Various Factors Affecting Students Performances In A Saudi Medical School

Objective: There are various demographic and educational factors that affect the academic performance of undergraduate medical students. The objective of this study is to identify these factors and correlate them to the GPA of the students. Methods: A cross-sectional study design utilizing grade point averages (GPAs) of two cohorts of students in both levels of the pre-clinical phase. In addition, self-administered questionnaire was used to evaluate the effect of these factors on students with poor and good cumulative GPA. Results: Among the various factors studied, gender, marital status, and the transportation used to reach the faculty significantly affected academic performance of students. Students with a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or greater significantly differed than those with a GPA of less than 3.0 being higher in female students, in married students, and type of transportation used to reach the college. Factors including age, educational factors, and type of transportation used have shown to create a significant difference in GPA between male and females. Conclusion: Factors such as age, gender, marital status, learning resources, study time, and the transportation used have been shown to significantly affect medical student GPA as a whole batch as well as when they are tested for gender

Transient exposure to Chlamydia trachomatis can induce alteration of sperm function which cannot be stopped by sperm washing

Previous experiments have shown that Chlamydia trachomatis can directly affect sperm function and therefore may be an unrecognized contributor to male sub-fertility. However, the precise mechanism of sperm–chlamydial interaction remains unknown. Aim: This experimental study attempted to replicate a transient exposure of sperm to C. trachomatis that might occur prior to assisted conception. Methods: Six ejaculates from sperm donors were spiked with C. trachomatis serovar E and subjected to density centrifugation one hour later using a standard sperm washing technique. At 0, 6, and 24 h post-wash, the recovered motile suspension was evaluated for sperm motility, viability, phosphatidylserine externalization, DNA fragmentation and tyrosine phosphorylation. Results: The results show that even after a relatively short exposure to C. trachomatis, changes in sperm motility, viability, phosphatidylserine externalization and sperm DNA fragmentation were detected up to 24 h later. Only tyrosine phosphorylation was unaffected. Conclusion: These results suggest that sperm washing cannot protect sperm from the deleterious effects of C. trachomatis exposure and this may explain some cases of poor IVF outcome or fertilization failure. We suggest that all patients should be screened and treated for C. trachomatis prior to assisted conception. This is one of the current guidelines also recommended by the British Fertility Society

Molecular Epidemiology of Respiratory Viruses in Febrile Infants Under 90 Days Attending Pediatric Emergency Department "Molecular Epidemiology of Respiratory Viruses in Febrile Infants Under 90 Days Attending Pediatric Emergency Department

Abstract Fever is one of the most common presenting complaints in paediatric emergency departments (ED). Acute viral respiratory infection is the most common findings. The aim of this study is to define types of respiratory viruses among febrile infants under 90 days attending to emergency department. Methods: In addition to sepsis workup, nasopharyngeal aspirates were collected from 265 febrile infants without an apparent source of infection. A multiplex PCR assay was used to detect 15 human viral species and subtypes. Results: Overall, 154/265 (58.1%) NPA specimens from febrile infants were positive for at least one human virus. Viral types detected were as follows: (60/265,22.6%) rhinovirus, (50/265,18.9%) respiratory syncytial virus, (28/265,10.6%) parainfluenza virus, (11/265,4.2%) influenza virus, (12/265,4.5%) coronavirus, (10/265,3.8%) metapneumo, (8/265,3%) adenovirus, (2/265,0.75%) enterovirus, and (2/265,0.75%) bocavirus. Co-detection of two viruses or more was also observed. Positive bacterial cultures were reported in 16.5%, 3.5%, and 2.8% of urine, blood and CSF samples respectively. Conclusion: Viral infections are frequent in febrile infants without an apparent source. Testing NPA for molecular identification of viruses in addition to the routine sepsis workup may help more accurate management of febrile infants. This could also limit the unnecessary use of antibiotics, and nosocomial spread of viruses, however, this needs to be further investigated