Ashraf Abu-Seida

Background: The incidence of drug related problems (DRPs) in intensive care units (ICU) is higher compared to any other wards in the hospital, requiring a structured pathway to ensure optimum detection of DRPs. The study aimed to evaluate the impact of implementing a pharmaceutical care pathway on the detection and management of DRPs in an ICU. Methods: The study was conducted in a general ICU and included three phases: tool preparation phase included the development of a core measures reference pathway and daily working scenario flow-charts, a control phase where the patient files and pharmacists' case assessment notes were retrospectively reviewed to detect the rate of DRPs before pathway implementation and a prospective phase similar to the control phase but with the implementation of the new pathway. The number and classification of DRPs and required core measures in the control and implementation phases were documented. Results: Using the new pathway, the detection of unmet core measures increased from 7.3% in the control phase to 99% in the implementation phase (p-value <0.001). The prevalence of unidentified DRPs/1000 patients' service days decreased from 98.1 in the control phase to 27.08 in the implementation phase (p-value <0.001). However, there was no significant difference between the phases regarding mortality rate and length of ICU stay. Conclusions: The implementation of a unified pharmaceutical care pathway improved the detection of DRPs in ICU patients. © 2021 Southern Society for Clinical Investigation

Abstract A Novel scalable approach using Terahertz (THz) waves together with the electromagnetic field simulation was applied to investigate four rabbits of eight rabbit corneas in vivo. One eye of each rabbits? corneas was edema induced; the other eye of the corneas served as the control. The simulation revealed the propagation of THz waves at a certain distance along the sub-surface of the cornea. THz spectra have been collected close to the corneal surface by deviating the direct reflection of the THz beam for the edema cornea, the reflected wave intensity for edema corneas is generally larger compared with the control cornea. Upon edema becomes severe at the end of the observation, the reflected wave intensities obtained by detector corresponding to the corneal deep stroma layer approach to the same value for all observed corneas. Good correlation is observed between central corneal thickness measurements and THz wave reflection signal intensities. Our results demonstrated that THz spectroscopy technique could obtain the information from different corneal sublayers.

This paper presents an experimental investigation into the structural and material response of ambient-dry and wet clay-brick/lime-mortar masonry elements. In addition to cyclic tests on four large-scale masonry walls subjected to lateral in-plane displacement and co-existing compressive gravity load, the study also includes complementary tests on square masonry panels under diagonal compression and cylindrical masonry cores in compression. After describing the specimen details, wetting method and testing arrangements, the main results and observations are provided and discussed. The results obtained from full-field digital image correlation measurements enable a detailed assessment of the material shear-compression strength envelope, and permit a direct comparison with the strength characteristics of structural walls. The full load-deformation behaviour of the large-scale walls is also evaluated, including their ductility and failure modes, and compared with the predictions of available assessment models. It is shown that moisture has a notable effect on the main material properties, including the shear and compression strengths, brick–mortar interaction parameters, and the elastic and shear moduli. The extent of the moisture effects is a function of the governing behaviour and material characteristics as well as the interaction between shear and precompression stresses, and can lead to a loss of more than a third of the stiffness and strength. For the large scale wall specimens subjected to lateral loading and co-existing compression, the wet-to-dry reduction was found to be up to 20% and 11% in terms of stiffness and lateral strength, respectively, whilst the ductility ratio diminished by up to 12%. Overall, provided that the key moisture-dependent material properties are appropriately evaluated, it is shown that analytical assessment methods can be reliably adapted for predicting the response, in terms of the lateral stiffness, strength and overall load-deformation, for both dry and wet masonry walls.

Civil environment in nursing education enhances achieving learning outcomes. Addressing incivility can be crucial to improve academic achievements. The purpose of this study was examining the psychometric properties of the Arabic version of the Incivility in Nursing Education-Revised scale regarding nursing faculty. This cross-sectional study conducted in five Arab countries using a convenience sampling strategy. Two hundred twenty-five Arab-speaking nursing faculty participated in this study. Exploratory factor analysis confirmed the construct validity of the translated Arabic version of the Incivility in Nursing Education-Revised that are related to nursing faculty. Internal consistency was assessed using Cronbach's alpha and a coefficient of 0.867 indicated strong scale reliability. The Arabic version of the Incivility in Nursing Education-Revised scale that is related to nursing faculty is a valid and reliable tool that can be used to evaluate incivility among Arab-speaking nursing faculty.

This work reports on the influence of phosphorous atoms on the phase separation process and optical properties of silicon nanocrystals (Si-NCs) embedded in phosphorus doped SiO/SiO2 multilayers. Doped SiO/SiO2 multilayers with different P contents have been prepared by co-evaporation and subsequently annealed at different temperatures up to 1100 °C. The sample structure and the localization of P atoms were both studied at the nanoscale by scanning transmission electron microscopy and atom probe tomography. It is found that P incorporation modifies the mechanism of Si-NC growth by promoting the phase separation during the post-growth-annealing step, leading to nanocrystal formation at lower annealing temperatures as compared to undoped Si-NCs. Hence, the maximum of Si-NC related photoluminescence (PL) intensity is achieved for annealing temperatures lower than 900 °C. It is also demonstrated that the Si-NCs mean size increases in the presence of P, which is accompanied by a redshift of the Si-NC related emission. The influence of the phosphorus content on the PL properties is studied using both room temperature and low temperature measurements. It is shown that for a P content lower than about 0.1 at%, P atoms contribute to significantly improve the PL intensity. This effect is attributed to the P-induced-reduction of the number of non-radiative defects at the interface between Si-NCs and SiO2 matrix, which is discussed in comparison with hydrogen passivation of Si-NCs. In contrast, for increasing P contents, the PL intensity strongly decreases, which is explained by the growth of Si-NCs reaching sizes that are too large to ensure quantum confinement and to the localization of P atoms inside Si-NCs.

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Ledipasvir is an effective direct acting antiviral agent used in the treatment of hepatitis C virus. The high price of ledipasvir was a reason for its limited provision to wide population of HCV patients.

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