An-Najah Staff

Students' ideas of the nature of science (NOS) influence their learning processes and understanding of science. This influence has attracted researchers' attention to this area for decades. What mainly differentiates the current study from previous studies is the comparison that it makes between ideas about NOS that university students hold vs. those held by high school students, in addition to comparisons between NOS ideas related to other background variables: gender, specialty, and scientific ability. 
The participants were 421 secondary and university students: 226 high school students and 195 university students. The students were asked to complete a questionnaire developed by McComas and Olson and which examines four aspects of NOS ideas: philosophical insights, sociological insights, psychological insights and historical statements and assumptions. Computing t-test and f-test values, we found significant differences between students' NOS ideas that could be attributed to the class in the philosophical and sociological insights, where university students had higher averages in NOS ideas than high school students. The current study also found significant differences between students' NOS ideas attributed to their specialty in three of the four aspects of the NOS: the philosophic, the psychological, and the sociological, whereas the difference was not significant in the historical aspect. Further, the results indicated a significant difference between students' NOS ideas that could be attributed to their reported ability in science in the philosophical aspect and the whole NOS ideas.

Objectives The objectives of this study were to determine the risk factors and life stressors that are prevalent among the acetaminophen deliberate self-poisoning (DSP) cases, to identify gender differences in the associated factors, and to determine the prevalence of psychiatric diagnosis and the patterns and types of psychotherapeutic interventions provided by psychiatrists.
Methods This is a cross-sectional study, a retrospective descriptive case review of hospital admissions for acetaminophen DSP.
Results There were 177 incidences of DSP during the study period. The mean age of the cases was 23.1 ± 7.3 years and 84.1% of them were females. The risk factors were more significantly associated with males: chronic ethanol intake (p = 0.04), higher reported dose ingested (p = 0.01), higher latency time (p = 0.04) and longer hospital stay (p  = 0.03). The most commonly reported psychotherapeutic interventions used by psychiatrists were psychoeducation of the patient, followed by referral to a psychiatric clinic, family psychoeducation and psychotropic medication. Sertraline (SSRI) was the most frequently prescribed antidepressant.
Conclusions Males have been shown to use more toxic doses and to delay treatment due to high latency time. Most DSP patients have different life stressors and psychiatric diagnoses that may be associated with varying degrees of suicidal intent. All patients presenting following DSP need to be carefully screened for psychiatric illness. Randomized controlled studies need to be conducted on DSP patients with psychiatric illness to determine which treatments are effective

The purpose of this study was to identify predictors of in-hospital mortality after acute stroke and investigate the impact of gender on stroke mortality. All patients admitted to Al-watani governmental hospital in Palestine from September 2006 to August 2007 and diagnosed with acute stroke were included in the study. Diagnosis of stroke was confirmed by computerized tomography scan. Demographics and clinical data pertaining to the patients were obtained from their medical files. The main outcome measure in this study was vital status at  hospital  discharge. Multiple logistic regression analysis was used to identify the independent predictors of in- hospital mortality. Statistical analysis was carried out using SPSS 15.A total of 186 acute stroke cases (95 females and 91 males) were included in the study. Hypertension (69.9%) and diabetes mellitus (45.2%) were the most common risk factors among the patients. Thirty nine (21%) of the stroke patients died in hospital. Multiple logistic regression analysis indicated that chronic kidney disease (P = 0.004), number of post-stroke complications (P= 0.037), and stroke subtype (P = 0.015) were independent predictors of in-hospital mortality among the total stroke patients. Conclusion: Knowledge of in-hospital mortality predictors is required to improve survival rate after acute stroke. The study showed that gender was not an independent predictor of mortality after acute stroke. More research is required to understand gender differences in stroke mortality.(IJCEM811001).

The purpose of this study was to identify predictors of in-hospital mortality after acute stroke and investigate the impact of gender on stroke mortality. All patients admitted to Al-watani governmental hospital in Palestine from September 2006 to August 2007 and diagnosed with acute stroke were included in the study. Diagnosis of stroke was confirmed by computerized tomography scan. Demographics and clinical data pertaining to the patients were obtained from their medical files. The main outcome measure in this study was vital status at  hospital  discharge. Multiple logistic regression analysis was used to identify the independent predictors of in- hospital mortality. Statistical analysis was carried out using SPSS 15.A total of 186 acute stroke cases (95 females and 91 males) were included in the study. Hypertension (69.9%) and diabetes mellitus (45.2%) were the most common risk factors among the patients. Thirty nine (21%) of the stroke patients died in hospital. Multiple logistic regression analysis indicated that chronic kidney disease (P = 0.004), number of post-stroke complications (P= 0.037), and stroke subtype (P = 0.015) were independent predictors of in-hospital mortality among the total stroke patients. Conclusion: Knowledge of in-hospital mortality predictors is required to improve survival rate after acute stroke. The study showed that gender was not an independent predictor of mortality after acute stroke. More research is required to understand gender differences in stroke mortality.(IJCEM811001).

The purpose of this study was to identify predictors of in-hospital mortality after acute stroke and investigate the impact of gender on stroke mortality. All patients admitted to Al-watani governmental hospital in Palestine from September 2006 to August 2007 and diagnosed with acute stroke were included in the study. Diagnosis of stroke was confirmed by computerized tomography scan. Demographics and clinical data pertaining to the patients were obtained from their medical files. The main outcome measure in this study was vital status at  hospital  discharge. Multiple logistic regression analysis was used to identify the independent predictors of in- hospital mortality. Statistical analysis was carried out using SPSS 15.A total of 186 acute stroke cases (95 females and 91 males) were included in the study. Hypertension (69.9%) and diabetes mellitus (45.2%) were the most common risk factors among the patients. Thirty nine (21%) of the stroke patients died in hospital. Multiple logistic regression analysis indicated that chronic kidney disease (P = 0.004), number of post-stroke complications (P= 0.037), and stroke subtype (P = 0.015) were independent predictors of in-hospital mortality among the total stroke patients. Conclusion: Knowledge of in-hospital mortality predictors is required to improve survival rate after acute stroke. The study showed that gender was not an independent predictor of mortality after acute stroke. More research is required to understand gender differences in stroke mortality.(IJCEM811001).

Aim: Impact of gender on aminoglycoside induced nephrotoxicity is still controversial and inconclusive. The objective of this study was to investigate the nephrotoxic potential of amikacin (AK) and gentamicin (GM) in male and female hospitalized patients.
Methodology: A one-year, non-interventional prospective study of patients administered either GM or AK. The study was carried out at the internal medicine department of Al-Watani governmental hospital. Nephrotoxicity was defined as a blood creatinine (Cr) increase of >= 0.5 mg/ dL from the basal (normal) Cr level. Data were entered and analyzed using SPSS 16.
Results: A total of 94 patients were identified (GM, n = 45 and AK, n = 49). Male and female patients on GM had comparable characteristics except that males had significantly higher number of co-existing chronic diseases. No gender differences were observed in gentamicin induced nephrotoxicity (37% in males versus 33.3% in females, P = 0.8). Male and female patients on AK were also comparable in demographic and clinical characteristics. However, significant differences in gender susceptibility were observed with AK induced nephrotoxicity (31.6% in females versus 6.7% in males, P = 0.043). Pattern of serum creatinine changes in patients on GM were comparable between males and females. However, in females on AK, s.cr levels were rising sharply after the fourth day compared with that in male patients on AK.

Objectives The objectives of this study were to determine the risk factors and life stressors that are prevalent among the acetaminophen deliberate self-poisoning (DSP) cases, to identify gender differences in the associated factors, and to determine the prevalence of psychiatric diagnosis and the patterns and types of psychotherapeutic interventions provided by psychiatrists. Methods This is a cross-sectional study, a retrospective descriptive case review of hospital admissions for acetaminophen DSP.
Results: There were 177 incidences of DSP during the study period. The mean age of the cases was 23.17.3 years and 84.1% of them were females. The risk factors were more significantly associated with males: chronic ethanol intake (p¼0.04), higher reported dose ingested (p¼0.01), higher latency time ( p¼0.04) and longer hospital stay (p¼0.03). The most commonly reported psychotherapeutic interventions used by psychiatrists were psychoeducation of the patient, followed by referral to a psychiatric clinic, family psychoeducation and psychotropic medication. Sertraline (SSRI) was the most frequently prescribed antidepressant.
Conclusions: Males have been shown to use more toxic doses and to delay treatment due to high latency time. Most DSP patients have different life stressors and psychiatric diagnoses that may be associated with varying degrees of suicidal intent. All patients presenting following DSP need to be carefully screened for psychiatric illness. Randomized controlled studies need to be conducted on DSP patients with psychiatric illness to determine which treatments are effective.

The purpose of this study was to identify predictors of in-hospital mortality after acute stroke and investigate the impact of gender on stroke mortality. All patients admitted to Al-watani governmental hospital in Palestine from September 2006 to August 2007 and diagnosed with acute stroke were included in the study. Diagnosis of stroke was confirmed by computerized tomography scan. Demographics and clinical data pertaining to the patients were obtained from their medical files. The main outcome measure in this study was vital status at hospital discharge. Multiple logistic regression analysis was used to identify the independent predictors of in-hospital mortality. Statistical analysis was carried out using SPSS 15.A total of 186 acute stroke cases (95 females and 91 males) were included in the study. Hypertension (69.9%) and diabetes mellitus (45.2%) were the most common risk factors among the patients. Thirty nine (21%) of the stroke patients died in hospital. Multiple logistic regression analysis indicated that chronic kidney disease (P = 0.004), number of post-stroke complications (P= 0.037), and stroke subtype (P = 0.015) were independent predictors of in-hospital mortality among the total stroke patients. Knowledge of in-hospital mortality predictors is required to improve survival rate after acute stroke. The study showed that gender was not an independent predictor of mortality after acute stroke. More research is required to understand gender differences in stroke mortality.