The history of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) evolution and the diversity of the environmental resistome indicate that AMR is an ancient natural phenomenon. Acquired resistance is a public health concern influenced by the anthropogenic use of antibiotics, leading to the selection of resistant genes. Data show that AMR is spreading globally at different rates, outpacing all efforts to mitigate this crisis. The search for new antibiotic classes is one of the key strategies in the fight against AMR. Since the 1980s, newly marketed antibiotics were either modifications or improvements of known molecules. The World Health Organization (WHO) describes the current pipeline as bleak, and warns about the scarcity of new leads. A quantitative and qualitative analysis of the pre-clinical and clinical pipeline indicates that few antibiotics may reach the market in a few years, predominantly not those that fit the innovative requirements to tackle the challenging spread of AMR. Diversity and innovation are the mainstays to cope with the rapid evolution of AMR. The discovery and development of antibiotics must address resistance to old and novel antibiotics. Here, we review the history and challenges of antibiotics discovery and describe different innovative new leads mechanisms expected to replenish the pipeline, while maintaining a promising possibility to shift the chase and the race between the spread of AMR, preserving antibiotic effectiveness, and meeting innovative leads requirements.

Background Psoriasis is a relatively common inflammatory skin disease with systemic implications. Psoriasis data seem to arise from a select number of countries, while other areas in the world with different genetics and ethnicities, especially Arab countries have a questionable input. Aim This study aims to quantitatively assess Arab countries contributions in psoriasis research. Methods The number of publications related to psoriasis for each of the 22 Arab countries was found on PubMed for every year between 2004 and 2019, and then, the total for each country was normalised according to three parameters: average population, Gross Domestic Product and psoriasis disability‐adjusted life years. In addition, the number of psoriasis articles was also retrieved for 2 other groups: South America and Far East Asia, for comparison. Results Only 1.53% of all psoriasis research published between 2004 and 2019 originates from Arab countries (vs. 2.06% from South American countries and 13.2% from Far East Asian countries), and psoriasis articles make up only 0.15% of the total publications from Arab countries (vs. 0.10% for both South American and Far East Asian countries). Egypt scored the highest number of psoriasis‐related articles and accounted on its own for almost half the number of psoriasis publications (47.9%) from Arab countries. When normalised according to the 3 parameters, other Arab countries also rose to prominence; Kuwait had the highest number of publications per million persons, and Tunisia had the highest number of publications per GDP. However, Egypt ranked once again first as having the highest number of publications per 1% psoriasis‐related DALY. Among the three parameters, the average population size proved to be the most strongly correlated with the number of psoriasis publications in a given country. Conclusion There is an incontestable need for more research related to psoriasis in Arab countries as the numbers are still very low reflecting many difficulties standing In the way of research in general in the Arab world.

Objective The authors aimed to assess the attitudes towards psychiatry of all Lebanese medical students, as well as the factors that could have led to these attitudes, whether favorable or not. Methods In this cross-sectional study, the authors ran a questionnaire among a sample of Lebanese medical students from all medical faculties, regions in Lebanon, and years of medical school, using the ATP-30 scale and the WHO-5 well-being index. The answers from the 607 participants were statistically analyzed on SPSS version 23.0. Results Among participants, 95.1% had a positive attitude towards psychiatry, reflecting a favorable outlook among Lebanese medical students overall. The average ATP-30 score in our sample was 111.95 out of 150 (SD = 12.55), which is in the range of countries of higher socio-economic level such as Germany and Switzerland. Also, 26.5% of participants reported that they consider psychiatry as a potential career choice. No demographic factor had any influence on the ATP-30 score. In the multivariate analysis, only two factors resulted in favorable attitudes: exposure to a patient with a diagnosed psychiatric illness in the student’s surroundings and a lower WHO-5 well-being index. Conclusion This study’s results do not fit into the traditional “developed vs. developing countries” paradigm. However, Lebanon still has a lot of challenges to face in order to provide quality mental healthcare.

Background: Neurodegenerative diseases are disorders in which nerve cells start to lose function due to different causes. Like many other illnesses, they are considered to be highly prevalent in the 22 Arabicspeaking countries known to constitute the Arab world. The two most prevalent neurodegenerative disorders are Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease.Aim: The aim of this paper is to assess the amount of research dedicated to neurodegenerative diseases by the Arab countries during a 15-year period, between 2005 and 2019.Methods: The number of publications by each Arab country as well as some non-Arab speaking countries was retrieved from PubMed. Publications in top 10 neuroscience journals were also tracked using the same method with each journal's name included. The numbers were then normalized with respect to the average population and average gross domestic product (GDP) in each country to eliminate bias.Results: Arab countries were shown to contribute only 1,311 (0.774%) of the 169,330 articles published worldwide on neurodegenerative disorders. These 1,311 also constitute only 0.660% of the 198,869 Arab publications during the indicated period. Saudi Arabia had the highest contribution to these numbers with more than one-quarter the number of publications on neurodegenerative disorders. Approximately onethird of all neurodegenerative disease-related articles were associated with Alzheimer's disease, whereas one-fifth were related to Parkinson's disease. For the top 10 neuroscience journals, only a minimal contribution by Arab countries was noted. Conclusion:Although an increase in the number of articles by the Arab world was noted from 2013 onward, the contribution of the Arab countries on the subject to the number of publications still seems to be insufficient.

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