The Saudi experiment with career guidance

Saudi Arabia has recently embarked on an ambitious experiment with career guidance. The country has identified that career guidance offers a range of potential cultural, educational and economic benefits. These include supporting the Saudisation of the workforce, the development of the vocational education system and the engagement of the Saudi ‘youth bulge’ in the labour market and wider society. However, the country has a weak tradition of career guidance and a need to develop new policies and systems rapidly. The Saudi Ministry of Labour has driven the development of the country’s new career guidance system and has sought to learn from global best practice. However, Saudi Arabia offers a very different context from those where career guidance has flourished. Particularly distinctive features of Saudi society include its limited civil society, the central role that religion plays, the place of women, the role of oil within the economy and the high level of migrant workers in the labour market. Taken together these issues offer challenges of culture, theory, policy and practice. Negotiating these challenges and building an organic body of theory and practice will be critical to the success or otherwise of the Saudi experiment with career guidance.N/

Endothelial dysfunction in obese non-hypertensive children without evidence of sleep disordered breathing

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Endothelial dysfunction is a complication of both obesity and obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS), the latter being highly prevalent among obese children. It is unknown whether obesity causes endothelial dysfunction in children in the absence of OSAS. This study examines endothelial function in obese and non-obese children without OSAS.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Pre-pubertal non-hypertensive children were recruited. Endothelial function was assessed in a morning fasted state, using a modified hyperemic test involving cuff-induced occlusion of the radial and ulnar arteries. The absence of OSAS was confirmed by overnight polysomnography. Anthropometry was also performed.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>55 obese children (mean age 8.6 ± 1.4 years, mean BMI z-score: 2.3 ± 0.3) were compared to 50 non-obese children (mean age 8.0 ± 1.6 years, mean BMI z-score 0.3 ± 0.9). Significant delays to peak capillary reperfusion after occlusion release occurred in obese compared to non-obese children (45.3 ± 21.9 sec <it>vs</it>. 31.5 ± 14.1 sec, p < 0.01), but no differences in the magnitude of hyperemia emerged. Time to peak reperfusion and percentage of body fat were positively correlated (r = 0.365, p < 0.01).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Our findings confirm that endothelial dysfunction occurs early in life in obese children, even in the absence of OSAS. Thus, mechanisms underlying endothelial dysfunction in pediatric obesity are operational in the absence of sleep-disordered breathing.</p

A morphological study of retinal changes in unilateral amblyopia using optical coherence tomography image segmentation.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the possible structural changes of the macula in patients with unilateral amblyopia using optical coherence tomography (OCT) image segmentation. PATIENTS AND METHODS: 38 consecutive patients (16 male; mean age 32.4+/-17.6 years; range 6-67 years) with unilateral amblyopia were involved in this study. OCT examinations were performed with a time-domain OCT device, and a custom-built OCT image analysis software (OCTRIMA) was used for OCT image segmentation. The axial length (AL) was measured by a LenStar LS 900 device. Macular layer thickness, AL and manifest spherical equivalent refraction (MRSE) of the amblyopic eye were compared to that of the fellow eye. We studied if the type of amblyopia (strabismus without anisometropia, anisometropia without strabismus, strabismus with anisometropia) had any influence on macular layer thickness values. RESULTS: There was significant difference between the amblyopic and fellow eyes in MRSE and AL in all subgroups. Comparing the amblyopic and fellow eyes, we found a statistically significant difference only in the thickness of the outer nuclear layer in the central region using linear mixed model analysis keeping AL and age under control (p = 0.032). There was no significant difference in interocular difference in the thickness of any macular layers between the subgroups with one-way between-groups ANCOVA while statistically controlling for interocular difference in AL and age. CONCLUSIONS: According to our results there are subtle changes in amblyopic eyes affecting the outer nuclear layer of the fovea suggesting the possible involvement of the photoreceptors. However, further studies are warranted to support this hypothesis

The acute effect of a single dose of green tea on the quality and quantity of tears in normal eye subjects

Ali M Masmali, Saud A Alanazi, Abdullah G Alotaibi, Raied Fagehi, Ali Abusharaha, Gamal A El-Hiti Cornea Research Chair, Department of Optometry, College of Applied Medical Sciences, King Saud University, Riyadh 11433, Saudi Arabia Objective: The study aimed to investigate the acute effect of a single dose of green tea on the quality and quantity of tears in normal eye subjects. Methods: Forty normal eye subjects (22 men and 18 women) aged 19&ndash;39&nbsp;years were enrolled in the study. Also, an age matching control group (20 males and 20 females) was enrolled for comparison. McMonnies dry eye symptoms questionnaire and slit lamp were used for the exclusion criteria determination. Phenol red thread (PRT) test was performed on both eyes of each subject. A tear sample was collected from the lower tear meniscus of the right eye of each subject for the tear ferning (TF) test, which was performed before (30&nbsp;minutes) and after (60&nbsp;minutes) drinking green tea. Results: The median PRT measurement after green tea consumption was lower (median [IQR]=23.50 [8.00] mm) compared to that before consumption (median [IQR]=27.00 [8.75]&nbsp;mm). In contrast, the median TF grade was significantly higher following green tea consumption than that before consumption (median [IQR]=2.65 [1.23] vs 1.50 [0.88] mm, respectively). The results show that TF grades increased in 97.5%, and the red phenol thread scores decreased in 80% of the subjects after green tea consumption compared to those before consumption. The PRT readings and TF grades were significantly different (P&lt;0.05) before and after green tea consumption. Conclusion: Drinking green tea could have a significant effect on the eye tear film quality. Tear quality appeared to decrease after green tea consumption. Keywords: dry eye, tear ferning test, green tea, phenol red thread test, tear film, polyphenol