A retrospective study to evaluate CTPA outcomes in COVID-19 patients at a district hospital in London

Background: COVID-19 is associated with the development of life-threatening prothrombotic events, including pulmonary emboli (PE), for which the gold standard investigation is a CTPA. Aim(s): To assess the incidence of PE in our local high-dependency and ward-based COVID-19 ward and identify common indications for CTPA. Method(s): Data was collected retrospectively from inpatients admitted to our COVID-19 ward between August 1st to October 31st, 2021. Patient demographics, D-dimer values, oxygen requirements, and CTPA request indications and findings were analysed. Result(s): From a total of N=123 patients, N=45 (36.9%) had a CTPA, and N=4 (3.3% of all patients, 8.9% of CTPA requests) were positive for PE. N=44 (97.8%) CTPAs were requested to rule out a PE, with the main indications being a raised D-dimer (26.7%), hypotension (24.4%), persistent oxygen requirement (22.2%), and desaturation (22.2%). N=18 (40%) required non-invasive ventilation (NIV) at the time of CTPA request. The median time spent on therapeutic anticoagulation before a CTPA was 6 days (IQR 9). N=8 (17.7%) had bleeding complications from therapeutic anticoagulation. Conclusion(s): Our 3.3% incidence of PE is lower than the 11.7% average in a recent meta-analysis of ITU patients, consistent with studies showing that those with more severe COVID-19 have a higher incidence of PE (Tan, B.K. et al. Thorax 2021;76: 970-979). Our study was limited, as our patients could not have a CTPA whilst on NIV. They remained on therapeutic anticoagulation during this time, leading to potential false-negative results. Further studies are needed to estimate the incidence of PE and optimum duration of thromboprophylaxis in non-severe COVID-19 cases.

The PBPK LeiCNS-PK3.0 framework predicts Nirmatrelvir (but not Remdesivir or Molnupiravir) to achieve effective concentrations against SARS-CoV-2 in human brain cells.

SARS-CoV-2 was shown to infect and persist in the human brain cells up to 230 days, highlighting the need to treat the brain viral load. The CNS disposition of antiCOVID-19 drugs: Remdesivir, Molnupiravir, and Nirmatrelvir, remains, however, unexplored. Here, we assessed the human brain pharmacokinetic profile (PK) against the EC90 values of antiCOVID-19 drugs to predict drugs with favorable brain PK against the delta and omicron variants. We also evaluated the intracellular PK of GS443902 and EIDD2061, the active metabolites of Remdesivir and Molnupiravir. Towards this, we applied LeiCNS-PK3.0, the physiologically based pharmacokinetic framework with demonstrated adequate predictions of human CNS PK. Under the recommended dosing regimens, the predicted brain extracellular fluid PK of only Nirmatrelvir was above the variants' EC90. The intracellular levels of GS443902 and EIDD2061 were below the intracellular EC90. Summarizing, our model recommends Nirmatrelvir as the promising candidate for (pre)clinical studies investigating the CNS efficacy of antiCOVID-19 drugs.

COVID-19 with Hyperglycemia Among Iraqi Patients in Baghdad

Background: The corona virus infects many organs of the body other than the respiratory system. It is necessary to highlight other infections caused by COVID-19 and therefore, the objective of our research is to study the relationship between the novel coronavirus and hyperglycemia, and its impact on some biochemical parameters in the serum of Iraqi patients. Material and Methods: The study, which took place in Abu Ghraib-Baghdad from September to December 2021. The findings of subjects who suffer from high blood sugar were selected from the tests that were conducted for many COVID-19 patients in our laboratory, and they were not suffering from this rise previously, and they are forty subjects (20 males and 20 females). The ages of all participants was ranged from 40 and 60 years. They were found to be infected with COVID-19 after a Real-time polymerase chain reaction test from nasopharyngeal swabs. Measured the body mass index, fasting plasma glucose, glycosylated hemoglobin, some positive acute phase reactants (C-reactive protein and D-dimer), and lactate dehydrogenase in the serum. Results: All patients studied had elevated fasting plasma glucose and glycosylated hemoglobin levels. C-reactive protein and D-dimer were also elevated but lactate dehydrogenase was high in 32.5% of the studied patients. The mean of body mass index was 28.73±4.51 kg/m2 (overweight). Conclusion: We concluded that COVID-19 caused hyperglycemia in some Iraqi patients at Baghdad, in addition to respiratory infections. © 2023, ResearchTrentz Academy Publishing Education Services. All rights reserved.

Assessment of diagnostic procedures and tools of COVID-19 among Iraqi patients: A systematic review

Background: The pandemic SARS - CoV2 is a novel virus disease that first appeared in China in December 2019. On February 24, 2020, the disease spread throughout Iraq, and many different studies were conducted on it. This study highlights the procedures for diagnosing COVID-19 and evaluating tools among Iraqi patients through a systematic review of research conducted in Iraq during the past two years (2020-2021). Method(s): From March 2020 to December 31, 2021, articles on relevant themes were carefully searched in the main databases: Science Direct, PubMed, Embase, and Iraqi Academic Scientific Journals. Using keywords related to COVID-19 and Iraq yielded a total of 2743 articles. Articles were chosen for this systematic review based on inclusion and exclusion criteria, according to the PRISMA 2020 statement for reporting systematic review. Only Iraqi studies that reported data on diagnostic procedure outcomes were included, with a total of 21 articles chosen. Result(s): A total of 21 articles were found to be relevant, which reviewed the biochemical and hematological parameters as diagnostic procedures and tools in Iraqi patients. The biochemical parameters are as follows: triglycerides, cholesterol, APRs, liver functions tests, kidney functions tests, antibodies, cytokines, and minerals. The hematological parameters are as follows: ABO group, red blood cell (RBC) indices, white blood cell (WBC) indices, and platelet indices. Conclusion(s): Diagnostic procedures and tools for COVID-19 among Iraqi patients were in agreement with the majority of other global studies. High serum erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), C-reactive protein (CRP), ferritin, d-dimer, lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), and cytokines were associated with severe COVID-19 pneumonia and also hypoalbuminemia, lymphocytopenia, and neutrophilia. Biochemical and hematological parameters might be significant indicators for COVID-19 evaluation.

Dentists Perception to Personal Protection Equipment Use during the COVID-19 Pandemic (Analytical Study)

Background: It has been demonstrated that the use of personal protective equipment (PPE) by health care workers, including dentists, reduces the transmission of COVID-19. PPE lowers patient morbidity and death as well as illness and absenteeism. Aim: The purpose of the study was to evaluate the impact of dentists' perceptions of personal infection control and their level of trust in PPE as part of the dental profession's response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Materials and Method: The sample size was (388) participants distributed as specialist, general dental practitioners, dental branch practitioners, and rotators. Google form prepared with specific questions;demographical and knowledge questions translated to the mother language (Arabic Language). Structured and distributed online by sharing the link through electronic platforms. Two responses were used in a statistical analysis using the SPSS version (SPSS Package version (21). Significant p value of 0.05 or less was used. Descriptive statistics were used in the data analysis to analyze the percentage, and mean values. All questions employ the spearman test to determine correlations. Kruskal-Wallis for comparing differences between groups including qualification and experience period between participants. Result: Significant results were shown in both rotators and general practitioners for comparison of different qualification levels between dentists. All dentists had good knowledge regarding the PPE. Conclusions: Overall, dentists in the current study had good knowledge of the PPE used for COVID-19 protection. However, it was discovered that knowledge is important for rotators and general practitioners in the majority of the PPE questions. © 2022, Ain Shams University Faculty of Medicine. All rights reserved.

MEF: Multidimensional Examination Framework for Prioritization of COVID-19 Severe Patients and Promote Precision Medicine Based on Hybrid Multi-Criteria Decision-Making Approaches.

Effective prioritization plays critical roles in precision medicine. Healthcare decisions are complex, involving trade-offs among numerous frequently contradictory priorities. Considering the numerous difficulties associated with COVID-19, approaches that could triage COVID-19 patients may help in prioritizing treatment and provide precise medicine for those who are at risk of serious disease. Prioritizing a patient with COVID-19 depends on a variety of examination criteria, but due to the large number of these biomarkers, it may be hard for medical practitioners and emergency systems to decide which cases should be given priority for treatment. The aim of this paper is to propose a Multidimensional Examination Framework (MEF) for the prioritization of COVID-19 severe patients on the basis of combined multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) methods. In contrast to the existing literature, the MEF has not considered only a single dimension of the examination factors; instead, the proposed framework included different multidimensional examination criteria such as demographic, laboratory findings, vital signs, symptoms, and chronic conditions. A real dataset that consists of data from 78 patients with different examination criteria was used as a base in the construction of Multidimensional Evaluation Matrix (MEM). The proposed framework employs the CRITIC (CRiteria Importance Through Intercriteria Correlation) method to identify objective weights and importance for multidimensional examination criteria. Furthermore, the VIKOR (VIekriterijumsko KOmpromisno Rangiranje) method is utilized to prioritize COVID-19 severe patients. The results based on the CRITIC method showed that the most important examination criterion for prioritization is COVID-19 patients with heart disease, followed by cough and nasal congestion symptoms. Moreover, the VIKOR method showed that Patients 8, 3, 9, 59, and 1 are the most urgent cases that required the highest priority among the other 78 patients. Finally, the proposed framework can be used by medical organizations to prioritize the most critical COVID-19 patient that has multidimensional examination criteria and to promptly give appropriate care for more precise medicine.

Clinical Characteristics and Outcome of Pediatric Cases Managed during the First Wave of the Covid-19 Pandemic at Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital, Zaria

Context: Over 161 million cases of COVID-19 have so far been confirmed globally with over 3.3 million deaths. An understanding of the local epidemiological characteristics in the pediatric population is necessary to enable proper planning of mitigation strategies. Aim: To describe the clinical characteristics and outcomes of pediatric patients with COVID-19. Setting and Design: We conducted a retrospective study on cases of COVID-19 diagnosed by the real-time polymerase chain reaction of nasopharyngeal samples and oropharyngeal swabs managed during the first wave of the pandemic at the Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital. The severity of illness was graded based on clinical features as classified by the World Health Organization. Statistical Analysis was carried out using IBM SPSS Version 23 (California, USA). Results: Forty-six children met the above criteria. The median age was 7 yrs (IQR = 3.75-12). There were more females than males with Covid-19 infection (M:F = 1:1.55). A third (32.6%) of children were asymptomatic while half (50%) had only mild symptoms. Although school-aged children aged 6-11 years were the most infected (30.4%), more severe disease was seen in infants (25%) and those with co-morbidities. Nasal discharge, cough, and fever were the most common presentation occurring in 34.8%, 32.6%, and 26.1%, respectively. The case fatality rate was 6.5%, all occurring amongst those with comorbidities. Conclusion: COVID-19 infection in children is largely mild or asymptomatic. Symptoms when present are indistinguishable from symptoms of other common viruses causing upper respiratory tract infections. Severe disease and mortality were observed among infants and children with co-morbidities.

An Improved Marine Predators Algorithm With Fuzzy Entropy for Multi-Level Thresholding: Real World Example of COVID-19 CT Image Segmentation.

Medical imaging techniques play a critical role in diagnosing diseases and patient healthcare. They help in treatment, diagnosis, and early detection. Image segmentation is one of the most important steps in processing medical images, and it has been widely used in many applications. Multi-level thresholding (MLT) is considered as one of the simplest and most effective image segmentation techniques. Traditional approaches apply histogram methods; however, these methods face some challenges. In recent years, swarm intelligence methods have been leveraged in MLT, which is considered an NP-hard problem. One of the main drawbacks of the SI methods is when searching for optimum solutions, and some may get stuck in local optima. This because during the run of SI methods, they create random sequences among different operators. In this study, we propose a hybrid SI based approach that combines the features of two SI methods, marine predators algorithm (MPA) and moth-?ame optimization (MFO). The proposed approach is called MPAMFO, in which, the MFO is utilized as a local search method for MPA to avoid trapping at local optima. The MPAMFO is proposed as an MLT approach for image segmentation, which showed excellent performance in all experiments. To test the performance of MPAMFO, two experiments were carried out. The first one is to segment ten natural gray-scale images. The second experiment tested the MPAMFO for a real-world application, such as CT images of COVID-19. Therefore, thirteen CT images were used to test the performance of MPAMFO. Furthermore, extensive comparisons with several SI methods have been implemented to examine the quality and the performance of the MPAMFO. Overall experimental results confirm that the MPAMFO is an efficient MLT approach that approved its superiority over other existing methods.

CSR practices and creativity during COVID-19 pandemic in the emerging market: investigating the mediating effect of affective commitment

Purpose This study aims to explore how corporate social responsibility (CSR) dimensions (i.e. economic;legal;ethical;philanthropic) foster employee creativity during the COVID-19 pandemic. Specifically, an attempt is made to investigate the mediating role of affective commitment to explain the above linkage. Design/methodology/approach The survey data were collected from 167 employees in the emerging market of Saudi Arabia. The data was analysed using PLS-SEM for frequency, reliability, confirmatory factor analyses and structural equation modelling. Findings The CSR dimensions, particularly the ethical and philanthropic dimensions, showed both direct and indirect effects on the creativity behaviour of employees during the COVID-19 pandemic. Moreover, affective commitment mediated the relationship between the legal, ethical and philanthropic CSR dimensions and creativity behaviour. Originality/value This study enriches previous CSR empirical research and adds to current literature focused on the determinants of CSR dimensions' effectiveness;particularly, the research is set in a challenging scenario characterized by the pandemic. So, this paper extends previous studies by investigating under which key conditions CSR dimensions are most effective, in particular in two main directions. First, it contributes to the CSR literature by determining how various CSR dimensions influence creativity behaviour during a pandemic. Pandemics are events that occur regularly, and the COVID-19 pandemic, in particular, offers the opportunity to explore its effects on employees' behaviours in the current context. Second, the study's mediation findings contribute to new empirical evidence which suggests that affective commitment has a positive effect on the CSR dimensions of employee creativity behaviour during a pandemic in an emerging market.

Incidence of orthopedic implant removal, its indications, and the effect of the covid-19 pandemic

Aims & Objective. To assess the incidence and rate of implant removal among orthopedic patients, its indications, and the effect of COVID-19 pandemic. Material & Method: A retrospective study was done during the period from October 2017 to October 2020 included all patients admitted for removal of orthopedic implants. Results: One-hundred eleven patients with a mean age of 28 ± 10.9 years were included in this study. Most (83.8%) were males. The incidence rate of removal was 20.2%. The mean period between implant fixation and removal was 26 ± 20 months. Lower limb fractures constituted 85.6% of cases with about half of them as foot and ankle fractures. The most frequently presented fractures were femur and tibia (33.3% and 21.6%, respectively), while the most frequently removed implants were plate and screws (43.2%). Only 8.9% of surgeries were indicated for removal, and only 4.5% of all patients suffered post-removal complications. Conclusion: Non indicated implant removal occurs at a significantly high rate in Saudi Arabia. No real indications for such a procedure were found in the majority of patients. COVID-19 control strategies caused a significant decrease in this high rate.

Boosting Atomic Orbit Search Using Dynamic-Based Learning for Feature Selection

Feature selection (FS) is a well-known preprocess step in soft computing and machine learning algorithms. It plays a critical role in different real-world applications since it aims to determine the relevant features and remove other ones. This process (i.e., FS) reduces the time and space complexity of the learning technique used to handle the collected data. The feature selection methods based on metaheuristic (MH) techniques established their performance over all the conventional FS methods. So, in this paper, we presented a modified version of new MH techniques named Atomic Orbital Search (AOS) as FS technique. This is performed using the advances of dynamic opposite-based learning (DOL) strategy that is used to enhance the ability of AOS to explore the search domain. This is performed by increasing the diversity of the solutions during the searching process and updating the search domain. A set of eighteen datasets has been used to evaluate the efficiency of the developed FS approach, named AOSD, and the results of AOSD are compared with other MH methods. From the results, AOSD can reduce the number of features by preserving or increasing the classification accuracy better than other MH techniques.

Predictive factors of mortality related to COVID-19: A retrospective cohort study of 600 cases in the intensive care unit of the university hospital of Oujda.

INTRODUCTION: Although the corona virus is responsible in the majority of cases for mild symptoms, there are sometimes severe and even lethal forms of this disease. Our study aimed to identify clinical and para-clinical predictors of mortality related to COVID-19. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This is a single-center retrospective cohort study conducted from March 2020 to December 2020 at intensive care unit department of Mohamed VI University Hospital Oujda, Morocco including 600 patients with COVID-19. RESULTS: We included 600 patients, the mortality rate was 32.50%, the predictors of mortality identified in our study were: associated heart disease (RR: 1.826; CI: [1.081-3.084]; p:0.024), high D-dimer level at admission (RR:1.027; CI: [1.011-1.047]; p:0.001), need for mechanical ventilation (RR: 4.158; CI: [2.648-6.530]; p: <0.0001). CONCLUSION: Based on these results, we were able to identify 3 predictors of COVID 19 mortality (associated heart failure, high D-dimer level on admission, and need for mechanical ventilation). These predictors could help clinicians to identify early patients with high risk of lethality in order to reduce mortality related to corona virus.

Hematological and morphological changes in the peripheral blood smear of patients with covid-19

Background: The novel coronavirus is responsible for a widespread pandemic, causing multiple clinical manifestations. Peripheral blood films have shown changes in white blood cell (WBC) morphology and counts, as well as platelet abnormalities. Atypical and reactive lymphocytes may also be observed in the blood film, which suggests mild leukoerythroblastosis. Objectives: The present study aimed to evaluate the hematological and morphological changes in the peripheral blood smear of patients with COVID-19. Methods: This study was conducted on 175 patients diagnosed with COVID-19 infection. Blood samples were collected from the patients and examined for the estimation of blood parameters, differential cell count, and presence of atypical lymphocytes. Results: The mean age of the patients was 53.73 years, and males constituted 52.6% of the patients. The majority had normal hemoglobin levels. WBC count was normal in 60.6% of the patients, while 74.3% had normal platelet count, and thrombocytope-nia was detected in 23.4%. In addition, differential WBC count indicated that 56.6% of the patients had normal neutrophils, while lymphopenia was detected in 28 and 77.7% had a low eosinophil count. The peripheral blood smears showed atypical lymphocytes with deeply basophilic cytoplasm in 21.14% of the patients. Conclusions: Blood film examination may show multiple abnormal findings in patients with COVID-19 infection. Neutrophilia and lymphopenia with the presence of atypical lymphocytes are frequently observed as well. Low eosinophil count is also highly common. Although platelets showed changes, they were normal or reduced in most cases.

Covid 19: Evaluate of liver and renal function tests in iraqi patients

The clinical features of COVID-19 are varied, ranging from asymptomatic state to acute respiratory distress syndrome and multi organ dysfunction. We aim to evaluate renal and liver functions of patients with COVID 19. Laboratory results were obtained from 107 patients with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 who were admitted to the only Al-Furat General Hospital in Baghdad, Iraq from March 3 to June 9, 2020 and followed up until recovery. Normal levels of renal functions were presented. Meanwhile elevated levels of alanine aminotransferase (ALT) was observed in 10% and of aspartate aminotransferase (AST) was observed in 40% of patients with COVID 19,yet on comparison of the results at entering with at recovery it was observed significant differences (p<0.01) of all patients. From these findings we conclude that the virus might be responsible for systemic inflammation.

The incidence of fetal deaththat associated with cytomegalovirus and toxoplasmosis in pregnant women with covid-19

In the current study, 100-blood samples were collected from aborted women who attended Imam Ali Hospital\Baghdad, Iraq during the period from 1st March to 15th December 2020. The results showed that the distribution ofCOVID-19, Toxoplasma and CMV within the age group (20-29) years was as follows: Toxoplasma 2 (2.0%), COVID 18 (18.0%) and CMV 0 (0.0%), while their distribution within the age group (30-39) years was as follows: Toxoplasma 2 (2.0%), COVID 9 (9.0%) and CMV 0 (0.0%), whereas the distribution of these infections within the age group (40-49) years was as follows: Toxoplasma 0 (0.0%), COVID 2 (2.0%) and CMV 5 (5.0%). The prevalence ofCOVID-19 was 38 (38.0%), while the prevalence of Toxoplasma was 11(11.0%), whereas the prevalence of CMV was 0 (0.0%) in the urban areas. However, within the rural areas, the prevalence of COVID-19 was 58 (58.0%) and Toxoplasmosis was 18 (18.0%) while the prevalence of CMV was 0 (0.0). In aborted women,4 (4.0%) of Toxoplasmosis was recorded without CMV infection 0 (0.0%). In patients infected withCOVID-19,IgM antibodies were detected in 29 (29.0%) in comparison with CMV infection 0 (0.0%) with a highly significant difference.In conclusion, the age group (20-29) years exhibited a higher prevalence of COVID-19 than other age groups. The COVID-19 infections were predominant in the urban and rural areas than other infections. Additionally, no association between CMV and COVID-19 infections can be noticed, thus This study indicated that no actual participation between those infected with Covid-19 among pregnant women and toxoplasmosis as well as CMV resulted in fetus killing inside the mother's womb. © 2021, Universitatea de Vest Vasile Goldis din Arad. All rights reserved.

SARS-CoV-2 infection in mortuary and cemetery workers.

BACKGROUND: Mortuary and cemetery workers may be exposed to the bodies of people with SARS-CoV-2 infection; however, prevalence of infection among these groups is unknown. METHODS: Nasopharyngeal swabs (NPS) for RT-PCR and serologic testing for SARS-CoV-2 were performed on mortuary and cemetery workers in Qatar. Data on specific job duties, living conditions, contact history, and clinical course were gathered. Environmental sampling was carried out to explore any association with infection. Logistic regression analysis was used to determine the factors associated with infection. RESULTS: Forty-seven mortuary workers provided an NPS and seven (14.9%) were PCR positive; 32 provided a blood sample and eight (25%) were antibody positive, six (75%) who were seropositive were also PCR positive. Among the 81 cemetery workers, 76 provided an NPS and five (6.6%) were PCR positive; 64 provided a blood sample and 22 (34.4%) were antibody positive, three (13.6%) who were seropositive were also PCR positive. Three (22.2%) and 20 (83.3%) of the infected mortuary and cemetery workers were asymptomatic, respectively. Age <30 years (OR 4.9, 95% CI 1.7-14.6), community exposure with a known case (OR 4.7, 95% CI 1.7-13.3), and presence of symptoms in the preceding 2 weeks (OR 9.0, 95% CI 1.9-42.0) were independently associated with an increased risk of infection (PCR or antibody positive). Of the 46 environmental and surface samples, all were negative or had a Ct value of >35. CONCLUSION: A substantial proportion of mortuary and cemetery workers had evidence of SARS-CoV-2 infection, which was incidentally detected upon serologic testing. These data are most consistent with community acquisition rather than occupational acquisition.

Improved ANFIS model for forecasting Wuhan City Air Quality and analysis COVID-19 lockdown impacts on air quality.

In this study, we propose an improved version of the adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system (ANFIS) for forecasting the air quality index in Wuhan City, China. We propose a hybrid optimization method to improve ANFIS performance, called PSOSMA, using a new modified meta-heuristics (MH) algorithm, Slime mould algorithm (SMA), which is improved by using the particle swarm optimizer (PSO). The proposed PSOSMA-ANFIS has been trained with air quality index time series data of three years and has been applied to forecast the fine particulate matter (PM2.5), sulfur dioxide (SO2), carbon dioxide (CO2), and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) for one year. We also compared the proposed PSOSMA to other MH algorithms used to train ANFIS. We found that the modified ANFIS using PSOSMA achieved better performance than compared algorithms. Moreover, we analyzed the impacts of the lockdown of Wuhan City on the concentrations of PM2.5, NO2, CO2, and SO2. We compared the correspondence period with previous years, and we concluded that there are significant decreases in the concentrations of PM2.5, CO2, SO2, and NO2.

COVID-19 X-ray images classification based on enhanced fractional-order cuckoo search optimizer using heavy-tailed distributions.

Classification of COVID-19 X-ray images to determine the patient's health condition is a critical issue these days since X-ray images provide more information about the patient's lung status. To determine the COVID-19 case from other normal and abnormal cases, this work proposes an alternative method that extracted the informative features from X-ray images, leveraging on a new feature selection method to determine the relevant features. As such, an enhanced cuckoo search optimization algorithm (CS) is proposed using fractional-order calculus (FO) and four different heavy-tailed distributions in place of the Lévy flight to strengthen the algorithm performance during dealing with COVID-19 multi-class classification optimization task. The classification process includes three classes, called normal patients, COVID-19 infected patients, and pneumonia patients. The distributions used are Mittag-Leffler distribution, Cauchy distribution, Pareto distribution, and Weibull distribution. The proposed FO-CS variants have been validated with eighteen UCI data-sets as the first series of experiments. For the second series of experiments, two data-sets for COVID-19 X-ray images are considered. The proposed approach results have been compared with well-regarded optimization algorithms. The outcomes assess the superiority of the proposed approach for providing accurate results for UCI and COVID-19 data-sets with remarkable improvements in the convergence curves, especially with applying Weibull distribution instead of Lévy flight.

SARS-CoV-2 and Plasmodium falciparum common immunodominant regions may explain low COVID-19 incidence in the malaria-endemic belt.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has caused significant morbidity and mortality and new cases are on the rise globally, yet malaria-endemic areas report statistically significant lower incidences. We identified potential shared targets for an immune response to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) by immune determinants' shared identities with P. falciparum using the Immune Epitope Database and Analysis Resource Immune 9.0 browser tool. Probable cross-reactivity is suggested through HLA-A∗02:01 and subsequent CD8+ T-cell activation. The apparent immunodominant epitope conservation between SARS-CoV-2 (N and open reading frame (ORF) 1ab) and P. falciparum thrombospondin-related anonymous protein (TRAP) may underlie the low COVID-19 incidence in the malaria-endemic zone by providing immunity against virus infection to those previously infected with Plasmodium. Additionally, we hypothesize that the shared epitopes which lie within antigens that aid in the establishment of the P. falciparum erythrocyte invasion may be an alternative route for SARS-CoV-2 via the erythrocyte CD147 receptor, although this remains to be proven.

Efficient artificial intelligence forecasting models for COVID-19 outbreak in Russia and Brazil.

COVID-19 is a new member of the Coronaviridae family that has serious effects on respiratory, gastrointestinal, and neurological systems. COVID-19 spreads quickly worldwide and affects more than 41.5 million persons (till 23 October 2020). It has a high hazard to the safety and health of people all over the world. COVID-19 has been declared as a global pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO). Therefore, strict special policies and plans should be made to face this pandemic. Forecasting COVID-19 cases in hotspot regions is a critical issue, as it helps the policymakers to develop their future plans. In this paper, we propose a new short term forecasting model using an enhanced version of the adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system (ANFIS). An improved marine predators algorithm (MPA), called chaotic MPA (CMPA), is applied to enhance the ANFIS and to avoid its shortcomings. More so, we compared the proposed CMPA with three artificial intelligence-based models include the original ANFIS, and two modified versions of ANFIS model using both of the original marine predators algorithm (MPA) and particle swarm optimization (PSO). The forecasting accuracy of the models was compared using different statistical assessment criteria. CMPA significantly outperformed all other investigated models.