Ethical dilemmas in the era of COVID-19

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic placed an extraordinary demand on health systems and healthcare providers all over the world. The pandemic presented a number of unprecedented challenging ethical issues. Across the globe, hospitals are being challenged by a large number of patients presenting to the emergency room for treatment, creating scarcities of critical care resources, and uncovering the need for formal crisis standards of care. Difficult life and death decisions, which may create severe moral distress to the physicians, have to be made in emergency rooms and intensive care units. Other ethical issues, such as that related to conducting clinical trials during the pandemic, and the increase in domestic violence during the quarantine period, will be also discussed

Room temperature stable ClPrNTf2 ionic liquid utilizing for chemical sensor development

A stable ionic liquid was prepared at room-temperature using the metathesis reaction, which was consummated by the reaction of l-Phenylalanine ethyl ester hydrochloride (chlorpromazine hydrochloride) with lithium-bis(trifluoromethane)sulfonamide in water (shortly, ClPrNTf2). The prepared ClPrNTf2 was characterized in details with various conventional methods. Here, a thin-layer of ClPrNTf2 onto glassy carbon electrode (GCE; Surface area: 0.0316 cm2) is deposited with conducting coating agents (5% nafion) to fabricate a selective and selective 3-methoxy phenol sensor in short response time in phosphate buffer solution. The fabricated phenolic chemical sensor is also exhibited higher sensitivity, large-dynamic concentration ranges, long-term stability, and improved electrochemical performances towards 3-methoxy phenol. The calibration plot is linear (r2 = 0.9836) over the large 3-methoxy phenol concentration ranges (0.09 nM to 0.9 mM). The sensitivity and detection limit is ∼2.3244 μAcm−2μM−1 and ∼0.022 ± 0.002 nM (signal-to-noise ratio, at a SNR of 3) respectively. This novel effort is initiated a well-organize way of efficient sensor improvement with ClPrNTf2 ionic liquid for toxic pollutants in environmental and health-care fields in large scales.This project was funded by the Deanship of Scientific Research (DSR) at King Abdulaziz University, under grant No HiCi/2-130-36. The authors, therefore, acknowledge with thanks DSR for technical and financial support

Hydrazine sensors development based on a glassy carbon electrode modified with a nanostructured TiO2 films by electrochemical approach

The authors describe a selective hydrazine sensor that is based on the use of a film of TiO2 nanoparticles faceted predominantly at the 101 and 001 sides. The hydrazine (Hyd) sensor was fabricated by depositing the nanoparticles in 5% concentration in a nafion matrix on a glassy carbon electrode (GCE). The sensor exhibits a fast response, excellent sensitivity and good selectivity over 1.0 nM to 10.0 mM. The sensor responds linearly to the logarithm of the concentration of dissolved hydrazine in the range from 1.0 nM to 10.0 mM, with a sensitivity of 35.04 μA.mM−1 .cm−2 . The detection limit is 28.8 ± 0.2 pM (at an S/N ratio of 3) is extremely low. In our perception, this approach emerges as an effective technique for developing efficient chemical sensors for environmental pollutants

Knowledge and Role of Paediatricians/Paediatric Residents in Infant Oral Healthcare and Dental Home across Saudi Arabia: A Cross-Sectional Study

The prevention of oral diseases in children is highly achievable through providing early exposure to oral healthcare habits, which would make children more receptive towards dental services. A cross-sectional study used a structured, self-explanatory questionnaire to evaluate the knowledge and role of 190 paediatricians and paediatric residents towards infant oral healthcare and the dental home across Saudi Arabia. The authors sent a link to the questionnaire, comprising 36 questions, by email, as a Google e-form. The response rate obtained was 87.36%. A major proportion (95.8%) of the respondents considered that paediatricians play an important role in promoting oral health. Around 45.8% of the practitioners recommended tooth brushing after the eruption of the first tooth. About 38% of the practitioners were unaware of the children’s first dental visit. The majority (95.2%) agreed that there should be an increased awareness regarding home dental habits. Most of them (78.3%) examined the oral cavity for dental problems as a part of routine childcare, and the majority (75.3%) admitted that they did not evaluate fluoride needs. A statistically significant higher mean knowledge score was observed for practitioners with more than 30 years of experience (9.35 ± 2.29), and there was a significant positive correlation (r = 0.486) between the knowledge score and mean score for the role of paediatric practitioners. Overall, the study concluded that the knowledge of paediatricians and paediatric residents in SA towards infant oral healthcare and the dental home was inadequate, and their role in maintaining oral health was found to be moderately satisfactory

Semi-Volatile Organic Compounds in Car Dust: A Pilot Study in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

People may spend a significant amount of their daily time in cars and thus be exposed to chemicals present in car dust. Various chemicals are emitted from during car use, contaminating the car dust. In this study, we compiled published and unpublished data on the occurrence of phthalates, flame retardants (FRs), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in Saudi car dust. Phthalates, a class of chemical commonly used as plasticizers in different car parts, were the major pollutants found in car dust, with a median value of ∑phthalates 1,279,000 ng/g. Among other chemicals, organophosphate flame retardants (OPFRs) were found to be between 1500–90,500 ng/g, which indicates their use as alternative FRs in the car industry. The daily exposure to Saudi drivers (regular and taxi drivers) was below the respective reference dose (RfD) values of the individual chemicals. However, the estimated incremental lifetime cancer risk (ILCR) values due to chronic exposure to these chemicals was >1 × 10−5 for taxi drivers for phthalates and PAHs, indicating that the long-term exposure to these chemicals is a cause of concern for drivers who spend considerable time in cars. The study has some limitations, due to the small number of samples, lack of updated RfD values, and missing cancer slope factors for many studied chemicals. Despite these limitations, this study indicates the possible range of exposure to drivers from chemicals in car dust and warrants further extensive studies to confirm these patterns

Permissibility of prenatal diagnosis and abortion for fetuses with severe genetic disorder: type 1 spinal muscular atrophy

Abortion has been largely avoided in Muslim communities. However, Islamic jurists have established rigorous parameters enabling abortion of fetuses with severe congenital abnormalities. This decision-making process has been hindered by an inability to predict the severity of such prenatally-diagnosed conditions, especially in genetic disorders with clinical heterogeneity, such as spinal muscular atrophy (SMA). Heterogeneous phenotypes of SMA range from extremely severe type 1 to very mild type 4. Advances in molecular genetics have made it possible to perform prenatal diagnosis and to predict the types of SMA with its potential subsequent severity. Such techniques will make it possible for clinicians working in predominantly Muslim countries to counsel their patients accurately and in harmony with their religious beliefs. In this paper, we discuss and postulate that with our current knowledge of determining SMA types and severity with great accuracy, abortion is legally applicable for type 1 SMA

Comprehensive Highlights of the Universal Efforts towards the Development of COVID-19 Vaccine

The world has taken proactive measures to combat the pandemic since the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak, which was caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2). These measures range from increasing the production of personal protective equipment (PPE) and highlighting the value of social distancing to the emergency use authorization (EUA) of therapeutic drugs or antibodies and their appropriate use; nonetheless, the disease is still spreading quickly and is ruining people’s social lives, the economy, and public health. As a result, effective vaccines are critical for bringing the pandemic to an end and restoring normalcy in society. Several potential COVID-19 vaccines are now being researched, developed, tested, and reviewed. Since the end of June 2022, several vaccines have been provisionally approved, whereas others are about to be approved. In the upcoming years, a large number of new medications that are presently undergoing clinical testing are anticipated to hit the market. To illustrate the advantages and disadvantages of their technique, to emphasize the additives and delivery methods used in their creation, and to project potential future growth, this study explores these vaccines and the related research endeavors, including conventional and prospective approaches