Assessment of knowledge of pharmacies and drug stores workers toward dengue and its management at Al-Mukalla district – Hadhramout-Yemen

Dengue fever (DF) is a mosquito borne disease that has spread rapidly in Al-Mukalla city in the last ten years, so a necessary requirement is to analyze the knowledge of healthcare providers, including pharmacists, toward dengue management and control in the country. This paper aims to assess the knowledge of pharmacies and drug store workers toward dengue management at Al-Mukalla district. A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among 384 pharmacies and drug store workers in Al-Mukalla district in 2020. A random sampling method was used to select the pharmacies and drug stores and data was collected by using pretest questionnaires. All statistical analyses were performed by using SPSS software, version 24. A total of 384 workers of pharmacies and drug stores, were enrolled. 361 were male (94%), and 23 were female (6%). The pharmacy diploma was the most qualified of the participants (58.1%). The majority of participants had 1–5 years’ experience (45.3%). The result showed that most workers of pharmacies and drug stores had knowledge of dengue fever disease (82.1%). Medical consultation was the most common choice of participation regarding dealing with warning signs of dengue fever (red spots or patches on the skin (59.1%) , nasal or gingival bleeding(66.9%), vaginal bleeding(74.2%), hematemesis (72.7%), and severe abdominal pain (46.4% ). The larger proportion of participants did not have knowledge of the WHO clinical management of dengue guideline (75.5%). This study showed that more than half of pharmacies and drug stores workers had knowledge toward management of dengue fever (57 %). This study revealed that the knowledge of pharmacy and drug store workers in Al-Mukalla district toward dengue fever management was not satisfactory. This result highlights the need for extensive scientific programs to increase the knowledge of pharmacies and drug store workers toward dengue management so this gap will be plugged

HCV Infection among Saudi Population: High Prevalence of Genotype 4 and Increased Viral Clearance Rate

HCV is a major etiological agent of liver disease with a high rate of chronic evolution. The virus possesses 6 genotypes with many subtypes. The rate of spontaneous clearance among HCV infected individuals denotes a genetic determinant factor. The current study was designed in order to estimate the rate of HCV infection and ratio of virus clearance among a group of infected patients in Saudi Arabia from 2008 to 2011. It was additionally designed to determine the genotypes of the HCV in persistently infected patients. HCV seroprevalence was conducted on a total of 15,323 individuals. Seropositive individuals were tested by Cobas AmpliPrep/Cobas TaqMan HCV assay to determine the ratio of persistently infected patients to those who showed spontaneous viral clearance. HCV genotyping on random samples from persistently infected patients were conducted based on the differences in the 5′untranslated region (5′UTR). Anti-HCV antibodies were detected in 7.3% of the totally examined sera. A high percentage of the HCV infected individuals experienced virus clearance (48.4%). HCV genotyping revealed the presence of genotypes 1 and 4, the latter represented 97.6% of the tested strains. Evidences of the widespread of the HCV genotype 4 and a high rate of HCV virus clearance were found in Saudi Arabia

Immunolocalization of neurokinin 1 receptor in WHO grade 4 astrocytomas, oral squamous cell and urothelial carcinoma

Neurokinin-1 receptor (NK-1R) induces inflammatory reactions in peripheral tissues but its regulatory effects in target tissues is dependent on receptor signalling. Substance P (SP) has a high affinity for the NK-1R, to which it binds preferentially. We aimed to investigate the expression of NK-1R in World Health Organization (WHO) grade 4 astrocytomas as well as in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) and urothelial carcinoma, and its association with disease progression.The study included tissue samples from 19 brain astrocytomas, 40 OSCCs and 10 urothelial carcinomas. NK-1R expression was quantitatively assessed in the tumour cells using immunohistochemistry. The relationship between NK-1R expression in astrocytomas and recurrence-free interval has been explored.The results showed that the NK-1R was intensely expressed in patients with WHO grade 4 astrocytoma, OSCC and urothelial carcinoma. However, cases clinically diagnosed as a low-grade cancer showed reduced NK-1R expression.NK-1R is overexpressed in all cases of WHO grade 4 astrocytoma, OSCC and urothelial carcinoma. The ubi-quitous presence of SP/NK-1R complex during tumour development and progression suggests a possible therapeutic key strategy to use NK-1R antagonist as an adjuvant therapy in the future

The socioeconomic burden of spinal muscular atrophy in Saudi Arabia: a cross-sectional pilot study

BackgroundSpinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is a rare debilitating condition with a significant burden for patients and society. However, little is known about how it affects Saudi Arabia's population. The socioeconomic and medical characteristics of affected SMA patients and their caregivers are lacking.PurposeThis study aimed to describe the socioeconomic and medical characteristics of SMA patients and caregivers in Saudi Arabia.Patients and methodsA cross-sectional questionnaire-based study was conducted using snowball sampling. Assessment tools including EuroQol (EQ-5D-5L) and visual analog scale (EQ-VAS), Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-item (GAD-7), Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9), and Costs for Patients Questionnaire (CoPaQ) were used to assess the quality of life (QoL), anxiety, depression, and out-of-pocket expenditures.ResultsSixty-four caregivers of SMA patients participated. Type I patients had higher sibling concordance, ICU hospitalization, and mechanical support needs. Type III patients had better QoL. Type I patients' caregivers had higher depression scores. Type III patients' caregivers had higher out-of-pocket expenditures. Forty-eight percent received supportive care, while others received SMA approved therapies.ConclusionSMA imposes a significant socioeconomic burden on patients and caregivers, requiring more attention from the healthcare system. Access to innovative therapies varied across SMA types. Pre-marital screening and early detection are crucial to reduce disease incidence and ensure timely treatment

Structural behaviour of composite beams with cold formed steel section

The use of composite beam in buildings has known to be more economical compared to bare steel beams with hot-rolled steel section, as the composite action between steel and concrete results in significant savings in steel weight and reduce the beam depth. However, the use of composite beam with cold-formed steel of lipped C-channel is yet to be established as the structural behavior of such beam is not well understood. This study presents and discusses the behavior of composite beam with cold formed steel section and innovative shear connectors. The composite beam comprises two cold formed steel of lipped C-sections oriented back to back to form I-steel beam and perpendicular metal decking concrete slab. Three types of bracket shear connectors namely single bracket (SBSC), double bracket (DBSC) and hot rolled plate (HPSC) shear connectors were developed and used; the proposed shear connectors were fixed to the web of steel beam by bolts. In addition, headed stud (HSSC) shear connector welded to the top flange of cold formed steel beam was also investigated. Push tests in accordance with Eurocode 4 were carried out to determine the strength capacity and ductility of the proposed shear connectors. Sequentially, full-scale beam tests were conducted to investigate the actual behavior of the composite beam with the proposed shear connectors. The length of full-scale specimen between supports is 4000 mm. Theoretical validation for the experimental results was performed based on the plastic analysis of composite beam. The experimental results of push tests showed very good strength with extreme deformation capacity for all bracket shear connectors suggesting that they are strong and ductile enough to provide composite action between steel beam and concrete slab. Also, it was observed that strength capacity of shear connector increases as the thickness of steel beam increases. For headed stud shear connectors, the stud possess strength capacity as high as its predicted strength. The results of full-scale beam tests showed very good agreement as compared to theoretical values that predicted based on push test results. The bending resistance and stiffness of the composite beams were improved up to 170% and 270% respectively as compared to non-composite cold formed steel beam. Composite beam with HSSC shear connectors showed the best performance as compared to composite beams with SBSC, DBSC and HPSC shear connectors. Also, the results showed that the bending resistance of the composite beam increases as the thickness of steel beam increases. It is concluded that the proposed composite beams with cold formed steel section are strong enough to be used in small and medium size buildings

Comprehensive Analysis of Genes Associated With Sudden Infant Death Syndrome

Background: Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) is a tragic incident which remains a mystery even after post-mortem investigation and thorough researches. Methods: This comprehensive review is based on the genes reported in the molecular autopsy studies conducted on SIDS so far. A total of 20 original studies and 7 case reports were identified and included in this analysis. The genes identified in children or adults were not included. Most of the genes reported in these studies belonged to cardiac channel and cardiomyopathy. Cardiac channel genes in SIDS were scrutinized for further analysis. Results: After screening and removing the duplicates, 42 unique genes were extracted. When the location of these genes was assessed, it was observed that most of these belonged to Chromosomes 11, 1 and 3 in sequential manner. The pathway analysis shows that these genes are involved in the regulation of heart rate, action potential, cardiac muscle cell contraction and heart contraction. The protein-protein interaction network was also very big and highly interactive. SCN5A, CAV3, ALG10B, AKAP9 and many more were mainly found in these cases and were regulated by many transcription factors such as MYOG C2C1 and CBX3 HCT11. Micro RNA, hsa-miR-133a-3p was found to be prevalent in the targeted genes. Conclusions: Molecular and computational approaches are a step forward toward exploration of these sad demises. It is so far a new arena but seems promising to dig out the genetic cause of SIDS in the years to come