Oxidative degradation of some antibiotics by permanganate ion in alkaline medium: A kinetic and mechanistic approach

Purpose: To investigate the kinetics of oxidative removal of two β-lactam antibiotics (A), namely, ampicillin and flucloxacillin.Methods: In this study, permanganate ion (MnO4-) was used as an oxidant in an alkaline medium at fixed ionic strength of 0.1 mol dm-3 and a temperature of 298 K utilizing a spectrophotometric technique. The obtained oxidation products were characterized using spot tests and FT-IR spectra.Results: The stoichiometry of the reactions was 1:4 (A : MnO4-). The reactions were a first order credence in [MnO4-] and fractional-first order  kinetics in antibiotic and hydroxyl ion. Influence of ionic strength was successfully explored. Dependence of reaction rates on temperature was studied and the activation parameters were computed and discussed. A plausible mechanism for the oxidation reactions has been elucidated. A consistent rate-law expression was also derived.Conclusion: This study introduces a significant treatment method for antibiotic removal, thus helping to protect the environment and human health. Keywords: Permanganate, Antibiotics, Oxidative degradation, Kinetics, Mechanis

THE REALIZATION FOR THE ENGLISH VOICELESS POSTALVEOLAR AFFRICATE /tʃ/ IN NAJDI SAUDI ESL LEARNERS PRODUCTION

The current study investigated the realization for the English voiceless postalveolar affricate /tʃ/ in Najdi Saudi ESL learners\u27 production. The goal of the study was to investigate whether Najdi Saudi ESL learners have difficulties in pronouncing /tʃ/. Both linguistic and extra-linguistic factors were taken into consideration. Eighteen Najdi ESL learners\u27 with different length of residency in the US were the sample of the study. Sixteen English words with /tʃ/ in initial and final position represented the instrument of the study. Data were analyzed using both SPSS and Speech analyzer software. The results showed that Najdi ESL learners have difficulties with /tʃ/, and they pronounced it as /ʃ/. Pronunciation for /tʃ/ was more difficult in word-final position than word-initial. The study also, found that learners with longer LORs produced more accurate pronunciation than learners with shorter LORs. Commonly used words were not a variable of interest, however the study showed that learners had fewer errors with commonly used words, than uncommon ones. Finally, the results provided support for theories and hypotheses such as the CAH (Lado, 1957), MDH (Eckman, 1977), and LTT (Gass and Selinker, 1994)

The Rebellious, Untamed Mare: Morrison's Heroine Sula

In her novel Sula, Toni Morrison creates one of the few black heroines to deliberately enhance the role of a pariah. This paper tries to unfold the rebellious attitude against the norms of the black community that mainly revolves around male’s centered society. Sula considers herself a free spirit who challenges and goes beyond all the boundaries; she dares to confront every aspect of that society. Her personality is remarkably evolved since childhood, whether with her relation with her grandmother; her mother or her friend Nel Wright as well as with her lovers. Being raised in household of strong women shapes the person she becomes; fearless, rebellious and daring

A Case Report of a Teaspoon Portion of Fava Beans Caused Severe Hemolysis in G6PD-Deficient Baby: Time to Include G6PD Enzyme Testing in the Premarital Screening Program and Newborns

A 2-year-old baby of Arabian descent presented to the emergency department (ED) with signs of acute hemolytic anemia due to consuming a teaspoon portion of fava beans. Besides jaundice, nausea, vomiting, and fatigue, dark urine was the primary motive for the ED visit. The baby was diagnosed with glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) deficiency, which was adequately managed. Upon discharge, he was furnished with a nutritional and medical counseling plan to avoid the triggering factors of hemolysis. Hospital management of this and other cases imposes a high cost on health systems. One of the cost-effective measures to reduce that cost on health systems is to incorporate the G6PD enzyme test in newborns or premarital screening programs. Thus, the proposed measures would have eliminated the suffering of these innocent souls

The impact of corporate governance on major shareholdings : the case of Saudi Arabia

PhD ThesisThe aim of this thesis is to examine whether the Corporate Governance (CG) structure in potential investee companies in Saudi Arabia has an impact on major shareholders choices of shares. Scholars argue that good CG practices provide investors with more confidence to invest their wealth in capital markets especially in developing countries (McKinsey, 2000). Saudi Arabia embraces unique cultural, economic, social, religious settings and is characterised with a prevalent presence of major shareholders in the capital market that is accompanied by allegedly weak legal settings, which was observed after the infamous collapse of the Saudi capital market in February 2006 (Ramady, 2010; Al-Nodel and Hussainey, 2010; Al-Matari, Al-Swidi and Fadzil, 2012). In order to investigate the impact of corporate governance on major shareholdings in the Saudi capital market, a full review of the CG evolution in Saudi Arabia is presented and two sets of questions are identified to achieve the objectives of this thesis. To address the research questions, this thesis employs triangulation (i.e., mixed methods, quantitative and qualitative) and embraces agency theory as main theoretical framework. The quantitative assessment is performed using a panel data analysis of 97 non-financial listed companies in the Saudi capital market over the period from 2013 to 2017 (485 observations). The qualitative assessment is performed by conducting semi-structured interviews with fifteen participants of different categories of major shareholders within the Saudi capital market. Overall, the regression analysis has shown that total major shareholdings have a significant negative relationship with CG score. Some interviewees expressed similar views toward such mechanisms as they are believed to be responsible for the limitation of their power over investee firms. The results of regression analysis to each category of major shareholders have revealed that the only categories that are significantly related to CG is wealthy families (negative) and wealthy individuals (positive), which is also supported by the findings of the qualitative assessment. The qualitative assessment of the rest of major shareholders categories have provided mixed results concerning CG preferences. Few interviewees believe that some parts of CG structure of investee firms play a role during the decision-making of their investments. On the other hand, most interviewees have revealed that CG in general is not taken into consideration when making investment decisions. This explains the insignificant relationship between CG and most categories of major shareholders revealed by the regression analysis.The government of Saudi Arabia and Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal Universit

Simultaneous estimation of cinnamaldehyde and eugenol in essential oils and traditional and ultrasound-assisted extracts of different species of cinnamon using a sustainable/green HPTLC technique

A wide range of analytical techniques are reported for the determination of cinnamaldehyde (CCHO) and eugenol (EOH) in plant extracts and herbal formulations either alone or in combination. Nevertheless, sustainable/green analytical techniques for the estimation of CCHO and EOH either alone or in combination are scarce in the literature. Accordingly, the present research was carried out to establish a rapid, highly sensitive, and sustainable high-performance thin-layer chromatography (HPTLC) technique for the simultaneous estimation of CCHO and EOH in the traditional and ultrasound-assisted methanolic extracts of Cinnamomum zeylanicum, C. burmannii, and C. cassia and their essential oils. The simultaneous estimation of CCHO and EOH was performed through NP-18 silica gel 60 F254S HPTLC plates. The cyclohexane/ethyl acetate (90:10, v v−1) solvent system was optimized as the mobile phase for the simultaneous estimation of CCHO and EOH. The greenness score of the HPTLC technique was predicted using AGREE software. The entire analysis was carried out at a detection wavelength of 296 nm for CCHO and EOH. The sustainable HPTLC technique was observed as linear in the range 10–2000 ng band−1 for CCHO and EOH. The proposed technique was found to be highly sensitive, rapid, accurate, precise, and robust for the simultaneous estimation of CCHO and EOH. The content of CCHO in traditional methanolic extracts of C. zeylanicum, C. burmannii, and C. cassia was found to be 96.36, 118.49, and 114.18 mg g−1, respectively. However, the content of CCHO in ultrasound-assisted methanolic extracts of C. zeylanicum, C. burmannii, and C. cassia was found to be 111.57, 134.39, and 129.07 mg g−1, respectively. The content of CCHO in essential oils of C. zeylanicum, C. burmannii, and C. cassia was found to be 191.20, 214.24, and 202.09 mg g−1, respectively. The content of EOH in traditional methanolic extracts of C. zeylanicum, C. burmannii, and C. cassia was found to be 73.38, 165.41, and 109.10 mg g−1, respectively. However, the content of EOH in ultrasound-assisted methanolic extracts of C. zeylanicum, C. burmannii, and C. cassia was found to be 87.20, 218.09, and 121.85 mg g−1, respectively. The content of EOH in essential oils of C. zeylanicum, C. burmannii, and C. cassia was found to be 61.26, 79.21, and 69.02 mg g−1, respectively. The amounts of CCHO and EOH were found to be significantly higher in ultrasound-assisted extracts of all species compared to its traditional extraction and hence ultrasound extraction has been proposed as a superior technique for the extraction of CCHO and EOH. The AGREE analytical score of the present analytical technique was predicted as 0.75, suggesting excellent greenness profile of the proposed analytical technique. Based on all these observations and results, the proposed sustainable HPTLC technique can be successfully used for the simultaneous estimation of CCHO and EOH in different plant extracts and herbal products

The CD105:CD106 microparticle ratio is CD106 dominant in polycystic ovary syndrome compared to type 2 diabetes and healthy subjects

© 2019, The Author(s). Background: A retrospective analysis was carried out from patients and controls during the past 5 years from a series of studies investigating endothelial microparticles (MP). Methods: In total, 319 samples from 207 individuals were included in this analysis, from patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D, n = 105), women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS, n = 145) and healthy volunteers (n = 69). All data were generated via the same flow cytometry protocol with the same antibody clones. Endothelial markers CD105 (Endoglin) and CD106 (Vascular cell adhesion molecule-1) were used to enumerate MP in venous blood. Results: The ratio of CD105MP:CD106MP was significantly different between groups (F = 63.43, p < 0.0001). Women with PCOS were found to have a median CD105MP:CD106MP ratio of 0.40 (IQR 0.24–0.57), suggesting approximately two CD106MP were found per CD105MP. The T2D group showed a median ratio of 2.32 (1.51–3.69) whereas in healthy volunteers the ratio was 2.21 (1.63–3.55). Serum intercellular adhesion molecule-1 was also shown to be significantly increased in PCOS when compared with control or T2D groups (F = 14.5, p < 0.001). Conclusion: These data suggest that women with PCOS have an altered endothelial MP release in favour of CD106. Thus a potential activated endothelial state exists in women with PCOS with a shift towards a predominantly CD106MP profile

Knowledge, attitudes and practice among high school teachers toward students with mental disorders in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Background: Mental disorders are highly prevalent among adolescents, and they correlate negatively with students’ achievement, performance, and leadless school engagement and participation. School Teachers can contribute significantly to the early detection and intervention strategies for mental disorders among adolescents. This study estimates high school teachers’ knowledge, attitude, and practice toward mental disorders and determines the association between selected demographic factors.Methods: The ethical committee of King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, approved this cross-sectional study. Multistage random sampling was done, which included 62 male and 48 female high schools in Riyadh between August and December 2021. An Anonymous self-administered questionnaire consisting of 39-item was used for data collection.Results: A total 487 responses were received from the high school teachers, on a scale of 10 maximum score, only (60.4%) showed adequate knowledge regarding mental disorders. Even though, Majority of teachers (76.2%) show a favorable attitude toward mental disorders on a scale of 24 maximum scores. Furthermore, approximately one-third of study participants (34.4%) on a scale of 4 points maximum show good practice toward mental disorders.     Conclusions: This study revealed teachers’ lack of knowledge about mental disorders with poor practice. Even though school teachers have shown favourable attitudes in most aspects toward mental disorders, implantation of the mental health literacy program is recommended to enhance the essential role of school staff in providing the needed support for promoting student mental health

Development and validation of a high-performance thin-layer chromatographic method for the quantitative analysis of vitexin in Passiflora foetida herbal formulations

© 2019 Dehon et al. Introduction: Formative evaluations of clinical teaching for emergency medicine (EM) faculty are limited. The goal of this study was to develop a behaviorally-based tool for evaluating and providing feedback to EM faculty based on their clinical teaching skills during a shift. Methods: We used a three-phase structured development process. Phase 1 used the nominal group technique with a group of faculty first and then with residents to generate potential evaluation items. Phase 2 included separate focus groups and used a modified Delphi technique with faculty and residents, as well as a group of experts to evaluate the items generated in Phase 1. Following this, residents classified the items into novice, intermediate, and advanced educator skills. Once items were determined for inclusion and subsequently ranked they were built into the tool by the investigators (Phase 3). Results: The final instrument, the Faculty Shift Card, is a behaviorally-anchored evaluation and feedback tool used to facilitate feedback to EM faculty about their teaching skills during a shift. The tool has four domains: teaching clinical decision-making; teaching interpersonal skills; teaching procedural skills; and general teaching strategies. Each domain contains novice, intermediate, and advanced sections with 2-5 concrete examples for each level of performance. Conclusion: This structured process resulted in a well-grounded and systematically developed evaluation tool for EM faculty that can provide real-time actionable feedback to faculty and support improved clinical teaching

Injuries type and its relation with Glasgow Coma Scale, injury severity score and blood transfusion in road traffic accident Victims.

Motor Vehicular Accidents claim about 1.2 million lives and injure more than 10 million people annually worldwide. The injuries caused by MVAs can be analyzed based on the type of injury, injury severity score, Glasgow Coma Scale and required blood transfusion. Methodology: A total number of 190 patients were included in this retrospective study from January 01, 2010 to December 31, 2015. The study aimed to determine the correlation between the type of injuries and GCS, ISS, and blood transfusions in the patients suffering from Motor Vehicle Accidents, who were presented to the Emergency Department at the King Khalid Hospital. All the data of the patients fulfilling the inclusion criteria were collected from the database at medical records department of the hospital. Results: Majority of the patients were adults Saudi male. 68.9% of the patients did not sustain shock, and 75.8% of patients did not require a blood transfusion. Patients with head, neck, chest, abdominal, internal organ, pelvic or spinal injuries conferred a statistically significant higher mean ISS. Patients with abdominal or internal organ injuries had a statistically significant higher mean units of blood transfused. GCS was seen to be lower in the head, neck, chest, abdominal, internal organ, spinal and other injuries. Conclusions: The study documents a significant correlation between the type of injury and GCS, ISS, and blood transfusion in victims of road traffic accident. Emergency physician and the caregivers should be more careful about the injuries associated with lower GCS. Patients sustaining injuries of certain parts related to high ISS (i.e., head, chest, abdominal, internal organ, pelvic) should be addressed on priority basis