Introduction: Although it is discouraged, community pharmacy customers can obtain oral corticosteroids (OCSs) without prescriptions from some community pharmacies in Iraq. Medication abuse is defined as the use of medication for non-medical reasons. Objectives: The study aimed to determine demographics, beliefs, and perceptions associated with the abuse of oral corticosteroids for non-illness reasons among community pharmacy customers. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in fall 2018 in four provinces in Iraq. Customers of 19 community pharmacies asking for OCSs for themselves without a prescription were administered a paper survey. This study used the Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA) to measure the relationship between the motivational factors and the abuse of OCSs. Logistic regression analysis was conducted to evaluate the relationships between the use of OCSs for non-illness and six TRA factors: Normative belief, behavioral belief, evaluation of the behavior, motivation to comply, subjective norms and attitude toward behavior. Results: The study enrolled 141 participants (98 women and 43 men) taking asking for OCSs without prescription. Dexamethasone was the most commonly used OCSs (59.6%). Friends were the primary recommenders for corticosteroids abuse (28.4%). The main reasons for using OCSs were to increase appetite and gain weight (53.9 %). Approximately one-third (36.2 %) of the participants gained weight after using OCSs. The regression analysis of the TRA variables showed two factors were significantly related to the abuse of OCSs. Age had a significant inverse relationship with the abuse of OCSs and the "good appearance" belief had a significant positive association with OCS abuse. Conclusion: Some Iraqi community pharmacy customers use non-prescribed oral corticosteroids to increase appetite and gain weight. Improve body appearance represents the dominant incentive that urges people to use OCSs without prescription. Health officials and healthcare practitioners need to promote people's awareness about the risks of misusing OCSs through education programs and advertisements in public health settings, media, and social media. Article Type: Original Research
Twitter is becoming an increasingly popular platform used by financial analysts to monitor and forecast financial markets. In this paper we investigate the impact of the sentiments expressed in Twitter on the subsequent market movement, specifically the bitcoin exchange rate. This study is divided into two phases, the first phase is sentiment analysis, and the second phase is correlation and regression. We analyzed tweets associated with the Bitcoin in order to determine if the user’s sentiment contained within those tweets reflects the exchange rate of the currency. The sentiment of users over a 2-month period is classified as having a positive or negative sentiment of the digital currency using the proposed CNN-LSTM
... Show MoreConstructal theory plays a major role in the conceptual design stage of the structural system in architecture. It provides a conceptual framework for predicting the form depending on natural systems to model those systems geometrically according to the constructal law that works in two directions: the first is towards predicting the general form of the structural system, and the second is the physical application of the law in the process of detailed design of the parts of the system. The aim of this paper is to determine the mechanism adopted in the structural design according to the constructal theory, assuming that the structural design according to the constructal theory achieves
Summary
Praise be to God, Lord of the Worlds, and prayers and peace be upon the Master of the Messengers, Muhammad, and upon all his family and companions.
The circle of taboos in the Jewish Sharia is wider than other laws, as the Jews have severe and very complicated rituals in the matter of food, which may not be found among other people of other religions, as the dietary laws that specify foods and drinks forbidden in the Jewish Sharia include very diverse topics. The Torah specified all these laws with several texts
Background: Medical-surgical nurses are responsible of providing competent care to clients with a wide-array of acute and chronic health problems. This challenging task requires arming nurses with advanced competencies of health literacy to effectively educate their clients. However, evidence about medical-surgical nurse’s health literacy-related knowledge and experience is limited. Purposes: This study aimed to determine the level of the health literacy-related knowledge and experience among medical-surgical nurses.Design: A descriptive-cross-sectional study was conducted among a total sample of 177 nurses who were practicing in medical-surgical wards in teaching hospitals in Iraq. A convenience sampling method was used to sele
... Show MoreThe art of batik is one of the ancient arts that has a long history in East Asian countries, especially in Indonesia, where it was considered a traditional craft with which many Indonesian tribes lived. This art began to move to other continents and develops and progresses due to the artist’s connection to the surrounding technological and intellectual development, as art became more outgoing and liberated, it helped the artist to create and innovate in his designs. In this research, he focuses on modern performance methods through which print paintings can be produced through design elements, especially calligraphy, to create aesthetic and creative effects in the productive work. The current research aims to identify the various perfo
... Show MoreThe purpose of current study is to analyze the computer textbooks content for intermediate stage in Iraq according to the theory of multiple intelligence. By answering the following question “what is the percentage of availability of multiple intelligence in the content of the computer textbooks on intermediate stage (grade I, II) for the academic year (2017-2018)? The researcher followed the descriptive analytical research approach (content analysis), and adopted an explicit idea for registration. The research tool was prepared according the Gardner’s classification of multiple intelligence. It has proven validity and reliability. The study found the percentage of multiple intelligence in the content of computer textbooks for the in
... Show MoreEvaluating the behavior of a ring foundation resting on multi-layered soil is one of the important issues facing civil engineers. Many researchers have studied the behavior of ring foundation rests on multi-layered soil with vertical loads acting on the foundation. In real life ring foundation can be subjected to both vertical and horizontal loads at the same time due to wind or the presence of soil. In this research, the behavior of ring footing subjected to inclined load has been studied using PLAXIS software. Furthermore, the effect of multi-layered soil has been simulated in the model. The results showed that both vertical and horizontal stresses are mainly affected when the inclination angle of the load exceeded 45 degrees with a reduc
... Show MoreResponse of cross-ply plates subjected to transient load is obtained using five variables refined plate theory, and four variables plate theory. Equations of motion are derived through the principleof virtual work. Navier series used for simply supported laminated plates. The results of this work are presented for different parameters, such as the ply number, thickness, and modulus ratio with mechanical load (sinusoidal and step pulses), which are compared with those obtained using high-order shear plate theory. Five variables of refined plate theory give results that are considerably different from the four variables of refined plate theory and higher-order theory. The obtained results from the four variables theory have the same behavior
... Show MoreThe study aimed to reveal the possibility of predicting academic procrastination through both Cognitive distortions and time management among students of Al-Aqsa Community College, as well as to reveal the level of both cognitive distortions, time management, and academic procrastination. Additionally, it aimed to identify the size of the correlation between cognitive distortions, time management, and academic procrastination. The study sample consisted of (250) students from Al-Aqsa community college students. The results of the study concluded that the mean for each level of cognitive distortions and academic procrastination is average. The mean level of time management is high. There is a statistically significant positive relationshi
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