Al-Quds University

About: Al-Quds University is a education organization based out in East Jerusalem, Palestinian Territory. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Microemulsion. The organization has 956 authors who have published 1491 publications receiving 34293 citations.

Willingness and readiness to test for COVID-19; A qualitative exploration of community pharmacists.

Abstract: OBJECTIVES: The present study aimed to exploring community pharmacists' willingness and readiness to test for COVID-19 in Jordan. METHODS: Purposeful sampling was used to identify a list of 30 community pharmacies, which were approached to participate in the study. Twenty interviews were needed to reach data saturation. In-depth interviews were conducted, recorded, transcribed, and analysed using NVivo 11 Software. Interviews followed a previously prepared and validated 10-item interview guide. The interview guide discussed pharmacists' willingness and readiness to test for COVID-19. RESULTS: Twenty community pharmacists were interviewed for the purpose of the present study. Interviews took place during April 2020 and the mean interview duration was 23.30 minutes. Respondents had a mean age of 36.4 years and a mean experience of 8.8 years. The majority were female (70%) and 50% held a BSc in Pharmacy. Regarding respondents' willingness to test for COVID-19 emerging themes were helping other healthcare professional, willingness to contribute to official efforts in fighting COVID-19, acting as an accessible testing cite, willingness to carry out home testing. Regarding respondents' readiness to test for COVID-19 emerging themes were Pharmacists lack basic testing skills, pharmacies are not ready to preform tests and the need for training and certifying. CONCLUSION: Jordanian pharmacists are willing to test patients for COVID-19 in community pharmacies, however, they thought they are not ready enough to undergo such tests and needed extra training and better safety precautions.

Generalized Anxiety Disorder and Social Anxiety Disorder, but Not Panic Anxiety Disorder, Are Associated with Higher Sensitivity to Learning from Negative Feedback: Behavioral and Computational Investigation.

Abstract: Anxiety disorders, including generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), social anxiety disorder (SAD), and panic anxiety disorder (PAD), are a group of common psychiatric conditions. They are characterized by excessive worrying, uneasiness, and fear of future events, such that they affect social and occupational functioning. Anxiety disorders can alter behavior and cognition as well, yet little is known about the particular domains they affect. In this study, we tested the cognitive correlates of medication-free patients with GAD, SAD, and PAD, along with matched healthy participants using a probabilistic category-learning task that allows the dissociation between positive and negative feedback learning. We also fitted all participants' data to a Q-learning model and various actor-critic models that examine learning rate parameters from positive and negative feedback to investigate effects of valence vs. action on performance. SAD and GAD patients were more sensitive to negative feedback than either PAD patients or healthy participants. PAD, SAD, and GAD patients did not differ in positive-feedback learning compared to healthy participants. We found that Q-learning models provide the simplest fit of the data in comparison to other models. However, computational analysis revealed that groups did not differ in terms of learning rate or exploration values. These findings argue that (a) not all anxiety spectrum disorders share similar cognitive correlates, but are rather different in ways that do not link them to the hallmark of anxiety (higher sensitivity to negative feedback); and (b) perception of negative consequences is the core feature of GAD and SAD, but not PAD. Further research is needed to examine the similarities and differences between anxiety spectrum disorders in other cognitive domains and potential implementation of behavioral therapy to remediate cognitive deficits.

Molecular Characterization of Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus aureus in West Bank-Palestine.

Abstract: Background: Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is a public health threat and a major cause of hospital-acquired and community-acquired infections. This study aimed to investigate the genetic diversity of MRSA isolates from 2015 to 2017 and to characterize the major MRSA clones and anti-biogram trends in Palestine. Methodology: Isolates were obtained from 112 patients admitted to different hospitals of West Bank and East Jerusalem, originating from different clinical sources. Antibiotic susceptibility patterns, staphylococcal chromosomal cassette mec (SCCmec) typing, and Staphylococcus aureus protein A (spa) typing were determined. Also, a panel of toxin genes and virulence factors was studied, including: Panton-Valentine Leukocidin (PVL), ACME-arcA, Toxic Shock Syndrome Toxin-1 (TSST-1), and Exfoliative Toxin A (ETA). Results: Of the 112 confirmed MRSA isolates, 100% were resistant to all β-lactam antibiotics. Resistance rates to other non- β-lactam classes were as the following: 18.8% were resistant to trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole, 23.2% were resistant to gentamicin, 34.8% to clindamycin, 39.3% to ciprofloxacin, and 63.4% to erythromycin. All MRSA isolates were susceptible to vancomycin (100%). Of all isolates, 32 isolates (28.6%) were multidrug- resistant (MDR). The majority of the isolates were identified as SCCmec type IV (86.6%). The molecular typing identified 29 spa types representing 12 MLST-clonal complexes (CC). The most prevalent spa types were: spa type t386 (CC1)/(12.5%), spa type t044 (CC80)/(10.7%), spa type t008 (CC8)/(10.7%), and spa type t223 (CC22)/(9.8%). PVL toxin gene was detected in (29.5%) of all isolates, while ACME-arcA gene was present in 18.8% of all isolates and 23.2% had the TSST-1 gene. The two most common spa types among the TSST-1positive isolates were the spa type t223 (CC22)/(Gaza clone) and the spa type t021 (CC30)/(South West Pacific clone). All isolates with the spa type t991 were ETA positive (5.4%). USA-300 clone (spa type t008, positive for PVL toxin gene and ACME-arcA genes) was found in nine isolates (8.0%). Conclusions: Our results provide insights into the epidemiology of MRSA strains in Palestine. We report a high diversity of MRSA strains among hospitals in Palestine, with frequent SCCmec type IV carriage. The four prominent clones detected were: t386-IV/ CC1, the European clone (t044/CC80), Gaza clone (t223/CC22), and the USA-300 clone (t008/CC8).

Overcoming Bcr-Abl T315I mutation by combination of GNF-2 and ATP competitors in an Abl-independent mechanism

Abstract: Philadelphia positive leukemias are characterized by the presence of Bcr-Abl fusion protein which exhibits an abnormal kinase activity. Selective Abl kinase inhibitors have been successfully established for the treatment of Ph (+) leukemias. Despite high rates of clinical response, Ph (+) patients can develop resistance against these kinase inhibitors mainly due to point mutations within the Abl protein. Of special interest is the ‘gatekeeper’ T315I mutation, which confers complete resistance to Abl kinase inhibitors. Recently, GNF-2, Abl allosteric kinase inhibitor, was demonstrated to possess cellular activity against Bcr-Abl transformed cells. Similarly to Abl kinase inhibitors (AKIs), GNF-2 failed to inhibit activity of mutated Bcr-Abl carrying the T315I mutation. Ba/F3 cells harboring native or T315I mutated Bcr-Abl constructs were treated with GNF-2 and AKIs. We monitored the effect of GNF-2 with AKIs on the proliferation and clonigenicity of the different Ba/F3 cells. In addition, we monitored the auto-phosphorylation activity of Bcr-Abl and JAK2 in cells treated with GNF-2 and AKIs. In this study, we report a cooperation between AKIs and GNF-2 in inhibiting proliferation and clonigenicity of Ba/F3 cells carrying T315I mutated Bcr-Abl. Interestingly, cooperation was most evident between Dasatinib and GNF-2. Furthermore, we showed that GNF-2 was moderately active in inhibiting the activity of JAK2 kinase, and presence of AKIs augmented GNF-2 activity. Our data illustrated the ability of allosteric inhibitors such as GNF-2 to cooperate with AKIs to overcome T315I mutation by Bcr-Abl-independent mechanisms, providing a possibility of enhancing AKIs efficacy and overcoming resistance in Ph+ leukemia cells.