PUBLIC KNOWLEDGE AND ATTITUDE TOWARD DEPRESSION AND SCHIZOPHRENIA: FINDINGS FROM QUANTITATIVE STUDY IN UAE

Objective: The purpose of the current study to assess current attitude and knowledge of UAE population toward mental disorders, and to determine the stigma status of people with schizophrenia and depression.Methods: A represented sample of 430 participants was enrolled in the study. A descriptive qualitative survey was the study tool. The developed questionnaire was designed to be interview-administrated SPSS 24 used in data analysis. A correlation analysis was performed to test association. One-way ANOVA and independent t-test were applied to determine which factors might affect the knowledge and attitude score. p<0.05 was considered significant.Results: The study findings revealed a high level of stigma among UAE population toward people with schizophrenia and depression. 62% (266) had negative attitude score while 38.1% (164) had positive attitude score. 67% of the participants believe that people with schizophrenia and depression are dangerous. 80% (343) had a good knowledge score while 20.2% (87) had poor knowledge score.Conclusion: The negative attitude confirms the importance of increasing mental health literacy. These findings highlight the need to implement national mental health policy to educate the public and reduce the stigma of mental disorders

Factors affecting pharmacist’s practice.

Factors affecting pharmacist’s practice.</p

Bretylium abolishes neurotransmitter release without necessarily abolishing the nerve terminal action potential in sympathetic terminals

Background and purpose: The antidysrhythmic bretylium is useful experimentally because it selectively abolishes neurotransmitter release from sympathetic peripheral nerve terminals. Its mechanism of action seemed settled, but recent results from optical monitoring of single terminals now suggests a new interpretation. Experimental approach: Orthograde transport of a dextran-conjugated Ca2+ indicator to monitor Ca2+ in nerve terminals of mouse isolated vas deferens with a confocal microscope. In some experiments, local neurotransmitter release was detected by monitoring neuroeffector Ca2+ transients (NCTs) in adjacent smooth muscles, a local measure of purinergic transmission. Sympathetic terminals were identified with catecholamine fluorescence (UV excitation) or post-experiment immunohistochemistry. Key results: Bretylium (10 m) abolished NCTs at 60/61 junctions over the course of 2 h, indicating effective abolition of neurotransmitter release. However, bretylium did not abolish the field stimulus-induced Ca2+ transient in most nerve terminals, but did increase both action potential delay (by 20.4 ms) and absolute refractory period (by 42 ms). Immunohistochemistry demonstrated that 85–96% of terminals orthogradely filled with a dextran-conjugated fluorescent probe contained Neuropeptide Y (NPY). A formaldehyde–glutaraldehyde-induced catecholamine fluorescence (FAGLU) technique was modified to allow sympathetic terminals to be identified with a Ca2+ indicator present. Most terminals contained catecholamines (based on FAGLU) or secrete ATP (as NCTs in adjacent smooth muscle cells are abolished). Conclusions and implications: Bretylium can inhibit neurotransmitter release downstream of Ca2+ influx without abolishing the nerve terminal action potential. Bretylium-induced increases in the absolute refractory period permit living sympathetic terminals to be identified.The definitive version of this article is freely available on the publisher's website. This may be accessed via the "Publisher Copy" link on this record page

Invasive versus echocardiographic gradients in degenerated surgical aortic valve prostheses: A&nbsp;multicenter study

ObjectivesTo compare echocardiographic and invasive mean gradients obtained concomitantly in degenerated bioprosthetic surgical aortic valves (SAVRs).MethodsIn a multicenter study, we compared concomitant echocardiographic and invasive mean gradients of SAVR, obtained before valve-in-valve transcatheter aortic valve replacement in all patients, patients with primary stenosis (AS), primary aortic regurgitation (AR), and mixed aortic valve disease (MAVD), and in small versus large valves (≤ or &gt;23&nbsp;mm). Dimensionless index (DI) was calculated in all groups.ResultsIn total, 74 patients were included and data presented as median (interquartile range). Echocardiography-catheterization mean gradient discordance was observed in all patients (invasive&nbsp;=&nbsp;22&nbsp;mm Hg [11-34] vs echocardiographic =&nbsp;32&nbsp;mm Hg [21-42], P&nbsp;=&nbsp;.013), small valves (invasive&nbsp;=&nbsp;15&nbsp;mm Hg [8-34] vs echocardiographic&nbsp;=&nbsp;28&nbsp;mm Hg [21-41], P&nbsp;=&nbsp;.013), and large valves (invasive&nbsp;=&nbsp;20&nbsp;mm Hg [8.5-27.13] vs echocardiographic&nbsp;=&nbsp;32&nbsp;mm Hg [25.5 - 41.5], P&nbsp;&lt;&nbsp;.0001), with a bias of 8&nbsp;±&nbsp;15&nbsp;mm Hg and wide limits of agreement (-22 to 39&nbsp;mm Hg) on Bland-Altman plots, indicating these modalities may not be interchangeable. Discordance occurred in AR (invasive&nbsp;=&nbsp;3&nbsp;mm Hg [1-6] vs echocardiographic&nbsp;=&nbsp;12&nbsp;mm Hg [7-22], P&nbsp;=&nbsp;.017) and in MAVD (invasive&nbsp;=&nbsp;19&nbsp;mm Hg [12-29] vs echocardiographic&nbsp;=&nbsp;31&nbsp;mm Hg [23-39], P&nbsp;&lt;&nbsp;.0001) but not in AS (invasive&nbsp;=&nbsp;35&nbsp;mm Hg [24-45] vs echocardiographic&nbsp;=&nbsp;41&nbsp;mm Hg [30-50], P&nbsp;=&nbsp;.45). A lower DI (0.21 [0.14-0.25]) occurred in AS compared with MAVD (0.31 [0.19-0.39]) and AR (0.55 [0.51-0.69]), P&nbsp;&lt;&nbsp;.0001.ConclusionsDiscordance between echocardiography and invasive mean gradients exists in degenerated SAVR, regardless of valve size, but depends on mechanism of failure and DI helps stratify these patients. With a discrepancy between echocardiographic mean gradients AND the patient's symptoms OR the valve leaflet structure and/or mobility on imaging, especially before redo-SAVR or valve-in-valve transcatheter aortic valve replacement, invasive gradients may adjudicate the true valvular hemodynamics