Background: Hospital acquired infections (HAIs) are infections that patients acquire while receiving treatments for other conditions. Studies have shown that stethoscopes and sphygmomanometers can act as potential sources of these infections in patients accessing treatment in healthcare facilities. This study aimed to increase awareness among health workers in Nigeria of the potentials of stethoscopes and sphygmomanometers to transmit HAIs. Methods: Moist swab sticks were used to collect samples from 38 randomly selected stethoscopes and sphygmomanometers from some departments of four district hospitals. Collected samples were cultured using standard microbiological techniques. In addition, self-designed questionnaire was used to assess the knowledge and practice of doctors and nurses on the roles of stethoscopes and sphygmomanometers in HAIs. Results: About 83.8% of the health workers demonstrated some awareness of the roles of stethoscopes and sphygmomanometers in HAIs. 42.5% cleaned their stethoscopes, while 5% their sphygmomanometers. Staphylococcus aureus, (65.9% of stethoscopes), proteus mirabilis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa (67.6% of sphygmomanometers), Streptococcus and Coliform species were isolated. There was no significant difference between the contamination of stethoscopes and sphygmomanometers by the isolates, except for Pseudomonas aeruginosa (t=3.49, p=0.04). Conclusions: Awareness did not match practice in cleaning the stethoscopes and sphygmomanometers in the four facilities. Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa were the two most common organisms isolated with a significant difference (t=3.49, p=0.04) between stethoscopes and sphygmomanometers in isolation of Pseudomonas aeruginosa. To curb HAIs, health workers need to improve on their practice of cleaning stethoscopes and sphygmomanometers.
This paper compares different optimizable machine learning classification models to predict eight types of anemia from complete blood count (CBC) data. For the research, we used a publicly available Kaggle dataset containing 1281 observations, 14 predictors, and the diagnosis as the categorical target variable with nine categories (eight types of anemia and the healthy category). First, we examined the dataset and observed the histograms of some of the predictors. We compared the values of predictors of observations with no anemia to the observations where any anemia was diagnosed. Next, we used MATLAB R2024a to train and test nine optimizable machine-learning classification models. These models were Ensemble, Tree, SVM, Efficient Linear, Neural Network, Kernel, KNN, Naïve Bayes, and the Discriminant. Bayesian optimization was used to optimize the hyperparameters of all these models. We used 90% of observations for training and 10% of observations for testing. During the training, 10-fold cross-validation was used to prevent overfitting. The results showed the best accuracy was reached with the Ensemble classification model using the bag ensemble method (validation accuracy: 99.22%, test accuracy: 100%). Finally, we inspected our best classification model in more detail. We calculated the permutation feature importance to determine the contribution of each predictor to the final model. The results showed 6–7 important predictors, while the most important feature was the amount of hemoglobin.
Diaspora groups across the world have been known for adopting and inventing processes and forms of ‘homemaking’ in their host lands. This article brings into focus the methods of homemaking assumed by the Indo-Surinamese Hindustani diaspora in the Netherlands, which owes its origin to colonial dispersal. Considering their status as a ‘twice-migrant’ diaspora, the process may appear to be distinctly difficult for the Hindustanis, a position this article seeks to examine. The article interrogates the notion of homemaking in the case of the Hindustanis through ethnographic conversational interviews of Indo-Surinamese interlocutors—a unique perspective based on personal histories and everyday experiences.
Whitefly, Bemisia tabaci (Genn.) and yellow mosaic virus disease incidence in mungbean, Vigna radiata (L.) Wilczek is a most serious problem in northern states of India. Bioefficacy of some insecticides and biorational were tested during kharif 2010 to 2011 and 2011 to 2012 at Pulses Research Farm, Department of Genetics and Plant Breeding, CCS Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar. The results revealed that 30 days after sowing minimum whitefly population was recorded in plots, when seeds were treated with dimethoate 5 ml/kg seeds. At three days after spray application lowest whitefly population (1.6 and 6.4 adults/ cage/ plant) was noted in NSKE 5 per cent sprayed plots. At seven days after spray, NSKE 5 per cent and triazophos 0.04% was the most effective in keeping the whitefly incidence and yellow mosaic virus infection low. Triazophos and NSKE did not help in managing the whitefly population at low level up to 10 days after spray application. Spraying of triazophos 0.04% resulted in higher grain yield as well as net profit. Lower dosage of triazophos 40EC at 0.02% enhanced the whitefly population in 2011 to 2012. However, the maximum incremental cost benefit ratio (1:13.41) was obtained in dimethoate 5 ml/kg seed treated plots followed by seed treatment with dimethoate plus spraying of triazophos 0.04% (1:11.93).
Pendidikan agama Islam sebagai upaya mengembangkan, mendorong serta membimbing peserta didik hidup lebih dinamis dengan berdasarkan nilai-nilai agama islam dan terbentuk pribadi peserta didik insane kamil. Rumusan dalam dalam peneltian ini: 1) Bagaimana peran PAI dalam pembinaan kesehatan mental siswa di SDN Sekarputih 1 Tegalampel Bondowoso? 2) Bagaimana peran PAI dalam pembinaan kesehatan pikiran/intelektual siswa di SDN Sekarputih 1 Tegalampel Bondowoso? Metode penelitian ini menggunakan pendekatan kualitatif deskriptif dan jenis penelitian studi kasus. Metode pengumpulan data dengan metode observasi, metode wawancara dan metode dokumentasi. Sedangkan analisis data menggunakan model analisis interaktif Milles, Huberman dan Saldana dengan tiga Langkah dalam proses analisis data yaitu: kondensasi data, penyajian data dan penarikan kesimpulan. Untuk memeriksa keabsahan data ini, menggunakan tehnik triangulasi yaitu triangulasi tehnik, triangulasi metode dan triangulasi data. Berdasarkan hasil penelitian ini dapat disimpulkan: (1) Peran PAI dalam pembinaan kesehatan mental siswa di SDN Sekarputih 1 Tegalampel Bondowoso yaitu: (a) Agama sebagai pembimbing dalam kehidupan peserta didik. (b) Agama sebagai penolong dalam menghadapi kesulitan untuk memecahakan masalah yang di alami siswa. (c) Agama sebagai penentram bathin. (2) Peran PAI dalam pembinaan kesehatan intelektual/kesehatan pikiran di SDN Sekarputih 1 Tegalampel Bondowoso yaitu: (a) Guru membimbing peserta didik secara akademis di dalam sekolah maupun di luar sekolah. (b) Kajian-kajian keagamaan oleh guru PAI sebelum atau sesudah mata pelajaran dimulai. (c) Membudayakan siswa untuh silaturrahim kerumah guru. (d) Bimbingan secara intelektual kepada dengan teori-teori keagamaan yang memadai, agar siswa tidak sekuler dalam berperilaku sehari-hari.
Tomato is one of the most important vegetables worldwide. It is considered a mainstayof many countries’ economies. However, tomato crops are vulnerable to many diseasesthat lead to reducing or destroying production, and for this reason, early and accuratediagnosis of tomato diseases is very urgent. For this reason, many deep learning modelshave been developed to automate tomato leaf disease classification. Deep learning isfar superior to traditional machine learning with loads of data, but traditional machinelearning may outperform deep learning for limited training data. The authors proposea tomato leaf disease classification method by exploiting transfer learning and featuresconcatenation. The authors extract features using pre-trained kernels (weights) fromMobileNetV2 and NASNetMobile; then, they concatenate and reduce the dimensionalityof these features using kernel principal component analysis. Following that, they feedthese features into a conventional learning algorithm. The experimental results confirmthe effectiveness of concatenated features for boosting the performance of classifiers.The authors have evaluated the three most popular traditional machine learning classifiers,random forest, support vector machine, and multinomial logistic regression; amongthem, multinomial logistic regression achieved the best performance with an averageaccuracy of 97%.
Plants produce a diverse range of bioactive compounds making them a rich source of different types of medicines. Ornamental plants are cultivated for adornment and to enhance the appearance of houses and also for commercial purposes. However, only very few of these ornamental plant species have found to be used in medicine and only little literature exit on their chemical and biological actions. In the present study, the evaluation of antimicrobial activities and identification of bioactive compounds using TLC and GC-MS of the A. columnaris bark extract were performed. In GC-MS bioactive compounds with medicinal value were identified, such as Benzoic acid, 1H-N-Hydroxynaphth (2,3) imidazole-6,7-dicarboximide, 2-Propenoic acid, 3-(4-methoxyphenyl), 1H-N-Hydroxynaphth (2,3-d) imidazole-6,7-dicarboximi. To prove the nontoxic nature of the plant, its crude bark extract was subjected to toxicity study using human embryonic kidney cell line. It reveal that the plant is minimal toxic to the human kidney cell line so usage of appropriate level will found to be safe and also carrying out some structural modification will help in the extraction of new drugs for pharmaceutical purpose.
Online interviews can be powerful tools in global health research. In this article, we review the literature on the use of and challenges associated with online interviews in health research in Africa and make recommendations for future online qualitative studies. The scoping review methodology was used. We searched on Medline and Embase in March 2022 for qualitative articles that used internet-based interviews as a data collection method. Following full-text reviews, we included nine articles. We found that online interviews were typically conducted via Microsoft Teams, Zoom, Skype, WhatsApp, Facebook Messaging and E-mail chats. Online interviews were used in Africa because of the restrictions imposed by the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic and the need to sample participants across multiple countries or communities. Recruitment for online interviews occurred online, interviews were characterised by inaudible sounds, the inability to use video options and the challenges of including people with low income and education. We recommend that researchers critically evaluate the feasibility of online interviews within a particular African locality before fully implementing this data collection approach. Researchers may also collaborate with community-based organisations to help recruit a more socioeconomically diverse sample because of the potential of excluding participants with limited internet access.
Internet of Things (IoT) enhances the global connectivity to all the remote sensing devices. It enables the connectivity of communication and processing the real-time data that has been collected from an enormous number of connected sensing devices. There is an increase in the IoT technology that leads to various malicious attacks. It is more important to overcome the malicious attacks, mainly to stop attackers or intruders from taking all the control of devices. Ensuring the safety and accuracy of the sensing devices is a serious task. It is very much important to enabling the authenticity and integrity to obtain the safety of the devices. Dynamic tree chaining, Geometric star chaining and Onion encryption are the three solutions that has been proposed in this project for in order to enable authenticity and integrity with information hiding for secure communication. The simulation results are driven displays that the proposed system is very stable and much better than other existing solution in means of security, space and time.
Metronidazole-induced neurotoxicity is a rising challenge in managing susceptible infections. The mechanisms involved in metronidazole-induced neurotoxicity are not fully unraveled. This study aimed to explore the effect of metronidazole on iron homeostasis in SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma cells. Confluent SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma cells were treated with different concentrations of 1.0, 10, 25, 50, 100, and 250 µM of metronidazole only or in combination with 20 µM iron. DMSO or culture media was used as control. Viability and ferritin assays were conducted on the treated cells. The treatments were for 24 hours, 48 hours, and 72 hours, respectively. In the viability assay, doses of metronidazole reduced the viability of SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma cells in a time and concentration-dependent manner. After 24-hour treatment, 250 µM metronidazole significantly reduced cell viability while 50 µM, 100 µM and 250 µM metronidazole reduced considerably viability only after 48-hour and 72-hour compared with control. Different doses of metronidazole 50 µM, 100 µM, and 250 µM in 20 µM iron reduced viability in a time-dependent manner in all the test periods. Metronidazole also induced a time- and concentration-dependent increase (p<0.05) in cellular iron uptake in the 48-hour and 72-hour treated cells in concentrations above 25 µM metronidazole. It is concluded that metronidazole induces a time and concentration-dependent iron overload and consequent cell death in SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma cells and this may contribute to the mechanism of metronidazole-induced neurotoxicity.
Mediterranean journal of pharmacy and pharmaceutical sciences
Background: Ward rounds are a cornerstone of inpatient care, critical to patient management, interdisciplinary communication, and bedside teaching. However, despite their importance, ward rounds are often unstructured and inconsistent, limiting both clinical efficiency and educational impact. Objective: This narrative review examines common deficiencies in current ward round practices and proposes a structured, evidence-informed framework to enhance their effectiveness. Methods: A narrative review was conducted to identify deficiencies in ward round practices and develop a practical, evidence-informed framework for improvement. Given the focus on conceptual and experiential insights, a formal quality appraisal of the included studies was not performed. Results: The review identified recurrent challenges, including poor planning, unclear leadership, inadequate time management, and a lack of integrated teaching. Drawing on best practices, a three-phase model—preparation, execution, and education—is proposed to enhance team communication, patient involvement, and trainee learning. Conclusions: Structured, goal-oriented ward rounds can significantly improve care coordination, safety, and clinical education. Institutions should prioritize standardized ward round models supported by training in leadership, teaching, and interdisciplinary collaboration.
ABSTRACT Background: The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) infection rate and mortality among Nigerian health care workers appear to be on the increase. Aside from health workers, it has caused millions of infections and deaths worldwide. This study determined the level of knowledge, attitude, and practices of nursing and midwifery students towards COVID-19 in a North-Eastern Nigerian state. Methods: A total of 156 respondents were involved in this institutional-based cross-sectional study, conducted after the lockdown period. A total of 17 questions were used to assess the KAP with knowledge appraised with 12 questions, attitudes with 2 questions, and practices with 3 questions. Results: The majority of the students (53.80%) possessed a good level of knowledge regarding COVID-19, while 40.4% had fair knowledge regarding COVID-19 with only 5.80% having poor knowledge of COVID-19. The mean knowledge of COVID-19 in this study was 9.40±1.353 with an overall 78% correct answer rate. A vast majority of the respondent (82.7% and 98.1%) had strong confidence in Nigeria and believed that the pandemic will soon be over, respectively. Only a few avoided large gatherings of people (30.8%) with the vast majority reporting to have worn a mask when going out (84.6%) and washing their hands with running water and soap frequently as recommended (73.1%). In multiple logistic regression analyses, the COVID-19 knowledge score (OR: 0.39-0.40, 95%CI: 0.26 – 0.62, P<0.05) was significantly associated with a lower likelihood of negative preventive practices towards COVID-19. Conclusions: The participants in this study showed good knowledge, positive attitudes, and good practices toward COVID-19. There is still a need to strategize and implement periodic educational interventions and training on infection control practices among healthcare workers including students.
Formality transfer seeks to adjust text formality without altering its core meaning, which carries substantial implications across diverse domains like machine translation, dialogue systems, and social media content creation. This study provides an extensive overview of formality transfer specifically within Arabic text, an emerging domain within natural language processing. Particularly, we carried out a comprehensive review of literature on text formality transfer, focusing on studies published between July 2010 and April 2024. Our focus lies in treating formality transfer in Arabic as akin to a machine translation task, presenting synthesized insights. Despite advancements in formality transfer for English and other languages, Arabic’s distinct linguistic features present unique challenges and opportunities. Our investigation uncovers several research gaps necessitating future exploration, emphasizing persistent limitations. Moreover, we delve into text formality transfer as a promising avenue for forthcoming research initiatives in the realm of Arabic text processing.
A survey was conducted to screen the presences of antibiotic-resistant Salmonella from broiler chicken meat brought from local retail shops situated at Kozhinjampara, Palakkad, Kerala. Based on the morphological and biochemical characterization, a total of 15 Salmonella sp were isolated. Among 15 isolates, five (S7, S8, S10, S12, S14) isolates exhibited 100% resistance to all tested antibiotics and only one isolate S9 shows sensitivity to maximum antibiotics tested. In the study, garlic extract was tested against antibiotic-resistant isolates and it exhibited maximum inhibition against S12 isolate (30mm) and minimum inhibition against S8 isolate (22mm). The analyses of the garlic extract by GC-MS confirmed that the major components of garlic having antimicrobial activity. The result specified that garlic extract was found to be effective in controlling antibiotic resistance Salmonella species from broiler chicken meat. Therefore, incorporating garlic products in poultry feeds will help reduce antibiotic-resistant pathogenic microbes which causes drastic infections in human beings.
The rapid growth of wireless devices introduces a diverse range of applications and requires intelligent hardware platforms that integrate computing, sensing, and wireless connectivity in a compact systemon- chip (SoC). This paper presents a low-power, high-performance SoC platform that supports dynamic power management and secure communication. The SoC platform consists of 16-/32-bit programmable ARM9 cores, a power management unit with multiple low-power modes, analog and digital peripherals, and security engines. A complete tool-chain with an automatic platform generator has also been developed to ease and accelerate the application development. Fabricated in a 65 nm CMOS technology, an implementation of the proposed platform occupies an area of 1.0 × 1.7 mm2.
Background: Cannabis sativa has garnered significant attention due to its complex phytochemistry and diverse pharmacological properties. Given the rising interest in medicinal cannabis, understanding its physicochemical properties is crucial for drug development, quality control, and abuse prevention. This study aimed to analyze its phytoconstituents, with a focus on the isolation and profiling of cannabinoids. Methods: Fresh C. sativa leaves were macerated in ethanol to obtain a crude extract, which underwent phytochemical screening to detect alkaloids, flavonoids, cardiac glycosides, terpenes, steroids, and resins. Thin-layer chromatography (TLC) was performed using a n-hexane/diethyl ether (8:2) ratio as the mobile phase to separate cannabinoids, with visualization under UV light. Column chromatography further purified the extract, and subsequent TLC confirmed cannabinoid-rich fractions. Hydrogen peroxide-modified TLC was employed to assess oxidation effects on cannabinoid stability. Results: Phytochemical screening confirmed the presence of alkaloids, flavonoids, terpenes, and resins, while saponins and tannins were absent. TLC analysis revealed distinct Rf values for tetrahydrocannabinol (THC = 0.94) and cannabidiol (CBD = 0.90), with color differentiation indicating successful separation and a more polar nature of CBD. Column chromatography yielded enriched fractions, validated by TLC. Hydrogen peroxide exposure altered Rf values of 0.78 to 0.8, suggesting oxidative degradation. The study identified THC and CBD as dominant markers, alongside minor cannabinoids, reinforcing C. sativa’s complex chemical profile. These findings give clues to further research into standardized extraction protocols and stability testing to optimize medicinal applications of the plant and its phytoconstituents. Conclusions: This study highlights the efficacy of TLC and column chromatography for cannabinoid isolation and profiling. The presence of THC, CBD, and other bioactive compounds underscores C. sativa’s dual therapeutic and psychoactive potential.
Urolithiasis is a very old and common urological disorder with its worldwide prevalence, multi-factorial etiology, increased recurrent rate and severe consequences. The adverse effects of currently available antiurolithiatic agents potentiate natural product researchers to explore natural antiurolithiatic compounds with fewer side effects. The presented communication is actually a review of the antiurolithiatic effect of four hundred and fifty-seven (457) plants belonging to one hundred and eight (108) families found in different parts of the world. This review will provide helpful information for discovering natural antiurolitiatic compounds and fill the gaps in knowledge.
India holds a crucial place in the worldwide leadership of sustainable development since it is the largest democracy in the world and has one of the nations with the greatest economic growth. With innovation, inclusivity, and sustainability at its core, Viksit Bharat @2047 symbolizes India's ambition to become a fully developed country by the century of its independence. Emerging technologies are increasing productivity, boosting global competitiveness, and spurring innovation in various industries. By providing tailored financial assistance & investment suggestions, artificial intelligence-powered chatbots & robo-advisors are democratizing the provision of financial planning services. Decentralized finance (DeFi) systems and other blockchain-based solutions are simplifying trade finance procedures, lowering operating costs, and facilitating safe and transparent cross-border transactions. This chapter examines how innovation and technology are essential to achieving this lofty goal. It provides a thorough examination of India's contemporary digital infrastructure, the country's ascent in international innovation rankings, & the use of cutting-edge technologies including biotechnology, renewable energy, artificial intelligence, and space research. The story highlights government programs such as Start-up India, Digital India, and the National AI & Green Hydrogen Missions. Furthermore, the story underscores the importance of inclusive growth, which encompasses youth empowerment, women-led innovation, and rural digitization. Alongside strategic advice, issues like cybersecurity concerns, low investment in research and growth, and the digital divide are also discussed. India is positioned to emerge as a worldwide leader in technology, not simply a consumer, by cultivating a strong innovation ecosystem and utilizing partnerships between university, industry, and the private sector. This chapter provides a comprehensive plan for a tech-powered, inclusive, and sustainable Viksit Bharat before 2047. Higher education is one of the areas that must use developing technology, especially artificial intelligence (AI), to achieve Viksit Bharat 2047 (the Developed India 2047). Outside of higher education, artificial intelligence influences technology and economic progress. Young minds will realize this transformative vision as soon as they actively interact with AI. AI literacy empowers students in higher education to investigate, produce, and innovate. Students may do research, find solutions to real-world issues, and alter the course of history as they learn AI.
Streptococcus bovis/gallolyticus was considered as lower grade pathogen involved in endocarditis. Recent accumulating evidence has suggested that Streptococcus bovis/gallolyticus plays an important role in the initiation and development of colorectal cancer. This study was aimed to address the association between Streptococcus bovis/gallolyticus and colorectal cancer among Libyan patients, to determine the dominant biotype of Streptococcus bovis/gallolyticus associated with colorectal cancer patients and to evaluate the antibiotic susceptibly patterns of isolated strains. The study involved 20 colorectal cancer patients, 20 patients with large adenomas polyp and 20 people with healthy colonic mucosa as a control group. All the candidates were subjected to colonoscopy and histopathological examinations and conformation. The suspected and normal cases were then diagnosed according to the protocol used by the medicine specialist and grouped in accord with the study aim. All biopsies were handled and treated to isolate the suspected positive colonies of Streptococcus bovis/gallolyticus. Of the 20 colorectal cancer patients, seven patients (35%) were found to be Streptococcus bovis/gallolyticus carriers, (95% CI 1.22 - 1.72, p < 0.05). Nine patients (45%) were diagnosed colorectal cancer positive at age above 60 years old, eight patients (40%) at age 40 - 60 years old and three patients (15%) at age bellow 40 years old. Also, nine out of 20 patients (45%) with large adenomas polyp were found to be Streptococcus bovis/gallolyticus carriers, (95% CI 2.16 - 2.71, p < 0.05). Of the 20 healthy people with colonic mucosa, Streptococcus bovis/gallolyticus never been isolated. Streptococcus. bovis biotype II/I and Streptococcus. equinis were both susceptible to the above mentioned antibiotic classes, although Streptococcus bovis biotype I was highly resistance to most clinically used antibiotics. However, there was strong relationship between Streptococcus bovis/gallolyticus and colorectal cancer or large polyp formation. However, it is not well understood whether the bacterium has a pathogenic role in the initiation and progression of neoplasia or just an epiphenomenon of colorectal neoplasms.
Mediterranean journal of pharmacy and pharmaceutical sciences
Recently, the definition of cardiorenal syndrome (CRS), a condition with a complicated pathogenesis, has been revised. Logically, CRS syndrome should be classified according to the initial organ that is injured, resulting in damage to another organ. Hence, there are only three main categories of CRS. Category one includes acute and chronic CRS. Category two involves renal-cardiac syndrome (RCS), which can be classified as acute or chronic. The third category represents secondary CRS, referred to as cardio-reno-cardiac syndrome (CRCS), which can be subdivided into acute and chronic CRCS. In this part of our series, we will discuss the epidemiology, pathophysiology, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of acute CRS. We retrieved articles published on acute CRS using different keywords and phrases between January 2019 and June 2025 to achieve these goals.