This study aimed to evaluate the preparedness and adherence of community pharmacists to the International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP) Health Advisory COVID-19 guidelines for pharmacists (July 2020) during COVID-19 pandemic. This was a cross-sectional study based on electronic survey using google form, which was distributed from November 19, 2020 to January 1, 2021 using social media platforms. The survey measured 21 pharmacy preventive measures (PM). A multivariate regression analysis was used to identify factors influencing pharmacy implementing of PM. Hand disinfection after serving patients represented the main adopted measure (89.3%). Surprisingly, only 35.4% of participants implemented the proper ways of hand disinfection during face mask handling and 35.4% could not recognize the purpose behind medical mask uses. Significant (p-value<0.05) positive association with pharmacy adoption of PM during COVID-19 was recorded for high influx of patients into pharmacy and working for extended hours, while inadequate information of pharmacists about COVID-19 (which represented the main difficulty that down regulated the adoption of PM in pharmacies) had significant negative association. This study revealed suboptimal implementation of the PM in community pharmacies, and a gap in the pharmacists’ knowledge about safety protocols to limit COVID-19 transmissions in the pharmacies. Official health organizations might need to develop a national guideline for community pharmacies to enhance the pharmacists’ and patient safety during COVID-19 pandemic.
Software-defined networks (SDN) have a centralized control architecture that makes them a tempting target for cyber attackers. One of the major threats is distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks. It aims to exhaust network resources to make its services unavailable to legitimate users. DDoS attack detection based on machine learning algorithms is considered one of the most used techniques in SDN security. In this paper, four machine learning techniques (Random Forest, K-nearest neighbors, Naive Bayes, and Logistic Regression) have been tested to detect DDoS attacks. Also, a mitigation technique has been used to eliminate the attack effect on SDN. RF and KNN were selected because of their high accuracy results. Three types of ne
... Show MoreBipedal robotic mechanisms are unstable due to the unilateral contact passive joint between the sole and the ground. Hierarchical control layers are crucial for creating walking patterns, stabilizing locomotion, and ensuring correct angular trajectories for bipedal joints due to the system’s various degrees of freedom. This work provides a hierarchical control scheme for a bipedal robot that focuses on balance (stabilization) and low-level tracking control while considering flexible joints. The stabilization control method uses the Newton–Euler formulation to establish a mathematical relationship between the zero-moment point (ZMP) and the center of mass (COM), resulting in highly nonlinear and coupled dynamic equations. Adaptiv
... Show MoreThis experiment presented essential oils by GC/MS, pigment content, and their antioxidant activities as well as sensory evaluation of delight samples. Limonene (66.88%) was the most prevalent yield. The peels of clementine had DPPH and ABT Scavenging activity. All levels of pigment extract had better scores for all sensory values and recorded acceptable scores in terms of appearance, color, aroma, and overall acceptability compared to control delight. Besides, delight samples containing 15 mg astaxanthin pigment extract showed maximum sensory scores compared to other samples and control delight. On the other hand, the product was less acceptable to the panelists compared to control in the case of the addition of 3.75 mg astaxanthin pigme
... Show MoreBackground The appropriate disposal of medication is a well-recognized issue that has convened growing recognition in several contexts. Insufficient awareness relating to appropriate methods for the disposal of unneeded medicine may result in notable consequences. The current research was conducted among the public in Iraq with the aim of examining their knowledge, attitude, and practices regarding the proper disposal of unused and expired medicines. Methods The present study used an observational cross-sectional design that was community-based. The data were obtained from using an online questionnaire. The study sample included people of diverse genders, regardless of their race or occupational status. The study mandated that all pa
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