•ImmunoCardSTAT® and RIDASCREEN® Giardia emerged as the most frequently utilized assays, showing sensitivities of 84% and 93%, respectively, with both having a specificity of 99%.•Sub-group analysis ...revealed that commercial ELISA assays outperformed immunochromatographic assays, with a sensitivity of 96% compared to 88%.•Immunoassays detected the parasite more effectively in symptomatic patients (92% sensitivity) than in asymptomatic ones (79% sensitivity).•Despite demonstrating potential as a practical replacement for current diagnostic standards, immunoassays require further cost-effectiveness analysis for conclusive clinical application.
Immunoassays are important tools in diagnosing giardiasis, though there are several controversies inherent in the existing methods. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to assess the pooled diagnostic accuracy of immunoassays in detecting the gastrointestinal disease-causing parasite Giardia lamblia. Our comprehensive search, which included PubMed, Scopus, and ScienceDirect from 2000 up until 2023, resulted in 34 studies reporting the performance of 24 different immunoassays. The overall pooled sensitivity and specificity of immunoassays and subgroup analyses were determined. Notably, ImmunoCardSTAT® and RIDASCREEN® Giardia were the most used assays (n = 6 studies each). They exhibited sensitivity and specificity of 84 % and 99 % and 93 % and 99 %, respectively. Sub-group analysis on the type of immunoassays (without the case-control studies) showed that commercial ELISA had higher sensitivity (96 %) compared to a commercial immunochromatographic (88 %), which justifies the difference of sensitivity between ImmunoCardSTAT® and RIDASCREEN® Giardia. However, the applicability between these two in clinical settings, replacing the gold standard, should be considered including the time, equipment requirement, and budget. Samples from symptomatic patients showed higher sensitivity (92 %) compared to asymptomatic patients (79 %). Overall, immunoassays can be a practical replacement for the current gold standard, but more information should be gathered regarding the cost of providing more conclusive suggestions on these findings.
The purpose of this study is to examine the awareness and perception of malaria and dengue fever in Multan Punjab, Pakistan while taking into account the important role of government policies and ...other variables. The goal of this study is to examine the awareness of students in Multan, Pakistan on malaria and dengue. This study is based on a quantitative approach of secondary evidence from scientific journals and questionnaire surveys. It is also based on observational evidence gathered in Multan Punjab Pakistan, in a field study. The survey with school children, teachers and healthcare professionals were both formal and semi-structuralize. Studies have found that malaria and dengue mainly affect children's schooling through their absence, but can also induce brain loss and cognitive disability. In questionnaires, students were seen to have different understanding of the illness, but also to be able to serve as agents of health reform only through teachers. A sample size of 500 respondents has been selected from different colleges of district Multan Punjab, Pakistan. Correlation technique is used for the data analysis. According to our results it is concluded that the students at college level are aware of malaria and dengue diseases, but they are not capable of engaging and serving as agents for health reform. On the basis of results it is recommended that students must teach about epidemics diseases regarding how to handle these diseases.
Competition between companies is becoming more focused on the use of digital technology, including in marketing. Therefore, all companies need to understand all the things that can support the ...success of their marketing strategies, for example, encouraging free-advertising behavior by consumers in various digital media. In particular, this needs to be concerned by BRI (Bank Rakyat Indonesia), which until now is still considered slow in handling cases and customer complaints both offline and online. This study aimed to examine the influence of BRI customers’ perceived of risks and benefits on their intention to share information on social media, as well as the role of their satisfaction in this relationship. This study used a quantitative approach with a positivism paradigm. The data used was 262 data collected from BRI customers from May to August 2023 through an online survey mechanism. The data that has been collected was then analyzed using a moderation model path analysis involving control variables (age group, gender and educational level). Data analysis carried out using the SmartPLS program showed that: a) perceived of risks had a significant and negative effect towards intention to share information, both in the first and second models; b) perceived of benefits had a significant and positive effect towards intention to share information, both in the first and second models, and; c) customer satisfaction was not proven to play a moderating role in the relationship between perceived of risks and benefits toward intention to share information, both in the first and second models.
Abstract
De-i-fuzzification is a process of converting the intuitionistic fuzzy set into a fuzzy set. It becomes one of the core procedures in fuzzy time series forecasting model based on the ...intuitionistic fuzzy set. In this paper, we propose a fuzzy time series forecasting model based on intuitionistic fuzzy set via de-i-fuzzification. The de-i-fuzzification approach used is assigning the hesitancy degree to the major grade. The data are partitioned into a few intervals using the frequency density-based method. The data in the fuzzy set form is then transformed into an intuitionistic fuzzy set using the definition of intuitionistic fuzzy set. The arithmetic rules based on centroid defuzzification is used to obtain the forecasted output. The model is implemented on the data of student enrolment at the University of Alabama. The results are then compared to forecasting method using classical fuzzy set and similar de-i-fuzzification approach using max-min operation. The proposed method outperforms the other two methods, thus supports the fact that intuitionistic fuzzy set is a generalization of a classical fuzzy set and gives better performance in forecasting.
The hippocampal area Cornu Ammonis (CA) CA2 is important for social interaction and is innervated by Substance P (SP)-expressing supramammillary (SuM) nucleus neurons. SP exerts neuromodulatory ...effects on pain processing and central synaptic transmission. Here we provide evidence that SP can induce a slowly developing NMDA receptor- and protein synthesis-dependent potentiation of synaptic transmission that can be induced not only at entorhinal cortical (EC)-CA2 synapses but also at long-term potentiation (LTP)-resistant Schaffer collateral (SC)-CA2 synapses. In addition, SP-induced potentiation of SC-CA2 synapses transforms a short-term potentiation of EC-CA2 synaptic transmission into LTP, consistent with the synaptic tagging and capture hypothesis. Interestingly, this SP-induced potentiation and associative interaction between the EC and SC inputs of CA2 neurons is independent of the GABAergic system. In addition, CaMKIV and PKMζ play a critical role in the SP-induced effects on SC-CA2 and EC-CA2 synapses. Thus, afferents from SuM neurons are ideally situated to prime CA2 synapses for the formation of long-lasting plasticity and associativity.
The amino acid and fatty acid composition of polypeptide k and oil isolated from the seeds of Momordica charantia was analysed. The analysis revealed polypeptide k contained 9 out of 11 essential ...amino acids, among a total of 18 types of amino acids. Glutamic acid, aspartic acid, arginine and glycine were the most abundant (17.08%, 9.71%, 9.50% and 8.90% of total amino acids, respectively). Fatty acid analysis showed unusually high amounts of C18-0 (stearic acid, 62.31% of total fatty acid). C18-1 (oleic acid) and C18-2 (linoleic acid) were the other major fatty acid detected (12.53% and 10.40%, respectively). The oil was devoid of the short fatty acids (C4-0 to C8-0). Polypeptide k and oil were also subjected to in vitro α-glucosidase and α-amylase inhibition assays. Both polypeptide k and seed oil showed potent inhibition of α-glucosidase enzyme (79.18% and 53.55% inhibition, respectively). α-Amylase was inhibited by 35.58% and 38.02%, respectively. Collectively, the in vitro assay strongly suggests that both polypeptide k and seed oil from Momordica charantia are potent potential hypoglycemic agents.
is a member of the Simaroubaceae family commonly grown in the regions of Asia, the Himalayas, and India and has been used as a traditional herbal medicine to treat various illnesses such as fever, ...gastric discomfort, and pediculosis. This study aims to critically review the presence of phytochemicals in
and correlate their pharmacological activities with the significance of its use as traditional medicine. Data were collected by reviewing numerous scientific articles from several journal databases on the pharmacological activities of
using certain keywords. As a result, approximately 94 phytochemicals extracted from
were found to be associated with quassinoids, β-carbolines and canthinones. These molecules exhibited various pharmacological benefits such as anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, anti-cancer, anti-microbial, and anti-parasitic activities which help to treat different diseases. However,
were also found to have several toxicity effects in high doses, although the evidence regarding these effects is limited in proving its safe use and efficacy as herbal medicine. Accordingly, while it can be concluded that
may have many potential pharmacological benefits with more phytochemistry discoveries, further research is required to determine its real value in terms of quality, safety, and efficacy of use.
Abstract
Background
The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed vulnerabilities in healthcare systems worldwide, emphasizing the importance of healthcare worker safety through adequate utilization of personal ...protective equipment (PPE). This study aims to assess the impact of pre-pandemic PPE training on the practices and other associated factors among frontline healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Pakistan and provide insights into the implications of such training programs for future initiatives.
Methods
A cross-sectional study from May 9th to June 5th, 2020 was conducted among the frontline healthcare workers against COVID-19 in Pakistan, utilizing an online structured questionnaire shared via WhatsApp and Facebook by using purposive sampling. Statistical analyses, including chi-square tests for proportion and logistic regression for the association while multi-logistic regression for potential confounders, were performed using SPSS version 22.
Results
A total of 453 healthcare staff participated, with 68.9% (n = 312) reporting no prior PPE training and 31.1% (n = 141) having received training. Significant associations were found between prior training and healthcare group distribution (p = 0.006), with doctors exhibiting the highest proportion of training 82 (37.61%), followed by nurses 50 (27.32%) and paramedics 9 (17.31%). Those who didn’t receive any prior training in PPEs showed a higher perceived professional risk of 216 (69.23%) compared to those who received prior PPE training 96 (30.77%, p-value 0.005). Similarly, a higher frequency 137 (63.72%) of Perceived Personal risk was observed in those who didn’t receive training, labeled as “high risk” compared to those who were trained 78 (36.28%, P value 0.02). Multi-logistic regression analysis identified paramedics as 0.26 times less likely to have received prior PPE training (Adjusted OR 0.26, 95% CI 0.10–0.65, p = 0.01) compared to medical doctors. Healthcare workers in tertiary care hospitals were 0.46 times less likely to undergo PPE training (Adjusted OR 0.46, 95% CI 0.25–0.87,p = 0.01) compared to those working at COVID-19 facilities/hospitals/quarantine centers. Likewise, individuals who doffed disposable gowns Adjusted OR 3.86, (95% CI, 1.23–12.08, p = 0.02 were 3.86 times more interested in getting prior training in PPE compared to those who don’t have skills to wear them.
Conclusion
Our findings highlight that healthcare levels, type of healthcare, and doffing skills are important predictors of whether healthcare workers have taken prior training in PPE. These findings imply developing effective training programs for healthcare workers to ensure safety while providing care during pandemics like COVID-19.
Abstract
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the enforcement of the Movement Control Order (MCO) by theMalaysian government since March 2020 significantly impacted many sectors such as the economy, ...society, and others. MCO enforcement has made Malaysians spend most of their time staying at home, and even some have lost their income source. Another sector that has been greatly affected is the educational sector. Today’s landscape of education has changed dramatically with the phenomenal rise of virtual classes from home. Learning and teaching processes are undertaken remotely and on digital platforms to curb the spreading of the virus. This situation has affected the lesson and learning process from home to many of the several students in Malaysia. Therefore, this study investigates the challenges of home learning during MCO among students in the Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) Pahang Branch. A simple random sampling technique was used to distribute the online survey questionnaires, involving a sample of 213 students. Besides, a descriptive statistic was used to study the students’ demographic characteristics according to the challenges. In contrast, logistic regression analysis was used to determine the factors associated with home learning challenges during MCO. Based on the findings, most male and female students were not well prepared for home learning during MCO, with a percentage of 71.60% and 69.70%, respectively. As a result, 79.81% agreed that home learning is more stressful than the physical classes on the campus. In comparison, 79.63% of Social Science and 83.02% of Science and Technology students claimed that the workload given is way more significant during online classes. Furthermore, this study concludes that the most associated challenges of home learning faced by the students during MCO are the abundance of workload and loss of interest in the subject.
Several studies have explored esports games, and few have examined esports games in elementary schools with a systematic literature review. This research explores articles on the concept, features, ...training, implementation, and impact of esports games in elementary schools. The SLR and PRISMA methods were applied in this research with the stages of identification, screening, eligibility, and inclusion assisted by the Publish or Perish 7, VOS viewer, and NVIVO 12 Plus applications. There were 521 Scopus-indexed articles found. Furthermore, the articles were filtered according to the theme into 50 pieces. The findings of relevant topics are esports, esports games, the concept of esports games, elementary school, etc. The 50 articles were analyzed according to the specified topics through the NVIVO 12 Plus application, and the results were described. The findings of this study state that esports games are digital innovations in online video competitions, such as tournaments developing in education. The features of esports games in elementary school are manual sports integrated with digital augmentation, multiplayer and competitive, digitalization of physical sports, new digital-based features, and educational games, such as LoL (MOBA), Battle Royal, FIFA EA Sports, Mobile Legend, WISE game, and others. Training esports games through socialization, education, workshops, GDLC, curriculum development, and multimedia esports games. Implementation of esports games through competition, entertainment, game-based multimedia, SE, and TGfU, has positive and negative impacts. This research has limitations in that it only collects information from current literature, reviews esports at the elementary school level, and is not a field study. Future research needs to examine esports games according to the times in elementary school.
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