Search results for: disease severity perception

Authors: Chun-Lin Zhang, Min Wan

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With the upgrade development of the tourism industry from the simple sightseeing tour to the leisure and vacation, people's travel idea has undergone a fundamental change. More and more people begin to pursue liberal and personal tourism, so self-driving tourism has become the main form of current tourism activities. With the self-driving tourism representing the general trend, the importance of convenient tourism transportation and perfect road traffic signs have become more and more prominent. A clear urban road traffic signs can help visitors quickly identify the direction and distance to the tourism destination. The purpose of this article is analyzing the planning of urban road traffic signs which can bring positive impact on the participation in the recreation involved of self-driving tourists. The content of this article is divided into three parts. Based on the literature review and theoretical analysis, the first part constructs a structural variance model. The model is from three dimensions: the attention of the self-driving tourists to the urban traffic signs along the road, the perception of the self-driving tourists to the road traffic signs itself, the perceptions of the self-driving tourists to the tourism destination information on the traffic signs. Through this model, the paper aims to explore the influence of the urban road traffic signs to the leisure psychological involvement and leisure behavior involvement of the self-driving tourists. The second part aims to verify through the hypothesis model the questionnaire survey and come to preliminary conclusions. The preliminary conclusions are as follows: firstly, the color, shape, size, setting mode and occurrence frequency of urban road traffic sign have significant influence on the leisure psychological involvement and leisure behavior involvement of the self-driving tourists. Secondly, the influence on the leisure behavior involvement is obviously higher than the influence on the leisure psychological involvement. Thirdly, the information about the tourism destination marked on the urban road traffic signs has not obviously influence on the leisure psychological involvement, but it has distinct influence on the leisure behavior involvement of self-driving tourists. The third part puts forward that the planning of urban road traffic signs should focus on the angle of the impact of road traffic signs on people's psychology and behavior. On the basis of the above conclusions, the paper researches the color, shape, size, setting mode and information labeling of urban road traffic signs so that they can preferably satisfy the demand of the leisure involvement of self-driving tourists.

Keywords: leisure involvement, self-driving tourism, structural equation, urban road traffic signs

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Authors: Ebtisam A. Benomran, Abdurrauf M. Gusbi, Malak S. Elazarg, M. Sultan, Layla M. Kafu, Arwa M. Matoug, Esra E. Benamara

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Normal pregnancy is associated with metabolic changes leading to decreased insulin sensitivity and reduced glucose tolerance, however, 3-5% of pregnant women proceed to develop gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). Researcher studied the use of metformin in many fields and the benefit to risk balance of using metformin during pregnancy and the risk of fetotoxic. In this study we examined the use of Metformin to control Glucose in pregnant Women with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) and evaluate its safety use during the first trimester of pregnancy.A group of pregnant patients with gestational diabetes mellitus from the first trimester of pregnancy, non smoking with no family history of congenital malformation disease, aged between (20-45 years) and have no liver diseases and who had indicating good compliance at more than one visit over several month until delivery put on Metformin were participated in this trial. Our study shown that all the studied group of pregnant women using metformin 500 mg daily delivered a healthy babies. Meta-analysis by mother risk program showed no increase in incidence of malformations by use Metformin during the first trimester of pregnancy. A hundred outpatients were participated in the survey on the general knowledge and awareness of diabetic patients to their illness and medication used their aged between 20-40 years old. In this survey we realize that 90% of the doctors are not giving the patient full information about their illness and the use of metformin during pregnancy, also about 65% of the patients did not know about the nutritionist in the hospital and the right control diet for diabetes. Courses on first aid, rapid diagnosis of poisoning and follow the written procedures to dealing with such cases.

Keywords: gestational diabetes, malformations, metformin, pregnancy

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Authors: C. A Osunla, A. I. Okoh

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Treated wastewater effluent has been found to encompass high levels of pollutants, including disease-causing bacteria such as Vibrio pathogens. The current study was designed to evaluate the physicochemical qualities and prevalence of Vibrio pathogens in treated effluents of two wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) in Eastern Cape Province, South Africa over the period of six months. Parameters measured include pH, temperature, electrical conductivity, salinity, turbidity, total dissolved solid (TDS), dissolved oxygen (DO), and free chlorine; and these parameters were simultaneously monitored in the treated final effluents of the two wastewater treatment plants using standard methods. The ranges of values for the physicochemical are: pH (7.0–8.6), total dissolved solids (286.3–916.5 mg/L), electrical conductivity (572.57–1704.5 mS/m), temperature (10.3–28.6 °C), turbidity (4.02–43.20 NTU), free chlorine (0.00–0.19 mg/L), dissolve oxygen (2.06–6.32 mg/L) and biochemical oxygen demand (0.1–9.0 mg/L). The microbiological assessment for both WWTPs revealed the presence of Vibrio counts ranging between 0 and 8.76×104 CFU/100 mL. The obtained values of the measured parameters and Vibrio loads of the treated wastewater effluents were found outside the compliance levels of the South African guidelines and World Health Organization tolerance limits for effluents intended to be discharged into receiving waterbodies. Hence, we conclude that these WWTPs are important point sources of pollution in surface water with potential public health and ecological risks.

Keywords: effluents, public health, South Africa, Vibrio, wastewater

Procedia PDF Downloads 359

Authors: Tanja Ecken, Laura Fricke, Anika Steger, Maren M. Michaelsen, Tobias Esch

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Studies and applied experiences evidence severe and traumatic accidents to not only require physical rehabilitation and recovery but also to necessitate a psychological adaption and reorganization to the changed living conditions. Neurobiological models underpinning the experience of happiness and satisfaction postulate life shocks to potentially enhance the experience of happiness and life satisfaction, i.e., posttraumatic growth (PTG). This present study aims to provide an in-depth understanding of the underlying psychological processes of PTG and to outline its consequences on subjective happiness and life satisfaction. To explore the aforementioned, Esch’s (2022) ABC Model was used as guidance for the development of a questionnaire assessing changes in happiness and life satisfaction and for a schematic model postulating the development of PTG in the context of paraplegia. Two-stage qualitative interview procedures explored participants’ experiences of paraplegia. Specifically, narrative, semi-structured interviews (N=28) focused on the time before and after the accident, the availability of supportive resources, and potential changes in the perception of happiness and life satisfaction. Qualitative analysis (Grounded Theory) indicated an initial phase of reorganization was followed by a gradual psychological adaption to novel, albeit reduced, opportunities in life. Participants reportedly experienced a ‘compelled’ slowing down and elements of mindfulness, subsequently instilling a sense of gratitude and joy in relation to life’s presumed trivialities. Despite physical limitations and difficulties, participants reported an enhanced ability to relate to oneself and others and a reduction of perceived every day nuisances. Concluding, PTG can be experienced in response to severe, traumatic life events and has the potential to enrich the lives of affected persons in numerous, unexpected and yet challenging ways. PTG appears to be spectrum comprised of an interplay of internal and external resources underpinned by neurobiological processes. Participants experienced PTG irrelevant of age, gender, marital status, income or level of education.

Keywords: inhibition theory, posttraumatic growth, trauma, stress, life satisfaction, subjective happiness, traumatic life events, paraplegia

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Authors: Shahad Nagoor, Lucy Hederman, Kevin Koidl, Annalina Caputo

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Doctors’ notes reflect their impressions, attitudes, clinical sense, and opinions about patients’ conditions and progress, and other information that is essential for doctors’ daily clinical decisions. Despite their value, clinical notes are insufficiently researched within the language processing community. Automatically extracting information from unstructured text data is known to be a difficult task as opposed to dealing with structured information such as vital physiological signs, images, and laboratory results. The aim of this research is to investigate how Natural Language Processing (NLP) techniques and machine learning techniques applied to clinician notes can assist in doctors’ decision-making in Intensive Care Unit (ICU) for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients. The hypothesis is that clinical outcomes like survival or mortality can be useful in influencing the judgement of clinical sentiment in ICU clinical notes. This paper introduces two contributions: first, we introduce COVID_ICU_BERT, a fine-tuned version of clinical transformer models that can reliably predict clinical sentiment for notes of COVID patients in the ICU. We train the model on clinical notes for COVID-19 patients, a type of notes that were not previously seen by clinicalBERT, and Bio_Discharge_Summary_BERT. The model, which was based on clinicalBERT achieves higher predictive accuracy (Acc 93.33%, AUC 0.98, and precision 0.96 ). Second, we perform data augmentation using clinical contextual word embedding that is based on a pre-trained clinical model to balance the samples in each class in the data (survived vs. deceased patients). Data augmentation improves the accuracy of prediction slightly (Acc 96.67%, AUC 0.98, and precision 0.92 ).

Keywords: BERT fine-tuning, clinical sentiment, COVID-19, data augmentation

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Authors: Victoria H. Hamilton

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Charles Bonnet Syndrome (CBS) is when a person experiences pseudohallucinations that fill in visual information from any type of sight loss. CBS arises from an epiphenomenal process, with the physical actions of sight resulting in the mental formations of images. These pseudohallucinations—referred to as visions by the CBS community—manifest in a wide range of forms, from complex scenes to simple geometric shapes. To share these unique visual experiences, a remote co-creation website was created where CBS participants communicated their lived experiences. This created a reflexive process, and we worked to produce true representations of these interesting and little-known phenomena. Digital reconstruction of the visions is utilised as it echoes the vivid, experiential movie-like nature of what is being perceived. This paper critically analyses co-creation as a method for making digital assets. The implications of the participants' vision impairments and the application of ethical safeguards are examined in this context. Important to note, this research is of a medical syndrome for a non-medical, practice-based design. CBS research to date is primarily conducted by the ophthalmic, neurological, and psychiatric fields and approached with the primary concerns of these specialties. This research contributes a distinct approach incorporating practice-based digital design, autoethnography, and phenomenology. Autoethnography and phenomenology combine as a foundation, with the first bringing understanding and insights, balanced by the second philosophical, bigger picture, and established approach. With further refining, it is anticipated that the research may be applied to other conditions. Conditions where articulating internal experiences proves challenging and the use of digital methods could aid communication. Both the research and CBS communities will benefit from the insights regarding the relationship between cognitive perceptions and the vision process. This research combines the digital visualising of visions with interest in the link between metaphor, embodied cognition, and image. The argument for a link between CBS visions and metaphor may appear evident due to the cross-category mapping of images that is necessary for comprehension. They both are— CBS visions and metaphors—the experience of picturing images, often with lateral connections and imaginative associations.

Keywords: Charles Bonnet Syndrome, digital design, visual hallucinations, visual perception

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Authors: Hung Lin-Zin, Lai Mei-Yen

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Prostate cancer is the most commonly diagnosed male cancer in the U.S. The prevalence is around 1 in 8. The etiology of prostate cancer is still unknown, but some predisposing factors, such as age, black race, family history, and obesity, may increase the risk of the disease. In 2020, a total of 7,178 Taiwanese people were nearly diagnosed with prostate cancer, accounting for 5.88% of all cancer cases, and the incidence rate ranked fifth among men. In that year, the total number of deaths from prostate cancer was 1,730, accounting for 3.45% of all cancer deaths, and the death rate ranked 6th among men, accounting for 94.34% of the cases of male reproductive organs. Looking for domestic and foreign literature on the use of OMOP (Observational Medical Outcomes Partnership, hereinafter referred to as OMOP) database analysis, there are currently nearly a hundred literature published related to nursing-related health problems and nursing measures built in the OMOP general data model database of medical institutions are extremely rare. The OMOP common data model construction analysis platform is a system developed by the FDA in 2007, using a common data model (common data model, CDM) to analyze and monitor healthcare data. It is important to build up relevant nursing information from the OMOP- CDM database to assist our daily practice. Therefore, we choose prostate cancer patients who are our popular care objects and use the OMOP- CDM database to explore the common associated health problems. With the assistance of OMOP-CDM database analysis, we can expect early diagnosis and prevention of prostate cancer patients' comorbidities to improve patient care.

Keywords: OMOP, nursing diagnosis, health problem, prostate cancer

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Authors: Asher John Mohan, Krishna K. L.

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Objectives: (1) To assess the extent of memory impairment induced by Phenytoin (PHT) at normal and reduced dose on temporal lobe epileptic mice. (2) To evaluate the protective effect of Levetiracetam (LEV) on aggravation of memory impairment in temporal lobe epileptic mice by PHT. Materials and Methods: Albino mice of either sex (n=36) were used for the study for a period of 64 days. Convulsions were induced by intraperitoneal administration of pilocarpine 280 mg/kg on every 6th day. Radial arm maze (RAM) was employed to evaluate the memory impairment activity on every 7th day. The anticonvulsant and memory impairment activity were assessed in PHT normal and reduced doses both alone and in combination with LEV. RAM error scores and convulsive scores were the parameters considered for this study. Brain acetylcholine esterase and glutamate were determined along with histopathological studies of frontal cortex. Results: Administration of PHT for 64 days on mice has shown aggravation of memory impairment activity on temporal lobe epileptic mice. Although the reduction in PHT dose was found to decrease the degree of memory impairment the same decreased the anticonvulsant potency. The combination with LEV not only brought about the correction of impaired memory but also replaced the loss of potency due to the reduction of the dose of the antiepileptic drug employed. These findings were confirmed with enzyme and neurotransmitter levels in addition to histopathological studies. Conclusion: This study thus builds a foundation in combining a nootropic anticonvulsant with an antiepileptic drug to curb the adverse effect of memory impairment associated with temporal lobe epilepsy. However further extensive research is a must for the practical incorporation of this approach into disease therapy.

Keywords: anti-epileptic drug, Phenytoin, memory impairment, Pilocarpine

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Authors: Midiya Khademi, Ali Nikoo, Shabnam Rahimnezhad Baghche Jooghi

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Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are the main cause of death globally. Most CVDs can be prevented by avoiding habitual risk factors. Separate from the habitual risk factors, there are some inherent factors in each individual that can increase the risk potential of CVDs. Vessel shapes and geometry are influential factors, having great impact on the blood flow and the hemodynamic behavior of the vessels. In the present study, the influence of bifurcation angle on blood flow characteristics is studied. In order to approach this topic, by simplifying the details of the bifurcation, three models with angles 30°, 45°, and 60° were created, then by using CFD analysis, the response of these models for stable flow and pulsatile flow was studied. In the conducted simulation in order to eliminate the influence of other geometrical factors, only the angle of the bifurcation was changed and other parameters remained constant during the research. Simulations are conducted under dynamic and stable condition. In the stable flow simulation, a steady velocity of 0.17 m/s at the inlet plug was maintained and in dynamic simulations, a typical LAD flow waveform is implemented. The results show that the bifurcation angle has an influence on the maximum speed of the flow. In the stable flow condition, increasing the angle lead to decrease the maximum flow velocity. In the dynamic flow simulations, increasing the bifurcation angle lead to an increase in the maximum velocity. Since blood flow has pulsatile characteristics, using a uniform velocity during the simulations can lead to a discrepancy between the actual results and the calculated results.

Keywords: coronary artery, cardiovascular disease, bifurcation, atherosclerosis, CFD, artery wall shear stress

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Authors: Shi-xia Xu, Zai-wen Zhang, Ru-xue Chen, Shan Zhou, Xiang-feng Tang

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Objective: The clinical influence of HLA-DPB1 mismatches on clinical outcome of HSCT is less clear. This is the first meta-analysis to study the HLA-DPB1 matching statues on clinical outcomes after unrelated donor HSCT. Methods: We searched the CIBMTR, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) and related databases (1995.01–2017.06) for all relevant articles. Comparative studies were used to investigate the HLA-DPB1 loci mismatches on clinical outcomes after unrelated donor HSCT, such as the disease-free survival (DFS), overall survival, GVHD, relapse, and transplant-related mortality (TRM). We performed meta-analysis using Review Manager 5.2 software and funnel plot to assess the bias. Results: At first, 1246 articles were retrieved, and 18 studies totaling 26368 patients analyzed. Pooled comparisons of studies found that the HLA-DPB1 mismatched group had a lower rate of DFS than the DPB1-matched group, and lower OS in non-T cell depleted transplantation. The DPB1 mismatched group has a higher incidence of aGVHD and more severe ( ≥ III degree) aGvHD, lower rate of relapse and higher TRM. Moreover, compared with 1-antigen mismatch, 2-antigen mismatched led to a higher risk of TRM and lower relapse rate. Conclusions: This meta-analysis indicated HLA-DPB1 has important influence on survival and transplant-related complications during unrelated donor HSCT and HLA-DPB1 donor selection strategies have been proposed based on a personalized algorithm.

Keywords: human leukocyte antigen, DPB1, transplant, meta-analysis, outcome

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Authors: Abhimanyu Thakur, Youngjin Lee

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Glioma is a lethal brain cancer whose early diagnosis and prognosis are limited due to the dearth of a suitable technique for its early detection. Current approaches, including magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), computed tomography (CT), and invasive biopsy for the diagnosis of this lethal disease, hold several limitations, demanding an alternative method. Recently, extracellular vesicles (EVs) have been used in numerous biomarker studies, majorly exosomes and microvesicles (MVs), which are found in most of the cells and biofluids, including blood, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), and urine. Remarkably, glioma cells (GMs) release a high number of EVs, which are found to cross the blood-brain-barrier (BBB) and impersonate the constituents of parent GMs including protein, and lncRNA; however, biophysical properties of EVs have not been explored yet as a biomarker for glioma. We isolated EVs from cell culture conditioned medium of GMs and regular primary culture, blood, and urine of wild-type (WT)- and glioma mouse models, and characterized by nano tracking analyzer, transmission electron microscopy, immunogold-EM, and differential light scanning. Next, we measured the biophysical parameters of GMs-EVs by using atomic force microscopy. Further, the functional constituents of EVs were examined by FTIR and Raman spectroscopy. Exosomes and MVs-derived from GMs, blood, and urine showed distinction biophysical parameters (roughness, adhesion force, and stiffness) and different from that of regular primary glial cells, WT-blood, and -urine, which can be attributed to the characteristic functional constituents. Therefore, biophysical features can be potential diagnostic biomarkers for glioma.

Keywords: glioma, extracellular vesicles, exosomes, microvesicles, biophysical properties

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Authors: Angelis P. Barlampas

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Purpose: A 29 years old woman presented in the emergency department with psychiatric symptoms. The psychiatrist ordered a computed tomography scan as part of a general examination. Material and methods: The CT showed bilateral enlarged choroid plexus structures mimicking papillomata and situated in the trigones of the lateral ventricles. The left choroid plexus was heavily calcified, but the right one has no any obvious calcifications. Results: It is well kown that any brain mass can present with behavioral changes and even psychiatric symptomatology. Papillomata of the ventricular system have been described to cause psychotic episodes. According to literature, choroid plexus papillomas are seldom neuroepithelial intraventricular tumors, which are benign and categorized as WHO grade 1 tumors. They are more common in the pediatric population, but they can occur in the adults, too1. In addition, the distinction between choroid plexus papilloma and carcinoma is very difficult and impossible by imagine alone. It can only be implied with more advanced imaging, such as arterial spin labeling and MRI. The final diagnosis is, of course, after surgical excision. The usual location in adults is the fourth ventricle, but in children, it is the lateral ventricles. Their imaging appearance is that of a solid vascular tumor, which enhances intensely after the intravenous administration of contrast material. One out of fourth tumors presents speckled calcifications1. In our case, there are symmetrically sized masses at the trigones, and there are no calcifications in one of them, whereas the other one is grossly calcified. Also, there is no obvious hydrocephalus or any other evidence of increased intracranial pressure. General conclusions: When there is a new psychiatric patient, someone must undergo any possible examination, and of course, a brain CT study should be done to exclude any rare organic causes that may be responsible for the disease.

Keywords: phycosis, intraventricular masses, CT, brain calcifications

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Authors: Maatouk Mohamed, Nouira Mariem

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Background and aims: Healthcare-associated infections (HAI) represent a major public health problem worldwide. They represent one of the most serious adverse events in health care. The objectives of our study were to estimate the prevalence of HAI at the Charles Nicolle Hospital (CNH) and to identify the main associated factors as well as to estimate the frequency of antibiotic use. Methods: It was a cross sectional study at the CNH with a unique passage per department (OctoberDecember 2018). All patients present at the wards for more than 48 hours were included. All patients from outpatient consultations, emergency and dialysis departments were not included. The site definitions of infections proposed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) were used. Only clinically and/or microbiologically confirmed active HAIs were included. Results: A total of 318 patients were included with a mean age of 52 years and a sex ratio (Female/Male) of 1.05. A total of 41 patients had one or more active HAIs, corresponding to a prevalence of 13.1% (95% CI: 9.3%-16.9%). The most frequent sites infections were urinary tract infections and pneumonia. Multivariate analysis among adult patients (>=18 years) (n=261), revealed that infection on admission (p=0.01), alcoholism (p=0.01), high blood pressure (p=0.008), having at least one invasive device inserted (p=0.004), and history of recent surgery (p=0.03), increased significantly the risk of HAIs. More than 1 of 3 patients (35.4%) were under antibiotics on the day of the survey, of which more than half (57.4%) were under 2 or more types of antibiotics. Conclusion: The prevalence of HAIs and antibiotic prescriptions at the CNH were considerably high. An infection prevention and control committee, as well as the development of an Antibiotic stewardship program with continuous monitoring using repeated prevalence surveys must be implemented to limit the frequency of these infections effectively.

Keywords: tumors, oesophagectomy, esophagogastric junction, systematic review

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Authors: Doaa Hashad, Amany Elyamany, Perihan Salem

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Introduction: Hepatitis C virus infection (HCV) constitutes a serious dilemma that has an impact on the health of millions of Egyptians. Hepatitis C virus related hepatocellular carcinoma (HCV-HCC) is a crucial consequence of HCV that represents the third cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide. Aim of the study: assess the use of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) content as a non-invasive molecular biomarker in hepatitis c virus related hepatocellular carcinoma (HCV-HCC). Methods: A total of 135 participants were enrolled in the study. Volunteers were assigned to one of three groups equally; a group of HCV related cirrhosis (HCV-cirrhosis), a group of HCV-HCC and a control group of age- and sex- matched healthy volunteers with no evidence of liver disease. mtDNA was determined using a quantitative real-time PCR technique. Results: mtDNA content was lowest in HCV-HCC cases. No statistically significant difference was observed between the group of HCV-cirrhosis and the control group as regards mtDNA level. HCC patients with multi-centric hepatic lesions had significantly lower mtDNA content. On using receiver operating characteristic curve analysis, a cutoff of 34 was assigned for mtDNA content to distinguish between HCV-HCC and HCV-cirrhosis patients who are not yet complicated by malignancy. Lower mtDNA was associated with greater HCC risk on using healthy controls, HCV-cirrhosis, or combining both groups as a reference group. Conclusions: mtDNA content might constitute a non-invasive molecular biomarker that reflects tumor burden in HCV-HCC cases and could be used as a predictor of HCC risk in patients of HCV-cirrhosis. In addition, the non significant difference of mtDNA level between HCV-cirrhosis patients and healthy controls could eliminate the grey zone created by the use of AFP in some cirrhotic patients.

Keywords: DNA copy number, HCC, HCV, mitochondrial

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Authors: Danutė Jablonskytė-Raščė, Audronė MankevičIenė, Laura Masilionytė

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During the period 2009–2015, in Joniškėlis Experimental Station of the Lithuanian Research Centre for Agriculture and Forestry, the effect of ecologic fertilizers Ekoplant, bio-activators Biokal 01 and Terra Sorb Foliar and their combinations on the formation of the productivity elements, grain yield and quality of winter wheat, spelt (Triticum spelta L.), and common wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) was analysed in ecological agro-system. The soil under FAO classification – Endocalcari-Endo-hypogleyic-Cambisol. In a clay loam soil, ecological fertilizer produced from sunflower hull ash and this fertilizer in combination with plant extracts and bio-humus exerted an influence on the grain yield of spelt and common wheat and their mixture (increased the grain yield by 10.0%, compared with the unfertilized crops). Spelt grain yield was by on average 16.9% lower than that of common wheat and by 11.7% lower than that of the mixture, but the role of spelt in organic production systems is important because with no mineral fertilization it produced grains with a higher (by 4%) gluten content and exhibited a greater ability to suppress weeds (by on average 61.9% lower weed weight) compared with the grain yield and weed suppressive ability of common wheat and mixture. Spelt cultivation in a mixture with common wheat significantly improved quality indicators of the mixture (its grain contained by 2.0% higher protein content and by 4.0% higher gluten content than common wheat grain), reduced disease incidence (by 2-8%), and weed infestation level (by 34-81%).

Keywords: common and spelt-wheat, ecological fertilizers, bio-activators, productivity elements, yield, quality

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Authors: Leonardo C. Pacheco-Londoño, Nataly J Galan-Freyle, Lisandro Pacheco-Lugo, Antonio Acosta-Hoyos, Elkin Navarro, Gustavo Aroca-Martinez, Karin Rondón-Payares, Alberto C. Espinosa-Garavito, Samuel P. Hernández-Rivera

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At the Life Science Research Center at Simon Bolivar University, a primary focus is the diagnosis of various diseases, and the use of gold nanoparticles (Au-NPs) in diverse biomedical applications is continually expanding. In the present study, Au-NPs were employed as substrates for Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (SERS) aimed at diagnosing kidney diseases arising from Lupus Nephritis (LN), preeclampsia (PC), and Hypertension (H). Discrimination models were developed for distinguishing patients with and without kidney diseases based on the SERS signals from urine samples by partial least squares-discriminant analysis (PLS-DA). A comparative study of the Raman signals across the three conditions was conducted, leading to the identification of potential metabolite signals. Model performance was assessed through cross-validation and external validation, determining parameters like sensitivity and specificity. Additionally, a secondary analysis was performed using machine learning (ML) models, wherein different ML algorithms were evaluated for their efficiency. Models’ validation was carried out using cross-validation and external validation, and other parameters were determined, such as sensitivity and specificity; the models showed average values of 0.9 for both parameters. Additionally, it is not possible to highlight this collaborative effort involved two university research centers and two healthcare institutions, ensuring ethical treatment and informed consent of patient samples.

Keywords: SERS, Raman, PLS-DA, kidney diseases

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Authors: Bisola Olumegbon

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Globally, there were about 229 million cases of malaria in 2022. The sub-Saharan African region accounted for 92% of the reported cases and 94% of deaths. Nigeria had the highest number of malaria cases and deaths, representing 27% of global cases. This scholarly project was a case study guided by the political determinants of health. Triangulation of data using thematic analysis was used to identify the political determinants of malaria in Nigeria and to understand how the concept of interaction contributes to the persistence of the disease. The analysis involved a deductive and inductive approach based on the literature review and the evidence of political determinants gathered in the data. Participants’ in-depth interviews were used to collect data from frontline personnel. Data triangulation was done using thematic analysis, a method used to identify patterns and themes in qualitative data. The study findings revealed a correlation between political determinants of health and malaria management efforts in Nigeria. Some influencing factors included voting challenges, inadequate funding, lack of health priority from the government, noncompliance among patients, and hurdles to effective communication. The findings suggest a need to deliberately increase dedication to the political agenda, provide sufficient financial resources, enhance communication, and active community involvement to address the persistent malaria endemic effectively. Further study is recommended to identify interventions to address identified factors of political determinants of health to reduce malaria in Nigeria. Such intervention must involve collaboration with diverse stakeholders such as policymakers, healthcare professionals, community leaders, and researchers.

Keywords: malaria, malaria management, health worker, stakeholders, political determinant of health

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Authors: Eman G. Alayad, Mazen G. Aleyad, Mohammed Alshahrani, Ibrahim Alnaami

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Introduction: Cerebral venous thrombosis (CVT) is a rare type of cerebrovascular disease that can occur at any age. Patients with CVT commonly present with headache, focal neurological deficit, decreased level of consciousness and seizures. Many etiologic risk factors have been reported for CVT, high altitude and oral contraceptive pill some of them. Case Presentation: A 37-year-old woman living in Abha city in the southeastern area of Saudi Arabia. (about 10,000 feet-3000 m) over the sea. complaining acute onset of severe diffuse headache and generalized tonic clonic convulsions. Followed by loss of consciousness. She was on contraceptive pills for the last 3 years. No significant Medical or surgical history. Brain CT revealed subarachnoid hemorrhage, with MRI findings showing thrombosis in transvers sinus. There was no vascular malformations such as aneurysm, arteriovenous malformation (AVM), or dural arteriovenous fistula. A CVT with subarachnoid hemorrhage was our final diagnosis based on clinical presentation and radiographic findings. Discussion: Patients with CVT had evidence of cortical SAH by 10 of 233, others found 3% of SAH was caused by CVT, indicating that the presence of cortical SAH without involvement of the basal cisterns may provide an early sign of underlying CVT. However, what is more interesting in this case, is the relationship of high altitude with CVT and SAH, which previously undescribed. Conclusion: High-altitude climbing per se was described as a risk factor for the development of CVT, though its occurrence was probably rare. Whether it is primary in etiology due to high altitude induced hypercoagulable state of unknown origin or due to cerebrovascular disturbances there is a need for further investigation especially at this unusual presentation of subarachnoid hemorrhage.

Keywords: cerebral venous thrombosis, high-altitude, subarachnoid hemorrhage, stroke

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Authors: Desi Meriyanti, Delina Puspa Rosana Firdaus, Ristia Rinati

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Nowadays, the presence of free radicals become a big concern due to its negative impact to the body, which can triggers the formation of degenerative diseases such as cancer, heart disease cardiovascular, diabetic mellitus and others. Free radical oxidation can be prevented by the presence of antioxidants. Naturally, the human body produces its own antioxidants. Because of the free radicals exposure are so intense, especially from the environment, it is necessary to supply antioxidants needed from outside, through the consumption of functional foods with high antioxidant content. Gethuk is one of the traditional snacks in Indonesia. Gethuk is made from cassava with minimal processing such as boiling, destructing, and forming. Gethuk is classified as a familiar snack in the community, so it has a potential for developing, especially into a functional food. The low content of antioxidants in gethuk can be overcome with the development of a product called Gethuk Marillo. Gethuk Marillo is gethuk with the addition of natural antioxidants from mangosteen pericarp extract which has a high content of xanthones, these compounds are classified into flavonoids and act as antioxidants in the body. Gethuk Marillo served along with tamarillo fruit sauce which is also high in antioxidants such as anthocyanin. The combination between 300 grams gethuk Marillo and sauce contain flavonoid about 31% of human antioxidant needs per day. Gethuk Marillo called as a functional food because of high flavonoids content which can prevent degenerative diseases namely cancer, as many studies that the xanthone and anthocyanins compounds can effectively prevent the formation of cancer cells in human body.

Keywords: Gethuk marillo, xanthones, anthocyanin, high antioxidants, anti-cancer

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Authors: Igna Brajevic-Gizdic, Magda Pletikosa Pavić

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Introduction: Research in opiate addiction is increasingly indicating the importance of substitution therapy in opiate addicts. Opiate addiction is a chronic relapsing disease that includes craving as a criterion. Craving has been considered a predictor of a relapse, which is defined as a strong desire with an excessive need to take a substance. The study aimed to measure the intensity of craving using the VAS (visual analog scale) in opioid addicts taking Opioid Substitution Therapy (OST). Method: The total sample compromised of 30 participants in outpatient treatment. Two groups of opiate addicts were considered: Methadone-maintenance and buprenorphine-maintenance addicts. The participants completed the survey questionnaire during the outpatient treatment. Results: The results indicated high levels of cravings in patients during the treatment of OST, which is considered an important destabilization factor in abstinence. Thus, the use of methadone/buprenorphine dose should be considered. Conclusion: These findings provided an objective measurement of methadone /buprenorphine dosage and therapy options. The underdoes of OST can put patients at high risk of relapse, resulting in high levels of craving. Thus, when determining the therapeutic dose of OST, it is crucial to consider patients' cravings. This would achieve stabilization more quickly and avoid relapse in abstinence. Subjective physician assessment and patients' statement are the main criteria to determine OST dosage. Future studies should use larger sample sizes and focus on the importance of intensity craving measurement on OST to objectify methadone /buprenorphine dosage.

Keywords: buprenorphine, craving, heroin addicts, methadone, OST

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Authors: Shittu Bisi Agnes

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Studies on households’ willingness to pay for environmental and general health safety in the advent of Ebola virus Diseases in Nigeria was carried out. This is aimed at revealing the means by which the virus was eventually eradicated in Nigeria as widely claimed in the media. This study therefore attempted to determine the environmental and general health condition in the State Of Osun, how socio-economic characteristics of the people affected willingness to pay. And also provide platform for the reduction of environmental and general health problems. Data were collected with the aid of well-structured questionnaire and administer 150 randomly selected people of study area, and oral interview was also utilized. Data collected were analyzed using both descriptive tools and inferential statistics vis-a-viz regression analysis. Findings showed 92.5% of respondents was aware of ebola virus diseases outbreak in Nigeria, 8.5% was unaware of any disease outbreak. And 65.7% of respondents was strongly willing to pay for environmental and general health safety 27.1% was fairly willing, 5.7% was indifferent and 1.7% was unwilling to pay. 5% rated the level of environmental and general health condition in the area has been good, 53.6% rated theirs has been fair, 33.6% as been poor. The average willingness to pay per household per month were #500.00, #250.00, #150.00 and #100.00 respectively for the four categories. It was recommended that policy instruments to increase peoples' income will accelerate eradication of environmental and general health problems, environmental health education in form of talk shop, workshop, lectures and seminars could be organized at the political ward levels, churches, mosque, and at schools. Environmental and general health safety related information could be disseminated through mass media, market women, and functional unions.

Keywords: ebola virus diseases (EVD), socio-economic, safety, pay, Osun

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Authors: Anjelika Kremer, Irina Nachimov, Dan Justo

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Background: C-reactive protein (CRP) serum levels are commonly measured in hospitalized patients. Elevated admission CRP serum levels and in-hospital mortality has been seldom studied in the general population of elderly patients admitted to the acute Geriatrics department. Methods: A retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted at a tertiary medical center. Included were all elderly patients (age 65 years or more) admitted to a single acute Geriatrics department from the emergency room between April 2014 and January 2015. CRP serum levels were measured routinely in all patients upon the first 24 hours of admission. A logistic regression analysis was used to study if admission CRP serum levels were associated with in-hospital mortality independent of age, gender, functional status, and co-morbidities. Results: Overall, 498 elderly patients were included in the analysis: 306 (61.4%) female patients and 192 (38.6%) male patients. The mean age was 84.8±7.0 years (median: 85 years; IQR: 80-90 years). The mean admission CRP serum levels was 43.2±67.1 mg/l (median: 13.1 mg/l; IQR: 2.8-51.7 mg/l). Overall, 33 (6.6%) elderly patients died during the hospitalization. A logistic regression analysis showed that in-hospital mortality was independently associated with history of stroke (p < 0.0001), heart failure (p < 0.0001), and admission CRP serum levels (p < 0.0001) – and to a lesser extent with age (p = 0.042), collagen vascular disease (p=0.011), and recent venous thromboembolism (p=0.037). Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve showed that admission CRP serum levels predict in-hospital mortality fairly with an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.694 (p < 0.0001). Cut-off value with maximal sensitivity and specificity was 19.7 mg/L. Conclusions: Admission CRP serum levels may be used to predict in-hospital mortality in the general population of elderly patients admitted to the acute Geriatrics department.

Keywords: c-reactive protein, elderly, mortality, prediction

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Authors: Roshanak Farjad, Amirhossein Hosseini

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Fecal incontinence (FI) is a stressful condition for children and their parents that may affect the patient’s psychological well-being. Evaluating the patients’ psychological status may help physicians manage the disease effectively. This study aimed to assess the emotional and behavioral disturbances in children with FI who were referred to the pediatric gastroenterology clinic in Mofid Children’s Hospital from April 2021 to 2022. This cross-sectional study included children (over four years old) with chronic constipation and fecal incontinence. The diagnosis of chronic constipation and FI were made according to Rome-IV criteria. The Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) evaluated patients’ emotional, behavioral, and social problems. One hundred one patients with a mean age of 7.96 years were enrolled in the study; 67.32% were males. According to CBCL, 12% (12 patients) indicated emotional and behavioral problems, with CBCL scores in the clinical or at-risk range. We detected anxious/depressed problems in five (4.95%), withdrawn/depressed problems in eight (7.92%), somatic complaints in seven (6.93%), social problems in eight (7.92%), thought problems in nine (8.91%), attention problems in seven (6.93%), rule-breaking behavior in two (1.98%), and aggressive behavior in nine (8.91%) patients. The risk of internalizing and externalizing disorders was reported in four (3.96%) and five (4.95%) patients. Also, eight (7.92%) and seven (6.93%) patients had clinical symptoms of internalizing and externalizing disorders, respectively. There was no significant relationship between patients’ age and gender with the CBCL scores in any subscales. However, there was a significant difference in the total score among the age groups (P = 0.04). The relatively high prevalence of emotional, behavioral, and social problems in our study corroborates the importance of psychological screening of children with FI during the treatment process.

Keywords: chronic constipation, child behavior checklist (CBCL), fecal incontinence, rome-IV criteria

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Authors: Nurulhikma Md Isa, Intan Elya Suka, Nur Farhana Roslan, Chew Bee Lynn

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The evolutionarily conserved N-end rule pathway marks proteins for degradation by the Ubiquitin Proteosome System (UPS) based on the nature of their N-terminal residue. Proteins with a destabilizing N-terminal residue undergo a series of condition-dependent N-terminal modifications, resulting in their ubiquitination and degradation. Intensive research has been carried out in Arabidopsis previously. The group VII Ethylene Response Factor (ERFs) transcription factors are the first N-end rule pathway substrates found in Arabidopsis and their role in regulating oxygen sensing. ERFs also function as central hubs for the perception of gaseous signals in plants and control different plant developmental including germination, stomatal aperture, hypocotyl elongation and stress responses. However, nothing is known about the role of this pathway during fruit development and ripening aspect. The plant model system Arabidopsis cannot represent fleshy fruit model system therefore tomato is the best model plant to study. PROTEOLYSIS6 (PRT6) is an E3 ubiquitin ligase of the N-end rule pathway. Two homologs of PRT6 sequences have been identified in tomato genome database using the PRT6 protein sequence from model plant Arabidopsis thaliana. Homology search against Ensemble Plant database (tomato) showed Solyc09g010830.2 is the best hit with highest score of 1143, e-value of 0.0 and 61.3% identity compare to the second hit Solyc10g084760.1. Further homology search was done using NCBI Blast database to validate the data. The result showed best gene hit was XP_010325853.1 of uncharacterized protein LOC101255129 (Solanum lycopersicum) with highest score of 1601, e-value 0.0 and 48% identity. Both Solyc09g010830.2 and uncharacterized protein LOC101255129 were genes located at chromosome 9. Further validation was carried out using BLASTP program between these two sequences (Solyc09g010830.2 and uncharacterized protein LOC101255129) to investigate whether they were the same proteins represent PRT6 in tomato. Results showed that both proteins have 100 % identity, indicates that they were the same gene represents PRT6 in tomato. In addition, we used two different RNAi constructs that were driven under 35S and Polygalacturonase (PG) promoters to study the function of PRT6 during tomato developmental stages and ripening processes.

Keywords: ERFs, PRT6, tomato, ubiquitin

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Authors: Athanasios A. Gavrilidis, Mihai R. Nita, Larissa N. Stoia, Diana A. Onose

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Contemporary global environmental challenges must be primarily addressed at local levels. Cities are under continuous pressure as they must ensure high quality of life levels for their citizens and at the same time to adapt and address specific environmental issues. Innovative solutions using natural features or mimicking natural systems are endorsed by the scientific community as efficient approaches for both mitigating climate change effects and the decrease of environmental quality and for maintaining high standards of living for urban dwellers. The aim of this study was to assess whether Romanian cities’ authorities are considering nature-based innovation as solutions for their planning, management, and environmental issues. Data were gathered by applying 140 questionnaires to urban authorities throughout the country. The questionnaire was designed for assessinglocal policy makers’ perspective over the efficiency of nature-based innovations as a tool to address specific challenges. It also focused on extracting data about financing sources and challenges they must overcome for adopting nature-based approaches. The gather results from the municipalities participating in our study were statistically processed, and they revealed that Romanian city managers acknowledge the benefits of nature-based innovations, but investments in this sector are not on top of their priorities. More than 90% of the selected cities have agreed that in the last 10 years, their major concern was to expand the grey infrastructure (roads and public amenities) using traditional approaches. When asked how they would react if faced with different socio-economic and environmental challenges, local urban managers indicated investments nature-based solutions as a priority only in case of biodiversity loss and extreme weather, while for other 14 proposed scenarios, they would embrace the business-as-usual approach. Our study indicates that while new concepts of sustainable urban planning emerge within the scientific community, local authorities need more time to understand and implement them. Without the proper knowledge, personnel, policies, or dedicated budgets, local administrators will not embrace nature-based innovations as solutions for their challenges.

Keywords: nature based innovations, perception analysis, policy making, urban planning

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Authors: Sasalanka Chamara Karunanayaka Pathirannehelage, Sarah Connelly

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Background: Knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) toward the preventive aspect of COVID-19 are crucial for effective control and prevention of the disease. Sociodemographic factors can associate with KAP. This study aims to investigate KAP towards the preventive aspect of COVID-19 and associate sociodemographic factors among university nursing students at the University of Sunderland, 2021, United Kingdom. Methods: A cross-sectional online survey was conducted among 63 university nursing students between the 1st of July and the 13th of August 2021. A previously used, validated, self-administered questionnaire was applied to assess nursing students' KAP levels. Cross tabulation and chi-square were used to identify the associated sociodemographic factors with KAP. Results: Good knowledge was shown by 98.4% of respondents. 84.1 % of respondents reported positive attitudes, while 90.5% of respondents reported good practices toward the preventive aspect of COVID-19. The knowledge score of the students was significantly associated (p = 0.03) with the ethnicity of the respondents. Students' attitudes were significantly associated (p<0.05) with students' sex, student status (home student, international student), and course type (undergraduate student, postgraduate student). Student's age, student status, and course type were significantly associated (p < 0.05) with practices toward the preventive aspect of COVID-19. Conclusion: The finding of the study suggested that the university nursing student at the University of Sunderland demonstrate good knowledge, positive attitude, and good practice level towards the preventive aspect of COVID-19. Associated factors like age, sex, student status, and course type should be considered for effective strategies against COVID-19 as well as for future outbreaks.

Keywords: knowledge, attitudes, practices, nursing students

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Authors: Antarip Bhattacharya, Dhritiman Maitra

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Primary hyperparathyroidism (PHPT) is the most common cause of hypercalcemia due to autonomous production of parathormone (PTH) and the third most common endocrine disorder. Upto 2% of postmenopausal women could have this condition. Primary hyperparathyroidism is characterized by hypercalcemia with a high or insufficiently suppressed level of parathyroid hormone and is caused by a solitary parathyroid adenoma in 85-90% of patients. PHPT may also be caused by parathyroid hyperplasia (involving multiple glands) or parathyroid carcinoma. Associated morbidities and sequelae include decreased bone mineral density, fractures, kidney stones, hypertension, cardiac comorbidities and psychiatric disorder which entail huge costs for treatment. In the year 2021, by virtue of running a Breast and Endocrine Surgery clinic in a Tier 1 city at a tertiary care hospital, the opportunity to be associated with patients of hyperparathyroidism came our way. Here, we shall describe the spectrum of clinical presentations and customisation of treatment for parathyroid diseases with reference to the above patients. A retrospective analysis of the data of all patients presenting with symptoms of parathyroid diseases was made and classified according to the cause. 13 patients had presented with symptoms of hyperparathyroidism and each case presented with unique symptoms and necessitated detailed evaluation. The treatment or surgery offered to each patient was tailored to his/her individual disease and led to favourable outcomes. Diseases affecting parathyroid are not as rare as we believe. Each case merits detailed clinical evaluation, investigations and tailoring of suitable treatment with regard to medical management and extent of surgery. Intra-operative frozen section/iOPTH monitoring are really useful adjuncts for intra-operative decision making.

Keywords: hyperparathyroidism, parathyroid adenoma, parathyroid surgery, PTH

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Authors: Irene H. Maralit

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Warning labels have been found to inform smokers about the health hazards of smoking, encourage smokers to quit, and prevent nonsmokers from starting to smoke. Warning labels on tobacco products are an ideal way of communicating with smokers. Since the intervention is delivered at the time of smoking, nearly all smokers are exposed to warning labels and pack-a-day smokers could be exposed to the warnings more than 7,000 times per year. Given the reach and frequency of exposure, the proponents want to know the effect of warning labels on smoking behavior. Its aims to identify the profile of the smokers associated with its behavioral variables that best describe the users’ perception. The behavioral variables are AVOID, THINK RISK and FORGO. This research study aims to determine if there is significant relationship between the effect of warning labels on cigarette package on Consumer behavior when grouped according to profile variable. The researcher used quota sampling to gather representative data through purposive means to determine the accurate representation of data needed in the study. Furthermore, the data was gathered through the use of a self-constructed questionnaire. The statistical method used were Frequency count, Chi square, multi regression, weighted mean and ANOVA to determine the scale and percentage of the three variables. After the analysis of data, results shows that most of the respondents belongs to age range 22–28 years old with percentage of 25.3%, majority are male with a total number of 134 with percentage of 89.3% and single with total number of 79 and percentage of 52.7%, mostly are high school graduates with total number of 59 and percentage of 39.3, with regards to occupation, skilled workers have the highest frequency of 37 with 24.7%, Majority of the income of the respondents falls under the range of Php 5,001-Php10,000 with 50.7%. And also with regards to the number of sticks consumed per day falls under 6–10 got the highest frequency with 33.3%. The respondents THINK RISK factor got the highest composite mean which is 2.79 with verbal interpretation of agree. It is followed by FORGO with 2.78 composite mean and a verbal interpretation of agree and AVOID variable with composite mean of 2.77 with agree as its verbal interpretation. In terms of significant relationship on the effects of cigarette label to consumer behavior when grouped according to profile variable, sex and occupation found to be significant.

Keywords: consumer behavior, smokers, warning labels, think risk avoid forgo

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Authors: Miriam Borchardt, Agata M. Ritter, Macaliston G. da Silva, Mauricio N. de Carvalho, Giancarlo M. Pereira

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This paper aims to analyze the barriers faced by social enterprises and based on that to propose a social business model framework that helps them to leverage their businesses and the social value delivered. A business model for social enterprises should amplify the value perception including social value for the beneficiaries while generating enough profit to escalate the business. Most of the social value beneficiaries are people from the base of the economic pyramid (BOP) or the ones that have specific needs. Because of this, products and services should be affordable to consumers while solving social needs of the beneficiaries. Developing products and services with social value require tie relationship among the social enterprises and universities, public institutions, accelerators, and investors. Despite being focused on social value and contributing to the beneficiaries’ quality of life as well as contributing to the governments that cannot properly guarantee public services and infrastructure to the BOP, many barriers are faced by the social enterprises to escalate their businesses. This is a work in process and five micro- and small-sized social enterprises in Brazil have been studied: (i) one has developed a kit for cervical uterine cancer detection to allow the BOP women to collect their own material and deliver to a laboratory for U$1,00; (ii) other has developed special products without lactose and it is about 70% cheaper than the traditional brands in the market; (iii) the third has developed prosthesis and orthosis to surplus needs that health public system have not done efficiently; (iv) the fourth has produced and commercialized menstrual panties aiming to reduce the consumption of dischargeable ones while saving money to the consumers; (v) the fifth develops and commercializes clothes from fabric wastes in a partnership with BOP artisans. The preliminary results indicate that the main barriers are related to the public system to recognize these products as public money that could be saved if they bought products from these enterprises instead of the multinational pharmaceutical companies, to the traditional distribution system (e.g. pharmacies) that avoid these products because of the low or non-existing profit, to the difficulty buying raw material in small quantities, to leverage investment by the investors, to cultural barriers and taboos. Interesting strategies to reduce the costs have been observed: some enterprises have focused on simplifying products, others have invested in partnerships with local producers and have developed their machines focusing on process efficiency to leverage investment by the investors.

Keywords: base of the pyramid, business model, social business, social business model, social enterprises

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Authors: Bahman Gorjian

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The notorious COVID-19 is known as an illness that is caused by a novel coronavirus. Since its breakthrough, most governments have decided to temporarily close educational institutions in an attempt to reduce the spread of this disease. Distance education in Iran, like other countries, started from the beginning of the pandemic and caused the closure of schools and universities as an immediate response to control the spread of the virus. The present study followed two aims: First, to investigate if Iraqi M.A students majoring in TEFL who have been studying in Iranian universities during the pandemic believe that COVID-19 had negative/positive effects on their educational achievement; and second, to find how frequently these Iraqi M.A students have experienced psychological problems (e.g., anxiety, numbness, nightmares, nervousness) during the COVID-19. The participants were both male and female students who were admitted for M.A. TEFL courses at 4 Iranian Universities (Abadan Brach, Ahvaz Branch, Science and Research Branch, and Shiraz Branch of Islamic Azad University) for the winter academic term of 2020. The start of their classes coincided with the global outbreak of COVID-19. They were invited to take part in the present study through snowball sampling and were asked to provide their views on two questionnaires. The instruments used for gathering the data were the educational achievement questionnaire and self-rating anxiety scale. The results of the analysis suggested that the participants believed in the negative effects of COVID-19 on their education; the results also suggested COVID-19 affected participants’ psychological states. The discussed findings may have implications for international students and experts interested in the online education system.

Keywords: COVID-19, distance education, Iraqi M.A. students, teaching English as a foreign language, educational impacts, psychological impacts

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