Comparison between phenotype and molecular resistance characteristic in Staphylococcus epidermidis isolates from wound infections in Al-Basrah province, Iraq

Background:Staphylococcus epidermidis is considered the upper respiratory tract's human skin flora and mucosal membrane and displays low pathogenic capacity in healthy individuals. Drug-resistant strains can be identified as a natural result of the microflora through antibiotic therapy and are a possible cause of pathogenic strain resistance genes. Methods:Culture, biochemical analysis and Vitek®2 Utilizing for identified the One hundred and fifty swab sample was collected from different wounds infected. S. epidermidis strain's ability to resist antibiotics was tested using a disk diffusion method. Result of antibiotic sensitivity test was confirmed and supported by Vitek®2 system. Also, the PCR antibiotic resistance gene was detected. Results: Out of 150 swab samples, twelve were positive for S. epidermidis.. Disc method was shown the 75%,66.7%,83.3% and 58.3% harboured highest prevalence of antimicrobial resistance against penicillin, oxacillin, cefoxitin and erythromycin respectively.While the moderate prevalence 50.7%,41.7% and 33.3% of resistance against tetracycline,clandomycin and ciprofloxacin respectively. Furthermore, lowest incidence was shown the 25% for both of resistance against rifampin, and gentamycin. The Vitek®2 system was confirmed and support antibiotic sensitivity test. A most frequently found antibiotic resistance genes amongst S. epidermidis strains, according to the findings, were mecA (91.7%), blaZ (91.7) , ermA (16.7%),ermB (25%),ermC (25%), tetM (25%), tetK (33.3 %) and aacA-aphD (41.7%) respectively. All S. epidermidis strain doesn't have ,vanA and vanB antibiotic resistance gene. Conclusion:Frequency of resistance to antibiotic should be detected more than one method , and used the Vitek®2 system detected the antibiotic resistance gave better support for result. Additional PCR technique, actually very important to detect antibiotic resistance genes of S. epidermidis strains

Effect of diet control and exercise on the lipid profile of obese men

Background: Obesity is a major health problem which might contribute to many other problems such as heart disease and hypertension as well as diabetes due to abnormal lipid profile. The main objective of the current study was to compare the effectiveness of diet or treadmill exercise on normalizing the lipid profile of obese subjects.Methods: Forty women complaining from obesity was enrolled in this study and was randomly divided into 4 groups: control group: 10 obese women which don’t receive any thing, diet group: 10 obese women which received polysaturated fatty acid diet, exercise group: 10 obese women which received treadmill exercise for 30 minutes and lastly diet/exercise group: 10 obese women which received both diet and exercise. Measurement of weight, body mass index, and lipid profile for all groups was measured before and after 60 days of treatment intervention. Results: Diet and exercise should have a highly significant decrease of weight and body mass index and normalizing the lipid profile (p≤0.05) under the current situation used in this study.Conclusions: It was concluded that the combination of diet and exercise was highly effective in normalizing the lipid profile and overcoming obesity.

Nocturnal enuresis and its treatment among primary-school children in Taif, KSA

Background: The aim of this study was to determine the frequency and treatment of enuresis among primary-school children living in Taif city, KSA.Methods: An interview with parents of 2701 selected students at the annual school enrolment in summer 2012.Results: The frequency of nocturnal enuresis was 7.81 %. There were no significant between boys (7.33%) and girls (8.42%). Treatment methods used were: enuresis alarm, water restriction, medication, and awaking for voiding in 56.9%, 14.7%, 5.7% and 5.7% of cases respectively. Conclusions: The frequency of nocturnal enuresis is similar to other studies but treatment methods were different

Local and regional earthquake magnitude calibration of Tabuk analog sub-network, Northwest of Saudi Arabia

AbstractThe Seismic Studies Center at the King Saud University has established a seismic sub-network at the NW of Saudi Arabia in 1985. It was named the Tabuk sub-network, after the city of Tabuk in the area. A data set of 194 earthquakes were selected and their corresponding ML values calculated by the nearest seismic network (ISSN). 137 observations of these earthquakes were gathered from AYN station, 82 observations from BADA station, 162 observations from HQL station and 65 observations from SRFA station. Four steps analytical procedure were carried out as follows: (a) Compilation of data for multi-linear regression, (b) linear regression of the common logarithm of the base 10 of the signal duration (τ), (c) smoothing of the data, and (d) multiple linear regressions of the main variables. The following range of values was incorporated for empirical contestant’s a1, a2, a3. a1 vary from −3.05 to −1.68, a2 vary from 2.17 to 2.61 and a3 (which is the epicentral distance correction) vary from 0.003 to 0.004, while the standard deviations vary from 0.17 to 0.22 and the correlation coefficients vary from 0.943 to 0.970. The empirical constants are determined by stepwise multiple linear regression. The local magnitude was assigned as the dependent variable, while the common logarithm of the signal duration, epicentral distance, and the focal depth were assigned as the independent variables. The reasons of using MD in this sub-network are as follows: (a) it does not require any amplitude calibration; (b) it is not affected by instrument saturation; (c) the often-negligible distance-dependence makes the method applicable and (d) this method has an extensive application, especially in micro-earthquake surveys

Chaos synchronization in a 6-D hyperchaotic system with self-excited attractor

This paper presented stability application for chaos synchronization using a 6-D hyperchaotic system of different controllers and two tools: Lyapunov stability theory and Linearization methods. Synchronization methods based on nonlinear control strategy is used. The selecting controller's methods have been modified by applying complete synchronization. The Linearization methods can achieve convergence according to the of complete synchronization. Numerical simulations are carried out by using MATLAB to validate the effectiveness of the analytical technique

Syrian Refugee Relief: A Recent Graduate’s Volunteer Experience

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Sustainable Warehouse Features: A Systematic Literature Review

Development in the field of IT and competition in the market forces companies to increase their market share and revenue. To satisfy this goal, companies can apply and adopt plans that may lead to making the supply chain (SC) lengthy and too rigid to control/monitor. The longer the SC the more it can be disrupted by expected and unexpected events (e.g., Digital security incidents, climate). For that purpose, the SC must be built in a way to respond fast to disruptive events in an effective way and to bounce back to its original state to be considered a resilient SC, which gives a competitive advantage to the companies. To achieve SC resilience, several studies have discussed enablers. Some of these studies, focused on increasing velocity through the SC, others argued that high adaptability leads to SC resilience, and others mentioned information sharing as a key to achieving SC resilience. In addition, applying technology in the SC processes can add strength. As such, the Internet of Things can support/enhance the level of Velocity, Adaptability, and Information sharing, which leads to enhancing SC resilience. This research explores the opportunities that IoT presents to enhance resilience enablers and boost SC resilience

Health promotion, disease prevention and periodic health checks: perceptions and practice among family physicians in eastern Mediterranean region

Introduction: The aim of this study was to identify the current practices and perceptions of family physicians regarding health promotion, disease prevention including periodic screening and health checks in Eastern Mediterranean Region. Methods: A multi-country cross-sectional study was conducted in six countries of EMR, from September 2014 to March 2015. Family Physicians who were currently practicing in different countries of EMR were invited to participate in the study through email. A pre-tested structured questionnaire was used for data collection. Data was entered and analyzed on SPSS 19 and logistic regression analysis was performed. Results: A total of 100 physicians data was included in the final analysis. The majority were female physicians (76%): 63% were 25 to 35 years of age. Approximately 53% of Family physicians always recommend periodic screening and health checks to their patients. The common screening question asked to patients in medical history was related to their blood pressure (86%). Almost all (99%) of the Family physicians believe they should conduct periodic health checks. Those who had postgraduate training in Family Medicine (OR: 0.5; 95% CI: 0.39-1.67) and attended CME sessions regularly (OR: 0.11; 95% CI: 0.01-0.93), are more likely to recommend periodic screening and health checks to their patients. Conclusion: Periodic screening and health check is an important strategy to prevent disease and maintain health. It is an underutilized practice and a great need exists for its implementation in family practice

Determination of Carbendazim Fungicide and Oxymatrine Insecticide Residues in the Soils of Four Agriculture Stations in Basrah Governorate by HPLC

The current study was concentrated on the determination of carbendazim fungicide and oxymatrine insecticide residues in four agriculture stations at Basrah governorate ; Abu Al-Kaseeb,Al-Hartha, Al-Zubair and ShattAl-Arab. High pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC) was used to determinedthe carbendazim residues  which range between (0-3.05µg/g) .The highest value 3.05µg/g was recorded in Shatt Al- Arab station while the lowest value was recorded in Al-Zubair station.oxymatrine residues range between (0-1.89 µg/g) and the highest value 1.89µg/g was recorded in  Al-Hartha station while the lowest value was recorded in Shatt Al- Arab station.There is no study on carbendazim and oxymatrine residues in soil, so this study was the first of its kind in the region which could be used as a baseline study for incoming study. Keywords: Oxymatrine, Carbendazim, Basrah soil, HPLC.