أحوال التشديد في تقدير الغرامة المالية على مخالفي أنظمة ولوائح الدفاع المدني في المملكة العربية السعودية The Conditions of tightening the financial penalty for beaking regulations and rules of the civil defense in Saudi Arabia (in Arabic)

The study aims to clarify the conditions which help Judge or his representative, as a committee member, to consider tightening the financial penalty for breaking regulations and rules of the Civil Defense in Saudi Arabia. The study starts with clarifying the concept of financial penalty, its types and purposes. Then it analyses the conditions mentioned in the article of the Regulations of Civil Defense. The study uses the inductive and analytical approaches. The study concludes that although the conditions are specified in the article of the Regulation, they still need to be reviewed and amended; especially when the committee member faces a situation or an incident with several aspects, such as gravity, repetition and multiplicity. Therefore, the study recommends to update and develop the regulations and rules, especially those relevant to the issue of the articles and paragraphs of Civil Defense

Nanomaterials. Effective tools for field and horticultural crops to cope with drought stress: A review

Drought is the most serious environmental challenge that limits plant growth and causes more severe yield losses than other abiotic stress factors resulting in a serious food shortage. Nanomaterials (NMs) are considered as vital tools to overcome contemporary and future challenges in agricultural production. Recently, NMs have been applied for enhancing seed germination, growth, physiology, productivity and quality attributes of various crops under normal or stress conditions. Up to date, there is no a comprehensive review about the potential role of NMs in attenuating the drought-induced adverse effects in crop plants. Thus, this review will highlight this issue. Generally, NMs minimize drought-induced osmotic stress by accumulation of osmolytes that result in osmotic adjustment and improved plant water status. In addition, NMs play a key role to improve root growth, conductive tissue elements and aquaporin proteins facilitating uptake and translocation of water and nutrients. Furthermore, NMs reduce water loss by stomatal closure due to abscisic acid signaling. However, this leads to reduced photosynthesis and oxidative stress damage. At the same time, NMs increase the content of light-harvesting pigments, enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidants leading to enhancing photosynthesis with reducing oxidative stress damage. Overall, NMs can ameliorate the deleterious effects of drought stress in crop plants by regulation of gene expression and alternation of various physiological and biochemical processes

Breastfeeding and Weaning Practices in Saudi Arabia

Summary A National Child Health Survey was conducted during 1987 for which a stratified multi-stage sampling was done. Out of the 8482 mothers interviewed 6131 had at least one live birth 5 years or less before the survey. Eighty-two per cent of the currently breastfed children, were less than 6 months of age, but only 55 per cent of the infants up to 1 month of age were breastfed without supplementation. The mean interval between supplementation and weaning for all age groups of mothers was 7.7 months. The predominant causes of weaning were child reaching suitable age and mother not having enough milk. This study establishes base line information about feeding practice on a nationwide basis in Saudi Arabia

Boosted Reaction on Two-Step Tuberculin Skin Test among Military Personnel in South Korea, a Setting with an Intermediate Burden of Tuberculosis and Routine Bacille Calmette-Guérin Vaccination

This study was performed to estimate the rate of boosted reaction in the two-step tuberculin skin test (TST) and to evaluate the associated factors among military personnel of South Korea, which has an intermediate burden of tuberculosis (TB) and a routine bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccination policy. Two-step TST was performed on 264 military personnel who did not have a history of close contact to TB. Subjects with a negative reaction to the first test of <10 mm had a second TST applied 1 week later on the other forearm. A positive result (≥10 mm) on the initial TST was observed in 126 (48%) of the subjects. A boosted reaction on the second TST developed in 32 (23%) of the 124 subjects with a negative initial TST. In multiple logistic regression analysis, the size of the initial TST reaction was the only factor associated with a boosted reaction on the second TST. The high rate of boosted reaction among healthy adults in South Korea suggests that two-step TST should be performed to assess the baseline TST reactivity in settings with an intermediate burden of TB and routine BCG vaccination policy, especially among subjects with an initial TST reaction that is ≥5 mm

Epidemiology of the human immunodeficiency virus in Saudi Arabia; 18-year surveillance results and prevention from an Islamic perspective

BACKGROUND: data on HIV epidemiology and preventive measures in Islamic countries is limited. This study describes the results of 18-year of HIV surveillance in Saudi Arabia (SA) and the preventive measures implemented from an Islamic perspective. METHODS: surveillance for HIV has been underway in SA since 1984. Indications for HIV testing include clinical suspicion, screening of contacts of HIV-infected patients, and routine screening of blood and organ donors, prisoners, intravenous drug users, patients with other sexually transmitted infections, and expatriates pre-employment. This is a case series descriptive study of all confirmed HIV infections diagnosed in SA from 1984 through 2001. RESULTS: a total of 6046 HIV infections were diagnosed, of which 1285 (21.3%) cases were Saudi citizens. Over the 18-year surveillance period the number of HIV infections diagnosed annually among Saudi citizens gradually increased and, over the period 1997–2001, it reached to 84 to 142 cases per year. The number of cases per 100,000 population varied widely between regions with a maximum of 74 cases and a minimum of 2 cases. The infection was most common in the age group 20–40 years (74.6%) and predominantly affected men (71.6%). The modes of transmission among Saudi citizens and expatriates, respectively, were as follows: heterosexual contact, 487 (37.9%) and 1352 (28.4%) cases; blood transfusion, 322 (25.0%) and 186 (3.9%) cases; perinatal transmission, 83 (6.5%) and 19 (0.4%) cases; homosexual contact, 32 (2.5%) and 38 (0.8%) cases; intravenous drug use, 17 (1.3%) and 33 (0.7%) cases; bisexual contact, 10 (0.8%) and 14 (0.3%) cases; unknown, 334 (26.0%) and 3119 (65.5%) cases. The number of HIV infections transmitted by blood or blood products transfusion declined to zero by year 2001 and all such infections occurred due to transfusions administered before 1986. At HIV diagnosis, 4502/6046 (74.5%) patients had no symptoms, 787 (13.0%) patients had non-AIDS defining manifestations, and 757 (12.5%) patients had AIDS. A total of 514/1285 (40%) Saudi patients died by year 2001. CONCLUSIONS: the number of HIV cases in SA is limited with heterosexual contact being the main mode of transmission. From an Islamic perspective, preventive strategies include prevention of non-marital sex and intravenous drug use with encouragement of "safe sex" through legal marriage