Predict Turnaround Time of Hospital Discharge

COVID-19 pandemics lead to further shortages of beds globally. Ningbo No.1 Hospital implemented an integrated digital management system to tackle inefficiency in the discharge process, however, this problem is not fully solved. To help the hospital fully address this problem, this article identifies the problems in the hospital's dataset and proposes a methodology for the machine learning model training in order to predict the patient's leaving time, which provides a space for the hospital to improve the discharge process when procedures simplify, integration and digitalization are done. © 2022 IEEE.

Significance of"Qingfei" and "Paidu" of Qingfei Paidu Decoction in Treatment of COVID-19.

Traditional Chinese medicine(TCM)has played an important role in the prevention and treatment of novel coronavirus disease 2019(COVID-19). Qingfei Paidu decoction, as a general prescription of Diagnosis and Treatment Protocol for Novel Coronavirus Pneumonia from the sixth to eighth versions, has been proved effective clinically and is suitable for mild, moderate, severe, and critical patients. It can significantly improve clinical symptoms such as fever, cough, asthma, fatigue, etc. On the basis of the findings of relevant research papers, this paper summarized the TCM understanding of COVID-19, including etiology, pathogenesis, disease location, and treatment, and concluded that the disease is caused by the pestilential Qi, localized in the lungs, and can affect the five organs. It is mainly characterized by coldness, dampness, heat, toxicity, stasis, and deficiency. In response to the etiology and pathogenesis of the disease, the therapeutic principles at all stages are dominated by the elimination of pathogens and removal of toxicity. According to the stages of disease development, the treatment should combine the severity of the disease and the course of the disease with the TCM syndromes. Furthermore, from the clinical application of Qingfei Paidu decoction, this paper discussed the therapeutic intention of "Qingfei(clearing of lungs)" and "Paidu(removal of toxicity)". Qingfei Paidu decoction can clear the pathogenic toxin in the lungs and eliminate external pestilential Qi, which is in line with the therapeutic principles for this pandemic by regulating the triple energizer and protecting healthy Qi using both coldness and warmth to treat both the symptoms and the root cause. Additionally, the experimental research progress on Qingfei Paidu decoction and its modified prescriptions were summarized. As studied, this prescription can inhibit cytokine storm, moderate the overactive immune response, potentiate the immune function and anti-viral ability of the body, and exert its effect on COVID-19 with multiple components, multiple targets, multiple pathways, and multiple biological functions. In conclusion, Qingfei Paidu decoction, as a core prescription for the treatment of COVID-19, can rapidly contain the development of COVID-19, which has been confirmed in terms of TCM theory, clinical efficacy, and experimental research.Copyright © 2022, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences Institute of Chinese Materia Medica. All rights reserved.

Significance of"Qingfei" and "Paidu" of Qingfei Paidu Decoction in Treatment of COVID-19

Traditional Chinese medicine(TCM)has played an important role in the prevention and treatment of novel coronavirus disease 2019(COVID-19). Qingfei Paidu decoction, as a general prescription of Diagnosis and Treatment Protocol for Novel Coronavirus Pneumonia from the sixth to eighth versions, has been proved effective clinically and is suitable for mild, moderate, severe, and critical patients. It can significantly improve clinical symptoms such as fever, cough, asthma, fatigue, etc. On the basis of the findings of relevant research papers, this paper summarized the TCM understanding of COVID-19, including etiology, pathogenesis,  disease location, and treatment, and concluded that the disease is caused by the pestilential Qi, localized in the lungs, and can affect the five organs. It is mainly characterized by coldness, dampness, heat, toxicity, stasis, and deficiency. In response to the etiology and pathogenesis of the disease, the therapeutic principles at all stages are dominated by the elimination of pathogens and removal of toxicity. According to the stages of disease development, the treatment should combine the severity of the disease and the course of the disease with the TCM syndromes. Furthermore, from the clinical application of Qingfei Paidu decoction, this paper discussed the therapeutic intention of "Qingfei(clearing of lungs)" and "Paidu(removal of toxicity)". Qingfei Paidu decoction can clear the pathogenic toxin in the lungs and eliminate external pestilential Qi, which is in line with the therapeutic principles for this pandemic by regulating the triple energizer and protecting healthy Qi using both coldness and warmth to treat both the symptoms and the root cause. Additionally, the experimental research progress on Qingfei Paidu decoction and its modified prescriptions were summarized. As studied,  this prescription can inhibit cytokine storm, moderate the overactive immune response, potentiate the immune function and anti-viral ability of the body, and exert its effect on COVID-19 with multiple components, multiple targets, multiple pathways, and multiple biological functions. In conclusion, Qingfei Paidu decoction, as a core prescription for the treatment of COVID-19, can rapidly contain the development of COVID-19, which has been confirmed in terms of TCM theory, clinical efficacy, and experimental research. © 2022, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences Institute of Chinese Materia Medica. All rights reserved.

Risk Factors of Ftal Outcome of Hospitalized Patients with COVID-19

Background. Few studies reported the risk factors of fatal outcome of hospitalized patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). We aimed to identify the independent risk factors associated with fatal outcome of hospitalized COVID-19 patients. Methods. The clinical data of 109 consecutive COVID-19 patients including 40 (36.7%) common cases and 69 (63.3%) severe cases were included and analyzed. Results: Multivariate regression analysis indicated that platelets (PLT, OR, 0.988;95% CI, 0.978-0.998;P=0.017) and C-reactive protein (CRP) (OR, 1.047;95% CI, 1.026-1.068;P<0.001) levels were the independent risk factors of fatal outcome in COVID-19 patients. The optimal cut-off value of PLT counts for predicting fatal outcome was 161x109/L with the area under receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC) of 0.824 (95% CI, 0.739-0.890). The optimal cut-off value of CRP for the prediction of fatal outcome was 46.2 mg/L with the AUROC of 0.954 (95% CI, 0.896-0.985). The CRP levels had higher predictive values for fatal outcome than PLT (P=0.016). The cumulative survival rate was significantly higher in patients with PLT>161x10(9)/L compared with patients with PLT <= 161x10(9)/L (89.4% vs. 12.5%, log-rank test chi(2)=72.17;P<0.001). Survival rate of COVID-19 patients was prominently higher in CRP <= 46.2 mg/L patients compared with patients with CRP>46.2 mg/L (95.9% vs. 22.9%, log-rank test chi(2)=77.85;P<0.001). Conclusions. PLT counts and CRP levels could predict fatal outcome of hospitalized COVID-19 patients with relatively high accuracy.

An Ensemble Machine Learning Approach to Understanding the Effect of a Global Pandemic on Twitter Users' Attitudes

It is thought that the COVID-19 outbreak has significantly fuelled racism and discrimination, especially towards Asian individuals[10]. In order to test this hypothesis, in this paper, we build upon existing work in order to classify racist tweets before and after COVID-19 was declared a global pandemic. To overcome the difficult linguistic and unbalanced nature of the classification task, we combine an ensemble of machine learning techniques such as a Linear Support Vector Classifiers, Logistic Regression models, and Deep Neural Networks. We fill the gap in existing literature by (1) using a combined Machine Learning approach to understand the effect of COVID-19 on Twitter users' attitudes and by (2) improving on the performance of automatic racism detectors. Here we show that there has not been a sharp increase in racism towards Asian people on Twitter and that users that posted racist Tweets before the pandemic are prone to post an approximately equal amount during the outbreak. Previous research on racism and other virus outbreaks suggests that racism towards communities associated with the region of the origin of the virus is not exclusively attributed to the outbreak but rather it is a continued symptom of deep-rooted biases towards minorities[13]. Our research supports these previous findings. We conclude that the COVID-19 outbreak is an additional outlet to discriminate against Asian people, instead of it being the main cause. © 2021 the authors. Licensee Agora University, Oradea, Romania. All Rights Reserved.

Innovating sustainable development: A best practice from Ecuador during covid-19

The improvement in the delivery of health care services in geographically remote and rural areas is one of the most promising and clearly demonstrated applications of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in sustainable development. Evidence suggests that improved health outcomes have been achieved through various applications of ICT solutions. In particular, ICT is being used in many developing countries and communities to facilitate: (a) remote consultation, diagnosis and treatment through the use of digital cameras to download images onto a computer and transfer them to doctors in nearby towns;(b) collaboration and information exchange among physicians;(c) ICT-based medical research through the use of a network of satellites and ground stations to submit data for clinical trials;(d) medical training through ICT-enabled delivery mechanisms;and (e) access to centralized data repositories connected to ICT networks that enable remote healthcare professionals to keep abreast of medical knowledge. Moreover, ICT provides considerable benefits and capabilities when applied to disease prevention and response efforts during epidemics and pandemics. ICT is an effective means to disseminate public health messages and disease prevention techniques in developing countries. It also enables better monitoring and response mechanisms. Also, ICT is helping improve the efficiency of public health systems and medical facilities by, for example, streamlining medical procurement or creating and managing patient records. The expansion of the COVID-19 outbreak that began in Wuhan, China, alerted all the countries of the world from the beginning of 2020 and reached Latin America in mid-February 2020. In this paper VERIS, an Ecuadorian successful practice of telemedicine during the COVID-19 times, is presented. VERIS allows remote consultation with a certified Doctor, following the WHO protocol, and other relevant services provided also remotely. The VERIS experience is particularly relevant during the present COVID-19 pandemic, because it eliminates the risks of contagion deriving from visiting hospitals in person, and could be particularly useful for emerging economies, with practical implications for mature ones. © 2020 Academic Conferences Limited. All rights reserved.