Coping Strategies of Students in the United Arab Emirates University: A Research Application of the Arabic Version of the CISS

This paper investigated the manner by which students of the United Arab Emirates University (UAEU) coped with stress and determined the influence of demographic factors on the coping strategies used by students in an academic setting. The sample consisted of 197 undergraduate Emirati students from the university who were differentiated according to sex, age, year level, and marital status. The study used the Arabic version of the CISS that was formulated and validated by Hamid and Musa (2012) which is a semantic and contextualization adaptation of the CISS. Data gathering was done by means of the survey and the collected data was quantitatively analyzed. The results showed that the students depended on a repertoire of coping mechanisms which were either used frequently or sparingly regardless of sex, age, year level, or marital status. The findings depict a culturally endemic outlook of student coping in the context of the universal phenomenon of university education which makes it differ from the picture of coping among students in other cultural circumstances. On the basis of the extent to which coping strategies were used, the students of the UAEU can be better seen as contingent or repertorial copers. Keywords: Academic stress, coping, coping strategy, coping styles inventor

Dawru Al-Waqf al-Mu’aqqat fî al-Tamwîl al-Ijtimâ’i fî al-Mashrîfiyah al-Islâmiyah Bî Malayziyâ

This research paper aims to study the "temporary endowment" (Waqf Muaqqat) and its role in activating social financing in Islamic banking in Malaysia, such as the oriental study in the light of the purposes of Islamic law. This article has adopted the qualitative method in its research which correlates to the theorization and regulation of the concepts of the issues in hand in their different dimensions which is jurisprudence, Maqasid, and banking. For the case study “Maybank Islamic” has been selected for viewing and assessing the various aspects related to the said topic. The study also included interviews with some experts of Islamic banking in Malaysia. The study has stemmed the following conclusions and recommendations, which are as follows: 1) Islamic banks have a significant role in intermediating between both the sources of voluntary social financing and the deprived classes of the society, 2) Bank endowments (Waqf) through May Islamic Bank has shown substantial contributions in the social financing. The study further has found many possibilities of making it more effective and expand its reach using the tool of temporary endowment, 3) Temporary bank endowment contributes to achieving the objectives of social cooperation (Takaful), financial growth, and social justices through the medium of Islamic banks. The article concludes by stating that social financing of banks needs various other tools of temporary endowment (Waqf Muaqqat) to help the deprived classes and to extend its reach to meet the requirements for a comprehensive and inclusive development of the overall society.   تهدف هذه الورقة البحثة إلى دراسة "الوقف المؤقت" ودوره في تفعيل التمويل الاجتماعي في المصرفة الإسلامية بمليزيا كالدراسة الاستشراقية في ضوء مقاصد الشريعة الإسلامية. ولقد استخدمت هذه الورقة البحثية المنهج الكيفي في مباحثها المتعلقة بالـتأصيل والضبط لمفهوم الوقف المؤقت وما يتعلق به من القضايا في أبعادها الشرعية والمصرفية في ضوء مقاصد الشريعة؛ واعتمدت الدراسة في الجانب الميداني على اختيار "ماي بنك الإسلامي "كعينة تطبيقية لدراسة الموضوع في جوانبه المتعددة. وخلصت الدراسة إلى جملة من النتائج والتوصيات، من أهمّها:1) فإن الوقف المؤقت في التجربة الماليزية أنه لايزال الاهتمام به في مرحلة التشريعات النظرية في التقنين له ويحتاج إلى إيجاد آليات جديدة لتفعيله في واقع الممارسة.2) "الوقف المؤقت" النقدي آلية استشرافية يقترحها البحث في سدّ عجز التمويل الاجتماعي في منتجات الوقف المصرفي لمصرف" ماي بنك الإسلامي" كعينة مختارة في هذه الدراسة والتي تسعى إلى تحقيق خطة تنموية اجتماعية إلى تفعيله وتوسيعه. 3) النظر المقاصدي في التمويل الاجتماعي المصرفي يدعم اقتراح آلية الوقف المؤقت النقدي كوسيلة فعالة نظرا لما يحققه من مقاصد تنموية اجتماعية؛ ومنها التكافل الاجتماعي، النماء المالي، والعدالة الاجتماعية من خلال وساطة المصارف الإسلامية للمصارف الإسلامية كفاءة في أن يكون لها دور مهم في الوساطة بين مصادر التمويل الاجتماعي التطوعي والطبقات الاجتماعية المحرومة وما يؤهلها لذلك كونها مؤسسات لها إمكانيات في نظم الإدارة والحوكمة

The Effect of Green Certificates on the Purchasing Decisions of Online Customers in Green Hotels: A Case Study from Saudi Arabia

[EN] Customers are becoming more concerned about the use of green practices in the hotel industry. Managers are therefore starting to recognise the significance of green practices for clients' purchasing decisions and levels of satisfaction. This study aims to investigate how customers' decisions to book green hotels online and make purchases are impacted by green certificates. Two variables, namely the intentions to return and to pay a premium price, are used to measure customer satisfaction and purchasing behaviour towards green hotels. SmartPLS has been employed to analyse data gathered from 161 individuals from two hotels in Saudi Arabia. The results suggest that green certifications, environmental considerations, and green brand perception have a significant impact on online customers' satisfaction and purchase choices in the hotel sector. This paper provides a comprehensive framework that illustrates the connection between hotels' aspirations towards environmental concerns and customers' willingness to revisit and pay a premium price.This research was supported by two conference grants from Christian Heritage College.Qubbaj, AI.; Peiró Signes, A.; Najjar, M. (2023). The Effect of Green Certificates on the Purchasing Decisions of Online Customers in Green Hotels: A Case Study from Saudi Arabia. Sustainability. 15(7):1-15. https://doi.org/10.3390/su1507589211515

Detoxification of toxic phorbol esters from Malaysian Jatropha curcas Linn. kernel by Trichoderma spp. and endophytic fungi

The presence of phorbol esters (PEs) with toxic properties limits the use of Jatropha curcas kernel in the animal feed industry. Therefore, suitable methods to detoxify PEs have to be developed to render the material safe as a feed ingredient. In the present study, the biological treatment of the extracted PEs-rich fraction with non-pathogenic fungi (Trichoderma harzianum JQ350879.1, T. harzianum JQ517493.1, Paecilomyces sinensis JQ350881.1, Cladosporium cladosporioides JQ517491.1, Fusarium chlamydosporum JQ350882.1, F. chlamydosporum JQ517492.1 and F. chlamydosporum JQ350880.1) was conducted by fermentation in broth cultures. The PEs were detected by liquid chromatography-diode array detector-electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (LC-DAD-ESIMS) and quantitatively monitored by HPLC using phorbol-12-myristate 13-acetate as the standard. At day 30 of incubation, two T. harzianum spp., P. sinensis and C. cladosporioides significantly (p < 0.05) removed PEs with percentage losses of 96.9%–99.7%, while F. chlamydosporum strains showed percentage losses of 88.9%–92.2%. All fungal strains could utilize the PEs-rich fraction for growth. In the cytotoxicity assay, cell viabilities of Chang liver and NIH 3T3 fibroblast cell lines were less than 1% with the untreated PEs-rich fraction, but 84.3%–96.5% with the fungal treated PEs-rich fraction. There was no inhibition on cell viability for normal fungal growth supernatants. To conclude, Trichoderma spp., Paecilomyces sp. and Cladosporium sp. are potential microbes for the detoxification of PEs

Investigation of Medication Errors in a Tertiary Care Hospitals in the Qassim Region, Saudi Arabia

BACKGROUND: Medication errors (MEs) have been defined as “any preventable event that may cause or lead to inappropriate medication or patient harm when the medication is in the control of the health care professional, patient, or consumer.” AIM: The aim of this study is to identify, analyze, and compare the common types of errors encountered in prescriptions, as well as the factors associated with the root causes of these errors, in a large tertiary hospital in the Qassim region of Saudi Arabia. METHODS: The design used is a retrospective cross-sectional analysis conducted in tertiary care hospitals in the Al-Qassim region of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. MEs were reported by nurses, pharmacist, and physicians through “hospital-based incident medication error reports” collected from January 2016 to December 2016. RESULTS: During the study period, 2123 MEs were reported for 213,489 prescriptions, of which 1282 (60.38%) were errors by a physician followed by nurses and then pharmacists. Analysis of the outcome of error types revealed that error types B and C were the most common, with only few type A errors identified (0.14%). The most common type of error was incomplete data (34.27%) followed by prescription in illegible handwriting (14.88%). The least common ME was prescription of the wrong strength (0.17%). CONCLUSION: This study revealed multiple prescription errors across 213,489 prescriptions, most commonly originating with physicians. The incidence of serious errors was low at 0.14%, and the major outcome of prescription errors was “Near miss.” “Incomplete data” and “Illegible handwriting” were the most common types of MEs detected. Despite the low number of MEs recorded during the study period, some of the errors were indeed serious. Based on the findings of this study, policy-makers should consider strategies for increasing efficiency in the hospital setting

Bridging the gap: Using design based activities to develop problem-solving skills in Qatari high school students

A substantial number of secondary school students are accepted into engineering schools without adequate exposure to key engineering based skills, such as analytical thinking, problem solving, critical thinking and design. Unfamiliarity with the practical skills needed in engineering leaves students unprepared, leading to poor academic performance and demotivating them about engineering. It is critical that students be able to apply learnt scientific concepts to solve real life problems. In this paper, we will present a set of design-based learning activities created to help develop the analytical thinking and problem solving skills of students in local Qatari secondary schools. We will discuss implementation details of these design-based learning activities along with results, comments from participating students and teachers as well as data analysis.qscienc

Ecotoxicological Assessment of Thermally- and Hydrogen-Reduced Graphene Oxide/TiO₂ Photocatalytic Nanocomposites Using the Zebrafish Embryo Model.

Advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) have recently attracted great interest in water pollution management. Using the zebrafish embryo model, we investigated the environmental impacts of two thermally (RGOTi)- and hydrogen (H₂RGOTi)-reduced graphene oxide/TiO₂ semiconductor photocatalysts recently employed in AOPs. For this purpose, acutoxicity, cardiotoxicity, neurobehavioral toxicity, hematopoietic toxicity, and hatching rate were determinate. For the RGOTi, the no observed effect concentration (NOEC, mortality/teratogenicity score <20%) and the median lethal concentration (LC) were <400 and 748.6 mg/L, respectively. H₂RGOTi showed a NOEC similar to RGOTi. However, no significant mortality was detected at all concentrations used in the acutoxicity assay (up to1000 mg/L), thus indicating a hypothetical LC higher than 1000 mg/L. According to the Fish and Wildlife Service Acute Toxicity Rating Scale, RGOTi can be classified as "practically not toxic" and H₂RGOTi as "relatively harmless". However, both nanocomposites should be used with caution at concentration higher than the NOEC (400 mg/L), in particular RGOTi, which significantly (i) caused pericardial and yolk sac edema; (ii) decreased the hatching rate, locomotion, and hematopoietic activities; and (iii) affected the heart rate. Indeed, the aforementioned teratogenic phenotypes were less devastating in H₂RGOTi-treated embryos, suggesting that the hydrogen-reduced graphene oxide/TiO₂ photocatalysts may be more ecofriendly than the thermally-reduced ones

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma: the latest on diagnosis, molecular profiling, and systemic treatments

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is currently the fourth leading cause of death in the United States and is expected to be ranked second in the next 10 years due to poor prognosis and a rising incidence. Distant metastatic PDAC is associated with the worst prognosis among the different phases of PDAC. The diagnostic options for PDAC are convenient and available for staging, tumor response evaluation, and management of resectable or borderline resectable PDAC. However, imaging is crucial in PDAC diagnosis, monitoring, resectability appraisal, and response evaluation. The advancement of medical technologies is evolving, hence the use of imaging in PDAC treatment options has grown as well as the utilization of ctDNA as a tumor marker. Treatment options for metastatic PDAC are minimal with the primary goal of therapy limited to symptom relief or palliation, especially in patients with low functional capacity at the point of diagnosis. Molecular profiling has shown promising potential solutions that would push the treatment boundaries for patients with PDAC. In this review, we will discuss the latest updates from evidence-based guidelines regarding diagnosis, therapy response evaluation, prognosis, and surveillance, as well as illustrating novel therapies that have been recently investigated for PDAC, in addition to discussing the molecular profiling advances in PDAC

Association of genetic variation with systolic and diastolic blood pressure among African Americans: the Candidate Gene Association Resource study

The prevalence of hypertension in African Americans (AAs) is higher than in other US groups; yet, few have performed genome-wide association studies (GWASs) in AA. Among people of European descent, GWASs have identified genetic variants at 13 loci that are associated with blood pressure. It is unknown if these variants confer susceptibility in people of African ancestry. Here, we examined genome-wide and candidate gene associations with systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) using the Candidate Gene Association Resource (CARe) consortium consisting of 8591 AAs. Genotypes included genome-wide single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) data utilizing the Affymetrix 6.0 array with imputation to 2.5 million HapMap SNPs and candidate gene SNP data utilizing a 50K cardiovascular gene-centric array (ITMAT-Broad-CARe [IBC] array). For Affymetrix data, the strongest signal for DBP was rs10474346 (P= 3.6 × 10−8) located near GPR98 and ARRDC3. For SBP, the strongest signal was rs2258119 in C21orf91 (P= 4.7 × 10−8). The top IBC association for SBP was rs2012318 (P= 6.4 × 10−6) near SLC25A42 and for DBP was rs2523586 (P= 1.3 × 10−6) near HLA-B. None of the top variants replicated in additional AA (n = 11 882) or European-American (n = 69 899) cohorts. We replicated previously reported European-American blood pressure SNPs in our AA samples (SH2B3, P= 0.009; TBX3-TBX5, P= 0.03; and CSK-ULK3, P= 0.0004). These genetic loci represent the best evidence of genetic influences on SBP and DBP in AAs to date. More broadly, this work supports that notion that blood pressure among AAs is a trait with genetic underpinnings but also with significant complexit

Surgical site infection after gastrointestinal surgery in high-income, middle-income, and low-income countries: a prospective, international, multicentre cohort study

Background: Surgical site infection (SSI) is one of the most common infections associated with health care, but its importance as a global health priority is not fully understood. We quantified the burden of SSI after gastrointestinal surgery in countries in all parts of the world. Methods: This international, prospective, multicentre cohort study included consecutive patients undergoing elective or emergency gastrointestinal resection within 2-week time periods at any health-care facility in any country. Countries with participating centres were stratified into high-income, middle-income, and low-income groups according to the UN's Human Development Index (HDI). Data variables from the GlobalSurg 1 study and other studies that have been found to affect the likelihood of SSI were entered into risk adjustment models. The primary outcome measure was the 30-day SSI incidence (defined by US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention criteria for superficial and deep incisional SSI). Relationships with explanatory variables were examined using Bayesian multilevel logistic regression models. This trial is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT02662231. Findings: Between Jan 4, 2016, and July 31, 2016, 13 265 records were submitted for analysis. 12 539 patients from 343 hospitals in 66 countries were included. 7339 (58·5%) patient were from high-HDI countries (193 hospitals in 30 countries), 3918 (31·2%) patients were from middle-HDI countries (82 hospitals in 18 countries), and 1282 (10·2%) patients were from low-HDI countries (68 hospitals in 18 countries). In total, 1538 (12·3%) patients had SSI within 30 days of surgery. The incidence of SSI varied between countries with high (691 [9·4%] of 7339 patients), middle (549 [14·0%] of 3918 patients), and low (298 [23·2%] of 1282) HDI (p < 0·001). The highest SSI incidence in each HDI group was after dirty surgery (102 [17·8%] of 574 patients in high-HDI countries; 74 [31·4%] of 236 patients in middle-HDI countries; 72 [39·8%] of 181 patients in low-HDI countries). Following risk factor adjustment, patients in low-HDI countries were at greatest risk of SSI (adjusted odds ratio 1·60, 95% credible interval 1·05–2·37; p=0·030). 132 (21·6%) of 610 patients with an SSI and a microbiology culture result had an infection that was resistant to the prophylactic antibiotic used. Resistant infections were detected in 49 (16·6%) of 295 patients in high-HDI countries, in 37 (19·8%) of 187 patients in middle-HDI countries, and in 46 (35·9%) of 128 patients in low-HDI countries (p < 0·001). Interpretation: Countries with a low HDI carry a disproportionately greater burden of SSI than countries with a middle or high HDI and might have higher rates of antibiotic resistance. In view of WHO recommendations on SSI prevention that highlight the absence of high-quality interventional research, urgent, pragmatic, randomised trials based in LMICs are needed to assess measures aiming to reduce this preventable complication