Objectives: To evaluate the level of empathy among medical students in Kuwait University Medical School and its association with sociodemographic factors, stress levels and personality. Subjects and Methods: A cross-sectional survey of 264 medical students was conducted in the Faculty of Medicine, Kuwait University. Empathy levels were measured using the Jefferson Scale, personality was assessed using the Zuckerman-Kuhlman Personality Scale and the Perceived Stress Scale was used to measure stress levels. Factors associated with empathy were evaluated using t test/ANOVA for categorical variables and correlation for continuous predictors. Results: Mean empathy score was 104.6 ± 16.3. Empathy scores were significantly associated with gender, year of study, mother's level of education, household income, satisfactory relationship with the mother and stress levels. Male medical students in their clinical years also had significantly lower empathy levels. However, factors such as grade point average, desired specialty, marital status of parents, father's educational level and relationship with father were not significantly (p > 0.05) associated with levels of empathy. Stress scores were significantly and positively associated with empathy (r = 0.13; p = 0.041). Conclusion: Medical students in Kuwait University had low empathy level and this may be a cause for concern; as such we suggest a possible inclusion of emphasis on empathy in the curriculum.
The present study involves the integrated network pharmacology and phytoinformatics-based investigation of phytocompounds from Ocimum tenuiflorum against diabetes mellitus-linked Alzheimer’s disease. It aims to investigate the mechanism of the Ocimum tenuiflorum phytocompounds in the amelioration of diabetes mellitus-linked Alzheimer’s disease through network pharmacology, druglikeness and pharmacokinetics, molecular docking simulations, GO analysis, molecular dynamics simulations, and binding free energy analyses. A total of 14 predicted genes of the 26 orally bioactive compounds were identified. Among these 14 genes, GAPDH and AKT1 were the most significant. The network analysis revealed the AGE-RAGE signaling pathway to be a prominent pathway linked to GAPDH with 50.53% probability. Upon the molecular docking simulation with GAPDH, isoeugenol was found to possess the most significant binding affinity (−6.0 kcal/mol). The molecular dynamics simulation and binding free energy calculation results also predicted that isoeugenol forms a stable protein–ligand complex with GAPDH, where the phytocompound is predicted to chiefly use van der Waal’s binding energy (−159.277 kj/mol). On the basis of these results, it can be concluded that isoeugenol from Ocimum tenuiflorum could be taken for further in vitro and in vivo analysis, targeting GAPDH inhibition for the amelioration of diabetes mellitus-linked Alzheimer’s disease.
BackgroundThe declaration of poliomyelitis eradication as a programmatic emergency for global public health by the 65th World Health Assembly in 2012 necessitated innovations and strategies to achieve results. Review of the confirmed polio cases in 2013 showed that most of the cases were from non-compliant households, where parents connived with vaccinators to finger mark the children without actually vaccinating the children with oral polio vaccine or children were absent from home at the time of the visit of vaccinators.MethodsWe used pre-post design to quantify the outcomes of directly observed vaccination in 90 local government areas from 12 northern Nigeria states at very high risk of polio transmission.The strategy is an intervention, vaccinating children under the direct supervision of an independent supervisor to ensure compliance. Attractive incentives (pluses) were used to make parents willingly submit their children for vaccination or directly attract children to the vaccination teams or post as part of this strategy.ResultsThere was a steady increase in population immunity in all the 90 DOPV implementing LGAs since the introduction of DOPV in 2013. The number of states in which > 90% of children received > 4 OPV doses increased from 7 in 2013 to 11 states by July 2016.Yobe state reported the highest proportional increase from 75 to 99% by July 2016 (22% increase), while Kano state reported 17% increase, from 82 to 99% by July 2016.ConclusionDirectly observed polio vaccination strategy improved uptake of polio vaccines and population immunity in high-risk areas for polio transmission.
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