Effect of Positive Emotional Treatment Program on Anhedonia and Apathy among Schizophrenic Patients

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of positive emotional treatment program on anhedonia and apathy among schizophrenic patients. Setting: The present study was conducted at the Al-Abbassia Mental Health Hospital. Sample: A purposive sample consisted of thirty schizophrenic patients was recruited in the current study. The sample of the current study was divided into experimental and control groups. Methods: A quazi-experimental design was used in this study. Three tools were used to collect the data for the current study, Personal data sheet, Scale for the Assessment of Negative Symptoms and The Savoring Beliefs Inventory. A constructed positive emotional program was designed to help patients to develop necessary skills for modifying defeatist thinking, to learn and practice a new skill to improve their anticipation or maintenance of pleasure. This program was implemented over thirteen sessions, two sessions per week and each session lasted about 60-90 minutes. Pre and post assessments were carried out for the experimental and control groups. Results: The current study results revealed overall significant effects of positive emotional program regarding decreasing patients’ negative symptoms and increasing their anticipation or maintenance of pleasure. Socio-demographic data showed no statistically significant in relation to pre and post assessments, however; anhedonia domain was statistically related with level of education. Conclusion and recommendations: the study concluded that, the positive emotional program was effective with schizophrenic patients' concerning reducing negative symptoms and enhancing anticipation or maintenance of pleasure. The study recommended that, the positive emotional program should be incorporated into treatment regimen of schizophrenic patients. In addition, applying techniques that are proven to be positively correlated with emotional regulation enhancement such as mindfulness practice rather than just using medication that have less effect on patient ‘emotions. Keywords: Schizophrenia, positive emotion, apathy, Anhedoni

Acculturative Stress, Assertiveness, and Self Efficacy among Undergraduate International Nursing Students

Context: Acculturative stress is an essential challenge of international students in a new culture. This challenge may impact their academic success, psychological wellbeing, and the educational institution's effectiveness in retaining these students.Aim: To examine the relationship between acculturative stress, self-efficacy, and assertiveness among international undergraduate nursing students. Methods: The study was conducted at the Faculty of Nursing, Cairo University. The correlational research design was used on a simple random sample consisting of 135 undergraduate international nursing students. Four tools were used for data collection. They were a personal data sheet, acculturative stress assessment scale, Rathus assertiveness schedule, and general self-efficacy assessment scale.Results: 47.00% of undergraduate international nursing students had a mild level of acculturative stress, 34.8% of undergraduate international nursing students were somewhat non-assertive, about half of undergraduate international nursing students had a moderate level of self-efficacy. There was a statistically significant positive correlation between self-efficacy and assertiveness. Also, there was a statistically significant negative correlation between acculturative stress and assertiveness. There was no statistically significant correlation between self-efficacy and acculturative stress. Conclusions: Undergraduate international nursing students were inclined towards experiencing acculturative stress, and near half of them exhibit a mild level. More than one-third of them were somewhat assertive, with near half of them had a high level of self-efficacy. The development of educational programs is needed to maximize assertiveness skills, self-efficacy, and reduce acculturative stress among undergraduate international nursing students

Extraction and partial purification of Aspergillus flavus cell wall associated saponin hydrolase

In spite of the importance of saponin hydrolase (SH) enzyme, in the production of biologically active compounds from natural saponins, it is surprising that many aspects of its nature are unknown. The results of the present work revealed that Aspergillus flavus was capable of expressing three SH forms; extracellular, intracellular and cell wall-bound forms. SH cell bound enzyme constituted to more than 75% of the total enzymatic activity in the production medium. The sequential extraction process of SH cell bound enzyme revealed that 47.5% of SH was cytosolic and the rest (52.5%) was associated with the cell wall. The highest SH extraction yield was achieved when 0.25 M Tris-HCl lysis buffer supplemented with 1% Triton X-100 for 24 h at 4-25 °C and pH 8 were applied. Under these optimized conditions, A. flavus SH yield increased from 23.6 to 85.83%. The partial purification was achieved by applying successively acetone precipitation, lyophilization, dialysis, and anion exchange chromatography on Fractogel EMD DEAE-650S to the extract. The specific activity of the enzyme extract was 0.27 U/mg after 75% acetone fractionation, while that after anion exchange chromatography was 0.65 U/mg protein. The final enzyme preparation was 7.3-fold purer than the crude extract

Surgical site infection after gastrointestinal surgery in high-income, middle-income, and low-income countries: a prospective, international, multicentre cohort study

Background: Surgical site infection (SSI) is one of the most common infections associated with health care, but its importance as a global health priority is not fully understood. We quantified the burden of SSI after gastrointestinal surgery in countries in all parts of the world. Methods: This international, prospective, multicentre cohort study included consecutive patients undergoing elective or emergency gastrointestinal resection within 2-week time periods at any health-care facility in any country. Countries with participating centres were stratified into high-income, middle-income, and low-income groups according to the UN's Human Development Index (HDI). Data variables from the GlobalSurg 1 study and other studies that have been found to affect the likelihood of SSI were entered into risk adjustment models. The primary outcome measure was the 30-day SSI incidence (defined by US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention criteria for superficial and deep incisional SSI). Relationships with explanatory variables were examined using Bayesian multilevel logistic regression models. This trial is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT02662231. Findings: Between Jan 4, 2016, and July 31, 2016, 13 265 records were submitted for analysis. 12 539 patients from 343 hospitals in 66 countries were included. 7339 (58·5%) patient were from high-HDI countries (193 hospitals in 30 countries), 3918 (31·2%) patients were from middle-HDI countries (82 hospitals in 18 countries), and 1282 (10·2%) patients were from low-HDI countries (68 hospitals in 18 countries). In total, 1538 (12·3%) patients had SSI within 30 days of surgery. The incidence of SSI varied between countries with high (691 [9·4%] of 7339 patients), middle (549 [14·0%] of 3918 patients), and low (298 [23·2%] of 1282) HDI (p < 0·001). The highest SSI incidence in each HDI group was after dirty surgery (102 [17·8%] of 574 patients in high-HDI countries; 74 [31·4%] of 236 patients in middle-HDI countries; 72 [39·8%] of 181 patients in low-HDI countries). Following risk factor adjustment, patients in low-HDI countries were at greatest risk of SSI (adjusted odds ratio 1·60, 95% credible interval 1·05–2·37; p=0·030). 132 (21·6%) of 610 patients with an SSI and a microbiology culture result had an infection that was resistant to the prophylactic antibiotic used. Resistant infections were detected in 49 (16·6%) of 295 patients in high-HDI countries, in 37 (19·8%) of 187 patients in middle-HDI countries, and in 46 (35·9%) of 128 patients in low-HDI countries (p < 0·001). Interpretation: Countries with a low HDI carry a disproportionately greater burden of SSI than countries with a middle or high HDI and might have higher rates of antibiotic resistance. In view of WHO recommendations on SSI prevention that highlight the absence of high-quality interventional research, urgent, pragmatic, randomised trials based in LMICs are needed to assess measures aiming to reduce this preventable complication

Effect of digital detox program on electronic screen syndrome among preparatory school students

Abstract Aim The aim of this study was to determine the digital detox programme's impact on the electronic screen syndrome among preparatory school students. Design A quasi‐experimental pre‐ and posttest group was used. Methods Two preparatory governmental schools. Sample: purposive sample consists of 105 students. Tools: Two tools used for data collection: Student's datasheet and Electronic Screen Addiction Scale. The data collection period took six months, from September 2021 to February 2022. Results The high rate of screen addiction among students dropped to 14.3% in the posttest compared with 20.0% in the pre‐test. Moreover, the students' proportion with moderate screen addiction dropped from 65.7% on the pre‐test to 43.8% on the posttest. Furthermore, screen addiction students with lower levels were about 41.9% in the posttest and 14.3% in the pre‐test. Conclusions There was a highly statistically significant difference between school students' total electronic screen scores in the pre‐ and posttest. A preventive care programme is recommended for high school children and helps raise screen addiction's awareness and its negative consequences. Patient or Public Contribution No patient or public contribution

Isolation and identification of marine microbial products

Abstract Background The ocean is one of the world’s most important sources of bioactive chemicals in the marine environment. Microbiologists, ecologists, agronomists, taxonomists, and evolutionary biologists have been increasingly interested in marine microbial natural products (MMNPs) in recent decades. Main body Diverse marine bacteria appear to get the ability to manufacture an astounding diversity of MMNPs with a wide range of biological actions, including anti-tumor, antimicrobial, and anti-cardiovascular agents according to numerous studies. Short conclusions Innovative isolation and culture methodologies, tactics for identifying novel MMNPs via routine screens, metagenomics, genomics, combinatorial biosynthesis, and synthetic biology are all discussed in this review. There is also a discussion of potential issues and future directions for studying MMNPs

Poly-3-Methyl Aniline-Assisted Spherical PbS Quantum Dots through the Ionic Adsorption Deposition Method as a Novel and Highly Efficient Photodetector in UV, Vis, and NIR Regions

This study describes the preparation and characterization of glass/poly-3-methyl aniline (P3MA)/PbS quantum dot (QD) optoelectronic photodetector to detect and sense the light in broad spectral regions of UV, Vis, and NIR. This work is carried out to solve the drawbacks of other studs that prepare detectors in just one or two optical regions. Previous studies have used high-priced techniques. The deposition of P3MA on the glass surface was carried out by in situ oxidation process. Then, this polymer film was used to assist the deposition of PbS-QD particles through the ionic adsorption deposition method. The latter was performed using four different concentrations of Pb(NO3)2 solution (0.01, 0.03, 0.05, and 0.07 M) to form four P3MA/PbS composites: I, II, III, and IV, respectively. The chemical structure, morphologies, and electrical and optical properties of these composites were determined using different analytical tools. The SEM confirmed the formation of spherical QD particles of PbS on the P3MA surface. The TEM analysis showed that the composite has an average size of 5 nm, with the interatomic distances of 0.4 nm. Furthermore, the optical band gap values were 1.53, 1.52, 1.50, and 1.51 eV, respectively. The optoelectronic device could detect and sense light from 390 to 636 nm under various optical wavelengths. The produced current density (Jph) values decreased from 0.029 mA.cm-2 at 390 nm to 0.022 mA.cm-2 at 500 nm and then increased until 0.024 mA.cm-2 at 636 nm. The light sensing was determined through the photoresponsivity (R) and detectivity (D) parameters, in which the photodetector has R and D values of 0.29 mA.cm-2 and 6.5×107 Jones, respectively. Finally, a simple mechanism was proposed to explain the light sensing through the prepared optoelectronic device. Soon, our team works on the industrial applications of this optoelectronic device in the industry field related to the great optoelectronic device technical properties and its low cost and easy preparation

11 &#181;-Hydroxylation of cortexolone using immobilized Cunninghamella elegans protoplasts

Transformation of cortexolone to cortisol and prednisolone by the filamentous fungus Cunninghamellaelegans protoplasts as a research tool was studied. The immobilized protoplasts of the fungus hydroxylated cortexolone at 11β -position had significantly higher activity than the free protoplasts. Sucrose as an osmotic stabilizer was found to be best at 0.6 M level. Relatively higher cortexolone bioconversion was obtained on using 3 ml of protoplasts (1.2¡Ñ107 protoplasts/ml) entrapped in 3% calcium alginate gel after 18 h incubation. The addition of some supplements was also investigated. The highest bioconversion efficiency was recorded with sodium citrate (1 g/L) and sodium benzoate (1 g/L). Similarly, the bioconversion process was fairly enhanced in the presence of Tween 20, 60 and the tested vitamins supplements. The entrapped protoplasts proved to be able to maintain the bioconversion process for repeated 13 cycles over 252 h. Sodium citrate and sodium benzoate, folic acid, riboflavin, menadione, vitamin B12 and ascorbic acid relatively were able to increase bioconversion efficiency.Key words: Cortexolone, 11£β-hydroxylation, immobilization, Cunninghamella elegans, protoplasts