Knowledge and perception of domestic violence among primary care physicians and nurses: a comparative study

Domestic violence [DV] has a deteriorating influence on society by affecting victims, their children, families, and friends, as well as social and financial relationships. Primary care providers, including physicians and nurses, frequently are the first in the community to encounter the battered women. The aim of this work was to compare the knowledge and perception of primary care physicians and nurses about DV. This study was carried out in all primary health care centers in Kuwait. All physicians and nurses who were currently working in these centers during the study period were asked to complete a self-administered close-ended questionnaire that included personal and working conditions information. It included also knowledge about prevalence of DV, and four main aspects relevant to DV, namely deprivation, psychological, physical and sexual domains. A 5-point, Likert-scale was used to assess participant's answers for each item. The response rate was 62.8% for physicians and 61.1% for nurses. The study revealed that the overall knowledge score was higher in physicians than nurses. Also, the scores for the individual domains were significantly higher for physicians than nurses except for psychological one. Overall, primary care physicians and nurses had poor knowledge and many had negative perception regarding DV. Although physicians are somewhat more knowledgeable about DV, many more educational activities are needed

Whole-blood polymerase chain reaction and restriction fragment length polymorphism: a simplified method by microwave irradiation

The aim of the present study was to develop a simple, quick and cheap method to process whole-blood samples for the molecular techniques polymerase chain reaction [PCR] and restriction fragment length polymorphism [RFLP] without the use of expensive reagents or sophisticated machines. Venous whole-blood samples were collected from 40 individuals. The samples were frozen at -80°C, and then rapidly thawed at 37°C. Each sample was incubated with distilled water, then boiled in a microwave and centrifuged. The supernatant was taken directly for PCR and RFLP. For comparison, PCR and RFLP were performed on DNA purified from the same samples using the phenol-chloroform method and two commercial DNA extraction kits. PCR/RFLP results using the presented method were qualitatively similar to those obtained by DNA extracted using the other three methods. The presented method proved to be a simpler and cheaper way of processing whole-blood samples for PCR and RFLP analyses

Heat treatment of bacteria: a simple method of DNA extraction for molecular techniques

To evaluate the efficacy of two simple methods involving use of heat for extraction of bacterial deoxyribonucleic acid [DNA] be used in molecular techniques like polymerase chain reaction [PCR], restriction fragments length polymorphism [RFLP] and DNA sequencing and compare them with DNA extraction using commercial kits. DNA extraction by improved alternative methods and commercial kit. Microbiology Research Laboratory, Faculty of Allied Health Sciences, Kuwait University, Kuwait. Forty isolates of Klebsiella pneumoniae. DNA was extracted from isolates by either boiling for 10 minutes or microwave irradiation for 10 seconds. For comparison, DNA was also extracted using a commercial kit. All extracted DNA samples were analyzed by PCR, RFLP and / or DNA sequencing of TEM and SHV genes of the bacteria. Successful extraction of DNA. PCR, RFLP and DNA sequencing gave the expected results in all the DNA samples extracted by all the three methods [boiling, microwave irradiation and the commercial kit]. The results were qualitatively equivalent in all methods. Heat may be used to extract DNA from K. pneumoniae which can be utilized successfully in performing PCR, RFL and DNA sequencing

Ossifying fibromyxoid tumor of soft parts: report of a rare tumor in Kuwait

To report a rare case of ossifying fibromyxoid tumor of soft tissue in Kuwait. A 60-year-old woman presented with a painless tumor, increasing in size and located in the left buttock, which had been present for an uncertain duration. The patient underwent an excisional biopsy. Pathological examination revealed a 7.5-cm well-circumscribed mass with a lobulated cut surface. Histologically, the tumor was encapsulated by an incomplete shell of lamellar bone. The tumor had variable cellularity, and, in areas, contained myxoid stroma. The tumor cells had eosinophilic cytoplasm with vesicular round-to-oval nuclei. Sparse mitoses were noted. Immunohistochemical stains demonstrated that the tumor cells expressed vimentin, S100 and neuron-specific enolase, with the latter expressed focally. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first case of ossifying fibromyxoid tumor of soft parts to be reported in Kuwait. Therefore, pathologists and clinicians should be aware of this tumor

Factor V Kuwait: a novel mutation in the coagulation factor V gene discovered in Kuwait

It was the aim of this study to report a new point mutation in the clotting factor V gene in the general Arab population. The HR2 haplotype was tested in 288 Arabs living in Kuwait - 188 patients with venous thromboembolic disorders [VTE] and 100 healthy subjects - using polymerase chain reaction and restriction fragment length polymorphism techniques. The presence of the new mutation was verified by DNA sequencing. Two [1.06%] VTE patients had guanine instead of the wild-type adenine at nucleotide number 3935 [A3935G] of the factor V gene. This mutation caused a histidine to arginine change in amino acid number 1254 of the factor V molecule. The new mutation is termed 'factor V Kuwait' [His1254Arg] and was absent in the 100 healthy subjects. It appears that factor V Kuwait could be a risk factor for developing VTE in Arabs. A larger study is needed to confirm this observation