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

Platelet activation in cystic fibrosis

Cystic fibrosis (CF) is caused by a mutation of the gene encoding the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR). We examined platelet function in CF patients because lung inflammation is part of this disease and platelets contribute to inflammation. CF patients had increased circulating leukocyte-platelet aggregates and increased platelet responsiveness to agonists compared with healthy controls. CF plasma caused activation of normal and CF platelets; however, activation was greater in CF platelets. Furthermore, washed CF platelets also showed increased reactivity to agonists. CF platelet hyperreactivity was incompletely inhibited by prostaglandin E(1) (PGE(1)). As demonstrated by Western blotting and reverse-transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), there was neither CFTR nor CFTR-specific mRNA in normal platelets. There were abnormalities in the fatty acid composition of membrane fractions of CF platelets. In summary, CF patients have an increase in circulating activated platelets and platelet reactivity, as determined by monocyte-platelet aggregation, neutrophil-platelet aggregation, and platelet surface P-selectin. This increased platelet activation in CF is the result of both a plasma factor(s) and an intrinsic platelet mechanism via cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP)/adenylate cyclase, but not via platelet CFTR. Our findings may account, at least in part, for the beneficial effects of ibuprofen in CF

Factors Influencing Participation in COVID-19 Clinical Trials: A Multi-National Study

In 2020, the World Health Organization has characterized COVID-19, a disease caused by infection with the SARS-CoV-2 virus, as a pandemic. Although a few vaccines and drugs have been approved to, respectively, prevent or treat the disease, several clinical trials are still ongoing to test new vaccines or drugs to mitigate the burden of the pandemic. Few studies have shown the role of host genetics in disease prognosis and drug response highlighting the importance of diverse participation in COVID-19 clinical trials. The goal of this study is to assess public attitudes in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Jordan toward participating in COVID-19 clinical trials and to identify the factors that may influence their attitude. An online questionnaire was developed and distributed among the target group through social media platforms. The number of responses was 1,576. Three quarters (74.9%) of participants heard about clinical trials before, 57.6% of them had a positive attitude toward participation in COVID-19 clinical trials. The conduct of clinical trials in accordance with the scientific, research, and ethical guidelines was a strong predictor of willingness to participate in clinical trials. Other positive factors also included protection of family from COVID-19 and contributing to the return to normal community life as well as receiving additional healthcare benefit was the fourth significant predictor. On the other hand, the thought that clinical trials can have a negative impact on the health of participants strongly predicted the unwillingness of individuals to participate in such trials. This was followed by having limited information about the novel coronavirus and COVID-19 and the lack of trust in physicians and hospitals. In general, Arab citizens are accepting the concept and have a positive attitude toward COVID-19 clinical trials. Increasing awareness of COVID-19 and clinical trials, enforcing the concept of altruism, and placing clear policies in conducting clinical trials are needed to increase participation in clinical trials among Arabs

Ethanol administration to cystic fibrosis knockout mice results in increased fatty acid ethyl ester production.

BACKGROUND: Fatty acid ethyl esters (FAEE) are nonoxidative ethanol metabolites shown to produce toxic effects in the liver and pancreas in vivo and in vitro. Because alcohol-induced chronic pancreatitis is associated with mutations in the gene responsible for cystic fibrosis (CFTR), we hypothesized that CFTR dysfunction leads to increased levels of these toxic nonoxidative ethanol metabolites following alcohol administration. METHODS: Cystic fibrosis (CF) and wild-type (WT) mice were injected intraperitoneally with 1, 2, or 3 g/kg of 50% ethanol. Mice were sacrificed and the liver and pancreas removed for FAEE analysis. RESULTS: The mean FAEE concentration (pmol/g) detected in the liver of cftr mice following injection with 2 g/kg of ethanol was significantly greater than the amount detected in WT (p \u3c 0.005). A similar trend in FAEE concentration was seen in the pancreas, but the difference was not statistically different. In both the liver and pancreas, analysis of individual FAEE species demonstrated a selective increase in ethyl oleate. CONCLUSION: These data show an association between CFTR dysfunction and qualitative and quantitative changes in FAEE in liver and pancreas upon ethanol exposure

Proceedings of First Conference for Engineering Sciences and Technology: Vol. 1

This volume contains contributed articles of Track 1, Track 2 & Track 3, presented in the conference CEST-2018, organized by Faculty of Engineering Garaboulli, and Faculty of Engineering, Al-khoms, Elmergib University (Libya) on 25-27 September 2018. Track 1: Communication and Information Technology Track 2: Electrical and Electronics Engineering Track 3: Oil and Chemical Engineering Other articles of Track 4, 5 & 6 have been published in volume 2 of the proceedings at this lin