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Education

In this special issue of the Australasian Journal of Educational Technology, we take a step back from the events of the last 2 years and the changes that we have seen in the education arena, to remember that which has remained constant – how students learn best. Developing teaching and learning pedagogy based on lasting education theory and practice makes the past of education relevant to the present and future and creates a context where innovation can be scaled and taken further, from a single instance of impact to many. In this editorial, we present an argument for going back to our roots and present examples of the effective use of established theories of learning that continue to advance online education practice. We discuss the scaling of educational best practice to more students and more institutions, and we provide recommendations for creating sustainable and lasting future practice.

Computer Science Applications and Education

Cardiology and Cardiovascular Medicine

Aims In response to pro-fibrotic signals, scleraxis regulates cardiac fibroblast activation in vitro via transcriptional control of key fibrosis genes such as collagen and fibronectin; however, its role in vivo is unknown. The present study assessed the impact of scleraxis loss on fibroblast activation, cardiac fibrosis, and dysfunction in pressure overload-induced heart failure. Methods and results Scleraxis expression was upregulated in the hearts of non-ischemic dilated cardiomyopathy patients, and in mice subjected to pressure overload by transverse aortic constriction (TAC). Tamoxifen-inducible fibroblast-specific scleraxis knockout (Scx-fKO) completely attenuated cardiac fibrosis, and significantly improved cardiac systolic function and ventricular remodelling, following TAC compared to Scx+/+ TAC mice, concomitant with attenuation of fibroblast activation. Scleraxis deletion, after the establishment of cardiac fibrosis, attenuated the further functional decline observed in Scx+/+ mice, with a reduction in cardiac myofibroblasts. Notably, scleraxis knockout reduced pressure overload-induced mortality from 33% to zero, without affecting the degree of cardiac hypertrophy. Scleraxis directly regulated transcription of the myofibroblast marker periostin, and cardiac fibroblasts lacking scleraxis failed to upregulate periostin synthesis and secretion in response to pro-fibrotic transforming growth factor β. Conclusion Scleraxis governs fibroblast activation in pressure overload-induced heart failure, and scleraxis knockout attenuated fibrosis and improved cardiac function and survival. These findings identify scleraxis as a viable target for the development of novel anti-fibrotic treatments.

Pharmaceutical Science and Pharmacy

removable partial dentures, complete dentures, phonetics, awareness, dental students, and dental education

Phonetics plays a major role in the fabrication of prostheses. This study aimed to assess the knowledge of students regarding the role of phonetics in denture fabrication and to improve the educational process and the clinical application. The study was conducted at the College of Dentistry, Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, and involved a survey of 344 dental students and interns. The questionnaire contained 20 questions and was divided into three sections: general knowledge, clinical correlations, and clinical evaluations. The data were collected and analyzed statistically using independent t-tests, one-way ANOVA, and Tukey’s post hoc tests. The response rate was 100%. Male and female students only differed significantly in terms of their scores for answers to general knowledge questions, with females achieving better results (p = 0.023). General knowledge varied significantly between fourth-year students and all other levels (p < 0.001), and fifth-year students and interns (p = 0.027). The clinical correlations varied significantly between fourth-year students and interns (p = 0.01), whereas the clinical evaluations varied between all the academic years and interns (fourth-year, p < 0.001; fifth-year, p = 0.003; and sixth-year, p = 0.017). The interns obtained the highest scores in all sections. There was a lack of awareness among dental students of some aspects of the role of phonetics in denture fabrication. The study highlights the deficiencies that need to be addressed and the need for adjustments to the curriculum related to removable prosthodontics in order to improve the knowledge of students regarding the role of speech in denture fabrication.

Pulmonary and Respiratory Medicine

Background: Several studies have demonstrated gender influence on asthma prevalence, being higher among males during early childhood. Little is known about the impact of gender and age on asthma exacerbation characteristics in pediatrics. This study aimed to determine the differences in acute asthma between males and females in three different age groups regarding perinatal characteristics of asthmatic patients, comorbidities, medication adherence, level of blood eosinophils, and pattern of hospitalization.Methods: The medical records of 130 pediatric patients with asthma, who presented to the emergency department at Jordan University hospital with asthma exacerbations, were retrospectively reviewed. Demographic information and clinical characteristics were collected.Results: The mean age of patients was 10.7±4.7 years. The age at diagnosis and gestational age were significantly higher in older children. Furthermore, younger children were significantly more likely to experience winter exacerbations and more emergency presentations. Male patients were considerably younger than their female counterparts and were diagnosed younger. In addition, male patients were more likely to have eosinophil levels higher than 3% than female patients.Conclusion: Gender plays a role in the development and outcome of asthma exacerbations at different ages of pediatrics. A better understanding of gender-based and age-based differences in asthma dictates a personalized approach to treatment.

Computer Science Applications and Education

Neurology (clinical) and Neurology

Objective To examine the relative risk of suicide mortality in patients with Huntington’s disease (HD). Methods A case–control study design was used. We used linked electronic records from primary care, secondary care and Office for National Statistics from England from 2001 through 2019. Controls were matched to cases by general practice and suicide date. Odds ratios (ORs) were adjusted for gender and age at suicide/index date. Results Data were available for 594,674 individuals. Patients with HD who died from suicide were significantly younger at time of death than patients with HD who died from causes other than suicide (p Conclusion The markedly elevated suicide risk in patients with HD suggests that implementation of suicide risk assessment may improve survival in individuals with these diseases, especially in younger patients.

Education

In response to the special issue on democratizing creative educational experiences (CEE), we conducted a thematic analysis of recent scholarship on creativity and decolonization (2010–2021) and analyzed recurring tensions across literature grounded in Indigenous, Black, feminist, and non-western epistemological perspectives on creativity. We found themes that are not new but are yet to be taken up consistently and credibly in western creativity and education research and practice. For instance, spirituality emerges as a valuable ingredient for creativity, body as inseparable from the mind, dialectic resistance and resilience as acts of creative existence, and non-human agency as essential to the creative process. Informed by these themes, we share implications for research and practice, seeking new spaces inclusive of historically ignored onto-epistemologies.

General Medicine

Political Science and International Relations, Sociology and Political Science, Cultural Studies, ComputingMilieux_COMPUTERSANDEDUCATION, arts and design, college students, creativity, meditation, and mindfulness

Given the applied nature of creativity in the arts and design, it is important to understand the conditions and practices that support it. Most research suggests that ideal conditions for creativity are often mental and emotional – involving relaxed, yet alert and focused, states of mind. This article explores the connection between mindfulness and creativity in the experiences of students in a college of arts and design, through a mindfulness teaching practice to support creative processes. In a “scholarship of teaching and learning” inquiry, we consider how mindfulness practice may affect arts and design learners’ feelings about their own creativity. Students in a large United States university school of arts and design practiced mindfulness meditation for several months, and submitted a written reflection on their experience. We qualitatively analyze this to consider how mindfulness supports creative practices in arts and design learners’ education. Our findings involve three key themes, which are: “Processing anxiety and negative feelings”, “Focusing the mind”, and “Managing the ‘Voice of Judgment’”. These thematic findings reflect how arts and design students perceive the effects of mindfulness on their creative process. We offer implications for teaching practices related to mindfulness meditation practice aimed to support learners’ perceptions of their creativity.

General Medicine

Computer Science Applications and Education

Radiology, Nuclear Medicine and imaging, General Medicine, and eye diseases

Increased intracranial pressure is the most common cause of papilledema. Multiple etiologies such as cerebral edema, hydrocephalus, space occupying lesions, infection, and idiopathic intracranial hypertension among others should be considered. Imaging plays a critical role in the detection of pathologies that can cause papilledema. MRI with contrast and CE-MRV, in particular, are key for the diagnosis of idiopathic intracranial hypertension. This review will focus in common and infrequent causes of papilledema, the role of imaging in patients with papilledema as well as its potential mimickers.

Artificial Intelligence, Computer Networks and Communications, Computer Science Applications, Communication, Information Systems, and Software

This study aims to provide comprehensive insights into the social media marketing characteristics affecting customer buying intention. The model was theoretically based on and explored using a quantitative approach. A survey strategy was adopted, and a five-point Likert questionnaire was distributed to Jordanian citizens. A total of 237 responses were received. The hypothesis testing followed structural equation modeling using SPSS software. The findings suggest that all social media marketing subcontracts exhibit a significant positive effect on buying intention, whereby accessibility is the highest. Customer involvement also moderates the relationship between social media marketing and customer buying intention. The proposed model provides new insights into social media marketing drivers affecting buying intentions and engagement with an entrepreneurial brand or product. This study reaffirms that social media marketing can significantly influence the success of Jordanian entrepreneurial firms and understanding how to use this tool effectively can significantly change how businesses operate.

General Medicine

Introduction: The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in governments implementing new regulations to divert healthcare resources, which in return led to the postponement of elective and semi-elective surgical procedures. Therefore, many surgeons and as well as surgeons in training reported feeling redundant, which eventually resulted in psychological distress. This study aimed to assess the sociodemographic differences in the psychological impact resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic and outline the effect it had on surgical training. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study conducted in Kuwait. Data were collected by distributing a questionnaire electronically to surgeons and surgeons in training. The survey included questions aimed at assessing both the effect of the pandemic on surgical training and the psychological impact it had on surgeons, assessing the latter using the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale-21 screening tool. Results: The response rate for the study was 52%, with the majority being junior male surgeons. A majority of surgeons in training reported postponement of their scheduled academic teaching sessions (78.9%) and pre-assigned surgical rotations (65.8%). In terms of the psychological impact of the pandemic, a majority of the participants reported an element of depression and stress, 61.2% and 55%, respectively, while approximately half, 48.1%, had symptoms associated with anxiety. Conclusion: The COVID-19 pandemic had a negative association with the psychological well-being of a significant proportion of surgeons and associated surgical training programs.

Original Article, Body mass index, frequency, migraine, obesity, severity, Indice de masse corporelle, fréquence, obésité, and gravité

Introduction: Migraine is a highly prevalent condition, and prevalence of obesity is also increasing. Results of studies addressing association of body mass index (BMI) with migraine and its features are conflicting. In this cross-sectional study, we aim to assess association between BMI and various migraine features. Methods: This study was conducted in the Headache Clinic of King Fahd Hospital of University, Al Khobar, Saudi Arabia. Interviews were conducted by three consultant neurologists. Migraine was defined according to the International Headache Society and BMI was calculated as weight (kilograms)/height (m2). Results: Of total of 121 patients, 79% were female. Almost 87.6% of patients were taking prophylactic medications. Majority of patients had attack for more than 24 h (60.3%), pulsating character (81%), moderate-to-severe intensity (92.6%), associated with nausea and/or vomiting (75.2%), and photophobia/phonophobia (91.7%). About 29.8% of patients were normal weight, 28.1% were overweight, and 39.7% were obese and morbidly obese. There was insignificant association between various categories of BMI and features of migraine, that is, unilateral location (P = 0.385), pulsating character (P = 0.571), moderate-to-severe intensity (P = 0.187), nausea and/or vomiting (P = 0.582), and photophobia and/or phonophobia (P = 0.444). Conclusion: In our study, we did not find an association between BMI and various features of migraine.

General Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics, Pharmacy, Medical education, Social work, Scale (social sciences), Interprofessional education, Geriatrics, medicine.medical_specialty, medicine, Pharmacy practice, Psychology, Health care, business.industry, business, Interprofessional teamwork, and education

Background and purpose The objective was to evaluate (1) students' knowledge in a variety of geriatrics competencies, (2) students' attitudes toward the value of interprofessional practice, and (3) pharmacy students' experiences after an advanced pharmacy practice experience (APPE) in a practice-based interprofessional education (IPE) model. Educational activity and setting Nursing, pharmacy, social work, and health sciences programs who participated in the Richmond Health and Wellness Program (RHWP) interprofessional experience received pre- and post-surveys to assess changes in geriatrics knowledge. An adapted Attitude Toward Health Care Teams Scale (ATHCTS) was used to assess changes in students' attitudes toward the value of interprofessional teamwork. Finally, representative quotes were taken from APPE evaluations to illustrate the pharmacy student experience. Findings Seventy-two out of 82 (87.8%) interprofessional students who participated in the practice-based IPE model at RHWP in the fall 2018 participated in this study. Geriatrics knowledge scores significantly increased by 4.03 (P Summary A practice-based IPE experience can provide many benefits to health professional students. By working as a team, students learn from each other, leading to increased knowledge on several geriatrics competencies. Students understand the importance of IPE experiences, but their attitudes become more positive through application.

Neurology (clinical)

ImportancePatients with dementia may be at an increased suicide risk. Identifying groups at greatest risk of suicide would support targeted risk reduction efforts by clinical dementia services.ObjectivesTo examine the association between a dementia diagnosis and suicide risk in the general population and to identify high-risk subgroups.Design, Setting, and ParticipantsThis was a population-based case-control study in England conducted from January 1, 2001, through December 31, 2019. Data were obtained from multiple linked electronic records from primary care, secondary care, and the Office for National Statistics. Included participants were all patients 15 years or older and registered in the Office for National Statistics in England with a death coded as suicide or open verdict from 2001 to 2019. Up to 40 live control participants per suicide case were randomly matched on primary care practice and suicide date.ExposuresPatients with codes referring to a dementia diagnosis were identified in primary care and secondary care databases.Main Outcomes and MeasuresOdds ratios (ORs) were estimated using conditional logistic regression and adjusted for sex and age at suicide/index date.ResultsFrom the total sample of 594 674 patients, 580 159 (97.6%) were controls (median [IQR] age at death, 81.6[72.0-88.4] years; 289 769 male patients [50.0%]), and 14 515 (2.4%) died by suicide (median [IQR] age at death, 47.4 [36.0-59.7] years; 10 850 male patients [74.8%]). Among those who died by suicide, 95 patients (1.9%) had a recorded dementia diagnosis (median [IQR] age at death, 79.5 [67.1-85.5] years; median [IQR] duration of follow-up, 2.3 [1.0-4.4] years). There was no overall significant association between a dementia diagnosis and suicide risk (adjusted OR, 1.05; 95% CI, 0.85-1.29). However, suicide risk was significantly increased in patients diagnosed with dementia before age 65 years (adjusted OR, 2.82; 95% CI, 1.84-4.33), in the first 3 months after diagnosis (adjusted OR, 2.47; 95% CI, 1.49-4.09), and in patients with dementia and psychiatric comorbidity (adjusted OR, 1.52; 95% CI, 1.21-1.93). In patients younger than 65 years and within 3 months of diagnosis, suicide risk was 6.69 times (95% CI, 1.49-30.12) higher than in patients without dementia.Conclusions and RelevanceDiagnostic and management services for dementia, in both primary and secondary care settings, should target suicide risk assessment to the identified high-risk groups.

General Medicine, Radiology, medicine.medical_specialty, medicine, Stroke, medicine.disease, Thrombus, Secondary Polycythemia, Neurovascular bundle, Cardiac cycle, Vertebral artery, medicine.artery, business.industry, business, Free floating thrombus, Blood flow, cardiovascular diseases, cardiovascular system, stroke, free-floating thrombus (fft), secondary polycythemia vera (pv), dual antithrombotic, Medicine (General), R5-920, Case Report, free-floating thrombus, FFT, secondary polycythemia vera, and PV

Ali Alhashim,1 Kawther Hadhiah,1 Sarah A Itani,2 Mohammed Alshurem,1 Majed Alabdali,1 Danah Aljaafari,1 Mustafa AlQarni1 1Neurology Department, College of Medicine, Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, Dammam, 34212, Saudi Arabia; 2College of Medicine, Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, Dammam, 34212, Saudi ArabiaCorrespondence: Ali AlhashimNeurology Department, College of Medicine, Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, Dammam, 34212, Saudi ArabiaTel +966 509444833Email ali_al_hashem@hotmail.com; ahalhashem@iau.edu.saAbstract: Free-floating thrombus (FFT) of the cervicocranial arteries is a rare neurovascular condition. Up to now, there is no standardized definition for FFT. Therefore, FFT is occasionally mistaken for intraluminal thrombus (ILT) or smooth mural thrombus. The most precise and ideal definition of FFT would be a long-extended intraarterial thrombus that is attached to the arterial wall with its one end, while its other end is surrounded by blood flow and moves freely with the cardiac cycle. FFT usually manifests as an ischemic stroke, thus it is considered as an emergency case. Herein, we report a rare case of symptomatic FFT in the left vertebral artery extending from V0 to V2 segments in a middle-aged smoker, who presented with multiple embolic strokes in different territories of posterior circulation and was successfully treated medically. This case sheds light on the challenges of the clinical approach of FFT in the vertebral artery and it is an attempt to draw attention to the necessity of conducting a large-scale study to find out the ideal approach to manage such conditions.Keywords: stroke, free-floating thrombus, FFT, secondary polycythemia vera, PV, dual antithrombotic

Computer Science Applications, Education, Cognition, German, language.human_language, language, Informatics, Elite, Sport psychology, Diversity (politics), media_common.quotation_subject, media_common, Creativity, Pedagogy, and Educational technology

Our guest for this article was Dr. Daniel Memmert, Professor and Executive Head of the Institute of Exercise Training and Sport Informatics at the German Sport University Cologne, Cologne (Germany). A lifelong sports player and enthusiast, Memmert’s research is at the intersection of human movement science (cognition and motor activity), sport psychology (attention and motivation), computer science in sports (pattern identification and simulation), talent, children and elite research (Trainings-/PE-Curricula) and research methods.

Case Report, large vessel occlusion, stroke, healthy middle-aged, viral hypercoagulability, SARS-CoV-2, independent risk factor, General Medicine, Pandemic, Pathogenesis, Stroke, medicine.disease, medicine, Respiratory system, Context (language use), Internal medicine, medicine.medical_specialty, business.industry, business, Cardiology, Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), Neuroimaging, Large vessel occlusion, Medicine (General), and R5-920

Ali Alhashim, Mustafa Alqarni, Majed Alabdali, Mohammed Alshurem, Aishah Albakr, Kawther Hadhiah, Danah Aljaafari, Rawan Alyami Neurology Department, College of Medicine, Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, Dammam, 34212, Saudi ArabiaCorrespondence: Ali AlhashimNeurology Department, Medical College, Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, Dammam, 34212, Saudi ArabiaTel +966509444833Email ahalhashem@iau.edu.sa; ali_al_hashem@hotmai.comBackground: Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) due to novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has led to an unprecedented worldwide pandemic with diverse respiratory symptoms as well as systemic manifestations and complications. The neurological manifestations of COVID-19 include, but are not limited to, headache, cerebrovascular disease, and skeletal muscle injury.Case Report: Herein, we present a case of stroke with large vessel occlusion in a middle-aged man, who recently recovered from severe SARS-CoV-2 infection. This patient is not known to have any medical illness or surgical history and has no cerebrovascular risk factors. Moreover, the patient underwent extensive investigations, including neuroimaging, cardiac and laboratory work-up with no evidence of stroke etiology.Conclusion: The mechanism of cerebrovascular events in the setting of COVID-19 is still uncertain and probably multi-factorial. The prevailing hypothesis is a strong thrombotic tendency, which may even be prolonged after complete recovery. In our patient’s case, hypercoagulability in the context of viral infection is the most likely mechanism for the stroke. Further studies are needed to find out the exact pathogenesis of thromboembolic events in the setting of COVID-19 infection as well as the efficacy, safety, dosage, and duration of anticoagulants in such conditions.Keywords: large vessel occlusion, stroke, healthy middle-aged, viral hypercoagulability, SARS-CoV-2, independent risk factor

Biomarkers, Breast cancer, Ceramide expression, Molecular subtypes, Saudi Arabia, Therapeutics. Pharmacology, RM1-950, lipids (amino acids, peptides, and proteins), Pharmaceutical Science, Pharmacology, Medicine, business.industry, business, Oncology, medicine.medical_specialty, medicine.disease, Receptor, Pathological, Sphingolipid, Antibody, biology.protein, biology, Estrogen, medicine.drug_class, Ceramide, chemistry.chemical_compound, chemistry, Monoclonal, Internal medicine, and Original Article

Background/Introduction Despite advances in the diagnosis and management of breast cancer (BC), it is still associated with high mortality rates. New biomarkers are being developed for the diagnosis, treatment, and prediction of responses of BC. Ceramide (CER), a bioactive sphingolipid, has emerged recently as a useful diagnostic tool in several types of tumors. In this study, we evaluated CER expression in invasive BC and assessed its relation to the molecular subtypes of BC. Materials and methods The clinical data and histopathological slides of 50 patients with invasive ductal carcinoma were retrieved and reviewed. The cases were then stained with a mouse monoclonal anti-ceramide antibody. Pearson correlation was used to assess the correlation between CER percentage and intensity and other clinical and pathological variables. Results CER expression showed a direct relationship with estrogen and progesterone receptors Allred scores. However, it showed an inverse relation with tumor grade, HER2/neu status and Ki-67 index. Conclusions CER expression is likely to be associated with luminal BC molecular subtypes. However, more research is needed to confirm these results and to explore its relation to the different clinical outcomes, including response to treatment and prognosis.

Infectious Diseases, Microbiology (medical), General Medicine, Enrichment culture, Tryptic soy broth, chemistry.chemical_compound, chemistry, Microbiology, Agar plate, Throat, medicine.anatomical_structure, medicine, Nose, business.industry, business, biochemical phenomena, metabolism, and nutrition, and bacterial infections and mycoses

Enrichment culture (EC) remains gold standard for detecting MRSA colonisation, but molecular methods shorten turnaround time. The CE-marked automated Hologic Panther Fusion MRSA Assay (HPFM) is validated for nasal swabs. We compared HPFM with EC following an in-house PCR for detection of MRSA in nasal, pharyngeal, and perineal ESwabs. The same ESwabs were analysed using HPFM and inoculated in selective Tryptic Soy Broth (TSB) for overnight incubation. TSBs were screened by a PCR targeting nuc, femA, mecA, and mecC. Only samples with PCR results compatible with MRSA presence were inoculated onto 5% blood agar and chromogenic MRSA plates. HPFM detected MRSA in 103 of 132 EC positive samples indicating a sensitivity of 78.0% across sample types. When paired TSBs of 29 EC positive/HPFM negative samples were re-analysed by HPFM, MRSA was detected in 17/29 TSBs indicating that enrichment will increase the sensitivity of HPFM. HPFM analyses of cultured isolates from the remaining 12 EC positive/HPFM negative samples failed to detect orfX. HPFM reported the presence of MRSA in 22 samples where EC failed to identify MRSA. Fifteen of these ESwabs had been kept and direct culture without enrichment identified MRSA in seven samples. HPFM was useful for all sample sites. Compared to EC, the sensitivity of HPFM was limited because of lack of analytical sensitivity and failure to detect all MRSA variants. Failure of some MRSA-containing samples to enrich in cefoxitin-containing TSB indicates an unappreciated limitation of EC, which may lead to underestimation of the specificity of molecular assays.

General Nursing, Community-based care, Teamwork, media_common.quotation_subject, media_common, Lower income, Interprofessional education, Health professions, Emergency department, Nursing, Motivational interviewing, Psychology, Health care, business.industry, and business

Background/Purpose: An innovative care coordination program was developed to enhance wellness among low-income older adults living in subsidized apartment buildings and to provide rich interprofessional education experiences for health professions students. Methods Program effectiveness for the residents was measured through an evaluation of participation, services used, and healthcare utilization. Educational effectiveness was measured through a change in health concepts and perceptions of interprofessional practice. Findings Health care utilization among participating residents showed an 8.6% reduction in emergency department visits and 9.8% reduction in hospital admissions. Students demonstrated improved knowledge in motivational interviewing (p = .02); diabetes (p = .02); hypertension (p≤.01); and frailty (p≤.01). Changes in students perception of interprofessional practice were significant in two areas; Teamwork and Collaboration (p≥.00); and Person Centeredness (p = .00). Discussion This care coordination model may be an effective approach to reduce care resource utilization among medically complex lower income older adults and provides a rich interprofessional learning experience for students.

General Medicine, Medicine, business.industry, business, Mycoplasma pneumonia, medicine.disease, Pneumonia, Ataxia, medicine.symptom, Ventilator-associated pneumonia, Epilepsy, Mechanical ventilation, medicine.medical_treatment, Upper respiratory tract infection, Guillain-Barre syndrome, Pediatrics, medicine.medical_specialty, congenital, hereditary, and neonatal diseases and abnormalities, Case Report, Guillain-Barré syndrome, Miller Fisher syndrome, ventilator-associated pneumonia, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa

Background Miller Fisher syndrome (MFS), a triad of ophthalmoplegia, areflexia and ataxia, is one of the regional variants of Guillain-Barre syndrome (GBS) that might account for a quarter of all cases of GBS, especially in Asian countries. There is history of an antecedent upper respiratory tract infection in up to two thirds of MFS cases. However, association of MFS in adults and pneumonia is rarely reported and in those cases causative pathogen was Mycoplasma pneumonia e. To our knowledge, association of MFS and ventilator-associated pneumonia has never been reported. So, we hereby report the first case of MFS which followed ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP). Case report We report case of a 22-year-old male who was known to have temporal lobe epilepsy and mental retardation. He presented with status epilepticus. He was sedated and put on mechanical ventilation. Two days later, he developed a fever associated with increased tracheobronchial secretions and new infiltrates on chest X-ray. Diagnosis of VAP was made. Upon improvement, he was extubated and shifted out of ICU. Ten days after the onset of fever, he developed gradual onset bulbar weakness and ataxia. On examination, he had generalized areflexia and ataxia. CSF analysis showed cytoalbuminic dissociation. Antibodies against ganglioside complex were elevated. Diagnosis of sero-negative MFS was made, and intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) was started. He improved remarkably within two days. Conclusion MFS is immune-mediated entity which is usually triggered by upper respiratory tract infection but in rare cases it can be consequence of pneumonia including VAP. Further research is needed to establish link between MFS and VAP.

Human papillomavirus, Female schoolteachers, Unawareness, HPV vaccine, HPV vaccine uptake, HPV transmission routes, Infectious and parasitic diseases, RC109-216, Public aspects of medicine, RA1-1270, Infectious Diseases, Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health, General Medicine, Family income, Demography, Cervical cancer, medicine.disease, medicine, Viral infection, HPV infection, Reproductive tract, business.industry, business, Logistic regression, and Future studies

Background: Human papillomavirus (HPV) is the most common viral infection of the reproductive tract. This cross-sectional study among female schoolteachers assessed the prevalence of i) unawareness of HPV infection’s causal role in cervical cancer; ii) unawareness of HPV vaccine availability and iii) examined the sociodemographic variables associated both the outcome variables. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted among female schoolteachers employed in public and private sectors schools in Kuwait using a structured questionnaire for data collection. Prevalence of each of the outcome variables was computed. Multivariable logistic regression analyses were used to evaluate independent predictors of two dependent variables. Results: A total 1341 female schoolteachers were enrolled. Of the participants, 60% were unaware of HPV causal role in cervical cancer and 88% were unaware of HPV vaccine availability. Among those who were aware of HPV vaccine availability, 83.8% were unvaccinated. Multivariable logistic regression (MLR) model showed that 20–29 years old participants or those with low family income (< 500 KD/month) were significantly (p < 0.05) more likely to be unaware of HPV causal role in cervical cancer. Moreover, participants with family/ personal history of cervical cancer were significantly (p < 0.05) less likely to be unaware of HPV role in causation of cervical cancer. A separate MLR model revealed that the participants were significantly more likely to be unaware of HPV vaccine availability if they were Kuwaiti nationals or non-Kuwaiti Arabs (p < 0.05), employed in public schools (p = 0.003) or less likely to be unaware if they had personal or family history of cervical cancer (p < 0.001). Conclusion: High prevalences of unawareness of causal role of HPV in cervical cancer and unawareness of HPV vaccine availability were recorded. Targeted education among identified sociodemographic groups with high levels of unawareness is warranted. If undertaken, future studies may evaluate the impact of recommended efforts.

Psychiatry and Mental health, Developmental and Educational Psychology, Socioeconomic status, Exploratory research, Nursing, Perception, media_common.quotation_subject, media_common, Child rearing, Coping (psychology), Psychology, Social integration, Qualitative research, Health care, business.industry, business, and Research Article

Aim and Objective: This study aimed to explore how caregivers of persons with Down syndrome (DS) believe caring had an impact on their own lives. A secondary objective was to understand their experience of seeking educational, social, and health care services for the persons with DS. Methods: This qualitative exploratory study was conducted with 21 caregivers of persons with DS in Kuwait. Results: Caregivers struggled to accept the diagnosis initially that led them to search for answers to many of their concerns about raising a person with DS. For the caregivers, who mostly comprised of mothers, dealing with health conditions that persons with DS suffered from was initially difficult. Caring for these individuals led to heavy impact upon their caregivers’ own lives who took extraordinary efforts to cope with the burden. Seeking quality education for the persons with DS and participation in social activities was also challenging, and the caregivers believed that better services, facilities, and benefits for the families of persons with DS may help them better cope with the socioeconomic and psychological burden. Conclusions: Improving the availability of specialized services, the delivery of guidance and counselling, and social integration may help overcome challenges of raising a person with Down Syndrome.

General Medicine, Otorhinolaryngology, Surgery, Zygomatic arch, medicine.anatomical_structure, medicine, Anatomy, Web of science, Data citation, Facial nerve, Temporal fascia, Lateral canthus, Dissection, Craniofacial, business.industry, and business

The objective of this study is to provide a reliable roadmap for temporal branch of the facial nerve, in order to minimize, the risk of injury to the nerve during surgical dissections. A literature search was conducted on temporal branch of facial nerve. The date search range was 1950 to 2017. Databases searched included Medline, Web of science, Biosis, SciELO, Data Citation, and Zoologic Records. Data were collected on, author specialty, date of publication, and the relationship of the temporal branch of facial nerve to various landmarks in the frontotemporal region reported in human anatomic studies. Among the 48 studies reviewed, a total of 3477 anatomic dissections were performed in the craniofacial region. Temporal branch of facial nerve was located between 2.5 and 3 cm from lateral orbital rim. In relation to the zygomatic arch, it was found anywhere from the midpoint of the arch to 1 finger breath posterior to the arch. For the plane, it was most commonly described as being under the superficial temporal fascia (STF) or within the loose areolar tissue. Most anatomic dissections found 2 to 4 twigs of the temporal branch of facial nerve. In relation to the lateral canthus, it was found to be 2.85 +/- 0.69 cm superior and 2.54 +/- 0.43 cm lateral to the lateral canthus. Our study suggests consolidated data on surgical landmarks in order to ensure safe dissection in temporal region and prevent injury to the temporal branch of facial nerve.

Computer Science Applications, Education, Sociology, Transformative learning, Discipline, Creativity, media_common.quotation_subject, media_common, Affordance, Educational technology, Conversation, Aesthetics, Art therapy, Diversity (politics), and ComputingMilieux_MISCELLANEOUS

Creativity emerges in all walks of life and disciplines, requiring diverse approaches and ways of thinking. This article series has taken a wide view to exploring creativity through interviews with experts in different fields (Keenan-Lechel and Henriksen 2019). Beyond disciplinary diversity, it is valuable to think broadly about the types of purposes that creativity relates to. Here, we focus on the work of Dr. Patricia (Pat) Allen, a noted art therapist who uses art and creativity toward mental, emotional, and spiritual wholeness. Her expertise relates to artistic, healing, and therapeutic purposes—and she shares ideas about how education and technology have a role in this. Our conversation offered an illuminating perspective on the role of creativity in healing and wellness, and the education possibilities. We distilled the wide-ranging discussion into themes that include: building systems to support human need; connection to the creative source; rethinking art therapy through the Open Studio Process educational applications for creative wellness; and the affordances of technology for creativity and healing.

Review, belantamab mafodotin-blmf, 64Cu-DOTATATE, drugs, FDA, 68Ga-PSMA-11, lumasiran, setmelanotide, oligonucleotides, peptides, viltolarsen, Drug Discovery, Pharmaceutical Science, Molecular Medicine, Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), International trade, business.industry, business, Pandemic, Food and drug administration, 2019-20 coronavirus outbreak, Drug, media_common.quotation_subject, media_common, Authorization, Global health, Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), Science & Technology, Life Sciences & Biomedicine, Chemistry, Medicinal, Pharmacology & Pharmacy, Cu-64-DOTATATE, Ga-68-PSMA-11, 1115 Pharmacology and Pharmaceutical Sciences, lcsh:Medicine, lcsh:R, lcsh:Pharmacy and materia medica, lcsh:RS1-441, Belantamab mafodotin-blmf, Setmelanotide, Oligonucleotides, Peptides, and Viltolarsen

2020 has been an extremely difficult and challenging year as a result of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and one in which most efforts have been channeled into tackling the global health crisis. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved 53 new drug entities, six of which fall in the peptides and oligonucleotides (TIDES) category. The number of authorizations for these kinds of drugs has been similar to that of previous years, thereby reflecting the consolidation of the TIDES market. Here, the TIDES approved in 2020 are analyzed in terms of chemical structure, medical target, mode of action, and adverse effects.
This work was funded in part by the following: the National Research Foundation (NRF) and the University of KwaZulu-Natal (South Africa); MINECO, (RTI2018-093831-B-100), and the Generalitat de Catalunya (2017 SGR 1439) (Spain).

epiregulin, leptin receptor, ERK, EGFR, glucose uptake, energy metabolism, General Medicine, Biology (General), QH301-705.5, and hormones, hormone substitutes, and hormone antagonists

The leptin receptor (LepR) acts as a signaling nexus for the regulation of glucose uptake and obesity, among other metabolic responses. The functional role of LepR under leptin-deficient conditions remains unclear. This study reports that epiregulin (EREG) governed glucose uptake in vitro and in vivo in Lepob mice by activating LepR under leptin-deficient conditions. Single and long-term treatment with EREG effectively rescued glucose intolerance in comparative insulin and EREG tolerance tests in Lepob mice. The immunoprecipitation study revealed binding between EREG and LepR in adipose tissue of Lepob mice. EREG/LepR regulated glucose uptake without changes in obesity in Lepob mice via mechanisms, including ERK activation and translocation of GLUT4 to the cell surface. EREG-dependent glucose uptake was abolished in Leprdb mice which supports a key role of LepR in this process. In contrast, inhibition of the canonical epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) pathway implicated in other EREG responses, increased glucose uptake. Our data provide a basis for understanding glycemic responses of EREG that are dependent on LepR unlike functions mediated by EGFR, including leptin secretion, thermogenesis, pain, growth, and other responses. The computational analysis identified a conserved amino acid sequence, supporting an evolutionary role of EREG as an alternative LepR ligand.

Pollution, Waste Management and Disposal, Environmental Chemistry, and Environmental Engineering

Computer Science Applications, Education, Sociology, Pedagogy, Social change, and Educational technology

Case Report, internal jugular vein, high jugular bulb, facial nerve palsy, high jugular bulb dehiscence, headache, surgery, lcsh:Medicine (General), lcsh:R5-920, General Medicine, General Nursing, Facial weakness, medicine.symptom, medicine, Internal jugular vein, Medical history, Surgery, medicine.medical_specialty, Population, education.field_of_study, education, Vertigo, biology.organism_classification, biology, Asymptomatic, business.industry, business, Sensorineural hearing loss, medicine.disease, and Palsy

Fahd Alkhamis,1 Khalid Alhajri,1 Danah Aljaafari,1 Ali Alhashim,1 Adnan Alsamarah,2 Abdulaziz Sharydah,2 Osama Basheir,1 Feras AlSulaiman,1 Majed Alabdali1 1Department of Neurology, King Fahad Hospital of the University, Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, Dammam, Saudi Arabia; 2Department of Radiology, King Fahad Hospital of the University, Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, Dammam, Saudi ArabiaCorrespondence: Majed AlabdaliNeurology Departments, King Fahad Hospital of the University – Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, PO Box 40236, Dammam, 31952, Kingdom of Saudi ArabiaTel +966-534347474Email mmalabdali@iau.edu.saBackground: A high mega jugular Bulb is an enlarged and swollen upper portion of the internal jugular vein with a variation of its anatomical position among the population, mostly situated below the hypotympanum. Although most cases of jugular bulb diverticulum are asymptomatic, excessive pressure on the surrounding structures might cause various symptoms, most prominently vertigo, sensorineural hearing loss, or tinnitus.Case Report: A middle-aged male who was referred to the Department of Neurology with a recurrent complaint of left-sided facial weakness associated with headache and vertigo for a period of 24 months. His symptoms were episodic, furthermore exacerbated by visiting high altitude sites. Non-resolving with conventional medical treatment. After thorough investigation, including preoperative and postoperative audiograms, neuroimaging, including computed tomography as well as magnetic resonance angiography, he was diagnosed to have right-sided superior mega jugular bulb as a causative factor. After surgical management, the patient improved significantly. At his regular follow-up in our clinic there were no exacerbations of his symptoms.Conclusion: Among patients who present with recurrent non-resolving facial palsy in which no apparent causative factor is identified, high jugular bulb should be suspected and investigated. Comprehensive and detailed medical history is essential for raising the suspicion for the diagnosis. Such as the case presented eliciting high altitudes as the main precipitating factor. The diagnosis is clinically elusive, commonly obscured by other common diagnoses. Surgery is recommended if antihypertensive drugs do not show improvement.Keywords: internal jugular vein, high jugular bulb, facial nerve palsy, high jugular bulb dehiscence, headache, surgery

Infectious Diseases, Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health, General Medicine, Retrospective cohort study, Comorbidity, medicine.disease, medicine, Intensive care unit, law.invention, law, Univariate analysis, Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, medicine.medical_treatment, Emergency medicine, medicine.medical_specialty, Cohort study, Intensive care, Procalcitonin, business.industry, business, Article, Children, SARS-CoV-2, Mortality, lcsh:Infectious and parasitic diseases, lcsh:RC109-216, lcsh:Public aspects of medicine, and lcsh:RA1-1270

Background Characteristics of critical Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome-related Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection in children is not well understood. This study described the clinical characteristics of children admitted to intensive care units (ICU) and explored factors associated with the need for invasive ventilation or mortality. Methods A multicenter, retrospective, cohort study was conducted over eight medical centers, including all patients younger than 18 years of age and admitted to the ICU due to a direct consequence of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Patients who were admitted to the ICU for any alternate reason and tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 by screening test, and patients who were admitted due to multi-inflammatory syndrome in children, were excluded. Demographic, laboratory, imaging, and clinical data were collected. Descriptive statistics were used to compare survivors and non-survivors. Fine and Gray’s hazard model was used to estimate the association between clinical variables and ICU death. Results During the study period, 25 pediatric COVID-19 patients received care in the ICUs. The median age was 2.78 years (IQR 0.21–8.51), and 60% were male. Only three patients were reported to be previously healthy at admission. Nine (36%) patients required invasive mechanical ventilation, including two were on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation. Four (16%) patients died during ICU care. In univariate analysis, the presence of comorbidity (HR 0.0001; 95%CI 0.00001–0.00016), platelets count (HR 0.99; 95% CI 0.98–0.99), elevated procalcitonin (HR 1.05; 95%CI 1.016–1.09), and circulatory compromise (HR 16.34; 95%CI 1.99–134.35), all at the time of ICU admission, were associated with in-ICU mortality. Conclusion Our findings suggest that children admitted to the ICU with SARS-CoV-2 infection, generally, have a favorable outcome. Low platelets count, elevated procalcitonin, presence of comorbidity, and shock at the time of ICU admission were associated with death. This study may shed more light on the disease dynamics of critical pediatric COVID-19.

Education, Sociology, Curriculum, Engineering ethics, Technology integration, Context (language use), 21st century skills, Creativity, media_common.quotation_subject, media_common, Educational technology, Teaching method, Emerging technologies, and ComputingMilieux_COMPUTERSANDEDUCATION

Internationally, creativity is a widely discussed construct that is pivotal to educational practice and curriculum. It is often situated alongside technology as a key component of education futures. Despite the enthusiasm for integrating creativity with technologies in classrooms, there is a lack of common ground within and between disciplines and research about how creativity relates to technology in teaching and learning—especially in the uncertain space of classroom implementation. This article provides a critical thematic review of international literature on creativity and technology in the context of educational practice. We identify four essential domains that emerge from the literature and represent these in a conceptual model, based around: (1) Learning in regard to creativity, (2) Meanings of creativity, (3) Discourses that surround creativity, and (4) the Futures or impacts on creativity and education. Each of these clusters is contextualized in regard to emerging technologies and the developing scope of twenty-first century skills in classroom implementation. We offer conclusions and implications for research and practice.

Neurology (clinical), Epidemiology, Medicine, business.industry, business, Population, education.field_of_study, education, Drug Resistant Epilepsy, University hospital, Pediatrics, medicine.medical_specialty, Etiology, Medical record, Epilepsy, medicine.disease, International league against epilepsy, and Mean age

Objectives: The objective of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of medically resistant epilepsy (MRE) in our hospital and to compare the prevalence with that in other populations. Methods: We retrospectively analyzed the data of patients who visited the epilepsy clinics at King Fahd University Hospital, Al-Khobar, Saudi Arabia between January 2017 and December 2018. This study included patients aged ≥14 years who had at least 2 unprovoked seizures 24 h apart. Patients who had provoked seizure(s), paroxysmal events, or syncope or had incomplete medical records were excluded. The definition and classification of the International League Against Epilepsy were used. Moreover, we searched the En­glish literature using PubMed and Google Scholar to compare the prevalence of MRE between our population and other populations. Results: In total, 1,151 patients were screened, and 751 patients were included in the final analysis. Of the 751 patients, 229 (male: 56.3%, female: 43.7%; mean age: 32.07 years, and standard deviation, 12.2 years) had MRE, with a cumulative prevalence of 30%. The etiology was as follows: unknown, 63.3% (n = 145); structural, 31.9% (n = 73); genetic, 3.1% (n = 7); and infectious, 1.7% (n = 4). None of the patients had metabolic or immune-related etiologies. Conclusion: The prevalence of MRE in our population (30%) is close to that in other populations (30–36.5%). Early identification of such patients is crucial to improve their management.

Psychiatry and Mental health, Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience, Geriatrics and Gerontology, Neurology (clinical), Developmental Neuroscience, Health Policy, and Epidemiology

refugee children, adverse life experiences, social–emotional development, mental health, internalizing symptoms, externalizing symptoms, Medicine, Article, Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis, Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health, Association (psychology), Social emotional learning, Developmental psychology, Sympathy, media_common.quotation_subject, media_common, Mental health, Psychology, Refugee, and Optimism

Refugee children who experience severe pre-migratory adversity often show varying levels of mental health upon resettlement. Thus, it is critical to identify the factors that explain which refugee children experience more vs. less healthy outcomes. The present study assessed child social–emotional capacities (i.e., emotion regulation, sympathy, optimism, and trust) as potential moderators of associations between child, parental, and familial pre-migratory adversities and child mental health (i.e., internalizing and externalizing symptoms) upon resettlement. Participants were N = 123 five- to 12-year-old Syrian refugee children and their mothers living in Canada. Children and mothers reported their pre-migratory adverse life experiences, and mothers reported their children’s current social–emotional capacities, internalizing symptoms, and externalizing symptoms. Greater familial (i.e., the sum of children’s and their mother’s) pre-migratory adversity was associated with higher child internalizing and externalizing symptoms upon resettlement. Higher emotion regulation and optimism were associated with lower internalizing and externalizing symptoms, and higher sympathy was associated with lower externalizing symptoms. In contrast, higher trust was associated with higher internalizing symptoms. Finally, higher child optimism buffered against the positive association between familial pre-migratory adversity and child internalizing symptoms. In sum, select social–emotional capacities may serve as potential protective factors that support mental health and buffer against the deleterious effects of pre-migratory adversity in refugee children.

Library and Information Sciences, Computer Science Applications, Information Systems, Law and economics, Sociology, and Legitimacy

This paper is based upon the closing keynote presentation that was given by danah boyd at the inaugural NISO Plus conference held from February 23–25, 2020 in Baltimore, MD (USA). It focuses on how data are used, and how they can be manipulated to meet specific objectives – both good and bad. The paper reinforces the importance of understanding the biases and limitations of any data set. Topics covered include data quality, data voids, data infrastructures, alternative facts, and agnotology. The paper stresses that data become legitimate because we collectively believe that those data are sound, valid, and fit for use. This not only means that there is power in collecting and disseminating data, but also that there is power in interpreting and manipulating the data. The struggle over data’s legitimacy says more about our society – and our values – than it says about the data itself.

General Dentistry, Dentistry, business.industry, business, Universal testing machine, After treatment, Temperature cycling, Bond strength, Silane coupling, Denture base, Materials science, Shear bond, Chemo mechanical, Research Article, RK1-715, and Article Subject

Background. Detachment of acrylic teeth from denture base material is a common complication in dentistry which accounts for 26–30% of repair cases. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of alumina-blasting, silane coupling agent, and thermal cycling on the shear bond strength of repaired teeth to denture base. Materials and Methods. Specimens (140) of repaired teeth to denture bases were fabricated and divided into 14 groups: 7 groups before thermal cycling and 7 groups after thermal cycling (n = 10). The groups were divided according to surface treatment into no treatment (control), treatment of the base (B), the tooth (T), or both (BT). Each group was further subdivided according to the surface treatment method into alumina-blasting or alumina-blasting and silane coupling agent. After treatment, acrylic discs and teeth were fixed in a jig, and the repair procedure was done. Half the specimens were thermally cycled. Shear bond strength was measured using a universal testing machine. ANOVA and Tukey HSD tests were performed at α = 0.05. Results. Surface treatment significantly improved the bond strength compared to the control group P < 0.001 . Comparing surface treatments, alumina-blasting with silane coupling agent treatment resulted in significantly higher strength compared to alumina-blasting alone P < 0.001 . The BT group treated with alumina-blasting and silane coupling agent showed the highest significant shear bond strength (23.91 ± 0.96 MPa) P < 0.001 . Significant drop in strength value was observed in all groups after thermal cycling P < 0.004 except the BT group treated with alumina-blasting P = 0.096 . Conclusion. Surface treatment using alumina-blasting with silane coupling agent for denture base and tooth increased repair strength.

Electrochemistry, Catalysis, Anode, Plastic crystal, Ion, Imide, chemistry.chemical_compound, chemistry, Solid state electrolyte, Materials science, High voltage, Ionic liquid, and Chemical engineering

General Agricultural and Biological Sciences, General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology, General Medicine, and General Neuroscience

Background The study’s objective was to analyze the influence of an 8-week neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) with a plyometric (PT) and strength training (ST) program on muscular, sprint, and functional performances in collegiate male football players. Methods Sixty collegiate male football players participated in this randomized controlled trial single-blind study. All the participants were randomly divided into two groups: (1) NMES group (Experimental, n = 30) who received NMES assisted ST and (2) sham NMES group (Control, n = 30) who received sham NMES assisted ST. In addition, participants from both groups received a PT program; both groups received intervention on three days a week for 8-weeks. The study’s outcomes, such as muscular, sprint, and functional performances, were assessed using a strength test (STN) for quadriceps muscle, sprint test (ST), and single-leg triple hop test (SLTHT), respectively, at baseline pre-intervention and 8-week post-intervention. The interaction between group and time was identified using a mixed design (2 × 2) ANOVA. Results Significant difference found across the two time points for the scores of STN: F (1.58) = 5,479.70, p < 0.05; SLTHT: F (1.58) = 118.17, p < 0.05; and ST: F (1.58) = 201.63, p < 0.05. Similarly, the significant differences were found between groups averaged across time for the scores of STN: F (1.58) = 759.62, p < 0.05 and ST: F (1.58) = 10.08, p < 0.05. In addition, after 8-week of training, Cohen’s d observed between two groups a large to medium treatment’s effect size for the outcome STN (d = 10.84) and ST (d = 1.31). However, a small effect size was observed only for the SLTHT (d = 0.613). Conclusions Findings suggest that the effect of PT and ST with either NMES or sham NMES are equally capable of enhancing muscular, sprint, and functional performances in collegiate male football players. However, PT and ST with NMES have shown an advantage over PT and ST with sham NMES in improving muscular performance and sprint performance among the same participants.

Biological Psychiatry and Psychiatry and Mental health

Infectious Diseases and Microbiology

Computer Science Applications, Education, Education and technology, Educational technology, Composition (language), Technological advance, Musical composition, Sociology, Creativity, media_common.quotation_subject, media_common, and Aesthetics

This article is part of an ongoing series by the authors and the Deep Play Research Group, which focuses on the intersection of creativity and technology in education. In this article, Dr. Anthony Brandt, professor of composition and theory at Rice University shares his thoughts about the study of creativity. He uses his experiences as a musician and composer to highlight the important role that creativity plays in our lives, providing examples that illustrate multiple understandings of creativity. His work with neuroscientist David Eagleman is highlighted and serves to illustrate how our understanding of the brain has influenced our knowledge about the way that humans have evolved to engage in creative acts. Dr. Brandt shares his excitement about opportunities that the future will bring as researchers collaborate with scientists and use ground-breaking technological advancements to study creativity. He further offers implications for education and technology.

Original Article, Polycystic ovary syndrome, Binge eating disorder, Health related quality of life, Depression disorder, Riyadh, endocrine system diseases, female genital diseases and pregnancy complications, lcsh:Biology (General), lcsh:QH301-705.5, General Agricultural and Biological Sciences, Quality of life, Cross-sectional study, Infertility, medicine.disease, medicine, business.industry, business, Polycystic ovary, Binge-eating disorder, Internal medicine, medicine.medical_specialty, Logistic regression, Depression (differential diagnoses), Population, education.field_of_study, and education

Background & objectives Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is the most common endocrinal disorder, and the greatest cause of infertility in women. Despite availability of individual data on impact of multiple endocrinal, reproductive and even metabolic factors in PCOS individuals, the data on the co-existence of BED and depression in PCOS patients with its relationship on the quality of life in Saudi Arabian females is not found. Hence this study is aimed to elucidate the implication of PCOS on eating behaviour, induction of depression and general health quality in Saudi Arabian population of Riyadh. Materials and methods This is a cross-sectional study carried out in multiple health facilities of Riyadh from January to March 2019. The study samples (494) were recruited by convenience sampling and administered validated questionnaire by trained research participants. The data obtained was analysed by binary logistic regression using SPSS-IBM 25. Results Of the total 494 women participated in the study, 23.48% (116) were PCOS individuals. The odds of developing abnormal health related quality of (HRQ) in patients with PCOS was significantly (P = 0.000, OR = 3.472) high when compared to non-PCOS participants. The odds of showing high binge eating disorder (BED, P = 0.007, OR = 2.856) and depression (P = 0.000, OR = 2.497) scores in PCOS participants were significantly more than patients who were not having PCOS. Out of the three parameters studied, abnormal health related quality of life possessed a higher influence of PCOS compared to depression and abnormal eating behavior. Interpretation & conclusion In conclusion, the present study shows that women with PCOS are at a significant risk for depressive disorders, disorganized eating behavior and impaired quality of life. Therefore, necessary care and screening is required to minimize the impact of PCOS on already burdened individuals.

Computer Science Applications, Education, Cognitive science, Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), Evolutionary psychology, Psychology, Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), Gray (horse), 2019-20 coronavirus outbreak, Creativity, media_common.quotation_subject, media_common, and Column: Rethinking Technology & Creativity in the 21st Century

Museology and Visual Arts and Performing Arts

Psychiatry and Mental health, Neurology (clinical), Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), Family medicine, medicine.medical_specialty, medicine, Epilepsy, medicine.disease, Pandemic, Outbreak, 2019-20 coronavirus outbreak, Disease management (health), World health, Coronavirus Infections, business.industry, business, and Brief Communication

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) emerged in late 2019 in Wuhan, China.[1][1] The outbreak was confirmed as a pandemic on February 11, 2020, by the World Health Organization (WHO). By the end of April 2020, more than 3.5 million people were infected worldwide. The number of affected people in

Case Report, Paraparesis, Guillain-Barré Syndrome, Demyelination, Postpartum Period, and Saudi Arabia

Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) is a heterogeneous disorder with a diverse clinical presentation ranging from weakness of certain body regions to tetraparesis with autonomic dysfunction and respiratory failure. Paraparetic GBS is a variant of GBS which is characterised by weakness limited to the lower limbs only. It is crucial to identify such topographical presentations, as a delay in diagnosis can lead to delayed initiation of specific treatment, which can negatively impact the outcome. We report a 29-year-old female patient who presented to the King Fahd Hospital of the University, Al Khobar, Saudi Arabia, in 2017 with rapid onset asymmetrical weakness of lower extremities associated with bladder dysfunction during the immediate postpartum period. The weakness spared cranial nerves and arms and imaging studies of the spine was unremarkable. Cerebrospinal fluid investigations showed cyto-albuminologic dissociation and nerve conduction studies showed features of demyelination. The patient was diagnosed with a paraparetic variant of GBS and treated with intravenous immunoglobulin. She had almost recovered completely at the two–month follow-up.

Facilitation, Facilitator, Educational technology, Process (engineering), Debriefing, Design thinking, Psychology, Engineering ethics, Event (computing), and Qualitative research

As design thinking expands into educational contexts, teams engaged in the process increasingly encounter situations that involve facilitating collaborative problem-solving. In design-focused workshops and other collaborative design activities, facilitators play a key role in supporting small group interactions in order to generate ideas, structure discussions, and guide the process. Yet despite this increased focus on collaborative design thinking, there is little research to inform either facilitator roles or facilitator practices in this process. We address this gap by presenting a qualitative study that thematically examines our experiences as university-based facilitators who supported a community-wide educational design event. Specifically, we served as facilitators in a collaborative, multi-stakeholder, educational design thinking workshop that sought innovations for a local high school improvement initiative. This research is a qualitative study of our own facilitation processes based on data generated through open-ended self-reflection questionnaires and facilitator planning and debriefing discussions. Our results demonstrate that design facilitation resonates with Thomas Kuhn’s (1977) notion of “essential tension.” Essential tension exists within multiple aspects of design thinking roles and practices—including processes, products, discussion flow, and group dynamics. We reflect on these findings and propose implications for design thinking facilitation in future research and practice.

Computer Science Applications, Music, Engineering (miscellaneous), Visual Arts and Performing Arts, Psychology, The arts, Test (assessment), Bridging (networking), Mathematics education, and Literal and figurative language

STEM education in the United States is often described as being in a downward spiral, when assessed by competency test scores and lack of student motivation for engaging STEM disciplines. The authors suggest this arises from an overly instrumental view of STEM. While STEAM has arisen as a pushback paradigm, the application of STEAM in schools is challenging, and educators are often unclear about connecting STEM and the arts. The authors suggest envisioning STEAM through natural disciplinary interconnections. They focus on the integration of language arts and figurative thinking to blur the boundaries of STEM and the arts, and offer examples of figurative language—such as metaphor, linguistic etymology and synecdoche—for framing STEM teaching and learning.

Computer Science Applications, Education, Power (social and political), Sociology, Conversation, media_common.quotation_subject, media_common, Media studies, Craft, Educational technology, and Fandom

General Medicine

Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health and Community and Home Care

Objective: Many studied investigated the manifestations of COVID-19, yet few described the pattern and severity of otolaryngological symptoms. We aim to describe the picture of COVID-19-associated otorhinolaryngological manifestations and recovery to explore individualized treatment, onward referral, and complications prevention. Design: Prospective longitudinal questionnaire-based study. Setting: The online questionnaire was filled 3 times through a remote interview over a period of 1 month from June 2020 to July 2020. Participants: Patients with confirmed COVID-19 by RT-PCR who were clinically stable. Main Outcome Measures: Date of diagnosis, sociodemographic data, and the presence of predictive factors, such as nasal and paranasal disease, anosmia and dysgeusia. Validated tools were used, such as Sino-nasal Outcome Test (SNOT-22), smell test (medical academy screening tool), Voice Handicap Index (VHI), and Reflux Symptoms Index (RSI). Result: The questionnaire was sent to 363 patients and the response rate was 70.80% (n = 257). The mean age was 34.58 years (SD = 11.22) and the rate of male participants was 60.7%. The most common otorhinolaryngological symptoms at the time of enrollment was fever (48.6%), whilst the commonest severe symptom was cough (57%). After 1 month, only 11 participants had persistent severe symptoms, especially sleep and psychological symptoms (73%), and the majority were female (63.6%). All of them had at least 1 comorbidity. There was a significant difference between the mean age of participants with severe symptoms (mean = 27.45, SD = 8.39) and without severe symptoms (mean = 34.90, SD = 2.53, t(255) = 2.17, P = .031). Conclusion: COVID-19 has a wide-ranged spectrum of presentations, with otorhinolaryngological symptoms being the commonest and most serious. Studying these symptoms is vital to advance management options.

Computer Science Applications, Education, Creativity, media_common.quotation_subject, media_common, Educational technology, Pedagogy, Psychology, and Conversation

medical students, mental illness, mentally ill, stigma, lcsh:Medicine, lcsh:R, education, Stigma (botany), Family medicine, medicine.medical_specialty, medicine, Mentally ill, Health care, business.industry, business, Male gender, Scale (social sciences), Authoritarianism, Mental illness, medicine.disease, Biomedical sciences, and Original Article

Aim: The study aimed to measure the level of the stigma of medical students at King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences (KSAU-HS), Riyadh campus, towards mentally ill patients. Material and Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted in King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences (KSAU-HS), Riyadh. The data collection was started in July 2017 till March 2018. The students completed a self-administered questionnaire consisting of sociodemographic data and the Community Attitudes toward the Mentally Ill (CAMI) Scale. Results: The sample size was realized as 274 participants. There were no significant differences in all CAMI subscales for the different academic years except for Authoritarianism which showed a significant increase in the level of stigma (P-value = 0.04). Male gender, previous psychiatric treatment, and having a relative with psychiatric illness were associated with higher Authoritarianism and Social Restrictiveness scores and lower Benevolence and CMHI scores. Discussion: More stigma was observed among the 4th year students and it might be due to insufficient academic preparation as well as more exposure to psychiatric rotations. Conclusion: The results support the importance of implementing anti-stigma programs throughout the medical program to improve the healthcare provided to mentally ill patients.

Physical and Theoretical Chemistry, General Physics and Astronomy, Ionic bonding, Hexafluorophosphate, chemistry.chemical_compound, chemistry, Ionic liquid, Polymer chemistry, Imide, Alkyl, chemistry.chemical_classification, Dicyanamide, Plastic crystal, and Electrolyte

Ionic liquids and plastic crystals based on pyrrolidinium cations are recognised for their advantageous properties such as high conductivity, low viscosity, and good electrochemical and thermal stability. The pyrrolidinium ring can be substituted with symmetric or asymmetric alkyl chain substituents to form a range of ionic liquids or plastic crystals depending on the anion. However, reports into the use of branched alkyl chains and how this influences the material properties are limited. Here, we report the synthesis of six salts – ionic liquids and organic ionic plastic crystals – where the typically used linear propyl chain substituent is replaced by the branched alternative, isopropyl, to form the cation [C(i3)mpyr]+, in combination with six different anions: dicyanamide, (fluorosulfonyl)(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide, bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide, bis(fluorosulfonyl)imide, tetrafluoroborate and hexafluorophosphate. The thermal and transport properties of these salts are compared to those of the analogous N-propyl-N-methylpyrrolidinium and N,N-diethylpyrrolidinium-based salts. Finally, a high lithium salt content ionic liquid electrolyte based on the bis(fluorosulfonyl)imide salt was developed. This electrolyte showed high coulombic efficiencies of lithium plating/stripping and high lithium ion transference number, making it a strong candidate for use in lithium metal batteries.

Multidisciplinary

The Philippine province of Dinagat Islands supports a huge array of flora and fauna with a high rate of endemism, including three species of mammals found nowhere else in the world. However, anthropogenic activities such as mining are rampant on the island and present a grave threat to the island’s unique biodiversity. We conducted a survey of volant and small non-volant mammals in selected municipalities of Dinagat Islands to contribute to the current understanding of Philippine mammalian fauna. A total of 17 species of volant mammals were recorded among 420 individuals captured in mist nets, 11 species of which are fruit bats and six are insectivorous bats. As for small non-volant mammals, a total of eight species were recorded from 51 individuals captured using a combination of trapping, mist-netting, and transect walks. Among these, eight and six species of volant and non-volant mammals, respectively, were Philippine endemics. We also recorded six species listed under different categories of threat based on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources Administrative Order (DENR-DAO). Four species were new records for the Dinagat Islands: Harpionycteris whiteheadi, Rhinolophus subrufus, Pipistrellus javanicus, and Myotis muricola – bringing the total number of recorded mammals on the island to 38 species. With our limited sampling methods, it is possible that some species were overlooked and that new records and novel species may still be discovered as more extensive surveys utilizing other sampling techniques, such as acoustic surveys and the use of different baits and traps, are conducted. Nonetheless, the presence of endemic and threatened species in all our sites – especially those with relatively intact forest – underlines the need for the continued protection of their remaining habitats. Furthermore, our findings emphasize the need for the proper rehabilitation and restoration of areas impacted by mining activities to provide additional habitat and resources for mammals on the island.

Computer Science Applications, Education, Perspective-taking, Educational technology, Pedagogy, Creativity, media_common.quotation_subject, media_common, and Psychology

Computer Science Applications, Education, Aesthetics, Work (electrical), Mythology, Ideation, Educational technology, Creativity, media_common.quotation_subject, media_common, and Sociology

Political Science and International Relations, Sociology and Political Science, Cultural Studies, Epistemology, Creative thinking, Creativity, media_common.quotation_subject, media_common, Psychology, Intuition, Scholarship, ComputingMilieux_MISCELLANEOUS, creative epistemologies, creative paradigms, creative thinking, creativity, creativity research, design, Social sciences (General), H1-99, designerly ways of knowing, ethics, and perceiving

Designerly ways of knowing have significant untapped potential to inform creativity research. In this article, I draw upon in-depth interviews with expert design scholars to examine this connection. Thematic analysis reveals how design offers potential lenses on creativity that are not often taken up in dominant psychological discourses around creativity. I situate this by framing the need for design-based knowledge within creativity literature. The findings reflect a view of creativity involving perception, intuition, and ability to re-see the world; creativity as an action-orientated phenomenon; and a focus on the ethics of creativity in an increasingly technology-empowered society. In exploring scholarly definitions of and views about creativity, there are insights on how design offers distinctive viewpoints for paradigms around creativity. Article in English. Paradigmos išplėtimas: dizaino perspektyvų įtraukimas į kūrybinį ugdymą Santrauka Dizaineriško pažinimo būdai turi reikšmingų nepanaudotų galimybių praturtinti kūrybiškumo tyrinėjimus. Siekdama išnagrinėti šį ryšį, straipsnyje remiuosi išsamiais interviu su dizaino srityje dirbančiais mokslininkais ekspertais. Teminė analizė atskleidžia, kaip dizainas kūrybiškumui suteikia galimybių, atveriančių jo perspektyvas, kurios nėra pasitelkiamos vyraujančiuose psichologijos diskursuose, susijusiuose su kūrybiškumu. Tam skiriu dėmesio, kūrybiškumui skirtoje literatūroje sukurdama dizainu grindžiamų žinių poreikį. Išvados atspindi kūrybiškumo vaizdą, apimantį suvokimą, intuiciją ir gebėjimą naujaip pažvelgti į pasaulį; kūrybiškumą kaip į veiksmą nukreiptą reiškinį ir į kūrybiškumo etiką visuomenėje, kurioje vis didesnių galių įgyja technologijos. Tyrinėjant mokslinius kūrybiškumo apibrėžimus ir nusistatymus jo atžvilgiu, kyla įžvalgų apie tai, kaip dizainas formuoja išskirtinius požiūrius į kūrybiškumo paradigmas. Reikšminiai žodžiai:kūrybinė epistemologija, kūrybinės paradigmos, kūrybinis mąstymas, kūrybiškumas, kūrybiškumo tyrinėjimai, dizainas, dizaineriški pažinimo būdai, etika, intuicija, suvokimas.

Computer Science Applications, Education, Conversation, media_common.quotation_subject, media_common, Creativity, Psychology, The arts, Visual arts, and Educational technology

Education, Political science, Public relations, business.industry, business, Teaching method, Creativity, media_common.quotation_subject, media_common, Education policy, Politics, ComputingMilieux_MISCELLANEOUS, ComputingMilieux_COMPUTERSANDEDUCATION, and ComputingMilieux_LEGALASPECTSOFCOMPUTING

Considering the political environments of Australia and the United States, the authors discuss the disconnect between policy and the practical needs of educators for creativity in the classroom.

Original Article, Psychiatry and Mental health, Neurology (clinical), Family medicine, medicine.medical_specialty, medicine, Mean age, Multiple sclerosis, medicine.disease, Traditional therapy, Adverse effect, Meditation, media_common.quotation_subject, media_common, Observational study, business.industry, business, Female patient, and Alternative medicine

Objectives: To describe the prevalence, knowledge and attitudes about complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) use and the proportion that seek advice from their physician about CAM use. Methods: This cross-sectional observational study was performed in multiple sclerosis (MS) clinic of King Fahd Hospital of Universityin Alkhobar, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia from January-June 2017. A total of 133 patients have completed the survey. Results: The mean age of patients was 32.3±7.6 years and 84 (63.2 %) were female. Approximately 83.5% of the patients reported the use of CAM. Among all the reported forms of CAM, vitamins were the most prevalent form, followed by cupping, special prayers and meditation. The majority of patients (62%) obtained knowledge of CAM through social media. A significant number of patients (75.6%) did not disclose the use of CAM to their physician. There was a trend for using CAM more in highly educated, older age, and female patients. The most commonly reported rationale to use CAM was overall improvement in health status. Conclusion: The use of CAM among Saudi patients with MS is highly prevalent, without disclosure of its use to physicians. These factors should be taken into account in the doctor-patient consultation to avoid adverse events.

Physical and Theoretical Chemistry, General Physics and Astronomy, Ionic bonding, Ionic liquid, chemistry.chemical_compound, chemistry, Electrolyte, Inorganic chemistry, Salt (chemistry), chemistry.chemical_classification, Hexafluorophosphate, Plastic crystal, Thermal stability, and Ionic conductivity

The synthesis and characterisation of new solid-state electrolytes is a key step in advancing the development of safer and more reliable electrochemical energy storage technologies. Organic ionic plastic crystals (OIPCs) are an increasingly promising class of material for application in devices such as lithium or sodium metal batteries as they can support high ionic conductivity, with good electrochemical and thermal stability. However, the choice of OIPC-forming ions is still relatively limited. Furthermore, understanding of the influence of different cations and anions on the thermal, structural and transport properties of these materials is still in its infancy. Here we report the synthesis and in-depth characterisation of a range of new OIPCs utilising the hexamethylguanidinium cation ([HMG]) with five different anions. The thermal, structural, transport properties and free volume in the different salts have been investigated. The free volume within the salts has been investigated by positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy, and the single crystal and powder X-ray diffraction analysis of [HMG] bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide ([TFSI]) in phase I and II, [HMG] hexafluorophosphate ([PF6]) and [HMG] tetrafluoroborate ([HMG][BF4]) are reported. The HMG cation can exhibit significant disorder, which is advantageous for plasticity and future use of these materials as high ionic conductivity matrices. The bis(fluorosulfonyl)imide salt, [HMG][FSI], is identified as particularly promising for use as an electrolyte, with good electrochemical stability and soft mechanical properties. The findings introduce a range of new materials to the solid-state electrolyte arena, while the insights into the physico-chemical relationships in these materials will be of importance for the future development and understanding of other ionic electrolytes.

antiepileptic drugs, epilepsy, nonadherence, lcsh:Neurosciences. Biological psychiatry. Neuropsychiatry, lcsh:RC321-571, Original Article, Neurology (clinical), General Neuroscience, Context (language use), In patient, Epilepsy, medicine.disease, medicine, business.industry, business, Population, education.field_of_study, education, Pediatrics, medicine.medical_specialty, Statistical significance, Medical record, Seizure control, and Neurology

Context: Medication nonadherence is a significant barrier in achieving seizure freedom in patients with epilepsy. There is a deficiency of data about the reasons for nonadherence in Saudi population. Aims: The aim of this study is to prove the existence of nonadherence to antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) in patients with epilepsy and identify the responsible factors. Setting and Design: This is a prospective, cross-sectional study carried in the Department of Neurology at King Fahd Hospital of the University affiliated with Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University. Subjects and Methods: Patients of all ages diagnosed to have epilepsy as mentioned in their medical record and taking antiepileptic medications were interviewed using a questionnaire. Statistical Analysis Used: Statistical analysis was performed using IBM Statistical Package for the Social Sciences version 21 (IBM Corp., Armonk, NY, USA). Statistical significance was defined as two-tailed with a P ≤ 0.05. Results: Among 152 participants, 52.6% were male and 47.4% were female. Mean age of the patients was 28 ± 14.3 (mean ± standard deviation) years. Of 152 patients, 48.7% were found to be nonadherent to their AED therapy. The most commonly identified factor was forgetfulness. Nonadherence was significantly associated with poor seizure control (P = 0.002). Conclusion: Nonadherence to the AED is common among patients with epilepsy and affects seizure control adversely.

Health Policy, Leadership and Management, Psychology, Work life, Quality of work life, Shared governance, Nursing, Patient satisfaction, and food and beverages

Background: Adopting shared governance in nursing is considered a strategic tool that can enhance both nurse and patient satisfaction and will, in turn, improve nurses' work life. Aim: To compare the differences in nurses' perceptions of the quality of the work environment between hospitals that had adopted to use shared governance and those that had not. Method: A cross-sectional, descriptive and comparative design was used. Two hospitals were selected, one of them had adopted a shared governance approach at both the unit and departmental level and the other was a hospital that had not adopted shared governance. Results: From November 2017 to January 2018, 470 questionnaires were completed by nurses across the two hospitals, 330 of them were working in a hospital that had adopted shared governance. There is a statistically significant difference in how nurses percieve their work-life balance between the two hospitals (t=9.62; P=>0.001). Moreover, a significant positive correlation was recognised between the Perception of Quality of Work Life score and all subdomains of nurses' perceptions. Conclusion: The adoption of a shared governance model in the nursing department has a significant impact on improving the quality of the working life of a nurse.

lcsh:Medicine, lcsh:R, cardiovascular diseases, cardiovascular system, General Medicine, Medicine, business.industry, business, Disease, Glycated haemoglobin, Cardiology, medicine.medical_specialty, Stroke, medicine.disease, Medical record, Diabetes mellitus, Ischaemic stroke, Intima-media thickness, Glycated hemoglobin-A1c, Internal medicine, and Clinical & Basic Research

Objectives: This study aimed to determine the relationship between glycaemic control and carotid atherosclerotic disease among patients with acute ischaemic stroke (AIS). Methods: This retrospective cross-sectional study took place in the Neurology Department of King Fahad Hospital of University, Khobar, Saudi Arabia, from April to October 2017. Data were collected from the medical records of 244 patients with a diagnosis of AIS confirmed by computed tomography. Doppler ultrasounds of the carotid artery were performed to determine the presence of increased carotid intima media thickness (CIMT) and plaques. Results: Significantly higher mean glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c) levels were noted in cases with high CIMT values (P = 0.002), but not in cases with carotid plaques (P = 0.360). In addition, there was a significant association between diabetes mellitus (DM) and high CIMT (P = 0.045), but not with carotid plaques (P = 0.075). Finally, while dyslipidaemia and age were independently correlated with high CIMT values (P = 0.034 and 0.050 each). Conclusion: High HbA1c levels were associated with high CIMT values, but not with carotid plaques. Therefore, HbA1c levels may be useful as an indirect marker of the initial stages of carotid artery atherosclerosis.Keywords: Glycated Hemoglobin A1c; Diabetes Mellitus; Carotid Intima-Media Thickness; Atherosclerotic Plaque; Stroke.

Applied Mathematics, Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Condensed Matter Physics, Instrumentation, Nyquist plot, Composite material, Bulk resistivity, Cementitious, Engineered cementitious composite, engineering.material, engineering, Electrical resistivity and conductivity, Materials science, Electrode, Electrical impedance, and Electrical conductor

An end-to-end (two-point) electrical measurement technique is traditionally employed in evaluating the bulk resistivity of hardened cementitious materials. This testing methodology is critically evaluated by studying the electrical impedance of an engineered cementitious composite (ECC), using cuboidal specimens with four different dimensions viz. 50 mm, 70 mm, 100 mm and 150 mm. In the present work, the impedance response (in the form of Nyquist plots) of the ECC specimens was measured over the frequency range 1 Hz–10 MHz via two external plate-electrodes placed at opposite faces of each specimen. A conductive gel, or saturated, synthetic sponges inserted between the plate/specimen interface were used as the electrode-specimen contacting medium. It is shown that the sponge contacting medium introduced a spurious response which was detectable across the entire frequency range and was particularly evident in specimens with smaller electrode contact area and in specimens with air-voids present on the contact surface. This effect was considerably reduced when either the conductive gel or sponges saturated with highly-conductive liquid was used. It is also shown that the true bulk resistivity of the material, identified from the Nyquist plot, can be evaluated by subtracting the resistivity of the sponge itself from the bulk resistivity of the ECC with the sponges present. Benchmarking studies were also undertaken on specimens with an embedded electrode arrangement.

Computer Science Applications, Education, Creativity, media_common.quotation_subject, media_common, Educational technology, Pedagogy, Psychology, and Conversation

Original Research, school staff, knowledge, traumatic dental injuries, Clinical, Cosmetic and Investigational Dentistry, General Dentistry, Family medicine, medicine.medical_specialty, medicine, Lack of knowledge, Basic knowledge, Cluster sampling, Sample (statistics), Tooth Fracture, Study Completed, Demographic data, business.industry, and business

Fares S Al-Sehaibany,1 Danah Z Almubarak,2 Reem A Alajlan,2 Mohammad A Aldosari,1 Nasser D Alqahtani,1 Nassr S Almaflehi,3 Sahar F AlBarakati1 1Department of Pediatric Dentistry and Orthodontics, College of Dentistry, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; 2Dental Intern, College of Dentistry, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; 3Department of Periodontics and Community Dentistry, College of Dentistry, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Aim: This study investigated the knowledge of elementary school staff regarding the management of traumatic dental injuries (TDIs) in children.Methods: The present cross-sectional study analyzed data collected between September 2016 and April 2017. The sample consisted of 2,027 elementary school staff members in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. A stratified cluster random sampling technique was used to select the required sample. Those who agreed to participate in the study completed a 4-part self-administered questionnaire comprising questions regarding demographic data, knowledge on management of tooth fracture, and avulsion using photographs of TDI cases.Results: The majority of the school staff showed inadequate basic knowledge regarding the importance of saving the broken piece of the tooth and identifying the tooth involved in the trauma (67% and 66.3%, respectively), P

Computer Science Applications, Human-Computer Interaction, Education, Mathematics (miscellaneous), Science education, Context (language use), Public relations, business.industry, business, Teaching method, Creativity, media_common.quotation_subject, media_common, Educational technology, Construct (philosophy), CLARITY, law.invention, law, Technology education, and Political science

In this article, we consider the benefits and challenges of enacting creativity in the K-12 context and examine educational policy with regard to twenty-first century learning and technology. Creativity is widely considered to be a key construct for twenty-first century education. In this article, we review the literature on creativity relevant to education and technology to reveal some of the complex considerations that need to be addressed within educational policy. We then review how creativity emerges, or fails to emerge, in six national education policy contexts: Australia, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Finland, Slovakia, and the U.S. We also locate the connections, or lack of, between creativity and technology within those contexts. While the discussion is limited to these nations, the implications strongly point to the need for a coherent and coordinated approach to creating greater clarity with regards to the rhetoric and reality of how creativity and technology are currently enacted in educational policy.

Computer Science Applications, Education, Sociology, Educational technology, Creativity, media_common.quotation_subject, media_common, Visual arts, Field (Bourdieu), Barefoot, and Plucker

Cardiology and Cardiovascular Medicine, Molecular Biology, Knockout mouse, Transcription factor, Biology, Gene knockdown, Gene expression, Fibroblast, medicine.anatomical_structure, medicine, Cell biology, Matrix metalloproteinase, Scleraxis, and Regulation of gene expression

Remodeling of the cardiac extracellular matrix is responsible for a number of the detrimental effects on heart function that arise secondary to hypertension, diabetes and myocardial infarction. This remodeling consists both of an increase in new matrix protein synthesis, and an increase in the expression of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) that degrade existing matrix structures. Previous studies utilizing knockout mice have demonstrated clearly that MMP2 plays a pathogenic role during matrix remodeling, thus it is important to understand the mechanisms that regulate MMP2 gene expression. We have shown that the transcription factor scleraxis is an important inducer of extracellular matrix gene expression in the heart that may also control MMP2 expression. In the present study, we demonstrate that scleraxis directly transactivates the proximal MMP2 gene promoter, resulting in increased histone acetylation, and identify a specific E-box sequence in the promoter to which scleraxis binds. Cardiac myo-fibroblasts isolated from scleraxis knockout mice exhibited dramatically decreased MMP2 expression; however, scleraxis over-expression in knockout cells could rescue this loss. We further show that regulation of MMP2 gene expression by the pro-fibrotic cytokine TGFβ occurs via a scleraxis-dependent mechanism: TGFβ induces recruitment of scleraxis to the MMP2 promoter, and TGFβ was unable to up-regulate MMP2 expression in cells lacking scleraxis due to either gene knockdown or knockout. These results reveal that scleraxis can exert control over both extracellular matrix synthesis and breakdown, and thus may contribute to matrix remodeling in wound healing and disease.

Psychiatry and Mental health, Neurology (clinical), Seizure types, Epidemiology, medicine.medical_specialty, medicine, Stroke, medicine.disease, Epilepsy, business.industry, business, EEG abnormality, Etiology, Population, education.field_of_study, education, Cohort, Pediatrics, and Original Article

Objectives: To identify the types of seizures and describe the clinical features, EEG and radiological findings among patients with epilepsy. Methods: In this retrospective epidemiological study, we analyzed the medical records of the patients with the diagnosis of epilepsy during the study period (January 1st 2016- December 2016) Results: The study included 184 patients, 91 (49.5%) were males and 93 (50.5%) females. Age ranged between 12 and 85 years (mean 35.4±19.5 SD years). Most of the patients 150 (82%) had Generalized tonic clonic seizures followed by focal onset in 27 (14%) of the patients. Main EEG abnormality was focal to bilateral was recorded in 53 (41%), idiopathic/ cryptogenic epilepsy was diagnosed in 61% of the patients. The most common abnormalities on brain imaging were temporal/hippocampal atrophy/stroke. The most common cause of symptomatic epilepsy was stroke found in 20(11%) followed by post infectious epilepsy and head trauma. Conclusion: Seizure types, EEG characteristics and etiologies of symptomatic epilepsy in our cohort of patients are in accordance with the current literature. Slight discrepancy observed in gender distribution and etiologies for symptomatic epilepsy compared with other studies from Saudi Arabia need to be studied further by prospective and population base studies.

General Dentistry, Tooth Fracture, Primary health care, Correct response, Medicine, business.industry, business, Avulsed Tooth, Family medicine, medicine.medical_specialty, Original Research, mothers, knowledge, traumatic dental injuries, lcsh:Dentistry, lcsh:RK1-715, education, geographic locations, and Clinical, Cosmetic and Investigational Dentistry

Fares S Al-Sehaibany,1 Reem Alajlan,2 Danah Almubarak,2 Nassr Almaflehi,3 Aljazi Aljabaa,1 Sahar F AlBarakati1 1Department of Pediatric Dentistry and Orthodontics, College of Dentistry, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; 2College of Dentistry, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; 3Department of Periodontics and Community Dentistry, College of Dentistry, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Objective: This study investigated the knowledge of Saudi mothers regarding the management of traumatic dental injuries (TDIs) in children.Materials and methods: A cross-sectional study using structured questionnaires was employed for mothers chosen by stratified-cluster random sampling technique from primary health care centers in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, over a period of 12 months (July 2016–June 2017). The questionnaire surveyed mothers’ background and knowledge on management of tooth fracture and avulsion using photographs of TDI cases.Results: The sample consisted of 3,367 Saudi mothers. More than half of the mothers (55.3%) gave the correct response, which was to send the child with tooth fracture immediately to the dentist (p

Ophthalmology, General Medicine, Porencephaly, medicine.disease, medicine, Visual acuity, medicine.symptom, Radiology, medicine.medical_specialty, business.industry, business, Magnetic resonance imaging, and medicine.diagnostic_test

Nature and Landscape Conservation, Agricultural and Biological Sciences (miscellaneous), Ecological Modeling, Ecology, Urban ecology, Program Design Language, Environmental planning, Geography, Public engagement, Urbanization, Biodiversity, Ecosystem health, Urban design, Citizen science, citizen science, urban ecology, biodiversity, amphibian, conservation planning, urbanization, Biology (General), and QH301-705.5

As cities adopt mandates to protect, maintain and restore urban biodiversity, the need for urban ecology studies grows. Species-specific information on the effects of urbanization is often a limiting factor in designing and implementing effective biodiversity strategies. In suburban and exurban areas, amphibians play an important social-ecological role between people and their environment and contribute to ecosystem health. Amphibians are vulnerable to threats and imbalances in the aquatic and terrestrial environment due to a biphasic lifestyle, making them excellent indicators of local environmental health. We developed a citizen science program to systematically monitor amphibians in a large city in Alberta, Canada, where 90% of pre-settlement wetlands have been removed and human activities continue to degrade, alter, and/or fragment remaining amphibian habitats. We demonstrate successes and challenges of using publicly collected data in biodiversity monitoring. Through amphibian monitoring, we show how a citizen science program improved ecological knowledge, engaged the public in urban biodiversity monitoring and improved urban design and planning for biodiversity. We outline lessons learned to inform citizen science program design, including the importance of early engagement of decision makers, quality control assessment, assessing tensions in program design for data and public engagement goals, and incorporating conservation messaging into programming.

Insect Science, Flight initiation, Butterfly, Life history, Escape response, Biology, Trait, and Evolutionary biology

Escape behaviour is a critical component of invertebrate life history but is poorly studied. Flight initiation distance (FID) indexes escape propensity, and is well-studied in vertebrates but is entirely unstudied in Lepidopterans, despite their obvious escape behaviour. Here we test two general principles regarding FID as derived from studies of vertebrates to examine if they apply to Sri Lankan butterflies: 1) that FID is a species-specific trait and 2) that FID increases with Starting Distance, the distance at which the experimenter begins an approach. We collected 295 FIDs from 17 species and find that 1) FIDs are a tractable way of indexing butterfly escape and 2) both the general principles tested apply to butterfly escape. We also present FIDs of these species to encourage further data collection and comparative analysis of butterfly escape.

Surgery, Sinus (anatomy), medicine.anatomical_structure, medicine, Unilateral left, Allergic fungal sinusitis, business.industry, business, medicine.medical_specialty, Endoscopic sinus surgery, Article, AFRS, allergic fungal rhinosinusitis, KFSHD, King Fahad Specialist Hospital Dammam, AFS, allergic fungal sinusitis, Alternating, Contralateral, Fungal infection, Pediatric, and Case report

Highlights • Allergic fungal rhinosinusitis nature in children is more aggressive when compared to adults. • Endoscopic sinus surgery is an important therapeutic step in the treatment of allergic fungal rhinosinusits. • The reason for this contralateral development of AFRS not clear, but it may be part of the natural disease process. • Involvement of the contralateral sinuses in children is uncommon. The normal uninvolved sinus should be involved in the routine endoscopic examination and the post-operative treatment in order to minimize the risk of disease recurrence.
Objectives to report the alternating nature of allergic fungal rhinosinusitis in children in the Eastern part of Saudi Arabia and to review the experience of King Fahad Specialist Hospital in the diagnosis and management of alternating allergic fungal rhinosinusitis in children. An 8 years old Saudi girl with alternating allergic fungal rhinosinusitis was diagnosed and managed. The patient was diagnosed to have unilateral left allergic fungal rhinosinusitis and underwent endoscopic sinus surgery and cleaning of the left sinuses from polyps, mud and mucin. One year postoperatively the patient developed AFRS in the contralateral right side. Conclusion involvement of the contralateral sinuses in children with AFRS is uncommon. The normal uninvolved sinus should be involved in the routine endoscopic examination and the post-operative treatment in order to minimize the risk of disease recurrence.

Ophthalmology, General Medicine, General surgery, medicine.medical_specialty, medicine, business.industry, business, Nerve palsy, and Hickam's dictum

Periapical radiography, Dentistry, business.industry, business, Treatment interval, Root resorption, medicine.disease, medicine, Tooth movement, Low level laser therapy, medicine.medical_treatment, Laser therapy, Randomized controlled trial, law.invention, law, Maxillary central incisor, Accelerated orthodontics, low-level laser therapy, photobiomodulation, root resorption, lcsh:Dentistry, and lcsh:RK1-715

Purpose The effects of low-level laser therapy (LLLT) with light-emitting diode (LED) delivery (Biolux OrthoPulse® device) were tested for no differences from sham-controlled conventional orthodontics in maxillary anterior alignment treatment efficiency and maxillary central incisor root resorption after 6 months of treatment. Materials and Methods Two prospective clinical trial samples were matched for pretreatment irregularity index with (n = 14) and without (n = 12) photobiomodulation therapy (850 nm wavelength, 0.065 J/cm2, 5 min per-arch-per-day) and examined every 2 weeks for reduction of irregularity index to Results Photobiomodulation resolved maxillary anterior crowding with 35.2% greater efficiency (41.0 vs. 63.3 days, P = 0.028) at nearly double the tooth movement rate-per-week (1.02 vs. 62 mm/week, P = 0.045). Mean maxillary central incisor root lengths were significantly shorter at the 6-month treatment interval after LLLT (19.63 vs. 20.85 mm, P = 0.021). Conclusions LED photobiomodulation therapy at 850 nm wavelength resulted in 1.7X more rapid maxillary anterior alignment.

Computer Networks and Communications, Computer Science Applications, Social class, Politics, Sociology, Social media, Gender studies, Social mobility, and Socioeconomic status

Computer Science Applications, Education, Creativity, media_common.quotation_subject, media_common, Epistemology, Sociology, and Intuition

Neurology (clinical), Neurology, General Medicine, Ictal, Epilepsy, medicine.disease, medicine, Trunk, Abdomen, medicine.anatomical_structure, Audiology, medicine.medical_specialty, Homunculus, Postcentral gyrus, Sensory system, Parietal lobe, business.industry, business, nervous system diseases, and nervous system

Unilateral abdominal clonic seizures represent a peculiar and rare manifestation of focal onset epilepsy. We present the case of a 26-year-old man with right-sided abdominal clonic movements associated with seizures arising from the left parietal area. We show the ictal EEG correlates of these events, including source localization of early ictal spikes; findings that have not been demonstrated in previously reported cases. The electro-clinical features in this patient suggested that clinical onset occurred after anterior propagation of ictal activity from a region posterior to the neck and trunk area of the sensory homunculus of the postcentral gyrus. [Published with video sequence on www.epilepticdisorders.com].

Electrochemistry, General Chemical Engineering, Electrode, Electrolyte, Redox, Seebeck coefficient, Ionic liquid, chemistry.chemical_compound, chemistry, Cobalt, chemistry.chemical_element, Platinum, and Inorganic chemistry

Thermoelectrochemical cells are a promising technology for sustainably generating electricity from waste heat. These electrochemical devices directly convert heat into electricity, with a performance governed by the properties of the redox couple, electrolyte and electrode. In this work the influence of the nature of the redox couple on fundamental properties such as the Seebeck coefficient, diffusion coefficient and charge transfer resistance was investigated. Four different cobalt complexes containing the ligands 2-(1H-pyrazol-1-yl)pyridine) (Co2+/3+(py-pz)(3)), 2-(1H-pyrazol-1-yl)-4-tert-butylpyridine (Co2+/3+(bupy-pz)(3)), 2,6-di(1H-pyrazol-1-yl)pyridine (Co2+/3+(pz-py-pz)(2)) and 1,10-phenanthroline (Co2+/3+(phen)(3)) were examined in a 3:1 dimethyl sulfoxide: 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium tris(pentafluoroethyl) trifluorophosphate mixture. The performance of each redox couple was governed by the ligand properties. The highest Seebeck coefficient was measured for Co2+/3+(py-pz)(3) (2.36 mV K-1) which was attributed to a combination of its small radius, bi-denticity and lower degree of aromaticity. This is higher than the previously reported Co(bpy)(3) couple. The highest power output was achieved with the Co2+/3+(py-pz)(3) redox electrolyte, using platinum electrodes coated with a carbon layer, which gave 36 mW m(-2) from a Delta T of 30 degrees C. The power outputs achieved using the different redox couples was highest for those with a high Seebeck coefficient, good electrochemical reversibility and fast ion diffusion. The electrochemical reversibility depends significantly on the nature of the electrode substrate and it is demonstrated that carbon-coated platinum electrodes can be used to improve the electrochemical reversibility of these redox couples

Original Articles, antimicrobial resistance in bacteria of animal origin, foodborne disease, food safety, poultry, Salmonella, Animal Science and Zoology, Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology, Food Science, Microbiology, Salmonella Heidelberg, Outbreak, Business, Environmental health, medicine.disease_cause, medicine, Food safety, business.industry, Disease control, Disease cluster, Sampling (statistics), Sample collection, and animal structures

On June 28, 2013, the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) was notified by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) of an investigation of a multistate cluster of illnesses of Salmonella enterica serovar Heidelberg. Since case-patients in the cluster reported consumption of a variety of chicken products, FSIS used a simple likelihood-based approach using traceback information to focus on intensified sampling efforts. This article describes the multiphased product sampling approach taken by FSIS when epidemiologic evidence implicated chicken products from multiple establishments operating under one corporation. The objectives of sampling were to (1) assess process control of chicken slaughter and further processing and (2) determine whether outbreak strains were present in products from these implicated establishments. As part of the sample collection process, data collected by FSIS personnel to characterize product included category (whole chicken and type of chicken parts), brand, organic or conventional product, injection with salt solutions or flavorings, and whether product was skinless or skin-on. From the period September 9, 2013, through October 31, 2014, 3164 samples were taken as part of this effort. Salmonella percent positive declined from 19.7% to 5.3% during this timeframe as a result of regulatory and company efforts. The results of intensified sampling for this outbreak investigation informed an FSIS regulatory response and corrective actions taken by the implicated establishments. The company noted that a multihurdle approach to reduce Salmonella in products was taken, including on-farm efforts such as environmental testing, depopulation of affected flocks, disinfection of affected houses, vaccination, and use of various interventions within the establishments over the course of several months.

Ophthalmology, General Medicine, Biopsy, medicine.diagnostic_test, medicine, Clinical significance, Internal medicine, medicine.medical_specialty, Arteritis, medicine.disease, Gastroenterology, Thrombocytosis, Odds ratio, Pathology, Giant cell arteritis, Cohort study, business.industry, business, Erythrocyte sedimentation rate, and skin and connective tissue diseases

Objective Temporal artery biopsy (TAB) is the gold standard for confirming the diagnosis of giant cell arteritis (GCA) when positive. However, the clinical significance of healed/healing (HH) arterial injury on TAB is not well understood. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the clinical significance of this finding on TAB by determining its association with seromarkers typically predictive of GCA. Design Single-centre, retrospective, investigational cohort study. Participants A total of 385 consecutive TABs for clinical suspicion of GCA between January 2009 and January 2016. Methods Elevations in erythrocyte sedimentation rate, C-reactive protein, and platelet count were compared between patients with negative TAB, GCA-positive TAB, and HH arterial injury using statistical trend testing. Odds ratios of seromarker elevations for HH arterial injury versus GCA were calculated. Results Seventy-six GCA-positive, 69 HH, and 240 negative TABs were identified. Mantel-Haenszel tests of trend indicated that platelets >400 000/µL ( p p p 400 000/µL. Conclusion HH arterial injury is a heterogenous group that requires treatment in the appropriate clinical setting. From our study, we found that the HH group is intermediate between GCA-positive and GCA-negative biopsy with respect to serology markers only. Thrombocytosis is an independent predictor of HH TAB. With further studies, this marker may be considered when making treatment decisions. Further studies are required to better understand this entity.

Computer Science Applications, Education, Creativity, media_common.quotation_subject, media_common, Medical education, Psychology, and Educational technology

Cell Biology, Molecular Biology, Biochemistry, Vitamin E, medicine.medical_treatment, medicine, Pharmacology, Metformin, medicine.drug, business.industry, business, Antioxidant, NF-κB, chemistry.chemical_compound, chemistry, Oxidative stress, medicine.disease_cause, Combination therapy, Cardioprotection, Myocardial infarction, medicine.disease, endocrine system diseases, and nutritional and metabolic diseases

Several studies have reported that metformin is cardioprotective for diabetic and non-diabetic ischemic hearts through mechanisms that cannot be entirely attributed to its anti-hyperglycemic effect. This study was designed to investigate the cardioprotective effects of metformin with and without vitamin E after induction myocardial infarction (MI) in rats, using isoproterenol. Administration of metformin or vitamin E significantly reduced the cardiac mass index (P < 0.01), ameliorated the changes to cardiac biomarkers, and attenuated oxidative stress levels compared to the isoproterenol group. Interestingly, combination therapy showed a slight synergistic effect. Histopathological analysis suggested that metformin treatment reduced NF-κB expression and protected against isoproterenol-induced MI. Our results indicate that metformin mediates a cardioprotective effect against isoproterenol-induced MI via antioxidant activity and modulation of the NF-κB signaling pathway. This suggests that metformin would be beneficial in MI treatment.

Original Article

Objectives: To assess the burden and describe the pattern of neurological disorders requiring admissions in a teaching hospital of Al Khobar. Methods: This is a retrospective, cross sectional study, carried out in the Neurology Department of King Fahd Hospital of the University from January 2009 to December 2016. Neurological disorders were grouped as ischemic stroke, intracerebral hemorrhage, transient ischemic attack, cerebral venous sinus thrombosis, seizure disorders, central nervous system infection, multiple sclerosis, neuropathies, myopathies, headache, dementia and miscellaneous group. Data was entered and analyzed by Statistical Package for the Social Science (SPSS) version 22.0 (IBM Corp., Armonk, NY, USA). Results: The records of 1,317 patients admitted under Neurology Service were analyzed. Out of that, 740 (56.2%) were male and 577 (43.8%) were female. Mean age was 46.9±24 years (mean±standard deviation). Ischemic stroke was the most common diagnosis (32%) followed by seizures (20%). Multiple sclerosis accounted for around 8% and central nervous system infections 5% of neurological admission. Conclusion: Ischemic stroke was found to be the most common etiology for hospitalization in our study. The results of our study are similar to previous literature. An urgent need to control major risk factors such as diabetes and hypertension is warranted to minimize the burden of stroke.

Review Article

In the context of local culture and misconceptions regarding epilepsy, Saudi practitioners need a careful management plan for women with epilepsy that satisfies all the patients’ needs and ensures their spouses’ understanding. Such a management strategy needs to incorporate careful selection and monitoring of anti-epileptic drugs and regular counseling of patients. Female epileptic patients in the reproductive age group, no matter whether they are pregnant or not, should be managed by safest drugs from the earliest with folic acid supplementation along with adequate pre-marriage/conception counseling. All antiepileptic drugs are potentially teratogenic. However, valproic acid, phenytoin, phenobarbitone, and topiramate are least favored for use. Monotherapy is preferred over polytherapy, and the least possible dose should be used. During pregnancy, many epileptic women may need monthly drug level monitoring and dose readjustments. Normal vaginal delivery is safe in epileptic women. Post-partum follow-up with anti-epileptic drug titration may be required.