Diagnosis of COVID-19 using CT scan images and deep learning techniques.

Early diagnosis of the coronavirus disease in 2019 (COVID-19) is essential for controlling this pandemic. COVID-19 has been spreading rapidly all over the world. There is no vaccine available for this virus yet. Fast and accurate COVID-19 screening is possible using computed tomography (CT) scan images. The deep learning techniques used in the proposed method is based on a convolutional neural network (CNN). Our manuscript focuses on differentiating the CT scan images of COVID-19 and non-COVID 19 CT using different deep learning techniques. A self-developed model named CTnet-10 was designed for the COVID-19 diagnosis, having an accuracy of 82.1%. Also, other models that we tested are DenseNet-169, VGG-16, ResNet-50, InceptionV3, and VGG-19. The VGG-19 proved to be superior with an accuracy of 94.52% as compared to all other deep learning models. Automated diagnosis of COVID-19 from the CT scan pictures can be used by the doctors as a quick and efficient method for COVID-19 screening.

Tension Pneumocephalus Secondary to Positive Pressure Ventilation Following Endoscopic Endonasal Skull Base Surgery: Three-Year Follow-Up After Implementation of an Institutional Protocol.

BACKGROUND: Tension pneumocephalus (PMC) is a rare and feared complication following the endonasal endoscopic approach (EEA) to skull base procedures. This is a neurosurgical emergency that requires urgent decompression to avoid catastrophic neurologic damage or death. An avoidable cause is the application of positive pressure ventilation (PPV) in EEA patients for postoperative hypoxia. Our institution implemented a hospital-wide protocol in response to this to identify and manage at-risk patients; this paper aims to identify if this protocol was effective in lowering the rates of tension PMC secondary to PPV. RESULTS: In the 3 years following the implementation of the protocol, 110 patients underwent EEAs, from which 1 case of tension PMC (found to be not secondary to PPV) was identified. This is compared with 2 cases of tension PMC secondary to PPV over the preceding 5 years, out of 406 EEA patients. This constitutes a quantifiable reduction in PPV-related tension PMC in both standard and extended approach EEAs, signifying the effective uptake of the protocol. CONCLUSIONS: We found no cases of tension PMC after PPV following EEA skull base surgery in our institution since the implementation of an institution-wide guideline. This underscores the utility of our simple and cost-effective preventative protocol in reducing the overall rates of tension PMC following the inadvertent postoperative application of PPV. Further research is needed to study the comparative risks and benefits of PPV in the post-EEA patient and thus inform future iterations of the protocol.

Umbilical cord blood-derived therapy for preterm lung injury: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

INTRODUCTION: Lung injuries, such as bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD), remain a major complication of preterm birth, with limited therapeutic options. One potential emerging therapy is umbilical cord blood (UCB)-derived therapy. OBJECTIVES: To systematically assess the safety and efficacy of UCB-derived therapy for preterm lung injury in preclinical and clinical studies. METHODS: A systematic search of MEDLINE, Embase, CENTRAL, ClinicalTrials.gov, and WHO International Trials Registry Platform was performed. A meta-analysis was conducted with Review Manager (5.4.1) using a random effects model. Data was expressed as standardized mean difference (SMD) for preclinical data and pooled relative risk (RR) for clinical data, with 95% confidence intervals (CI). Potential effect modifiers were investigated via subgroup analysis. Certainty of evidence was assessed using the GRADE system. RESULTS: Twenty-three preclinical studies and six clinical studies met eligibility criteria. Statistically significant improvements were seen across several preclinical outcomes, including alveolarization (SMD, 1.32, 95%CI [0.99, 1.65]), angiogenesis (SMD, 1.53, 95%CI [0.87, 2.18]), and anti-inflammatory cytokines (SMD, 1.68, 95%CI [1.03, 2.34]). In clinical studies, 103 preterm infants have received UCB-derived therapy for preterm lung injury and no significant difference was observed in the development of BPD (RR, 0.93, 95%CI [0.73, 1.18]). Across both preclinical and clinical studies, administration of UCB-derived therapy appeared safe. Certainty of evidence was assessed as "low." CONCLUSIONS: Administration of UCB-derived therapy was associated with statistically significant improvements across several lung injury markers in preclinical studies. Early clinical studies demonstrated the administration of UCB-derived therapy as safe and feasible but lacked data regarding efficacy.

A statistical and deep learning-based daily infected count prediction system for the coronavirus pandemic.

We present new data analytics-based predictions results that can help governments to plan their future actions and also help medical services to be better prepared for the future. Our system can predict new corona cases with 99.82% accuracy using susceptible infected recovered (SIR) model. We have predicted the results of new COVID cases per day for dense and highly populated country i.e. India. We found that traditional statistical methods will not work efficiently as they do not consider the limited population in a particular country. Using the data analytics-based curve we predicted four most likely possibilities for the number of new cases in India. Hence, we expect that the results mentioned in the manuscript help people to better understand the progress of this disease. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12065-021-00600-2.

Applications of natural product-derived carbon dots in cancer biology.

Natural products have contributed conspicuously to the development of innovative nanomedicines. Hence, the interface between nanomaterial science and plant natural products may bestow comprehensive diagnostic and therapeutic strategies for tackling diseases such as cancer and neurological disorders. Natural product-derived carbon dots (NPdCDs) have revealed noteworthy attributes in the fields of cancer theranostics, microbial imaging, drug sensing and drug delivery. As plants consist of a cocktail of bioactive phytomolecules, the NPdCDs can be anticipated to have medicinal properties, biocompatibility, photo-stability and easy functionalization. NPdCDs have wide-ranging applications. The primary objective of this review is to comment on recent developments in the use of NPdCDs, with special reference to their application in cancer biology. The future of the use of NPdCDs has also been considered.

Bilateral Single System Ectopic Ureters With Vaginal Insertion in a Female Child, A Rare Variant.

In most cases an ectopic ureter is associated with a duplicated renal collecting system while in only a few single systems is found. Bilateral single system ureteral ectopia is even rarer. A 9-year-old girl presented with urinary incontinence. Investigations pointed towards bilateral single system ectopic ureters with ectopic openings into vagina with a hypoplastic bladder. The left ureteric system was tortuous with malrotated and hypoplastic left kidney. A 4 × 2 cm hard calculus was found in the vagina. Right Ureteric reimplantation with left to right uretero-ureterostomy was done with satisfactory postoperative day time continence at 6 months without the need for bladder reconstruction or urinary diversion.