The need for national medical licensing examination in Saudi Arabia

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Medical education in Saudi Arabia is facing multiple challenges, including the rapid increase in the number of medical schools over a short period of time, the influx of foreign medical graduates to work in Saudi Arabia, the award of scholarships to hundreds of students to study medicine in various countries, and the absence of published national guidelines for minimal acceptable competencies of a medical graduate.</p> <p>Discussion</p> <p>We are arguing for the need for a Saudi national medical licensing examination that consists of two parts: Part I (Written) which tests the basic science and clinical knowledge and Part II (Objective Structured Clinical Examination) which tests the clinical skills and attitudes. We propose this examination to be mandated as a licensure requirement for practicing medicine in Saudi Arabia.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The driving and hindering forces as well as the strengths and weaknesses of implementing the licensing examination are discussed in details in this debate.</p

Radiations and male fertility

During recent years, an increasing percentage of male infertility has to be attributed to an array of environmental, health and lifestyle factors. Male infertility is likely to be affected by the intense exposure to heat and extreme exposure to pesticides, radiations, radioactivity and other hazardous substances. We are surrounded by several types of ionizing and non-ionizing radiations and both have recognized causative effects on spermatogenesis. Since it is impossible to cover all types of radiation sources and their biological effects under a single title, this review is focusing on radiation deriving from cell phones, laptops, Wi-Fi and microwave ovens, as these are the most common sources of non-ionizing radiations, which may contribute to the cause of infertility by exploring the effect of exposure to radiofrequency radiations on the male fertility pattern. From currently available studies it is clear that radiofrequency electromagnetic fields (RF-EMF) have deleterious effects on sperm parameters (like sperm count, morphology, motility), affects the role of kinases in cellular metabolism and the endocrine system, and produces genotoxicity, genomic instability and oxidative stress. This is followed with protective measures for these radiations and future recommendations. The study concludes that the RF-EMF may induce oxidative stress with an increased level of reactive oxygen species, which may lead to infertility. This has been concluded based on available evidences from in vitro and in vivo studies suggesting that RF-EMF exposure negatively affects sperm quality

Effect of yeast culture supplementation on carcass yield and humoral immune response of broiler chicks

Aim: A study was conducted to evaluate the effect of supplemental yeast culture (Diamond V XPC Yeast Culture; YC) in broiler diets on carcass characteristics and humoral immune response. Materials and Methods: A total of 240 one-day-old broiler chicks (Ross 308) were randomly assigned to four YC dietary treatments of 60 birds each. The dietary treatments were 0 (control), 1, 1.25 and 1.5 g YC/kg diet over 42 d. Results: The results revealed that the birds fed yeast cultures had statistically increased (P &lt; 0.05) body weight from control birds only at 5-6 weeks of age. The highest inclusion level (1.5g/kg) recorded the best weight. The broiler chicks fed a diet supplemented with 1.25g/kg had the lowest mortality rate over the whole period of the experiment. The birds given the highest level of yeast (1.5g/kg) had significantly (P &lt; 0.05) higher percentage of major and minor breast muscles compared with the others that fed a basal diet. A significantly (P &lt; 0.01) increase in IgM titer was noticed in birds fed diet containing YC levels more than 1g/kg at 7 days post-injection with sheep red blood cells. Likewise, broilers fed a diet containing 1.25g/kg exhibited a higher level of antibody titer against Newcastle disease virus at latter age (on d 42) compared with the other groups. Conclusion: The data suggest improvement in growth performance, carcass yield and humoral immunity of broilers fed yeast culture supplementation diet. [Vet World 2012; 5(11.000): 651-657

The Role of Fermented Milk Containing Probiotic, Dandelion as Prebiotic or their Combination on Serum Metabolites, Enzymes, Testosterone and Testicular Histopathology of Arsenic-Intoxicated Male Rats

This study aimed at investigating the ameliorative effects of probiotic and/or dandelion aqueous extract to reducing the risk of arsenic (As) intoxication on male rats. Fifty rats were randomly allotted into five groups, group 1(C-) given regular diet and water daily for 56 days, group 2 (C+) given sodium arsenate in drinking water, group 3 (PRO) given sodium arsenate in addition to probiotic, group 4 (PRE) given dandelion aqueous extract plus sodium arsenate (prebiotic) and group 5 (SYN) given sodium arsenate plus probiotic/dandelion extract (synbiotic). At the experiment conclusion rats were sacrificed and blood and testes were collected and taken for analysis and histopathological study, respectively. Glutathione-S-transferase (GST), Alanine aminotransaminase (ALT) and Aspartate aminotransaminase (AST) activities and creatinine, triglycerides (TG) and testosterone(T) concentration were determined and testes histopathology was studied. Creatinine, AST and TG were lower (

The Role of Fermented Milk Containing Probiotic, Dandelion as Prebiotic or their Combination on Serum Metabolites, Enzymes, Testosterone and Testicular Histopathology of Arsenic-Intoxicated Male Rats

This study aimed at investigating the ameliorative effects of probiotic and/or dandelion aqueous extract to reducing the risk of arsenic (As) intoxication on male rats. Fifty rats were randomly allotted into five groups, group 1(C-) given regular diet and water daily for 56 days, group 2 (C+) given sodium arsenate in drinking water, group 3 (PRO) given sodium arsenate in addition to probiotic, group 4 (PRE) given dandelion aqueous extract plus sodium arsenate (prebiotic) and group 5 (SYN) given sodium arsenate plus probiotic/dandelion extract (synbiotic). At the experiment conclusion rats were sacrificed and blood and testes were collected and taken for analysis and histopathological study, respectively. Glutathione-S-transferase (GST), Alanine aminotransaminase (ALT) and Aspartate aminotransaminase (AST) activities and creatinine, triglycerides (TG) and testosterone(T) concentration were determined and testes histopathology was studied. Creatinine, AST and TG were lower (

Crustal and Upper Mantle Structures Beneath the Arabian Shield and Red Sea

The Arabian Shield and Red Sea region is considered one of only a few places in the world undergoing active continental rifting and formation of new oceanic lithosphere. We determined the seismic velocity structure of the crust and upper mantle beneath this region using broadband seismic waveform data. We estimated teleseismic receiver functions from high-quality waveform data. The raw data for RF analysis consist of 3-component broadband velocity seismograms for earthquakes with magnitudes Mw > 5.8 and epicentral distances between 30° and 90°. We performed several state-of-the-art seismic analyses of the KACST and SGS data. Teleseismic P- and S-wave travel time tomography provides an image of upper mantle compressional and shear velocities related to thermal variations. We present a multi-step procedure for jointly fitting surface-wave group-velocity dispersion curves (from 7 to 100 s for Rayleigh and 20 to 70 s for Love waves) and teleseismic receiver functions for lithospheric velocity structure. The method relies on an initial grid search for a simple crustal structure, followed by a formal iterative inversion, an additional grid search for shear wave velocity in the mantle and finally forward modeling of transverse isotropy to resolve surface-wave dispersion discrepancy. Inversions of receiver functions have poor sensitivity to absolute velocities. To overcome this shortcoming we have applied the method of Julia et al. (Geophys J Int 143:99–112, 2000), which combines surface-wave group velocities with receiver functions in formal inversions for crustal and uppermost mantle velocities. The resulting velocity models provide new constraints on crustal and upper mantle structure in the Arabian Peninsula. While crustal thickness and average crustal velocities are consistent with many previous studies, the results for detailed mantle structure are completely new. Finally, teleseismic shear-wave splitting was measured to estimate upper mantle anisotropy. These analyses indicate that stations near the Gulf of Aqabah display fast orientations that are aligned parallel to the Dead Sea Transform Fault, most likely related to the strike-slip motion between Africa and Arabia. The remaining stations across Saudi Arabia yield statistically the same result, showing a consistent pattern of north-south oriented fast directions with delay times averaging about 1.4 s. The uniform anisotropic signature across Saudi Arabia is best explained by a combination of plate and density driven flow in the asthenosphere. By combining the northeast oriented flow associated with absolute plate motion with the northwest oriented flow associated with the channelized Afar plume along the Red Sea, we obtain a north-south oriented resultant that matches our splitting observations and supports models of the active rifting processes. This explains why the north-south orientation of the fast polarization direction is so pervasive across the vast Arabian Plate. Seafloor spreading in the Red Sea is non-uniform, ranging from nearly 0.8 cm/a in the north to about 2 cm/a in the south. The Moho and LAB are shallowest near the Red Sea and become deeper towards the Arabian interior. Near the coast, the Moho is at a depth of about 22–25 km. Crustal thickening continues until an average Moho depth of about 35–40 km is reached beneath the interior Arabian Shield. The LAB near the coast is at a depth of about 55 km; however, it also deepens beneath the Shield to attain a maximum depth of 100–110 km. At the Shield-Platform boundary, a step is observed in the lithospheric thickness where the LAB depth increases to about 160 km. This study supports multi plume model, which states that there are two separated plumes beneath the Arabian Shield, and that the lower velocity zones (higher temperature zones) are related to volcanic activities and topographic characteristics on the surface of the Arabian Shield. In addition, our results suggest a two-stage rifting history, where extension and erosion by flow in the underlying asthenosphere are responsible for variations in LAB depth. LAB topography guides asthenospheric flow beneath western Arabia and the Red Sea, demonstrating the important role lithospheric variations play in the thermal modification of tectonic environments