Exploring the Reciprocal Relationships between Happiness and Life Satisfaction of Working Adults—Evidence from Abu Dhabi

This paper examines the relationships between a range of well-being factors and two commonly used subjective well-being measures—happiness and life satisfaction. Data from the second cycle of the Quality of Life (QoL) Survey in Abu Dhabi were used, which included 32,087 working adults. The well-being factors included in the analysis covered various aspects of life themes: income and jobs, work–home balance, health and physical activities, social and community services, living environment, and family/friends’ relationships and connections. Using standardized data, path analysis yielded an optimal path model that suggested the presence of a reciprocal relationship between happiness and life satisfaction. In addition, the final model suggested that four variables—job satisfaction, mental health, satisfaction with relationships with people, and the size of the social support network—had direct effects on happiness and life satisfaction. The model also identified three variables—satisfaction with family life, mental health, and job satisfaction—to have the most significant effect on happiness

Experiencing the Unprecedented COVID-19 Lockdown: Abu Dhabi Older Adults’ Challenges and Concerns

This study focused on older adults (60+ years old) of both genders in Abu Dhabi during the COVID-19 pandemic before vaccines were made available (age ranged from 60 years to 75 years). They faced more strict rules of movement restriction and isolation that might have resulted in certain psychological feelings and social reactions. The main objective was to understand Abu Dhabi older adults’ psychological feelings during the pandemic and to identify their main concerns and challenges considering the various COVID-19-related policies and restrictions. The psychological feelings focused on fear, loneliness, sadness, irritability, emotional exhaustion, depressive symptoms, sleeping disorders, overeating, and excessive screen use. The objectives also included the changes in the psychological feelings concerning time. Other objectives covered better understanding the differences in (some activities) compared to the other age categories. Data were gathered through an online survey of community members from February to July 2020 as part of government initiatives (Department of Community Development). Responses were collected from 574 older adults in Abu Dhabi (60.1% male and 39.9% female). The analysis mainly used descriptive analysis, t-tests, analysis of variance (ANOVA), and simple trend analysis. For all tests, a p-value less than 0.05 was used for significance. The results pointed to the significant rise in feelings related to excessive screen use, fear, loneliness, and stress. The most significant concerns were related to more restrictions being imposed and not being able to see the grandchildren.The impact of new technologies on their quality of life was significantly reflected by respondents. The influence of the pandemic on older adults’ health and weight was also investigated. Analysis of variance, t-tests, and regression analysis with relevant tests were employed. The relevant results showed that some negative psychological feelings were common among older adults during the pandemic. However, the psychological feelings did not portray significant changes with time, except for sleeping disorders and overeating. Overall, older adults scored significantly different from other age groups on many challenges, concerns, and views regarding new technologies during the pandemic. No significant differences were observed regarding gender and marital status for the challenges and concerns. The research summarizes some policy guidance while noting some limitations of this study and future research directions

Understanding the Interactions of Happiness, Self-Rated Health, Mental Feelings, Habit of Eating Healthy and Sport/Activities: A Path Model for Abu Dhabi

Understanding the interactions between happiness, self-perception of health, healthy eating behaviors, physical activities, and psychological feelings or symptoms of mental health provides necessary inputs for social policymaking. Using data from the second cycle of the Abu Dhabi Quality of Life survey, this study examined a path analysis of Abu Dhabi residents’ nature of assimilations between these variables. The results point to the significant association between happiness and self-rated health. In addition, the results portray significant direct paths to happiness from three mental feeling variables—“feeling calm and peaceful”, “having lots of energy”, and “feeling downhearted and depressed”. The variable of “often feeling rushed or pressed for time” shows a direct path to self-rated health only. Eating healthy food is significantly associated with both happiness and self-perception of health. In addition, “often doing physical activities” positively influences happiness. The present study enhances and refines policymakers’ understanding of the considered factors on happiness and self-rated health with further elaborations of the mediating roles of specific well-being determinants. Limitations and future research directions are also discussed

Access and Experiences of Arabic Native Speakers With Disabilities on Social Media During and After the World Pandemic

Since the start of the coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak, governments across the world have mobilized to inform citizens on the virus spread details, nation-level processes, and best health measures and practices to be taken. A large percentage of the media posted through the COVID-19 crisis has been graphical, which raised the question of whether Arabic-speaking blind and deaf persons were able to independently access reliable information. This article presents the results of two studies. The first study involves a content analysis of official social media posts about COVID-19 during critical phases of the outbreak via heuristic evaluation of WCAG2.1 on an iOS smartphone and an iPad. The second study explores the experiences of native Arabic-speaking blind and deaf persons on social media during the pandemic and curfew or lockdown periods in the State of Kuwait using a semi-structured interview (11 people who are blind/low vision and 7 people who are deaf). Overall, our findings highlight the accessibility gaps in the current government social media information content and its dissemination practices and barriers in providing information and services. Also, it gives insights into how people who are blind and people who are deaf are able to manage their lifestyle within and beyond the COVID-19 pandemic

Implementing OSCE Exam for Undergraduate Pharmacy Students: A Two Institutional Mixed-Method Study

Introduction: This study evaluates undergraduate pharmacy students\u27 and examiners’ perceptions of implementing OSCE exam. Methods: A sample of 185 undergraduate pharmacy students (138 from Zarqa University and 47 from Yarmouk University) and 20 examiners were invited to complete a quantitative survey and qualitative focus group discussion, respectively. Results: 103 out of 185 (56%, response rate) undergraduate pharmacy students completed the quantitative survey, with 11 examiners out of 20 (55%) agreeing to participate in the examiners\u27 focus group discussion. Most pharmacy students agreed that OSCE exam was a practical and useful experience (74.8%) and should be part of the assessment in other pharmacy courses (61.2%). However, less than a quarter thought that OSCE exam was not fair (17.5%), very intimidating (20.4%), and needed more time (29.1%). Examiners were generally in favour of OSCE exam being well-organised and well-administered despite the need for a large place to conduct and a good number of pharmacy staff to implement. Conclusion: Pharmacy students and examiners agreed that OSCE exam is an excellent and preferable clinical assessment tool. This study provides a scheme to evaluate OSCE exam as a clinical assessment tool and would help policy-makers gain more insight into the impact of implementing OSCE exam on students\u27 clinical knowledge and communicational skills development and learning process

Statistical analysis plan for the Pneumatic CompREssion for PreVENting Venous Thromboembolism (PREVENT) trial: A study protocol for a randomized controlled trial

Background: The Pneumatic CompREssion for Preventing VENous Thromboembolism (PREVENT) trial evaluates the effect of adjunctive intermittent pneumatic compression (IPC) with pharmacologic thromboprophylaxis compared to pharmacologic thromboprophylaxis alone on venous thromboembolism (VTE) in critically ill adults. Methods/design: In this multicenter randomized trial, critically ill patients receiving pharmacologic thromboprophylaxis will be randomized to an IPC or a no IPC (control) group. The primary outcome is "incident" proximal lower-extremity deep vein thrombosis (DVT) within 28 days after randomization. Radiologists interpreting the lower-extremity ultrasonography will be blinded to intervention allocation, whereas the patients and treating team will be unblinded. The trial has 80% power to detect a 3% absolute risk reduction in the rate of proximal DVT from 7% to 4%. Discussion: Consistent with international guidelines, we have developed a detailed plan to guide the analysis of the PREVENT trial. This plan specifies the statistical methods for the evaluation of primary and secondary outcomes, and defines covariates for adjusted analyses a priori. Application of this statistical analysis plan to the PREVENT trial will facilitate unbiased analyses of clinical data

Evidence for b baryons in Z decays

In 160 000 hadronic Z decays recorded with the ALEPH detector at LEP, the yields of Λℓ− and Λℓ+ combinations have been measured. The observed excess of Λℓ− over Λℓ+ of 53±13 is interpreted as evidence for b baryons and their semileptonic decay. Assuming that three body decay processes such as dominate the semileptonic decay of b baryons, this ex cess corresponds to a product branching ratio , where ΛbandΛc+ denote the bottom and charm baryons respectively