ABSTRACT
Euphorbia hirta L., is a common herb with global spread. Different parts of E. hirta are used in traditional medicine for the treatment of a variety of human and animal conditions, such as skin diseases, inflammation, digestive and respiratory disorders. This bibliometric study aimed to provide a panoramic view of the publication landscape in the last thirty years of Euphorbia hirta research. VOSviewer was used to analyze 603 documents retrieved from Scopus database during the period, 1992 to 2021. Dominant research themes in the last thirty years were centred on the application of crude extracts or isolated compounds from E. hirta against diabetes, oxidative stress, inflammation, tuberculosis, snake bite, gastro-intestinal disorders, respiratory infections, skin pathologies, bacterial, fungal and viral infections. Current paradigm shift in E. hirta research are targeted at improving the efficacy of phytomolecules against resistant bacterial pathogens and cancer cells via green synthesis of nanoparticles and the application of in silico technologies in predicting the activities of nano-phytomolecules against SARS-CoV-2 and the Dengue virus. This study recommends further research in the determination of the bioavailability of molecules in in vivo models. Researchers should carry out more preclinical investigations with the aim of establishing the pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic properties of phytocompounds instead of relying solely on in silico predictions.
ABSTRACT
During the COVID-19 pandemic, all lecturers had to replace their physical classroom teaching mode with online learning, albeit with challenges experienced by students and lecturers. Drawing upon Hofstede’s cultural dimensions theory, this study attempted to unearth Indonesian students’ learning culture by analysing written reflections on their learning experiences. Twenty EFL (English as a foreign language) students enrolled in the English Academic Writing courses at an Islamic university in Indonesia, wrote a reflective essay on their online learning experiences with various platforms, such as Google Classroom, Google Meet, Canvas, Moodle, and some other online learning platforms. Content analysis was used to analyse the students’ reflective writing essays. Results show that the students’ voices bring to the fore several learning issues from online learning experiences. These include: the lecturers’ dominant use of WhatsApp as an instruction tool, unclear explanations, assigning students too many assignments, and the abandonment of lecturer feedback on works submitted by students. Noteworthy, whether the students liked or disliked the online learning experience, they accepted how the lecturers treated them in the online teaching and learning process. The findings indicated that the students avoided conflicts, showed high respect to their superiors, and used indirect disagreement in the online learning contexts. The findings suggest that the ‘small culture’ of online learning in higher education is governed by a strong influence of ‘large culture’ in Indonesia. © 2022, Western Australian Institute for Educational Research Inc.. All rights reserved.
ABSTRACT
Background: Health care burden has increased since the pandemic of Covid-19 has emerged. The healthcare resources are limited currently and majority surgeries have been postponed because of the current pandemic. Therefore, the main concern of carrying out any surgery at current point is mainly in those patients that are landing in emergency. Symptomatic inguinal hernia being a common presentation in emergency can be dealt by applying local anesthesia. Objective: To evaluate the outcome (in terms of efficacy and safety) of local anesthesia for managing symptomatic inguinal hernia in a tertiary care hospital during current Covid-19 pandemic. Methodology: It was a descriptive study.60 males were enrolled with inguinal hernia of age 30-60 years. IV line was secured and local anesthesia was administered under aseptic measures. Lichtenstein repair, a mesh technique was applied in all patients for treating the inguinal hernia. Patients were evaluated postoperatively after 2 hours and 6 hours for any complications. Results: Mean age of the patients was 38.2±10.542, Mean time to eat was 3.85 ±3.138. Mean time to ambulate was 4.37 ±2.51. Mean pain score was 5.78± 2.131 postoperatively and after 6 hours it was 2.24 ±0.84. Indirect hernia was present in 74% patients whereas direct hernia was present in 26%. 6.67% patients had nausea/vomiting, 3.3% developed hematoma and 1.67% had wound infection. Conclusion: Local anesthesia is effective in all patients who have to undergo inguinal hernia surgery, in terms of efficacy and safety.
ABSTRACT
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has witnessed the rapid development of vaccines produced simultaneously form various countries. However, these vaccines were shrouded by a set of myths ranging from serious effects to change of human deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA). Pakistan was one of the countries to start vaccination early and the front-line workers were first to be vaccinated. We undertook to study the vaccinated health care workers for the post effects of vaccines they received. The methodology adopted was through a structured questionnaire comprising 12 questions covering almost all the possible post effects. This was circulated among health care workers of Pak-Emirates Military hospital and Army Medical College/National University of Medical Sciences, Rawalpindi, Pakistan. Fever was the most frequently encountered post effect, followed closely by pain at site of injection, headache and fatigue. There was a strong association between age and post effects of vaccination. No life threatening or serious side effects were experienced by health care workers indicating that benefits of vaccine outweigh its adverse effects especially with emergence of new variants. No participant required hospitalization following immunization. Therefore, vaccination against severe acute respiratory syndrome corona virus (SARS-CoV-2) should be carried out on priority basis in order to avoid severe COVID-19 infection. © 2022, Intelektual Pustaka Media Utama. All rights reserved.
ABSTRACT
Objective: To identify antimicrobial susceptibility pattern of multidrug resistant bacteria causing secondary infections in COVID-19 patients in ICU’ sofa tertiary care hospital. Study Design: Cross–sectional study. Place and Duration of Study: Department of Microbiology, Pak Emirates Military Hospital, Rawalpindi, from Apr to Jul 2020. Methodology: This study included blood samples and endotracheal aspirates from 114 critically ill COVID-19 patients. Peripheral blood specimens were collected fromthe patients with secondary bacterial blood stream infections and endotracheal aspirates were collected from patients with ventilator associated pneumonia for culture and sensitivity. The results were interpreted according to Clinical & Laboratory Standard Institute (CLSI) 2020. Results: A total of 114 COVID-19 patients were admitted in ICU during that time period. Fourteen (12.28%) were female and 100 (87.71%) were male, age distribution was between 36-82 years. Sixty six paired blood samples were sent to the microbiology lab out of which 51 (77.2%) showed bacterial growth while 15 (22.7%) samples were negative. Out of 50 endotracheal aspirates, 42 showed bacterial growth (84%) and 8 samples did not show any significant bacterial growth (16%). Most of the endotracheal aspirates showed growth of >1 bacterial isolates. The most common gram-negative organisms were Acinetobacter baumannii (n=54) and Klebsiella pneumonia (n=26) and most common gram-positive organism isolated was Enterococcus faecium (n=9). All isolated organisms were multidrug resistant. Conclusion: Poor antimicrobial stewardship particularly in critical care units resulted in secondary bacterial infections in COVID-19 patients. The pathogens isolated were multidrug resistant including Acinetobacter baumannii, Klebsiella pneumonia and Enterococcus faecium. © 2021, Army Medical College. All rights reserved.