ABSTRACT
An exopolysaccharide Exopolysaccharide (EPSNC2) produced from marine Streptomyces hirsutus NRC2018 whichwas isolated from marine sediments at North Coast, Egypt with accession number MK050544. EPSNC2 was a β-typeheteropolysaccharide contained uronic acid (72.73%) with no sulfate groups and overall average molecular weight(Mw) 4.25×105 g/mol. The monosaccharide composition was glucuronic:galacturonic:glucose:mannose:arabinosewith molar ratio 1.2:0.6:0.1:0.2:0.1, respectively. EPSNC2 was subjected to antioxidant, anticancer, and antiviralin vitro tests, showed high 1, 1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl free radical scavenging activity whereas, the maximumantioxidant activity was 95.9% at 1,500 µg/ml after 120 minutes and the IC50 value was 158.5 µg/ml. Also, EPSNC2had the ability to scavenge H2O2 and the maximum activity was 75.6% with an estimated IC50 value 501.2 µg/ml.Furthermore, EPSNC2 showed a reducing power activity as well as a metal chelating activity in a dose dependantmanner and the activity reached 98.5% at 1,000 µg/ml. EPSNC2 had a significant and specific anticancer effect onCaCo-2 cell line without any effect on other cell lines and the IC50 was estimated to be 295.1 µg/ml. Our resultsregarding the antiviral activity against Herpes Simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1), Hepatitis A virus, and Coxsackie B-4were 84.9%, 20.3%, and 45.4%, respectively at 125 µg/ml with no activity against adenovirus. Therefore, the EC50value against the enveloped virus HSV-1 was 32.4 µg/ml.
ABSTRACT
Emotional intelligence exerts a noteworthy impact on both turnover intentions and job satisfaction. The objective of thisresearch was to evaluate the perceived emotional intelligence and its relationship with work life balance and job satisfactionamong the healthcare professionals in twin cities of Pakistan. A descriptive cross sectional study design was used. Twodifferent pre validated tools, the impact of work life balance factors on job satisfaction questionnaire, and the NHS emotionalintelligence questionnaire were distributed to conveniently selected sample of 283 prescribers, 214 nurses, and 215pharmacists. After the data collection, the data was cleaned, coded and entered in SPSS version 21, and was statisticallyanalyzed. Job satisfaction had a statistically significant linear weak negative correlation (p< .001) with self awareness,emotion management, empathy, social skills and motivation. On the other hand, work life balance had a statistically significant“very weak negative correlation” (p< .001) with emotion management, empathy and motivation. However, a “moderatepositive correlation” (p< .001) existed between job satisfaction and work life balance. The results of the present studyconcluded that a significant relationship existed among the emotional intelligence, work life balance and job satisfaction. Theemotionally intelligent healthcare professionals were better in managing their work life balance and were more satisfied withtheir job. Pharmacists possessed better social skills with higher motivation levels while physicians were better in managingwork life balance than all the other healthcare professionals in Pakistan.
ABSTRACT
ABSTRACT Background: Refractory or unexplained iron deficiency anemia accounts for about 15% of all cases. The endoscopic gastrointestinal workup sometimes fails to establish the cause of iron deficiency anemia and a considerable proportion of patients regardless of risk category fail to respond to oral iron supplementation. The aim of the present study was to assess the etiological role of Helicobacter pylori infection in adult Egyptian patients with unexplained or refractory iron deficiency anemia. Methods: A case controlled study was composed of 104 iron deficiency anemia cases and 70 age- and gender-matched healthy controls. Patients were diagnosed with iron deficiency anemia according to hemoglobin, mean corpuscular volume, serum ferritin, and transferrin saturation. Upper and lower endoscopies were performed and active H. pylori infection was investigated by testing for the H. pylori antigen in stool specimens. Hematological response to H. pylori treatment with triple therapy together with iron therapy (n = 32) or only iron therapy (n = 32) were assessed in patients with H. pylori infection. Results: H. pylori infection was more prevalent in patients with unexplained or refractory iron deficiency anemia (61.5%). Of the different hematological parameters investigated, there was a significant correlation only between H. pylori infection and mean corpuscular volume (p-value 0.046). Moreover, there was a significant correlation between receiving triple therapy together with iron supplementation and improvements in the hematological parameters [hemoglobin (p-value < 0.001), mean corpuscular volume (p-value < 0.001), iron (p-value < 0.001) and serum ferritin (p-value < 0.001)] compared to receiving iron supplementation alone. Conclusions: Failing to test for H. pylori infection could lead to a failure to identify a treatable cause of anemia and could lead to additional and potentially unnecessary investigations. Furthermore, treatment of H. pylori infection together with iron supplementation gives a more rapid and satisfactory response.