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10.1101/2020.05.03.20089771
Real-time tracking and forecasting of the COVID-19 outbreak in Kuwait: a mathematical modeling study
BackgroundMany countries have succeeded in curbing the outbreak of COVID-19 by employing strict public health control measures. However, little is known about the effectiveness of such control measures in curbing the outbreak in developing countries. In this study, we seek to assess the impact of various outbreak contr...
public and global health
10.1101/2020.05.05.20091967
Risk Stratification tool for Healthcare workers during the CoViD-19 Pandemic; using published data on demographics, co-morbid disease and clinical domain in order to assign biological risk
ObjectivesHealthcare workers have a greater exposure to individuals with confirmed SARS-novel coronavirus 2, and an estimated 5-fold higher probability of contracting coronavirus disease (COVID)-19, than the general population. Many organisations have called for risk assessments to be put in place to minimise this risk...
health policy
10.1101/2020.05.06.20092049
Study of Hepatitis C Virus infection among multi-transfused patients with inherited β-globin synthesis gene defect, in the eastern region of India.
BackgroundPost transfusion acquired HCV infection is common in high-risk group individuals such as multi-transfused {beta}-thalassemia patients who depend on regular blood transfusions. This study was conducted to determine epidemiology and distribution of HCV in multi-transfused {beta}-thalassemia patients, in West Be...
epidemiology
10.1101/2020.05.07.20084319
Parental criticism and adolescent internalising symptoms: Using a Children-of-Twins design with power calculations to account for genetic influence
BackgroundParental criticism is correlated with internalising symptoms in adolescent offspring. This correlation could in part reflect their genetic relatedness, if the same genes influence behaviours in both parents and offspring. We use a Children-of-Twins design to assess whether parent-reported criticism and offspr...
epidemiology
10.1101/2020.05.07.20093286
Multi-omics study revealing putative drug targets of COVID-19 severity and other viral infection diseases
Recent omic studies prioritised several drug targets associated with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) severity. However, little evidence was provided to systematically estimate the effect of drug targets on COVID-19 severity in multiple ancestries. In this study, we applied Mendelian randomization (MR) and colocaliz...
genetic and genomic medicine
10.1101/2020.05.07.20093286
Multi-ancestry omic Mendelian randomization revealing putative drug targets of COVID-19 severity
Recent omic studies prioritised several drug targets associated with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) severity. However, little evidence was provided to systematically estimate the effect of drug targets on COVID-19 severity in multiple ancestries. In this study, we applied Mendelian randomization (MR) and colocaliz...
genetic and genomic medicine
10.1101/2020.05.08.20095091
Replicating extensive brain structural heterogeneity in individuals with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder
Identifying brain processes involved in the risk and development of mental disorders is a major aim. We recently reported substantial inter-individual heterogeneity in brain structural aberrations among patients with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Estimating the normative range of voxel-based morphometry (VBM) dat...
psychiatry and clinical psychology
10.1101/2020.05.08.20095091
Replicating extensive brain structural heterogeneity in individuals with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder
Identifying brain processes involved in the risk and development of mental disorders is a major aim. We recently reported substantial inter-individual heterogeneity in brain structural aberrations among patients with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Estimating the normative range of voxel-based morphometry (VBM) dat...
psychiatry and clinical psychology
10.1101/2020.05.08.20095521
Modelling safe protocols for reopening schools during the COVID-19 pandemic in France
As countries in Europe implement strategies to control COVID-19 pandemic, different options are chosen regarding schools. Through a stochastic age-structured transmission model calibrated to the observed epidemic in Ile-de-France in the first wave, we explored scenarios of partial, progressive, or full school reopening...
infectious diseases
10.1101/2020.05.08.20095448
Genetic drift and regional spreading dynamics of COVID-19
BackgroundCurrent propagation models of COVID-19 are poorly consistent with existing epidemiological data and with evidence that the SARS-CoV-2 genome is mutating, for potential aggressive evolution of the disease. MethodsWe challenged regional versus genetic evolution models of COVID-19 at a whole-population level, o...
infectious diseases
10.1101/2020.05.08.20095380
Easing COVID-19 lockdown measures while protecting the older restricts the deaths to the level of the full lockdown
Guided by a rigorous mathematical result, we have earlier introduced a numerical algorithm, which using as input the cumulative number of deaths caused by COVID-19, can estimate the effect of easing of the lockdown conditions. Applying this algorithm to data from Greece, we extend it to the case of two subpopulations, ...
epidemiology
10.1101/2020.05.08.20095083
COVID-19 transmission risk factors
We analyze risk factors correlated with the initial transmission growth rate of the recent COVID-19 pandemic in different countries. The number of cases follows in its early stages an almost exponential expansion; we chose as a starting point in each country the first day di with 30 cases and we fitted for 12 days, cap...
epidemiology
10.1101/2020.05.08.20095430
Total predicted MHC-I epitope load is inversely associated with mortality from SARS-CoV-2
AO_SCPLOWBSTRACTC_SCPLOWPolymorphisms in MHC-I protein sequences across human populations significantly impacts viral peptide binding capacity and thus alters T cell immunity to infection. Consequently, allelic variants of the MHC-I protein have been found to be associated with patient outcome to various viral infectio...
allergy and immunology
10.1101/2020.05.09.20096677
Depression and anxiety during 2019 coronavirus disease pandemic in Saudi Arabia: a cross-sectional study
AimsThe emergence of the COVID-19 global pandemic, with a high transmission and mortality rate, has created an extraordinary crisis worldwide. Such an unusual situation may have an undesirable impact on the mental health of individuals which, in turn, may influence their outcomes. This study aimed to explore the influe...
psychiatry and clinical psychology
10.1101/2020.05.10.20097469
Covasim: an agent-based model of COVID-19 dynamics and interventions
The COVID-19 pandemic has created an urgent need for models that can project epidemic trends, explore intervention scenarios, and estimate resource needs. Here we describe the methodology of Covasim (COVID-19 Agent-based Simulator), an open-source model developed to help address these questions. Covasim includes countr...
epidemiology
10.1101/2020.05.10.20097469
Covasim: an agent-based model of COVID-19 dynamics and interventions
The COVID-19 pandemic has created an urgent need for models that can project epidemic trends, explore intervention scenarios, and estimate resource needs. Here we describe the methodology of Covasim (COVID-19 Agent-based Simulator), an open-source model developed to help address these questions. Covasim includes countr...
epidemiology
10.1101/2020.05.12.20099374
Factors linked to changes in mental health outcomes among Brazilians in quarantine due to COVID-19
This aim of this investigation was to track changes and risk factors for mental health outcomes during state-mandated quarantine in Brazil. Adults residing in Brazil (n = 360, 37.9 years old, 68.9% female) were surveyed at the start of quarantine and approximately three weeks later. Outcomes assessed included perceived...
psychiatry and clinical psychology
10.1101/2020.05.13.20100677
Country-level Determinants of the Severity of the First Global Wave of the COVID-19 Pandemic: An Ecological Study
ObjectiveWe aimed to identify the country-level determinants of the severity of the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. DesignAn ecological study design of publicly available data was employed. Countries reporting >25 COVID-related deaths until 08/06/2020 were included. The outcome was log mean mortality rate from CO...
public and global health
10.1101/2020.05.13.20100776
Gene expression signatures identify biologically and clinically distinct tuberculosis endotypes
BackgroundIn vitro, animal model, and clinical evidence suggests that tuberculosis is not a monomorphic disease, and that host response to tuberculosis is protean with multiple distinct molecular pathways and pathologies (endotypes). We applied unbiased clustering to identify separate tuberculosis endotypes with classi...
infectious diseases
10.1101/2020.05.13.20100776
Gene expression signatures identify biologically and clinically distinct tuberculosis endotypes
BackgroundIn vitro, animal model, and clinical evidence suggests that tuberculosis is not a monomorphic disease, and that host response to tuberculosis is protean with multiple distinct molecular pathways and pathologies (endotypes). We applied unbiased clustering to identify separate tuberculosis endotypes with classi...
infectious diseases
10.1101/2020.05.12.20099721
Modelling lockdown measures in epidemic outbreaks using selective socio-economic containment with uncertainty
AO_SCPLOWBSTRACTC_SCPLOWAfter the introduction of drastic containment measures aimed at stopping the epidemic contagion from SARS-CoV2, many governments have adopted a strategy based on a periodic relaxation of such measures in the face of a severe economic crisis caused by lockdowns. Assessing the impact of such openi...
epidemiology
10.1101/2020.05.11.20098798
Empirical Model of Spring 2020 Decrease in Daily Confirmed COVID-19 Cases in King County, Washington
Projections of the near future of daily case incidence of COVID-19 are valuable for informing public policy. Near-future estimates are also useful for outbreaks of other diseases. Short-term predictions are unlikely to be affected by changes in herd immunity. In the absence of major net changes in factors that affect r...
epidemiology
10.1101/2020.05.12.20098970
Agent-Based Simulation for Evaluation of Contact-Tracing Policies Against the Spread of SARS-CoV-2
BackgroundMany countries have already gone through several infection waves and mostly managed to successfully stop the exponential spread of SARS-CoV-2 through bundles of restrictive measures. Still, the danger of further waves of infections is omnipresent and it is apparent that every containment policy must be carefu...
epidemiology
10.1101/2020.05.15.20103010
Social heterogeneity and the COVID-19 lockdown in a multi-group SEIR model
The goal of the lockdown is to mitigate and if possible prevent the spread of an epidemic. It consists in reducing social interactions. This is taken into account by the introduction of a factor of reduction of social interactions q, and by decreasing the transmission coefficient of the disease accordingly. Evaluating ...
epidemiology
10.1101/2020.05.16.20104117
Pitfalls and solutions in case fatality risk estimation - A multi-country analysis on the role of demographics, surveillance, time lags between reporting and death and healthcare system capacity on COVID-19
European countries report large differences in COVID-19 case fatality risk (CFR) and high variation over the year. CFR estimates may both depend on the method used for estimation and of country-specific characteristics. While crude methods simply use cumulative total numbers of cases and deaths, the CFR can be influenc...
epidemiology
10.1101/2020.05.18.20105577
A Novel Smart City Based Framework on Perspectives for application of Machine Learning in combatting COVID-19
The spread of COVID-19 across the world continues as efforts are being made from multi-dimension to curtail its spread and provide treatment. The COVID-19 triggered partial and full lockdown across the globe in an effort to prevent its spread. COVID-19 causes serious fatalities with United States of America recording o...
health informatics
10.1101/2020.05.17.20104976
A structured model for COVID-19 spread: modelling age and healthcare inequities
We use a stochastic branching process model, structured by age and level of healthcare access, to look at the heterogeneous spread of COVID-19 within a population. We examine the effect of control scenarios targeted at particular groups, such as school closures or social distancing by older people. Although we currentl...
epidemiology
10.1101/2020.05.19.20102319
Normal Childhood Brain Growth and a Universal Sex and Anthropomorphic Relationship to Cerebrospinal Fluid
ObjectThe study of brain size and growth has a long and contentious history, yet normal brain volume development has yet to be fully described. In particular, the normal brain growth and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) accumulation relationship is critical to characterize because it is impacted in numerous conditions of earl...
neurology
10.1101/2020.05.22.20110536
Effects of Age and Knee Osteoarthritis on the Modular Control of Walking: A Pilot Study
Older adults and individuals with knee osteoarthritis (KOA) often exhibit reduced locomotor function and altered muscle activity. Identifying age- and KOA-related changes to the modular control of gait may provide insight into the neurological mechanisms underlying reduced walking performance in these populations. The ...
neurology
10.1101/2020.05.23.20110841
Comorbid chronic pain and depression: Shared risk factors and differential antidepressant effectiveness
The bidirectional relationship between depression and chronic pain is well recognized, but their clinical management remains challenging. Here we characterize the shared risk factors and outcomes for their comorbidity in the Australian Genetics of Depression cohort study (N=13,839). Participants completed online questi...
epidemiology
10.1101/2020.05.20.20108167
Decentralized governance may lead to higher infection levels and sub-optimal releases of quarantines amid the COVID-19 pandemic
The outbreak of the novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) has led countries worldwide to administer quarantine policies. However, each country or state decides independently what mobility restrictions to administer within its borders, while aiming to maximize its own citizens welfare. Since individuals travel between countries ...
health policy
10.1101/2020.05.19.20106484
Outdoor PM2.5 Concentration and Rate of Change in COVID-19 Infection in Provincial Capital Cities in China
Motivated by earlier findings that exposure to daily outdoor PM2.5 (P) may increase the risk of influenza infection, our study examines if immediate exposure to outdoor P will modify the rate of change in the daily number of COVID-19 infections (R), for (1) the high infection provincial capital cities in China and (2) ...
epidemiology
10.1101/2020.05.22.20110635
Analysis of Crowdsourced Metformin Tablets from Individuals Reveals Widespread Contamination with N-Nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA) and N,N-Dimethylformamide (DMF) in the United States
Reports of metformin drug products contaminated with unacceptable levels of the probable human carcinogen N-Nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA) prompted a national sampling of post-market metformin drug products in early 2020. To broadly sample the United States market and minimize supply chain bias, metformin medication sampl...
pharmacology and therapeutics
10.1101/2020.05.26.20113381
Death, Demography and the Denominator: Age-Adjusted Influenza-18 Mortality in Ireland
Using the Irish experience of the Spanish flu, we demonstrate that pandemic mortality statistics are sensitive to the demographic composition of a country. We build a population database for Irelands 32 counties with vital statistics on births, ageing, migration and deaths. We show how age-at-death statistics in 1918 a...
health economics
10.1101/2020.05.26.20113381
Death, Demography and the Denominator: Age-Adjusted Influenza-18 Mortality in Ireland
Using the Irish experience of the Spanish flu, we demonstrate that pandemic mortality statistics are sensitive to the demographic composition of a country. We build a population database for Irelands 32 counties with vital statistics on births, ageing, migration and deaths. We show how age-at-death statistics in 1918 a...
health economics
10.1101/2020.05.26.20103440
Semantic Segmentation to Extract Coronary Arteries in Invasive Coronary Angiograms
Coronary artery disease (CAD) is the leading cause of death worldwide, constituting more than one-fourth of global mortalities every year. Accurate semantic segmentation of each artery using invasive coronary angiography (ICA) is important for stenosis assessment and CAD diagnosis. However, due to the morphological sim...
cardiovascular medicine
10.1101/2020.05.26.20113324
Wading through Molasses: A qualitative examination of the experiences, perceptions, attitudes, and knowledge of Australian medical practitioners regarding medical billing
BackgroundMedical billing errors and fraud have been described as one of the last "great unreduced healthcare costs," with some commentators suggesting measurable average losses from this phenomenon are 7% of total health expenditure. In Australia, it has been estimated that leakage from Medicare caused by non-complian...
health policy
10.1101/2020.05.29.20115915
Digital proximity tracing on empirical contact networks for pandemic control
Digital contact tracing is a relevant tool to control infectious disease outbreaks, including the COVID-19 epidemic. Early work evaluating digital contact tracing omitted important features and heterogeneities of real-world contact patterns influencing contagion dynamics. We fill this gap with a modeling framework info...
infectious diseases
10.1101/2020.05.28.20115709
Computerized physical and cognitive training improves functional architecture of the brain in adults with Down Syndrome: a longitudinal network science EEG study
Understanding the neuroplastic capacity of people with Down Syndrome (PwDS) can potentially reveal the causal relationship between aberrant brain organization and phenotypic characteristics. We used resting-state EEG recordings to identify how a neuroplasticity-triggering training protocol relates to changes in the fun...
rehabilitation medicine and physical therapy
10.1101/2020.05.29.20116509
Resting-state network plasticity induced by music therapy after traumatic brain injury
Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is characterized by a complex pattern of abnormalities in resting-state functional connectivity (rsFC) and network dysfunction, which can potentially be ameliorated by rehabilitation. In our previous randomized controlled trial, we found that a 3-month neurological music therapy interventio...
rehabilitation medicine and physical therapy
10.1101/2020.06.01.20119057
Impact of Covid-19 social distancing measures on future incidence of invasive pneumococcal disease in England and Wales - a mathematical modelling study
In January 2020, the United Kingdom moved to a 1+1 schedule for the 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV13) with a single priming dose at 3 months and a 12month booster. We modelled the impact on invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD) out to 2030/31 of reductions in PCV13 coverage and population mixing associated...
infectious diseases
10.1101/2020.06.01.20119081
Effects of adiposity on the human plasma proteome: Observational and Mendelian randomization estimates
Variation in adiposity is associated with cardiometabolic disease outcomes, but the mechanisms leading from this exposure to disease are unclear. This study aimed to estimate effects of adiposity, proxied by body mass index (BMI), on 3,622 unique plasma proteins measured by the SomaLogic platform in 2,737 healthy parti...
epidemiology
10.1101/2020.06.02.20119545
The Impact of Management on Hospital Performance
There is a prevailing popular belief that expenditure on management by healthcare providers is wasteful, diverts resources from patient care, and distracts medical and nursing staff from getting on with their jobs. There is little existing evidence to support this narrative or counter-claims. We explore the relationshi...
health economics
10.1101/2020.05.27.20115238
THE TIME TO OFFER TREATMENT FOR COVID-19
BACKGROUNDThe spread of COVID-19 from Wuhan China, has been alarmingly rapid. Epidemiologic techniques succeeded in containing the disease in China, but efforts have not been as successful in the rest of the World, with a total of 29,155,581 confirmed cases of COVID-19, including 926,544 deaths worldwide as of Septembe...
infectious diseases
10.1101/2020.05.28.20115055
Mycotoxin exposure biomonitoring in breastfed and non-exclusively breastfed Nigerian children
A multi-specimen, multi-mycotoxin approach involving ultra-sensitive LC-MS/MS analysis of breast milk, complementary food and urine was applied to examine mycotoxin co-exposure in 65 infants, aged 1-18 months, in Ogun state, Nigeria. Aflatoxin M1 was detected in breast milk (4/22 (18%)), while six other classes of myco...
public and global health
10.1101/2020.05.31.20118323
Cortical re-organization after traumatic brain injury elicited using functional electrical stimulation therapy: A case report
Functional electrical stimulation therapy (FEST) can improve motor function after neurological injuries. However, little is known about cortical changes after FEST and weather it can improve motor function after traumatic brain injury (TBI). Our study examined cortical changes and motor improvements in one male partici...
rehabilitation medicine and physical therapy
10.1101/2020.05.31.20118307
Clinical identification of malignant pleural effusions
INTRODUCTIONPleural effusions frequently signal disseminated cancer. Diagnostic markers of pleural malignancy at presentation that would assess cancer risk and would streamline diagnostic decisions remain unidentified. The objective of the present study was to identify and validate predictors of malignant PE at patient...
oncology
10.1101/2020.06.03.20120550
Perfluoroalkyl substances are increased in patients with late-onset ulcerative colitis and induce intestinal barrier defects ex vivo in murine intestinal tissue
BackgroundEnvironmental factors are strongly implicated in late-onset of inflammatory bowel disease. Here, we investigate whether high exposure to perfluoroalkyl substances correlates with (1) late-onset inflammatory bowel disease, and (2) disturbances of the bile acid pool. We further explore the effect of the specifi...
gastroenterology
10.1101/2020.06.02.20117036
Characteristics and stability of sensorimotor activity driven by isolated-muscle group activation in a human with tetraplegia
Understanding cortical movement representations and their stability can shed light on robust brain-machine interface (BMI) approaches to decode these representations without frequent recalibration. Here, we characterize the spatial organization (somatotopy) and stability of the bilateral sensorimotor map of forearm mus...
rehabilitation medicine and physical therapy
10.1101/2020.06.03.20119255
Assessment of neuropsychological function in brain tumour treatment: A comparison of traditional neuropsychological assessment with app-based cognitive screening
BackgroundGliomas are typically considered to cause relatively few neurological impairments. However, cognitive difficulties can arise, for example during treatment, with potential detrimental effects on quality of life. Accurate, reproducible, and accessible cognitive assessment is therefore vital in understanding the...
psychiatry and clinical psychology
10.1101/2020.06.02.20118489
Development and implementation of a customised rapid syndromic diagnostic test for severe pneumonia
BackgroundMicrobial cultures for the diagnosis of pneumonia take several days to return a result, and are frequently negative, compromising antimicrobial stewardship. The objective of this study was to establish the performance of a syndromic molecular diagnostic approach, using a custom TaqMan array card (TAC) coverin...
intensive care and critical care medicine
10.1101/2020.06.03.20121392
Solar UV B/A Radiation is Highly Effective in Inactivating SARSCoV2
Solar UV-C photons do not reach Earths surface, but are known to be endowed with germicidal properties that are also effective on viruses. The effect of softer UV-B and UV-A photons, which copiously reach the Earths surface, on viruses are instead little studied, particularly on single-stranded RNA viruses. Here we co...
epidemiology
10.1101/2020.06.04.20121673
Dynamics of COVID-19 under social distancing measures are driven by transmission network structure
In the absence of pharmaceutical interventions, social distancing is being used worldwide to curb the spread of COVID-19. The impact of these measures has been inconsistent, with some regions rapidly nearing disease elimination and others seeing delayed peaks or nearly flat epidemic curves. Here we build a stochastic e...
epidemiology
10.1101/2020.06.03.20121491
Exploring the Feasibility of Using Real-World Data from a Large Clinical Data Research Network to Simulate Clinical Trials of Alzheimer's Disease
In this study, we explored the feasibility of using real-world data (RWD) from a large clinical research network to simulate real-world clinical trials of Alzheimers disease (AD). The target trial (i.e., NCT00478205) is a Phase III double-blind, parallel-group trial that compared the 23 mg donepezil sustained release w...
health informatics
10.1101/2020.05.28.20115485
Diagnostic Model of in-Hospital Mortality in Patients with Acute ST-Segment Elevation Myocardial Infarction Used Artificial Intelligence Methods : Algorithm Development and Validation
BackgroundPreventing in-hospital mortality in Patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) is a crucial step. ObjectivesThe objective of our research was to to develop and externally validate the diagnostic model of in-hospital mortality in acute STEMI patients used artificial intelligence methods....
cardiovascular medicine
10.1101/2020.05.28.20115485
Diagnostic Model of in-Hospital Mortality in Patients with Acute ST-Segment Elevation Myocardial Infarction Used Artificial Intelligence Methods
BackgroundPreventing in-hospital mortality in Patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) is a crucial step. ObjectivesThe objective of our research was to to develop and externally validate the diagnostic model of in-hospital mortality in acute STEMI patients used artificial intelligence methods....
cardiovascular medicine
10.1101/2020.05.28.20115485
Diagnostic Model of in-Hospital Mortality in Patients with Acute ST-Segment Elevation Myocardial Infarction Used Artificial Intelligence Methods
BackgroundPreventing in-hospital mortality in Patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) is a crucial step. ObjectivesThe objective of our research was to to develop and externally validate the diagnostic model of in-hospital mortality in acute STEMI patients used artificial intelligence methods....
cardiovascular medicine
10.1101/2020.06.04.20122473
FEAT: a Flexible, Efficient and Accurate Test Strategy for COVID-19
Early detection of COVID-19 is critical in mitigating the spread of the virus. Commonly used tests include nucleic acid detection, antibodies detection via blood testing and CT imaging. Some tests are accurate but time-consuming, while others are cheaper but less accurate. Exactly which test to use is constrained by va...
epidemiology
10.1101/2020.06.05.20123463
UV-C irradiation is highly effective in inactivating SARS-CoV-2 replication
The potential virucidal effects of UV-C irradiation on SARS-CoV-2 were experimentally evaluated for different illumination doses and virus concentrations (1000, 5, 0.05 MOI). At a virus density comparable to that observed in SARS-CoV-2 infection, an UV-C dose of just 3.7 mJ/cm2 was sufficient to achieve a more than 3-l...
infectious diseases
10.1101/2020.06.06.20120857
A Flexible Statistical Framework for Estimating Excess Mortality
Quantifying the impact of natural disasters or epidemics is critical for guiding policy decisions and interventions. When the effects of an event are long-lasting and difficult to detect in the short term, the accumulated effects can be devastating. Mortality is one of the most reliably measured health outcomes, partly...
epidemiology
10.1101/2020.06.07.20124594
Convolutional Neural Network Model to Detect COVID-19 Patients Utilizing Chest X-ray Images
This study aims to propose a deep learning model to detect COVID-19 positive cases more precisely utilizing chest X-ray images. We have collected and merged all the publicly available chest X-ray datasets of COVID-19 infected patients from Kaggle and Github, and pre-processed it using random sampling approach. Then, we...
infectious diseases
10.1101/2020.06.05.20123554
The Role of Vitamin D in The Age of COVID-19: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
BackgroundEvidence recommends that vitamin D might be a crucial supportive agent for the immune system, mainly in cytokine response regulation against COVID-19. Hence, we carried out a systematic review and meta-analysis in order to maximize the use of everything that exists about the role of vitamin D in the COVID-19....
infectious diseases
10.1101/2020.06.07.20124685
Changes in health promoting behavior during COVID-19 physical distancing: Utilizing WHOOP data to Examine Trends in Sleep, Activity, and Cardiovascular Health.
The COVID-19 pandemic incited unprecedented restrictions on the behavior of society. The aims of this study were to quantify changes to sleep/wake behavior and exercise behavior, as well as changes in physiological markers of health during COVID-19 physical distancing. A retrospective analysis of 5,436 US-based subscri...
public and global health
10.1101/2020.06.08.20118513
Image-based modelling of inhaler deposition during respiratory exacerbation
For many of the one billion sufferers of respiratory diseases worldwide, managing their disease with inhalers improves their ability to breathe. Poor disease management and rising pollution can trigger exacerbations which require urgent relief. Higher drug deposition in the throat instead of the lungs limits the impact...
respiratory medicine
10.1101/2020.06.08.20123877
Motivation and Cognitive Abilities as Mediators between Polygenic Scores and Psychopathology in Children
ObjectiveFundamental questions in biological psychiatry concern the mechanisms that mediate between genetic liability and psychiatric symptoms. Genetic liability for many common psychiatric disorders often confers transdiagnostic risk to develop a wide variety of psychopathological symptoms through yet unknown pathways...
psychiatry and clinical psychology
10.1101/2020.06.08.20123877
Motivation and Cognitive Abilities as Mediators between Polygenic Scores and Psychopathology in Children
ObjectiveFundamental questions in biological psychiatry concern the mechanisms that mediate between genetic liability and psychiatric symptoms. Genetic liability for many common psychiatric disorders often confers transdiagnostic risk to develop a wide variety of psychopathological symptoms through yet unknown pathways...
psychiatry and clinical psychology
10.1101/2020.06.05.20123307
Reduced ICU demand with early CPAP and proning in COVID-19 at Bradford: a single centre cohort
BackgroundGuidance in COVID-19 respiratory failure has favoured early intubation, with concerns over the use of CPAP. We adopted early CPAP and self-proning, and evaluated the safety and efficacy of this approach. MethodsThis retrospective observational study included all patients with a positive COVID-19 PCR, and oth...
intensive care and critical care medicine
10.1101/2020.06.08.20125583
An optimal lockdown relaxation strategy for minimizing the economic effects of covid-19 outbreak
In order to recover the damage to the economy by the ongoing covid-19 pandemic, many countries consider the transition from strict lockdowns to partial lockdowns through relaxation of preventive measures. In this work, we propose an optimal lockdown relaxation strategy, which is aimed at minimizing the damage to the ec...
health economics
10.1101/2020.06.08.20125963
Benchmarking Deep Learning Models and Automated Model Design for COVID-19 Detection with Chest CT Scans
COVID-19 pandemic has spread all over the world for months. As its transmissibility and high pathogenicity seriously threaten peoples lives, the accurate and fast detection of the COVID-19 infection is crucial. Although many recent studies have shown that deep learning based solutions can help detect COVID-19 based on ...
epidemiology
10.1101/2020.06.08.20125757
Spatio-temporal modelling of the first Chikungunya epidemic in an intra-urban setting: the role of socioeconomic status, environment and temperature
Three key elements are the drivers of Aedes-borne disease: mosquito infestation, virus circulating, and susceptible human population. However, information on these aspects are not easily available in low- and middle-income countries. We analysed data on factors that influence one or more of those elements to study the ...
epidemiology
10.1101/2020.06.08.20125179
Seroprevalence of IgG antibodies against SARS coronavirus 2 in Belgium: a serial prospective cross-sectional nationwide study of residual samples
To assess the evolving SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence and seroincidence related to the national lock-down in Belgium, a nationwide seroprevalence study, stratified by age, sex and region using 3000-4000 residual samples was performed during 7 periods between 30 March and 17 October 2020. Residual sera from ambulatory patien...
epidemiology
10.1101/2020.06.08.20125179
Seroprevalence of IgG antibodies against SARS coronavirus 2 in Belgium - a serial prospective cross-sectional nationwide study of residual samples
To assess the evolving SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence and seroincidence related to the national lock-down in Belgium, a nationwide seroprevalence study, stratified by age, sex and region using 3000-4000 residual samples was performed during 7 periods between 30 March and 17 October 2020. Residual sera from ambulatory patien...
epidemiology
10.1101/2020.06.08.20125179
Seroprevalence of IgG antibodies against SARS coronavirus 2 in Belgium - a serial prospective cross-sectional nationwide study of residual samples (March - October 2020)
To assess the evolving SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence and seroincidence related to the national lock-down in Belgium, a nationwide seroprevalence study, stratified by age, sex and region using 3000-4000 residual samples was performed during 7 periods between 30 March and 17 October 2020. Residual sera from ambulatory patien...
epidemiology
10.1101/2020.06.09.20127092
Using machine learning to predict COVID-19 infection and severity risk among 4,510 aged adults: a UK Biobank cohort study
BackgroundMany risk factors have emerged for novel 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19). It is relatively unknown how these factors collectively predict COVID-19 infection risk, as well as risk for a severe infection (i.e., hospitalization). MethodsAmong aged adults (69.3 {+/-} 8.6 years) in UK Biobank, COVID-19 data w...
infectious diseases
10.1101/2020.06.09.20126979
Child wasting and concurrent stunting in low- and middle-income countries
Sustainable Development Goal 2.2.2, to end malnutrition by 2030, measures progress through elimination of child wasting, defined as weight-for-length more than 2 standard deviations below international standards. Prevailing methods to measure wasting rely on cross-sectional surveys that cannot measure onset, recovery, ...
epidemiology
10.1101/2020.06.09.20127001
Early childhood linear growth faltering in low- and middle-income countries
Globally 149 million children under five are estimated to be stunted (length more than 2 standard deviations below international growth standards). Stunting, a form of linear growth faltering, increases risk of illness, impaired cognitive development, and mortality. Global stunting estimates rely on cross-sectional sur...
epidemiology
10.1101/2020.06.09.20127100
Risk factors and impacts of child growth faltering in low- and middle-income countries
Growth faltering (low length-for-age or weight-for length) in the first 1000 days -- from conception to two years of age -- influences both short and long-term health and survival. Evidence for interventions to prevent growth faltering such as nutritional supplementation during pregnancy and the postnatal period has in...
epidemiology
10.1101/2020.06.09.20126490
Elevated levels of hoarding in ADHD: a special link with inattention
Hoarding Disorder (HD) is under recognised and under-treated. Though HD develops by early adulthood, patients present only later in life, resulting in research based largely on samples of predominantly older females. Whilst formerly associated with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD), it is now recognised that individu...
psychiatry and clinical psychology
10.1101/2020.06.09.20124008
An imperfect tool: contact tracing could provide valuable reductions in COVID-19 transmission if good adherence can be achieved and maintained.
Emerging evidence suggests that contact tracing has had limited success in the UK in reducing the R number across the COVID-19 pandemic. We investigate potential pitfalls and areas for improvement by extending an existing branching process contact tracing model, adding diagnostic testing and refining parameter estimate...
public and global health
10.1101/2020.06.10.20126268
A Sleep Disorder Detection Model based on EEG Cross-Frequency Coupling and Random Forest
Sleep disorders are medical disorders of a subjects sleep architecture and based on their severity, they can interfere with mental, emotional and physical functioning. The most common ones are insomnia, narcolepsy, sleep apnea, bruxism, etc. There is an increased risk of developing sleep disorders in elderly like insom...
public and global health
10.1101/2020.06.10.20126268
A Sleep Disorder Detection Model based on EEG Cross-Frequency Coupling and Random Forest
Sleep disorders are medical disorders of a subjects sleep architecture and based on their severity, they can interfere with mental, emotional and physical functioning. The most common ones are insomnia, narcolepsy, sleep apnea, bruxism, etc. There is an increased risk of developing sleep disorders in elderly like insom...
public and global health
10.1101/2020.06.12.20126169
Model-based spatial-temporal mapping of opisthorchiasis in endemic countries of Southeast Asia
Opisthorchiasis is an overlooked danger to Southeast Asia. High-resolution disease risk maps are critical but havent been available for Southeast Asia. Georeferenced disease data and potential influencing factor data were collected through a systematic review of literatures and open-access databases, respectively. Baye...
public and global health
10.1101/2020.06.12.20126391
A model for COVID-19 transmission in Connecticut
To support public health policymakers in Connecticut, we developed a county-structured compartmental SEIR-type model of SARS-CoV-2 transmission and COVID-19 disease progression. Our goals were to provide projections of infections, hospitalizations, and deaths, as well as estimates of important features of disease trans...
epidemiology
10.1101/2020.06.12.20126391
One year of modeling and forecasting COVID-19 transmission to support policymakers in Connecticut
To support public health policymakers in Connecticut, we developed a county-structured compartmental SEIR-type model of SARS-CoV-2 transmission and COVID-19 disease progression. Our goals were to provide projections of infections, hospitalizations, and deaths, as well as estimates of important features of disease trans...
epidemiology
10.1101/2020.06.12.20129668
Systematic review of instruments for assessing culinary skills in adults: What is the quality of their psychometric properties?
BackgroundCulinary skills are important objects of study in the field of Public Health. Studies that propose to develop instruments for assessing such construct show lack of methodological uniformity to report validity and reliability of their instruments. ObjectiveTo identify studies that have developed instruments t...
public and global health
10.1101/2020.06.16.20133330
Mathematical Modeling of Coronavirus Reproduction Rate with Policy and Behavioral Effects
In this paper a modified mathematical model based on the SIR model used which can predict the spreading of the corona virus disease (COVID-19) and its effects on people in the days ahead. This model considers all the death, infected and recovered characteristics of this disease. To determine the extent of the risk pose...
health policy
10.1101/2020.06.17.20133983
Reconstructing the course of the COVID-19 epidemic over 2020 for US states and counties: results of a Bayesian evidence synthesis model
Reported COVID-19 cases and deaths provide a delayed and incomplete picture of SARS-CoV-2 infections in the United States (US). Accurate estimates of both the timing and magnitude of infections are needed to characterize viral transmission dynamics and better understand COVID- 19 disease burden. We estimated time trend...
epidemiology
10.1101/2020.06.17.20133983
Reconstructing the course of the COVID-19 epidemic over 2020 for US states and counties: results of a Bayesian evidence synthesis model
Reported COVID-19 cases and deaths provide a delayed and incomplete picture of SARS-CoV-2 infections in the United States (US). Accurate estimates of both the timing and magnitude of infections are needed to characterize viral transmission dynamics and better understand COVID- 19 disease burden. We estimated time trend...
epidemiology
10.1101/2020.06.18.20134346
Descriptive Epidemiological Assessment of the Relationship between the Global Burden of Influenza from 2017-2019 and COVID-19
BackgroundSARS-CoV-2 and influenza are lipid-enveloped viruses with differential morbidity and mortality but shared modes of transmission. With a descriptive epidemiological framing, we assessed whether historical patterns of regional influenza burden are reflected in the observed heterogeneity in COVID-19 cases across...
epidemiology
10.1101/2020.06.18.20134353
IL-13 is a driver of COVID-19 severity
Immune dysregulation is characteristic of the more severe stages of SARS-CoV-2 infection. Understanding the mechanisms by which the immune system contributes to COVID-19 severity may open new avenues to treatment. Here we report that elevated interleukin-13 (IL-13) was associated with the need for mechanical ventilatio...
infectious diseases
10.1101/2020.06.21.20135566
Recovery-associated resting-state activity and connectivity alterations in Anorexia nervosa
BackgroundPrevious studies provided controversial insight on the impact of starvation, disease status and underlying grey matter volume (GMV) changes on resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rsfMRI) alterations in Anorexia nervosa (AN). Here we adapt a combined longitudinal and cross-sectional approach t...
psychiatry and clinical psychology
10.1101/2020.06.21.20136085
Comparison of Care Utilization and Medical Institutional Death among Older Adults by Home Care Facility Type: A Retrospective Cohort Study in Fukuoka, Japan
ObjectivesWe compared the care services use and medical institutional deaths among older adults across four home care facility types. DesignThis was a retrospective cohort study. SettingWe used administrative claims data from April 2014 to March 2017. ParticipantsWe included 18,347 residents of Fukuoka Prefecture, J...
health policy
10.1101/2020.06.22.20137745
Face masks, old age, and obesity explain country's COVID-19 death rates
Identifying biomedical and socioeconomic predictors of the number of deaths caused by COVID-19 can help the development of effective interventions. In this study, we used the hypothesis-driven regression approach to test the hypothesis that the mask wearing rate, along with age and obesity, can largely predict the cumu...
infectious diseases
10.1101/2020.06.23.20138693
Forecasting COVID-19 and Analyzing the Effect of Government Interventions
One key question in the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic is understanding the impact of government interventions, and when society can return to normal. To this end, we develop DELPHI, a novel epidemiological model that captures the effect of under-detection and government intervention. We applied DELPHI across 167 geographic...
epidemiology
10.1101/2020.06.22.20136960
Retrospective Methodology to Estimate Daily Infections from Deaths (REMEDID) in COVID-19: the Spain case study
The number of new daily infections is one of the main parameters to understand the dynamics of an epidemic. During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, however, such information has been underestimated. Here, we propose a retrospective methodology to estimate daily infections from daily deaths, because those are usually more...
epidemiology
10.1101/2020.06.24.20138958
Psychological distress across adulthood: test-equating in three British birth cohorts
Valid and reliable life-course and cross-cohort comparisons of psychological distress are limited by differences in measures used. We aimed to examine adulthood distribution of symptoms and cross-cohort trends by scale-equating psychological distress measures administered in the 1946, 1958 and 1970 British birth cohort...
psychiatry and clinical psychology
10.1101/2020.06.24.20139451
Behavioral dynamics of COVID-19: estimating under-reporting, multiple waves, and adherence fatigue across 92 nations
COVID-19 prevalence and mortality remain uncertain. For all 86 countries with reliable testing data we estimate how asymptomatic transmission, disease acuity, hospitalization, and behavioral responses to risk shape pandemic dynamics. Estimated cumulative cases and deaths through 10 July 2020 are 10.5 and 1.47 times off...
epidemiology
10.1101/2020.06.24.20139162
Weeding Through the Haze: A Survey on Cannabis Use Among People Living with Parkinson's Disease in the US
Symptomatic management of Parkinsons disease (PD) is complex and many symptoms, especially non-motor symptoms, are not effectively addressed with current medications. In the US, cannabis has become more widely available for medical and recreational use, permitting those in the PD community to try alternative means of s...
neurology
10.1101/2020.06.24.20139634
Shut and re-open: the role of schools in the spread of COVID-19 in Europe
We investigate the effect of school closure and subsequent reopening on the transmission of COVID-19, by considering Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and German states as case studies. By comparing the growth rates in daily hospitalisations or confirmed cases under different interventions, we provide evidence that school closu...
epidemiology
10.1101/2020.06.25.20139725
Genome-Wide Association Studies of retinal vessel tortuosity identify 173 novel loci, capturing genes and pathways associated with disease and vascular tissue pathomechanics
BackgroundFundus images allow for non-invasive assessment of the retinal vasculature whose features provide important information on health. Blood vessel tortuosity is a morphological feature associated with many diseases including hypertension. MethodsWe analyzed 116 639 fundus images of suitable quality from 63 662 ...
genetic and genomic medicine