP and impact on quality of life were the top 2 barriers in using IO-TKI therapy. The most concerning AEs were colitis, pneumonitis, and hypertension for IO-IO or IO-TKI, and diarrhea, fatigue, hand-foot syndrome, and hypertension for SA-TKI. Overall survival (OS), progression-free survival (PFS), and complete response (CR) were ranked 1st, 2nd, and 3rd factors in prescribing preferences while patient compliance, patient preference, and practice reimbursement ranked 11th, 12th, and 13th. Patient OOP and drug acquisition costs (DAC) were the most important factors when considering the affordability of treatment, with the perception that IO-IO was the most expensive among the classes of therapy. The overall impact of COVID-19 on caring for aRCC patients was very limited, with a moderate increased use of telemedicine and a slight impact on the timing and number of routine care visits. Conclusions: OS, PFS, and CR ranked highest among the most important factors influencing selection of 1L treatment for aRCC. Factors of concern and barriers varied by class of treatment, with patient adherence and OOP affecting use of TKI or IO-TKI therapies, and AEs affecting the use of IO-based therapy. This study revealed perceptions of high patient OOP and DAC of IO-IO therapy, in contrast to our expectations.

Intensive online courses promote the development of myopia in children with orthokeratology lens during COVID-19 epidemic

AIM: To study the effect of intensive online courses on myopia in primary and middle school students with orthokeratology-lens during Corona Virus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) epidemic. METHODS: A total of 77 children in myopia with orthokeratology lens in outpatients from February to August 2020 were included in the study. Take a questionnaire to statistics times spending on online course, school class, playing digital electronic good, outdoor activity, homework, sleeping during the COVID-19 epidemic and school time, and analyze the differences of axial length(AL) variation between the COVID-19 epidemic and school time. RESULTS: For elementary school students, the time spending on online course and school class were 2.69±1.02h and 4.07±0.78h per day respectively (P<0.001), 6.67±1.82h and 6.31±1.19h per day were spent on short-distance use of eyes during the COVID-19 period and school time, respectively (P<0.001). For middle school students, the time spending on online course and school class were 4.35±1.59h and 6.33±0.66h per day respectively (P<0.001), 9.19±2.46h and 7.85±0.81h per day were spent on short-distance use of eyes (P=0.010) during the COVID-19 period and school time, respectively. For elementary school students, the average increase of right eye AL were 0.15±0.09mm and 0.06±0.06mm (P<0.001), the increase of left eye AL were 0.12±0.16mm and 0.07±0.09mm (P=0.048) during the COVID-19 period and school time, respectively. For middle school students, the average increase of right eye were AL 0.08±0.08mm and 0.05±0.05mm (P=0.242), and the average increase of left eye AL were 0.13±0.09mm and 0.04±0.06mm (P<0.001) during the COVID-19 period and school time, respectively. The results showed that both the time of short-distance use of digital electronic product and totally time on close visual study increased significantly during the epidemic period, the growth of AL was faster than that in school time, and the myopia increased rapidly. CONCLUSION: During the COVID-19 epidemic, intensive online lessons resulted in the time of short-distance use of digital electronic product increase significantly. Meanwhile, the AL growth accelerates significantly compared with that during school time and finally lead to myopia increased. Copyright 2021 by the IJO Press.

Supercoiling Structure-Based Design of a Trimeric Coiled-Coil Peptide with High Potency against HIV-1 and Human beta-Coronavirus Infection

Hexameric structure formation through packing of three C-terminal helices and an N-terminal trimeric coiled-coil core has been proposed as a general mechanism of class I enveloped virus entry. In this process, the C-terminal helical repeat (HR2) region of viral membrane fusion proteins becomes transiently exposed and accessible to N-terminal helical repeat (HR1) trimer-based fusion inhibitors. Herein, we describe a mimetic of the HIV-1 gp41 HR1 trimer, N3G, as a promising therapeutic against HIV-1 infection. Surprisingly, we found that in addition to protection against HIV-1 infection, N3G was also highly effective in inhibiting infection of human beta-coronaviruses, including MERS-CoV, HCoV-OC43, and SARS-CoV-2, possibly by binding the HR2 region in the spike protein of beta-coronaviruses to block their hexameric structure formation. These studies demonstrate the potential utility of anti-HIV-1 HR1 peptides in inhibiting human beta-coronavirus infection. Moreover, this strategy could be extended to the design of broad-spectrum antivirals based on the supercoiling structure of peptides.