Knowledge, Attitude, and Practices of Unused Medications Disposal among Patients Visiting Public Health Centers in Gondar Town, Ethiopia: A Cross-Sectional Study

Background. The improvement of healthcare systems has brought the subsequent increase in people access to medications. The consumers are not able to use all the dispensed medications because of various reasons. The improper disposal of these unused medicines has led to environmental contamination to an alarming extent. Therefore, the study was conducted to assess the knowledge, attitude, and practice of unused medications disposal among patients visiting public health centers in Gondar town, Ethiopia. Methods. A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among 404 patients visiting public health centers in Gondar town, Ethiopia, from August to September 2021, by using standardized and a locally translated semistructured questionnaire. The data were entered and analyzed by using the SPSS version of 21.0. The variable of interest was described in the form of statements and tables. Result. Out of 404 respondents included in the study, 221 (54.7%) of them were female. More than half (226 (55.9%)) of the respondents had unused medicine at home. The common methods of disposal practice were throwing into a household garbage (150 (31.4%)), followed by flushed into toilet/sinks (88 (21.8%)). More than half (286 (70.8%)) of the respondents knew about medication waste and 239 (59.2%) of them checked their medication expiry date. More than half (215 (53.5%)) of the participants strongly agreed that unused medicine can cause potential risk at home and 279 (69.1%) of study participants strongly agreed that children are more vulnerable to the potential risk of unused medicine at home. Conclusion. There was a high practice of keeping medication at home, and most disposal approach indicated by the participants was not recommended methods. Awareness about the proper disposal of unused medicines among the public should be created. Guidelines on safe disposal are required, and an organized method of collecting unused and expired pharmaceuticals needs to be introduced.

Knowledge and Attitude towards Label Claim and Health Benefits of Dark Chocolates among Customers of Oman—Cross-Sectional Survey

Dark chocolate is one of the most studied foods in the recent period due to its potential effects and health benefits. Admittedly, people's attitudes and acceptance of dark chocolate are still unknown. The cross-sectional study was aimed to determine the usage and effect of dark chocolate on health. It also aimed to study the attitude of young adults in Oman towards the consumption of dark chocolate and to discover the most preferred brands of DC in the Omani market. The study was conducted from spring 2020 to Fall 2021 in Oman. Two types of surveys were conducted. Firstly, a product survey was done to compare some brands according to the price, ingredient, expiry date, and country of origin. Secondly, across sectional-based survey was done focusing on the health benefits of consuming dark chocolate. Three hundred and forty-five (345) respondents participated in completing this survey. The results proved that many people are now aware of the health benefits of dark chocolate. The majority of the participants expressed their knowledge of the health aspect of dark chocolate and their interest in choosing the best product by examining the ingredients - especially the cocoa percentage- of the product before purchasing.

Women’s experiences on the use of Implanon as a contraceptive method in a selected primary healthcare facility in KwaZulu-Natal

Background: The South African department of health recently introduced subdermal Implanon contraceptive implant with the aim to reduce teenage pregnancy and maternal mortality. First used in all public healthcare facilities across the country since early 2014, this method of contraception has been described as highly effective. However, some women have reported unbearable side effects, forcing them to remove the contraceptive implant early before its expiry date. Negligible emphasis has been placed on staff training and development to equip the nurses with new protocol and policies on Implanon.Objectives: The objective of this study was to explore experiences of women using Implanon as method of contraception at a selected primary healthcare facility in KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa.Methods: A qualitative, descriptive and exploratory study design was used. A purposive sampling technique was used and a sample of seven women aged between 15 and 50 years was selected for this study. Semi-structured interviews were used in the data collection process. The Tesch’s method for data coding and data analysis was utilised. Necessary ethical measures were taken to ensure that the study is trustworthy. The study was conducted at Community Health Centre, KwaZulu-Natal between June 2017 and December 2018.Results: The findings showed that some participants were still willing to continue using this method of contraception regardless of the unwanted side effects. Major side effects reported were heavy menstrual bleeding, pain and discomfort, weight loss, insomnia and decreased sexual interest, which resulted in most participants stopping the use of Implanon.Conclusion: Most of the participants’ experience unwanted side effects because of poor screening, counselling and support. There is a clear demand to develop a screening tool and facilitate training of healthcare workers when initiating the use of Implanon.

Development of a probiotic for animals and aquaculture based on Bacillus toyonensis B-13249 and Bacillus pumilus B-13250 strains

This article aims to develop a probiotic for animals and aquaculture based on the Bacillus toyonensis B-13249 and Bacillus pumilus B-13250 strains. The selection of a nutrient medium was conducted for cultivating the inoculum of these microorganisms. Several bacteria fermentations of the Bacillus genus were performed in biological reactors with a capacity of 15 and 250 l. A technology for obtaining a finished probiotic for animals and aquaculture was developed. The results indicate that L-broth is the most optimal nutrient medium for cultivating the studied strains. The cultivation of B. toyonensis B-13249 and B. pumilus B-13250 strains in fermenters revealed that sporulation begins after 4–8 hours of fermentation. In contrast to the vegetative medium, the fermentative medium helped the bacilli develop a higher optical density (the maximum value in the B. pumilus strain – 2.400±0.149), pH value (maximum value in the B. toyonensis strain – 8.483±0.609) and titer (at least 1010 CFU/g). After 20–24 hours of incubation, both strains of bacilli in the fermenter, almost completely pass into endospores, which serve as a signal for the start of biomass centrifugation. This was indicated by the following: from a 15 l fermenter – 83.3±6.1 g of concentrate, from a 250 l fermenter – 499.8±51.4 g. The number of bacilli in a concentrated state was at least 1·1011 CFU/g for both strains. Obtaining a finished preparation required mixing bacterial concentrates with maltodextrin to a titer of at least 1·1010 CFU/g. The number of bacteria in the preparation checked every month during the year, recorded no value less than 1·1010 CFU/g. Thus, L-broth is most favorable for growing the mother culture of the B. toyonensis B-13249 and B. pumilus B-13250 strains, and fermentative nutrient medium – for the cultivation in fermenters. The expiry date of the bacilli-based biological preparation is at least 12 months, during which the drug’s polycomponence, color and consistency are preserved, in addition to the bacteria titer (at least 1·1010 CFU/g) and their viability.

Creativity Has No Expiry Date: Directing Escaped Alone at Western Gold Theatre

Dans ce texte, Kathryn Bracht offre une réflexion sur l’expérience qu’elle a vécue en signant la mise en scène de la pièce Escaped Alone de Caryl Churchill au Western Gold Theatre de Vancouver, l’une des seules compagnies de théâtre professionnelles du Canada ayant pour mandat d’offrir un soutien aux artistes de théâtre de plus de cinquante-cinq ans. La pièce met en scène quatre femmes d’environ soixante-dix ans, de sorte à offrir un défi pour des interprètes de cette tranche d’âge. Bracht examine comment la compagnie continue d’explorer les moyens de valoriser les artistes d’un âge plus avancé non seulement en leur offrant des rôles, mais aussi en mettant l’accent ailleurs que sur l’apprentissage par cœur du texte et en cherchant à créer un meilleur équilibre entre la vie familiale et celle sur scène pendant les répétitions et les représentations, de manière à répondre aux besoins des interprètes plus âgés.

Effectiveness of Quaternary Ammonium in Reducing Microbial Load on Eggs

Table eggs are an affordable yet nutritious protein source for humans. Unfortunately, eggs are a vector for bacteria that could cause foodborne illness. This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of a quaternary ammonium compound (quat) sanitizer against aerobic mesophilic bacteria, yeast, and mold load on the eggshell surface of free-range and commercial farms and the post-treatment effect on microbial load during storage. Total aerobic mesophilic bacteria, yeast, and molds were enumerated using plate count techniques. The efficacy of the quaternary ammonium sanitizer (quat) was tested using two levels: full factorial with two replicates for corner points, factor A (maximum: 200 ppm, minimum: 100 ppm) and factor B (maximum: 15 min, minimum: 5 min). Quat sanitizer significantly (p < 0.05) reduced approximately 4 log10 CFU/cm2 of the aerobic mesophilic bacteria, 1.5 to 2.5 log10 CFU/cm2 of the mold population, and 1.5 to 2 log10 CFU/cm2 of the yeast population. However, there was no significant (p ≥ 0.05) response observed between individual factor levels (maximum and minimum), and two-way interaction terms were also not statistically significant (p ≥ 0.05). A low (<1 log10 CFU/cm2) aerobic mesophilic bacteria trend was observed when shell eggs were stored in a cold environment up to the production expiry date. No internal microbial load was observed; thus, it was postulated that washing with quat sanitizer discreetly (without physically damaging the eggshell) does not facilitate microbial penetration during storage at either room temperature or cold storage. Current study findings demonstrated that the quat sanitizer effectively reduced the microbial population on eggshells without promoting internal microbial growth.

Expiry Prediction and Reducing Food Wastage using IoT and ML

This paper details development of a low-cost, small-size, and portable electronic nose (E-nose) for the prediction of the expiry date of food products. The Sensor array is composed of commercially available metal oxide semiconductors sensors like MQ2 sensor, temperature sensor, and humidity sensor, which were interfaced with the help of ESP8266 and Arduino Uno for data acquisition, storage, and analysis of the dataset consisting of the odor from the fruit at different ripening stages. The developed system is used to analyze gas sensor values from various fruits like bananas and tomatoes. Responding signals of the e-nose were extracted and analyzed. Based on the obtained data we applied a few machine learning algorithms to predict if a banana is stale or not. Logistic regression, Decision Tree Classifier, Support Vector Classifier (SVC) &amp; K-Nearest Neighbours (KNN) classifiers were the binary classification algorithms used to determine whether the fruit became stale or not. We achieved an accuracy of 97.05%. These results prove that e-nose has the potential of assessing fruits and vegetable freshness and predict their expiry date, thus reducing food wastage.

Evaluation of public knowledge and attitude towards how to use, store and discard expired pharmaceutical drugs in Saudi Arabia

This study aimed to evaluate the public knowledge and attitude toward how to use, store and discard unused and expired pharmaceutical drugs among the Saudi population. A descriptive cross-sectional study design was used to evaluate the knowledge, attitude, and practice of participants toward the usage and disposal of expired pharmaceutical products among the Saudi population via an online survey distributed throughout social media sites during the period of two months from March 2020 to May 2020. Microsoft Excel and graph pad software analyzed the cleaned data. Descriptive statistics on sample characteristics were computed in frequencies and percentages and presented using tables and figures. 650 participants enrolled in the study. 75% of the participants had unused medicine stored at home during study time. The common types of medications kept in households were analgesics (90%) and antibiotics (67%). Most participants showed a well understanding of medication waste (70%) and the potential risks associated with improper drug disposal (85%). There was a lack of received information about safe usage, storage, and disposal practice. About 55% of the participants discarded the unused and expired medications by throwing them in the trash. In light of this study's results, which showed a large percentage of participants kept unused or expired medications in their homes despite their knowledge of the seriousness of this situation. Therefore, it is essential to plan educational programs about the rational use and expiry date of drugs to improve their awareness, attitudes, and practices regarding the safe disposal of unused and expired medications. Guidelines on safe disposal are required, and an organized method of collecting unused and expired pharmaceuticals such as the "drug take-back program" is needed. The pharmacist also has a significant role as a drug expert in educating patients about the drug's uses and how to store and discard it. Keywords: Knowledge, attitude, expired pharmaceutical drugs.

Assessment of Storage of Medicines at Home using Home Medication Review in Pediatric Population - A Community Based Study

People take medicines and vitamins to feel well and to stay well. However, any medicine, including those we buy without a prescription, can cause harm if taken in the wrong way or by the wrong person. That too in case of pediatric population it has to be considered very much.Medicines stored incorrectly at home can pose a health risk. Adult cold medications and antibiotics were the most commonly stored drugs at home, followed by analgesics. The most popular location for storing drugs was the refrigerator (50.6 percent). The majority of people did not read the packaging inserts. Self-medication was reported by a large percentage of homeowners (53.6%), and antibiotics recommended by doctors were frequently reused. There was a link between self-medication and educational attainment, but not with age, sex, marital status, occupation, or insurance type. There is a need for more public awareness and information about the storage and risks of reusing prescription drugs. The study conducted here is a community based prospective study where the paediatric storage of medicines was obtained through home medication review. Out of 150 pediatric participants, it was found that 20.66% of them stored in box or drawer or bag with lock and 79.33% without lock. The checking of expiry date was also enquired and in that those who checked expiry date never was 28%, timely 25% and before administration 47%.Therefore awareness of storage of medicines and looking into the expiry date of medicines is a less focused area among people.Consumers who use medications in the community should be urged to keep them in a way that preserves the medicine's quality while also protecting the consumer, their family, and visitors to their house. Keywords: Pediatric storage of medicines, Home medication review, Expiry date of medicines.