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Cross-Sectional Studies, Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice, Humans, Parents, Patient Acceptance of Health Care, Vaccination, Social Media, and Vaccines

Vaccination has had tremendous impact on human health. The tendency to hesitate or delay vaccination has been increasing, which has contributed to outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases. This cross-sectional study aimed to investigate the prevalence of childhood vaccine hesitancy and social media misconceptions in vaccine refusal among randomly selected parents from October 2019 through March 2020 in the outpatient clinics of King Khalid University Hospital, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The data were collected using a three-part questionnaire: the socio-demographic and economic questions, the Parents' Attitudes about Childhood Vaccines (PACV) survey, and questions concerning social media use. Based on the PACV survey tool, 37 parents (11%) scored a value > 50 and were suggested as hesitant (8% hesitant and 3% very hesitant). Overall, 288 parents (89%) scored < 50, hence deemed to not be hesitant about childhood vaccination. There was no significant association between high educational level or social media exposure with vaccine hesitancy. The most commonly used social media platform was Twitter (40%). In conclusion, we report a low prevalence of vaccine hesitancy about childhood vaccination among parents, with no significant impact of education level or social media on vaccine hesitancy. Further studies are required to replicate these findings in other regions and cities to generalize these observations for Saudi Arabia.

diabetes, leptin, nanofibers, taurine, Pharmacy and materia medica, and RS1-441

Diabetes poses a high risk for debilitating complications in neural tissues, regulating glucose uptake through insulin-dependent and predominantly insulin-independent pathways. Supramolecular nanostructures provide a flexible strategy for combinatorial regulation of glycemia. Here, we compare the effects of free insulin to insulin bound to positively charged nanofibers comprised of self-assembling amino acid compounds (AACs) with an antioxidant-modified side chain moiety (AAC2) in both in vitro and in vivo models of type 1 diabetes. Free AAC2, free human insulin (hINS) and AAC2-bound-human insulin (AAC2-hINS) were tested in streptozotocin (STZ)-induced mouse model of type 1 diabetes. AAC2-hINS acted as a complex and exhibited different properties compared to free AAC2 or hINS. Mice treated with the AAC2-hINS complex were devoid of hypoglycemic episodes, had improved levels of insulin in circulation and in the brain, and increased expression of neurotransmitter taurine transporter, Slc6a6. Consequently, treatment with AAC2-hINS markedly advanced both physical and cognitive performance in mice with STZ-induced and genetic type 1 diabetes compared to treatments with free AAC2 or hINS. This study demonstrates that the flexible nanofiber AAC2 can serve as a therapeutic platform for the combinatorial treatment of diabetes and its complications.

Background: Alzheimer's disease (AD) and dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) differ in their memory, attention, and visuoconstructional characteristics. The subscales of the well-known Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) provide an opportunity to assess these characteristics. Previous research has shown that analysis of the MMSE subscale performance of AD and DLB patients helps to differentiate them.
Objective: Study the MMSE scores of AD and DLB patients to see if the ability of previously reported analyses to differentiate them could be improved. Include other dementia patients for perspective.
Methods: We studied the MMSEs of all patients seen in our clinics during an 18-month period. Different equations were studied, derived from the subscales of Memory (M, 3 points maximum), Attention (A, 5 points maximum), and Pentagon-copying (P, 1 point maximum).
Results: We obtained 400 MMSEs, 136 from AD patients and 24 from DLB patients, scoring range 1-30. The equation P minus M provided the best discrimination between AD and DLB. Using a P-M score = 1 to identify AD, the positive predictive value was 0.97, negative predictive value 0.22, specificity 0.92, and sensitivity 0.43. As a secondary finding, the P-M = 1 equation was also helpful to differentiate AD from Parkinson's disease dementia.
Conclusion: Considering AD versus DLB in our clinic population, a demented patient who was unable to recall the three memory words on the MMSE but able to copy the intersecting pentagons had a 97% likelihood of having AD. Additional work is needed to improve the sensitivity of the P-M = 1 equation.

Case-Control Studies, England epidemiology, Humans, Middle Aged, Risk, Huntington Disease epidemiology, and Suicide

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 < 0.001). The adjusted OR for HD was 9.2 (95% confidence intervals, CI 4.9-17.4) compared to those without HD. The increase in risk was higher amongst the younger age group who were ≤ 45.8 years at suicide/index date (OR 54.5, 95% CI 10.8-276.1).
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.
(© 2022. The Author(s).)

Diagnosis, Differential, Humans, Magnetic Resonance Imaging adverse effects, Papilledema diagnostic imaging, Papilledema etiology, Pseudotumor Cerebri complications, and Pseudotumor Cerebri diagnostic imaging

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.

INFORMED consent (Medical law) and PLASTIC pipe

Self-application of topical therapy to the skin of the back skin can be challenging. The metal hanger is unwound and passed through the plastic tube, and then the metal wire is bent to hold the tube (Fig. (a) A metal clothes hanger covered with paint or plastic and part of a plastic water pipe are used; (b) the hanger is unwound and passed through the tube; (c) the metal wire is bent on each side of the tube. [Extracted from the article]

EMPLOYER attitudes, SOFT skills, EMPLOYMENT, GRADUATE attitudes, and DATA analysis

In recent years, there has been a shift towards seeing employability as a key outcome of higher education (HE). Despite this, there is still a concern that graduates are not well prepared for the labour market. One way to bridge the gap between education and the labour market is to involve employers in considerations of employability frameworks or sets of required graduate attributes. This paper reports on a study aimed at identifying how employers of medical graduates in Saudi Arabia conceptualise quality in HE. The main objective of this study is to develop a model of quality in HE that incorporates employers' views of medical education and its graduates. An exploratory two-stage design was adopted, utilising interviews and survey data. This paper discusses the interview findings relating to medical graduates' attributes in particular. Fourteen medical employers were interviewed to determine how they conceptualise quality in relation to medical educational experience and graduate attributes. Thematic Analysis of these interviews suggests that views of quality fall into three broad themes: Graduate Abilities, Graduate Readiness, and Research and Engagement Experience. Data drawn from these interviews indicate that employers favour the soft skills of medical graduates over their basic medical knowledge. Additionally, effective practical skills were cited as being of particular importance and highly desirable. This study has implications for the development and delivery of medical education in Saudi Arabia, aspiring to narrow the gap between HE and the labour market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]