Awareness and Utilisation of Primary Healthcare to Reduce Emergency Department Overcrowding in Saudi Arabia

Background Patients seeking emergency department (ED) care for non-acute conditions are a major contributor to ED overcrowding, which results in longer wait times. Method This was a cross-sectional study, conducted using an online survey among the Saudi population to assess their awareness about primary healthcare clinics (PHCCs) and urgent care clinics (UCCs), their role, and their scope of practice. Results A total of 565 participants were included in this study. Most of the respondents (81.1%) reported lengthy waiting times in the ED. Moreover, most (81.6%) stated that they had never visited a family doctor, yet they (92.6%) favoured having one for follow-up care. Close to half of the participants (50.3%) reported attending PHCCs without an appointment, and the majority of them (69.2%) said that PHCCs were overcrowded. Finally, most participants (92.4%) had not heard aboutUCCs. Conclusion ED overcrowding and prolonged waiting times remain a public concern. PHCCs and UCCs are underutilised, and this is attributed to the lack of awareness about their scope and their services.  

Potential of Maize Zea Mays L. for Phytoremediation of Selenium

Selenium (Se) is a vital component for human beings, animals and for certain plants at smaller concentration but at higher concentrations it causes toxicity. Through natural and anthropogenic sources it goes in environment. The process of bioaccumulation starts which makes noteworthy intercession when selenium concentration increased. The excess selenium from contaminated sites remove through a process of phytoremediation.Plant that gather selenium up to the levels which can satisfy animal’s food needs of selenium without lethal its belongings are exceptionally valuable. Maize (Zea mays L.) is extensively grown staple cereal with encouraging qualities of a heavy metal accumulator. The potential use of this crop in phytoremediation is advanced especially to evolve nations with restricted assets accessible for characteristic recovery. Thinking about these actualities, this research work has been wanted to evaluate the capability of maize for the phytoremediation of selenium contaminated soil. A series of hydroponic and pot experiments were conducted in wire house for this research work. The initial experiment was led to observe the effect of various levels of Se (control, 1.25, 2.5, 5, 10, 15 and 20 mgL-1) on the different growth and some physiological parameters in maize and to study the response of different varieties of maize to Se application. Seedlings of eight maize varieties (Syngenta 8711, Pioneer 33H15, Pioneer 31P41, Monsanto 6525, Cargill 6142, Pioneer 32F10, Monsanto 6142 and Syngenta 8441) were grown in Hoagland’s nutrient solution. The second study was conducted in soil medium with same treatment used in first experiment. Aside from the parameters in the underlying investigation selenium concentration in roots and shoots of maize genotypes was estimated. Third experiment was conducted with foliar application of salicylic acid (SA) and sodium nitroprusside (SNP) helpful in improving growth of maize genotypes in selenium stress. Results indicated that lower levels of selenium improved the plant growth but higher level of selenium hindered plant growth. In case of shoot length, root length, fresh and dry biomass on an average, Pioneer 33H15 was performed the best whereas the Monsanto 6142 performed poor. The Se concentration in shoots and roots in maize plants improved with increasing Se application. Foliar application of salicylic acid @ 100 μM was found effective under selenium stress.