scholarly journals Prediction of viral symptoms using wearable technology and artificial intelligence: A pilot study in healthcare workers

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (10) ◽  
pp. e0257997
Author(s):  
Pierre-François D’Haese ◽  
Victor Finomore ◽  
Dmitry Lesnik ◽  
Laura Kornhauser ◽  
Tobias Schaefer ◽  
...  

Conventional testing and diagnostic methods for infections like SARS-CoV-2 have limitations for population health management and public policy. We hypothesize that daily changes in autonomic activity, measured through off-the-shelf technologies together with app-based cognitive assessments, may be used to forecast the onset of symptoms consistent with a viral illness. We describe our strategy using an AI model that can predict, with 82% accuracy (negative predictive value 97%, specificity 83%, sensitivity 79%, precision 34%), the likelihood of developing symptoms consistent with a viral infection three days before symptom onset. The model correctly predicts, almost all of the time (97%), individuals who will not develop viral-like illness symptoms in the next three days. Conversely, the model correctly predicts as positive 34% of the time, individuals who will develop viral-like illness symptoms in the next three days. This model uses a conservative framework, warning potentially pre-symptomatic individuals to socially isolate while minimizing warnings to individuals with a low likelihood of developing viral-like symptoms in the next three days. To our knowledge, this is the first study using wearables and apps with machine learning to predict the occurrence of viral illness-like symptoms. The demonstrated approach to forecasting the onset of viral illness-like symptoms offers a novel, digital decision-making tool for public health safety by potentially limiting viral transmission.

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (39) ◽  
pp. 50-61
Author(s):  
Alisar Hudimova ◽  
Ihor Popovych ◽  
Vita Baidyk ◽  
Olena Buriak ◽  
Olha Kechyk

Aim. The present study empirically investigates and theoretically substantiates the results of the impact of social media on young web-users’ psychological well-being during the forced self-isolation caused by the progression of the COVID-19 pandemic (N = 254). Materials and methods. Standardized valid psycho-diagnostic methods, the author’s questionnaire (A. Hudimova, 2021), correlation and factor analyses were used to identify young web users’ patterns of social media involvement during the forced self-isolation. Results. The results show that during the global COVID-19 pandemic, young web users give preference for passive social media use rather than for communication. The obtained results showed an expansion in the time spent via social media by young web users. It was found that the progression of the COVID-19 pandemic is accompanied by the participants’ experience of negative emotions and fears of the unknown (r = .204; p <.01). It is substantiated that increasing immersion of young web users in social media is a kind of strategy to escape from bad thoughts (r = .271; p <.01). Significantly, it is stated that uncontrolled use of social media causes sleep disorders during isolation (r = .444; p <.01). Conclusions. The study proves that young people spend almost all day online due to the obsessive pattern of social media involvement and/or procrastination, which often provokes withdrawal syndrome upon the attempt to distract from them. The lack of controlled time spending on social media during self-isolation provokes an exacerbation of anxiety, apathy, depressed mood, and a sense of isolation from social reality. The obtained results provide evidence that the causal relations of passive social media use provoke an exacerbation of feelings of alienation, disrupt the healthy rhythm of sleep, and psychological state of young web-users during the progression of the COVID-19 pandemic.


Parasitology ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 145 (8) ◽  
pp. 1095-1104 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. J. O’ Reilly ◽  
C. Laide ◽  
A Maloy ◽  
S. Hutton ◽  
B. Bookelaar ◽  
...  

AbstractThe Pacific oyster Crassostrea gigas contributes significantly to global aquaculture; however, C. gigas culture has been affected by ostreid herpesvirus-1 (OsHV-1) and variants. The dynamics of how the virus maintains itself at culture sites is unclear and the role of carriers, reservoirs or hosts is unknown. Both wild and cultured mussels Mytilus spp. (Mytilus edulis, Mytilus galloprovincialis and hybrids) are commonly found at C. gigas culture sites. The objective of this study was to investigate if Mytilus spp. can harbour the virus and if viral transmission can occur between mussels and oysters. Mytilus spp. living at oyster trestles, 400–500 m higher up the shore from the trestles and up to 26 km at non-culture sites were screened for OsHV-1 and variants by all the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) recommended diagnostic methods including polymerase chain reaction (PCR), quantitative PCR (qPCR), histology, in situ hybridization and confirmation using direct sequencing. The particular primers that target OsHV-1 and variants, including OsHV-1 microVar (μVar), were used in the PCR and qPCR. OsHV-1 μVar was detected in wild Mytilus spp. at C. gigas culture sites and more significantly the virus was detected in mussels at non-culture sites. Cohabitation of exposed wild mussels and naïve C. gigas resulted in viral transmission after 14 days, under an elevated temperature regime. These results indicate that mussels can harbour OsHV-1 μVar; however, the impact of OsHV-1 μVar on Mytilus spp. requires further investigation.


Author(s):  
Paul Shears ◽  
David Harvey

This chapter outlines the natural history of infections caused by a variety of organisms. These organisms may already colonize a patient (endogenous) or come from another source (exogenous). They vary in the time it takes to cause symptoms (incubation period). Some are more infective than others, and the infective period varies depending on the organism. A range of diagnostic methods are used to identify the disease, from growing the organism (culture) to using molecular techniques to identify characteristics unique to the organism. Understanding what is causing an infection is important in public health management to support outbreak identification and management. Advanced techniques can identify whether the organism is likely to be transmitted from one individual to another. Antimicrobial resistance is becoming more and more problematic and can lead to difficulties of treatment of even simple infections.


2010 ◽  
Vol 68 (1) ◽  
pp. 119-126 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ricardo André Amorim Leite ◽  
Maria Concépcion Garcia Otaduy ◽  
Gilson Edmar Gonçalves e Silva ◽  
Maria Lúcia Brito Ferreira ◽  
Maria de Fátima Vasco Aragão

The progress of epilepsies diagnosis has been great, but, amongst the diagnostic detailing that demand research, one of the most important is the essential lateralization and localization of epileptogenic zone, considered as the cerebral cortex region, that removed, will result in a free state of seizures. The present study aims to analyze the possible uses of proton spectroscopy for clinical and pre-surgical evaluation of focal extratemporal epilepsies, since this group presents the highest difficulty degree for lateralizing and locating epileptogenic zones. In almost all cases, a non invasive diagnosis can be performed using routine electroencephalography, video-electroencephalography - considered as gold standard, and magnetic resonance imaging. However, when the results of these exams are contradictory, some patients need invasive techniques, as the intra-cranial video-EEG, using deep electrodes, sub-dural strip and grid, that are associated with increased diagnostic cost and risk of complications, as cerebral hemorrhages and intra-cranial infections. Proton spectroscopy appears as a possibility, given its capacity to evaluate cerebral metabolism, by N-acetyl-aspartate (NAA), creatine (Cre) and choline (Cho) concentrations, amongst other metabolites. This non invasive method may provide time reduction of this evaluation and reliable level improvement for this topographical diagnosis.


2009 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 29-37
Author(s):  
Md Moklesur Rahman Sarker ◽  
Abdul Ghani

An extensive survey study was carried out on different aspects of health management practices of the Garo communities in Bangladesh to assess their actual present health status. The study was carried out on 1205 respondents out of 40,173 total Garo people of the study area of greater Mymensingh district. The study revealed that Garos enjoy a better health status than the common Bengali community. It was also observed that traditional cultural practices have great influence on the health management of the Garos. Many of the Garos think that diseases result from the dissatisfaction of the gods and goddesses or curses of the evil spirits. Thus they sacrifice animals to please the spirits to get relief of their diseases. Almost all the Garos use water from tube well (53.69%) or puller pump (44.81%) for drinking, bathing and cleaning purposes. Every family has a latrine. Almost everybody is concerned about regular dental care and half of the Garos are concerned about family planning. Garos eat a wider variety of foods including numerous natural plants as vegetables, some of which have medicinal values. Traditionally Garos are fond of drinking wine, prepared from boiled rice. The study also revealed that the Garos are generally less attacked by diseases than the common Bengali people. This may be attributed to their better living environment, food habits, cleanliness, hard work in the fields and sufficient rest after work and, after all, consciousness about health and diseases. But yet, diseases are quite common in this community; the most common one being Malaria. Most of the Garos take treatment from their traditional health practitioners although treatment of modern Allopathic system is available in the local Christian hospitals. About 55.68% of the Garos expressed their firm faith on their traditional treatment systems. In spite of some superstitions about diseases and health, the overall health status of the Garos is comparatively better than the majority of the mainland Bengali community. Key Words: Garo community, Garo culture, Health management practices, Traditional healers     doi:10.3329/sjps.v1i1.1783 S. J. Pharm. Sci. 1(1&2): 29-37


2020 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
pp. 1-8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcello Andrea Tipaldi ◽  
Elena Lucertini ◽  
Gianluigi Orgera ◽  
Aleksejs Zolovkins ◽  
Florindo Lauirno ◽  
...  

Introduction: The management of the diffusion of Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic represents a massive problem for healthcare systems worldwide and Interventional Radiology (IR) is a fundamental hospital unit which must continue to provide its service. The aim of this article is to summarize the preventive measures taken in our IR unit and to report the results of these measures over a 7 weeks period. Material and Methods: Between the 25th of February, when we started to apply the recommended containing measures, and the 6th of April 2020, when all the IR staff started to undergo nasopharyngeal and oropharyngeal swabs screening, a total of 25 healthcare operators worked at our IR unit. Operators who, during this period, also worked in other hospital units such as diagnostic emergency department or other healthcare facilities, were excluded. Nasopharyngeal and oropharyngeal swabs screening and blood samples for specific SARS-CoV-2 IgG-IgM were retrospectively evaluated. Results: The overall procedures number decreased by a rate of 33% and twenty-three (16%) were performed in confirmed or strongly suspected COVID-19 patients. Two procedures were performed in non-suspected ones, who revealed positive in the following hospitalization days. Seventeen operators were included in the study. Only one of them resulted positive at the swabs, with an estimated infection rate in our IR unit of 6%. Specific SARS-CoV-2 IgG-IgM resulted negative in all the operators included. Conclusion: Our experience demonstrates that applying adequate measures to limit SARS-CoV-2 infection spread can efficiently reduce the viral transmission among IR healthcare workers.


2015 ◽  
Vol 38 (1) ◽  
pp. 73-78
Author(s):  
Ivica Gjurovski ◽  
Branko Angelovski ◽  
Toni Dovenski ◽  
Dine Mitrov ◽  
Trpe Ristoski

Abstract The aim of this study is to compare the results from the histopathology and the immunohistochemical method in the diagnostic of Porcine circovirus type 2 (PCV2) infection in pigs. The circovirus infection is a pig disease that is caused by a small, spherical, nonenveloped virus with a single stranded DNA genome which is spread throughout the pig industry worldwide. The circovirus is the etiological agent of a several pig diseases which today are thought to be the cause of the greatest economical loses in pig production. The most important of these diseases is the PMWS (post-weaning multisystemic wasting syndrome). In this article we have performed an investigation of four farms on which there had been a previous clinical diagnosis of the Post-weaning multisystemic wasting syndrome. The examination was performed on thirty pigs from these farms, from two to five months old, which had the most severe symptoms of the disease. Necropsy, histopathology and immunohistochemical diagnostic methods were performed. The most significant necropsy findings were the enlarged lymph nodes (especially the inguinal, mediasinal and the mesenteric lymph nodes). The main histopathological changes were located in the lymphatic organs presented by B and T lymphocyte depletion and increase in the number of the macrophages. PCV2 antigen and nucleic acid were detected in almost all of the examined tissues. The examination showed that the histopathological and immunohistochemical methods provide complementary results in diagnosing PCV2 in pigs.


2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (7) ◽  
pp. 127-139
Author(s):  
Claver BOUNDJA

Among the institutional instruments likely to participate in the economic development of a country, banks occupy a crucial place, as their role affects means of payment, exchanges, credit, financial transactions and advice. The analysis of paradigms and mechanisms of the banking system makes it possible to intervene in the heart of the economic system. Congo's banking system, like that of almost all African countries, is characterized by half a century of failure, several bankruptcies, endemic corruption, the embezzlement and exclusion of so-called poor populations and rural. This article proposes a model of the endogenous financing of the real economy through solidarity banks. Our objective is to formulate a decision-making tool for economic and financial governance, in terms of financing local development. We propose to explain the importance of monetary policy and the renovated banking system on endogenous bases, according to traditional African values.


Author(s):  
Mayce Mansour ◽  
Emily Levin ◽  
Kimberly Muellers ◽  
Kimberly Stone ◽  
Rao Mendu ◽  
...  

Background: SARS-CoV-2 antibody testing is important for understanding immunity prevalence, and may have implications for healthcare workers (HCW) during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. Methods: We conducted immunologic testing of healthcare workers to determine the prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 IgG in this population. HCW were advised to wait at least two weeks from time of symptom onset or suspected exposure before undergoing testing. All participants were self-reported asymptomatic for at least three days at the time of testing. Results: Two hundred eighty-five samples were collected from March 24, 2020 to April 4, 2020. The average age of participants was 38 years (range 18-84), and 54% were male. Thirty-three percept tested IgG positive, 3% tested weakly positive, and 64% tested negative. Neither age nor sex was associated with antibody development. Conclusion: Thirty-six percent of HCW had IgG antibodies to SARS-CoV-2, reflecting the high exposure of inpatient and ambulatory frontline staff to this viral illness, most of whom had minimal symptoms and were working in the weeks preceding testing. While we continue to recommend standard protective precautions per CDC guidelines for all HCW, HCW with SARS-CoV-2 IgG may become our safest frontline providers as we learn if our IgG antibodies confer immunity. Knowing IgG antibody status may ease concerns regarding personal risk as this pandemic continues.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document