The Journal of Bucharest College of Physicians and the Romanian Academy of Medical Sciences

Daniela Tabacelia

Daniela Tabacelia

Prediction of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus Using Soft Computing

Background: Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (DM) is another pandemic of 21 century, and its control is of immense importance. Researchers developed many predictor models using soft computing techniques. The present study developed a prediction model for Type 2 DM using machine learning classifiers. The analysis excludes plasma glucose concentration and insulin concentration as predictors to explore relationships with other predictors.
Methods: This cross-sectional study enrolled 108 participants aged 25 to 67 years from SMS Medical College, Jaipur (Rajasthan, India), after approval from the ethics committee. The study developed a prediction model using machine learning techniques. The classifiers used in the application include decision trees, support vector machines, K-nearest neighbors, and ensemble learning classifiers. A total of 25 predictors were collected and underwent feature reduction. The response levels include diabetes mellitus, prediabetes, and no diabetes mellitus. The models were run using three predictors and a response variable. The prediction model with the best accuracy and area under the receiver operator characteristic curve was selected.
Results: The features that vary among the three groups include age, WHR, biceps skinfold thickness, total lipids, phospholipids, triglycerides, total cholesterol, LDL, VLDL, and serum creatinine, and family history of DM. After feature reduction, the age, biceps skinfold thickness, and serum creatinine were run on the Classification learner application to predict the diabetic category. The best model was subspace discriminant with accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, and AUC under the ROC curve was 62.4%, 74%, 94%, and 0.70, respectively. Conclusion: The present study concludes that age, biceps skinfold thickness, and serum creatinine combination have higher specificity in predicting type 2 DM. The study emphasized the selection of appropriate predictors along with newer machine learning algorithms.

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Upper GI Bleeding with Hemorrhagic Shock Caused by Infectious Esophagitis

CMV infection in healthy hosts is generally asymptomatic, producing a latent infection with antibodies persisting for months or even years after the recovery. In the population at risk, CMV infection is one of the most frequent opportunistic infection. The most frequent GI manifestation of CMV infection is colitis followed by esophagitis although it can affect all organs. CMV esophagitis has been reported in immunocompromised hosts by conditions like organ transplantation, bone marrow transplantation, in patients with HIV infection and AIDS or other debilitating diseases. [...]

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Crohn's Disease or Intestinal Tuberculosis. A Diagnostic Challenge

TB usually affects the lungs but many other organs may be involved. Intestinal tuberculosis primarily involves the distal ileum and cecum, followed by the jejuno-ileum, colon and rectum. The development of strictures and fistulas mimic Crohn’s disease, and generalized colonic involvement mimics ulcerative colitis. A 42 year old patient was admitted to the Gastroenterology Department of Emergency Clinical Hospital Bucharest with a 3 months history of unintentional weight loss (15 kg), diarrhea (7-8 unformed stools per day), right iliac fossa pain, night sweats. He had a history of recent fungal esophagitis and antral gastritis. He denied prior contact with patients with tuberculosis and has no pets. [...]

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Burden of Clostridium Difficile Infection in Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), including Crohn’s disease (CD) and Ulcerative Colitis (UC), is characterized by chronic inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract. There is epidemiologic evidence that in patients with IBD, Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) occurs more frequently than in the general population and that these rates have been increasing over the past several decades. [...]

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