Factors Influencing Attitudes of Female Students towards Gardening: A Case Study

The study aimed at assessing attitudes of female undergraduate students toward participating in gardening activities and determining factors influencing participation using a descriptive-analytic research by a surveying approach. The statistical population consisted of 433 female students enrolled in various disciplines at the three branches of the College of Science and Humanities at the Shaqra University, Saudi Arabia during the academic year 2016/2017. Out of the total population, some 90 students were selected randomly. A well-designed and pre-tested questionnaire was administrated as a research tool. Results of the study revealed that 42.2% of the target females were with positive attitude towards gardening and were agreed to get involved in the gardening activities, 30% students remained neutral whereas some 27.8% students showed a negative attitude towards agricultural work. The findings showed that there was a significant difference between agreed and disagreed female students regarding their participation in the gardening activities in terms of owning or renting a flower gift store (t= 3.8, p>0.01). Correlation analysis showed the significant relationships between participation in gardening activities, and type of residence (r = 0.86), ownership of residence (r = 0.82), father's occupation (r = 0.71) and place of residence (r = 0.53). It was concluded that the female students living in the owned houses and villas in rural areas and their father’s job were related to agriculture had more favourable attitudes toward their participation in the gardening activities. Based on the results of the study, it is recommended that curriculums must include field tours to equip the female students with skills needed in their practical lives and that stimulate their interest towards different agricultural issues.Keywords:Attitudes, Female Students, University Education, Gardening Activities, Participation.

Assessment of food labeling knowledge and associated reading barriers among patients with diabetes

Background: The most challenging part of diabetes management for a patient with diabetes is selecting a healthy diet. The purpose of this study is to evaluate participants' knowledge of food labels, to find out the relationship between the type of diabetes mellitus (DM) and knowledge score of food labels, and to explore the barriers that prevent patients from reading food labels. Methodology: This observational study was conducted on patients with type 1 or type 2 diabetes using a validated self-administered questionnaire. The study was conducted at diabetes clinics at King Khalid University Hospital and King Abdul-Aziz University Hospital, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, from November 2019 to February 2020. Data were analyzed using SPSS. Results: A total of 310 participants were enrolled in this study, of which 50.3% had type 1 DM, and more than half of them were female (51.6%). Patients with type 1 DM had higher mean declarative and applied knowledge scores than those with type 2 DM, regardless of whether they were taking pre meals insulin or not. The highest proportion (39.9%) had difficulty in understanding the content of the nutrition labels, and some of them (37.2%) did not receive any educational session about it. Only 9.5% of the participants did not have any difficulties in reading food labels. Conclusion: Patients with both types of diabetes tended to have poor total knowledge about food labels and faced difficulties in reading them. Provided educational sessions by primary health care and specialized physician and DM educator about food labels are recommended to help them to choose food properly

Characterisation of silicon diode arrays for dosimetry in external beam radiation therapy

Modern stereotactic radiation therapy modalities utilize small beams and large dose gradients to deliver radiation in few fractions, reducing the possibility to correct for mistakes during the treatment process. Therefore, in order to ensure best possible treatment for the patient, quality assurance for such treatments necessitates a stable, linear, and sensitive radiation detector with high spatial resolution and radiation hardness. In this work, two silicon detector arrays with high spatial resolution have been characterized by 6 MV and 18 MV medical LINAC irradiation, and 5.5 MeV He2+ heavy ion microprobe. A maximum discrepancy of 0.6 mm in field size has been found when comparing to two-dimensional radiochromic film dose profile, and charge collection efficiency obtained by means of ion beam induced charge collection (IBICC) is 66% when operating the array in photovoltaic mode. Radiation damage study by photons and photoneutrons is presented

Quality assurance of Cyberknife robotic stereotactic radiosurgery using an angularly independent silicon detector

Purpose: The aim of this work was to evaluate the use of an angularly independent silicon detector (edgeless diodes) developed for dosimetry in megavoltage radiotherapy for Cyberknife in a phantom and for patient quality assurance (QA). Method: The characterization of the edgeless diodes has been performed on Cyberknife with fixed and IRIS collimators. The edgeless diode probes were tested in terms of basic QA parameters such as measurements of tissue-phantom ratio (TPR), output factor and off-axis ratio. The measurements were performed in both water and water-equivalent phantoms. In addition, three patient-specific plans have been delivered to a lung phantom with and without motion and dose measurements have been performed to verify the ability of the diodes to work as patient-specific QA devices. The data obtained by the edgeless diodes have been compared to PTW 60016, SN edge, PinPoint ionization chamber, Gafchromic EBT3 film, and treatment planning system (TPS). Results: The TPR measurement performed by the edgeless diodes show agreement within 2.2% with data obtained with PTW 60016 diode for all the field sizes. Output factor agrees within 2.6% with that measured by SN EDGE diodes corrected for their field size dependence. The beam profiles\u27 measurements of edgeless diodes match SN EDGE diodes with a measured full width half maximum (FWHM) within 2.3% and penumbra widths within 0.148 mm. Patient-specific QA measurements demonstrate an agreement within 4.72% in comparison with TPS. Conclusion: The edgeless diodes have been proved to be an excellent candidate for machine and patient QA for Cyberknife reproducing commercial dosimetry device measurements without need of angular dependence corrections. However, further investigation is required to evaluate the effect of their dose rate dependence on complex brain cancer dose verification

Knowledge, perceptions, and readiness of telepharmacy among community pharmacists

Telepharmacy is a practical part of telemedicine that refers to providing pharmaceutical services within the scope of the pharmacist's obligations while maintaining a temporal and spatial distance between patients, users of health services, and healthcare professionals. The present study was a cross-sectional study conducted among community pharmacists in Saudi Arabia between March and May 2022 to assess their knowledge, perceptions, and readiness for telepharmacy. The survey was filled out by 404 respondents. The majority of respondents were male (59.90%) and the age of more than half of them was between 30 and 39 years old (54.46%). Most participants worked in urban areas (83.66%), and 42.57% had less than five years of experience in a pharmacy. Most participants agreed that telepharmacy is available in Saudi Arabia (82.67%). Approximately 70% of pharmacists felt that telepharmacy promotes patient medication adherence, and 77.72% agreed that telepharmacy increases patient access to pharmaceuticals in rural areas. More than 72% of pharmacists said they would work on telepharmacy initiatives in rural areas for free, and 74.26% said they would work outside of usual working hours if necessary. In the future, this research could aid in adopting full-fledged telepharmacy pharmaceutical care services in Saudi Arabia. It could also help academic initiatives by allowing telepharmacy practice models to be included as a topic course in the curriculum to prepare future pharmacists to deliver telepharmacy services

Prevalence of oral lesions among Saudi dental patients

<b>Background and Objectives:</b> Few studies have been conducted in the Saudi population on oral mucosal lesions. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the type and extent of oral lesions in a study among dental patients at a college of dentistry in Saudi Arabia. <b> Patients and Methods:</b> Over a 3-year period, 2552 dental outpatients were interviewed and investigated clinically for the presence of oral mucosal conditions. A thorough oral clinical examination was performed, including a radiographic examination. The diagnosis was confirmed histopathologically when necessary. <b> Results: </b> Of 383 (15.0&#x0025;) patients found to have oral mucosal lesions, females constituted 57.7&#x0025; (n=221) and males 42.3&#x0025; (n=162). The age range of the patients was between 15 to 73 years with a mean age of 38.2 years. The most commonly affected age group was 31 to 40 years, which comprised 21.4&#x0025; (n=82) of all affected individuals. The least affected age group were individuals older than 61 years. The most common lesion was Fordyce granules (3.8&#x0025;; n=98), followed by leukoedema (3.4&#x0025;; n=86) and traumatic lesions (ulcer, erosion) in 1.9&#x0025; (n=48). Tongue abnormalities were present in 4.0&#x0025; (n=101) of all oral conditions observed, ranging from 1.4&#x0025; (n=36) for fissured tongue to 0.1&#x0025; (n=2) for bifid tongue. Other findings detected were torous platinus (1.3&#x0025;; n=34), mandibular tori (0.1&#x0025;; n=2) aphthous ulcer (0.4&#x0025;; n=10), herpes simplex (0.3&#x0025;; n=7), frictional hyperkeratosis (0.9&#x0025;; n=23), melanosis (0.6&#x0025;; n=14), lichen planus (0.3&#x0025;; n=9) and nicotinic stomatitis (0.5&#x0025;; n=13). <b>Conclusion: </b> The findings of this study provide information on the types and prevalence of oral lesions among Saudi dental patients. This provides baseline data for future studies about the prevalence of oral lesions in the general population

The first survey of the Saudi Acute Myocardial Infarction Registry Program: Main results and long-term outcomes (STARS-1 Program).

BACKGROUND:Prior acute coronary syndrome (ACS) registries in Saudi Arabia might not have accurately described the true demographics and cardiac care of patients with ACS. We aimed to evaluate the clinical characteristics, management, and outcomes of a representative sample of patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) in Saudi Arabia. METHODS:We conducted a 1-month snap-shot, prospective, multi-center registry study in 50 hospitals from various health care sectors in Saudi Arabia. We followed patients for 1 month and 1 year after hospital discharge. Patients with AMI included those with or without ST-segment elevation (STEMI or NSTEMI, respectively). This program survey will be repeated every 5 years. RESULTS:Between May 2015 and January 2017, we enrolled 2233 patients with ACS (mean age was 56 [standard deviation = 13] years; 55.6% were Saudi citizens, 85.7% were men, and 65.9% had STEMI). Coronary artery disease risk factors were high; 52.7% had diabetes mellitus and 51.2% had hypertension. Emergency Medical Services (EMS) was utilized in only 5.2% of cases. Revascularization for patients with STEMI included thrombolytic therapy (29%), primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI); (42.5%), neither (29%), or a pharmaco-invasive approach (3%). Non-Saudis with STEMI were less likely to undergo primary PCI compared to Saudis (35.8% vs. 48.7%; respectively, p <0.001), and women were less likely than men to achieve a door-to-balloon time of <90 min (42% vs. 65%; respectively, p = 0.003). Around half of the patients with NSTEMI did not undergo a coronary angiogram. All-cause mortality rates were 4%, 5.8%, and 8.1%, in-hospital, at 1 month, and at 1 year, respectively. These rates were significantly higher in women than in men. CONCLUSIONS:There is an urgent need for primary prevention programs, improving the EMS infrastructure and utilization, and establishing organized ACS network programs. AMI care needs further improvement, particularly for women and non-Saudis