A Semi-supervised Corpus Annotation for Saudi Sentiment Analysis Using Twitter

In the literature, limited work has been conducted to develop sentiment resources for Saudi dialect. The lack of resources such as dialectical lexicons and corpora are some of the major bottlenecks to the successful development of Arabic sentiment analysis models. In this paper, a semi-supervised approach is presented to construct an annotated sentiment corpus for Saudi dialect using Twitter. The presented approach is primarily based on a list of lexicons built by using word embedding techniques such as word2vec. A huge corpus extracted from twitter is annotated and manually reviewed to exclude incorrect annotated tweets which is publicly available. For corpus validation, state-of-the-art classification algorithms (such as Logistic Regression, Support Vector Machine, and Naive Bayes) are applied and evaluated. Simulation results demonstrate that the Naive Bayes algorithm outperformed all other approaches and achieved accuracy up to 91%

Knowledge of modifiable risk factors of heart disease among patients with acute myocardial infarction in Karachi, Pakistan: a cross sectional study

BACKGROUND: Knowledge is an important pre-requisite for implementing both primary as well as secondary preventive strategies for cardiovascular disease (CVD). There are no estimates of the level of knowledge of risk factor of heart disease in patients with CVD. We estimated the level of knowledge of modifiable risk factors and determined the factors associated with good level of knowledge among patients presenting with their first acute myocardial infarction (AMI) in a tertiary care hospital in Karachi, Pakistan. METHODS: A hospital based cross-sectional study was conducted at the National Institute of Cardiovascular Disease, a major tertiary care hospital in Karachi Pakistan. Patients admitted with their first AMI were eligible to participate. Standard questionnaire was used to interview 720 subjects. Knowledge of four modifiable risk factors of heart disease: fatty food consumption, smoking, obesity and exercise were assessed. The participants knowing three out of four risk factors were regarded as having a good level of knowledge. A multiple logistic regression model was constructed to identify the determinants of good level of knowledge. RESULTS: The mean age (SD) was 54 (11.66) years. A mere 42% of our study population had a good level of knowledge. In multiple logistic regression analysis, independent predictors of "good" level of knowledge were (odds ratio [95% confidence interval]) more than ten years of schooling were 2.5 [1.30, 4.80] (verses no schooling at all) and nuclear family system (verses extended family system) 2.54 [1.65, 3.89]. In addition, Sindhi ethnicity OR [3.03], higher level of exercise OR [2.76] and non user of tobacco OR [2.53] were also predictors of good level of knowledge. CONCLUSION: Our findings highlight the lack of good level of knowledge of modifiable risk factors for heart disease among subjects admitted with AMI in Pakistan. There is urgent need for aggressive and targeted educational strategies in the Pakistani population

High prevalence of lack of knowledge of symptoms of acute myocardial infarction inPakistan and its contribution to delayed presentationto the hospital

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>We conducted an observational study to determine the delay in presentation to hospital, and its associates among patients experiencing first Acute Myocardial Infarction (AMI) in Karachi, Pakistan.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A hospital based cross-sectional study was conducted at National Institute of Cardiovascular Disease (NICVD) in Karachi. A structured questionnaire was used to collect data. The primary outcome was delay in presentation, defined as a time interval of six or more hours from the onset of symptoms to presentation to hospital. Logistic regression analysis was performed to determine the factors associated with prehospital delay.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>A total of 720 subjects were interviewed; 22% were females. The mean age (SD) of the subjects was 54 (± 12) years. The mean (SE) and median (IQR) time to presentation was 12.3 (1.7) hours and 3.04 (6.0) hours respectively. About 34% of the subjects presented late. Lack of knowledge of any of the symptoms of heart attack (odds ratio (95% CI)) (1.82 (1.10, 2.99)), and mild chest pain (10.05 (6.50, 15.54)) were independently associated with prehospital delay.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Over one-third of patients with AMI in Pakistan present late to the hospital. Lack of knowledge of symptoms of heart attack, and low severity of chest pain were the main predictors of prehospital delay. Strategies to reduce delayed presentation in this population must focus on education about symptoms of heart attack.</p

Public awareness of blood donation in Central Saudi Arabia

Mostafa A Abolfotouh,1,2 Mohammed H Al-Assiri,1 Manar Al-Omani,2 Alwaleed Al Johar,3 Abdulaziz Al Hakbani,3 Ahmed S Alaskar1,2 1King Abdullah International Medical Research Center, 2King Saud bin-Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, 3College of Medicine, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Introduction: In Saudi Arabia, voluntary donors are the only source of blood donation. The aim of this study was to assess the level of public knowledge and attitude toward blood donation in Saudi Arabia. Methods: Using a previously validated questionnaire that comprises 38 questions to assess the levels of knowledge, attitudes, and motivations towards blood donation, 469 Saudi adults who attended different shopping malls in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia were surveyed. Multiple regression analyses were used to identify the significant predictors of blood donation, with the significance set at P&lt;0.05. Results: Approximately half of all subjects (53.3%) reported that they had previously donated blood, 39% of whom had donated more than once. The knowledge percentage mean score was 58.07%, denoting a poor level of knowledge, with only 11.9% reporting a good level of knowledge. The attitude percentage mean score towards donation was 75.45%, reflecting a neutral attitude towards donating blood, with 31.6% reporting a positive attitude. Donation was significantly more prevalent among males than females (66% versus 13.3%; P&lt;0.001). After adjustment for confounders, a higher knowledge score (t=2.59; P=0.01), a higher attitude score (t=3.26; P=0.001), and male sex (t=10.45; P&lt;0.001) were significant predictors of blood donation. An inability to reach the blood donation centers and a fear of anemia were the main reasons for females not donating blood (49.9% and 35.7%, respectively), whereas a lack of time was the main reason for males (59.5%). Conclusion: Prevalence of blood donation was less than satisfactory among the Saudi public, probably due to misconceptions, poor knowledge, and unfavorable attitude to donation. Educational programs are necessary to increase the level of knowledge and improve the attitude of the Saudi public toward blood donation. Providing mobile blood collection units nearer to individuals&#39; places of work to reduce their time costs of donating is a necessity. Keywords: knowledge, attitude, practice, blood donation, significant predictors, Saudi Arabi

Adverse Responses following Exposure to Subtoxic Concentrations of Zinc Oxide and Nickle Oxide Nanoparticles in the Raw 264.7 Cells

The incorporation of engineered nanomaterials (ENMs) in biomedical and consumer products has been growing, leading to increased human exposure. Previous research was largely focused on studying direct ENM toxicity in unrealistic high-exposure settings. This could result in overlooking potential adverse responses at low and subtoxic exposure levels. This study investigated adverse cellular outcomes to subtoxic concentrations of zinc oxide (ZnONPs) or nickel oxide (NiONPs) nanoparticles in the Raw 264.7 cells, a macrophage-like cell model. Exposure to both nanoparticles resulted in a concentration-dependent reduction of cell viability. A subtoxic concentration of 6.25 µg/mL (i.e., no observed adverse effect level) was used in subsequent experiments. Exposure to both nanoparticles at subtoxic levels induced reactive oxygen species generation. Cellular internalization data demonstrated significant uptake of NiONPs, while there was minimal uptake of ZnONPs, suggesting a membrane-driven interaction. Although subtoxic exposure to both nanoparticles was not associated with cell activation (based on the expression of MHC-II and CD86 surface markers), it resulted in the modulation of the lipopolysaccharide-induced inflammatory response (TNFα and IL6), and cells exposed to ZnONPs had reduced cell phagocytic capacity. Furthermore, subtoxic exposure to the nanoparticles distinctly altered the levels of several cellular metabolites involved in cell bioenergetics. These findings suggest that exposure to ENMs at subtoxic levels may not be devoid of adverse health outcomes. This emphasizes the importance of establishing sensitive endpoints of exposure and toxicity beyond conventional toxicological testing

Electronic cigarette vapor disrupts key metabolic pathways in human lung epithelial cells

The steady increase in the use of electronic cigarettes (ECs) has reached an epidemic level, increasing mortality and morbidity, mainly due to pulmonary toxicity. Several mechanisms are involved in EC-induced toxicity, including oxidative stress and increased inflammation. Concurrently, the integrity of cellular metabolism is essential for cellular homeostasis and mitigation of toxic insults. However, the effects of EC on cellular metabolism remain largely unknown. In this study, we investigated the metabolic changes induced by EC in human lung epithelial cells (A549) using an untargeted metabolomics approach. A549 cells were exposed to increasing EC vapor extract concentrations, and cell viability, oxidative stress, and metabolomic changes were assessed. Our findings show that ECs induce cell death and increase oxidative stress in a concentration-dependent manner. Metabolomic studies demonstrated that ECs induce unique metabolic changes in key cellular metabolic pathways. Our results revealed that exposure to ECs induced clear segregation in metabolic responses which is driven significantly by number of essential metabolites such as aminoacids, fatty acids, glutathione, and pyruvate. Interstingly, our metabolomics results showed that each concentration of ECs induced unqiues pattern of metabolic changes, suggesting the complexity of ECs induced cytotoxcity. Disrupted metabolites were linked to essential cellular pathways, such as fatty acid biosynthesis, as well as glutathione, pyruvate, nicotinate and nicotinamide, and amino acid metabolisms. These results highlight the potential adverse effects of ECs on cellular metabolism and emphasize the need for further research to fully understand the long-term consequences of EC use. Overall, this study demonstrates that ECs not only induce cell death and oxidative stress but also disrupt cellular metabolism in A549 lung epithelial cells

Synthesis, Characterization, and Toxicity Assessment of Zinc Oxide-Doped Manganese Oxide Nanoparticles in a Macrophage Model

The doping of engineered nanomaterials (ENMs) is a key tool for manipulating the properties of ENMs (e.g., electromagnetic, optical, etc.) for different therapeutic applications. However, adverse health outcomes and the cellular biointeraction of doped ENMs, compared to undoped counterparts, are not fully understood. Previously, we have shown that doping manganese oxide nanoparticles with ZnO (ZnO-MnO2 NPs) improved their catalytic properties. In this study, we assessed the toxicity of ZnO-MnO2 NPs in Raw 264.7 cells. NPs were prepared via an eco-friendly, co-precipitation method and characterized by several techniques, including transmission and scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, and Fourier transform infrared. The physicochemical properties of ZnO-MnO2 NPs, including size, morphology, and crystalline structure, were almost identical to MnO2 NPs. However, ZnO-MnO2 NPs showed slightly larger particle aggregates and negative charge in cell culture media. Exposure to ZnO-MnO2 NPs resulted in lower toxicity based on the cell viability and functional assay (phagocytosis) data. Exposure to both NPs resulted in the activation of the cell inflammatory response and the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS). Despite this, exposure to ZnO-MnO2 NPs was associated with a lower toxicity profile, and it resulted in a higher ROS burst and the activation of the cell antioxidant system, hence indicating that MnO2 NP-induced toxicity is potentially mediated via other ROS-independent pathways. Furthermore, the cellular internalization of ZnO-MnO2 NPs was lower compared to MnO2 NPs, and this could explain the lower extent of toxicity of ZnO-MnO2 NPs and suggests Zn-driven ROS generation. Together, the findings of this report suggest that ZnO (1%) doping impacts cellular biointeraction and the consequent toxicological outcomes of MnO2 NPs in Raw 264.7 cells