Displaying publications 101 - 120 of 295 in total

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  1. Sh Ahmed A, Taher M, Mandal UK, Jaffri JM, Susanti D, Mahmood S, et al.
    BMC Complement Altern Med, 2019 Aug 14;19(1):213.
    PMID: 31412845 DOI: 10.1186/s12906-019-2625-2
    BACKGROUND: Various extracts of Centella asiatica (Apiaceae) and its active constituent, asiaticoside, have been reported to possess wound healing property when assessed using various in vivo and in vitro models. In an attempt to develop a formulation with accelerated wound healing effect, the present study was performed to examine in vivo efficacy of asiaticoside-rich hydrogel formulation in rabbits.

    METHODS: Asiaticoside-rich fraction was prepared from C. asiatica aerial part and then incorporated into polyvinyl alcohol/polyethylene glycol (PVA/PEG) hydrogel. The hydrogel was subjected to wound healing investigation using the in vivo incision model.

    RESULTS: The results obtained demonstrated that: i) the hydrogel formulation did not cause any signs of irritation on the rabbits' skin and; ii) enhanced wound healing 15% faster than the commercial cream and > 40% faster than the untreated wounds. The skin healing process was seen in all wounds marked by formation of a thick epithelial layer, keratin, and moderate formation of granulation tissues, fibroblasts and collagen with no fibrinoid necrosis detected.

    CONCLUSION: The asiaticoside-rich hydrogel developed using the freeze-thaw method was effective in accelerating wound healing in rabbits.

  2. Ahmed A, Sadullah AFM, Yahya AS
    Accid Anal Prev, 2019 Sep;130:3-21.
    PMID: 28764851 DOI: 10.1016/j.aap.2017.07.018
    Most of the decisions taken to improve road safety are based on accident data, which makes it the back bone of any country's road safety system. Errors in this data will lead to misidentification of black spots and hazardous road segments, projection of false estimates pertinent to accidents and fatality rates, and detection of wrong parameters responsible for accident occurrence, thereby making the entire road safety exercise ineffective. Its extent varies from country to country depending upon various factors. Knowing the type of error in the accident data and the factors causing it enables the application of the correct method for its rectification. Therefore there is a need for a systematic literature review that addresses the topic at a global level. This paper fulfils the above research gap by providing a synthesis of literature for the different types of errors found in the accident data of 46 countries across the six regions of the world. The errors are classified and discussed with respect to each type and analysed with respect to income level; assessment with regard to the magnitude for each type is provided; followed by the different causes that result in their occurrence, and the various methods used to address each type of error. Among high-income countries the extent of error in reporting slight, severe, non-fatal and fatal injury accidents varied between 39-82%, 16-52%, 12-84%, and 0-31% respectively. For middle-income countries the error for the same categories varied between 93-98%, 32.5-96%, 34-99% and 0.5-89.5% respectively. The only four studies available for low-income countries showed that the error in reporting non-fatal and fatal accidents varied between 69-80% and 0-61% respectively. The logistic relation of error in accident data reporting, dichotomised at 50%, indicated that as the income level of a country increases the probability of having less error in accident data also increases. Average error in recording information related to the variables in the categories of location, victim's information, vehicle's information, and environment was 27%, 37%, 16% and 19% respectively. Among the causes identified for errors in accident data reporting, Policing System was found to be the most important. Overall 26 causes of errors in accident data were discussed out of which 12 were related to reporting and 14 were related to recording. "Capture-Recapture" was the most widely used method among the 11 different methods: that can be used for the rectification of under-reporting. There were 12 studies pertinent to the rectification of accident location and almost all of them utilised a Geographical Information System (GIS) platform coupled with a matching algorithm to estimate the correct location. It is recommended that the policing system should be reformed and public awareness should be created to help reduce errors in accident data.
  3. Yousif E, Ahmed DS, Ahmed A, Abdallh M, Yusop RM, Mohammed SA
    Environ Sci Pollut Res Int, 2019 Sep;26(25):26381-26388.
    PMID: 31290046 DOI: 10.1007/s11356-019-05784-w
    A new Schiff base containing 1,2,4-triazole ring system (L) was synthesized and confirmed by 1HNMR, FTIR spectroscopy. The chemical modification of PVC with a new Schiff base (L) was synthesized to produce a homogenous blend (PVC-L). A homogenous blend (PVC-L) was added to copper chloride to produce PVC-L-Cu (II). The PVC films had been irradiated with ultraviolet light for a long period and confirmed by FTIR spectroscopy and weight loss; the surface morphology was inspected by scanning electron microscopy.
  4. Majeed K, Ahmed A, Abu Bakar MS, Indra Mahlia TM, Saba N, Hassan A, et al.
    Polymers (Basel), 2019 Sep 25;11(10).
    PMID: 31557811 DOI: 10.3390/polym11101557
    In recent years, there has been considerable interest in the use of natural fibers as potential reinforcing fillers in polymer composites despite their hydrophilicity, which limits their widespread commercial application. The present study explored the fabrication of nanocomposites by melt mixing, using an internal mixer followed by a compression molding technique, and incorporating rice husk (RH) as a renewable natural filler, montmorillonite (MMT) nanoclay as water-resistant reinforcing nanoparticles, and polypropylene-grafted maleic anhydride (PP-g-MAH) as a compatibilizing agent. To correlate the effect of MMT delamination and MMT/RH dispersion in the composites, the mechanical and thermal properties of the composites were studied. XRD analysis revealed delamination of MMT platelets due to an increase in their interlayer spacing, and SEM micrographs indicated improved dispersion of the filler(s) from the use of compatibilizers. The mechanical properties were improved by the incorporation of MMT into the PP/RH system and the reinforcing effect was remarkable as a result of the use of compatibilizing agent. Prolonged water exposure of the prepared samples decreased their tensile and flexural properties. Interestingly, the maximum decrease was observed for PP/RH composites and the minimum was for MMT-reinforced and PP-g-MAH-compatibilized PP/RH composites. DSC results revealed an increase in crystallinity with the addition of filler(s), while the melting and crystallization temperatures remained unaltered. TGA revealed that MMT addition and its delamination in the composite systems improved the thermal stability of the developed nanocomposites. Overall, we conclude that MMT nanoclay is an effective water-resistant reinforcing nanoparticle that enhances the durability, mechanical properties, and thermal stability of composites.
  5. Ahmed A, Al-Amin AQ, Rasiah R
    Environ Sci Pollut Res Int, 2019 Oct;26(29):30003-30015.
    PMID: 31414393 DOI: 10.1007/s11356-019-06141-7
    This study critically evaluates two COP proposals on Malaysia that have been under consideration to reduce climate damage. A top-down disaggregation framework deploying an "Empirical Regional Downscaling Dynamic Integrated Model of Climate and the Economy" is used to evaluate the local government climate roadmap and Malaysia's emissions reduction agendas under COP21 and subsequently COP22 proposals. The findings show that the costs from climate damage over the period 2010-2110 under the Malaysian Optimal Climate Action scenario will amount to MYR5,483 (US$1589) billion. The commensurate climate damage costs under the COP21 and COP22 scenario would be MYR5, 264 (US$1526) billion. Thus, the effective proposal for reducing climate damage in Malaysia over the period 2010-2110 is the COP22 time-adjusted COP21 proposal but there are a number of macroeconomic cost implications for savings and consumption that policy makers must address before acting.
  6. Abdul KareemMeera Mohaideen, Riaz Ahmed A., Hasnan Jaafar, Murali
    MyJurnal
    Introduction: In Malaysia, about 800 children are diagnosed with cancer, a globally a dreadful disease, each year, and osteosarcoma accounts for approximately 3% of such cancer. The early detection of the type and extent of bone cancer is important for effective management through surgery. But, the presence of soft tissue edema around a neoplasm can interfere with accurate local tumor staging and subsequent surgical planning. However very scanty research is done on this; none of the past studies focused specifically on the incidence and quantity of extraosseous edema and its impact. Our interdisciplinary retrospective study with objectives to study the presence of soft tissue edema adjacent to the tumors in the extremities, characterize their pattern and distribution involved 82 patients of wide range of age attending the Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia with a histologically proven tumor or tumor-like lesion of bone. Methods: This paper emphasizes avoiding misinterpretation of such edema and subsequent over-staging of musculoskeletal tumor. We exclusively used 1T-Magnetic Resonance Imaging due to its excellent resolution. All cases were imaged (T1W, T2W, T1W fat suppressed Gadolinium enhanced, and STIR images) by using 1.5 Tesla MRI unit. STIR images permit study of larger volume of abnormal tissue than spin echo images. Results: Peritumoral edema in 5 cases, Paratumoral edema in 11 patients and mixed type in 45 cases were found including 10 benign tumors. Overall, 5 malignant lesions did not show any sift tissue edema! All the data were analyzed and interpretation and charecterisation of the edema was done by an experienced radiologist. The findings were correlated with histopathology examination results. Conclusion: In conclusion, accurate definition of the local extent of a bone tumor and exploration of soft tissue edema is required to maximize the success of diagnostic work-up and staging prior to biopsy and subsequent interventions while minimizing the amount of tissue removed.
  7. Ahmed ASS, Sultana S, Habib A, Ullah H, Musa N, Hossain MB, et al.
    PLoS One, 2019;14(10):e0219336.
    PMID: 31622361 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0219336
    The Karnaphuli River estuary, located in southeast coast of Bangladesh, is largely exposed to heavy metal contamination as it receives a huge amount of untreated industrial effluents from the Chottagram City. This study aimed to assess the concentrations of five heavy metals (As, Pb, Cd, Cr and Cu) and their bioaccumulation status in six commercially important fishes, and also to evaluate the potential human health risk for local consumers. The hierarchy of the measured concentration level (mg/kg) of the metals was as follows: Pb (13.88) > Cu (12.10) > As (4.89) > Cr (3.36) > Cd (0.39). The Fulton's condition factor denoted that fishes were in better 'condition' and most of the species were in positive allometric growth. The bioaccumulation factors (BAFs) of the contaminants observed in the species were in the following orders: Cu (1971.42) > As (1042.93) > Pb (913.66) > Cr (864.99) > Cd (252.03), and among the specimens, demersal fish, Apocryptes bato appeared to be the most bioaccumulative organism. Estimated daily intake (EDI), target hazard quotient (THQ), hazard index (HI) and carcinogenic risk (CR) assessed for potential human health risk implications suggest that the values were within the acceptable threshold for both adults and children. However, calculated CR values indicated that both age groups were not far from the risk, and HI values demonstrated that children were nearly 6 times more susceptible to non-carcinogenic and carcinogenic health effects than adults.
  8. Contreras-Jodar A, Nayan NH, Hamzaoui S, Caja G, Salama AAK
    PLoS One, 2019;14(2):e0202457.
    PMID: 30735497 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0202457
    The aim of the study is to identify the candidate biomarkers of heat stress (HS) in the urine of lactating dairy goats through the application of proton Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (1H NMR)-based metabolomic analysis. Dairy does (n = 16) in mid-lactation were submitted to thermal neutral (TN; indoors; 15 to 20°C; 40 to 45% humidity) or HS (climatic chamber; 37°C day, 30°C night; 40% humidity) conditions according to a crossover design (2 periods of 21 days). Thermophysiological traits and lactational performances were recorded and milk composition analyzed during each period. Urine samples were collected at day 15 of each period for 1H NMR spectroscopy analysis. Principal component analysis (PCA) and partial least square-discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) assessment with cross validation were used to identify the goat urinary metabolome from the Human Metabolome Data Base. HS increased rectal temperature (1.2°C), respiratory rate (3.5-fold) and water intake (74%), but decreased feed intake (35%) and body weight (5%) of the lactating does. No differences were detected in milk yield, but HS decreased the milk contents of fat (9%), protein (16%) and lactose (5%). Metabolomics allowed separating TN and HS urinary clusters by PLS-DA. Most discriminating metabolites were hippurate and other phenylalanine (Phe) derivative compounds, which increased in HS vs. TN does. The greater excretion of these gut-derived toxic compounds indicated that HS induced a harmful gastrointestinal microbiota overgrowth, which should have sequestered aromatic amino acids for their metabolism and decreased the synthesis of neurotransmitters and thyroid hormones, with a negative impact on milk yield and composition. In conclusion, HS markedly changed the thermophysiological traits and lactational performances of dairy goats, which were translated into their urinary metabolomic profile through the presence of gut-derived toxic compounds. Hippurate and other Phe-derivative compounds are suggested as urinary biomarkers to detect heat-stressed dairy animals in practice.
  9. Anwar A, Kee DMH, Ahmed A
    Cyberpsychol Behav Soc Netw, 2020 May;23(5):290-296.
    PMID: 32282237 DOI: 10.1089/cyber.2019.0407
    Workplace cyberbullying (WCB) is a new form of hostility in organizations in which information technology is used as a means to bully employees. The objective of this study is to determine the association between WCB and the interpersonal deviance (ID) of victims through parallel mediation through the ineffectual silence of employees and emotional exhaustion (EE). Conservation of resource (COR) theory and affective events theory were used as the study's guiding framework, and data were drawn from 351 white-collar employees who were employed in a variety of industries-such as banking, telecommunications sector, education, health care, insurance, and consultancy-in Lahore, Pakistan. The results show that ineffectual silence negatively mediated the relationship between cyberbullying and deviance, decreasing the level of deviance of employees who used silence as a coping mechanism. EE, however, positively mediated the relationship between cyberbullying and deviance. This means that when employees felt emotionally overwhelmed they retaliated by engaging in deviant behaviors and acting as a bully toward colleagues. Drawing on the COR theory and the affective events theory, the findings show that WCB has an impact on ID. From a practical standpoint, the study reveals that WCB can lead to ID and it also may associate with large financial costs and workplace disruptions. Thus, organizations should establish a culture that prevent employees from engaging in WCB and adopt practices of prevention and intervention because it is not only harmful to the employees but also to the organization.
  10. Global Retinoblastoma Study Group, Fabian ID, Abdallah E, Abdullahi SU, Abdulqader RA, Adamou Boubacar S, et al.
    JAMA Oncol, 2020 May 01;6(5):685-695.
    PMID: 32105305 DOI: 10.1001/jamaoncol.2019.6716
    IMPORTANCE: Early diagnosis of retinoblastoma, the most common intraocular cancer, can save both a child's life and vision. However, anecdotal evidence suggests that many children across the world are diagnosed late. To our knowledge, the clinical presentation of retinoblastoma has never been assessed on a global scale.

    OBJECTIVES: To report the retinoblastoma stage at diagnosis in patients across the world during a single year, to investigate associations between clinical variables and national income level, and to investigate risk factors for advanced disease at diagnosis.

    DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: A total of 278 retinoblastoma treatment centers were recruited from June 2017 through December 2018 to participate in a cross-sectional analysis of treatment-naive patients with retinoblastoma who were diagnosed in 2017.

    MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: Age at presentation, proportion of familial history of retinoblastoma, and tumor stage and metastasis.

    RESULTS: The cohort included 4351 new patients from 153 countries; the median age at diagnosis was 30.5 (interquartile range, 18.3-45.9) months, and 1976 patients (45.4%) were female. Most patients (n = 3685 [84.7%]) were from low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Globally, the most common indication for referral was leukocoria (n = 2638 [62.8%]), followed by strabismus (n = 429 [10.2%]) and proptosis (n = 309 [7.4%]). Patients from high-income countries (HICs) were diagnosed at a median age of 14.1 months, with 656 of 666 (98.5%) patients having intraocular retinoblastoma and 2 (0.3%) having metastasis. Patients from low-income countries were diagnosed at a median age of 30.5 months, with 256 of 521 (49.1%) having extraocular retinoblastoma and 94 of 498 (18.9%) having metastasis. Lower national income level was associated with older presentation age, higher proportion of locally advanced disease and distant metastasis, and smaller proportion of familial history of retinoblastoma. Advanced disease at diagnosis was more common in LMICs even after adjusting for age (odds ratio for low-income countries vs upper-middle-income countries and HICs, 17.92 [95% CI, 12.94-24.80], and for lower-middle-income countries vs upper-middle-income countries and HICs, 5.74 [95% CI, 4.30-7.68]).

    CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: This study is estimated to have included more than half of all new retinoblastoma cases worldwide in 2017. Children from LMICs, where the main global retinoblastoma burden lies, presented at an older age with more advanced disease and demonstrated a smaller proportion of familial history of retinoblastoma, likely because many do not reach a childbearing age. Given that retinoblastoma is curable, these data are concerning and mandate intervention at national and international levels. Further studies are needed to investigate factors, other than age at presentation, that may be associated with advanced disease in LMICs.

  11. Abudula T, Gauthaman K, Hammad AH, Joshi Navare K, Alshahrie AA, Bencherif SA, et al.
    Polymers (Basel), 2020 May 29;12(6).
    PMID: 32485817 DOI: 10.3390/polym12061233
    Lack of suitable auto/allografts has been delaying surgical interventions for the treatment of numerous disorders and has also caused a serious threat to public health. Tissue engineering could be one of the best alternatives to solve this issue. However, deficiency of oxygen supply in the wounded and implanted engineered tissues, caused by circulatory problems and insufficient angiogenesis, has been a rate-limiting step in translation of tissue-engineered grafts. To address this issue, we designed oxygen-releasing electrospun composite scaffolds, based on a previously developed hybrid polymeric matrix composed of poly(glycerol sebacate) (PGS) and poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL). By performing ball-milling, we were able to embed a large percent of calcium peroxide (CP) nanoparticles into the PGS/PCL nanofibers able to generate oxygen. The composite scaffold exhibited a smooth fiber structure, while providing sustainable oxygen release for several days to a week, and significantly improved cell metabolic activity due to alleviation of hypoxic environment around primary bone-marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (BM-MSCs). Moreover, the composite scaffolds also showed good antibacterial performance. In conjunction to other improved features, such as degradation behavior, the developed scaffolds are promising biomaterials for various tissue-engineering and wound-healing applications.
  12. Ahmed A, Abu Bakar MS, Hamdani R, Park YK, Lam SS, Sukri RS, et al.
    Environ Res, 2020 07;186:109596.
    PMID: 32361527 DOI: 10.1016/j.envres.2020.109596
    Biochar production from invasive species biomass discarded as waste was studied in a fixed bed reactor pyrolysis system under different temperature conditions for value-added applications. Prior to pyrolysis, the biomass feedstock was characterized by proximate, ultimate, and heating value analyses, while the biomass decomposition behavior was examined by thermogravimetric analysis. The heating values of the feedstock biomass ranged from 18.65 to 20.65 MJ/kg, whereas the volatile matter, fixed carbon, and ash content were 61.54-72.04 wt %, 19.27-26.61 wt % and 1.51-1.86 wt %, respectively. The elemental composition of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen in the samples was reported to be in the range of 47.41-48.47 wt %, 5.50-5.88 wt % and 46.10-45.18 wt %, respectively, while the nitrogen and sulphur content in the biomass samples were at very low concentrations, making it more useful for valorization from environmental aspects. The biochar yields were reported in the range of 45.36-58.35 wt %, 28.63-44.38 wt % and 22.68-29.42 wt % at a pyrolysis temperature of 400 °C, 500 °C, and 600 °C, respectively. The biochars were characterized from ultimate analysis, heating value, energy densification ratio, energy yield, pH, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive X-ray spectrometry (SEM and EDX), to evaluate their potential for value-added applications. The carbon content, heating value, energy densification ratio, and the porosity of the biochars improved with the increase in pyrolysis temperature, while the energy yield, hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen content of the biochars decreased. This study revealed the potential of the valorization of underutilized discarded biomass of invasive species via a pyrolysis process to produce biochar for value-added applications.
  13. Sirunyan AM, Tumasyan A, Adam W, Ambrogi F, Bergauer T, Dragicevic M, et al.
    Phys Rev Lett, 2020 Aug 07;125(6):061801.
    PMID: 32845700 DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.125.061801
    The first observation of the tt[over ¯]H process in a single Higgs boson decay channel with the full reconstruction of the final state (H→γγ) is presented, with a significance of 6.6 standard deviations (σ). The CP structure of Higgs boson couplings to fermions is measured, resulting in an exclusion of the pure CP-odd structure of the top Yukawa coupling at 3.2σ. The measurements are based on a sample of proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy sqrt[s]=13  TeV collected by the CMS detector at the LHC, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 137  fb^{-1}. The cross section times branching fraction of the tt[over ¯]H process is measured to be σ_{tt[over ¯]H}B_{γγ}=1.56_{-0.32}^{+0.34}  fb, which is compatible with the standard model prediction of 1.13_{-0.11}^{+0.08}  fb. The fractional contribution of the CP-odd component is measured to be f_{CP}^{Htt}=0.00±0.33.
  14. Teng S, Khong KW, Pahlevan Sharif S, Ahmed A
    JMIR Public Health Surveill, 2020 10 01;6(4):e19618.
    PMID: 33001036 DOI: 10.2196/19618
    BACKGROUND: Poor nutrition and food selection lead to health issues such as obesity, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and cancer. This study of YouTube comments aims to uncover patterns of food choices and the factors driving them, in addition to exploring the sentiments of healthy eating in networked communities.

    OBJECTIVE: The objectives of the study are to explore the determinants, motives, and barriers to healthy eating behaviors in online communities and provide insight into YouTube video commenters' perceptions and sentiments of healthy eating through text mining techniques.

    METHODS: This paper applied text mining techniques to identify and categorize meaningful healthy eating determinants. These determinants were then incorporated into hypothetically defined constructs that reflect their thematic and sentimental nature in order to test our proposed model using a variance-based structural equation modeling procedure.

    RESULTS: With a dataset of 4654 comments extracted from YouTube videos in the context of Malaysia, we apply a text mining method to analyze the perceptions and behavior of healthy eating. There were 10 clusters identified with regard to food ingredients, food price, food choice, food portion, well-being, cooking, and culture in the concept of healthy eating. The structural equation modeling results show that clusters are positively associated with healthy eating with all P values less than .001, indicating a statistical significance of the study results. People hold complex and multifaceted beliefs about healthy eating in the context of YouTube videos. Fruits and vegetables are the epitome of healthy foods. Despite having a favorable perception of healthy eating, people may not purchase commonly recognized healthy food if it has a premium price. People associate healthy eating with weight concerns. Food taste, variety, and availability are identified as reasons why Malaysians cannot act on eating healthily.

    CONCLUSIONS: This study offers significant value to the existing literature of health-related studies by investigating the rich and diverse social media data gleaned from YouTube. This research integrated text mining analytics with predictive modeling techniques to identify thematic constructs and analyze the sentiments of healthy eating.

  15. Ahmed A, Ijaz M, Ghauri HN, Aziz MU, Ghaffar A, Naveed M, et al.
    PMID: 32829184 DOI: 10.1016/j.cimid.2020.101524
    Feline anaplasmosis is considered as an emerging tick-borne disease of zoonotic potential. The aim of current study was to investigate the molecular prevalence of anaplasmosis, associated risk factors, and alterations in hematological parameters of domestic cats from Lahore, Pakistan. Blood samples of 100 domestic cats from district Lahore were examined microscopically and the extracted genomic DNA from each sample was processed for the amplification of 16 S rRNA gene of Anaplasma. PCR confirmed isolates were purified for sequencing. The data regarding the risk factors was collected in a predesigned questionnaire and statistically analyzed by logistic regression analysis. The study found a molecular prevalence of 13% (13/100) among analyzed blood samples. The nucleotide analysis of Anaplasmataceae species sequences amplified by PCR showed high resemblance (99%) with isolates from Korea, Japan, Malaysia, Philippines, and India. The potential risk factors found to be significantly associated (p 
  16. Moustafa AA, Crouse JJ, Herzallah MM, Salama M, Mohamed W, Misiak B, et al.
    Psychol Rep, 2020 Oct;123(5):1501-1517.
    PMID: 31470771 DOI: 10.1177/0033294119872209
    Depression can occur due to common major life transitions, such as giving birth, menopause, retirement, empty-nest transition, and midlife crisis. Although some of these transitions are perceived as positive (e.g., giving birth), they may still lead to depression. We conducted a systematic literature review of the factors underlying the occurrence of depression following major life transition in some individuals. This review shows that major common life transitions can cause depression if they are sudden, major, and lead to loss (or change) of life roles (e.g., no longer doing motherly or fatherly chores after children leave family home). Accordingly, we provide a theoretical framework that explains depression caused by transitions in women. One of the most potential therapeutic methods of ameliorating depression associated with life transitions is either helping individuals accept their new roles (e.g., accepting new role as a mother to ameliorate postpartum depression symptoms) or providing them with novel life roles (e.g., volunteering after retirement or children leave family home) may help them overcome their illness.
  17. Tahir M, Upadhyay DK, Iqbal MZ, Rajan S, Iqbal MS, Albassam AA
    J Pharm Bioallied Sci, 2020 10 08;12(4):436-443.
    PMID: 33679090 DOI: 10.4103/jpbs.JPBS_263_20
    Introduction: Community pharmacist's knowledge about the uses of herbal medicines and its adverse drug reactions reporting can contribute in better therapeutic outcomes and patient safety. Objectives: To evaluate community pharmacists' knowledge about the use of herbal medicines and its adverse drug reactions reporting in Kedah state, Malaysia.

    Methods: A cross-sectional, questionnaire-based study was conducted among 103 pharmacists from 74 different community pharmacies to assess their knowledge about the use of herbal medicines and its adverse drug reaction reporting by using a pre-validate knowledge questionnaire consisting of 12 questions related to it. The pharmacists' responses were measured at a 3-point Likert scale (Poor=1, Moderate=2, and Good=3) and data was entered in SPSS version 22. The minimum and maximum possible scores for knowledge questionnaires were 12 and 36 respectively. Quantitative data was analyzed by using One Way ANOVA and Paired t-test whereas Chi-square and Fisher exact test were used for qualitative data analysis. A p-value of less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant for all the analyses.

    Results: About 92% of the pharmacist had good knowledge regarding the use of herbal medicines and its adverse drug reaction reporting with a mean knowledge score of 32.88±3.16. One-way ANOVA determined a significant difference of employment setting (p<0.043) and years of experience (<0.008) with mean knowledge scores of Pharmacists. Pharmacists' knowledge was significantly associated with their years of experience with the Chi-square test.

    Conclusion: Pharmacists exhibit good knowledge regarding the use of herbal medicines and its adverse drug reaction reporting. However, with an increasing trend of herbal medicine use and its adverse drug reaction reporting it recalls the empowerment of experienced pharmacists with training programs in this area for better clinical outcomes.

  18. Sirunyan AM, Tumasyan A, Adam W, Ambrogi F, Bergauer T, Dragicevic M, et al.
    Phys Rev Lett, 2020 Oct 09;125(15):152001.
    PMID: 33095627 DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.125.152001
    Using a data sample of proton-proton collisions at sqrt[s]=13  TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 140  fb^{-1} collected by the CMS experiment in 2016-2018, the B_{s}^{0}→X(3872)ϕ decay is observed. Decays into J/ψπ^{+}π^{-} and K^{+}K^{-} are used to reconstruct, respectively, the X(3872) and ϕ. The ratio of the product of branching fractions B[B_{s}^{0}→X(3872)ϕ]B[X(3872)→J/ψπ^{+}π^{-}] to the product B[B_{s}^{0}→ψ(2S)ϕ]B[ψ(2S)→J/ψπ^{+}π^{-}] is measured to be [2.21±0.29(stat)±0.17(syst)]%. The ratio B[B_{s}^{0}→X(3872)ϕ]/B[B^{0}→X(3872)K^{0}] is found to be consistent with one, while the ratio B[B_{s}^{0}→X(3872)ϕ]/B[B^{+}→X(3872)K^{+}] is two times smaller. This suggests a difference in the production dynamics of the X(3872) in B^{0} and B_{s}^{0} meson decays compared to B^{+}. The reported observation may shed new light on the nature of the X(3872) particle.
  19. Sirunyan AM, Tumasyan A, Adam W, Ambrogi F, Bergauer T, Dragicevic M, et al.
    Phys Rev Lett, 2020 Oct 09;125(15):151802.
    PMID: 33095594 DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.125.151802
    The first observation is reported of the combined production of three massive gauge bosons (VVV with V=W, Z) in proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV. The analysis is based on a data sample recorded by the CMS experiment at the CERN LHC corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 137  fb^{-1}. The searches for individual WWW, WWZ, WZZ, and ZZZ production are performed in final states with three, four, five, and six leptons (electrons or muons), or with two same-sign leptons plus one or two jets. The observed (expected) significance of the combined VVV production signal is 5.7 (5.9) standard deviations and the corresponding measured cross section relative to the standard model prediction is 1.02_{-0.23}^{+0.26}. The significances of the individual WWW and WWZ production are 3.3 and 3.4 standard deviations, respectively. Measured production cross sections for the individual triboson processes are also reported.
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