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
Forest fires continue to rise during the dry season and they are difficult to stop. In this case, high temperatures in the dry season can cause an increase in drought index that could potentially burn the forest every time. Thus, the government should conduct surveillance throughout the dry season. Continuous surveillance without the focus on a particular time becomes ineffective and inefficient because of preventive measures carried out without the knowledge of potential fire risk. Based on the Keetch-Byram Drought Index (KBDI), formulation of Drought Factor is used just for calculating the drought today based on current weather conditions, and yesterday's drought index. However, to find out the factors of drought a day after, the data
... Show MoreMicroalgae have been increasingly used for wastewater treatment due to their capacity to assimilate nutrients. Samples of wastewater were taken from the Erbil wastewater channel near Dhahibha village in northern Iraq. The microalga Coelastrella sp. was used in three doses (0.2, 1, and 2g. l-1) in this experiment for 21 days, samples were periodically (every 3 days) analyzed for physicochemical parameters such as pH, EC, Phosphate, Nitrate, and BOD5, in addition to, Chlorophyll a concentration. Results showed that the highest dose 2g.l-1 was the most effective dose for removing nutrients, confirmed by significant differences (p≤0.05) between all doses. The highest removal percentage was
... Show MoreIn this paper, The transfer function model in the time series was estimated using different methods, including parametric Represented by the method of the Conditional Likelihood Function, as well as the use of abilities nonparametric are in two methods local linear regression and cubic smoothing spline method, This research aims to compare those capabilities with the nonlinear transfer function model by using the style of simulation and the study of two models as output variable and one model as input variable in addition t
... Show MoreThe efficiency of management is determining factor for the success or failure of agricultural projects generally and Livestock particularly achieving its objectives. Therefore, this research came to diagnose the most important variables that determine the efficiency of management using the probability regression models to measure the probability of management efficient of broilers production projects using random sample included (60) broilers projects represented 11.6% of Baghdad province (research community) in 2016. After estimating the relationship between the management efficiency (descriptive dependent variable) and the independent variables affecting it (age, educational level, production index (PI), experience). The results
... Show MoreAbstract :
The research aims to diagnose some of the negative phenomena
( Counterfiting , Pettifogging , Embezzlement ) that have been detected over the past ( 2010 – 2014 ), a fixed-term part of the national strategy for the fight against corruption launched by the Joint Council for the fight against corruption in Iraq and measuring the application of government control according to the American standard GAO standards and identifying the potential for the application of those standards gap. It has been collecting data and information of special issues of corruption reports and meeting with (42) employees and the use of a checklist has been prepared for thi
This study examines the opportunity presented by the COVID-19 pandemic for city planners and leaders to learn from the crisis and build resilient cities with long-term societal, economic, and environmental resilience against future disasters. The research focuses on the relationship between urban planning and policies and the extent of their resilience, particularly in response to pandemic-related disasters. The study evaluates the ability of the city of Baghdad to respond to the pandemic and identifies gaps in its resilience. The study uses the scorecard measurement instrument to examine the disaster resilience of cities, with a focus on governance and financial capability, disaster planning and preparedness, and disaster response
... Show MoreObjective(s): The aim of this study was to assess the severity of anemia among children under 5 years and to find
out relationship between severity of anemia in children with socio-demographic variables such as: child gender,
age, supplement diet, hookworm, pica, parent's education level, father's and mother's occupation, and family
monthly income with severity of anemia
Methodology: A descriptive cross sectional study was conducted at the primary health care centers in Alsadr city
for the period of 1
st July 2011 to the 1st November 2011.Non probability (purposive) sample of (630) children who
aged under 5 years and who attended to primary health care centers of Alsadr city. The data were collected
through using
This study aims to analyze the spatial distribution of the epidemic spread and the role of the physical, social, and economic characteristics in this spreading. A geographically weighted regression (GWR) model was built within a GIS environment using infection data monitored by the Iraqi Ministry of Health records for 10 months from March to December 2020. The factors adopted in this model are the size of urban interaction areas and human gatherings, movement level and accessibility, and the volume of public services and facilities that attract people. The results show that it would be possible to deal with each administrative unit in proportion to its circumstances in light of the factors that appe
A resume is the first impression between you and a potential employer. Therefore, the importance of a resume can never be underestimated. Selecting the right candidates for a job within a company can be a daunting task for recruiters when they have to review hundreds of resumes. To reduce time and effort, we can use NLTK and Natural Language Processing (NLP) techniques to extract essential data from a resume. NLTK is a free, open source, community-driven project and the leading platform for building Python programs to work with human language data. To select the best resume according to the company’s requirements, an algorithm such as KNN is used. To be selected from hundreds of resumes, your resume must be one of the best. Theref
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