Introduction: Although it is discouraged, community pharmacy customers can obtain oral corticosteroids (OCSs) without prescriptions from some community pharmacies in Iraq. Medication abuse is defined as the use of medication for non-medical reasons. Objectives: The study aimed to determine demographics, beliefs, and perceptions associated with the abuse of oral corticosteroids for non-illness reasons among community pharmacy customers. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in fall 2018 in four provinces in Iraq. Customers of 19 community pharmacies asking for OCSs for themselves without a prescription were administered a paper survey. This study used the Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA) to measure the relationship between the motivational factors and the abuse of OCSs. Logistic regression analysis was conducted to evaluate the relationships between the use of OCSs for non-illness and six TRA factors: Normative belief, behavioral belief, evaluation of the behavior, motivation to comply, subjective norms and attitude toward behavior. Results: The study enrolled 141 participants (98 women and 43 men) taking asking for OCSs without prescription. Dexamethasone was the most commonly used OCSs (59.6%). Friends were the primary recommenders for corticosteroids abuse (28.4%). The main reasons for using OCSs were to increase appetite and gain weight (53.9 %). Approximately one-third (36.2 %) of the participants gained weight after using OCSs. The regression analysis of the TRA variables showed two factors were significantly related to the abuse of OCSs. Age had a significant inverse relationship with the abuse of OCSs and the "good appearance" belief had a significant positive association with OCS abuse. Conclusion: Some Iraqi community pharmacy customers use non-prescribed oral corticosteroids to increase appetite and gain weight. Improve body appearance represents the dominant incentive that urges people to use OCSs without prescription. Health officials and healthcare practitioners need to promote people's awareness about the risks of misusing OCSs through education programs and advertisements in public health settings, media, and social media. Article Type: Original Research
In this research, the performance of asphalt mixtures modified with polyethylene polymer (PE) by adding 2%, 4%, and 6% percentages was evaluated. Two kinds of PE are employed: Low-Density PE (LDPE) and High-Density PE (HDPE). The semi-wet mixing technique (SWM) was conducted to avoid stability issue for PE-modified binder during storage condition. Many experimental tests were conducted to evaluate the ability of these mixtures to withstand the effects of loads and moisture. The hardness index of these mixtures was also measured to determine their resistance to the effects of high temperatures without causing permanent deformations. The results showed that adding PE led to a remarkable enhancement in the performance of PE-modified mixtures.
... Show MoreKE Sharquie, HR Al-Hamamy, AA Noaimi, AF Tahir, Journal of Cosmetics, Dermatological Sciences and Applications, 2012 - Cited by 2
This research deals with the design and simulation of a solar power system consisting of a KC200GT solar panel, a closed loop boost converter and a three phase inverter by using Matlab / Simulink. The mathematical equations of the solar panel design are presented. The electrical characteristics of the panel are tested at the values of 1000 for light radiation and 25 °C for temperature environment. The Proportional Integral (PI) controller is connected as feedback with the Boost converter to obtain a stable output voltage by reducing the oscillations in the voltage to charge a battery connected to the output of the converter. Two methods (Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) and Zeigler- Nichols) are used for tuning
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Histone deacetylase inhibitors with zinc binding groups often exhibit drawbacks like non-selectivity or toxic effects. Thus, there are continuous efforts to modify the currently available inhibitors or to discover new derivatives to overcome these problems. One approach is to synthesize new compounds with novel zinc binding groups. The present study describes the utilization of acyl thiourea functionality, known to possess the ability to complex with metals, to be a novel zinc binding group incorporated into the designed histone deacetylase inhibitors. N-adipoyl monoanilide thiourea (4) and N-pimeloyl monoanilide thiourea (5) have been synthesized and characterized successfully. They showed inhibition of growth of human colon adenoc
... Show MoreHybrid architecture of ZnO nanorods/graphene oxide ZnO-NRs@GO synthesized by electrostatic self-assembly methods. The morphological, optical and luminescence characteristics of ZnO-NRs@GO and ZnO-NRs thin films have been described by FESEM, TEM, HRTEM, and AFM, which refers to graphene oxide have been coated ZnO-NRs with five layers. Here we synthesis ZnO-NRs@GO by simple, cheap and environmentally friendly method, which made it favorable for huge -scale preparation in many applications such as photocatalyst. ZnO-NRs@GO was applied as a photocatalyst Rodamin 6 G (R6G) dye from water using 532 nm diode laser-induced photocatalytic process. Overall degradation of R6G/ ZnO-NRs@GO was achieved after 90 minutes of laser irradiation while it ne
... Show MoreGeneration of new clones of multidrug resistant infectious foci of environmental, zoonotic and reverse zoonotic Enterococcus faecalis & faecium strains from cases of mastitis in cows privileged in Baghdad ecosystem reveal unsafe tricks. Medically important plants Blackcurrant, London Plane and Pine Buds are widely used for resolving these public health threats and hazards as powerful antimicrobial preparations. Totally sixty pooled milk samples were collected from apparently healthy (30 units) and infected (30 units) Cows from different regions of Abu-Ghraib during March until July (2019). Integrated units were checked by California mastitis test and a designed scheme was dependent for recovery of pathogenic Enterococci. Gram staining and c
... Show MoreThe corrosion inhibiting properties of the new furan derivative 5-(furan-2-ylmethylsulfonyl-4-phenyl-2,4- dihydro [1,2,4] triazole-3-thione in acidic solution (1.0 M HCl) were explored utilizing electrochemical, surface morphology (AFM), and quantum chemical calculations approaches. The novel furan derivative 5-(furan-2-ylmethylsulfonyl-4-phenyl-2,4- dihydro [1,2,4] triazole-3-thione shows with an inhibitory efficiency value of 99.4 percent at 150 ppm, carbon steel corrosion in acidic medium is effectively inhibited, according to the results. The influence of temperature on corrosion prevention was studied using adsorption parameters and activation thermodynamics. The novel furan derivative creates a protective layer over the metallic surfa
... Show MoreThe beet armyworm (BAW), Spodoptera exigua (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) is a highly destructive pest of vegetables and field crops. Management of beet armyworm primarily relies on synthetic pesticides, which is threatening the beneficial community and environment. Most importantly, the BAW developed resistance to synthetic pesticides with making it difficult to manage. Therefore, alternative and environment-friendly pest management tactics are urgently required. The use of pesticidal plant extracts provides an effective way for a sustainable pest management program. To evaluate the use of pesticidal plant extracts against BAW, we selected six plant species (Lantana camara, Aloe vera, Azadirachta indica, Cymbopogon citratus, Nicotiana tabacum ,
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