Acute (24 h) and chronic (90 days) oral toxicity studies on the ethanolic extracts of the rhizomes of Alpinia galanga and Curcuma longa were carried out in mice. Acute dosages were 0.5, 1.0, and 3 g/kg body weight while the chronic dosage was 100 mg/kg/day as the extract. All external morphological, hematological, and spermatogenic changes, in addition to body weight and vital organ weights were recorded. During this investigation no significant mortality as compared to the controls was observed. The weight gain in the A. galanga treated animals was significant as in the control group while the C. longa-treated animals gained no significant weight after chronic treatment. C. longa treatment induced significant changes in heart and lungs weights upon chronic treatment. Hematological studies revealed a significant rise in the RBC level of A. galanga-treated animals and a significant fall in the WBC and RBC levels of the C. longa-treated animals as compared to the controls. The gain in weights of sexual organs and increased sperm motility and sperm counts were observed in both groups of extract-treated male mice, however, these changes were highly significant in the A. galanga-treated group. Both extracts failed to show any spermatotoxic effects.

Toxicity studies were done on six plants used in the traditional Arab system of medicine, namely: Aloe Vera, Ammi majus, Areca catachu, Citrullus colocynthis, Cuminurn cyminum and Zizyphus spina-christi. During acute toxicity tests, observations were made for 24 h while the animals were treated for 3 months in chronic treatment. External morphological changes, visceral toxicity, haematological changes, and spermatogenic dysfunction, besides effects on average body weight and vital organ weight, were recorded. In the acute toxicity test, C . colocynthis showed a dose dependent toxic effect. On chronic treatment, per cent lethality was found to be significant in A . catachu, A . uera and C . colocynthis treated groups where haematological changes were also observed. The spermatogenic dystunction was significant in A . ueru and C . colocynthis treated animals. C . cyminum and Z . spina-christi on the other hand, reduced sperm abnormalities.

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Background: Globally, workplace violence toward health care providers is an area of concern. The impact of workplace violence on health care providers is significant. Objectives: The study was conducted to evaluate the prevalence of workplace violence (physical and verbal) among emergency medical services (EMS) workers in Riyadh. Methods: The study used a cross-sectional design that employed a self-administered confidential questionnaire, which was distributed to all emergency medical personnel. A well-structured and validated questionnaire on workplace violence was adopted from the World Health Organization for use in the study. Results: A total of 370 EMS workers responded to the questionnaire. Workplace violence was experienced by 65% of the respondents. Verbal abuse (61%) was the most common type of violence reported. The majority of the attackers were patients' relatives (80%) followed by patients themselves (51%). Respondents younger than 30 reported a higher percentage of violent acts than did older respondents (p = .001, Odds ratio [OR] = 2.5, 95% Confidence Interval [CI] = (1.6, 3.9)). Similarly, those who had fewer years of work experience (≤ 10 years) reported a significantly higher percentage of violent incidents than those who had 10 or more years of experience (p = .001, OR = 3.5, 95% CI = 2.1, 5.6). Only 10% of the victims reported the incident to a higher authority. Common reasons for not reporting the violent acts included feeling that it was useless (56%) and that it was not important (52%). Discussion: The study demonstrates prevalent workplace violence among EMS workers, predominantly in the form of verbal abuse. The rate of workplace violence among EMS personnel is comparable with international figures. Less than half of EMS personnel exhibit knowledge regarding the process of violence reporting. However, workers tend not to report the incidents because they often believe that reporting is useless and/or not important. Recommendation: With a high reported rate of workplace violence among EMS personnel, we recommend national preventive measures and encouragement to professionals to report violent events. We also recommend awareness programs for the identified vulnerable group.