Simulation of stress in a blood vessel due to plaque sediments in coronary artery disease.

Atherosclerosis is a cardiovascular disease mainly caused by plaque deposition in blood vessels. Plaque comprises components such as thrombosis, fibrin, collagen, and lipid core. It plays an essential role in inducing rupture in a blood vessel. Generally, Plaque could be described as three kinds of elastic models: cellular Plaque, hypocellular Plaque, and calcified Plaque. The present study aimed to investigate the behavior of atherosclerotic plaque rupture according to different lipid cores using Fluid-Structure Interaction (FSI). The blood vessel was also varied with different thicknesses (0.05, 0.25, and 0.5 mm). In this study, FSI simulation with a cellular plaque model with various thicknesses was investigated to obtain information on plaque rupture. Results revealed that the blood vessel with Plaque having a lipid core represents higher stresses than those without a lipid core. Blood vessels' thin thickness, like a thin cap, results in more considerable than Von Mises stress. The result also suggests that even at low fracture stress, the risk of rupture due to platelet decomposition at the gap was more significant for cellular plaques.

A cross-sectional study of COVID-19-related knowledge, risk perceptions, and preventive practices among pharmacy students in Bangladesh.

OBJECTIVES: The coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic is a threat to public health that impacts the life of frontline pharmacists as they are more susceptible to getting infected by the coronavirus. This study aimed to assess the knowledge, risk perceptions, and preventive practices associated with coronavirus disease 2019 among pharmacy students of Bangladesh to evaluate their preparedness as future frontline workers against the ongoing pandemic. METHODS: An online-based cross-sectional study was conducted among pharmacy undergraduate students of Bangladesh during the early months of the pandemic in April 2020. Respondents voluntarily submitted an online questionnaire regarding sociodemographics, knowledge, risk perceptions, and preventive practices related to coronavirus disease 2019. RESULTS: A total of 418 participants submitted their responses, and we included 395 responses for final analysis. The mean age of the participants was 20.65 years. The study revealed that out of 395 pharmacy students, 68 (17.2%) had high levels of knowledge, 210 (53.2%) possessed high risk perceptions regarding coronavirus disease 2019, and 165 (41.7%) were adopting high levels of preventive practices. Average scores for knowledge, risk perceptions, and preventive practices were 5.7, 8.4, and 8.2 out of 10. Chi-square test and logistic regression analyses showed that having high knowledge levels was associated with high risk perceptions regarding coronavirus disease 2019. Similarly, higher risk perceptions were associated with having high knowledge and preventive measures, while higher preventive measures were associated with female gender, low monthly family income, and having high risk perceptions. CONCLUSION: We found moderate knowledge, risk perceptions, and preventive practices related to coronavirus disease 2019 among the undergraduate pharmacy students. We recommend awareness-building discussions or seminars focusing on pharmacy students. In addition, the upgradation of the existing curriculum may help future pharmacists.