The role of the pharmacist in health care and medical treatment in Saudi Arabia as perceived by the patient

Saudi Arabia, one of the developing countries, has a number of problems with the health care and medical treatment of the Saudi people. This study was undertaken to identify and to examine some of these problems and the role of the pharmacist in health education. A questionnaire was developed and sent to 200 Saudi students in the United States; 111 completed questionnaires were returned. The questionnaire was also sent to Saudi Arabia where 51 persons were interviewed. Results of the questionnaire indicated that some of the problems identified were due to the attitudes of the person interviewed and others resulted from the quality of pharmaceutical services which were provided. Some patients in Saudi Arabia want a cure from the first contact with the physician; some do not want to use the medications for a long period of time, for example, those who are undergoing treatment for chronic diseases. Some go to more than one physician and may receive prescriptions for two or more drugs. Others may discontinue the drug and not return to the physician. Some may obtain their medications without a prescription and others may use the medication(s) prescribed for other persons. Generally, it was determined that the services provided by the pharmacist were not what the patient expected and wanted. Also poor communication between the patient and the pharmacist was identified. Language problems were the usual cause cited. These problems may lead to treatment failure and/or an increase in the incidence of adverse drug reactions or drug-drug interactions. Recommendations were developed in an attempt to alleviate some of these problems. These recommendations include the requirement that each hospital keep a medical record for each patient, and also that a medication record for each patient be kept in the pharmacy to avoid the duplication of medications (prescriptions). The law or regulations which restricts the availability of medicines without a prescription from any pharmacy inside the hospitals or from market pharmacies should be adhered to and enforced by the pharmacists. Appointments for outpatients should be made to reduce the crowds of people at the doctor\u27s office or at the pharmacy windows. This will encourage good communication and allow more time for the physician, pharmacist and the patient to discuss the disease and treatment. To overcome poor communications due to the language barrier, it is important that only those physicians and pharmacists who can speak the Arabic language work in the outpatient departments. Encouragement of patient participation in his treatment can be provided by enhancing health education in the media such as in newspapers and on radio and television programs. The pharmacist should play a role in solving these problems by monitoring drug therapy. The appendix contains a proposal which specifies the types of information which should be provided to Saudi patients regarding their prescribed medications. The diseases included in the appendix were selected as examples because they are rather common in Saudi Arabia

Comparison between the British and American Methods in Designing Concrete using Local Aggregate in the City of Mosul Preparation

This research included an applied study for the design of concrete mixtures by following the  method of the American Concrete Institute (ACl) and the method of the Building Research  Center in England (British method) to restriction which of these two methods is more suitable  for use and application in the design of concrete mixtures when using local aggregate (gravel  and sand taken from the area Badush and Aski Mosul), where job mixes were made using the  mixing ratios obtained from these two methods, and a comparative study was made for the  properties concrete resulting in the soft state (workability )and the hardened state  (compressive resistance), and the results proved the following: A- In general, when discussing the results according to mixing ratios and workability levels,  the method of the Building Research Center in England (the British method) gave higher  results than the results obtained by the American Concrete Institute method (the  American method) when using the above local aggregate whereas results shown increase  in (workability) and Compressive strength. This increase amounts to the percentages  shown in the table below:   Compressive strength (%) Slump test  (%) workability 10.48 14.40 Precipitation = 10-8 cm 12.10 21.40 Precipitation = 18-15 cm Table (1-1)   B- It is possible to make another comparison, when fixing the proportion of water/cement, it  turns out that the method of the Building Research Center in England (the British method)  gives higher workability than the method of the American Concrete Institute (the  American method) and for the same proportion of cement/ water, the American method  gives Higher compressive strength than the British method.  C- The building research center method is a more practical and applicable method more  than the American Concrete Institute method because it takes the type of cement, the  type of aggregate and other properties of the aggregate (especially particle shape) into  consideration more than it is in the American Concrete Institute (ACI) method. The above results were relied upon in designing the appropriate concrete mixture in the Mosul Water Project - Right Coast

HMG-CoA reductase regulates CCL17-induced colon cancer cell migration via geranylgeranylation and RhoA activation.

Simvastatin is widely used to lower cholesterol levels in patients with cardiovascular diseases, although accumulating evidence suggests that statins, such as simvastatin, also exert numerous anti-tumoral effects

Settlement of Non-Muslim Minorities\u27 Disputes in the Islamic State

This paper is introduced with a brief introduction on how different legal systems in the past dealt with religious minorities\u27 disputes. Moreover, it shows how different US states were proposing bills and acts to eliminate any religious-based laws or applications. The paper presents how different Islamic schools deal with religious minorities\u27 disputes in the Islamic State. It shows Islamic legal system\u27s tolerance toward minorities in different aspects such as giving their religious leaders a role in solving their disputes according to their religion, and allowing them more freedom in their personal law issues such as marriage, divorce, wills and estates, and inheritance although some of their rules contradict Islamic law. Astonishingly, Islamic legal system absolved religious minorities from punishment on some criminal acts as long as the acts were performed according to the non Muslim minorities\u27 belief

Influences on e-WOM adoption in two female online communities: the cases of Kuwait and Saudi Arabia

This thesis was submitted for the award of Doctor of Philosophy and was awarded by Brunel University LondonOnline communities (OCs) are an important source of electronic-word-of-mouth (e-WOM), but few studies have examined such messages in a Middle Eastern context. This research develops a conceptual framework that can be used as an instrument to guide empirical work in the field of e-WOM in female OCs. Researchers in similar areas may find this work useful as exemplifying a novel approach to the study of e-WOM adoption in different OCs. This study, of e-WOM adoption in two female-only Arabic-language online forums in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, is grounded in three models: the Information Adoption Model, the Information Systems Continuance Model and the Knowledge Contribution Model, because no particular theory or set of theories currently dominates OC research. In particular, researchers are strongly recommended to start building their own theories of e-WOM phenomena, because this area is still young and has grown rapidly in recent years. The research design comprises two phases. The first is a content analysis, which was appropriately used to analyse the online textual conversations, since it offers a deep understanding of the phenomenon in its real context. The purpose of this phase was to identify the main determinants of e-WOM adoption in female OCs in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, from which a conceptual model could be developed. It investigated the characteristics of the messages influencing the adoption of e-WOM. It began with a pilot study, where 90 threads were analyzed, followed by the content analysis of the two cases. A total of 765 threads were analysed in the Kuwaiti case, comprising 6200 messages broken down into 17,832 units of analysis. In the Saudi case, 1168 threads were analyzed, containing 17,320 messages and 31731 units of analysis. In both cases there was a prevalence of emotional features in messages, coded as ‘community bonding’. In the second phase, semi-structured interviews were conducted, with the aim of illuminating the similarities and differences in terms of e-WOM determinants between Kuwaiti and Saudi culture by refining the research model codes and sub-codes. This phase was also intended to answer research questions on the current situation in terms of online role behaviours in female-only online beauty forums in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia; on how online behavioural roles influence females to adopt e-WOM; and on the role in e-WOM adoption of the following demographic variables: nationality, age, marital status, employment, education level, hours spent in the community and length of community membership. Fifty women, comprising 25 members of each of the two communities, were interviewed online to gain more knowledge of the factors that impede or facilitate the adoption of e-WOM. The qualitative results show that argument quality, community bonding and information need fulfilment were all significant in affecting participants’ tendency to adopt e-WOM. This study concludes with specific implications for relevant theories and useful findings at the individual, organizational and societal levels

Environmental Friendly Synthesis of Silver Nanoparticles Using Leaf Extract of Mureira Tree (Azadirachta indica) Cultivated in Iraq and Efficacy the Antimicrobial Activity

In the present study, environment friendly and cost effective silver nanoparticles were synthesized using the leaves extract of Mureira tree cultivated in Iraq as the reducing and capping agent. The nanoparticless were characterized using UV-visble, FT-IR, XRD, and SEM methods. The surface plasmon resonance peaks in absorption spectra for silver colloidal solution showed an absorption peak at 420 nm in a UV-visible spectrum. The functional biomolecules such as carboxyl groups present in the seaweed responsible for the silver nanoparticles formation were characterized by FT-IR. The XRD results suggested that the crystallization of the bio-organic phase occurs on the surface of the silver nanoparticles or vice versa. The broadening of peaks in the XRD patterns was attributed to particle size effects and the average particles size about 30 nm which was calculated by using the Dubai-Scherrer equation. The silver nanoparticles synthesized by the help of Mureira tree leaves extracts were scanned using SEM. It reveals that a silver nanoparticle seems to be spherical in morphology. The results shows that silver nanoparticles synthesized by Moreira leaves extract has effective antibacterial activities on the test isolates as indicated by the diameter of their zone of inhibition. The inhibition zone was 17 mm for Enterobacter cloacae, 18 mm for Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumonia, 16 mm for Proteus mirabilis and Pseudomonas aeruginosa, 15 mm for Bacillus sp., Staphylococcus aureus and Streptococcus spp. The antimicrobial activity of Moreira leaves extract has lowest effect against tested isolates. The inhibition zone was 7 mm for Enterobacter cloacae, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Bacillus sp. and Streptococcus spp. 10 mm for Klebsiella pneumonia, and 8 mm for Staphylococcus aureus.The study revealed that the silver nanoparticles synthesis by using leaves extract of Mureira tree could be as a therapeutic agent for human microbial infections. Keywords: Silver nanoparticles, pathogenic bacteria, Mureira tree, Leaf Extract, antimicrobial activity

Anti-quorum sensing activity of some medicinal plants

Background: Quorum sensing is the key regulator of virulence factors of Pseudomonas aeruginosa such as biofilm formation, motility, productions of proteases, hemolysin, pyocyanin, and toxins. The aim of this study was to explore the effect of the extracts from some medicinal plants on quorum sensing and related virulence factors of P. aeruginosa.Material and Methods: Quorum sensing inhibitory (OSI) effect of the alcohol extracts of 20 medicinal plants was evaluated by Chromobacterium violaceum reporter using agar cup diffusion method. The efficient QSI extracts were tested for their activity against biofilm synthesis, motility, and synthesis of pyocyanin from P. aeruginosa PA14Results: The extracts of Citrus sinensis, Laurus nobilis, Elettaria cardamomum, Allium cepa, and Coriandrum sativum exhibited potent quorum quenching effect. On the other hand, Psidium guajava and Mentha longifolia extracts showed lower QSI activity. These extracts exhibited significant elimination of pyocyanin formation and biofilm development of Pseudomonas aeruginosa PA14. In addition, they significantly inhibited twitching and swimming motilities of P. aeruginosa PA14.Conclusion: This study illustrated, for the first time, the importance of C. sinensis, L. nobilis, E. cardamomum, A. cepa, and C. sativum as quorum sensing inhibitors and virulence suppressors of P. aeruginosa. Thus, these plants could provide a natural source for the elimination of Pseudomonas pathogenesis.Keywords: Quorum sensing inhibitory activity, P. aeruginosa, Chromobacterium violaceum, virulence factor

Improving Security and Capacity for Arabic Text Steganography Using 'Kashida' Extensions

Steganography is a method of hiding data within a cover media so that other individuals fail to realize their existence. In this paper, a new approach for steganography in Arabic texts is proposed. The main idea is that each Arabic word may have some characters which can be extended by 'Kashida'. The ranks 'locations' of such characters and the inserted Kashida, construct a coding method to represent a block of secret bits. Different scenarios have been proposed based on the maximum number of Kashida possible to be inserted per word. The approach was compared to some existing Arabic text steganography approaches in terms of capacity and security. It is shown that this proposed approach outperforms the others with interesting promising results

Improving Security and Capacity for Arabic Text Steganography Using 'Kashida' Extensions

Steganography is a method of hiding data within a cover media so that other individuals fail to realize their existence. In this paper, a new approach for steganography in Arabic texts is proposed. The main idea is that each Arabic word may have some characters which can be extended by 'Kashida'. The ranks 'locations' of such characters and the inserted Kashida, construct a coding method to represent a block of secret bits. Different scenarios have been proposed based on the maximum number of Kashida possible to be inserted per word. The approach was compared to some existing Arabic text steganography approaches in terms of capacity and security. It is shown that this proposed approach outperforms the others with interesting promising results

Spectrophotometric Determination of Sulfanilamide in Pure and in Synthetic Sample based on Condensation Reaction Method

A new, Simple, sensitive and accurate spectrophotometric methods have been developed for the determination of sulfanilamide (SNA) drug in pure and in synthetic sample. This method based on the reaction of sulfanilamide (SNA) with 1,2-napthoquinone-4-sulphonic acid (NQS) to form N-alkylamono naphthoquinone by replacement of the sulphonate  group of the naphthoquinone sulphonic acid by an amino group. The colored chromogen shows absorption maximum at 455 nm. The optimum conditions of condensation reaction forms were investigated by: (1) univariable method, by optimizing the effect of experimental variables; (different bases, reagent concentration, borax concentration and reaction time),     (2) central  composite design (CCD) including the effect of three experimental factors (reagent concentration, borax concentration, and reaction time). The linearity ranges of sulfanilamide are (5-30 µg.mL-1) at 455 nm with molar absorptivity (6.9568×104 - 7.0774×104 L.mol-1.cm-1), Sandell's sensitivity index (2.4753 - 2.4330 μg.cm-2) and detection limit of (0.546 – 0.536 µg.mL-1) for each procedure respectively. The results showed there are no interferences of excipients on the determination of the drug. The proposed method has been successfully applied for the determination of sulfanilamide in pure and in synthetic sample. Keywords: Spectrophotometric determination, Sulfanilamide, Central  composite design, 1, 2-napthoquinone-4-sulphonic acid (NQS)