Cybervetting Perceptions of Job Seekers in Saudi Arabia

Organizations have leveraged the use of social media (SM) in recruitment and selection to reach a wider pool of job applicants. The purpose of this study is to understand the perceptions of job seekers in Saudi Arabia using the job seekers’ attitudes toward the cybervetting (ATC) scale. This research is a quantitative cross-sectional study in which an online questionnaire was distributed among the target population who were seeking jobs and using social media sites. The ATC was translated to Arabic language and back-translated to English language and administered to a sample of 160 job applicants. The results showed negative perceptions of social media use as a screening and selection tool. Moreover, respondents perceived cybervetting negatively on the three dimensions tested: justice perceptions, privacy invasion, and face validity. The findings of this study have practical implications for human resources managers about the use of social media as an employee selection tool

Strengthening the Region of Intermediate Support of Continuous Reinforced High-Strength Concrete Slabs with New Cement

Concrete is being widely used as a construction material, hence it is necessary to improve its properties. These days supplementary cementecious materials are used for enhancement of concrete properties. Use of Nano materials is gaining importance due to its vital characteristics, these materials help in developing high performance concrete (Zhang Zenan, et al 2006).In this paper, the use of steel fibers instead of the reinforcement steel bars in the continuous nano-high strength concrete (NHSC) slab panel was experimentally investigated. Tests were carried out on three two-span slab panels under mid span point loads and simply supported at the panels end. The first slab was reinforced by steel bars to resist the negative moments near the internal supports while the other two slab panels were reinforced by steel fibers only of percentage of volume fraction (1 and 2.0) in this zone, without negative steel bars. 5% nano-SiO2 (NS) and 15% of silica fume (SF) contents were used. The load-deflection relationship for the tested slab spans is determined, the first crack load, failure load and deflections were recorded. Also a comparison between the results obtained from this study and that obtained from other study of two continuous slabs made of self compacted concrete (SCC) was made , one of these slabs was reinforced by steel bars near the interior supports and the other is reinforced by steel fibers of (1% and 2%) in this zone. Experimental results show that the ultimate load capacity are increased (15.4% - 32.9%) and the cracking loads are increased (40%-56%) for tested specimens strengthened with SFRC, in comparison with the reference specimens. The comparison between the NHSC slabs and corresponding SCC slabs shows a similar load-deflection curve but the ultimate strength capacity for the NHSC slabs with steel fiber gives ultimate strength larger than SCC  slabs with steel fibers, while the NHSC slabs reinforced by steel bars which show an important effect on the first cracking loading in comparison with SCC slabs. loading in comparison with CC slabs. Keywords: key words, Nano, negative moment, Self-Compacting Concret

Spectrum of AIDS Defining Opportunistic Infections in a Series of 77 Hospitalised HIV-infected Omani Patients

Objectives: Most of the morbidity and mortality in human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immune deficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) result from opportunistic infections (OIs). Although the spectrum of OIs in HIV infected patients from developing countries has been reported, there is a paucity of data on the natural history, pattern of disease, and survival of hospitalised patients with HIV/AIDS, particularly in Arab countries. The aim of this study was to study retrospectively the spectrum and frequency of various OIs in a cohort of hospitalised HIV-infected Omani patients. Methods: Included in the study were 77 HIV-infected Omani patients admitted to a tertiary care teaching hospital in Muscat, Oman, between January 1999 and December 2008. They were diagnosed on their first admission and hence were not on highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) at presentation. The frequency of various clinical and laboratory findings and individual OIs were analysed. Results: In total, 45 patients (58%) had one or more AIDS-defining OIs. Pneumocystis jiroveci pneumonia (PCP) was commonest (25%), followed by cryptococcal meningitis (22%), cytomegalovirus (CMV), retinitis (17%), disseminated tuberculosis (15%), and cerebral toxoplasmosis (12.5%). Only one patient with Mycobacterium avium-intracellulare (MAI) was identified and one patient had disseminated visceral leishmaniasis. The majority of patients (77%) had CD4+ counts <200 cells/µL. Ten patients (22%) died during hospital stays, with five deaths (50%) being caused by disseminated CMV infection. Conclusion: A wide spectrum of OIs is seen in hospitalised HIV-infected patients in Oman. P. jiroveci pneumonia and cryptococcal meningitis were the commonest OIs, while disseminated CMV was the commonest cause of death. We hope these results will advance the knowledge of specialists treating HIV in Oman and the Gulf region.

Awareness of the Importance of and Adherence to Patients’ Rights Among Physicians and Nurses in Oman: An analytical cross-sectional study across different levels of healthcare

Objectives: This study aimed to determine the extent to which physicians and nurses in Oman were aware of the importance of and adhere to patients’ rights and whether this differed according to role, nationality, position and institutional healthcare level. Methods: This analytical cross-sectional study was carried out between December 2015 and March 2016 at various governmental healthcare institutions in Oman. A self-administered questionnaire was distributed to 1,385 practitioners at all healthcare levels. Results: A total of 1,213 healthcare practitioners (response rate: 87.58%) completed the survey, of which 685 (56.47%) were nurses and 528 (43.53%) were physicians. Overall, awareness of the importance of patients’ rights was high (91.51%), although adherence to these rights in practice was low (63.81%). The right of the patient to be informed was considered least important and was least adhered to (81.2% and 56.39%). Nationality, role and institutional level were significantly associated with awareness (P = 0.002, 0.024 and 0.034, respectively). Non-Omani staff were significantly more likely than Omani staff to be aware of (odds ratio [OR] = 1.696; P = 0.032) and adhere to (OR = 2.769; P <0.001) patient rights. Furthermore, tertiary care staff were twice as likely as primary care staff to perceive the importance of patient rights (OR = 2.076; P = 0.019). While physicians were more likely than nurses to be aware of the importance of patient rights, this difference was not significant (OR = 1.516; P = 0.126). Conclusion: These findings may help inform measures to enhance awareness of and adherence to patients’ rights in Oman.Keywords: Medical Ethics; Patient Rights; Awareness; Adherence; Physicians; Nurses; Oman

Immunized camels and COVID-19

The World Health Organization (WHO) declared coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19), a global pandemic on 11th March 2020, as its causative virus “severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2” (SARS-CoV-2) spreads rapidly out of control across the world[1]. A few months ago, the virus has spread all over the world claiming the lives of thousands of people, and hundreds of thousands being infected on daily bases and the numbers are on the increase[12]. This pandemic puts enormous pressure on health services across the globe, especially as it coincides with the seasonal flu. Therefore, all efforts to control this new pandemic are needed

Serine Protease Variants Encoded by Echis ocellatus Venom Gland cDNA: Cloning and Sequencing Analysis

Envenoming by Echis saw-scaled viper is the leading cause of death and morbidity in Africa due to snake bite. Despite its medical importance, there have been few investigations into the toxin composition of the venom of this viper. Here, we report the cloning of cDNA sequences encoding four groups or isoforms of the haemostasis-disruptive Serine protease proteins (SPs) from the venom glands of Echis ocellatus. All these SP sequences encoded the cysteine residues scaffold that form the 6-disulphide bonds responsible for the characteristic tertiary structure of venom serine proteases. All the Echis ocellatus EoSP groups showed varying degrees of sequence similarity to published viper venom SPs. However, these groups also showed marked intercluster sequence conservation across them which were significantly different from that of previously published viper SPs. Because viper venom SPs exhibit a high degree of sequence similarity and yet exert profoundly different effects on the mammalian haemostatic system, no attempt was made to assign functionality to the new Echis ocellatus EoSPs on the basis of sequence alone. The extraordinary level of interspecific and intergeneric sequence conservation exhibited by the Echis ocellatus EoSPs and analogous serine proteases from other viper species leads us to speculate that antibodies to representative molecules should neutralise (that we will exploit, by epidermal DNA immunization) the biological function of this important group of venom toxins in vipers that are distributed throughout Africa, the Middle East, and the Indian subcontinent