Impact of COVID-19 lockdown on sleep quality of pharmacy students in UiTM Puncak Alam

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the closure of educational institutions was executed during the period of lockdown. This subsequently led to alterations in daily routines and emotional distress, particularly among university students, affecting their sleep quality resulting in disturbance of immune functioning and mood regulation. Hence, the present study aimed to measure students' sleep quality during the first few months of the lockdown period. This study is a cross-sectional, single-centred survey that was done by distributed electronic questionnaire. The e-questionnaire was divided into 4 sections that assessed socio-demographic characteristics, sleep quality, psychological state and engagement in physical activity. Exactly 248 valid responses were received, 82 % female students. Students with poor sleep quality were three times greater than those with good sleep quality. No association were found between physical activity and sleep quality. However, a significant positive relationship between sleep quality and psychological state was observed (p < 0.01). In conclusion, this study suggests that the majority of pharmacy students in UiTM Puncak Alam are poor sleepers and psychological distress negatively affects sleep quality but, is mainly due to stress. Thus, interventions such as stress management programs and mental health support can be taken by the faculty's management to overcome this problem.     

Influences on the degree of preterm birth in New South Wales

Objective : To identify risk factors for preterm birth and determine if these vary by degree of prematurity. Methods : We used data from the state‐wide mandatory surveillance system for all births in New South Wales, limiting analysis to the 836,292 live born, singleton infants without known birth anomaly born from 1994 to 2004 inclusive. Our main outcome measure was gestational age stratified into the clinically relevant groups of: ‘term’ (37–42 completed weeks gestation); ‘mildly preterm’ (33–36 weeks); ‘very preterm’ (29–32 weeks); and ‘extremely preterm’ (23–28 weeks). Analysis was by multivariate modelling using a generalised estimating equations model and confidence intervals adjusted to account for the multiple comparisons. Results : Increasing socioeconomic disadvantage was associated with increasing risk of having a preterm baby. This association strengthened with increasing degree of preterm birth, (adjusted Odds Ratio for mothers from the most disadvantaged areas having an ‘extremely preterm’ baby = 1.45 [99.67% CI 1.21–1.75] compared to least disadvantaged areas). Mothers who were older, who smoked, were Aboriginal, or had pre‐existing diabetes, hypertension, or pre‐eclampsia were independently more likely to have a preterm baby. First‐time mothers were more likely to have their baby at term. Conclusions and implications : While risk factors for preterm birth such as pre‐existing medical conditions are treatable, reducing the substantial effects of socioeconomic factors on preterm birth presents the greatest potential for change. Our data shows that tackling wider social issues will be necessary to assist in reducing the rising preterm birth rate.     

“Ears They Have”

Multiple tissues from 70 autopsy cases in Tucson, Ariz, during 1967 and 1968 were analyzed for chlorinated hydrocarbon pesticide residues. Levels of dichlorodiphenyl trichloroethane (DDT), its dehydrochlorinated metabolic derivative, DDE, and dieldrin are not remarkably different from those found in other localities in the United States or from those measured about five years ago in Arizona. No definite associations between pesticide levels and causes of death were evident. Fair intertissue correlations could be shown between certain tissue lipid concentrations of DDT and DDE, but analogous correlations in the case of dieldrin were usually weaker. There is reason to believe that the distribution of dieldrin to nonlipid tissue components exceeds that of DDT and DDE.     

Eradication of Tuberculosis in Children

Human tracheobronchial clearance was studied with a test aerosol of monodisperse particles (approximately 7μ) of fluorinated ethylene propylene (Teflon 120) tagged with radioactive fluorine (¹⁸F), a positron emitter with a half-life of 110 minutes. Eight subjects were exposed twice to the test aerosol. The clearance differed appreciably between the individuals but the two determinations in the same individual are highly similar. The test aerosol employed should be suitable for intraindividual studies of tracheobronchial clearance in man and consequently of value for investigating the acute effect of different substances on tracheobronchial clearance.     

Acquired homozygosity of the rearranged bcr allele during the acute leukemic phase of a patient with Ph-negative chronic myeloid leukemia

A 45-year-old male patient with Ph-negative chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) had rearranged bcr-3' and bcr-5' gene regions in Southern blot studies when leukemia was diagnosed. During development of terminal blast crisis, successive blood samples showed a progressive decrease in the amount of germline bcr DNA and its complete loss by full blast crisis. There were also increased amounts of rearranged bcr DNA consistent with acquired homozygosity. A similar result was obtained with an IgV lambda probe and indicated homozygosity of a significant part of chromosome 22. The bcr-abl gene complex behaves as a somatic dominant in CML, and we suggest that its acquired homozygosity is a mechanism of bcr-abl amplification similar to duplication of the Ph chromosome commonly found in the blast crisis of CML.