ICTs in Inclusive Education for Sensory and Physical Disabilities

The current paper examines the role of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) in the inclusion of students with sensory and physical disabilities. Our main goal is to present the importance of ICTs and highlight their contribution to the smooth and equal inclusion of these children in the educational system and society. Thus, the research team of this paper presents specific examples of ICTs that aid children with visual and hearing impairments and physical disabilities. We followed the method of bibliographic review of articles, focusing on articles from the last five years. However, we considered it necessary to include also some older articles for a more complete and accurate review of the topic. According to the results of the research, ICTs provide an attractive and supportive environment for the students with special needs as well as equal opportunities regarding their inclusion. Since we live in the world of information and the digital revolution, we have to adapt to modern reality and prioritize the use of ICTs in education. Lastly, ICTs help the students with sensory and physical disabilities to overcome the barriers that exist in traditional educational systems which would lead to the reduction of social exclusion.

Transmission of COVID-19 Virus in the Presence of Neurologic Manifestations

COVID-19 is a viral disease with a different set of manifestations. However, all clinical manifestations are not occurring at the same time and some patients present the disease with an isolated or even without any specific symptoms. This disease besides neurologic symptoms in rare cases even presents itself with other symptoms such as cardiac failure. In this case, a health care provider may not aware of this situation. In these situations, the transmission of the virus to individuals remains and people may not be aware of the high-risk situation. It is suggested to be aware of different clinical manifestations of COVID-19 disease and preventive strategies keep for all patients.

Depigmenting Effect of Azelaic Acid and Glycolic Acid in MNT-1 and B16-F10 Melanoma Cells

Treatment for abnormal melanin accumulation is available with controversial results, thus aim of the present work was to determine azelaic acid (AZ) and glycolic acid (GLY) cytotoxicity and inhibiting melanogenesis efficacy. Safety concentration and efficacy in reducing the melanin content were access through MTT assay, Fontana-Masson staining, melanin content assay and tyrosinase (TYR) assay. Kojic acid (KO) was used as the positive control throughout the assays. AZ and GLY exhibited low cytotoxicity at 100 µg/mL and do not show suppression towards cell viability as cells were 100% viable. 100 µg/mL and 50 µg/mL AZ and GLY show comparable depigment effect to the positive control in Fontana-Masson staining and the depigmentation effect was dose dependent. 100 µg/mL AZ and 100 µg/mL GLY shows significant (P ≤ 0.05) reduction of melanin content in both melanoma cells compared to untreated group. TYR activity in both cells also shows significant lower (P ≤ 0.001) after the treatment with 100 µg/mL AZ and 100 µg/mL GLY compared to untreated group. AZ and GLY were suggested to suppress melanin formation by directly inhibiting TYR activity and act as TYR inhibitor. The depigmenting effect was further confirmed with down-regulating of TYR, TYRP1 and TYRP2. The possible depigmentation mechanisms of AZ and GLY could be due to inhibition of melanin synthesis and suppression of tyrosinase-related genes expression including which affecting TYR activity. The depigmenting potential of AZ and GLY can be evaluate further in-vivo model.

Atypical Presentations of Alzheimer’s Disease: Beyond Amnestic Dementia

Neuropathological and biomarker-based studies indicate that Alzheimer’s disease may sometimes present not with the typical amnestic dementia syndrome of the hippocampal type but with atypical clinical pictures. Atypical presentations include frontal dementia sometimes with additional behavioural component mimicking frontotemporal dementia, logopenic primary progressive aphasia and posterior cortical atrophy, while mixed presentations include patients with additional vascular or Lewy body pathology. More atypical presentations include non-logopenic (semantic, non-fluent agrammatic and unclassifiable) primary progressive aphasia, corticobasal syndrome and cases mixed with normal pressure hydrocephalus. Atypical clinical presentations of Alzheimer’s disease may be more common than previously thought. Cerebrospinal fluid levels of biomarkers such as amyloid beta peptide, hyperphosphorylated tau protein and total tau protein, may offer a useful tool for correct ante mortem identification of such patients, which is likely to affect therapeutic decisions.

Isolation of Stenotrophomonas maltophilia from Clinical Samples in Some Hospitals in Shiraz, Iran

Stenotrophomonas maltophilia is an emerging pathogenic non-fermentative Gram-negative Bacillus species. It has caused many nosocomial infections and can be isolated from various hospital wards and healthcare facilities. Research has shown that most of its strains are inherently resistant to many antibiotics and have multidrug resistance. This research intended to determine its occurrence frequency at some Hospitals in shiraz, Iran. The present study was conducted in six months (from early spring to late summer 2019). Clinical samples (Blood, Urine and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF)) collected from 120 patients afflicted with various infections. The samples were transferred to the Laboratory and subjected to microbiological analysis. Identification of the isolates was carried out by phenotypic methods and Stenotrophomonas maltophilia isolates verified using molecular methods. In total, various bacteria were isolated from 84 clinical samples. The isolates were Escherichia coli, Enterobacter aerogenes, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Stenotrophomonas maltophilia, Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Stenotrophomonas maltophilia was isolated from 17 (20.2%) positive samples and most of them were isolated from blood samples. Our finding indicated that Stenotrophomonas maltophilia isolated more from blood samples follow by CSF sample. In addition, our finding illustrated that Stenotrophomonas maltophilia can be considered as the common nosocomial agent at hospitals in Shiraz, Iran.

Knowledge, Attitude & Practices of Primary Healthcare Workers on COVID-19 from a Rural Setting of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

Introduction: Knowledge, attitude and practices (KAP) of COVID-19 pandemic play a significant role in reducing the transmission of the virus. There is limited information available about HCWs KAP regarding COVID-19. Therefore, the objective of this study was to investigate the KAP of KCWs from a primary healthcare setting in South Africa. Method: This was a cross-sectional study conducted among all medical and nursing healthcare professionals of KwaDabeka Community Healthcare Center (KCHC) and seven PHC clinics. Selfadministered questionnaire was used to collect data. Student’s t-test and ANOVA test were carried out to compare the overall mean knowledge, attitude and practice scores between two or more groups. Pearson’s correlation test was undertaken to establish correlation between KAP scores. Results: Majority HCWs were female (82.8%), single or unmarried (56.6%) and nurses comprised the most (69.2%). Nearly half (44%) reported to have recognized vulnerable co-morbid illnesses for COVID-19. Only 24% of HCWs had good knowledge (scored > 60%), however, 81% had positive attitude (scored >60%) and 63% had good practice (>60% scores). Nursing practitioners had significantly lower mean knowledge and practice scores than medical officers and allied healthcare workers (p<0.05). Healthcare workers with bachelor’s degree had significantly higher level of positive attitude (p<0.05). Conclusion: The majority of healthcare workers at this primary healthcare facility had poor knowledge and practice but good attitude towards COVID-19 at the middle of the pandemic in SA. Frontline and lowest level healthcare workers need more education and training on basic epidemiology of COVID-19 to prevent occupational transmission.

The Epidemiology of Zika Virus in the World: A Comprehensive Review Study

Zika virus is an emerging public health threat. The large outbreak related to this infection was first reported in 2007 in Yap Island. This virus is associated with microcephaly, Guillain Barre syndrome and some of the presentations of Zika infection include fever, maculopapular rash, arthralgia, bilateral conjunctivas, headache, arthritis/arthralgia with edema of tiny joints of feet and hands, retro-orbital pain, myalgia, asthenia and vertigo. In most of the cases, the infection is asymptomatic and self-limited. One of the largest known outbreaks of the virus was reported in French Polynesia, south pacific in October 2013. At the beginning of 2016, more than 52 countries have had reported the active transmission of the Zika virus. In general, there are two transmission modes for the Zika infection: Vector-borne transmission and Non-vector-borne transmission. Some diagnostic tests for Zika infection are RT-PCR, ELISA, and PRNT. Up to now, there is no specific antiviral medicine for the treatment of Zika infection and also no vaccine is available for immunization. As far as we know, more than half of the world’s people live in areas where the Aedes mosquito lives. There is a probability occurrence of the Zika virus epidemic at any time and in any place without prior notice in today’s “global village”. Therefore, health systems in all the involved countries should implement better triage and early warning surveillance systems for morbid cases of Zika to prevent large epidemics and the spread of the virus among mosquitoes and finally to avoid its disastrous consequences.

Physiotherapy Management of a Middle-Aged Adult Male with Severe Symptoms of Coronavirus Disease-19: A Case Report

Coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) has affected people of various age groups with symptoms ranging from asymptomatic or mild to severe respiratory failure, with mild symptoms requiring little or no medical intervention whereas severe symptoms requiring hospitalisation and prompt medical management. The following case report illustrates about recovery of a patient with severe symptoms of COVID-19 in a COVID dedicated tertiary care hospital run by the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai. Physiotherapy has long been a part of multidisciplinary team in management of patients with severe respiratory illnesses. The report mainly presents about the Physiotherapy management undertaken for the above-mentioned patient parallelly to the Medical management aiding in recovery of the patient.

COVID-19 Virus Infection and Transmission are Observably Less in Highly Dengue-Endemic Countries: Is Pre-Exposure to Dengue Virus Protective Against COVID-19 Severity and Mortality? Will the Reverse Scenario Be True?

Global severity maps of ongoing dengue epidemic and COVID-19 pandemic do not tend to overlap. Countries with high dengue endemicity (>1.5 million cases/year) are observably less hit by COVID-19 in terms of infection, transmission and mortality. Based on non-overlap of dengue and COVID-19 severity maps in general and increasing evidences of SARS-CoV-2 false-positivity in dengue antibody tests, we wonder whether regular pre-exposure to dengue virus (DENV) in highly dengue endemic countries is providing some extent of protection against COVID-19 severity. We also wondered whether immunization of susceptible populations in dengue non-endemic countries (e.g. Europe and North America) with available live-attenuated dengue vaccines, will cue the anti-viral immune response to thwart COVID-19. Risk of developing post-vaccination antibody-dependent enhancement (ADE) is low as dengue is not endemic in the aforesaid regions. Understanding the consequences of dengue and COVID-19 co-endemicity in the upcoming days is another area of huge concern. Although, it appears that dengue-induced immunity is ‘thwarting’ COVID-19, it is not clear whether conversely, COVID-19 convalescent individuals will also be resistant to future dengue attacks. On the contrary, such individuals may show higher susceptibility to DENV due to ADE caused by cross-reactive COVID-19 antibodies. The latter may bind to DENV without neutralizing the virus; instead, such antibodies may facilitate cellular entry of DENV by means of their Fcregions attached to the susceptible cells. This possibility also cautions against complications that may arise on implementing SARS-CoV-2 vaccinations in highly dengue endemic countries.