The number of COVID-19-positive Saudi cases was lower than that of non-Saudi cases, which were in contrast to that of MERS; COVID-19 appeared to be remarkably similar to MERS with respect to recovered cases. However, the numbers of critical and dead COVID-19 patients have been much lower than those of MERS patients. The largest proportion of COVID-19 and MERS cases (44.05% and 40.8%, respectively) were recorded in the Western region. MERS and COVID-19 exhibited similar threats to the lives of adults and the elderly, despite lower mortality rates during the COVID-19 epidemic. Targeted prevention of and interventions against MERS should be allocated populations according to the areas where they inhabit. However, much more information regarding the dynamics and epidemiology of COVID-19 in Saudi Arabia is needed.Abbrevation MERS Middle East Respiratory syndrome; COVID-19 Corona Virus Disease 2019.In research laboratories and in various industries, azo compounds are among the most effective and commonly used organic dyes. The association between human (HSA) and bovine (BSA) serum albumins with 5-(2-thiazolylazo)-2,4,6-triaminopyrimidine (TTP) was investigated in this research using spectroscopy methods and molecular modeling study. The fluorescence quenching results showed that the quenching mechanisms were static and dynamic processes for HSA and BSA, respectively. From the thermodynamic observations, it is clear that the binding process is a spontaneous molecular interaction, in which van der Waals and hydrogen bonding interactions for HSA and hydrophobic interaction for BSA play the major roles. According to Förster energy transfer, non-radiative energy transferred from HSA and BSA to TTP, is provided by close distance (r0) between TTP and Trp residues of HSA and BSA. The synchronous fluorescence spectroscopy, FT-IR findings and UV-Vis absorption data confirm that TTP can induce conformational and micro environmental changes in both the proteins. Furthermore, docking results predicted the probable binding site of TTP in subdomain IIA of HSA and BSA molecules where Trp residues are located. Types of amino acid residues surrounding the TTP molecule supported that van der Waals forces, hydrophobic forces and electrostatic forces play important roles in stabilization of drug-protein complexes formed.Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma.Background Primary care settings provide salient opportunities for identifying patients with problematic substance use and addressing unmet treatment need. The aim of this study was to examine the extent and correlates of problematic substance use by substance-specific risk categories among primary care patients to inform screening/intervention efforts. Methods Data were analyzed from 2000 adult primary care patients aged ≥18 years (56% female) across 5 clinics in the eastern U.S. Participants completed the Alcohol, Smoking and Substance Involvement Screening Test (ASSIST). Prevalence and ASSIST-defined risk-level of tobacco use, alcohol use, and nonmedical/illicit drug use was examined.  https://www.selleckchem.com/products/vbit-4.html  Multinomial logistic regression models analyzed the demographic correlates of substance use risk-levels. Results Among the total sample, the prevalence of any past 3-month use was 53.9% for alcohol, 42.0% for tobacco, 24.2% for any illicit/Rx drug, and 5.3% for opioids; the prevalence of ASSIST-defined moderate/high-risk use was 45.1% for tobacco, 29.0% for any illicit/Rx drug, 14.2% for alcohol, and 9.1% for opioids. Differences in the extent and risk-levels of substance use by sex, race/ethnicity, and age group were observed. Adjusted logistic regression showed that male sex, white race, not being married, and having less education were associated with increased odds of moderate/high-risk use scores for each substance category; older ages (versus ages 18-25 years) were associated with increased odds of moderate/high-risk opioid use. Conclusions Intervention need for problematic substance use was prevalent in this sample. Providers should maintain awareness and screen for problematic substance use more consistently in identified high risk populations.There are estimated two million traditional healers in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), with more than 10% (200,000) working in South Africa. Traditional healers in SSA are frequently exposed to bloodborne pathogens through the widespread practice of traditional 'injections', in which the healers perform dozens of subcutaneous incisions to rub herbs directly into the bloodied tissue with their hands. Healers who report exposure to patient blood have a 2.2-fold higher risk of being HIV-positive than those who do not report exposure. We propose a randomized controlled trial (61 healers in the intervention group and 61 healers in the control group) in Mpumalanga Province. Healers will receive personal protective equipment (PPE) education and training, general HIV prevention education, and three educational outreach visits at the healer's place of practice to provide advice and support for PPE use and disposal. Healers in the control arm will be trained by health care providers, while participants in the intervention arm will receive training and outreach from a team of healers who were early adopters of PPE. We will evaluate intervention implementation using data from surveys, observation, and educational assessments. Implementation outcomes of interest include acceptability and feasibility of PPE use during clinical encounters and fidelity of PPE use during treatments that involve blood exposure. We will test our two intervention strategies to identify an optimal strategy for PPE education in a region with high HIV prevalence.We aimed to identify the actor and partner effects of health status, relationship satisfaction, and depression on the life satisfaction of married immigrant women and their husbands in South Korea. We used a cross-sectional design that included 2865 multicultural married couples with data from the 2015 national survey of multicultural families in Korea. We analyzed the data using path analyses within the Actor-Partner Interdependence Model (APIM) framework. Health status, depression, and relationship satisfaction had actor effects in both wives and husbands, while depression had no partner effects on either. Health status had partner effects only for wives, and relationship satisfaction had partner effects for both husbands and wives. Given that factors influencing life satisfaction differed in couples and since those with depression and poor health were more susceptible to lower life satisfaction, it is essential to introduce efforts to prevent depression and improve relationships considering differences of partner effects.