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Objectives: The study aims to assess the knowledge, attitude and practices of physicians who deal with pediatric age group SSTIs in reference to the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) guidelines on this regard that was published in 2014. Background: Skin and soft tissue infections rank among the most frequent infections worldwide. It is estimated that over 11 million ambulatory healthcare visits occur each year in US for skin and soft tissue infections due to Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) alone. SSTIs are clinical entities of variable presentation, etiology and severity that involve microbial invasion of the layers of the skin and underlying soft tissues. SSTIs range from mild infections, such as pyoderma, to serious life-threatening infections, such as necrotizing fasciitis. One of the main challenges in managing SSTIs is to be able to identify those who need immediate inpatient intervention versus the more stable ones that can be manages in outpatient basis. In June of 2014, The Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) released evidence based guidelines that has nicely covered all aspects related to the management of SSTIs. Method:An anonymous 20-item survey exploring knowledge, attitude and practices associated with diagnosis and management of skin and soft tissue infection was distributed to physicians of different levels of expertise (from residents to consultants) in the departments of Pediatrics, Emergency Medicine and Family Medicine in different governmental facilities in Al-Ain city which is one of the major cities in United Arab Emirates.

Cold atmospheric pressure plasma (CAPP) treatment is a highly effective method of protecting seeds, plants, flowers, and trees from diseases and infection and significantly increasing crop yields. Here we found that cold atmospheric pressure He-plasma jet (CAPPJ) can also cause side effects and damage to plants if the plasma exposure time is too long. Reactive oxygen and nitrogen species (RONS), electromagnetic fields, and ultraviolet photons emitted by CAPPJ can cause both positive and negative effects on plants. CAPPJ can interact with biological tissue surfaces. The plasma lamp has no visible side effects on Aloe vera plants, cabbage, and tomatoes. A plasma lamp and a cold atmospheric pressure plasma He-jet cause strong electrical signaling in plants with a very high amplitude with frequencies equal to the frequency of plasma generation. The use of plasma lamps for electrostimulation of biological tissues can help to avoid side processes in biological tissues associated with the generation of RONS, UV photons, and direct interaction with cold plasma. CAPP technology can play an important role in agriculture, medicine, the food industry, chemistry, surface science, material science, and engineering applications without side effects if the plasma exposure is short enough.

In the paper a methodology that is elaborated for characterization of big-sized chambers of modern and future nuclear fusion reactors is described. It gives an opportunity to define distortions introduced by surroundings, systems and elements of the chamber into the neutron field generated during the reactors’ operation. The procedure is based on two types of experimental techniques supported by MCNP numerical modelling. These two classes are: 1) the neutron activation methods for measuring changes in anisotropy of the “absolute” neutron yields, and 2) the time-of-flight process for determination of neutron spectra deformations. MCNP calculations afterwards give an opportunity to fix just those elements of the surroundings that introduce the main impact in the perturbed neutron field characteristics.

The demand for materials and devices that are capable of controlling heat flux has attracted many interests due to desire to attain new sources of energy and on-chip cooling. Excellent properties of DNA make it as an interesting nanomaterial in future technologies. In this paper, we aim to investigate the thermal flow through two sequence combinations of DNA, e.g, (AT)4 (CG)4 (AT)4 (CG)4 and (CG)8 (AT)8. Two interesting phenomena have been observed respectively. In the first configuration, an oscillatory thermal flux is observed. In this way, an oscillating heat flux from a stationary spatial thermal gradient is provided by varying the gate temperature. In the second configuration, the system behaves as a constant heat current source. The physical mechanism behind each phenomenon is identified. In the first case, it was shown that the transition between thermal positive conductance and negative differential conductance implies oscillatory heat current. In the latter, the discordance between the phonon bands of the two coupled sequences results in constant thermal flow despite of increasing in temperature gradient.

Weight gain can be good or bad for health. Benefits include increased health for overweight people, disease or surgical recovery, and more. Health concerns, joint and musculoskeletal disorders, respiratory issues, metabolic abnormalities, cardiovascular health, psychological impact, reduced mobility, digestive troubles, hormonal changes, and cancer risk are negative impacts. Weight gain outcomes depend on heredity, weight distribution, and health. Maintaining a healthy weight needs a balanced diet, regular exercise, and stress management. A doctor or nutritionist can offer personalized weight management advice. Stress chemicals like cortisol trigger weight gain. ACTH stimulates adrenal glands to release cortisol, which increases hunger, fat storage, insulin resistance, and muscle loss. Understanding how stress hormones like cortisol affect weight gain is vital to reducing chronic stress’s health risks. Stress reduction, a balanced diet, regular exercise, proper sleep, social support, and professional treatment can mitigate these outcomes. Ultimately, stress hormones like cortisol can cause weight gain, but a holistic strategy tackling physical and psychological stress can help people maintain a healthy weight.

A 50-years old female presented with dysarthria, inability to swallow and quadriparesis for three weeks. She had rapid correction of her serum sodium (Na) from 99meq/l to 138meq/l within 24 hours 1 week prior to development of these symptoms. She was diagnosed as a case of Osmotic demyelination syndrome (ODS) formerly known as central pontine myelinolysis (CPM) which was confirmed by MRI. She underwent Plasma Exchange (PE) on the 20th day since her symptoms started and underwent 7 cycles of PE with complete neurological recovery. Pt was discharged with ability to ambulate independently and complete recovery of speech and swallowing. Hence, we report that PE is beneficial in chronic ODS.

Clinical physicians believe they are drowning . . . because they are! Between complying with an ever-changing landscape of time-wasting federal regulations, avoiding Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act violations, plus the entire billing process, who can keep up with the literature, study a patient’s medical history, or even talk with a patient?!? 

Background: Cancer treatment frequently depends on the intricate and potent effects that are acknowledged for their potential to save lives. Chemotherapy can have adverse effects on both the central and peripheral nervous systems, posing significant challenges.Objective: •    To assess the causative agent, development, and timing of occurrence.•    To improve management of neurological complications.•    To discriminate the iatrogenic effects of cancer therapy and neurological progression.Method: A prospective observational study was conducted in a hospital setting, focusing on the neurotoxic effects of chemotherapy in cancer patients over a span of six months. The research involved participants from both the oncology in-patient and daycare departments. After obtaining informed consent, individuals in the study population were interviewed to gather information about any neurological symptoms they encountered following their chemotherapy sessions.Results and discussion: Within our study population, a predominant 67% comprised female patients, while male patients constituted 33%. Of the total participants, 66% reported experiencing neurological symptoms. Among these symptoms, the majority of patients encountered sensations such as tingling, numbness, and a burning sensation. Other reported symptoms included headaches, distal weakness, myalgia, seizures, and ataxia.Conclusion: In this current study, 66% of the study population encountered neurological side effects. Generally, the presence of comorbidities, vitamin deficiencies, and advanced age can significantly contribute to the development of peripheral neuropathy. Depending on the severity of neuropathy, recommendations for interventions include the prescription of vitamin supplements, calcium supplements, duloxetine, and pregabalin.

Outbreaks of Ebola virus can cause substantial mortality in affected countries. The largest outbreak of Ebola to date is currently underway in West Africa, with 3944 cases reported as of September 5, 2014. For the sake of deriving a better understanding of the Ebola transmission dynamics, we have undertaken to revisit data from the initial spark of origin of the Ebola virus, which occurred in 1976 in Zaire (now Democratic Republic of Congo). By fitting a mathematical process to time series stratified by disease onset, outcome and source of infection, we have managed to estimate several epidemiological quantities, previously admitted to be too challenging to measure, including hospital and infected community contribution infection to the widespread transmission.

Background: Skin diseases is a common worldwide problem. It affected every aspect of patients’ quality of life (QOL) mainly physically, socially and psychologically. Objectives: to assess the impact of skin disorders on patients’ quality of life and to identify factors associated with it. Methodology: This cross-sectional study was conducted in outpatient dermatology clinic of a tertiary hospital in Malaysia. A random sample of 145 patients with acne, psoriasis and atopic dermatitis (AD) were interviewed using DLQI questionnaire during their scheduled follow-up appointments at dermatology clinic. Main outcome measure: Self-reported patients’ QOL due to their skin diseases. Results and discussion: Out of three skin diseases psoriasis patients had the highest prevalence (39.3%) followed by AD (34.5%) and acne (26.2%). Patients’ QOL was highly influenced by their skin conditions especially on working/schooling domain. Furthermore, several factors were identified, namely age, working environment, concurrent skin diseases, usage of supplement for skin diseases and type of food as aggravating factors—that may influence patients’ QOL. QOL among females and younger adults was found to be more significantly influenced as compared to males and elderly. With respect to working environment, those who had both indoor and outdoor working environment showed the highest impact of their skin conditions on their QOL. Single patients were more influenced by their skin conditions when compared to those who are married, however it was not significant. Conclusion: Our findings revealed skin disease had negatively impacted individual QOL with different level of aspects. Among the three diseases, AD patients had the worst impact on QOL. Significant predictors of QOL did not relate solely to skin diseases but also other factors such as type of food and working environment.