Antimicrobial prescribing in referral hospitals in Timor-Leste: results of the first two national point prevalence surveys, 2020-21.

Objectives: To describe antimicrobial use (AMU) in patients admitted to hospitals in Timor-Leste.

Methods: In 2020 and 2021, we undertook antimicrobial prescribing point prevalence surveys across all six hospitals in Timor-Leste (one national and five municipal) to describe AMU and appropriateness in admitted patients.

Results: In 2020, 291/394 (73.

Multi-Step Internet Traffic Forecasting Models with Variable Forecast Horizons for Proactive Network Management.

The ISP (Internet Service Provider) industry relies heavily on internet traffic forecasting (ITF) for long-term business strategy planning and proactive network management. Effective ITF frameworks are necessary to manage these networks and prevent network congestion and over-provisioning. This study introduces an ITF model designed for proactive network management.

Is Education Alone Enough to Sustain Improvements of Antimicrobial Stewardship in General Practice in Australia? Results of an Intervention Follow-Up Study.

Sustained behaviour change and practice improvements for the optimal use of antimicrobials remains challenging in primary care. In 2018, a simple antimicrobial stewardship education programme involving guideline recommendations for common infections, antimicrobial audit reports, and local antibiograms resulted in significant improvements in guideline compliance and more appropriate antimicrobial prescribing by GPs. This observational follow-up study aims to examine the sustainability of the positive intervention effect after two years of implementation of the intervention.

Towards an Optimized Ensemble Feature Selection for DDoS Detection Using Both Supervised and Unsupervised Method.

With recent advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) and next-generation communication technologies, the demand for Internet-based applications and intelligent digital services is increasing, leading to a significant rise in cyber-attacks such as Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS). AI-based DoS detection systems promise adequate identification accuracy with lower false alarms, significantly associated with the data quality used to train the model. Several works have been proposed earlier to select optimum feature subsets for better model generalization and faster learning.

A Novel GPPAS Model: Guiding the Implementation of Antimicrobial Stewardship in Primary Care Utilising Collaboration between General Practitioners and Community Pharmacists.

Interprofessional collaboration between general practitioners (GPs) and community pharmacists (CPs) is central to implement antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) programmes in primary care. This study aimed to design a GP/pharmacist antimicrobial stewardship (GPPAS) model for primary care in Australia. An exploratory study design was followed that included seven studies conducted from 2017 to 2021 for the development of the GPPAS model.

A side-sensitive synthetic chart for the multivariate coefficient of variation.

Control charts for the coefficient of variations (γ) are receiving increasing attention as it is able to monitor the stability in the ratio of the standard deviation (σ) over the mean (μ), unlike conventional charts that monitor the μ and/or σ separately. A side-sensitive synthetic (SS) chart for monitoring γ was recently developed for univariate processes. The chart outperforms the non-side-sensitive synthetic (NSS) γ chart.

A systems thinking approach for antimicrobial stewardship in primary care.

Introduction: The establishment of antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) in primary care is central to substantially reduce the antimicrobial use and the associated risk of resistance. This perspective piece highlights the importance of systems thinking to set up and facilitate AMS programs in primary care.

Areas Covered: The challenges that primary care faces to incorporate AMS programmes is multifactorial: an implementation framework, relevant resources, team composition, and system structures remain under-researched, and these issues are often overlooked and/or neglected in most parts of the world.

Use and performance of machine learning models for type 2 diabetes prediction in clinical and community care settings: Protocol for a systematic review and meta-analysis of predictive modeling studies.

Objective: Machine learning involves the use of algorithms without explicit instructions. Of late, machine learning models have been widely applied for the prediction of type 2 diabetes. However, no evidence synthesis of the performance of these prediction models of type 2 diabetes is available.

Antimicrobial stewardship in Australia: the role of qualitative research in programme development.

Antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) in Australia is supported by a number of factors, including enabling national policies, sectoral clinical governance frameworks and surveillance programmes, clinician-led educational initiatives and health services research. A One Health research programme undertaken by the National Centre for Antimicrobial Stewardship (NCAS) in Australia has combined antimicrobial prescribing surveillance with qualitative research focused on developing antimicrobial use-related situational analyses and scoping AMS implementation options across healthcare settings, including metropolitan hospitals, regional and rural hospitals, aged care homes, general practice clinics and companion animal and agricultural veterinary practices. Qualitative research involving clinicians across these diverse settings in Australia has contributed to improved understanding of contextual factors that influence antimicrobial prescribing, and barriers and facilitators of AMS implementation.

Development of an antimicrobial stewardship implementation model involving collaboration between general practitioners and pharmacists: GPPAS study in Australian primary care.

Background: Rising antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in primary care is a growing concern and a threat to community health. The rise of AMR can be slowed down if general practitioners (GPs) and community pharmacists (CPs) could work as a team to implement antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) programs for optimal use of antimicrobial(s). However, the evidence supporting a GP pharmacist collaborative AMS implementation model (GPPAS) in primary care remains limited.

Divergent and Convergent Attitudes and Views of General Practitioners and Community Pharmacists to Collaboratively Implement Antimicrobial Stewardship Programs in Australia: A Nationwide Study.

Setting up an interprofessional team for antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) to improve the quality and safety of antimicrobial use in primary care is essential but challenging. This study aimed to investigate the convergent and divergent attitudes and views of general practitioners (GPs) and community pharmacists (CPs) about AMS implementation and their perceived challenges of collaboration to design a GP-pharmacist collaborative AMS (GPPAS) model. Nationwide surveys of GPs and CPs across Australia were conducted January-October 2019.

Antimicrobial stewardship by Australian community pharmacists: Uptake, collaboration, challenges, and needs.

Objective: To assess community pharmacists' (CPs') awareness and uptake of evidence-based antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) strategies, attitudes toward collaboration with general practitioners (GPs), and needs to improve AMS practices.

Methods: A nationwide survey of randomly sampled community pharmacies across Australia was conducted in April-October 2019.

Results: The response rate of CPs was 30.

A Nationwide Survey of Australian General Practitioners on Antimicrobial Stewardship: Awareness, Uptake, Collaboration with Pharmacists and Improvement Strategies.

Implementing antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) programs is central to optimise antimicrobial use in primary care. This study aims to assess general practitioners' (GPs') awareness of AMS, uptake of AMS strategies, attitudes towards GP-pharmacist collaboration in AMS and future AMS improvement strategies. A paper-based survey of nationally representative GPs across Australia was conducted in 2019.

Knowledge, Perceptions and Practices of Community Pharmacists Towards Antimicrobial Stewardship: A Systematic Scoping Review.

The scope of antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) surveys on community pharmacists (CPs) is uncertain. This study examines the breadth and quality of AMS survey tools measuring the stewardship knowledge, perceptions and practices (KPP) of CPs and analyse survey outcomes. Following PRISMA-ScR checklist and Arksey and O'Malley's methodological framework seven medical databases were searched.

Effectiveness of interventions involving pharmacists on antibiotic prescribing by general practitioners: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: The use of community antibiotic stewardship programmes (ASPs) is rising; however, their effectiveness when pharmacists are involved is uncertain.

Objectives: To assess the effectiveness of ASPs involving pharmacists at improving antibiotic prescribing by general practitioners (GPs).

Methods: Medline, Embase, Emcare, PubMed, PsycINFO, Cochrane CENTRAL, CINAHL Plus and Web of Science databases were searched to February 2018.

Improving antibiotic prescribing by general practitioners: a protocol for a systematic review of interventions involving pharmacists.

Introduction: Effective antibiotic options in general practice for patients with infections are declining significantly due to antibiotic over-prescribing and emerging antibiotic resistance. To better improve antibiotic prescribing by general practitioner (GP), pharmacist-GP collaborations have been promoted under antibiotic stewardship programmes. However, there is insufficient information about whether and how pharmacists help GPs to more appropriately prescribe antibiotics.

Synthesis, Characterization and Comparison of Local Analgesic, Anti-Inflammatory, Anti-Ulcerogenic Activity of Copper and Zinc Complexes of Indomethacin.

Background: Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID) exert gastrointestinal upset by inhibiting mucosal cyclooxygenase (COX) activity and complexation technique with metals has been adopted to overcome this drawback.

Objective: The study aimed to overcome the gastrointestinal side effects associated with indomethacin treatment by synthesizing copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn) complexes of indomethacin along with assessing potential pharmacological effects of these complexes.

Method: The characterization of synthesized complexes was done by FT-IR, XRD, UV-Vis, Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy (AAS) and Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC).

Biochemical alterations and liver toxicity analysis with pioglitazone in healthy subjects.

Pioglitazone, a member of the thiazolidinediones, is a potent, highly selective agonist for peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma and is an excellent insulin sensitizer used in treating type 2 diabetes mellitus. The present study investigated the effect of pioglitazone on glucose, total cholesterol, triglyceride, low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol and high density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, total proteins, albumin (ALB), alanine transaminase (ALT), and aspartate transaminase (AST) levels in 20 healthy Bengali male volunteers in a randomized, placebo-controlled study. Blood samples were collected before and 0.

Familial aggregation of Vibrio cholerae-associated infection in Matlab, Bangladesh.

Vibrio cholerae is a major cause of diarrhoeal illness in endemic regions, such as Bangladesh. Understanding the factors that determine an individual's susceptibility to infection due to V. cholerae may lead to improved prevention and control strategies.

The effect of temperature on mortality in rural Bangladesh--a population-based time-series study.

Background: Studies in urban cities have consistently shown evidence of increased mortality in association with hot and cold weather. However, few studies have examined temperature-mortality relationship in the rural areas of developing countries. In this study we therefore aimed to characterize the daily temperature-mortality relationships in rural Bangladesh.