Background: Occupational exposure to hazardous drugs occurs in all aspects of anticancer drug handling. Proper recommendations and guidelines should be applied to control and reduce exposure. Objective: To assess pharmacists' knowledge and practice regarding the safe handling of anticancer drugs. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted at seven major hospitals in Baghdad City, Iraq, from December 2023 to February 2024. A pre-designed questionnaire was given to pharmacists who handled anticancer drugs in chemotherapy units. The questionnaire comprises sociodemographic data, knowledge of the safe handling of cytotoxic drugs and thoughts about exposure and risk, practices for safely handling cytotoxic drugs, and challenges for safely handling cytotoxic drugs. Results: A total of 126 pharmacists were enrolled in the study. Less than half of the participants (46%) received training on anticancer drugs. While more than a third (42.9%) of the pharmacists were handling more than 100 cytotoxic preparations weekly, the total knowledge score was 7.14, while the total practice score was 73.36, with less than half of the pharmacists having good knowledge (44.44%) or practice (48.41%). Pharmacists who received training had significantly higher total practice scores than those who did not. Pharmacists with more than 100 weekly preparations were more knowledgeable than those with 50–99 preparations. Conclusions: The majority of participating pharmacists had fair to excellent knowledge and practice regarding the safe handling of cytotoxic medications. However, there were some gaps regarding important knowledge and practice issues. To improve knowledge and practices regarding anticancer handling, training is necessary.
Numerical simulations have been investigated to study the external free convective heat transfer from a vertically rectangular interrupted fin arrays. The continuity, Naver-Stockes and energy equations have been solved for steady-state, incompressible, two dimensional, laminar with Boussiuesq approximation by Fluent 15 software. The performance of interrupted fins was evaluated to gain the optimum ratio of interrupted length to fin length (
In this paper, the human robotic leg which can be represented mathematically by single input-single output (SISO) nonlinear differential model with one degree of freedom, is analyzed and then a simple hybrid neural fuzzy controller is designed to improve the performance of this human robotic leg model. This controller consists from SISO fuzzy proportional derivative (FPD) controller with nine rules summing with single node neural integral derivative (NID) controller with nonlinear function. The Matlab simulation results for nonlinear robotic leg model with the suggested controller showed that the efficiency of this controller when compared with the results of the leg model that is controlled by PI+2D, PD+NID, and F
... Show MoreModified asphalt is considered one of the alternatives to address the problems of deficiencies in traditional asphalt concrete, as modified asphalt addresses many of the issues that appear on the pavement layers in asphalt concrete, resulting from heavy traffic and vehicles loaded with loads that exceed the design loads and the large fluctuations in the daily and seasonal temperatures of asphalt concrete. The current study examined the role of polyphosphoric acid (PPA) as a modified material for virgin asphalt when it was added in different proportions (1%, 2%, 3%, 4%) of the asphalt weight. The experimental program includes the volumetric characteristics associated with the Marshall test, the physical properties, and th
... Show MoreRutting is a predominant distress in asphalt pavements, particularly in hot climatic regions. This study systematically investigated the high-temperature performance of hot mix asphalt modified with five nanomaterials, namely, nano-silica (NS), nano-alumina (NA), nano-titanium (NT), nano-zinc (NZ), and carbon nanotubes (CNTs), under consistent laboratory conditions. Modification dosages were selected up to 10% for NS, NA, and NT, and up to 5% for NZ and CNTs. The experimental methodology comprised the following: (i) binder rheological characterization through rotational viscosity, G*/sinδ, and multiple stress creep recovery (MSCR) to quantify rutting susceptibility; (ii) chemical and microstructural assessments using Fourier transf
... Show MoreIn the present work a comparative study for thermal and electrical performance of different hybrid photovoltaic/thermal collectors designs for Iraq climate conditions have been carried out. Four different types of air based hybrid PV/T collectors have been manufactured and tested. Three collectors consist of four main parts namely, channel duct, glass cover, axial fan to circulate air and two PV panels in parallel connection. The measured parameters are, the temperature of the upper and the lower surfaces of the PV panels, air temperature along the collector, air flow rate, pressure drop, power produced by solar cell, and climate conditions such as wind speed, solar radiation and ambient temperature. The thermal and hydraulic performances o
... Show MoreOne of the principle concepts to understand any hydrocarbon field is the heterogeneity scale; This becomes particularly challenging in supergiant oil fields with medium to low lateral connectivity and carbonate reservoir rocks.
The main objectives of this study is to quantify the value of the heterogeneity for any well in question, and propagate it to the full reservoir. This is a quite useful specifically prior to conducting detailed water flooding or full field development studies and work, in order to be prepared for a proper design and exploitation requirements that fit with the level of heterogeneity of this formation.
In recent years, the world witnessed a rapid growth in attacks on the internet which resulted in deficiencies in networks performances. The growth was in both quantity and versatility of the attacks. To cope with this, new detection techniques are required especially the ones that use Artificial Intelligence techniques such as machine learning based intrusion detection and prevention systems. Many machine learning models are used to deal with intrusion detection and each has its own pros and cons and this is where this paper falls in, performance analysis of different Machine Learning Models for Intrusion Detection Systems based on supervised machine learning algorithms. Using Python Scikit-Learn library KNN, Support Ve
... Show MoreCarbon-fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP) is widely acknowledged as a leading advanced material structure, offering superior properties compared to traditional materials, and has found diverse applications in several industrial sectors, such as that of automobiles, aircrafts, and power plants. However, the production of CFRP composites is prone to fabrication problems, leading to structural defects arising from cycling and aging processes. Identifying these defects at an early stage is crucial to prevent service issues that could result in catastrophic failures. Hence, routine inspection and maintenance are crucial to prevent system collapse. To achieve this objective, conventional nondestructive testing (NDT) methods are utilized to i
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