A Comparative Study of Children's Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices Regarding COVID-19 at Secondary Schools

Background: Novel coronavirus-2019 is a highly infectious disease that caused a global pandemic around the world. The aim of this study was to compare the knowledge, attitude, and practice of secondary school children toward COVID-19 in Egypt, and Saudi Arabia. Design: A comparative cross-sectional research was utilized in the present study among secondary school children and conducted from January to April 2021. Settings: The research was conducted on secondary school children at Menoufia Governorate, Egypt, and Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Sample: All available students of secondary school children (200) were included in the study. A structured online self-reported questionnaire sheet was used to assess children’s knowledge, attitude, and practice about COVID-19. Results: It was shown that the mean ± SD of age for Egyptian children were 15±.96 and the majority of them (63%) were female, while the mean ± SD for Saudi Arabian children were 16±1.5 and the entire sample was female (100%). Conclusion: The majority of Egyptian and Saudi children had correct knowledge and a positive attitude however; there was incompetent practice toward the prevention of the COVID-19 pandemic. Also, there were statistically significant differences among both groups concerning COVID-19. Recommendation: Awareness educational programs should be implemented on a regular basis to foster a positive attitude and good practice toward preventive measures of COVID-19. Keywords:Children, Knowledge, Attitude, Practice, and COVID-19. DOI: 10.7176/JHMN/95-01 Publication date: November 30th 202

Validity and Reliability of Checklists Used for Objective Structured Clinical Examination: Piloting Modified Tools.

Background: Developing tools for evaluating students' performance is one of the important tasks required from faculties. The validity and reliability of tools increase its significance and the objectivity of using these tools in the field of research, as well strengthen the results. Aim: Was to test validity and reliability of the selected checklists of the objective structured clinical examination which assess the Medical-Surgical Nursing competencies. Design: Test-retest, Six Sigma was utilized to answer the research questions. Research questions: 1-Are the ten selected checklists valid? 2-Are the ten selected checklists reliable? Sample: Ten checklists were selected out of the required competencies of Medical-Surgical Nursing course during the academic year of (2010-2011 & 2011-2012). Results: The results of the tested checklists revealed that the selected checklists are valid while the reliable checklists were fluid balance, (intramuscular, intravenous) injections, surgical scrub, gloving, wound dressing and wound drain. However subcutaneous injection and withdrawal of drugs from a vial were not reliable. While the surgical gown checklist was questionable. Conclusion: Seven out of the tested ten checklists were reliable while all the checklists were valid. Recommendation: Revise and modify the unreliable checklists and retest its reliability. Go through studying validity and reliability of other competencies in the Medical-Surgical Nursing field.  OSCE checklists are strongly suggested as reliable and valid assessment of the growing number of nursing students. Key words: OSCE, validity, reliability, clinical assessment

Validated Stability-indicating HPTLC Determination of Baclofen in Bulk Drug, Pharmaceutical Formulations and Real Human Urine and Plasma.

A simple, highly selective and stability-indicating high-performance thin-layer chromatographic method was developed and validated for the analysis of baclofen in bulk powder, pharmaceutical formulations and human urine and in and real human plasma. The method employed TLC aluminum plates precoated with silica gel 60 F254 as the stationary phase. The solvent system consisted of butanol–acetic acid–water (3.0: 0.5: 0.5, v/v/v). This system was found to give compact spots for baclofen (Rf value of 0.54). Densitometric analysis was carried out in the absorbance mode at 238 nm. The linear regression analysis data for the calibration plot showed good linear relationship (r2 = 0.9983) in the concentration range 1.5-7.5 µg per spot. The analytical performance of the method was fully validated, and the results were satisfactory. The limits of detection and quantitation were 0.31 and 1.03 µg per spot, respectively. Baclofen was subjected to acid and alkali hydrolysis, oxidation and photodegradation. The degraded product was well separated from the pure drug. Results indicate that the drug is stable against light and basic conditions. However, additional peaks were observed at Rf value of 0.65 and at Rf value of 0.14 with hydrogen peroxide and hydrochloric acid respectively, indicating that the drug is susceptible to oxidation and acid degradation. The method was applied for the analysis of baclofen in commercial tablets and the results were similar to those obtained using the reference method. As the method could effectively separate the drug from its degradation product, it can be employed as a stability-indicating one. The high sensitivity of the proposed method allowed determination of baclofen in real human urine and plasma

Symptoms-Related Distress among Patients Receiving Adjuvant Therapy: Radical Mastectomy versus Lumpectomy

Background: Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women worldwide. Although adjuvant therapy after breast-conserving surgery or mastectomy reduces the risk of breast cancer coming back but it induces many of physiological and psychological effects. The aim of the current study was to compare the Symptoms-related distress among patients receiving adjuvant therapy: Radical Mastectomy versus Lumpectomy at a University Hospital. Research Questions: Q1: What are the symptoms related distresses among radical mastectomy and lumpectomy patients receiving adjuvant therapy? Q2: Is there a difference in symptoms related distress between radical mastectomy and lumpectomy patients receiving adjuvant therapy? Design: A comparative descriptive -non-experimental design was utilized to achieve the aim of the current study. Tools: I) Socio-demographic and medical data sheet: It included data related to the studied subjects such as age, gender, marital status, types of received chemotherapy,…..etc. Tool II: Rotterdam Symptom Checklist (RSCL); it is useful in measuring the symptoms reported by cancer patients. It aims to enhance the insight into the consequences of the disease and its treatment. Setting: The study was conducted at the Nuclear Medicine Unit at Kasr Al-Aini Educational Hospital; affiliated to Cairo-University-Egypt. Subjects: A convenient sample of 60 adult female patients divided into two equal groups, patients with radical mastectomy (n=30) and patients with lumpectomy (n=30) both groups received chemotherapy after surgery. Results: 80% of mastectomy and lumpectomy cases overall their age was between 40 and less than 60 years old. 33.3% of the study sample can read and write. The study pointed out that 48.3% of the sample had breast cancer between 2 and less than 6 months. While 50% of them between 6 to less than 12 months with Mean+SD= 5.65+2.There was a perfect correlation between total score of RSCL and physical total score =0.826, 0.829 & 0.828 for patients overall cases, mastectomy cases only & lumpectomy cases only respectively. Also there was a strong correlation between the RSCL total score and psychological total score=0.705, 0.747 & 0.668 for the patients overall cases, mastectomy cases only & lumpectomy cases only respectively. Conclusion: The lumpectomy cases scored generally their physical, psychological & activity level impairment status much better than the mastectomy cases. Also lumpectomy cases their general QOl was better than the mastectomy cases. Recommendation of the study: 1-More close physical, psychological support must endorse in nursing care for patients with mastectomy. 2-QOL advanced tool is recommended on survey scale to evaluate patients' condition with mastectomy & lumpectomy. 3-All patients with breast cancer must join a rehabilitation program before & after proceed in either mastectomy or lumpectomy surgical management. Keywords: Adjuvant therapy, Mastectomy, lumpectomy, symptoms related distress

Identification of Buxtonella sulcata with phylogenetic analysis in cattle in Egypt

Protozoan diseases are of great significance in ruminants. In Egypt, the published data for Buxtonella sulcata (B. sulcata) in cattle is limited. This is the first study on B. sulcata in Assiut governorate via PCR and phylogenetic analysis. This study investigated the B. sulcata positive rate in cattle and its association with diarrhea. Out of 100 cattle fecal samples (50 males and 50 females) with different ages were collected from Assiut governorate, Egypt. Microscopically, the positive rate of B. sulcata was 69% (69/100). The cysts were oval or round with a size range of (82.23×78.63 to 53.65×48.62 μm) with a mean of (58.46×54.35 μm). While, its trophozoite appeared oval with characteristic grooves with a size range from (80.9×40.2 to 41.8×30.64 μm) with a mean of (58.78×41.26 μm). Females are slightly higher infected 72% (36/50) than male 66% (33/50). While, the highest positive rate recorded in age less than 1 year 78.6% (22/28), followed by age more than 3 years 68.4% (13/19), then the lowest in age 1-3 years 64.2% (34/53). The positive rate of B. sulcata was 92.2% (47/51) and 44.9% (22/49) of diarrheic and non-diarrheic feces, respectively, with very high significant differences. Diarrhea was established in all fecal samples with more than 1000 cysts per gram of faeces. Three fecal samples were positive for B. sulcata SSrDNA gene specific primer (1047 bp) by PCR. After DNA sequencing and phylogenetic analysis, all nucleotide sequences showed high similarity to B. sulcata. We advised regular examination for B. sulcata in the predominant areas with excessive studies to aid in planning effective control strategies against it

The potential cytoprotective effect of Vitamin C and Vitamin E on monosodium glutamate-induced testicular toxicity in rats

Background: Monosodium glutamate (MSG) has been recognized as flavor enhancer that adversely affects male reproductive systems. Objective: The study was conducted to explore the conceivable protective effects of vitamin C and/or vitamin E on testicular toxicity induced by MSG in rats. Materials and Methods: Thirty male Wistar albino rats were divided (six per group) into: control, MSG, MSG + Vitamin C, MSG + Vitamin E and MSG + Vitamin C + Vitamin E groups. The duration of the study was three weeks. Assessment of serum testosterone, leuteinizing hormone (LH), malondialdehyde (MDA), glutathione peroxidase (GPX), interleukin-10 (IL-10) ,and tumor necrosis factor (TNF-α) were done. Histopathological examination of the testes of the rats was performed using histological, histochemical (Periodic Acid Schiff reaction (PAS)), and immunohistochemical (Proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA), androgen receptors (ARs), Caspase-3) techniques. Results: MSG-group was associated with significant decrease in serum testosterone, LH, GPX, and IL-10 (P < 0.05) and significant increase in serum MDA and TNF-α (P < 0.05) when compared with control group. MSG-group revealed many histopathological changes in the testis including degeneration of the germinal epithelium, absence of sperms in the lumina of tubules, widened vacuolated interstitium, marked deposition of the collagen fibers, very strong PAS reaction and marked immunohistochemical changes. Administration of vitamin C or vitamin E significantly reduced these changes; however, the combination of vitamin C and vitamin E provided more potent protection against the toxic effect of MSG than using each vitamin alone. Also, there was insignificant difference (P > 0.05) between MSG +Vitamin C and MSG +Vitamin E groups. Conclusion: Vitamin C and Vitamin E act synergistically in reducing MSG-induced testicular toxicity via antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and antiapoptotic effects of both vitamins

QUERCETIN AND ELLAGIC ACID IN GASTRIC ULCER PREVENTION: AN INTEGRATED SCHEME OF THE POTENTIAL MECHANISMS OF ACTION FROM IN VIVO STUDY

  Objective: The present study was initiated to describe the gastroprotective role of quercetin (Qu) and ellagic acid (EA) on aspirin-induced gastric ulcer (GU) in rats.Methods: Forty adult female albino rats of Wistar strain were distributed into: Control group, GU group, Omeprazole group, Qu group, and EA group. Gross examination, biochemical analyses including serum adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH), serotonin (ST), ferritin, heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1), interleukin-2 (IL-2), advanced glycosylation end products (AGEs), and fibronectin (FN) levels were estimated. Moreover, histopathological and histochemical examinations of stomach tissue samples were carried out.Results: Gross examination of gastric mucosa of rats in GU group revealed hyperemia of the stomach mucosa. Furthermore, rats in GU group experienced a significant rise in serum ACTH, ferritin, HO-1, IL-2 and AGEs levels accompanied with significant drop in serum ST and FN levels versus control counterparts. Pre-treatment of GU group with Omeprazole, Qu or EA caused marked improvement in the measured biochemical parameters. Histopathological and histochemical examinations of stomach tissue samples documented the protective action of Omeprazole, Qu and EA with different degrees against GU caused by aspirin.Conclusion: As a conclusion to this study, we can state that both Qu and EA have gastroprotective effect against aspirin-induced GU in rat model. Of note, Qu showed superior impact than EA as an antiulcer agent in this study. The corresponding mechanisms are speculated to be associated with inhibiting stress-induced gastric lesion, attenuating the oxidative stress, iron chelation and blunting ferritin level, modulating inflammatory cascade, and promoting the healing process

Corrected qt interval in normal egyptian neonates: Comparison to corrected qt interval of other ethnic groups

Long QT syndromes (LQTs) is a familial cardiovascular disorder characterized by abnormal cardiac repolarization and sudden death from ventricular fibrillation Possible acquisition of standardized neonatal screening method to identify children with (LQTs) has led to interest in establishing normal values for neonatal QT intervals.Aim of the workto compare corrected QT interval in normal Egyptian neonates to published values of other ethnic groups.Subjects and methodsThis cross sectional study was conducted on neonates following up in Children’s Hospital Ain Shams University, with post natal ages ranging from 8 to 28days (mean 13.91±3.97days). They were subjected to: history taking, clinical examination, Echocardiography and 12 lead ECG assessment of corrected QT interval using Bazetts formula Results: Cut off point of LQTc was >0.44s, while that of short QTc was< 0.29s significant increase in mean QTc values and LQTc %was found in upper Egypt than Delta (p 0.026, 0.01). Eighty five percent of neonates had normal QTc (0.300–0.450s), 9% had LQTc (>0.45s) and 6% had short QTc (<0.300s) significant increase in short QTc was found in PT than FT while significant increase in LQTc was found in FT (P=0.020, 0.019).ConclusionCut off point was >0.44s for LQTc and < 0.29s for short QTc in studied Egyptian neonates A higher percentage of patients with LQTc was found in Upper Egypt than Delta, and in FT than PT. Higher percentage of SQTc was found in PT than FT. Further studies are needed to confirm our results

Simultaneous determination of paracetamol, caffeine and codeine in tablets and human plasma by micellar liquid chromatography

A simple, rapid, sensitive and eco-friendly liquid chromatographic method was developed and validated for the simultaneous determination of paracetamol (PAR), caffeine (CAF) and codeine (COD). The separation was performed on cyano column using a micellar mobile phase consists of 140 mM sodium dodecyl sulfate, 25 mM phosphate buffer and 10% acetonitrile at pH = 3. The analysis was performed at a flow rate of 1 mL/min and a column temperature of 30 °C under direct UV detection at 210 nm. Total analysis time was below 6 min. Baclofen (BCF) was used as an internal standard. The validation was performed according to the ICH guidelines. The proposed method was linear over the ranges of 0.2-100.0, 0.02-12.0 and 0.2-12.0 µg/mL for PAR, CAF and COD, respectively. The limits of detection were 0.031, 0.007 and 0.054 µg/mL and limits of quantification 0.103, 0.02 and 0.164 µg/mL for PAR, CAF and COD, respectively. The results show that the procedure is suitable for the routine analysis of drugs in tablet dosage forms. The method was further extended to the determination of the studied drugs in spiked human plasma with mean percentage recoveries of 99.61±0.530, 99.28±0.523 and 99.52±0.385 for PAR, CAF and COD, respectively