Developing a mortality risk prediction model using data of 3663 hospitalized COVID-19 patients: a retrospective cohort study in an Egyptian University Hospital.

PURPOSE: Since the declaration of COVID-19 as a pandemic, a wide between-country variation was observed regarding in-hospital mortality and its predictors. Given the scarcity of local research and the need to prioritize the provision of care, this study was conducted aiming to measure the incidence of in-hospital COVID-19 mortality and to develop a simple and clinically applicable model for its prediction. METHODS: COVID-19-confirmed patients admitted to the designated isolation areas of Ain-Shams University Hospitals (April 2020-February 2021) were included in this retrospective cohort study (n = 3663). Data were retrieved from patients' records. Kaplan-Meier survival and Cox proportional hazard regression were used. Binary logistic regression was used for creating mortality prediction models. RESULTS: Patients were 53.6% males, 4.6% current smokers, and their median age was 58 (IQR 41-68) years. Admission to intensive care units was 41.1% and mortality was 26.5% (972/3663, 95% CI 25.1-28.0%). Independent mortality predictors-with rapid mortality onset-were age ≥ 75 years, patients' admission in critical condition, and being symptomatic. Current smoking and presence of comorbidities particularly, obesity, malignancy, and chronic haematological disorders predicted mortality too. Some biomarkers were also recognized. Two prediction models exhibited the best performance: a basic model including age, presence/absence of comorbidities, and the severity level of the condition on admission (Area Under Receiver Operating Characteristic Curve (AUC) = 0.832, 95% CI 0.816-0.847) and another model with added International Normalized Ratio (INR) value (AUC = 0.842, 95% CI 0.812-0.873). CONCLUSION: Patients with the identified mortality risk factors are to be prioritized for preventive and rapid treatment measures. With the provided prediction models, clinicians can calculate mortality probability for their patients. Presenting multiple and very generic models can enable clinicians to choose the one containing the parameters available in their specific clinical setting, and also to test the applicability of such models in a non-COVID-19 respiratory infection.

K-Mer Spectrum-Based Error Correction Algorithm for Next-Generation Sequencing Data.

In the mid-1970s, the first-generation sequencing technique (Sanger) was created. It used Advanced BioSystems sequencing devices and Beckman's GeXP genetic testing technology. The second-generation sequencing (2GS) technique arrived just several years after the first human genome was published in 2003. 2GS devices are very quicker than Sanger sequencing equipment, with considerably cheaper manufacturing costs and far higher throughput in the form of short reads. The third-generation sequencing (3GS) method, initially introduced in 2005, offers further reduced manufacturing costs and higher throughput. Even though sequencing technique has result generations, it is error-prone due to a large number of reads. The study of this massive amount of data will aid in the decoding of life secrets, the detection of infections, the development of improved crops, and the improvement of life quality, among other things. This is a challenging task, which is complicated not just by a large number of reads and by the occurrence of sequencing mistakes. As a result, error correction is a crucial duty in data processing; it entails identifying and correcting read errors. Various k-spectrum-based error correction algorithms' performance can be influenced by a variety of characteristics like coverage depth, read length, and genome size, as demonstrated in this work. As a result, time and effort must be put into selecting acceptable approaches for error correction of certain NGS data.

Secure dynamic multiparty quantum private comparison.

We propose a feasible and efficient dynamic multiparty quantum private comparison protocol that is fully secure against participant attacks. In the proposed scheme, two almost-dishonest third parties generate two random keys and send them to all participants. Every participant independently encrypts their private information with the encryption keys and sends it to the third parties. The third parties can analyze the equality of all or some participants' secrets without gaining access to the secret information. New participants can dynamically join the protocol without the need for any additional conditions in the protocol. We provide detailed correctness and security analysis of the proposed protocol. Our security analysis of the proposed protocol against both inside and outside attacks proves that attackers cannot extract any secret information.

DNA Watermarking Using Codon Postfix Technique.

DNA watermarking is a data hiding technique that aims to protect the copyright of DNA sequences and ensures the security of private genetic information. In this paper, we proposed a novel DNA watermarking technique that can be used to embed binary bits into real DNA sequences. The proposed technique mutates the codon postfix according to the embedded bit. Our method was tested for a sample set of DNA sequences and the extracted bits showed robustness against mutation. Furthermore, the proposed DNA watermarking method proved to be secured, undetectable, resistance, and preservative to biological functions.