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
Stick- slip is the continuous stopping& release of the Bit/BHA due to the irregular down-hole rotation prompted by the existing relationship between the friction torque and the torque applied from the surface to free the bit.
Friction coefficient between BHA and wellbore is the main player of stick slip amount, which can be mitigated by support a good lubricators as additives in drilling mud.
Mathematical (or empirical) solves should be done through adjusting all parameters which supposed to reduce stick- slip as low as possible using different models, one of the main parameters is drilling mud. As per Nanoparticles drilling fluid is a new technology that offers high performance
... Show MoreThe paper presents the design of a system consisting of a solar panel with Single Input/Multiple Outputs (DC-DC) Buck Converter by using Simulink dialogue box tools in MATLAB software package for simulation the system. Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT) technique depending on Perturb and Observe (P&O) algorithm is used to control the output power of the converter and increase the efficiency of the system. The characteristics of the MSX-60 PV module is chosen in design of the system, whereas the electrical characteristics (P-V, I-V and P-I curves) for the module are achieved, that is affected by the solar radiation and temperature variations. The proposed design module has been found to be stable for any change in atmospheric tempera
... Show MoreThis research investigates the adsorption isotherm and adsorption kinetics of nitrogen from air using packed bed of Li-LSX zeolite to get medical oxygen. Experiments were carried out to estimate the produced oxygen purity under different operating conditions: input pressure of 0.5 – 2.5 bar, feed flow rate of air of 2 – 10 L.min-1 and packing height of 9-16 cm. The adsorption isotherm was studied at the best conditions of input pressure of 2.5 bar, the height of packing 16 cm, and flow rate 6 Lmin-1 at ambient temperature, at these conditions the highest purity of oxygen by this system 73.15 vol % of outlet gas was produced. Langmuir isotherm was the best models representing the experimental data., and the m
... Show MorePresent study was conducted to evaluate the different levels of energy to protein ratios (EPR) using food waste and black soldier fly larvae meal (FWBSFL) on growth performance and nutrient digestibility of broilers. A total of 160 one-day old broiler chicks were divided randomly to four groups and each group had 8 replicates with 5 chicks per replicate. The control diet was formulated using conventional feed ingredients with EPR of 154 for the starter period and 167 for the finisher period. The other treatments were diets with normal, low, and high EPR (154,143, and 166 for the starter period; 167, 155, and 177 for the finisher period) using FWBSFL. Feed consumption and body weight gain as well as digestibility of crude protein, cr
... Show More120 samples were collected from children (ages between new born and 10 years) who infected with oral thrush. The results revealed that the Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) and Minimum Fungicidal Concentration (MFC) of extracted oil of lemon grass against C.albicans, C.tropicalis, C.keyfr, C.glabrata and C.guilliermondii were 1.25,1.25,1.25,2.5 and 2.5µl/ml and 2.5, 2.5, 2.5, 5 and 5 µl /ml respectively. while the (MIC) and (MFC) for the extraction oil of thyme against C.albicans, C.tropicalis, C.keyfr, C.glabrata and C.guilliermondii were 0.6, 0.6, 1.25, 1.25, and 1.25µl/ml and 1.25, 1.25, 2.5, 2.5, and 2.5µl/ml respectively . While the value of (MIC) and (MFC) for Nystatin against Candida species were 32 and 64 µg
... Show MoreThe study aims to develop the awareness of the criteria for judging electronic educational materials among students of educational qualification at Dhofar University over spreading the Corona pandemic through a program based on mini-educational units. The study was applied to (18) students studying Teaching diploma at Dhofar University for the academic year 2020-2021, and their number. They were chosen intentionally. The study resulted in reaching a list of criteria for judging electronic educational materials, roughly (18) criteria in the selection themes and (15) criteria in the use theme. The level of awareness of the sample members with the criteria for selecting and using electronic educational materials and the effectiveness of the
... Show More--The objective of the current research is to identify: 1) Preparing a scale level for e-learning applications, 2) What is the relationship between the applications of e-learning and the students of the Department of Chemistry at the Faculty of Education for Pure Sciences/ Ibn Al-Haytham – University of Baghdad. To achieve the research objectives, the researcher used the descriptive approach because of its suitability to the nature of the study objectives. The researcher built a scale for e-learning applications that consists of (40) items on the five-point Likrat scale (I agree, strongly agree, neutral, disagree, strongly disagree). He also adopted the scale of scientific values, and it consists of (40) items on a five-point scale as wel
... Show MoreThe aim of the research is to measure the efficiency of the companies in the industrial sector listed in the Iraqi Stock Exchange , by directing these companies to their resources (inputs) towards achieving the greatest possible returns (outputs) or reduce those resources while maintaining the level of returns to achieve the efficiency of these companies, therefore, in order to achieve the objectives of the research, it was used (Demerjian.et.al) model to measure the efficiency of companies and the factors influencing them. The researchers had got a number of conclusions , in which the most important of them is that 66.6% of the companies in the research sample do not possess relatively high efficiency and that the combined factors (the nat
... Show MoreThe aim of the research is to measure the efficiency of the companies in the industrial sector listed in the Iraqi Stock Exchange , by directing these companies to their resources (inputs) towards achieving the greatest possible returns (outputs) or reduce those resources while maintaining the level of returns to achieve the efficiency of these companies, therefore, in order to achieve the objectives of the research, it was used (Demerjian.et.al) model to measure the efficiency of companies and the factors influencing them. The researchers had got a number of conclusions , in which the most important of them is that 66.6% of the companies in the research sample do no
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