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.  

Chemical Synthesis, Characterization and Biomedical Applications of Metallic Nanoparticles

Metallic nanoparticles have potential applications in the field of biomedical and nanobiotechnology due to their enhanced antimicrobial characteristics. In present research an optimum experimentation for the fabrication of metallic (Ag, Au, Cu and Ni) nanoparticles via chemical reduction method was investigated. For all metallic nanoparticles same reducing agent Sodium Borohydride and Trisodium citrate was used with two stabilizers Sodium Dodecyl Sulfate (SDS) and Polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) except Ni nanoparticles where hydrazine was utilized. All particles were characterized by AFM, XRD, FTIR and UV-VIS spectroscopy. Fabricated nanoparticles Ag, Au, Cu and Ni NPs has size ranges 1-100 nm, 2-40 nm, 50-180 nm and 7-180 nm respectively. Sharp and prominent peaks of all metallic nanoparticles were investigated via optical characterization. Structural exploration of all metallic NPs were revealed poly crystalline structure with face centered cubic (FCC) having prominent [111] index, insuring their performance as an efficient antibacterial toll. FTIR evaluation of all metallic NPs verified their pure metallic nature. Antibacterial behavior of all particles was evaluated by turbidity (liquid media) and disk diffusion (solid media) method. It was deduced that Silver NPs (30-40 nm) exhibited Maximum Inhibition calculations (MIC) ~ 2.8, 4.37, 13.5 and 2.81 μg/ml for E. coli, S. aureus, B. subtilis and Salmonella. Similarly Silver NPs (20-30 nm) had MIC calculations of ~ 2.10, 2.36 and 2.68 μg/ml for E. coli, S. aureus and Salmonella. High dose of Silver NPs (30-40 nm) exhibited maximum zone diameter ~ 21 and 13 mm for E. coli and S. aureus while Silver NPs (20-30 nm) demonstrated zone diameter of ~ 23 and 15 mm for E. coli and S. aureus respectively. Gold NPs (7-34 nm) exhibited MIC value ~ 2.93, 3.92, 3.15 and 7.56 μg/ml for E. coli, S. aureus, K. pneumonia and B. subtilis respectively. Similarly MIC values deducted from Gold NPs (20-40 nm) were 2.96, 3.98, 3.3 and 8.61 μg/ml for E. coli, S. aureus, K. pneumonia and B. subtilis respectively. High dose of Gold NPs (7–34 nm) exhibited maximum zone diameter ~ 25 and 35mm for S. aureus and E. coli while Gold NPs (20- 40 nm) high dose demonstrated the zone ~ 22 and 31mm for S. aureus and E. coli respectively. Copper NPs with MCE filtration (10 - 150 nm) had MIC values ~ 6.07 and 8.33 μM for E. coli and S. aureus respectively. Similarly Cu NPs without MCE filtration (5-250 nm) had MIC values ~ 9.32 and 11.76 μM for E. coli and S. aureus respectively. Again high dose of Copper NPs (10-150 nm) demonstrated the zone diameter ~ 32 and 22 mm for E. coli and S. aureus respectively. Nickel nanoparticles (7-65 nm) revealed MIC calculation ~ 34.3 and 45 μM against E. coli v and S. aureus respectively and the zone calculation for S. aureus and E. coli was ~ 19 and 21 mm respectively with 30 μM dose. 5FU drug was loaded on Gold NPs (20-65 nm) successfully and zone of inhibition for E. coli and S. aureus was calculated. It was revealed that 15 μg/ml dose of 5FU coated Au NPs is ~ 40 mm for S. aureus, 31 mm for Salmonella and 44 mm for E. coli which was much enhanced as compared to pure Au NPs and pure 5FU drug. Gold NPs first time used in parthenogenesis activation process of mouse oocytes as a catalyst. 250 nmol Gold NPs dose with constant SrCl2 concentration (10 mM) (for 3 hour exposure) is proved to be suitable for oocytes activation of mouse.