Risk and Protective Factors Associated with Ovarian Cancer among Two Egyptian Cohorts

Context: Ovarian cancer is a global health crisis, as it is one of the devastating diagnoses for the patient and family. A nurse is a key person in the effort of health promotion, screening, and early detection. As well as care through the illness continuum.Aim: This study aims to determine the risk factors of ovarian cancer among two Egyptian cohorts and determine the possible protective factors of ovarian cancer among two Egyptian cohorts. Methods: A descriptive exploratory (Case/control) prospective research design was used to achieve the study aim. The study was conducted in two clinical settings: National Cancer Institute (for cases) and El-Minia General Hospital (for controls). The study recruited 80 cases with a confirmed diagnosis of ovarian cancer and 456 healthy controls without ovarian cancer. A structured interview questionnaire was used to collect data regarding the presence of possible risk and protective factors. Results: The results of the present study revealed a highly statistically significant difference between cases and controls regarding their educational level, family history of ovarian cancer, types of other cancers, hysterectomy, and eating a low-fat diet at p<0.001. The study also showed a statistically significant difference regarding age at menopause, the degree of relationship with colorectal cancer relatives, and history of endometriosis at p<0.05. Conclusion: The study signifies the level of education, hysterectomy, late age at menopause, and eating a low-fat diet as protective- factors against ovarian cancer while signifies the positive family history of ovarian cancer and endometriosis as risk factors associated with ovarian cancer. The study recommended trained health care providers to monitor trends in ovarian cancer occurrence, disparities in care and health assurance assistance, provide screening and early detection activities, care, education for healthy women at risk for ovarian cancer

Analysis of Daily Precipitation Data from Selected Sites in the United States

Global warming is a contentious topic since modern climate records only exist for the last 100 years in contrast to ice-core analysis that establishes ice ages tens of thousands of years ago. Nevertheless, patterns associated with events such as El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO), precipitation, tornadoes, and snowfall amounts over the last century can provide a useful and objective indicator of climate “change”. This project focuses on daily precipitation totals for the state of New Jersey over the last 100 to 150 years from nineteen meteorological recording stations and involves large data sets with a million observations. This research utilizes time series analysis to present results and findings with a temporal emphasis. The project includes an extension to select states across the United States for a comparison of precipitation patterns

Knowledge of ICU nurses regarding the ongoing nursing assessment of ICU patients in Khartoum city, 2020

Background: An ongoing nursing assessment is the most significant point in the nursing process to be executed in the beginning of every shift which can be accomplished by using different approaches. It needs to be conducted accurately to guide professional nurses’ decision-making ability to further provide holistic nursing care to patients in the intensive care units (ICUs). This study was aimed to assess the ICU nurses’ knowledge regarding ongoing nursing assessment of ICU patients.Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional hospital-based study was conducted in Khartoum city, and included 86 out of the 135 participants working in the critical care units of the main governmental hospitals in Khartoum city. Data were collected using a structured self-administered questionnaire after being tested for validity and then analyzed using mean, standard deviation, and correlation. Data were then presented as frequencies and percentages.Results: The study participants were aged between 20 and 40 years with a female to male ratio of 3:1, and varied levels of experience. Overall, 71.7% of the studied participants scored good on the standardized knowledge classification tool used, with few areas of knowledge gap, impacted by increased experience. Moreover, 36% of the participants used the ABCDE approach for ongoing nursing assessment, followed by the head-to-toe assessment approach (21%).Conclusion: The nurses’ knowledge regarding ongoing nursing assessment was good with a few areas of weakness raising the need for continuous educational and training programs

Knowledge of ICU Nurses Regarding the Ongoing Nursing Assessment of ICU Patients in Khartoum City, 2020

Background: An ongoing nursing assessment is the most significant point in the nursing process to be executed in the beginning of every shift which can be accomplished by using different approaches. It needs to be conducted accurately to guide professional nurses’ decision-making ability to further provide holistic nursing care to patients in the intensive care units (ICUs). This study was aimed to assess the ICU nurses’ knowledge regarding ongoing nursing assessment of ICU patients. Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional hospital-based study was conducted in Khartoum city, and included 86 out of the 135 participants working in the critical care units of the main governmental hospitals in Khartoum city. Data were collected using a structured self-administered questionnaire after being tested for validity and then analyzed using mean, standard deviation, and correlation. Data were then presented as frequencies and percentages. Results: The study participants were aged between 20 and 40 years with a female to male ratio of 3:1, and varied levels of experience. Overall, 71.7% of the studied participants scored good on the standardized knowledge classification tool used, with few areas of knowledge gap, impacted by increased experience. Moreover, 36% of the participants used the ABCDE approach for ongoing nursing assessment, followed by the head-to-toe assessment approach (21%). Conclusion: The nurses’ knowledge regarding ongoing nursing assessment was good with a few areas of weakness raising the need for continuous educational and training programs

Factors Influencing Undergraduate Nursing Students’ Perception of Educational Quality

Context: Quality education is a contemporary concern. Students' evaluations of teaching (SET) are universal measures applied in almost every higher educational system in the world.Aim: The present study aims to explore student perception of factors that influence educational quality among undergraduate nursing students. Methods: A survey research design was utilized to achieve the aim of this study. The study was conducted in the obstetrics and gynecology classroom. Faculty of Nursing, El-Minia University. The study subjects consisted of all 3rd year nursing students (male & female) who registered in Obstetrics & Gynecological course (the total number was 125 students) during the academic year 2017- 2018. Three tools were used to achieve the aim of this study; they are student achievement records, students' evaluation of educational quality scale, and factors affecting educational quality scale (FAEQS). Results: This study revealed that students' perception of the components of educational quality named learning experience, instructor rapport, enthusiasm, and tests grading, organization and clarity, theoretical breadth coverage, group interaction, and course texts and reading materials. The students also ranked course organization, examination system, student communication and group dynamics, availability of course materials, instructor performance, and academic values as top factors that could affect their educational quality. Conclusion: Obstetrics and gynecology students' perceived factors that affected the provision of quality education were explored, incorporating four categories named the organization, student, instructor, and course-related factors. The study recommended that all institutions and departments use self-evaluation as an essential tool in striving for educational quality and consider the students' perception of factors that might affect their educational quality. Further research is expected to shed light on the number of higher-order factors that could affect educational quality

The Proteolytic Stability and Cytotoxicity Studies of l‐Aspartic Acid and l‐Diaminopropionic Acid derived β‐Peptides and a Mixed α/β‐Peptide

The use of peptides as drugs in pharmaceutical applications is hindered by their susceptibility to proteolysis and therefore low bioavailability. β‐Peptides that contain an additional methylene group in the backbone, are gaining recognition from a pharmaceutical stand point as they are considerably more resilient to proteolysis and metabolism. Recently, we reported two new classes of β‐peptides, β3‐ and β2‐peptides derived from l‐aspartic acid and l‐diaminopropionic acid, respectively. Here, we report the proteolytic stability of these β‐peptidic compounds and a mixed α /β‐peptide against three enzymes (pronase, trypsin and elastase), as well as, human serum. The stability of these peptides was compared to an α‐peptide. Peptides containing β‐linkages were resistant to all conditions. The mixed α /β‐peptide, however, exhibited proteolysis in the presence of trypsin and pronase but not elastase. The rate of degradation of the mixed α /β‐peptide was slower than that would be expected for an α‐peptide. In addition, these β‐peptides were not toxic to HeLa and COS‐1 cell lines as observed by MTT cytotoxicity assay. These results expand the scope of mixed α /β‐peptides containing β‐amino acids or small β‐peptide fragments as therapeutic peptides

Jobs satisfaction mediates relationship between facets of job and citizenship behavior: a study of female employees of banking sector of Pakistan

Several articles have reported and discussed the job satisfaction and dissatisfaction of female workers in miscellaneous organizations. However, very few empirically-supported explanations have been given to explain how job satisfaction mediates the relationship between facets of job and citizenship behavior in banking sector of Pakistan and specially focusing on female employees. Probes into the explanations of determining how job satisfaction mediates the relationship between facets of job and citizenship behavior, the data were collected from female employees of banking sector of Pakistan. Total 200 self-administered questionnaires were distributed among the female staff of different banks. 188 completed questionnaire were received back with response rate of 94%. The participation in survey was voluntary and confidentiality of responses was ensured. Statistical analysis reveals that there exists significant relationship between facets of job (pay, promotion, supervisor’s behavior and coworker’s behavior) and dependent variables (organizational citizenship behavior); likewise, job satisfaction mediates the relationship between facets of job and citizenship behavior. Limitations and future implementations of this research are also discussed

Towards more pedestrian-friendly streets in Cairo

This research explores the factors that make the streets of Cairo better places for walking, more inviting, and adaptable to be used by pedestrians. In order to closely examine how far Cairo streets are pedestrian-friendly, walkable environments, the research investigates one street in Cairo as a case study. The case study uses qualitative research to investigate the street characteristics through participants’ observation technique, while the local pedestrians’ needs and perceptions towards the street’s walkability are explored through interviews. In addition, an in-depth interview is conducted with an expert in order to have deeper insights into the issue of pedestrian-friendly streets from a professional perspective. The existing models reviewed through the literature have contributed to the development of the proposed conceptual framework. The study’s empirical findings have shown that safety and cleanliness of streets are the main factors that influence people’s walking experience. Besides, pavement and sidewalks conditions, street furniture and lighting, along with other street user’s behavior, such as car drivers and shopkeepers, are other factors that implicitly and/or explicitly affect street walkability. The analysis of the findings contributes to the limited qualitative research on walkable streets and pedestrians’ walking experience specifically in Cairo. Thus, this study offers a set of recommendations for policy makers and city managers in terms of conducting further research that covers other geographic areas in Cairo, adopting a participatory planning approach, enforcing laws and regulations on street occupancy, applying people-oriented planning paradigms, and raising public awareness on walkability

Postpartum Quality of Life among Women after Vaginal Birth and Cesarean Section

Context: Quality of life is a broad multidimensional, and dynamic concept. It influences the performance of the individual in the physical, social, and spiritual aspects of life. Despite the postpartum period being accompanied by many physical, emotional, and social changes in women's health, it is often a neglected aspect of women's health care.Aim: This study aimed to assess the postpartum quality of life among mothers regardless of their delivery model and assess the difference in life quality at the various modes of delivery. Methods: A descriptive exploratory cross-sectional study was employed to achieve the aim of this study. A structured interview questionnaire and postpartum quality of life scale that includes assessing four health-related domains that were child care, physical, psychological, and social functioning, were used to achieve the aims of this study.Results: The study revealed a fair and good quality of life among most of the studied women regardless of their mode of delivery. The quality of life subscales' assessment revealed a non-statistically significant difference between women in various delivery modes in childcare and physical functioning domains. While statistically significant differences were revealed between all groups regarding their physical and social functioning. Conclusion: The study did not show a clear-cut benefit in favor of any delivery modes regarding postpartum life quality, and the research hypothesis is not fully supported. The study recommended further a longitudinal study to understand the magnitude, trajectory, and underpinning mechanisms of health-related quality of life outcomes following different delivery modes

Predation potential of flower fly Eupeodes nuba (Wiedemann, 1830) (Diptera: Syrphidae) on black bean aphid Aphis fabae Scopoli (Hemiptera: Aphididae) and the parasitoids species on its host in the field

The flower fly species, Eupeodes nuba (Wiedemann, 1830) (Diptera: Syrphidae) is crucial for agroecosystems as it provides various ecosystem services such as pest control through the use of predatory larvae and crop pollination by adults. In this research, the consumption rate of different instars of Aphis fabae (Scopoli, 1763) by E. nuba larvae has been studied under laboratory conditions at 25±2 °C, 60±10% humidity (RH). Fifty aphids and one larva of flower fly were present in each replicate. The results showed that the maximum number of A. fabae consumed by the larvae of E. nuba was 49.13 individuals at the third instar, followed by 35.73 individuals of aphids at the second instar and 16.26 individuals for the first instar of the predator. The highest daily consumption of aphids occurred during the third instar of the predator. A. fabae was heavily parasitized by different aphid parasitoids, Binodoxys acalephae (Marshall, 1896), Lysiphlebus fabarum (Marshall, 1896), and Aphelinus asychis (Walker, 1839) on the broad bean. Parasitization rates of these parasitoids increased during the broad bean plant season. The first recording of A. fabae as a new host for A. psychic. The survey of three parasitoids indicated that L. fabarum had the highest population in December, the parasitoid B. acalephae was the highest in January, and the highest population of A. asychis was recorded in February. It seems that biological control can be used as an alternative to chemical pesticides to control A. fabae