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
Pectin is available in many plants and in this study, the peels of tomatoes and beet were used to be an economical source of pectin production instead of dumping it with waste or using it as animal feed. The pectin extracted from the peels using different solutions, namely citric acid (2 M), oxalic acid (2%) and hydrochloric acid (0.5 M) the outcome of the extraction methods, 7. 1%, 6% and 11% respectively for tomatoes peels, while the pectin of beet peels were 8%, 6.5%, and 8.3%, and the highest percentage obtained in the manner of hydrochloric acid adopted in the manufacture of yogurt.Yogurt was manufactured with four treatments, in the first treatment standard pectin was added and the second treatment in addition to the pectin extracted
... Show MoreResearch indicates that the second half of the twentieth century marked large interests in the service industry by government and private organizations in that one, and the service industry has become the bedrock of plans in achieving economic and social development. From this standpoint felt specialists and researchers the importance of transport modes, including rail, which should be available between Almnltq Civil populated as services organized by the competent authorities to achieve the active participation of citizens in economic and social development in the region and that the term services means economic activities, which are the results Pollack concrete such as accepting the situation and satisfaction them or satisfacti
... Show MoreGas adsorption phenomenon on solid surface has been used as a mean in separation and purification of gas mixture depending on the difference in tendencies of each component in the gas mixture to be adsorbed on the solid surface according to its behaviour. This work concerns to study the possibilities to separate the gas mixture using adsorption-desorption phenomenon on activated carbon. The experimental results exhibit good separation factor at temperature of -40 .
Background: Prophylaxis methods are used to mechanically remove plaque and stain from tooth surfaces; such methods give rise to loss of superficial structure and roughen the surface of composites as a result of their abrasive action. This study was done to assess the effect of three polishing systems on surface texture of new anterior composites after storage in artificial saliva. Materials and methods: A total of 40 Giomer and Tetric®N-Ceram composite discs of 12 mm internal diameter and 3mm height were prepared using a specially designed cylindrical mold and were stored in artificial saliva for one month and then samples were divided into four groups according to surface treatment: Group A (control group):10 specimens received no surfa
... Show MoreThis research was conduct to evaluate the cytotoxic effect of exotoxin A (ETA) produced by Pseudomonas aeruginosa on mice in comparison with (phosphate buffer saline (PBS) as a negative control. The effect of the toxin was measured by employing the cytogenetic analysis which included (the mitotic index (MI), chromosomal aberrations (CAs), micronucleus (MN) and sperm abnormalities) parameters. In order to specify the cytotoxic effect of the toxin, three doses of ETA (125, 250 and 500 ng/ml) were used. Results showed that ETA was found to cause a significant decrease in mitotic index (MI) percentage, while significant increase in micronucleus (MN), chromosomal aberrations (CAs) and sperm abnormalities parameters in compression with control wa
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The issue of the protection of the environment is a shared responsibility between several destinations and sectors, and constitutes a main subject in which they can achieve sustainable development. In the sectors of government programs can be set up towards the establishment of the government sector to the green environment, so to be the implementati
... Show MoreIn this research a local adsorbent was prepared from waste tires using two-step pyrolysis method. In the carbonization process, nitrogen gas flow rate was 0.2L/min at carbonization temperature of 500ºC for 1h. The char products were then preceded to the activation process at 850°C under carbon dioxide (CO2) activation flow rate of 0.6L/min for 3h. The activation method produced local adsorbent material with a surface area and total pore volume as high as 118.59m2 /g and 0.1467cm3/g, respectively. The produced . local adsorbent (activated carbon) was used for adsorption of lead from aqueous solution. The continuous fixed bed column experiments were conducted. The adsorption capacity performance of prepared activated carbons in this work
... Show MoreThis study discussed a biased estimator of the Negative Binomial Regression model known as (Liu Estimator), This estimate was used to reduce variance and overcome the problem Multicollinearity between explanatory variables, Some estimates were used such as Ridge Regression and Maximum Likelihood Estimators, This research aims at the theoretical comparisons between the new estimator (Liu Estimator) and the estimators