Publications by authors named "Afrah"

Background: The P300 signal, an endogenous component of event-related potentials, is extracted from an electroencephalography signal and employed in Brain-computer Interface (BCI) devices.

Objective: The current study aimed to address challenges in extracting useful features from P300 components and detecting P300 through a hybrid unsupervised manner based on Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) and Long Short-term Memory (LSTM).

Material And Methods: In this cross-sectional study, CNN as a useful method for the P300 classification task emphasizes spatial characteristics of data.

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Article Synopsis
  • A female neonate born to consanguineous parents exhibited severe hyperparathyroidism (NSHPT) after a C-section, showing signs of respiratory distress and skeletal abnormalities following birth.
  • Diagnostic challenges included elevated calcium levels and a homozygous variant in the calcium-sensing receptor (CaSR) gene, leading to the establishment of NSHPT.
  • Management of NSHPT is critical due to its high mortality risk; treatment options typically involve addressing the high calcium levels and associated metabolic issues.
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Objective: Hospitals in India use the National Accreditation Board for Hospitals and Healthcare Providers guidelines as criteria to ensure safe prescribing practices. This audit was conducted to provide insight into in-patient prescription of drugs to (1) evaluate the quality of prescriptions (2) reduce prescription and medication errors (3) improve the quality of care in terms of prescriptions that the hospital provides to the patient.

Methods: The cross-sectional study was conducted in an in-patient department of a tertiary care teaching hospital in Chennai where 153 paper-based prescriptions were continuously collected from the internal medicine department over 1 month.

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Background Telemedicine is an emerging concept that involves the use of electronic information and communications technologies to provide and support healthcare. This study aimed to assess the knowledge and attitudes of family medicine residents toward telemedicine in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Methodology This was a cross-sectional observational study using a self-administered questionnaire distributed among family medicine residents in Saudi Arabia.

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Crude glycerol (CG) is a major byproduct of biodiesel production. Most of it cannot be utilized due to major impurities. The CG generally contains alkalis, which generate the residual salts in a series of its purification stages.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study investigates the effects of long COVID, defined as symptoms persisting for over 12 weeks post-infection, and how it impacts general health and psychosocial well-being.
  • Out of 300 participants, 155 had COVID-19, with 54 (35%) experiencing long COVID symptoms, primarily muscle problems and fatigue.
  • The findings indicate significant perceived stress among participants, with suggestions for further research on long COVID effects and the need for ongoing support for those affected in Pakistan.
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Background: The N100, an early auditory event-related potential, has been found to be altered in patients with psychosis. However, it is unclear if the N100 is a psychosis endophenotype that is also altered in the relatives of patients.

Methods: We conducted a family study using the auditory oddball paradigm to compare the N100 amplitude and latency across 243 patients with psychosis, 86 unaffected relatives, and 194 controls.

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The COVID-19 outbreak has emerged as one of the most profound medical events of the 21st century, leaving an indelible impact on a global scale. The widespread prevalence causing significant illness and death needs collaborative and inventive efforts to deal with this challenge. One of the particular subset of the general population that had endured a significant impact was the pregnant population.

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Aim: To outline the variations in morphology and a few clinically relevant morphometric parameters of the sacral hiatus.

Material And Methods: The study included 50 dry human sacra, of unspecified sex, in the Department of Anatomy at a medical college in South India. The sex was determined using the sacral, auricular and curvature index.

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Ixodid ticks are one of the major health constraints on small ruminant productivity and contribute to significant economic losses in Somalia. An across-sectional study was conducted from November 2019 through December 2020 to identify hard tick species and determine the prevalence of tick infestation in small ruminants in the Benadir region, Somalia. Ticks were identified at the genera and species level by using morphological identification keys under a stereomicroscope.

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Heavy metals are defined by their long biological half-life and non-biodegradability in the environment and the human body. Thus, they can accumulate in considerable amounts within soil-plant-food chains, presenting a potential health risk to humans. This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to investigate the prevalence and mean levels of heavy metals (As, Cd, Hg, and Pb) in red meat globally.

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With the COVID-19 pandemic spreading across the world, its disruptive effect on the provision and utilization of non- COVID related health services have become well-documented. As countries developed mitigation strategies to help continue the delivery of essential health services through the pandemic, they needed to carefully weigh the benefits and risks of pursuing these strategies. In an attempt to assist countries in their mitigation efforts, a Benefit-Risk model was designed to provide guidance on how to compare the health benefits of sustained essential reproductive, maternal, newborn and child (RMNCH) services against the risk of SARS-CoV-2 infections incurred by the countries' populations when accessing these services.

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Background: Accurate mortality data associated with infectious diseases such as coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) are often unavailable in countries with fragile health systems such as Somalia. We compared officially reported COVID-19 deaths in Somalia with COVID-19 deaths estimated using verbal autopsy.

Methods: We interviewed relatives of deceased persons to collect information on symptoms, cause, and place of death.

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Background: Schistosomiasis is the second major human parasitic disease next to malaria, in terms of socioeconomic and public health consequences, especially in sub-Saharan Africa. () is a trematode and one of the species of that cause urogenital schistosomiasis (urinary schistosomiasis). Although the knowledge of this disease has improved over the years, there are still endemic areas, with most of the reported cases in Africa, including Ghana.

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Background: In endemic regions of sub-Saharan Africa, malaria during pregnancy (MiP) is a major preventable cause of maternal and infant morbidity and mortality. Current recommended MiP prevention and control includes intermittent preventive treatment (IPTp), distribution of insecticide-treated bed nets (ITNs) and appropriate case management. This article explores the social and cultural context to the uptake of these interventions at four sites across Africa.

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Background: In sub-Saharan Africa, the burden of morbidity and mortality linked to malaria during pregnancy (MiP) is significant and compounded by its unclear symptoms and links with other health problems during pregnancy. Mindful of the biomedical and social complexity of MiP, this article explores and compares local understandings of MiP and their links with other pregnancy-related health problems.

Methods: A comparative qualitative study was undertaken at four sites in three countries: Ghana, Malawi and Kenya.

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Background: Antenatal care (ANC) is a key strategy to improve maternal and infant health. However, survey data from sub-Saharan Africa indicate that women often only initiate ANC after the first trimester and do not achieve the recommended number of ANC visits. Drawing on qualitative data, this article comparatively explores the factors that influence ANC attendance across four sub-Saharan African sites in three countries (Ghana, Kenya and Malawi) with varying levels of ANC attendance.

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Malaria in pregnancy (MiP) is associated with increased risks of maternal and foetal complications. The WHO recommends a package of interventions including intermittent preventive treatment (IPT) with sulphadoxine-pyrimethamine (SP), insecticide-treated nets and effective case management. However, with increasing SP resistance, the effectiveness of SP-IPT has been questioned.

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Background: Malaria in pregnancy is associated with increased risks of maternal and foetal complications. Currently, intermittent preventive treatment (IPT) of malaria during pregnancy with sulphadoxine-pyrimethamine (SP) is recommended by the WHO as part of a package of interventions also including insecticide-treated nets and effective case management. However, with increasing resistance to SP, the effectiveness of SP-IPT has been questioned.

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Long-term potentiation (LTP) in wide dynamic range (WDR) neurons in the dorsal horn has been suggested to contribute to central sensitization and the development of chronic pain. Indirect experimental evidence indicates an involvement of substance P (SP), in this respect. The aim of the present study was to monitor the extracellular level of substance P-like immunoreactivity (SP-LI) in the dorsal horn of the rat during and after induction of LTP in WDR neurons in vivo.

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Article Synopsis
  • * Capsaicin (50 or 100 microM) significantly increased SP-LI levels, with a notable eight-fold rise at 50 microM.
  • * The release of SP-LI at 50 microM capsaicin was blocked by an NMDA antagonist, suggesting its dependency on NMDA receptor activation, whereas this was not the case at 100 microM capsaicin, indicating a complex interaction.
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Morphine and other opioid agonists induce spinal in vivo release of cholecystokinin (CCK), a neuropeptide with anti-opioid properties. However, so far the opioid receptor subtype responsible for this effect has not been determined. In the present in vivo microdialysis study, the morphine-induced release of cholecystokinin-like immunoreactivity (CCK-LI) in the dorsal horn was completely blocked by the delta-opioid antagonist naltrindole (10 microM in the perfusion fluid).

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The gene expression of cholecystokinin (CCK), a neuropeptide with anti-opioid properties, has been reported to be upregulated in some primary sensory neurons after a peripheral nerve lesion. We have recently demonstrated that the upregulation of CCK mRNA is not accompanied by an increased potassium-evoked release CCK-like immunoreactivity (CCK-LI) 2-4 weeks after a complete transection of the sciatic nerve. The potassium-evoked release of CCK-LI at earlier and later time points has, however, not been studied.

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Previous studies indicate that an increased release of cholecystokinin (CCK) in response to morphine administration may counteract opioid-induced analgesia at the spinal level. In the present study we used in vivo microdialysis to demonstrate that systemic administration of antinociceptive doses of morphine (1-5 mg/kg, s.c.

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[Psychiatry in Somalia].

Psychiatr Neurol Med Psychol (Leipz)

June 1982

After a short description of the psychiatric clinic in Mogadishu and the treatment methods, cultural questions and the role of the medicine-men are discussed. The incorporation of the traditional forms of family solidarity, the ways of life and religion into the psychiatric treatment methods is attached the respective importance. In the analysis of the patients according to the international classification of diseases, seven diagnostic groups were worked out.

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