Perspectives on Preparedness for Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear Threats in the Middle East and North Africa Region: Application of Artificial Intelligence Techniques.

Over the past 3 decades, the diversity of ethnic, religious, and political backgrounds worldwide, particularly in countries of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), has led to an increase in the number of intercountry conflicts and terrorist attacks, sometimes involving chemical and biological agents. This warrants moving toward a collaborative approach to strengthening preparedness in the region. In disaster medicine, artificial intelligence techniques have been increasingly utilized to allow a thorough analysis by revealing unseen patterns. In this study, the authors used text mining and machine learning techniques to analyze open-ended feedback from multidisciplinary experts in disaster medicine regarding the MENA region's preparedness for chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear (CBRN) risks. Open-ended feedback from 29 international experts in disaster medicine, selected based on their organizational roles and contributions to the academic field, was collected using a modified interview method between October and December 2022. Machine learning clustering algorithms, natural language processing, and sentiment analysis were used to analyze the data gathered using R language accessed through the RStudio environment. Findings revealed negative and fearful sentiments about a lack of accessibility to preparedness information, as well as positive sentiments toward CBRN preparedness concepts raised by the modified interview method. The artificial intelligence analysis techniques revealed a common consensus among experts about the importance of having accessible and effective plans and improved health sector preparedness in MENA, especially for potential chemical and biological incidents. Findings from this study can inform policymakers in the region to converge their efforts to build collaborative initiatives to strengthen CBRN preparedness capabilities in the healthcare sector.

Exploring patient safety culture in emergency departments: A Tunisian perspective.

BACKGROUND: Emergency departments (EDs) are considered a high-risk environment because of the high frequency of adverse events that occur within. Measuring patient safety culture is an important step that assists healthcare facilities in planning actions to improve the quality of care provided to patients. This study aims to assess patient safety culture within EDs and to determine its associated factors. METHODS: A cross-sectional study conducted among professionals from all the EDs of public and private healthcare institutions in Tunisia. It spread from June to September 2017. We used the validated French version of the Hospital Survey on Patient Safety Culture questionnaire. RESULTS: In total, 11 EDs were included in the study, with 442 participants and a participation rate of 80.35%. All the ten dimensions of patient safety culture were in need of improvement. 'Teamwork within units' scored the highest with 46%, however, the lowest score was attributed to 'the frequency of adverse events reporting' (19.6%). Several factors have been found significantly related to safety culture. Private EDs have shown significantly higher scores regarding nine patient safety culture dimensions. CONCLUSION: This study showed a concerning perception held by participants about the lack of a patient safety culture in their EDs. Also, it provided baseline results giving a clearer vision of the aspects of safety that need improvement.

Sudden Death Due to Unusual Complication of Takayasu Arteritis: An Autopsy Case.

Takayasu arteritis is an uncommon inflammatory disease with usually a good prognosis. However, sometimes, the evolution can be fatal essentially by a coronary arteries involvement. We present a case of a 19-year-old woman who died suddenly from cardiogenic shock complicating an unknown Takayasu arteritis.At the autopsy, the aorta showed a significant thickening of the wall. The coronary arteries were slightly thickened and did not show any occlusion. Microscopic examination of the aorta showed an abundant granulomatous and a lymphoplasmacytic infiltrate. Microscopic sections of other internal organs showed signs of cardiac hypertrophy and an extensive edema of the lung. Death was attributed to acute heart failure complicating a supravalvular aortic stenosis secondary to unknown Takayasu arteritis.Takayasu arteritis can be life-threatening by an occlusion of the ascending aorta and its major branches, without any coronary arteries involvement.