Free sugar intake is associated with reduced proportion of circulating invariant natural killer T cells among women experiencing overweight and obesity

BackgroundHigher prevalence of obesity has been observed among women compared to men, which can be explained partly by the higher consumption of sweets and physical inactivity. Obesity can alter immune cell infiltration, and therefore increase the susceptibility to develop chronic inflammation and metabolic disorders. In this study, we aimed to explore the association between free sugar intake and other unhealthy lifestyle habits in relation to the proportion of circulating iNKT cells among women with healthy weight and women experiencing overweight and obesity.MethodsA cross-sectional study was conducted on 51 Saudi women > 18 years, wherein their daily free sugar intake was assessed using the validated Food Frequency Questionnaire. Data on smoking status, physical activity, and supplement use were also collected. Anthropometric data including height, weight, waist circumference were objectively measured from each participants. The proportion of circulating iNKT cells was determined using flow cytometry.ResultsSmoking, physical activity, supplement use, and weight status were not associated with proportion of circulating iNKT cells. Significant association was found between proportion of circulating iNKT cells and total free sugar intake and free sugar intake coming from solid food sources only among women experiencing overweight and obesity (Beta: -0.10: Standard Error: 0.04 [95% Confidence Interval: -0.18 to -0.01], p= 0.034) and (Beta: -0.15: Standard Error: 0.05 [95% Confidence Interval: -0.25 to -0.05], p= 0.005), respectively.ConclusionExcessive free sugar consumption may alter iNKT cells and consequently increase the risk for chronic inflammation and metabolic disorders

The Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Mental Health among Individuals infected with Corona virus, in Qassim Region, Saudi Arabia, October-December 2020

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic symbolizes many overwhelming stresses. Such as loss of family members, friends, or colleagues, financial uncertainty; and isolation from others, mostly in those who live alone. That's why the physician must sort out demoralization from depression. Aim: This study aimed to determine the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on mental health among individuals infected with Corona virus, in Qassim region, Saudi Arabia. Materials and Methods : This is a cross-sectional study conducted among individuals infected with Corona virus in Qassim region. A pre-designed questionnaire was distributed among all the individuals infected with COVID-19 using available communication methods provided by the COVID-19 committee. A total response of 800, when applying the inclusion and exclusion criteria, only 580 participants have met the criteria. The questionnaire contains socio-demographic characteristics of the participants, anxiety, panic disorder and depression. The collection of data was during the period from October to December of 2020. All statistical data were calculated using SPSS version 21. Results: A total of 580 COVID-19 patients were enrolled. The most common age group was 20 – 29 with 52.6% were males. The prevalence of patients with anxiety was 14.0% while the prevalence of depression 20.7% and those with panic disorder was 43.1%. In multivariate regression model. Those who developed symptoms at the time of diagnosis were the independent factors associated with both anxiety and depression while family income negatively affected by the pandemic was the independent factor associated with anxiety, depression and panic disorder. Conclusion: Impact of COVID on mental health was high. Panic disorder in people infected with COVID-19 found to be higher than anxiety and depression, lastly panic disorder provided greater negative effect with their mental health. These results require more investigation and further research, in addition patient who was infected with COVID-19 should be reviewed with the psychiatrist. &nbsp

A Deep Learning-Based Mobile Application for Monkeypox Detection

The recent outbreak of monkeypox has raised significant concerns in the field of public health, primarily because it has quickly spread to over 40 countries outside of Africa. Detecting monkeypox in its early stages can be quite challenging because its symptoms can resemble those of chickenpox and measles. However, there is hope that potential use of computer-assisted tools may be used to identify monkeypox cases rapidly and efficiently. A promising approach involves the use of technology, specifically deep learning methods, which have proven effective in automatically detecting skin lesions when sufficient training examples are available. To improve monkeypox diagnosis through mobile applications, we have employed a particular neural network called MobileNetV2, which falls under the category of Fully Connected Convolutional Neural Networks (FCCNN). It enables us to identify suspected monkeypox cases accurately compared to classical machine learning approaches. The proposed approach was evaluated using the recall, precision, F score, and accuracy. The experimental results show that our architecture achieves an accuracy of 0.99%, a Recall of 1.0%, an F-score of 0.98%, and a Precision of 0.95%. We believe that such experimental evaluation will contribute to the medical domain and many use cases

Nurses' perception and self-confidence of family presence during cardiopulmonary resuscitation in Saudi Arabia

BACKGROUND: Researchers have investigated the presence of families during cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) to determine its benefits and barriers and the points of view of healthcare professionals, patients, and families. Family presence during resuscitation (FPDR) is debatable. Many professional health organizations worldwide, such as the Emergency Nurses Association, have suggested that healthcare facilities implement rules and policies that encourage the attendance of families and relatives during CPR. However, this does not consider the nurses' points of view or self-confidence during FPDR. The main aim of this study is to evaluate nurses' perceptions and self-confidence related to family presence during CPR in Saudi Arabia.MATERIALS AND METHODS: This descriptive correlation study was conducted between March and April 2022 at King Abdul Aziz University Hospital in Jeddah. A survey was completed by participants to collect their sociodemographic data. The relationship between Family Presence Risk-Benefit Scale (FPS-BS) and the Family Presence Self-Confidence Scale (FPS-CS) was analyzed using Pearson's correlation test.RESULTS: The study's participants consisted of 147 nurses. Regarding the FPDR, nurses had a moderately positive perception and level of confidence. Moreover, the level of self-confidence varied significantly by age group and years of experience. The results of the Pearson correlation indicated that there was a significant association between FPS-CS and FPR-BS (r = 0.221, P < .001). When implementing FPDR, nurses who see more benefits from it are more confident.CONCLUSION: According to the findings, the nurses who felt more comfortable including patients' families in resuscitation efforts also saw FPDR as having more advantages. FPDR has several effects on the healthcare team providing CPR. Nursing leaders should develop policies for their teams and instruct nurses and other healthcare professionals. Considering the clear benefits of clinical practice and family involvement in resuscitation, it is suggested to give this experience first using simulation and role-playing