A data mining analysis of COVID-19 cases in states of United States of America

Epidemic diseases can be extremely dangerous with its hazarding influences. They may have negative effects on economies, businesses, environment, humans, and workforce. In this paper, some of the factors that are interrelated with COVID-19 pandemic have been examined using data mining methodologies and approaches. As a result of the analysis some rules and insights have been discovered and performances of the data mining algorithms have been evaluated. According to the analysis results, JRip algorithmic technique had the most correct classification rate and the lowest root mean squared error (RMSE). Considering classification rate and RMSE measure, JRip can be considered as an effective method in understanding factors that are related with corona virus caused deaths.

MeetDurian: Can Location-Based Games be Used to Improve COVID-19 Hygiene Habits?

The COVID-19 problem has not gone away with the passing of the seasons. Although most countries have achieved remarkable results in fighting against epidemic diseases and controlling viruses, the general public is still far from understanding the new crown virus and lack imagination on its transmission law. Location-based games (LBGs) have been challenged during the on-going pandemic. No research has shown that LBGs can be used to help prevent COVID-19 infection. Therefore, we designed the game MeetDurian, which integrates entertainment, sports, and education. For investigating factors influencing intention to play the MeetDurian, we proposed some comparative evaluation. Data were gathered from participants who participated in capturing virtual durians and completed questionnaires about immersion into the game, workload assessment, user’s emotions, learning outcomes, and personal hygiene. These results proved the acceptability and usability of the mobile game-based MeetDurian for preventing the infection and severity of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Yoga and Health

In recent decades, yoga has been studied for its potential to treat current epidemic diseases such as mental stress, obesity, diabetes, hypertension, coronary heart disease, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Individual studies have found that yoga has a therapeutic impact on certain disorders, indicating that it may be used as a nonpharmaceutical strategy or as a supplement to pharmacological therapy for these conditions. However, for therapeutic objectives, these research have only employed yoga asana, pranayama, and/or brief durations of meditation. Yoga's general view is likewise the same, which is incorrect. Yoga actually refers to the merging of individual consciousness with the divine awareness. Yama, niyama, asana, pranayama, pratyahara, dharana, dhyana, and samadhi are the eight rungs or limbs of yoga..

Biosynthesis of C-nucleoside antibiotics in actinobacteria: recent advances and future developments

Epidemic diseases and antibiotic resistance are urgent threats to global health, and human is confronted with an unprecedented dilemma to conquer them by expediting development of new natural product related drugs. C-nucleoside antibiotics, a remarkable group of microbial natural products with diverse biological activities, feature a heterocycle base linked with a ribosyl moiety via an unusual C-glycosidic bond, and have played significant roles in healthcare and for plant protection. Elucidating how nature biosynthesizes such a group of antibiotics has provided the basis for engineered biosynthesis as well as targeted genome mining of more C-nucleoside antibiotics towards improved properties. In this review, we mainly summarize the recent advances on the biosynthesis of C-nucleoside antibiotics, and we also tentatively discuss the future developments on rationally accessing C-nucleoside diversities in a more efficient and economical way via synthetic biology strategies.

Contribution of homeopathy to the control of an outbreak of dengue in Macaé, Rio de Janeiro

Homeopathy has contributed throughout history to the control and eradication of epidemic diseases. Facing the challenge of controlling an outbreak of dengue, the Secretary of Health of the county of Macaé, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in early 2007 carried out a “Homeopathy Campaign against Dengue”. 156,000 doses of homeopathic remedy were freely distributed in April and May 2007 to asymptomatic patients and 129 doses to symptomatic patients treated in outpatient clinics, according to the notion of “epidemic genus”. The remedy used was a homeopathic complex against dengue containing Phosphorus 30cH, Crotalus horridus 30cH and Eupatorium perfoliatum 30cH. The incidence of the disease in the first three months of 2008 fell 93% by comparison to the corresponding period in 2007, whereas in the rest of the State of Rio de Janeiro there was an increase of 128%. While confounding factors were not controlled for, these results suggest that homeopathy may be an effective adjunct in Dengue outbreak prevention. Keywords: Homeopathy; Collective Health; Epidemics; Dengue.  Contribuição da Homeopatia para o controle da epidemia de dengue em Macaé, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil Resumo A Homepatia tem contribuído através da História no controle e erradicação de epidemias. Em face ao desafio de controlar uma epidemia de dengue, a Secretaria de Saúde do município de Macaé, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil, iniciou em 2007 a “Campanha da Homeopatia contra a Dengue”. 156,000 doses de medicamento foram gratuitamente distribuídas entre Abril e Maio de 2007 para pacientes assintomáticos e 129 doses para pacientes que já apresentavam os sintomas. Seguindo o conceito de “Génio Epidémico” foi usado um complexo homeopático contendo Phosphorus 30cH, Crotalus horridus 30cH e Eupatorium perfoliatum 30cH. A incidéncia da doença, nos primeiros 3 meses de 2008, revelou uma queda de 93% em comparação com o período correspondente em 2007, enquanto que no resto do estado do Rio de Janeiro houve um aumento de 128% dos casos. Apesar de alguns fatores não terem sido controlados, estes resultados sugerem que o tratamento homeopático pode ser um complemento efetivo na prevenção da epidemia de Dengue. Palavras-chave: Homeopatia; Saúde Pública; Epidemia; Dengue.  Contribución de la homeopatía para el control de un brote de dengue en Macaé, Río de Janeiro, Resumen La homeopatía ha contribuido a lo largo de la historia em el control y la erradicación de las enfermedades epidémicas. Al enfrentar el reto de controlar un brote de dengue, el Secretario de Salud de la provincia de Macaé, Río de Janeiro, Brasil, a principios de 2007, llevó a cabo una "Campaña de la homeopatía contra el Dengue". 156.000 dosis de remedio homeopático se distribuyeron libremente entre abril y mayo de 2007 a pacientes asintomáticos y 129 dosis a los pacientes sintomáticos tratados en ambulatorios, de acuerdo con la noción de "epidemia de género". El recurso utilizado fue un complejo homeopático contra el dengue que contiene Phosporus 30cH, Crotalus horridus 30cH y Eupatorium perfoliatum 30cH. La incidencia de la enfermedad en los tres primeros meses de 2008 se redujo 93% en comparación con el período correspondiente en 2007, mientras que en el resto del Estado de Río de Janeiro hubo un aumento de 128%. Si bien hay factores no controlados, estos resultados sugieren que la homeopatía puede ser un complemento eficaz en la prevención del brote de dengue. Palabras-clave: Homeopatía; Salud Colectiva; epidemias; dengue.  Correspondence author: Laila Aparecida de Souza Nunes, [email protected] How to cite this article: Nunes LAS. Contribution of homeopathy to the control of an outbreak of dengue in Macaé, Rio de Janeiro. Int J High Dilution Res [online]. 2008 [cited YYYY Mmm DD]; 7(25): 186-192. Available from: http://journal.giri-society.org/index.php/ijhdr/article/view/315/374. ÂÂÂ

Homeopathy: a preventive approach to medicine?

By applying the principle of therapeutic similarity, homeopathy seeks to stimulate the organism to react against its own disturbs. For homeopathic medicines to awaken effective homeostasis responses they must be individualized, this means that they must be chosen according to their similarity to the set of characteristic symptoms in patients. In this way, by aiming at decreasing individual susceptibility predisposing to disease, homeopathic medicines have healing and preventive effects in many human illnesses. On the other hand, homeopathic medicines may have specific indications in the treatment and prevention of epidemic diseases provided they are also chosen according to the particular set of symptoms peculiar to a given epidemic, viz. the so-called “epidemic genius”, as historical examples show. This update paper discusses the epistemological foundations of Hahnemann’s homeopathy as a preventive medical approach, the scientific evidences supporting its clinical application and the minimum requirements to employ it both therapeutically and preventively in epidemics.

Nurses and Stigma at the Time of COVID-19: A Phenomenological Study

The COVID-19 pandemic is putting strain on every country in the world and their health systems. Healthcare professionals struggle on the frontline and they can experience stigma, which can create difficulties in controlling epidemic diseases, influencing the mental health of healthcare professionals, caregivers, families, communities, and the provided quality of care. The aim of this study is to explore the lived experience of Italian nurses about perceived stigma during COVID-19 pandemic with the phenomenological Cohen method. The principal themes that emerged from data analysis were “stigma in the working environment” and “stigma in everyday life”. Each of these themes had subthemes: “looks like gun sights”, “avoiding closeness to others”, “nobody wants to touch you”, and “the fault of being your family members”. Public health emergencies, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, are stressful events for individuals and communities. Stigma can be more dangerous than the disease, and a major obstacle to appropriate medical and mental health interventions. Understanding how healthcare professionals experience stigma is essential to design and implement specific educational, psychological, and organisational programmes.

Clinical Verification of Homeopathy

The world is changing! This is certainly true regarding the homeopathic practice and access to homeopathic medicine. Therefore our first priority at the ECH-LMHI [1] has been to produce a yearly report on the scientific framework of homeopathy. In the 2010 version a new chapter about epidemic diseases has been added including the Leptospirosis survey on the Cuban population. A second priority has been to review the definition of the homeopathic medicines respecting the new framework generated by the official registration procedure and the WHO report. We are working now on a documented (Materia Medica and provings) list of homeopathic remedies to facilitate the registration of our remedies. The new challenges are: first of all more good research proposals and as such more funding (possible through ISCHI + Blackie Foundation as examples) [2]; international acceptance of new guidelines for proving and clinical verification of homeopathic symptoms (Proposals are ready for discussion); total reconsideration of the homeopathic repertories including results of the clinical verification of the symptoms. The world is changing, we are part of the world and changes are needed also for homeopathy!

Changes in the Number of Newly Diagnosed Lung Cancer Patients Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A single-Center Experience

This study was conducted to determine whether there was an effect on the hospital admissions of newly diagnosed lung cancer (NDLC) patients in Turkey during the COVID-19 pandemic. In this retrospective study, NDLC patients were recorded from the Hospital Information Management System between January,1 2015-December, 31, 2020, at our tertiary hospital. The number of NDLC patients diagnosed in 2020 was compared with each year of 2017-2019. Between 2017 and 2020, 15,150 NDLC cases were analyzed. The number of NDLC patients by year were; 4,030 patients in 2017, 4,004 patients in 2018, 4,391 patients in 2019, and 2,725 in 2020, respectively. In 2020, NDLC patients decreased by 38%, 32%, 32% compared to 2019, 2018, and 2017, respectively. The late admission of lung cancer patients might result in the advanced stage, missing the chance for surgery, and decreased survival. Precautions should be considered to diagnose and treat lung cancer patients in specialized centers during a pandemic due to epidemic diseases such as COVID-19.

Data based model for predicting COVID-19 morbidity and mortality in metropolis

There is an ongoing need for scientific analysis to help governments and public health authorities make decisions regarding the COVID-19 pandemic. This article presents a methodology based on data mining that can offer support for coping with epidemic diseases. The methodological approach was applied in São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Manaus, the cities in Brazil with the most COVID-19 deaths until the first half of 2021. We aimed to predict the evolution of COVID-19 in metropolises and identify air quality and meteorological variables correlated with confirmed cases and deaths. The statistical analyses indicated the most important explanatory environmental variables, while the cluster analyses showed the potential best input variables for the forecasting models. The forecast models were built by two different algorithms and their results have been compared. The relationship between epidemiological and environmental variables was particular to each of the three cities studied. Low solar radiation periods predicted in Manaus can guide managers to likely increase deaths due to COVID-19. In São Paulo, an increase in the mortality rate can be indicated by drought periods. The developed models can predict new cases and deaths by COVID-19 in studied cities. Furthermore, the methodological approach can be applied in other cities and for other epidemic diseases.